A Busy Waiting Season

It’s been a busy waiting season. I started several posts. How many “Life on the Farm” posts are too many? Creativity was not a topic either, I had not been creative. That has changed a little.

Life in the country seems to be about the only thing I have to share… no one wants to hear about the difficulties… of day to day living in the age of COVID-19, or my thoughts on our politics, or other regular life issues like going to the farm store, the grocery store, or in my case the Podiatrist!!!

Seasons Changed

Not to be wishing life away… at one point, I found myself looking a bit forward to November, (which is here and now almost gone). In Kentucky, it has gotten cooler at night. Cooler is a relative term depending on where you live. There have been nights as low as 21°. With the frost, the growing season, (aka ‘the allergy season’) is over. In November, the days usually become cooler and signals the season for nesting. The ‘political season’ is lingering on and we all want to see it done, too. I think it’s safe to say, we all wish that the “COVID-19 season” was over. Again it is something that will linger through the New Year. We will have Thanksgiving at home, this year, with just the 2 of us at the table.

The Current Creative Space

My “Creative Space” is set up! I was busy. Currently, it remains an unfinished one! That may change. I just couldn’t wait any longer. No painted walls or carpeting for now. The floor is unfinished concrete. There is an ugly area rug, (it came with the house). I hate it. If the floor needs to be upgraded from concrete, I’ll have to decide what type of flooring to install… ‘wood look’ vinyl stick down flooring, click floating laminate flooring, or a low pile carpet. I personally like the idea of carpeting. It’s warm and soft and will soften the rest of the unfinished space. I plan to cover all the concrete walls with insulation for design walls. I don’t mind the open ceiling. It means I can move the lights around at will. A little fine-tuning and shifting is in the future as well.

Creating the Space

It is interesting that room design and organization have become a hot topic again in the quilting world. I have lots of practice organizing and setting up my space. This is my 8th move in 20 years. The different types of spaces have been, unfinished rooms with cobbled together furniture to almost perfectly coordinated spaces. I don’t think this ‘Creative Space’ will be perfect. I am too thrifty. The only way to perfect is to win the lottery, and for that to happen I would have to play…

Where do I Put It?

Fabric storage and table top organizer
the “Creative Space” table with tool keepers

As I put things away I try to find the best location the first time for my tools. For me, if I change or rearrange and move items to a new location it causes a disconnect in the brain. We always look for something in the original location or container first. To find it we have to reconstruct the moving sequence to remember the new location.
Some things need to be where I use them. Keeping the items I use often close at hand on the cutting table. The rotary cutters, scissors, (fabric and paper scissors), pens, pencils, fabric marking, compass, poking sticks, glue sticks, etc. One of my favorite tabletop keepers is a kitchen utensil spinner, (this is from Pampered Chef circa 2006-ish). My other favorite is a box with 4 compartments. It is perfect for larger tools or the many duplicate tools like rotary cutters and all the different kinds of scissors!!

Supples Storage boxes
Clearly labeled boxes of supplies and extras

I keep other duplicate tools, similar or more specialized tools in clearly marked storage boxes. Some of the labels on the boxes, are ‘marking’, ‘measuring’, ‘pins, needles & thimbles’, ‘sharps’, etc.

Storage

I like to keep my fabric where I can see it, now. It used to be in labeled clear plastic bins. I found that taking one bin down, digging through it was always a problem. Keeping them neat in the bins was a problem, never mind the constant issue of outgrowing the bins and having to rearrange or heaven forbid, discard a fabric for space. And if getting fabric out was difficult; the prospect of putting them away was daunting, so piles ensued. Keeping the fabric on in the open was a nice change.

Where are the bins now? In the bins are collections … like buttons, ribbons, laces, braids, elastics, and project parts or in a few cases the actual project and all the components! All the bins are clearly labeled too.

clear plastic storage tubs
Storage tubs waiting for the closet to be finished

Unfortunately, the closet is not yet finished. The plan is for the bins to move into the closet, out of sight behind closed doors. I could not decide on the type of shelves to put in the closet. The decision has been made. I will use adjustable wall brackets and wood shelves. The adjustability and sturdiness behind closed doors will be wonderful. I have a few areas that are in need of attention, mostly paint. Since I dislike painting, I procrastinate.

Something Cute

In the previous post, I promised a cute picture of a pig. It was sunny, hot, and humid the day I took this! Iggy Piggy is deeply asleep and snoring.

Sleeping Pig
thought it was so cute the way Iggy Piggy slept on a hot and humid afternoon

For the next post another picture promise. I have a really cute picture of cats to share.

Going forward, I will try and be more timely… As I set up the room, I tested the location of the furniture and the setup. Which, allowed me to finish or moved several UFOs on to the next step. The longarm needed a repair, had a sewing session with a 10-year-old, and have a swap to work on!

More soon- Beth

News -Who and What’s New?

Lots of news here, and I have started to write this post several times in the last week or so… but I get sidetracked by many things. I am learning to follow the flow, even if it doesn’t seem to be in the intended direction.

Is it just me or does everything take longer? Last week I was away from home 4 out of 5 days. Only one was really planned, the rest just sort of followed downhill. Two days were devoted to the car in the shop. Big misunderstanding on how soon it would be done… leading to 2 days to take it and then go back to get it. Fortunately, they had a loner, but the previous borrower, was a smoker and the drive home and back seemed twice as long. But things on the farm are ‘moooving’ along.

Not just news, but NEW

March full face
March full face

I want to introduce you to our new resident. This is March. He is about 9 months old give or take a few weeks. He has been here for about 3 weeks. I don’t think he is too happy about his new place- he missees other cows something terrible. Especially his mama. He mooed himself hoarse the first few days. He still has a bit of hoarseness when he really tries to bellow his frustration.

March and the loafing shed
March Loafing

He spends most of his day in the loafing shed, (the red building in the pasture, out of the hot sun. Several times a day he grazes from the loafing shed to the barn for some grain or a long drink of water, and then back to the loafing shed. We don’t think he likes the pigs!!! The goats from the neighbors were still here when he arrived, and he seemed to think they were friends and a comfort. Then the goats moved back to their home, and his loneliness once again became apparent.

Speaking of Pigs

Piggy Ann and Iggy Piggy are doing very well. The big news is that they finally ventured outside the barn into their yard, with a little enticement of some cantaloupe melon rinds. A favored pig treat. Once they did that they discovered that there was a little pig wallow. What is a wallow? It is a depression in the dirt that is generally muddy, where they roll, and splash and root in the mud. The whole area used to be covered in grass, and now is nothing but turned dirt and mud. Pig Heaven!

Pigs and the wallow
Mud caked pigs and the wallow

This is what they spend the time doing when not eating or sleeping. Yesterday they had mud from the ears to nose at lunchtime. We are feeding 3 times a day, now. Mostly because as pigs they pollute the food… by stepping in it, sitting in it, or playing with the bowls. This way more food goes into the pig, and less wasted. From the pond, we can see the pigs when they are outside. Today we watched them playing in the wallow and running in circles and then into the barn and back… and then all over again!!! Such fun!

Pig rooting with face in mud
What a pig does in the mud- Rooting!

Dog News

I have been holding off on the dog news. Goldie is doing fine. She has a bit of aggression toward Patton. We don’t know where it comes from, but she jumps him out of the blue! They are currently living separately. In the meantime, Patton developed a limp and was squeaking quite a bit. A visit to the Vet, an x-ray, and some medication along with advice to keep him calm and confined for a few weeks. So he was doing well, the pain was under control and he was kept calm. Medication was done about 2 weeks ago and then on Wednesday, the limp came back. The Vet thinks he may have elbow/shoulder dysplasia, and the x-ray says it is not the operable type. We will be seeing a specialist for advice on how to proceed. Patton is just 9 months old and currently weighs 90 pounds. He passed the large dog stage and is now considered extra-large. He has been a wonderful puppy I hate to see him in such discomfort.

There you have it… in the Other things going on… we have a vegetable garden and working on re-landscaping the front of the house.

More Later-Beth