Hello Neighbors!

Our chicks are growing fast!  They are living in the brooder house that is built on the side of our main chicken house.  Our big girls are often very curious about all the chirp-chirping going on in the brooder house!  

The little girls are not big enough to go outside yet, but it is about 85 degrees today.  So I turned off their light and opened the door to the brooder house so they could get some fresh air.  They loved it! 

And our big hens got a chance to meet the new neighbors!

Spring Bag

Its a rainy Spring day here.  Even though rain doesn't often inspire Spring-like projects it has kept me from my usual outside projects, so sewing seemed to be the right choice to keep me busy.   I started working on this bag last week and haven't had a free day to finish it, so thanks to the rain, I have finally completed my Spring Bag!  

The best part about this bag is that I got the fabric from the Scrap Exchange.  The beautiful flower patterned fabric was $2 for 2 yards!  I used another blue fabric from the Scrap Exchange to line the inside.  I only had to purchase the hardware.  So this bag cost me less than $8 to make!  What a bargain!

 I can't wait to use it!  Happy Easter!

The Shepard watched over her flock...

Or better stated...the sleeping Shepard

who can't hear very well anymore...

 

Was the last to know that someone was creeping up on her charges! (To give the poor girl some credit, I am not much of a threat!)

I won a Spacey Stitchy Giveaway!

I am so excited I could jump to the moon.  I just won my very first blog giveaway!  Michele over at Michele Made Me hosted this space inspired giveaway last week and I was lucky enough to win an out of this world wallet made by Michele herself. 
 
Along with this spacey stitchy wallet she is also sending me the book "Stitched Collage" by Sherrill Kahn.  I am the luckiest gal in the universe!

If you have a chance, space jump over to Michele's blog at http://michelemademe.blogspot.com/ and check out all of the awesome and inspiring projects she creates using recycled and re-purposed materials. 

Garden Apron

Hubby was gone all day yesterday, so in efforts to keep myself busy I took Kyra to the vet, worked in the garden and tended to the animals...then I made this...

I followed this tutorial at Make it Do.  I used a canvas type cloth that is typically used for outdoor furniture.  It has sturdy pockets for all my garden tools!  

I am feeling a little under the weather today, so I don't think I will get much use out of my new apron for a bit, which is a bummer because it is a beautiful day here in Central NC.  But I am hoping to get into the garden again later this week and put this baby to work!

Chickenbarrow

Yep folks...that's what you call a wheelbarrow full of chickens...

The girls were pretty excited about the buffet of garden weeds in the wheelbarrow!

Baby Chicks & Flirty Skirt = Signs of Spring

Spring is definitely moving in and setting up shop!  I keep waiting for one last cold snap (our official last frost date is April 16th) but I think it is safe to say we are into the warming season!  There are so many signs of Spring there is no denying it's presence.  Hubby and I were just in the yard and saw a swarm of honey bees fly by....AMAZING!  They took a quick rest on a tree branch and moved on.  This is the first time Hubby or I have seen anything of the sort!  Of course we are glad they were not our bees, but it gets us thinking about swarm prevention.  So we will be visiting the hive again on Sunday to check the progress of our ladies. 

Spring also brings fun and flirty clothes, skirts and dresses!  In my last post I showed yall the apron I had made.  I love it so much I want to save it for special occasions, so  I whipped up another one on Sunday.  This one has much darker colors so I figure it wont show stains so I can wear it on an more regular basis!  Don't you just love the chickens?

After my second apron, I felt confident enough to try my hand at a real skirt!  I say real as in, "I want it to be good enough that you can't tell I made it at home"!  What a perfect project for Spring!  I had this beautiful fabric and the perfect pattern.  On Monday morning I sat down in my sewing room and got to work.  It took a few hours to finish, but I was able to get it all done by Monday afternoon.  I am so excited!  I can't wait to wear it!

 The waist is elastic, so completely comfortable!

 Big pockets allow plenty of room for my insulin pump (a major downfall to Spring skirts...no pockets for my "gear")

And you know it's Spring when you find these cutie pies in the brooder house!  

Just picked these gals up today.  Five Buff Orpingtons and 4 Barred Rocks!  Baby chicks...*Swoon* 

Spring Apron

Lately I have been wanting to branch out from odd and end sewing projects to making clothes...not the easiest task since I do lack a certain patience required for that kind of sewing.  Yet, my desire to make something cute and functional has become stronger and then I happened upon some awesome fabric on sale ($1 per yard) and $0.99 patterns at my local fabric store!  Isn't just darling?

 I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make this apron.  This is the first apron I have made and I am so excited with the turnout!  Don't you think this would be perfect for the summer canning season?

Can you see the darling writing on this fabric?  "Watermelon, seeds, vegetables...etc)!

 I almost hate to even wear it in the kitchen!  Are you making anything great for the Spring?