How to wrangle a bunny

When you are in need of some bunny-wrangling, call me.
I am superb at catching them. Say, your bunny has been chased around the house by the dog and dodges for cover beneath the bed...for instance...

• Step 1. Obtain carrot and a string of about three feet in length. Any color you choose.
• Step 2. Cut two small notches in sides of carrot, and tie string to sit in these notches(this is so it won't move)
• 3. Lower carrot/string combo behind the headboard.
• 4. Wait(This may take a while. Bunnies are notoriously patient.).
• 5. Lure the bunny towards the outer area of the bed by calmly calling, "Heere Bunny, niiice bunny".
• 6. When bunny gets to that edge, swiftly capture him.

Disclaimer: Bunny will undoubtably be very freaked. He will hold the carrot between his teeth for the next five minutes while you attempt to sooth him.

The Adventures Of Kate

So it has been below freezing all week. With a mixture of moisture means everything is either mushy mud, or frozen ice.
Today's high is 30 degrees. Yesterdays low was 14. So in other words, its cold.
Well, being the ever early-planner-of-things, I waited until the very last day of hay to decide, "Huh..I think I need hay.."
So I went to get the keys for my Ford Excursion--no keys to be found. So then I went outside to see if they were in the truck, and what do ya know? The door was stuck shut. Completely frozen shut.
Unsure of what to do, I asked my mother. Her response? "Take the Buick."
....
Let it be know this is a 1993 Buick LeSabre CAR.
So, the back windshield was frozen over, and the passenger side window was iced, so any time I needed to turn, I had to roll that window down to check. Did you know there are four turns between my place and the place where we store the hay?
So anyways, after slipping around on the road four miles over there, pull into The Hay Lady's drive and get out.

I popped the trunk to learn it was full of babe heads(these are the mannequin heads that hairdressers in training practice on. My sister just graduated cosmetology school.). So I can just imagine what she's seeing from inside her house. 

There's a kid here. She's getting out of this awful ugly car.

Hm..Whats that? ARE THOSE HUMAN HEADS?

She's holding them by the hair! And tossing them in the front seat. 

Okay okay, now she's going around back...And into the barn...

Now she's hefting a bale of hay. Hehe, she's not very strong.

Looks so silly..

Oh, what's she doing now? Is she putting hay...into her car trunk?

Sure 'nuff.

So then I slammed the trunk shut and got into the car(after capturing these pictures of course).
And slipped my way home.

So, let it be a lesson learned, when you need hay, never ever take your Buick, because neighbors will think you are crazy.

 

Sign Language and Other things

When you want to learn Sign Language, don't be fooled.
Its called sign LANGUAGE for a reason. It's not just something you pick up in a day or two-I've been learning it for months now and I still barely know enough to start a conversation. But something that has helped tremendously was Signing Savvy. It's been such a huge help. So if you are interested in learning ASL then you definitely need;

• ASL Pro
• Signing Savvy
• LifePrint

 And I suggest finding a tutor or friend willing to help you. I, on the other hand, love a challenge and didn't bother to find anyone. Which has been difficult and discouraging at times, but if you ever want to finish this and be fluent, you need to stick to it.

I plan to get very fluent in ASL and then begin witnessing to the Deaf. I have always loved being able to converse through emotions and using your hands is the perfect way to tell The Gospel.


I know that this is off subject from my usual HA postings, but the sky is crying profusely today and it's supposed to get worse tonight; the weatherman is saying up to 8" of snow. So I'm getting out my coveralls, mud boots and camera and going to go any play in the rain tomorrow.

I'll let you know later.

As Promised

As promised, a picture of Mish.

Some things...

As you have noticed, I have not posted.
Mainly because there has not been anything to post about.
Except at this moment I am eating a FlufferNutter. But that's a different story.
So, I will simply talk about my new fish.
Mishter Mish the Fish. He's the newest member at Highland. I will get some pictures on tomorrow.
He's a goldfish about the length of half my thumb. He's gold(DUH) with two itty-bitty black spots.

We went to two different pet stores today, looking at their chameleons and bearded dragons and all the things that make me go "OOH!" or "MOM!" whilst I point and hop up and down. (Note; snakes are not among these, but tortoises and turtles are).
We saw Dwarf hamsters and Guinea Pigs and Parrots and a Parakeet even whistled at me.
We saw a Shih-Tzu that was so bouncy and playful she about took my arm off. She was so adorable. I wanted to take her home.
Now I am thinking I want to work in a pet shop.


Oh well, I shall add it to the list of things I need to do!

The Three Little Things

There are three things I've decided to do in my life.
I've been thinking a lot lately, and I have noticed that I have been pretty sissy lately.
I've not done things because I don't want to be afraid or uncomfortable.
But you know what?
RUBBISH.
I am going to live.
So I have three things I am going to remind myself of every time I do something.

1. Fearless
2. Courageous
3. Stupid

1. Fearless. I will be as fearless for as long as possible. When I can no longer be fearless, I will be
2.Courageous. I will have courage, even through my fear, and I will carry through.
3. I will be a little stupid, because, hey, if you are always thinking with your head, you aren't going to have much fun.

But I do promise to my you my friends, I won't be too stupid.


P.S, I'll be smart when being stupid.

The Days To Come

These past few days have been busy. I'm not making excuses. I'm just explaining myself.

Thanksgiving was a busy three days. We didn't do any Black Friday shopping(too full and lazy) so instead we just laid around and did nothing but eat candy and watch Ugly Betty.
Now, I'm sure you want to hear all about my weight gain and dieting.
Oh...
But something did happen on Wednesday.
If I haven't mentioned my Grandma(whom I call Mamma), I will mention her now.
She is an amazing quilter. Besides making awesome and intricate stuff, she makes quilts for every occasion. Weddings and anniversary's and babies and and and! I could go on.
So a few years after I was born, she began making a quilt for me, one for my brother and one for my sister.
She made me a Sunbonnet Sue.

Please excuse the crudeness of this. I couldn't get it to sit right..(by the way, the quilt is sideways)

I have tried and tried to pick my favorite Sue, and there are a few I really love, but this one has to be my favorite.

This photo hardly does it justice, but this is the backing(that, might I add, I chose out!).

The purple is the binding. Which, I also picked out :)

As well as making the quilt, Mamma wrote a story to go along with it.
Here it is.

Katey's Quilt

"Sunbonnet Sue"

I had never liked the Sunbonnet Sue quilt pattern and never wanted to make a quilt using that pattern. I certainly did not like hand work--that is, until I went to my first quit show, here in (blank, blank), at Century II in 1999! There I saw a beautiful Sunbonnet Sue quilt that was made with Reproduction Prints. I took a picture of the quilt to show to Bob. The next day I went back and bought some fabric  from the vendors at the show to start the quilt for Katey. I purchased the rest of the fabric from Gramma's Calico Cupboard quilt shop here in (blank). She has the best collection of Reproduction Prints in this area.

Bob and I traveled often to Hanover Kansas to see his mother, Kathryn F., who was living in the Assisted Living Facility there. As we sat with her and visited, I felt like I needed something to do. I took the fabrics along and basted the edges of the quilt pieces so I could applique them to the white background. But Kathryn didn't really like that. She said I was working instead of visiting. It didn't take long until she was asking "What did you get done on the quilt?" and other residents in the Long Term Care facility were stopping by her room to see the blocks that were done. The blocks soon became a source of price for her.

These quilt blocks traveled many, many miles before it was completed. It made at least two trips to Oregon and the west coast when we went to visit my brother Dean and his wife, Lila. It made a trip to the wast coast when we went to North Carolina to see lighthouses. It went to Maine where we vacationed. I can't honestly say I got much done on it when we traveled, but I always took it along just in case I wanted to work on it or had time.

With the completion of the appliqued blocks, it was time to set the blocks together. I had wanted to mix and match the prints, using them as sashing between the blocks. But that did not look good! So I matched each Sunbonnet Sue's dress with sashing and was pleased with the outcome. I didn't have enough fabric for one sashing strip, could no find any more fabric like it--and I can guarantee you, I looked and looked in every shop I could find--but there just wasn't any more fabric! I finally compromised by piecing together the leftover fabrics that I had in order to finish the sashing for that block. (*I haven't yet found that block...)

With the completion of the top I needed to get fabric for the backing. I put the quilt away until I had time to look for fabric. It was put away for a long time as I worked on other quilts. In June 2007--I told you it was a long time!-- Bob and I took Katey, Taylor Ann and Brooks with us to (blank, blank), to have a day with the grandkids and to visit the most incredible quilt shop in existence--at least as far as I was concerned.

The Buttonhole, the quilt shop, was a very large shop, with a huge number of bolts of fabric of every kind and color imaginable. Katey looked and looked at fabrics before she made her final choice, the lavender/purple flowers on white fabric that complemented the quilt top so perfectly. She also picked the fabric for the binding of the quilt. Good job Katey!

It still took a while before I got around the quilting her quilt. I shadow stitched around each Sunbonnet Sue, which is an outline stitch making them stand out. Then I used stitch in the ditch around the blocks. This quilt was about 7 years in the making from start to finish. But of course, I didn't work on it much at a time and it did a lot of sitting in the storage box until I got around to working on it.

For one who didn't like handwork, I really did enjoy doing the applique on this quilt. I found I did like the Sunbonnet Sue quilt pattern, especially when it's made in Reproduction Prints!

So, with lots of love, Katey, I give you your Sunbonnet Sue quilt. 

Love ya, Mamma and Mampa,

Mampa drove many miles to quilt shops, helped me pick colors and enjoyed seeing you quilt when it was finished.

P.S The Buttonhole quilt shop closed in 2008 due to the drop in economy. That was a sad time in the life of all quilters. 

When I read this, I cried. I don't know exactly why, but it just made me sad. So I curled up beneath the warm quilt, and thought about all the years to come that it would last.
I will be spending a while sleeping underneath this quilt.