Coffee Haiku

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Steam flows freely up

The cup is balanced loosely

Good conversation

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I'm joining Adrienne for Black & White Wednesday

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Almost Harvest Time at the Farm

 A couple of weeks ago we went up to the farm to see the new hoop building that my husband and brother-in-law have had put up to house a growing herd of cows.  We've been praying about this for a long time so it was neat to see it done. My husband is pretty excited about it.

The building provides and easier way to care for the cows and a better place for them while calving and to be through the winter.

Since these cows are fairly new to the farm, they were a bit jumpy and weren't going to let me get too close.

The new calves hang out behind the cows while they eat. :)

This field is now ripe, brown, and ready for harvest; just that fast it turned from green to 'ready to go'!

The corn is almost ready for combining too. (It's so pretty!)

Chore boots.

Not chore boots. :)

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had just gotten some new and very friendly kittens.

Randy says this one likes to crawl up his pants leg.  (He doesn't much care for that...ha!)

Her claws gave Bonnie goose bumps!

Note my cool State Fair t-shirt, it's a goat silhouette and says within it "to the fair".  Get it?  "Goat to the fair!"  I love it!

The next farm pictures will be from harvest time.  The little girls are excited to ride in the combine again! Click here to see Harvest 2015.

Have a great weekend!

Crocheting a Bit

A photo posted by Jill Ruskamp (@jillruth) on Sep 20, 2016 at 12:17pm PDT

I've been taking some online classes again. I think it's wonderful we can learn so much without ever leaving home!  Currently, I just finished watching the videos for Eclectic Beaded Crochet Jewelry on Jeanne Oliver's Creative Network.  This is my first project, a double wrap bracelet.  The beads and cording are new, but I was able to use three vintage buttons for the closure and dangles. I pulled the picture over from my Instagram feed.

I'm currently working on my second project from the site which will be a multiple wrap bracelet or necklace.  I've been able to incorporate lots of vintage and left over beads from projects from years back.  So nice to use what you have on hand already.

I hope to finish it as soon as I hit publish on this post and before I pick up kids.  I better crochet fast!

Fall Wreath Tutorial

So, I don't usually decorate the great out doors.

But, after the rain we had last night, I knew this wreath I made yesterday had to go out in the wild for a little photo shoot. The colors in the wreath, the moss on the trees, the leaves just beginning to turn color....well, it was the perfect back drop.

When I got waylaid from an online class I was taking because of network issues, my mind jumped to making a fall wreath.  I've enjoyed this spring and summer scrappy one I made so much, I thought I'd give a go to a fall one.

One thing led to another and there was left over jute from my daughter's 4h project sitting beside me and I realized that's what the wreath needed to pull it all together.  

And, then I made some scrappy beads to adorn it!  I was first inspired to make beads like this a couple of years ago from Alma Stoller.

So the easy instructions:  

Supplies:  +foam wreath (I used a 17" one) Any size will work.

+fall colored scraps of fabric (felt, wool, cotton, etc)

+batting or flannel or felt scraps to wrap wreath first

+glue gun

+large crochet hook (size depends on jute size and wreath size)

+jute (size depends on wreath size)

I wrapped the wreath first with two layers of batting scraps to fill out and "plump" the wreath so to speak.  At 17" in diameter the skinny wreaths they sell look too thin to me.

Then cut your scraps to varying widths and wrap around the wreath beginning and ending in the back. I only wrapped each scrap once around.  Use glue gun (somewhat sparingly) to secure scraps in place.

With the jute and large hook, you basically slip stitch it around the wreath.  Pulling the jute up in the center then up on the back.   The jute does not twist around the wreath. I put the slip stitch around the outside of the wreath, but on the front could be really neat too.

I found these instruction for a crocheted wreath (which is really neat!) to help you a little more since I don't have more pictures.  I was on a mission! I did not single crochet like she did though, I only slip stitched it around.

Add some type of adornment like the beads I made and you're ready to hang it.  What a great way to use up scraps!

Feel free to pin this project!

Have a great weekend!

A Merciful Gift

I took a few sunset photos a couple of weeks ago when we were out taking my granddaughter's one year photos.  Can a person get enough of the sky?  ever?

Such a merciful gift from our Father.

♥

for everyone

everywhere

every day

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We share the sky.  We share a Heavenly Father.  hard to grasp

There is a song from the musical Big River that has these lines in it:

I see the same stars through my window that you see through yours

but we're worlds apart, worlds apart

I see the same sky through brown eyes that you see through blue

but we're worlds apart, worlds apart

I know the words are metaphorical for the situation of slavery versus free, but I think the words are still very thought provoking for us now.

You can read a bit more on Mercy here.

Look up today, I will be. :)

The August Garden in September

I took pictures of the tank garden back in August, but since I couldn't post them, I thought I would now.  I have lots to say about all the flowers, but I'll just let that all go for now, ha! :)

So, here is the photo bombardment!

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The "new" tub really filled in!  You can see it here before.

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It's been a great year for the tank garden (you can see how much it's grown from a few posts back).  There was quite a bit of experimenting as always.  Things that didn't work well, things that did, and so on.  I'm already planning for next year and the mums haven't even bloomed yet!

Have a great weekend!