Rose Gardens and Cats (Foliage and Feline Fridays)

Life is like our plants.  I planted rose bushes last year.  This one did okay last summer, but the bunnies kept eating it.  I thought it was dead after the winter.  Then I saw a small sprout trying to make it.  I had tried to protect my roses last year by putting weed blocker down, however I did not give it a chance to grow because I had chocked it off from life:  air, sun, and water.  God wants us to bloom,  if we hide away, how can we grow.  We need water - God's Word, sunshine - God's Son, and air - the Holy Spirit.  We can't smother our Christian life and not grow in God's love.

The rose bush on the left did die, the bunnies ate it so much, it had no chance.  I found a replacement on clearance for $3, it is a climber.  I'm hoping to keep the rabbits out this summer.  The middle rose is doing good though.  We had a frost last month and my roses did not fare well.  I planted a lemon grass plant on the other side of the white trellis, I'm hoping to keep the bugs away.  The blue pot has catnip, once the catnip gets bigger I will plant some around the rest of the garden.  I also planted marigolds in the beds, I hear Japanese beetles hate them.

My other rose garden only has two plants.  I bought these three years ago, when we moved to MO and kept them in containers until I bought my house.  They are more established, they had to be pruned way back after that last frost.  They have buds, hopefully they will bloom soon.

This blue planter has mint, I need to plant mint around the whole yard to keep the bugs away.  I bought these marigolds at the farmer's market and they are doing so much better than the ones we got at Walmart in the other rose beds.  One day I want a gazebo in the middle of my rose garden, it will just take time.  I have only been in my house for a year.

I see all of these beautiful gardens around town, yet I barely have any leaves.  I had to buy the two bushes on the left, this spring to replace the two that died.  I opened the weed blocker around the bushes, I learned from my mistake.  The middle one is a climber rose, thought I could train it across the fence by my basement, maybe put a trellis behind it also.  Not to mention it was on clearance for $3.  The one on the right is a miniature rose from last year.  I was told to add banana peels to my roses.  I already added some yesterday, will add more as we eat more bananas.  My student's grandmother said she will give us some coffee grounds, we don't like coffee, but gardens do!

I also cleaned up my deck.  I had this lattice my neighbor gave me, I decided to put it on the deck to keep the cats contained.  It worked, until Pippi realized that I I did not have enough lattice for the front of the deck.  Chris also needs to make a gate.  Yesterday she ran out the door straight to the hole that was not blocked by chairs I put to block the front.  Crazy cat.

It is a great spot for us to do homeschooling in the afternoons.

I moved my hammock out here, we have wide overhangs to stick it under when it rains.

My favorite spot to sit with my husband in the evenings.  The cats sit in the window meowing at us to let them out.

I am making this spot into my herb garden.  I have added a couple of more pots.  I just need to buy the herbs.  I want sweet basil, cilantro, oregano, thyme, and more.  I want to paint the deck a dark blue.

This is what I have been doing the past couple of weeks.  It started raining Wednesday and is supposed to continue all weekend.

What is the weather like in your neck of the woods?  I welcome any gardening tips also.

Missy

John Deere Heart Block

I wanted to share this heart block I made last month.  The pattern is from Cluck Cluck Sew.  I tried to do some fussy cutting and was disappointed when I cut off half of the big tractor when I made the heart, but then I saw I somehow matched up the middle tractor(on the seam) without realizing it!  I made this block for Colette who lost her husband in a tragic accident last month.  You can see the finished quilt here.  Kris from Kris Loves Fabric made her a quilt with donated blocks from other bloggers.  She received the quilt this week.

Home on the Range Book Review

I have read another great book by Ruth Logan Herne, Home on the Range.  It is the second book in the series of Double S Ranch.  You can see my review on the first book here. 

This is a great book about what a child experiences after their mom has not only left their dad, but them also.  It also covers the feelings of the adult that experience the same thing as a child.  It explains how God can heal the hearts.  This is the underlying theme of the story.  The story is about Nick, the second son of a ranching baron.  He is struggling with raising two little girls as a single dad.  Elsa is the psychiatrist helping his children cope with their abandonment issues.  She has had a traumatic experience that she is also healing from.

This is a very good book that I highly recommend that you read.  It is easy to get drawn into the story of the Stanford family.  You can easily read the second book without reading the first, however I recommend reading both if you are able to!  You can receive more information about this book here.

I received this book from Blogging for Books to review, all of my opinions are true and honest.

Rope Bowl

This was my first rope bowl.  I saw people making them on Instagram, so I had to make one too, but I did not know how.  When my quilt guild asked for ideas for upcoming meetings, I asked for the rope bowl.  

 It doesn't look great, but it is my first bowl, and I did have a broken finger.

 My husband wants a red one now.

 My cats liked helping me with this project.

 I saw someone make one without the fabric and it looked very nice.  My neighbor said you can color the ropes with sharpie markers.

Here is the article I wrote for my local paper, it was pretty neat seeing my name in print.

Have you made one of these bowls before?

Missy

Feline Friday and No-Reply Blogger

The system kicked me out and I am now showing up as a no-reply blogger.  For those who do not know what a no-reply blogger is, it is when you comment on someone's blog and and the blogger is not able to respond to your comment.  I tried my normal fix it problems (I have a Google + profile), but Blogger has changed things around and I can't fix it now.   UPDATE:  This blog gave me a direct link to my edit profile on my Blogger page.  http://morefromyourblog.com/no-reply-blogger-how-to-fix-this/  It is fixed now!

Now for the cuteness.  My poor babies have been freaked out by the storms.  They either hide under the bide, in the hallway, or on the stairs leading to the basement.

Have a great weekend ya'll!
Missy

Blessedly Busy!

I have been busy, but in a fun way!  We had church Easter morning and evening.

I borrowed a vintage hat to wear with my old Easter dress, to make it fresh again.

Thursday last week was my Homemaker's Club and we discussed gardening tips.  Our secretary is ill, so I filled in for her.  I wrote my first article for the paper, it comes out tomorrow!  I can't wait to see my name in print!  Tuesday we had our Spring Fling when the clubs in three counties get together.  It was a lot of fun but a long day!

 Here are some things I picked up at the raffle at the TOGA a couple of weeks ago.

We also had quilt guild last Thursday.  We learned how to make the rope bowls that are so popular on Instagram right now.  I asked for this class.  One of the ladies held my rope taut for me as I twisted.

 I loved this tip of using the machine to hold my rope down.

It has been a slow process since I can only use two fingers on my left hand and it starts too ache after a while.  However, I have progress!

 My machine is set up in the living room.  I hope to finish it tomorrow since it is my day off.

We also planted marigolds in my rose gardens, I'm hoping it will help keep the bugs away from them.  Some of my rose bushes did not make it through the winter.  I am very sad.  I have an area in my yard I am trying to build up a rose garden.  If anyone has a good suggestion on a book on roses I would appreciate it.  Here is the area I am slowly building up, remember I just bought my house last year.  They fenced in the back yard a few yards away from the house, there is about 25-30 feet here to surround with roses.  I want to build a white gazebo here one day.

Missy

Book Review: The Memory of You

The Memory of You is a great book written by Catherine West.  The book is about a young lady, Natalie Mitchell, who lost her twin sister when they were thirteen years old.  She has not been able to return to her grandparents' home and winery since the accident happen.  Too many memories haunt her still.  When her father has a heart attack, her father forces her to return to the winery and close it down.  Will Natalie defy her father and keep it open?  Turner was a boy she used to play with when she was a young girl.  He is now in charge of the winery.  He does not want Natalie there because he knows she is there to shut them down.  Can they compromise, get past what is haunting them both and find forgiveness?
I really like the book, I read it in four days and considering how busy I have been, that is pretty fast!

I hope you enjoy this book also!
This book was provided to me by BookLook Bloggers.

Missy

You can buy the book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Memory-You-Catherine-West-ebook/dp/B01HAK32Y8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1492623618&sr=1-1&keywords=the+memory+of+you

Feline Friday

I got a new cat!  She is zero maintenance!  I got her off the raffle table last week.

 I love her face!  I stuck one of the cat's toys in her paws, and one of my cats took it away from her.  LOL  Excuse my floor, I can't sweep until my finger is healed.

These two are so predictable.  When it is time for me to get up, Muffin curls up next to me and practically pushes me out of the bed so he can have my warm spot.  Hence, my bed never gets made.  It does not take long for Pippi to curl up to him and go to sleep.

 I put a towel over my cutting board to clean this machine.  Cupcake decided it was a great place to sleep however.

 You can tell Oreo is sleeping on my sewing room floor because of all of the fabric scraps.

 Cupcake loves my bag that I use when I pack.  Maybe I could also use it as a cat bag?

 She was begging for belly rubs while we were doing school, goofy, fat cat.

If you have any cute posts with cats, or I'm sure dogs can join in too, link up with the linky party at Sarah Did IT!

Missy

Raffle Quilt

Every year at the NE TX TOGA, they have a raffle quilt to help pay for the retreat center.  The quilt is always pieced and quilted on either a handcrank sewing machine or a treadle.  The Cranky Treadlers is a quilting group in that area who only uses hand cranks and treadles. This amazing group puts on the TOGA and makes the raffle quilt.

I took close ups of the free motion quilting which was done on a treadle.  Some people seem to think working on a treadle is slower.  It is not, just depends on the person.  I know that I am just as slow on my electric as I am on my treadle.  I can't remember who they said did the quilting, I'm sorry.

 I love the flowers!

 I love the feathers also!

I want to give you my opinion on raffles.  I do not gamble because the Bible says to have a good stewardship of money.  A raffle like this, which is raising money, is not gambling.  They do not charge or ask donations for the TOGA, instead they have the raffle to raise money for the use of the facilities and to pay for our BBQ dinner on Saturday.  They also use the money to pay for making the quilt.

I would like to thank the Cranky Treadlers for such a well organized TOGA and a beautiful quilt!

Missy

Book Review: Back in the Saddle by Ruth Logan Herne

Ruth Logan Herne is a new author to me.  I really enjoyed reading Back in the Saddle.  She does a great job weaving the theme of "God's plans" through the story and how the characters determine what God's plan for their life is.
You can find more information on the author here.

Back in the Saddle is about the eldest son of a cattle enterprise/ranch called the Double S.  His name is Colt Stafford.  He had left the ranch to make his fortune on Wall Street, which he did, but then lost it all.  He had to return home, humbled by the experience.  A lot of things had changed in the nine years he had been gone.  The biggest change was the house manager who takes no gruff from the cowboys she is cooking for.  Her name is Angelina Morales.  She has a secret colt is determined to find out what it is.

I really like that the book is in mass media size.  I prefer the smaller size in books, however, Christian fiction books are usually in the bigger size.

I highly recommend this book, it is the first in a series of I believe three books.  I hope to get the second book soon!

Have a great day!

Missy

I received this book for review from Blogging For Books.

T.O.G.A. Treadle-on Gathering Academy

This past weekend I went to the North East Texas TOGA.   It is a great time to learn more about vintage sewing machines and some great projects!  We don't get much sewing done, unless you stay late on Friday or come in on Thursday.  We got there Thursday night, so after unloading my machines, we went to the hotel.  I stayed there all day on Friday until five o'clock, many stayed later,  especially ones who were staying at the retreat center.  Saturday I was there from morning to after 8:30 pm.

 We had lots of laughs with the "Cranky" Lady (short for hand cranks).

 We learned some great information about the Spartan sewing machines.

We had a young girl with her grandmother.  She made her first quilt block!

 We had lots of fellowship while we worked on our projects.

 The majority of people brought their hand crank sewing machines to work on, a few brought their treadles.

 Over a hundred came over two days.  It is a free form set up, you can come and go as you please.

 We had a couple of ladies who helped us learn how to fix our broken machines.  Thank you Margaret and Lisa!

 Of course we had vintage machines!  Some were for sale and some were to look at. I have more pictures on my camera, which I will share later.

 I loved seeing everyone's special doodads and pin cushions!

We had a lot of demos on our machines, sewing, and quilting!

How to make easy prairie points by Diane.

Twist and Shout, putting your blocks on the diagonal.

 How to make cute cloth bowls by Margaret.

 How to make Scandinavian Stars by Sandy.

 English Paper Piecing.

 All about bobbin tensions by Margaret.

How to change a treadle belt.

 Pincushion and clips holder demonstration by Sue.

 Pinking attachment demo by Deborah.

I missed a couple of the demos unfortunately, there were many more.

We also had a sewing machine parade.  I came in second place with my float.  I did a theme on the home since the machine I used was my New Home.

Here are the other floats.

 This was the RAF (Royal Air Force) machine so she went with that theme for her float.

We also had a raffle, quilt raffle, and BBQ brisket dinner.

I'll share some more detailed posts later.  If you would like to find a TOGA in your area, look here:
http://treadleon.net/fleamarket/events.htm

If you would like to plan your own TOGA, here are some ideas:
http://treadleon.net/fleamarket/makeatoga.htm


If you are interested in Treadle sewing machines or handcrank sewing machines, these are a great way to learn more and meet some people who share your interest.  If you have ever been to one, I would love to hear about it!

Missy