In A Bookish, Quilty Mood

A camellia to honor Jen! Photo courtesy of my husband. People enter our lives for a reason, a season, forever. Sometimes those distinctions bleed into one another, so I can't rightly say how Jen S. fits; more than a reason, not quite a season? Yet one solid purpose was to proffer Liner Notes as a title for the author's page at the conclusion of my novels. For the last few days, I've been reading the final quarter of Home and Far Away , which is definitely my favourite story emerging from, well, not merely my creativity, but as a gift from God. To whom I credit all my fictional and life efforts, but especially the writing. My almost twenty-year literary path has been one of fun, exploration, tears, and self-examination, among other treats. This morning, as I completed the novel, I then read the Liner Notes . If you aren't into music, or merely stream all your songs, Liner Notes hearkens to the day of vinyl, where the artist or recording company spilled a little or a lo...

I snapped this photo earlier today. I so LOVE this quilt! This morning feels like a good while ago, what with a deluge of rain falling, causing flooding all over Humboldt County. Highway 101 was even closed near College of the Redwoods, both sides of the freeway inundated with water. We spent an uneventful day, thankfully, although keeping track of a nearby field that kept looking more like a lake. The chickens had some outdoor time, mostly spent under the awning near the coop. They happily dug through gravel, no idea what they found so intriguing, and I'm also glad they can't tell me. Only four eggs today, WHEW! Take a break girls. But all of that wasn't on my mind when I coined today's title. More to matter was peace, grace, love; all those I experienced in great waves very early this morning, wiping my teary face on the top edge of the Cornflower quilt , what I've been snuggling under for the last couple of weeks, wanting a full-size cozy, what with winter knocki...

Camilla on the far left, a Barnevelder checking out box #2, while another hen inspects box #4; chicken photos from yesterday, courtesy of my husband.   Yes, I KNOW laying eggs is what chickens do. Young, healthy, happy chickens who apparently don't care that tomorrow is the winter solstice. Chickens whose instincts are so deeply embedded that for thousands of years producing eggs ranks right up there with scratching for food, searching the highest spot for sleep, and clucking for no obvious reason. Okay, the last one is my addition; we just made an emergency visit to the run to confirm no predators had infiltrated because one of those ridiculous hens was clucking her dang head off! I kinda know, or assume (for better or worse) I know why she was being so vociferous; they want out of the run. LOLOL! Sorry chickies, not today. The run isn't under water like it was a few days ago, ahem, because 1) It hasn't rained in several hours and 2) My husband extended the trench that lie...

Too many nice photos to simply chat about chickens. Probably a Welsummer egg due to the speckles. But yes, the hens are LAYING like there's no tomorrow! Five of the eight, we think, are acting as if winter doesn't matter, youth has no bearing, and who cares if the solstice is right around the corner! That's what those chickens would be saying, if they could do more than cluck, cluck, cluck. The other Welsummer egg, freshly washed, why it appears so dark. Am I really one of those chicken owners who feel it necessary to display various eggs? I guess so.... I have a lot of pictures to share, of eggs, and the beach, and coasters completed. None of the hens, lol, maybe in the next entry. We're heading into the homestretch of Advent, Christmas preparation, Hanukkah. Heading into what I hope is a quiet time, a time of reflection, thankfulness, peace. A time where I want to embrace my faith in Christ Jesus, revel in grace, eat some eggs. Eggs.... Oh my goodness, how did the Bar...

  Good and evil and Christmas coasters in the making.... And chickens. It's the third week of Advent, which I didn't mention on the last post, over which I then inwardly chided myself, but sometimes not everything lands in an entry. The Bondi Beach shooting had occurred, that didn't get into the last post either. Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were murdered, allegedly by their son. The list of awful incidents seems unending, and yet, a miracle is nearly due. How to slot waiting for the birth of Christ into my daily, and mostly mundane, activities; we're getting three to four eggs a day, Camilla still the star, but then her Barnevelder sisters are pretty cool too, laying eggs a good two months before the average Barnevelder hen. Fussy the Chicken raised HECK yesterday when she emerged from the coop, all her sisters out free ranging. Cluck cluck CLUCK brought me to find Fussy in the run, and it took five minutes of crooning/cajoling her to where her coop-mates were forag...

Fabric with dots is Aerial View. The other is Lands End. I like the colour blue. In lots of shades. And pink. In many hues. And I like the weight of Ruby Star Society fabrics, especially for EPP. Put those together, and tonight I have much of another block for my Eden quilt sorted. I also like making blocks that have a center hexagon, lol! Cornflower blocks , Eden blocks; what I appreciate is simply stitching around a basted shape, not worrying if center points meet up. I realized that while making the Cornflower blocks, and it's reinforced with these little beauties. Earlier today I put fabric on the design wall, but I'm keeping this quilt under wraps until it's gifted, as it's a surprise. Not in time for Christmas, but hopefully before February. Large squares will lend themselves to being quickly turned into a top, but as I plan to hand-quilt this project.... It's going to take a few weeks of evening stitching. Yet having completed the design element freed me to ...