I had to unplug last week; I’m sure you understand. I almost decided to take a week off the blog, but after spending some time in the Meadow, digging in the dirt and talking to chickens, I thought you might like to spend some time there, too. So consider this your invitation. ❤

We have been in severe drought all summer, here in the Western mountains of Maine– see the “S”?– it’s right on top of my house!

We have a huge vegetable garden and went out to water frequently all summer, but here we are, just getting our first tomatoes in mid-September. Haha– look at that big, cracked momma, too long on the vine– reminds me of myself!

I guess we had a better year than many up this way. The DD planted three big rows of onions and garlic. I’m not an onion fan– I think I have some type of allergy, because when I cut them, I tear up so much I can’t see! So she got plenty of grief from me over those three rows. But she got her harvest before the drought got ahold of us… I’m gonna cry me an ocean!

We had plenty of green beans and lettuce all summer. Strawberries were incredible earlier in the season– we planted a variety that was supposed to fruit again in the fall– nothin’ doing. Once July and August started drying us out, everything was pretty poor quality. Except the weeds! Weeds always find a way.

I love pickled beets, so on Saturday, I pulled them all out from a half row we had planted. Compared to last year, they were tiny– most were radish sized. Last year, I had baskets and baskets of them.

I wasn’t about to waste them, so it took some time to process my little gems– boiling, then skinning and chopping them. Isn’t that a pretty sight?

After five hours of work, I had seven little jars. Guess what– I found another time consuming hobby!

I really enjoyed every minute of the process– just living in the real world for an afternoon.

Here were my helpers– you can see Poppy, our rooster, giving his opinions on the matter:

If you ever need a pile of something spread out, hire a chicken. Their life’s work is to make the world level. I accidentally left the gate open and in they came, but there’s no harm at this point in the season. The poor things couldn’t even find so much as a single worm. They love cherry tomatoes– but see how they are all still green on the vine?

There’s still some potatoes and carrots out there to dig up, and quite a few different types of squash I’ll save for Thanksgiving. It’s so much fun to serve your own produce– truly “farm to table.”

Soon everything gets put to bed for the winter. With lovely temperatures in the mid 70s, it does not seem like the cold weather is closing in at all. We’re already planning next year’s garden in our heads. Last year’s garden was crazy– with tomatoes and pumpkins popping up everywhere. We think we liked that better than this organized version.

Back inside, I’m about halfway through quilting the blue shapes on Carefree Highways. I’m just going with straight line ruler work for now. You can go along way with just straight lines, if it’s all you can do!

The squares are getting an easy star shape, that is appropriate, and in the Flying Geese, I’m just extending the lines from the red and white striped blocks. The star points are just getting echoes. It’s what I can do, and it’s a bit hard to see, but I rationalize that the embroidery blocks should be the focus!

I did go back online to see the Houston Quilt Show winners, and it has occurred to me maybe Carefree Highways should just stay home or maybe in a closet! They were incredible– look for that video on YouTube if you have time.

All of what I’m doing on it right now is extremely boring and time consuming– I’m spending about three hours a day broken up between first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I’m not going to have much to say about it for the next couple of months, but I am going to try to just spend a little time on my other UFOs. Some black background fabric arrived in the mail so I can finish my HO HO HO! project.

On the embroidery side, I finished the Cluck bowl fillers and resisted the temptation to make my little chicks pose in the photo!

And the Halloween Twist mini-quilt has two blocks.

So that’s the state-of-affairs for mid-September. I’m leaving for a couple of days next week to see my li’l sweetheart and to do a bit of the New England Shop Hop with my pals. Does your state have a shop hop? Some day I dream of doing every stop– but this year, all I need is five to enter for a prize. Hoping a little outing will lighten things up for me and I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes!

xox
Carol