Wednesday 12 September 2012

a little progress.........

Here is a better pic of Mother Chook and the chicks..............she is sort of accepting and refusing them...........but I went over tonight and they were all tucked up underneath her.............
A glorious warm day here..............28degC (82F)
one major problem....
.....for the last 2 months we have had 2ml (8points) of rain...........
wandering around the garden today I snapped this pic of my white irises..........
once I mowed the lawn then I started watering...........I have a big garden so it take a bit to get it all watered............
On my way to the chook shed this morning I had my first heart starter for the season.............chatting on the phone I had to put the basket down to open a gate..........so standing there still chatting I pulled a weed out............then saw another so grabbed it too........next minute a black snake scooted out just beside the plants I had weeded..............OMG...........I screamed into the phone.........poor man on the other end of the phone was asking are you ok.......yep I was fine.........my heart was beating way too fast and I wasn't expecting to see a snake at 8.30am in the morning.......but it went in the opposite direction to me.....
Anyway after the heart slowed down I got some applique done on the SAL quilt...........only part of this block..........missing some thread colours so can't get those for a few weeks as sewing machine thread is not available in town...........but I have finished the machine applique on the house, bird, jeans and the modified block below.........I love the look of the stitches on the back....... 
I'm really getting the hang of the blanket stitch on the machine.........working out the pattern the needle makes to do the blanket stitch so i know when I can pivot for bends and curves etc.
Catch you later..............
Chookyblue

26 comments:

Sharon - Lilabelle Lane said...

Oh My I think I would have collapsed to the group upon seeing the snake! Your SAL Blocks are going great. hugs

jodie said...

oh no, do not like snakes. manoeuvring the blanket stitch on the machine, is it like free motion?

Josie said...

OMG! A snake!! Was it poisonious? OMG! I'll never complain about weeding our dangerous beastie free garden again. So glad you didn't have a closer encounter with it.
Chicks are beautiful as is your SAL block...

Khris78 said...

Oh dear I wouldnt have gone back out :(
Yucky snakes .... Im going to spotlight tomorrow i can send you thread if you like :)

Sharm said...

Wow,that's early for the snakes to be out already! Looks like it could be quite the season for them then.... love the mother hen with chicks & your iris looks just wonderful! I must try to get some white ones to put in here. Your sewing is looking great.... was lovely to come visit with you again.

Yvonne W said...

What a beautiful hen-- lovely black and white pattern on it-- what variety is it? Fancy her not realising that the other chooks are not hers!

gracie said...

So many chicks...too cute. The white Iris is glorious.

Susan said...

So glad Mrs Chook is taking care of the littlies. That machine blanket stitching can get quite mesmerising after a bit - I am always counting as it goes so I can lift my foot at the right time. Enjoy - good that you have blocks prepared so you can motor along and not stop for missing thread colours. (Gosh us City slickers would find that very irritating.)

Fiona said...

oh golly.... I do not like snakes at all.... so dry here too.... your blanket stitching looks great...
Hugz

Jenny said...

Hey Chooky she is the most beautiful mother hen I have seen. I love her feathers, it's like she is wearing a lace shawl.
I bet fairy girl thinks their cool.

Nedra said...

ah, yes, that would make me scream very loud too! no need to apologize! To quote Harrison Ford "Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?!"

Wendy said...

Still loving the look of your chook! Your iris is so pretty, mine are starting to close down as autumn has arrived here.

Salley said...

Brave Chooky. Maternal Chooky. Creative Chooky. What a post!

Michelle Ridgway said...

Gorgeous cookie. Oh I hate Joe Blake's..I would have screamed down the phone too....arrggh!

nimble thimble stitchery-do said...

Chooky, I love reading about your farm life! Your chicken is so pretty, I dont think Ive seen one like that here...maybe I live a sheltered life or maybe Canadian chickens are just boring! But at least we only have on venumous snake in Ontario! I have only happened across one, once in the 27 years I have lived in Ontario.
Your blocks look lovely...I'm almost finished but slow going again since I am back to work.
Are you starting another SAL?
Enjoy the warmth of your sunshine and I will push some of our rain your way!

Maria said...

Another gorgeous photo of your mummy chook! (I'm a city girl who would love to keep a few chooks but DH is vehemently against it!) I also 'met a snake' in our backyard this week...but 'my snake' was one of those gentle green tree snakes...still gave me a bit of a fright though :-)

Sandi said...

Love the photo of mother hen! What sort of chook is she? We have three Rhode Island reds. We bought them for border collie pup! She rounded up the neighbor's chooks one day - there they all were in our front yard, happily pecking away with the dog keeping an eye on them all - priceless! Your white iris is lovely. We too, need rain here, I think it has been about fifty days since it rained!

Susie said...

Great work on the machine applique! I tried blanket stitch once and it turned out more like zig zag. Tried adjusting tension etc but I gave up - it still appliqued so wasn't that fussed. Need to practice I suppose. I hope you get some more rain...I took kids to the park earlier (walking) and got drenched (they were cosy and dry in the pram).

loulee said...

((Shudder)) Just had a quick catch up, still thinking about that snake!!
What a pretty cook. Cute babies too.

Deb R said...

Aww chookies look gorgeous!!! Id scream too with the snake...yuck! good luck with the buttonhole on the machine.....not my most favourite task!

Sue said...

Hmmm decisions, decision? Chooks with babies or snakes?....I'll have more chickens thanks

Fairy Floss Stitches said...

where is the photo of the snake?...not like you to miss a photo opportunity!! ...gosh I HATE snakes!

Shiralee Stitches said...

Cute chickies.......Wow, you are really booming along with the SAL blocks. Great job on the machine applique. I took a while to get the drill on the stitch in my head too and it's so frustrating when I get it wrong and the stitch goes 'west'....has happened a few times and had to unpick......not on my SKOW though. I have been needleturning them.....slow progress!!!!

Valda Mason said...

I love your chooks. I miss ours, the fox's came and that was that. We haven't bothered since. Kids loved them, some of them they dressed up and pushed around in a dolls pram. Yikes!! snakes so early we have had a stumpy tail, nothing as exciting as you with the snake. Take care.

Love Bears All Things said...

I know my progress on the project has lagged a little but I'm so glad I did this and learned to do needle turn applique.
Love the Chooks.
Mama Bear

Diane-crewe said...

oh my goodness! Had I seen a snake I would have been out of the COUNTRY!!! I love the markings on your hen .. she is beautiful xx hope the chicks are thriving x