Thursday, August 09, 2012

August...

One of the kids embroidered this bunny tea towel for me a long time ago.

It's always exciting to me when the pullets start to lay.  I didn't expect them to start laying until the end of August or first of September, but there were two eggs in the nests today.  See the two little white ones side by side?  It's a wonder the hens lay at all with the critters that have been milling around the coop each evening.  Every night when I go out to shut the door on the coop, I see several skunks or raccoons.  Last night I opened the door to the granary to fetch some laying pellets and there was a thumping and then a raccoon face was peeking out at me from the corn bin.  I shut the door on him and called for Number1Son to bring a gun.  He said there were three coon in there after all. Evidently they are climbing in through the opening on the roof.  I just hope they keep eating corn and don't get a taste for fresh chicken anytime soon.  I've got to be very diligent about shutting the coop door before dark each night or they'll find their way in to the hens next.

August is already whizzing by, isn't it?  This past Monday FourthChild left his job here on the ranch and went back to college where he will be a senior RA for a dorm.  He's helping the staff to get ready for the residents that will be arriving very soon.  He was excited to get going and I was happy for him, but I'll admit, I shed a few tears after he hugged me good bye and drove away.  He's not even very far away from us -- just an hour and a half -- but we've had a fun summer together and now it's all done.  This is likely his last summer at home as he will be graduating in the spring and hopefully he'll find a job.   The BabyoftheFamily has just a few more days before he takes off to Tucson for another year of college there.  He'll spend the weekend with us and then he is away. Back to just the two of us again.  It is as it should be.  I'm glad our kids want to go make their way in the Great Big World, but I can't help missing them a little bit.  I love them after all.


I've been spending some time at the sewing machine these past couple afternoons.  It's been fun.  I made a sun dress for Miss Bee and a top for myself.  It's been a long time since I've sewn clothes for myself, but this was an easy pattern to make.  It's New Look 6871.  No buttons or snaps or zippers.  It turned out cute, but it seems a smidgen wide so I may give it away to OnlyDaughter who is now 20 weeks pregnant.  She might be able to wear it through August and September.  The next time I make this top, I will use a cotton voile so it's a little bit more flowy and light.

We had locally grown corn-on-the-cob tonight.  What a treat!  I made a Zucchini-Parmesan Casserole with zukes and onions from the garden and we cooked burgers on the grill to go along with the corn.  Sometimes we have Just Corn Suppers, but we had the neighbors over and I thought it best to make a full supper.  DIL brought the dessert -- Lava Cake (scrumptch!).  The garden is coming along.  The cucumbers are setting on and I'm picking a ripe tomato every other day or so.  You know how it goes -- pretty soon, all-at-once, everything is ripe and the entire garden needs picking!  I hope you're enjoying what August is bringing you.

11 comments:

  1. I have been delving into sewing for myself some, too. But I have not been having all your adventures with wildlife and fires -- hope some of these slow down!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ah Jody, we're in the same boat together, with my youngest going in 4 weeks' time. So happy for him, and with it a feeling of satisfaction of my job as full-time Mama done. Lots of welling-up too though. Lots.

    Wonderful new eggs, I bet the novelty never wears off for an experienced chicken-keeper like you!

    Adorable sewing pattern, so very pretty.

    Sending you some hugs, xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good sewing, Jody!
    The blue egg is so pretty! Is the chicken that laid that egg a fancy chicken?
    I miss our Jeff and he just moved five minutes down the road! I thought I was the only one that feels like August is zipping by. I have two weeks of teaching in August, too. So . . . maybe it isn't zipping by!
    Has everything calmed down after the fire?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love your photos, Jody. The simple smoothness of the eggs, the simple elegance of your child's embroidery. I haven't sewn any clothing in SO long -- many years. I'm wondering which of those shirts you made? The sleeveless one? It's very cute. I think my favorite is the one on the bottom with the poofy sleeves. That looks like a great pattern to use again and again!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cute top. It must be nice to be sewing clothes. I have made clothes in quite awhile, though I do enjoy it.
    I am glad your little hens are laying eggs. It is always such a nice surprise to see the tiny new eggs.
    I hope you have a great weekend with lots of fresh produce.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's funny--as your garden is coming in, ours is beginning to fade. The tomatoes, which have been wildly productive all summer, are starting to shut down. They're pooped. And last weekend, the Man tore out the pepper plants to make room for spinach, collards and carrots. Time to start thinking about the fall and winter crops!

    August is zipping by pretty quickly here, too. School starts in less than two weeks. I'm trying to read and relax as much as I can before it all gets going again.

    xofrances

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those coons can really be mean and a handful. Some ding dongs around here leave food out for them. OYE!
    Love your sweet bunny tea towel. Your meal sounded good. I'm thinking I need some nice fresh corn on the menu this weekend. Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pom Pom, the chickens that lay the blue & green eggs are not really *fancy* at all. They are the Auracana breed and I really like them. They are tough birds that lay well, even through cold winter months, and I so enjoy gathering colored eggs.

    The next job to do after the fire is to build a few miles of fence. We will be tearing out the old, burnt fence and then will replace it with new. We're hoping for some rain this weekend to settle the soot and ash before we have to go work out there.

    MK,
    I made the sleeveless top. I like all of the styles so it should be a useful pattern. I like the poofy sleeves one too.

    Thanks for your comments everybody!

    jody

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yes, the pullet eggs are darling - Funny how they run smallish like that and then suddenly you get double-yolkers from the young chickens.

    You have reminded me to go out and pick what tomatoes I can find right now!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You have a lot going on, Jody, and sounds like you are eating well, too. Love the cute top and hope that raccoon got what was coming.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your August is sounding perfect Jody - as it should be. Love that cute little embroidered towel!

    ReplyDelete

I love reading your comments. Thanks for stopping in. Sorry, but due to spam, only registered users can comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...