Best Laid Plans Deferred

This video along with four others were made

to be posted on my Google+ page.

I'm not really up to taking care of two blogs and Google+.

So...

I'm considering moving eventually to Google+

or

somehow hooking my blog up to Google+

Plans to clean up this blog design will have to wait for rainy or snowy weather this winter. I deleted some things, but it is hard to tell I changed anything.

I like all this clutter, but I suppose it does take a while to load the page?

Card Trick 12" blocks - backs

This is the backs of two Card Trick 12" blocks with only finger pressing done as I hand sewed them. An experiment that proved that I should take the time to iron the seams as I sew because trying to press them all at the end was rather a messy business.

I like these fabric designs and colors, but I am trying to come up with some ideas on how to brighten, lighten up the overall quilt when I put it together.

Maybe, put in colorful sashing strips between the blocks along with colorful borders?

I'm trying to motivate myself to do some painting and I need to box up stuff to go to goodwill.

I would rather work on the quilt blocks and a tea cozy than stack firewood for winter.

The firewood is winning the battle in the cool morning hours. 

Blog House Cleaning

My blog has become cluttered... I just kept adding stuff, but I need to be ruthless and go through my sidebars and dump stuff. Sniff... I have taken some things away, and I'm considering putting some of the things on a another page. I haven't found an easy way to move widgets off the blog. I guess I will just have to re-type them.

 My table is cluttered too... the Card Trick pieces on the ironing board are the wrong size. I cut the blue pieces of paper to use as a guide when I went through them all and checked.

Arrgh... I really don't like cutting out a bunch of little pieces that are almost the same size. I think I will stick to one cutting block at a time for a while.

I was going to sew this quilt on the machine, but I think it will be easier to fit all the pieces together by hand. If I can manage to cut the pieces the right size.

Morgan is so cute overseeing the chickens dinnertime. She will step in and goose a chicken that is being bossy and pushy. Morgan likes peace at supper time.

No dinner tonight... it is hot and no one wants to eat. There are plenty of leftovers if anyone gets hungry.

Well, back to the Card Tricks. Maybe I can get a block sewn together tonight?

2 eggs today.

Friendly Chickens And New Inventions - Word Lens And GLMPS

 The chickens are coming, the chickens are coming!

I took Morgan out for a walk and the chickens saw us and started toward us... eventually they ended up all around us clucking away sending us chicken messages.

They didn't follow us down the driveway though... they stayed in the shade. My chickens are pretty smart.

I have been looking for a quilt block that would lend itself to dark fabric. I am happy to say I now have a stash (thank you Mary G.) and I think this block (CardTricks) works well with dark colors.

Now I just have to cut the block pieces out the correct size and number. I do better when I don't cut so many out at one time. I think I cut too many of one size? Ugh... I'll have to go back and measure.

I have been checking my Google+ page and reading posts. I didn't use Facebook or any other social site and most of my family and friends are not using Google yet, so to fill up some circles I snagged people off the Find to put in some circles to follow and I'm enjoying reading posts by the Google+ team and friends who post things like these two videos.

I'm sure I would eventually hear about these neat things and maybe everybody already does, but they are new to me and I think they are wonderful inventions.

I think I need these!

Two Chickens Make A Cozy Nest

 This Buff Orpington and Australorp have snuggled up for a comfortable nights rest.

They were not at all happy to have me snap the flash in their eyes.

I was out in the coop counting chickens when I found them together. I knew there was a hen in the nest, but didn't realize there were two... I kept coming up one short.

So I went and got a flashlight to check out the back of the coop and then found the missing chicken here. Peep A Boo!

A few weeks ago I experimented again with my dutch oven and seasoned and wrapped some chops, set them on a rack and let them slow cook in the dutch oven with the lid on.

Note: there is a metal rack under the foil packages.

They came out fine. I'll have to try that again.

3 eggs today from 14 chickens... two broody.
Poor girls are too warm or too old or?

Wow! Imagine sitting on top of your houseboat, relaxing and gazing out over these boats to the city beyond!

Well... that's what my niece was doing when she snapped this photo of the view from her new house... houseboat!

I think living on a houseboat must be such a blast!

The photo doesn't show it that well, but the city scene of tall buildings is grand.

I'll have to ask her if people have a chicken or two on their boats? Fresh eggs!

Staple A Design Wall

A design wall has been on my wish list, but getting the supplies to make one eluded me until a few days ago I ran across a piece of felt I had stored away in a stack of old fabric.

Instead of folding it up and storing it away for another ten years I took stapler in hand and stapled the felt on the wall.

There are only about 12 staples around the edges so the felt will be easy to remove and in the meantime I have a neat place to layout my block pieces before I sew them together.

The stapled green felt is just a temporary trial type venture, but so far it is a winner!

These two blocks are already sewn, but it was a real help figuring out which way to turn the blocks pieces. You'd be surprised at how easy it is to get the pieces turned the wrong way round.

I watched this video a while back and the staple idea stuck with me, so when the green felt showed up it wasn't fleece but I thought why not give it a try. When I ever get to a fabric store again I will buy some fleece. In the meantime...

I liked the Fourth of July quilt so much that I decided to use some of the blocks (the ones with 4 1/2 centers) to use up some of the fabric I have along with the new chicken theme fabrics.

This is fun! I love putting these one off blocks together by hand. But I got my sewing machine out on a table to use to put the next quilt together.

Now I need to decide if having a colored felt is better than white, or gray... or blue or?

The chickens are fine, but they have cut way back on laying eggs... some days no eggs.

My New Teapot Is Naked

How sweet is this! It is so graceful. Thank you again Mary G.

This teapot is a pleasure to pick up! The handle feels so good in my hand and it is so well balanced overall.

Poor baby... teapot needs a cozy! I think I need to make a chicken cozy.

Yes, a nice warm chicken cozy with a tail and head and wings and...

Maybe with ruffles? hmmm... a chicken with ruffles?

Box of tea... hard to see behind the handle. Lovely card and it all came in a beautiful package!

I thought the plastic container the tea came in would be perfect for holding spools of thread!


The boxes of individual tea bags are too cute to throw away.

Question: I would love to have a nifty idea come my way for a re-use for them.

Ideas welcome!

Salt Shaker Terrarium

This is a little treasure! Imagine moss and little flowers growing in that tiny environment. So cute!

Click on this photo and it will enlarge so you can see the flowers.

M. bought this little gem and sent me a photo and said it was ok to post the image.

M. is the lovely lady who gave me lots and lots of fabric. I made the Fourth of July quilt with that fabric!

Thank you again M. I wonder if it is ok to use her name? I'll have to email her and ask. Or you can send me an email?

Next post will be of a beautiful teapot and tea that she gave me to thank me for the apron and things I made. I loved making them! I enjoyed making things for her and the hand sewing too. So relaxing!

I was very, very surprised.

I will have some questions to pose... about uses for the tea containers. I already thought up a use for the divided tea box.

I suppose I'm spending too much time setting up my Google+ but it is really fun and I enjoy working with all the new bells and whistles.

I'm looking forward to when Google combines Blogger into Google+. All the blogging, etc., will become so much faster and easier.

I really do have to get another monitor... one with a camera! I'm looking forward to using Google+ Hangout and visiting with my daughter and grandkids.

Hangout

I don't see why I shouldn't have two monitors. I can have a movie going on one or a game... and visit on the other weeeeeee!

Google+, +1 And Me

Google+

Wow! I got an invite!

I'm a social network virgin.

I tried to set up Facebook, but gave up.

But...

I'm liking this +1

Here is a bit of info.
There are other videos about +1 on YouTube.

I may have sent you an invite.
If that was not wanted, I apologize.
If you do want an invite,
and I didn't actually send you one...
let me know if you want an invite.

I'm still clicking around on everything
getting the hang of things.

I'm hoping that my blog will somehow become a part of +1 and it will be a one stop shopping place. Well, not shopping really, but sharing, chat, video, etc. I hate having to remember different passwords and having to navigate to different sites. I hope this is home for a long while!

My +1 page is coming along nicely. I haven't quite figured out some things, but I'm working on it. What that means is that I have to read the directions. Read directions? Who me?

Oh, Wow... I just noticed on Preview that there is a +1 button at the bottom of my post. Neat!

If someone clicks on it, I wonder if it means my blog and the post or just the post will be added to their list of +1's or? So much to find out...

OK... I just clicked on the +1 and the URL for my blog and just this post showed up in the +1 list. I read that YouTube is going to have a +1 button. Now I'm on to find out about Sparks. Wish I had a monitor with a camera then I could use Hangout.

Chicken Dances

You can tell what I have been doing...

spending too much time watching YouTube?

Dancing Prairie Chickens

Cree Indian Prairie Chicken Dance

Prairie Chicken Battle Dance

Stanford Students Chicken Dance

My chickens don't do the Chicken Dances.



Our chickens run around like these chickens.
But... no pigs!
Kinda nice they are all friends.
Maybe the pigs think they are chickens?

Library Book Bag

I'm not doing much of anything constructive lately, but Kristine has a lot going on... one of the latest was a book bag design craft day where people could decorate a bag with crayons.

Yes, crayons!

This is the bag Kristine decorated. Lovely!

People wanted to buy it... no... she made it as an example of what the kids and adults could do.

Another neat thing is that the bag is biodegradable. In fact if you leave the bag in the sun for a few weeks it will start to break down.

I'm really hoping I get a shot of energy. I've got the Summer blahs... tired, sleepy, not interested in anything... except sewing.

I'm not even reading blogs let alone posting. I just feel sad. That's sad. Is this depression? When I was young people would just say you were lazy and you should suck it up and get on with doing things.

Everyday, I think... tomorrow!
I'll start tomorrow, but I don't.

I've been thinking I should have some liver and onions... that might do the trick?

I'n the meantime I'm going to go ask Kristine for another of her special shortbread cookies. I think I could eat a bag full!

Chicken Driver

Kristine went out to her car and found one of the chickens in her car

checking around the gas and brake pedals.

That's a lesson

in not leaving the car doors open

around chickens.

Car coop?
~

If you bookmark this blog, you can also use the following URL and be notified when I post.

In the Safari browser, if I put a RSS URL in my bookmarks, when a post is made a (1) shows up by the bookmark signifying that a post has been made.

This URL will show the post and photos, but not the blog.

feed://chickensontheporch.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/full

Watermelon For Breakfast and Dynamic Views

The chickens got some watermelon for breakfast along with their lay crumble. No pellets... the feed store was out. They sure go through the crumble much faster than the pellets.

They love the melon. They eat it right down to the outside rind.

I haven't figured out if they are eating all the crumble or just spreading it around on the ground. I would much rather feed pellets.

Surprise. I have two more broody hens. Poor girls. It is much too hot to stay cooped up in a nest box. I guess I will have to shut them out in the chicken pen.

I read about Dynamic View a bit ago, but didn't take the time to find out about how it works.

But today I spent some time and I really like the different ways a blog can be presented.

I also liked looking at my blog this way ... http://chickensontheporch.blogspot.com/view/flipcard

If a blogspot blog has settings that allow it this will work... just type the word view after the / and you will be taken to a "Blogger Dynamic Views" page of that blog. example:
http://chickensontheporch.blogspot.com/view

This google video shows all the different views that you can choose to view a blogspot blog.

I like the music too.

I wish there was a way to add a list of the blogs I like to read and read them all at one place. Then I might actually be able to read some of them. 

Happy Fourth 2011

Finished this morning!

Well, almost... I still have to make the label.

Working On Fourth Of July Quilt

Finishing up quilting the Fourth Of July quilt and not doing much of anything else. Hope to have it done by the 4th.

I did get a lot of the paths cleared, but then it rained and thunder stormed, so I went back to working on the quilt.

I use painters tape to mark out the spacing for quilting the borders. I stitch along near to the edges of the tape.

The tape is also neat to use because it picks up any lint, threads, fluff from the batting, etc.

I suppose I could use a pencil to mark the lines, but this way there are not marks to remove.

The chickens are fine and enjoying scratching up the forest floor. Morgan would really like to get back outside. Soon hopefully.