Hexagons and Dandelions

I was all geared up to start hand quilting my improv quilt and then I realized that all of my safety pins are on the hexagon baby quilt. I am not prepared to thread baste so I just stopped procrastinating and started quilting the hexagons.

I'm doing a basic stippling pattern again, still working on my FMQ skills.

Stippling is so fun!

There are tonnes of dandelions blooming in the yard and today I went around and picked a bowl of them for an experimental batch of dandelion wine.

David helped me and we pretended that the flowers were gold doubloons.

The little chickens are so funny, they won't let us pet them but if we wander out into the yard, they follow along behind us, just to see what's up. Still no eggs yet but we had our first rooster crow this week!

Here is David down by the lake, where the goaties live. The goat pasture was fenced in long before the goats arrived, and it was not originally intended for animals. Luckily there are established nut trees, oaks, and rhododendrons, all of which the goats avoid. There are too many tannins in the oak and nut trees and the rhodos are poisonous.

Individual goats have different tastes and food preferences.

But there are certainly many plants for them to eat. I rescued some tea roses and flowering currants, and here is Firefly eating a flowering Spirea. Oddly last year and the year before that, the goats didn't touch the Spirea. I want to save it so it is slated for removal and will be transplanted into the main yard where it can grow. On the upside, the goats are doing a great job mowing the lawn.

I've been looking for a source for cheese-making supplies. I want to try making homemade Havarti. The first place I stayed on the West Coast was a dairy goat farm and the ladies there made amazing dill Havarti cheese.

David studiously filling up the tub

Finally, the cast iron bathtub is ready to go!! After working all day it is so great to sit in a hot outdoor bath, listening to the birds sing and breathing in the scent of flowering fruit trees.

I keep meaning to get a photo of myself in there with my toes hanging out and the fire going underneath it, but you get the idea. The water can stay hot for hours as long as I keep the fire stoked. I always find it a little bit ironic when doing things the old country way is actually more luxurious than the modern, more convenient version.

Then there is wee David who is content just to get soaked with the cold hose.

Hope you all saw some sunshine today.

I'm linking up with Stitch by Stitch's 'Anything Goes' Monday. 

Thank you for stopping by!