Wordless Wednesday | Hard Golfing

I sure can hit the ball hard….hard right into the muddy bank!

Growing greener

Since planting my garden in April, it has been loving this warm weather. I started most of it from seed this year, so it has been fun to watch everything sprout up and grow. I’ve had to replant some peas and peppers, but everything else seems to be growing really well.

I can’t wait to put some cool ranch dressing on this crunchy lettuce!

Not everything is just green around here. My favorite little orange flowers are blooming and my daylilies are getting ready to burst all yellow.

Modern Maze Quilt

Last fall I started a queen-sized quilt that I wanted to make for myself. This was the first, very large quilt to attempt – so I started simple. I picked an easy pattern (out of the Modern Basics book) called a Modern Maze that was the same block organized in a different rotation for each row.

I’ve had the top of the quilt done since December and it was one of my goals to complete it by the time summer rolled around.

You might remember the pictures of the backside of the quilt that I wrote about in January.

I sent it to Omaha to Aimee at Splendid Stitches and she had the whole thing quilted in less than a week. I’ve had my quilt completed for a couple of months – but now that it is warm enough out, I could finally put it on our bed and I’m so happy with it!

I took it to “show-n-tell” at the local quilt guild meeting and they loved it as well. I can finally cross this off the list and move on to the next project. I have a pattern for a Christmas wall-hanging, so that is next!

DIY | Gourd Birdhouse Tutorial

For Mother’s Day, I got a little crafty (with my beloved gourds of course – Ronny might call me obsessed!). I created fun birdhouses to give as gifts. I did quite a bit of research on how to correctly dry my gourds and store them. I wrote about that here.

I waited about 6 months until they were totally cured and dried so that I could hear the seeds rattling around inside. I decided to make my mothers and grandma a birdhouse – just in time for Mother’s Day. Here is the tutorial:

Gourd Birdhouse

Supplies: Gourd(s), rubber gloves, mouth & nose mask, bleach, sandpaper, drill & drill bits, wire, twine.

1. Start by taking fine sandpaper to the mold spots on the gourd. {be sure you are wearing your gloves and mask…you don’t want to breath in mold! I have proof that I wore mine.} My gourd had a lot of wrinkles, so I had to be a little careful with the sanding so it didn’t leave a lot of marks.

2. After you remove the mold, give the gourd a diluted bleach bath. This will help get some of the mold off. Then be sure to let it dry.

3. After it is dry, start with the bottom and drill 3-5 small holes. This will allow for any drainage of water that gets into the birdhouse.

4. Next, drill a hole through both sides of the gourd underneath the stem in order to hang your gourd.

5. To create the hole for the birds, make sure to research what kind of birds might be in your area to use it. I used this chart and decided to create about a 2-inch hole. You can use a large drill bit, but I decided to make several small holes in a circular pattern where I wanted my bird opening.  

6. Punch out the center of the hole, or use the drill bit to “cut-through” to the surrounding holes. Then sand the edges smooth.

7. Pull the “innerds” out. Some of the websites that I found said to leave a few of the seeds inside to help attract birds.

Almost done!

8. To finish it up, you can use spray paint or  just a polyurethane coating. The paint or coating will keep the gourd from rotting. Here is an example of a “hammered” textured spray paint I used on most of the gourds, but I left my favorite gourd natural and just used the clear polyurethane coat.

9. In order to hand the gourd, Ronny helped me put a small wire through the stem hole. I then tied jute twine (because that is what I had – you could use wire or any other type of hanging material) to the wire and hung from my tree.

Playing opposites

Four years ago, my sister and I took this picture.

Two and a half years ago, my sister and I took this picture.

Today, we will be playing opposites as she graduates from college. Onto the next chapter for her. Congrats Miss Emily – we love you!

Wordless Wednesday | A Country Drive

There are not many things better than cows and sunsets.

Haiku | green rain

Did you know that I like poetry? I wrote a poem once for my Grams and even got it published. When I find it I’ll share it, but I just remember the first part,

I love my Grams, her name is LaRue.
And when you are feeling sad, she has enough love for two.

Very elementary but the rest is pretty good as I remember. In High School Speech competition, I competed for two years in poetry. I think it just has something to do with the thought behind the words that sway together in a melodious rhythm.

I don’t take time to write poetry very often, but I’ve been thinking about getting back into it. I was inspired by the rain last week, so here’s a few shots at my green rain Haiku’s (a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five).

When rain comes in Nebraska,
the green ripens and soaks it in.
The smell sweet and pure.

Raindrops like beads of glass.
Gather on leaves as drops fall above.
The storm is rolling by.

The squall billows and blares.
Sweet drops stare at the thought formerly.
Missed a misfortune by miles.