A little bit of quilty stuff and a whole lot of other stuff!

Hello dear blogger friends!! I can say I've missed ya'll. I've been pretty much hit and miss on blogger/computer time. The saying goes that "Time flies when you're having fun"!! Well, I have been having a lot of fun - but a lot of other stuff too!! (most of it fun, too!!) This morning, I've got the bottle kids fed, the cow milked, breakfast for Mike and him sent off on a clearing job, made my "walk-about" checking kids and nannies (I'm on the down hill side of kidding out - only 5 nannies left to go!! Yeah!!), so I got myself a cup of coffee, took a couple more photos and now I'm checking in with ya'll!!

Don't know really where to start, so I'll start with the little bit of quilty stuff. Raewyn came for a visit!!! She spent a few days with us, and she may never come again - she didn't have much of a vacation at my house! She trooped along with me doing my chores! But I can say we talked up a storm and shared our farm/ranch lives as well as some quilting stuff!! What a grand time I had!!

She brought me a bunch of super cool goodies from New Zealand!! A super neat table runner with kiwis!!! And in some of my favorite colors!!! The piecing and quilting are just exquisite!! I will treasure it always! Plus, some Manuka soap, a deck of cards with New Zealand wild life photos (as good as a photo album!), some Old Fashioned Creamy Fudge made locally there in Northland, a note pad with birds (she knows I love birds!), a thimble with kiwi birds highlighted with paua shells (I think) and some buttons made of paua! What a haul!!

We did share a few quilting adventures: I showed her ALL my quilts and projects (I'm sure she thinks I'm nuts!! - like I'll ever finish them!! LOL) Many of you know that I don't favor Paper Piecing (okay, I'll admit it - don't know how to do it and didn't want to learn!) But our guild's BOM for May was a simple foundation paper pieced block! So I hog-tied Raewyn, drug her to my sewing machine and she gallantly instructed me on the art! Voila---my first successful foundation paper pieced block!!! Thanks, Raewyn, I couldn't have done it with out you!!

We also attended a book signing of Marie Bostwick's latest novel "Between Heaven and Texas"! My first ever, and what a great 'send-off' memory with Raewyn!! She has the photo of us together with Marie - so bug her to post it!! By the way, the book was awesome! One of my favorite all time reads!!

Now, to the other stuff! Spring is always busy for me, and this one has seemed even more, but it has been a good one! The day before Raewyn arrived, we received 4 1/2 inches of rain! It feel in about 2-3 hours, so Mike said we had a young flood! I called it a "tank filler". We call our man-made ponds "dirt tanks" and it filled up and ran around on both sides of the dam!! First time is has been full in about 10 or 11 years! Two years ago, it was completely dry, so we are so very thankful for the rain. The down side of that much rain at one time is we lost four baby kids to drowning. (boo hoo)

We had our first kids born on April 16, and there has been a birth every day since then except on one day. For the most part, it has gone very well. We have lost a few kids, and two nannies and we have 12 bottle babies, but the warm weather and rains (we've also had a little more than an inch more in the past week) has helped the pasture to green up, and all seem to be doing well. Go here to see photos of the goats! They are pretty cute!

Other ranch work has included shipping pasture cattle. It also went well, just busy for a few days, gathering, moving, loading etc. Go here if you want to see those events!

Sometimes, Mike needs me to help on one of his clearing jobs (he clears brush and trees from ranch land using a skid steer). So, on his current job, he found a huge cedar tree and the owner had told him that if Mike wanted any cedar trees for posts, he was welcome to cut them. Never a dull moment in our lives!

When Mike got it cut and it fell - the top branches covered up the skid steer! No harm done, though!!

This past weekend was a landmark event for our family! Our youngest daughter graduated with her Bachelor's degree from Tartleton State University! The whole family gathered in Stephenville for the event, and our son and dil were so gracious and hosted a BBQ in their back yard! It was a grand time! Beautiful weather, great food, friends and family - what more could anyone ask for!! So proud of you Mollie!

Well, I'll bid adieu for now! Remember - Be Joyful!!!!