Softy....that's my nickname.

I love my pets. I let them run over me (figuratively and literally). The both sleep in bed with us and I cannot stand the thought of them experiencing physical discomfort......BUT............. We've had to enforce some tough parenting in the last few days. After Baxter ripped the second sump pump hose out of the house in three days - we decided (mostly Ben, but I think he probably has some merit to the argument) that something HAD to be done. You see, from my perspective - its not really Baxter's fault that he plays with things like hoses and sticks while he's home by himself during the work day. He is still a puppy. BUT - we did just sink a small fortune into renovating the house and can't afford the substantial water damage that would occur if water was allowed to constantly cycle right back into the basis for hours on end. And we really enjoy having a nice yard without being covered in garbage and sticks all over. So..........we spent yesterday afternoon building a dog house. A really nice dog pen. And we even put a couple of straw bales in there for shelter. He got accustomed to it for a few hours last night, and will spend the day there today. But my heart did hurt this morning when we pulled away and his big, beautiful dark eyes were staring at me as he just sat and watched us drive away. I hope he stayed warm.

Godsey Livestock Sale

As we look forward to moving past all this water - I wanted to spend some time telling you all about a couple of trips Ben and I took recently. In late March we were able to go back to Kansas for a few days to help my family put on their first stand-alone club lamb/show pig sale. The sale was a culmination of all the hard work my parents/siblings/cousins/aunts/uncles/grandparents had put in over the winter to provide quality projects for the upcoming 4-H show season. The event was planned with much precision and pride - and we were happy we could come home to be a part of the celebration. Here are a few pictures of the set-up of the facility my uncle let us borrow. It turned out to be a dreary, rainy day - but all the better for us because we were packed inside this nice dry "show-barn". One of the neatest parts of the sale occurred when a sleugh of boys picked up the sale ring, moved it quickly outside and set up a small arena for the 'parade' of pigs. This gave my brother a chance to discuss each pen of hogs to the bidders to explain the pedigrees, the prospect he saw in each hog and give everyone a chance to see the animal move around on concrete. I thought this was very thoughtful of the needs and concerns of the bidders to be able to see each animal individually - since many of them weren't able to come to the farm before the sale to see the animals in their normal housing. At the conclusion of the parade, the boys moved the sale ring back inside with the same effortless motion. Anyway - I couldn't find room to maneuver around once the sale got started but there was a packed house - YEAH! for the family.....and lambs and hogs got sent all over the state (and a few surrounding states). But for my brother, the fun really begins now that the sale is over. He (and my dad) enjoys visiting with the families about feeding decisions and how to develop the animal into a good project for 4-Hers. They also equally enjoy the successes and failures the kids/families endure over the next couple of months in route to their county fairs. Because sometimes more is learned in the failures of the project than the show-ring successes.

I'm very proud of them for all the hard work that went into putting on the sale - the payoffs are definitely well deserved. Each family member contributed in some way to putting on it on - and that is truly what is special about these sorts of events. For us, 4-H has always been one of our favorite ways to spend time as a family - and we hope that as those lambs and pigs leave our family to join another - they enjoy spending as much time as we did together all those years in the barn.

Remember that quilting class I took?

Remember that class? The three weeks and three hours/night quilting class I took? I somehow managed to get the top of the quilt done. And now I'll show you how.........

These were the fabrics I choose. Like many of my friends, I love anything that incorporates turquoise into the mix. To make it even better, I added brown....who doesn't love turqouise and brown?


Many steps were condensed to get to the squares you see here. But basically the meat of the quilt is made up on blocks of either the printed fabric or those pink/turq. blocks we put together. The homework from the first session was to have the strips cut and blocks made. 60 pink/turq. blocks to be exact, along with 60 printed blocks.

Homework from the second session included sewing all the blocks together to construct the face of the quilt. If you can see here, my printed fabric had a definite direction it had to be laid in - because it had a verse written across the fabric. The pink/turq. squares had to be arranged so that each print set of blocks were angling down through the quilt.During the final session we put the border and edging around the center of the quilt. Its not quite as easy as it looks since I had a directionally printed fabric. Thank goodness I had help.

Here's the finished product. I only have to decide what backing fabric I want and how I want to have it quilted. Most likely it will be machine quilted - I don't have the patience to do it myself.

All in all, it wasn't as difficult as I thought. Plus, I learned alot about general sewing techniques that I should have learned several sets of curtains ago. However, the class has created a monster and I'm alittle too excited to find time to start another one.

No happy camper.

I have a very grouchy creature in my home. With good reason......her life has been turned upside down by a 50-lb, balls-to-the-walls terror full of fur and crazy. Bernice has not-so-smoothly come into her own recently finally figuring out a purrrfect day's schedule spread out amongst her nap breaks. But then we pulled a fast one on her.

We brought home this guy......

In not so many words, he's the devil. But we love him.

Baxter joined our family of "B's": Ben, Bernice, and Bossy (me, as Ben so lovingly refers) about a month ago. It was another one of my notorious - "Ben's out of town, so lets do something rebellious I'll regret later" - moments. Less than 12 hours after I saw the add in the paper, I was hauling him home in the passenger seat of my car.

Now he spends his days chewing anything he can find (my new welcome mat, our beloved K-State windsock), eating cat-poop treats and wandering outside our house until we get home in the evening. He sleeps inside at night, but we were quickly made aware that our modest little 1200-ft house is not big enough for all of the crazy he unleashes on a nightly basis. So we've taken to walking him in the evening to wear him out. (I should remind you - we have yet to break the 35 degree weather yet and still have 24" of snow on the ground).

Anyway, we adore him....for the most part, until all hell breaks lose about 8:30 p.m. when we're about to call it a night. And we happily report that Bernice has taken to her own form of retaliation against him, even though she has no claws to do any real damage. But beware of any visitors to our place, she will molest you as soon as you come home, as remind you that she is the queen of the house.

A really great gift...

Ben was presented this art piece from his senior judging team at last week's Little International Agriculturalist of the Year Banquet. It's absolutely beautiful...........plus I can't wait to make it a focal point somewhere in the house.


It's hard to imagine how beautiful it is...so you should click here to see. The poem and photos of the heifers are laser printed on a cow hide and set in a beautiful western frame. This will forever be a reminder of the great students that Ben (and I) have the chance to get to know and grow to love during this adventure. If you remember last year, he received an equally beautiful color pencil print of a hampshire ewe lamb shown by a member of that team that proudly hangs in his office at NDSU. We truly appreciate these sentiments and smile each time we think of a little funny story about the team that year.

Just in case any one's doing some REALLY early Christmas shopping.

I won't say its because of my new found love of quilting (I won't jump on that boat yet) but I do think that I will be sewing for a LONG time.....so I think its reasonable to ask for this to be added to my Christmas (or birthday because that comes sooner) list.


You can find it here. I would like the 18 x 24 size. Its universal. And totally awesome. Plus I can store it.....since I won't have a designated sewing room any time in the foreseeable future.

Also - I'm starting my sewing wish list. Just so you know.

The new adventure

Last night was my first quilting class. Let's just say, it would have been helpful to know all the appropriate terminology and sewing techiques back when I first started sewing 6 months ago. I sure learned alot, and so did my teacher.

With the encouragement of my co-worker, I signed up for a Beginner 101 Quilting Class at the Quilted Ladybug in Moorhead. It meets for the next three Mondays for 3 hours in the evening and by the time the class is over, I will have pieced together my first quilt! YEAH for me!!!

Unfortunately for Ben, I loved it! He should have known by my ever growing stash of fabric in the office at home. I was in fabric heaven here - and thankfully, almost every receipt from our local grocery store has a 20% off coupon printed on the back.....can't resist a sale!

I can't show you the progress right now, mostly because it took three hours for me to learn how to use all the tools I've accumulated the right way. Who knew my rotary cutter was reversible for a lefty? Or that there is a correct direction the bottom bobbin thread was supposed to go?

This session, I learned how to use my ruler and rotary mat (yes, I know it should be pretty self explanatory BUT I really thought my rotary mat with the lines could double as a ruler......WRONG!) to cut perfect strips. To SUBCUT.....look that one up in Webster's dictionary. And to make both a 9-patch and a 4-patch quilt block with NO sewing pins, and never touching the fabric on the ironing board with my hands!

To make the experience even more like a class........I have homework. Homework. I have to put together 60 4-patch quilt blocks by next Monday's class. Please do not call me on Sunday. I beg you.

We (there are only 2 people in my class, which is good because I require ALOT of personal attention) are being taught out of this book.....I highly recommend it even if you are a veteran sewer/quilter. The book has a lot of pictures, tips and "OH crap moments" that reassure you that you can do it! The back section is even devoted to teaching you how to adjust patterns and how much fabric you should typically purchase for each size of bed.

Anyway, I'm very excited. Eventually, I'll get those centerpieces from our wedding put together into the keep-sake quilt I've been talking about for almost three years. But at the speed of my rotary cutter - it may take another three to just get it done. Stay tuned.