A Beautiful New Beginning and a Sad and Mournful End

I have not had the opportunity to write a post in some time, simply
because I was off having a beautiful baby girl! She was born on March
16th, and we brought her home to the farm shortly thereafter. Since
then we have had a slew of visitors, and the new Da and I have been
working hard to catch up on some sleep! Now, 6 weeks later we are
trying to establish something of a routine. Our daughter has changed
our lives so much, and we look forward to instilling our love of the
land and the simple life in her as she forms her own distinct
personality.
On a truly sad note, a wonderful personality has left the world for
the great beyond. My dog Jack, who has been my best friend for six
years and counting got into a duel with an animal in the field behind
our house, and very unfortunately he lost. I have been suffering his
loss so deeply while at the same time enjoying every moment and the
"firsts" of each day with my new and lovely daughter.
This has been a very bittersweet time for myself and my husband. I
plan on planting some forget-me-nots on Jacks grave as a symbol of my
true love and devotion to my fallen friend. One day I will tell my
daughter all about Jack and what he meant to me. I will tell her that
when I felt so deeply melancholy and lonesome for him, she kept me
from sinking too low. A smile, the smell of her head, the tiny beauty
of her hands and feet have all kept me from losing myself to
depression. This may sound extreme, but I love Jack more than most
people I know, and any good person who has experienced such devotion,
protection, and admiration from a dog knows that it is impossible not
to return it with equal fervor.
Good bye my beloved pet and friend. I know this pain will soften in
time, but I will miss you until I leave to join you as a drop in the
ocean. And to my new baby girl, thank you. You mean so much to me
already- I now live each day in part for you. I'm glad to have brought
both Jack and our baby home to the farm.

My Homemade Baby Wrap

I registered for one of these at Target, but that was a brand name
M--- wrap that was only available for purchase online, and we did not
receive it as a gift. My husband and I did receive an Eddie Bauer
carrier (which is a nice "manly" style for him), but I still wanted
this style because I thought it would make for easy and discreet
breastfeeding. After buying all the baby stuff we needed though,
things are tight, and I couldn't bring myself to purchase a sling or
wrap for $40.00. I began looking online for sling patterns, and there
are many well done and free tutorials. I browsed them all, and to my
delight found a few pages describing how to make this style wrap. I
went to Wal-Mart for some cheap fabric (even though I loathe the
place), and chose a heavyish unbleached cotton. I purchased 5 yards,
and when I got home, I cut the entire length in half on the fold line.
I tapered about 8 inches on either end to make tying easier. Then, I
used a fray stopper on all of the cut edges. Today I tie dyed the
fabric placing the heart design in the middle of it's length, as that
is the part that will be pulled up over the baby. From here, all you
need is some info on how to tie it and stow your baby, which is
available in print and in video tutorials online. All told, it cost me
about $15.00 for enough material to make two of these wraps. That's a
savings of nearly $25.00 off the price of just one store sold carrier,
and I think it came out rather pretty! Now if the baby would just move
along, I'd have someone to put in it besides the stuffed moose I took
the photograph with!

Tessa's Birthday Embroidery

Here is a picture of the embrodery I just finished for my sister's
birthday. I was going to sew it into a pillow, but I may mount and
frame it for her wall instead. I was pleased with how the work came
out, as it is only my third project and the first of my design. I
first laid out the design on paper, and then I drew it on the fabric
with a "mark-b-gone" sewing marker. I was nervous that the blue marker
would not fully wash out after I had done all that work, but I simply
hand laundered the fabric in warm water, and the marks came out
immediately to reveal my colors and design. I think this is going to
be a long standing hobby for me. It's just so relaxing and convenient
to do before bed, and I delight in even minor accomplishments. And, as
I mentioned before, this is a skill that will allow me to make gifts
for loved ones instead of buying them. I hope as my skill improves
that family and friends will feel my embroidery is worth having. More
to come...

Baby cows!

My husband can vouch for the fact that I am positively mad for baby
cows. I scour the herds we pass in the car for any calves, and I
unfailingly let out a yell when I see one. Today, driving to the dump
we saw, not one, but two new baby cows in this pasture. On the way
back, my husband stopped to humor my obsession, and I pulled out my
phone to take a picture. As I did, the grey brown cow put his head
down and began to push it into the head of the little brown cow with
the white face. I said "Oh, how cute! They're playing!" But as the one
young cow charged a few more times, it seemed that the other cow
didn't like it. In a moment, we saw the offended cow's mother chase
the instigator away, and the baby cow nuzzled his mother
affectionately in thanks. Awwww! If that ain't the cutest thing I've
seen in a long time! In the photo, the babies are squaring off just
left of center, and momma was just behind the white faced cow to the
left.

At the local watering hole...literally!

Some of y'all urbanites get thirsty on a weekend and hit up your
favorite figurative "local watering hole" for a few drinks. What you
get is poison in a glass priced too high, and it leaves you feeling a
little polluted. Now, sometimes of a weekend, we run out and head over
to our local watering hole, literally. It is about ten miles from our
house, but we can't drink our well water, and we know that at over six
dollars for a 5 gallon jug, we couldn't buy water for our cooler as
cheaply as the ride runs in gas. More importantly, though, is that
this water isn't for sale. It comes from a mountain spring deep
underground, pours out of a plastic pipe a the roadside, and tastes
like no other water you've likely ever had. It is fresh and pure,
without those funny undertones that make one not want to drink water.
It is life in a glass, free, and will make you feel clean and healthy
for drinking it. Now I'm no teetotaler, and I like a glass of red wine
or a cocktail myself, but I declare this the best watering hole I've
seen or tasted from yet, and I dare you to argue with me any "morning
after." Cheers!

Productive Relaxation- Embroidery

I bought some secondhand books on crewel embroidery, and expressed a
desire to learn to stitch early on in my pregnancy. My mother in law,
who was raised rather traditionally, learned this skill among others
as a matter of course while being brought up by her widowed mother and
spinster aunt. She bought me two embroidery kits for my birthday of
the kind that have wash out designs printed on them and tell the
crafter what stitches to use and what color floss. This was the first
of the two kits that I completed, an apron with the quaint design
comprised mostly of cross stitches. I washed away the blue under-
pattern and was pleased with my stitchery. Next I embarked upon the
embroidering of a pair of pillowcases that required me to learn some
new stitches and practice some I had already learned. I am presently
working on an original design for a decorative pillow that I intend to
give my teenaged sister for her birthday. This is part of my
resolution to minimize the consumerism in my life by making gifts
instead of buying them. I realized recently why embroidery has proven
to be such a satisfying hobby for me. I am, by nature, a motivated and
energetic person. Pregnancy has sapped me of some of that for the time
being, and I have had to make a serious effort to regulate my
activities and not to exert myself. For instance, at 36 weeks pregnant
I came down with a cold. I tried to make myself stay in bed, but
absolutely could not resist painting the top of my picnic table and
stools a glossy red. Embroidery allows me to be physically sedentary
without being idle, and most projects contain satisfying little bits
to be done in one sitting. I can say, "Oh, I'll sit and embroider
until I've finished this flower, and then I'll start ____." I usually
stitch for at least an hour before bed, and I find it to be a very
soothing undertaking, especially when accompanied by a cup of hot
green tea or cocoa. As I complete other projects and improve my
skills, I will post photos. I will probably start something for the
baby's room next.

Pond scum

In other news...upon taking Brian's cousin and his wife (who I met for
the first time today and liked surprisingly well) out back to see the
catfish pond we discovered that there has been some kind of an algae
bloom that wiped out every single fish in the pond. The cats were just
big enough to start eating, and this is a real dissapointment. We'll
have to see what we can do come spring.