Testing!!!!!!!

Well the ol Blogger had some issues today. Naturally!
Cause I had prepared a farm fresh Springy ode to the old Polish lady who planted tons of stuff in her barefeet half a century ago in this very locale.
Sniff!
So....here's a little tip for all you XXL coffee drinkers who may have to mix up yer morning caffeine in the studio.
Without a large wooden spoon don't cha know!
This has been working for me for 2 weeks now.
Inkpens just weren't tall enough!!
Yet another reason to sing the praises of knitting.
So here's a mini indoor Spring thing.
Note the Rosemary in the discarded Penland pottery,the Jack -in-the- Pulpit to the left and the 2 very lovely and juicy Columbine in the foreground.
Please ignore the beat-up-left-over-from-Chicago-days-coffee-mug.
The 5-gallon buckets just weren't so portable.

Ode to Mrs. Pudlo

Back in The Day........circa 1949 Mr. and Mrs Pudlo built this house on the chunk of property that is now my farm, my neighbors property and a few acres that are owned and farmed by the neighbors down the road. Mrs. (Grandma) Hay across the road proclaims that Mrs. Pudlo used to garden in her bare feet. She could be found most days doing this.
I had heard tales of the colorful bulbs that would pop out every spring and this cemented my will to own this place.
The yard had a lot of random planted tree and bush wierdness, the driveway was completely overgrown but I couldnt wait to see what a new season would bring.

There are tons of tulip, daffodil and narcissus bulbs, violets, peonies, sweetpeas,and garlic growing in a spot I call "My Meadow". I have been plucking away at 50 plus years of
garlic overgrowth and various weeds.Some years more than others.This Spring has been the most abundant I can remember.
Or maybe its because
now that I am not working in the city, I have been able to enjoy the daily flora and fauna surprises that happen here at my farm.
I am looking forward to spending more time restoring and adding to Mrs. Pudlos work.
Once Spring hits its almost imposible for me to remain inside ,but I have quilts with deadlines and the least amount of housework I can get away with!!
What's that?
I hear my windowboxes calling to me ,pleading to be planted!!!
OK!OK! Twist my arm, but after I get some quilting in!!!




My Larch is larching!! According to the local nursery owner these trees, this size, in this area is rare!They are more common in the Northwest area of the country. Lucky me!!And they produce the cutest mini pinecones!!

Chicago/Houston International Quilt Festival

Here are a few of the pictoral quilts that really blobbed my nob tab. The top one on the right with the yellow flowers is by Ruth Powers I think she is the one who won viewers choice for her 3 robins quilt. Great Stuff!!!

Apologies to my 3 fans.....AND big city stories

Sorry !! I know it's been a while and all 3 of you out there are checking everyday to see if anything exciting is going on here at the farm.......I do have to say that I have been working full time at the new greenhouse gig . I am loving it but it makes me just plain ty-red at the day's end.

OK soooooooo.

Fyyyyyyyuuuuuuuh!

Well it had to happen and now our friend Rich (the pyro) can sleep at night.

Until the next seasonal accumulation.

And if you happened to miss it this time...(sorry..it just kind of happened with out a lot of pre planning) you will be getting an engraved invitation to the next one.

Who knows maybe there will be a wedding thing too at the next one. OK! OK! Maybe.

So I made the trip into the big city today to surprise my friend Lauren at lunch. Her birthday is sunday and I havent seen her or the old Chicago work crew since last year around this time.She was completely surprised and pleased .....and preggers!!!!! Due in August.She looked adorable and I know she is going to be a great mom. Plus she will finally get out of that crazy place!!

I first started blogging so that my friends in the city would be able to check in on my comings and goings and antics out here on the farm. And I obviously had a relating- to- people -on- a- daily- basis need that wasn't getting met Alas most of them didn't get the" blog thing".. but.......

Today was like a welcome back party for me actually. I've never worked with a group of people that have made me feel like my daily presence is truly something they miss . It was so great to see all of them plus a few of the co-workers from other showrooms.

I got all the low down on the dirty deeds of the company owner(unethical grabby old gross schmoozer cheezeball) and his thong girl thing and both of their impending divorces.Gross. Such a surprise.And the updates on the "Dyfunctional Duo"management team. Will she and her brother finally "do it"after a planned romantic vacation together?Will his elderly father have to move in and find out after 45 years that his son is gay? Stay tuned for another episode of "The Mart Memoirs". Oiy. NONE of this surprises me , nor do I miss the daily draaaaahmah.But it was a bit entertaining to hear these tales. Not to mention the recurring feelings of mental instability while I was employed there.How on earth did I deal with all that stuff?

It WAS THEM( crazy!) not me! ( I KNEW IT!)

Ahhhhhhhh what a perspective a year doth make.

Sproing!!( Life is short... Stay out of Knox, Indiana ! )

Well yeay! SPRING! It finally showed up for a day! Here are just a few of the lovilies blooming here at the farm.

And as you can see the dogs were happy for the promise of better outside conditions.( they have inside heated quarters,too if they so choose)



I managed to get a few wheel barrow loads of willow sticks picked up ( tons yet to get to later...)

When Dougie came home a bit early and forced me( hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!) to go for a ride on the bike.He really had to twist my arm.OK! OK! Ouch! that hurts!Stop! I said OK! !!!!!!!!!not!

We took a ride down to N. Judson to Bailey's Discount Warehouse, looking for surplus bathroom stuff. I had heard tales of aisles and aisles of beef jerky but was quite disappointed. Must have been an urban( well maybe not so urban) myth.
I did find (at bargain prices!) :

SUCH AMAZING DEALS!!!!!

Quite the selection of Halloween 05 candy( Fresh Gummy Lifesavers!)I put the Giradelli chocolate back on the shelf...

Foodservice size cappacino mix ( hard to find Pumpkin flavor!had to try..)

Bath and Beauty Products: 10 bar(2 bonus!) count Dial Citrus Sensation Soap.....
Healing Garden Green Tea Therapy( my fave!!) gift set:cologne
and shower gel!
Needless to say, I got over the lack of beef jerky selection.

But the most remarkable thing about this outing was the encounter at the Knox Burger King.
Doug had parked the bike in front after getting some gas . We had just sat down to inhale our burgers when in walks this woman.She walks up to us and asks if it was our bike.Well yes .( duh those are helmets on our table)She then proceeds to inform us of her recent motorcycle upgrade( which up to this point is typical biker chit -chat) But then....... goes into how she had 5 miscarriages, a brain aneurism,was in a coma for months,came home, was in diapers,couldn't talk or walk...(20 minutes later, we had finished eating!) and is now riding her own Harley. Pretty amazing stuff( if it was true..) makes me want to ride my own........
If I hadn't stood up to put my jackets on, we would still be there listening to her story.
On the way home I was commenting on the encounter.
Naturally I was amazed by the incident.
Doug insists stuff like that happens in Knox all the time.
I'm thinking we were just a fresh audience!