I'm a Rifleman!

Ok- Butter is adorable, my sewing is coming along nicely and farming is farming; more about that later. Today's motivation and blog worthy news is that I qualified as a Rifleman at our most recent Appleseed event! Woo-hoo! 

Do you know what the Appleseed Project is? It's so cool- and every American should know this stuff. Check out www.appleseedinfo.org to read all about it and maybe sign up for one yourself. No clicking for you? Here's a summary... An Appleseed is an event put on by volunteers that aims to teach Revolutionary War History and traditional marksmanship skills. The history is the same stuff we should learn in schools- but it gets glossed over. It's important. It's our heritage. Everyone should take the time to truly hear it, understand it, and be thankful for it. 

The marksmanship part is basic. They teach key techniques you can alway use and build on to become a better marksman. Towards the end, you shoot the Army Qualification Test, and if you score high enough, you can become a Rifleman. It's not easy. I'm so thrilled that I got it. The score is equivalent to an expert score in the Army. 

Now I've got this patch- I'm a rifleman! The other patch is Chuck's. We both made it this weekend. M went with us one day, and plans to go back and qualify after some practice here. 

Butter the Rifledog? Tactical support- she'll keep your mat warm.

See- she's still adorable. growing more and more dense everyday. She's almost 6 months now, and had her spay surgery and cherry eye surgery 2 weeks ago. That all went well. She's finally out if the cone- she was not a fan.

Plbbbt!

In the Great Dane bed.

Butter? How do you fall out of a bed that big?

New toy- I made that!

I've been trying to get some sewing in but it's been busy. Between the kids school, the animals and the rest of the stuff that must be done I haven't gotten a whole lot accomplished. And, I've taken very few pictures of the the things I have finished. Here's what I do have to show... 

Butter's new owl- no squeak so she can have it night. 

T-shirt for Chuck- "Molon Labe"

Corner Monster bookmarks

Coasters- I made sets of these for Mother's Day gifts

I know I've mentioned it before, but I hate ironing. That and hemming are the worst parts of sewing. On that note, I got an AWESOME iron for my birthday. Having good tools makes the yucky tasks much more bearable. The Oliso iTouch has mechanical feet that pull in when you touch the handle and extend when you let go so it can sit flat on the ironing board and won't tip. This is a fantastic feature if you are constantly having to steady the ironing board when the Great Danes come by. It also heats quickly, has a good weight and a very smooth ironing surface. 

 

Oliso iTouch

On the farm we're getting about a gallon of milk a day. We should have fresh lettuce soon and peas won't be far behind. We had a farm visitor a couple of weeks ago- a Luna Moth. I love these guys- they only live for a week as an adult moth and do not eat in their adult phase. They only fly at night. This one roosted on our screen for a day. Hopefully it laid some eggs nearby. 

Luna Moth

That's all for now- hopefully there will be more time for fun stuff when school gets out in a couple of weeks.

I Love Spring!

Farming season is definitely here! We've been busy around Lazy Danes Farm. So far we've planted lettuce, peas, carrots, tomatoes, basil and peppers. Still to plant are beans, cucumbers, corn, okra, potatoes and whatever else catches my eye at the farm store.  I'm also hoping to put in a couple of peach trees this year, but haven't felt like digging the holes yet.

Baby plants! Awww.

In livestock news- the baby goats are ready to go to their new homes. Yay! We have 2 does and 2 bucks that are for sale. Does $50.00, bucks $25.00.  They're all 3/4 Nubian, 1/4 Nigerian.  The does should be good milkers- I'm getting over a gallon a day right now from Scarlet and Petunia. We made our first mozzarella of the season - it was gone as soon as it had cooled enough to eat. YUM!

Brown doe with blue eyes, blonde buck with brown eyes

Brown male with brown eyes- neat face markings, brown doe again,  black doe  with brown eyes

Now, how about a look at the cutest Bulldog ever! Butter will be 5 months old on May 6th. She goes for her last puppy check up this week and we'll make an appointment for her spay then. She's growing so fast and is deceptively heavy. She only has a few more puppy teeth to lose, too.

Look how much Great Dane she covers now

Bully tongue! 

"I found a stick!"

Sun bathing

"Hey,Mom- what's that thing in front of your eye?

"Can I bite it?"

"Fine- Cheese!"

 For the girls Spring Break we took a day to bake treats for Chuck's team and deliver them over lunch. (The key to happy-at-home-kids is lots of activities.) We decided on peeps cupcakes- devils food cake, butter cream frosting, jelly beans and Peeps. They were very cute and yummy, plus we only ate one each ourselves out of 24 cupcakes. Win!

Not much sewing recently, but that should change now that all the birthdays are past. I did make the girls a bulldog t-shirt and bow for easter, and an in-the-hoop purse for one of their friends birthday. I'm hopping to get cracking on some leashes, collars and bandanas for our furry friends.

Better get busy!

My Little Pony Customs

The girls have been watching My Little Pony (a little obsessively) recently and wanted all things pony for their birthday this year. M did decide she was too grown-uppity for an outfit, and wanted a quilt instead. Here's the disclaimer- I have never quilted before. In fact, I avoid it because I really like "finish -in-a-day" projects. Anything for your kids though, right? 

W still likes all the attention she gets by wearing her one-of-a-kind, mommy-made-this, creations so she wanted a My Little Pony dress.  She chose Princess Celestia for the body and the 6 main ponies are all around the skirt. I really like to make the t-dresses for her. They're easy, comfortable, and she doesn't have to dig for matching parts before school. (And can finish in a day)

My Little Pony dress front

My Little Pony dress back

For the quilt- I winged it. There was no pattern, I just knew needed 13 panels with pony appliqué, and 12 without, a front border, a back piece, and batting in the middle. I cut my squares 10 1/2 x 12 1/2 to leave plenty of room to get them hooped either direction in my 5x7 embroidery frame, plus leave a seam allowance. 

I embroidered all the panels first- each one took 45 minutes to over an hour. They stitched out really well with no drama. Then, I arranged all the panels in the the middle of the floor to make sure it looked random enough and stitched them all together. 

Next, to assembly. I eyeballed the finished panel section, decided on the black circle border and cut 5 inch wide pieces to go all around. The back is the circle fabric with an orange border. After I got the front all stitched I stretched it out and used it to get the measurements for the back. 

Lastly, I sandwiched in the batting, stitched it shut except a 1 foot section, turned it, pressed it, topstitched the edge to close it, then quilted the seams. 

Honestly, it's a Monet- looks good at a distance. If you look at it you can tell I'm not a quilter. But- M LOVES it, and that's what matters. 

My Little Pony Quilt

My Little Pony Quilt

And as parting- here is a picture of Butter.  

Butter in her pillow nest

Woo-hoo, we have milk!

The time has changed, the weather is warming up and we have fresh goats milk in the fridge- spring is so close! Scarlett is giving us close to a 1/2 gallon a day while still nursing her kids. We'll start Petunia milking in another couple weeks as the kids wean- they'll be ready for new homes in mid-late April. I suspect the doelings will be good milkers like Ebony (their sister).

Digging in to a fresh bale of hay- Yum!

Petunia's white male, Scarlett's brown female

Petunia's brown male

Dinkey says Hee-Haw!

Pearl

Luke helping Chuck with work

Butter is 14 weeks old now. She was 16 pounds at her last vet visit. She sleeps through most nights and is doing really well with her potty training. 

Laying in a sunbeam

Princess Buttercup says "Hand over your chicken and candied bacon sandwich!

Hanging on the porch

"I got a stick"

Baby Goats and Butter is 12 weeks old

All the baby goats are here and (finally) doing fine. Scarlett's udders got congested again and made it difficult for the kids to get milk. Chuck and I were able to bottle feed them for a couple of days and now they're back with their mom and doing great! Petunia is doing well with her first kidding. Fresh milk for us soon!

Scarlett's Girl 1

Scarlett's Girl 2

Petunia's Boy 1

Petunia's Boy 2

The newest doggie addition is doing great, too! Butter is 12 weeks old today and is continuing her rigorous puppy routine of eating, sleeping and playing.

Napping with the Danes

She quickly learned by the heater is a good place to be

Outside time

Look at that belly!

Now- I need some spring.

Sewing for Disney

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Disney World and a 3 night Disney Cruise. Here are some of the custom Disney outfits I made. Interested in owning one of your own? Do you have a different favorite character or celebration that deserves a custom outfit? Soon you can! Internet store front is in the works! 

Duffy Bear outfits- upcycled denim skirts and t-shirts
The girls wore these to EPCOT

Animal Kingdom outfits- all 5 girls
had these. Super cute!

Nassau Day on the cruise

Orange Bird for Magic Kingdom day

Captain Mickey for cruise embarkation
All 5 girls had these, too.

Sting Ray cover-ups for Castaway Cay

 

Now that we're back and settled in, it's time to get sewing again. It's also time for baby goats! Scarlett had hers during the sleet storm last night- 2 little girls- one black, one brown. Pictures to come. Everybody is doing fine- the babies seam to be getting milk- Scarlett's udders are big and full, but not hard and congested like last year. I milked off a half gallon this afternoon to keep her teats smaller and her udder was still full. 

Butter is growing so fast! She was 11 weeks old yesterday. Her first vet visit went very well. She rides with me every day to pick up the kids, and is coming along nicely with her potty training. More pictures of her coming, too! 

Check back soon!

Hello, again!

Really- it's February and the last post was June. I guess I'm on track for 2 posts this year. Woo-hoo!

The big news, that brought me back to the blogging world, is Princess Buttercup!

Princess Buttercup

Goatees are fun!

I sleep in this bed, too. Somehow.

Seeking warm snuggles on Bo

Her new collar- oh yeah, she's sleeping.

An English Bulldog has been on the wish list for some time now. We went last weekend to interview a breeder for a litter she's planning for this summer, but came home with Butter instead.  She'll be 10 weeks old tomorrow- 2/14, and is already spoiled rotten. She must be cuddled at all times, and if a human isn't available, she'll climb right up on a Dane. They love her already, Bo is determined to play with her, but his bark is crazy scary. Both of them just let her clamber around on them. Rupert and Conan mostly avoid her- they'll sniff if she's asleep or otherwise occupied, but run if she sees them.

Her current schedule is sleep, pee, bite, pee, poop, sleep, pee, sleep, pee, poop, bite. 

More updates on Butter and the rest of the farm (baby goats any time now) to come.