Here a Chick, There a Chick!

Freedom Ranger Chicks

Everywhere a Chick, Chick!

The farm is a whirlwind.  Our first order of chicks arrived last week.  50 Freedom Ranger chicks.  We are raising these as meat birds.  I know it's horrible to think of that when you look at these cute little guys, but that's the reality. 

Our goal is to raise healthy birds that will grow up on our pasture in the sunshine (as soon as they grow in their feathers).  We will know exactly what they have been fed.  That's a very good thing in my opinion.

Not quite a week old...growing wing feathers.

The chicks have heat lamps to keep them nice and warm until they get to be about 3 weeks old.  Then they will transition to living outside and eating lots of bugs along with a gmo-free grain ration.

Life is good. 

blessings,

pam

Recalibrating

The Living Water Quilt has been mailed!!  Through the years I've nagged others (gently, of course!) to label their quilts, so I couldn't allow this one to leave without doing the same.  When so much has transpired during the making of a quilt, the labeling task becomes even more challenging.  I'm wordy by nature and tend to complicate my endeavors.  Which means that labeling required much mental energy to say what needed to be said without writing a book.

I'm relieved to have the quilt done and shipped.  When the fundraiser concluded, I went from being exhilarated, to numb, to lost.  I tend to forget about that last stage.  Lostness (I think I'm making up a word...sorry about that) at the completion of a big project or reaching of a goal is a common occurrence for me.  I guess it's not something one can really plan for....You just have to walk (or wander) through the cloud of lostness when it arrives.

I think I have emerged from this particular cloud.  It's interesting to note how God timed all of this.  The fundraiser went from January to March which is a relatively slow time on our little farm.  And here we are at April and our piece of the world has come alive with green and growth and the many wonders (and much work!) of Spring.


Project 40
More strips have arrived along with one completed lap blanket!  (Thanks Kathy and Carol E.)

This lovely lap blanket was sent by Kathy!

Close-up so you can see this great stitch pattern

Completed lap blanket from donated strips. 
Thanks again, Strippers!

Farmy Stuff

Pastures are greening up!  The cows and sheep are enjoying the grass.  I notice that NONE of them are pining for the dry hay of winter.

Can I do the same?  Move forward into this season without looking back and longing for the past?

Lord, please help me to be content with this day, this season, this weather, this work, this life.

This is the day that the Lord has made,
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
                          Psalm 118:24


Quilty Stuff

My latest creation:  A quilt top with bunny ears,
an arm, and a glove sticking out the top!

Pieced backing for the Amish Bullseye.
Held by my multi-tasking son!

Clipped to the table for pin basting. 
I gave up basting on the floor with one of my pregnancies. 
(It's not pretty when a preggo quilter can't
get up off the floor!)

Quilting the outer round of each block to get the pins out.

The Amish bullseye quilt is pin basted.  I'm quilting some basic lines attempting to get the majority of the pins out before this quilt gets put aside for the summer.  I prefer thread basting over pins, but am trying to eliminate the need for both of them.  I'll go back and quilt lots more after the pins are gone.

Quilting from back. 

May your day be blessed,
pam

Assorted Updates

First up, I have to thank all my Quilty Girls for the sweet response that you gave my email earlier this week.  Wow!  You are so precious.  I fretted for weeks about telling you that I had started a blog and about the effort to raise money for a well in Africa.  It sounds kind of silly now.  I was worried that I would be bothering you and tooting my own horn, or something like that.  Also, since it cost some $ to sign up with the newsletter provider, I had to wonder if it wouldn't just be better to donate that money directly to Blood Water Mission.  I was worried that you wouldn't want to give a donation towards building the well.  I was scared....the enemy was at work.


Once the newsletter was sent, I was filled with joy by your encouraging emails AND your generous donations to Blood Water Mission!!! 

I need to alert you to one more thing.  A number of you that posted comments have your contact info set up as a No-Reply Blogger.  That means that when you write a comment, I can't write back to you!  This is Dreadful!!  PLUS...I WON'T be able to contact you when you win the contest!! 

So here's what you do: 
Click on your blogger profile...(that's your name and little picture), click edit and then make sure "show my email" is checked.  Please get this changed ASAP!


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Update on the animals. 

The hen got her splint off last week.  She's walking good as new.  I still don't know what was wrong and she's not telling.  I'm pretty sure she would have done most anything to get that splint off!

Bob, the bottle calf, has been adopted by Bambi.  She nurses right out in the pasture!  It's a beautiful thing to see an orphan be adopted and loved.  Unfortunately the calf keeps having infections in her umbilical stump.  I'm awaiting a call from the vet. I'm guessing he will need to open the area up and peek inside.  I'm sure she will love that. 


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Project 40

Strips for this one came from assorted donors.  Thanks!

These strips all came from Val.  I tried to mix these in with other strips, but they were quite
insistent on living together!  The strips were right!  It turned out warm and lovely.

2 more finishes!!  Hooray!!  The "ready to give" pile is growing.  I'll be making a delivery soon.  These are so warm and cozy-feeling in my lap as I stitch them together. 
Thanks to all the "Strippers" that keep sending in 40 inch strips!! 


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Quilting

I am so easily amused.  I have been sewing scrappy 9 patch blocks for months and months.  Lately I've grown weary of them. 

I see this picture:

in this book:

and I'm off and running again.....basically with just a wee little twist on the basic 9 patch block.  Don't ask me why this slightly altered 9 patch makes my heart sing....it just does.

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Blood Water Mission Update

We are rocking!!  We just crossed the 25% mark on donations to build a well in Africa!!
What? You haven't donated yet??? 

No time like the present.  Donations made today enter you in 2 drawings!!
You might win the Living Water Quilt AND the "Big" give-a-way! (Big give-a-way ends Wednesday, February 6)


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This is the last day to enter the Big Give-a-Way! 
Drawing for the fabulous prize package happens February 6!


Much love to all of you!
May your day be blessed.
pam


Linked to:  Cat Patches NewFO

today's name

In my dreams, I am a Braveheart type character wearing a cape (usually quilted, of course!) and standing up to fight the injustices of the world. 

Today, I'm not much of a Braveheart.  Today I am Tenderheart. 
When I am Tenderheart (yes, I've been named this on a number of other days, too), I grieve the sorrows of the world.  I grieve my own sorrows and losses, but also those of others.  I never particularly want to be Tenderheart (I want the cape, remember!), but once I'm in the thick of it, I usually find it an ok place to visit. 

Perhaps God needs for some of us to play the Tenderheart role each day.  Do you wonder what that role might be?  For me, the role includes some quiet time, some tears, lots of prayer, some puttering and cleaning.  Today will most likely include some charity sewing and finishing of Project 40 lap blankets, too. 

Tenderheart or Braveheart....God is good all the time. 

So what is your "name" today? 

*******************************************

And now for a few fun sheepy pictures that I took last fall. 
Two of my sheep were certain that my camera case contained snacks!

"Do you think she's got snacks in here?"

"I bet she keeps them under here!"

"Let's just drag off the whole bag....she'll never miss it!"

"Well fine then.  We didn't want your stupid old bag anyway!"

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If you haven't made a donation to help build a well in Africa, PLEASE do it today!! 

May your day be blessed,
pam

chickens and quilts

the victim!

My children have been worrying about one of our hens who has been limping for a few days. 
She has no obvious injury, but today I decided to pay homage to my nursing education and apply a splint! 

custom made splint--only the best for this girl!

"I've GOT to get this thing off!!"

"I'll help you, Sister!"

Can you tell that I love living out here with hubby, kids, and critters?!!  I'm in heaven. 
Life is good.

Now a bit about quilting. 
I've been making more hand pieced stars.  These are soooo fun! 
If you don't know how to hand piece, you NEED to learn from Cindy Blackberg!  She's awesome!

Each block measures a little over 4 inches.  These are my 3 favorites so far.

May your day be incredibly blessed,
pam


Post linked to Slow Sunday Stitching.

New Year's Arrival

Have you heard the saying, "Be careful what you wish for?" 
I should edit that to, "Be careful what you mention to a farmer!"

Early in December (2012) I mentioned to a new farmer friend that we might want to raise a bottle calf this year for beef.  Of course I was speaking way ahead of being ready for said bottle calf and truly had no thought of this happening until MUCH later in 2013.

So guess who calls on December 31?!

This farmer had a cow that had delivered twins and was rejecting the female calf.  He was taking care of the calf that night but REALLY wanted someone else to take her the next day.  He reminded me that she would be sterile due to twin pregnancy with male/female combo.  A little research tells me that the female from this set of twins is sterile 92% of the time.  In other words, she is destined to be a beef cow.

I battled the pro's and con's all night.  I tend to work out dilemmas while I sleep.  When I got up I was certain the correct answer was "no" since we simply weren't ready, not to mention It's WINTER!

Then I went outside for chores.  The sun was bright and glorious.  I could sense God's hope and blessing.

When next I talked with the farmer, I said "yes".  He didn't waste any time bringing her and a bottle over to me.  She wasn't as vigorous as I had hoped when she arrived, but she was ok.  She had just been fed, so we snuggled her into a stall to rest for about an hour.

When I went to feed her, she was chilled and very weak.  She couldn't stand up or drink from the bottle. 

All my medical background and Mommy instincts kicked in. 

I picked her up and took her directly into the house.  We set up our ICU in the laundry room (which just happens to be my sewing nook, too!)  We warmed up hot packs and bundled her in blankets.  I started dripping warm colostrum (saved in the freezer from when our Jersey delivered in September) down her throat with a turkey baster (thanks Dorothy).  She couldn't even struggle.  Sometimes her eyes would roll back and I was sure she was dying.  She had no muscle tone. 

I called my Mom and asked for prayer.  I knew it would be a miracle from God if she survived the night.

This process all started around 4pm.  At 9pm she pulled her legs up under her.  Minutes later she stood up....wobbly, but up.  We put a dog crate in the laundry room and tucked her in with blankets. 

The next morning she was alive!  She even gave a little moo when I went in to feed her.  She took milk from my trusty turkey baster, but couldn't suck from a bottle.

Around 3pm on January 2, she took the last bit of her first quart of colostrum.  It had taken nearly 24 hours to get just one quart in her.  I knew she would get dehydrated if we didn't pick up the pace a bit.  Then another miracle occurred!  She latched onto the nipple of my calf bottle and started sucking.  Next thing I knew, she had drained her 2nd quart of colostrum!!  Praise God!  I broke out in songs of praise.  What a victory! 

This morning (January 3) I took the calf out to meet Bambi, my milk cow.  I had Bambi in the milking stanchion.  First I took the baby up to her head.  Bambi sniffed it and licked its nose, then promptly went back to eating.  I pushed the calf around to her udder and squirted milk on the calf's nose.  It took about 60 seconds for her to figure out the logistics and latch on! 

I don't know if Bambi will adopt and mother the calf, but even if she will just let the calf nurse at milking time it will be a BIG help.  I'm very hopeful for this little one, but I keep reminding myself and my children that she has an uphill battle for a while longer.  God-willing, the calf will grow in strength and health each day.

May your 2013 be filled wonder and many blessings from God.

blessings,
pam


Post linked to:
Simple Lives Thursday
Homestead Blog Hop