~ Little Visitors ~

These little gals have a way of pulling at grannies heart.  The oldest, Aylin, called me a couple of weeks ago in tears, she misses her grandma and would like to come stay for awhile.   How could I tell her grandma really doesn't feel well and now is not a good time for a visit?  Well, I couldn't.  So a week later my daughter made the 3-4 hour drive up from southern Ky and dropped off not one but both grand daughters.  Scarlet, the youngest grand daughter has never spent the night with me without her mommy. Staying over a week might be asking a bit too much of the little gal.  Boy was I wrong.  I think it was about day 8 when she started to get a little home sick.  The trick to keeping those home sick blues away is keeping things interesting.  Thank goodness Mr. Podunk was here to help with the entertainment.  I couldn't have done it without him.  

What surprised me the most was the instant love they had for fishing. They went everyday but one due to rain. You should have seen the pouty faces when he told them they couldn't fish in the rain.

Grandpa Ross loved every minute of teaching these little gals everything they needed to know about fishing.

One our best ideas to keep the girls entertained was putting these swings right by the pond.  It's much cooler in the woods and grandpa can fish while the girls play.

When the fish stop biting grandpa decided to go for a stroll around the pond in the canoe.  Miss Scarlet had a near drowning experience earlier in the year that has left her with a fear of the water.  Hopefully she can get over it in time.  She did get in the canoe a few days later but as soon as they pulled away from the dock she became terrified.  It was a short ride but at least she tried.

That's okay, she and I took a walk around the pond to pick some wild blackberries.  Young children are so easy to entertain.  Everything is new and exciting.  Picking berries became a daily activity and each time they were just as excited about berries as the day before.

One of the most exciting activities for the girls was the turtle traps.  Ross baited the traps with the fish caught by the girls.

By the next morning we had not one but two turtles!  They had never seen a real turtle.  We released these back into the pond after Grandpa Ross taught them all they needed to know about mean ole snapping turtles.

So many children these days never learn how to play or use their imagination.  I'm so proud of my daughter for her minimalist life style and teaching the grandchildren to play.  Her home has no cable TV and no computer.  She does have a smart phone but the kids time on the phone games or videos is very limited.

The girls are pretending to climb a mountain.

About and hours worth of mountain climbing.

And then it was time to put little sister in jail!

Our biggest concern with the girls staying here was Khaleesi our German Shepherd.  As most of you know, she was abused and neglected before we took her into our home.  She can be aggressive towards men and she plays a little rough.  Our dog trainer said to keep her separated from the girls.  Khaleesi relentlessly whined when separated from the girls.  What we had forgotten is her previous home/family had a 5 year old little girl.  Cautiously we allowed her to mingle with the girls.   Khaleesi behaved very well.  There were only a couple of times during the week when she had to be removed due to jumping on the girls or just being a big ole overly excited puppy.  

 Our self proclaimed Princess Aylin learned to use a magnifying glass to burn things...living things...as any good princess would...LOL!  I had to let mommy know about this science experiment.  She wasn't as concerned as grandma.

Now to put the newly acquired noble knowledge to work.  She tried for about 30 minutes to start a fire for a wiener roast.

It's hot work building a fire.  So she recruited baby sister to fan her as she worked hard.  But she never could get more than a few puffs of smoke.

How many kids do you know that love to play with homemade toys?  Ross made about 20 of these glove buddies during the week.  The girls loved them for some reason.  By the end of the week we no longer had to draw on the faces, the girls decorated them.  This was another grandpa idea.  So creative is that man of mine!

Grandpa has all kinds of cool stuff to share.

He even likes to eat kiddy junk food....yukky hot dogs.  

Everyday was full of adventures right here in Podunk. We wanted to take the girls to a county fair.  But all of them were farther than we wanted to drive.  The closest one was a little over an hour away.  So we made our own fun and memories, that's the best kind anyway.

#familyfun #podunkpretties

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~ Happy Little Things MONTH 1 and a GIVEAWAY! ~

***Giveaway Closed***
Welcome to month one of the Happy Little Things BOM hosted by Jacquelynne Steves.  This is my third year being a feautured blogger for Jacquelynne's yearly Free BOM.  If you haven't already  signed up for this FREE BOM you can do so here.  Also make sure to hop over to check out her post about this months block here.  Thank you Jacquelynne for all you hard work putting together another amazing quilt along!

Each month from August through December there will be giveaways on each participating featured blog, with a big grand prize in January.  This months giveaway is sponsored by Olfa, details are at the end of this blog post.

If your new to my blog please take some time to explore the many free tutorials and free patterns, not all are listed on my tutorials page at the top of the blog, but you can find many more by searching for tutorials in the search box on the right side of this blog. If you sign up for my newsletter on the top right of this page you will receive a free quilt pattern and get occasional updates about new patterns and tutorials.  No worries about you email being spammed by me, I rarely send out newsletters and I do not sell you information.  Your email is safe!  If you are on a mobile device you will need to scroll to the bottom of this page, click view Web Version in order to access the sidebar with the sign up and search features.

So lets get to this months free block.  Each year Jacaquelynne encourages everyone to do your own thing.  That's what I love about her BOM.  She always gives several option for finishing the block and gives us the freedom to do the same. The blocks can be finished as applique, embroidery, or just a plain pieced block.   This is a good opportunity for me to get out of my comfort zone.  For this years quilt I'll be doing a monochromatic color scheme.  Which basically means a one color quilt.  In my case it's a 2 color quilt, Red and white.  Those of you that know me know I love red.  It's getting harder and harder to find a good red fabric these days, what's up with that?  The bundle I've chosen is a scrappy red bundle curated by a local shop that recently closed.  The red gingham is from Joann's .  This gingham is a little stiff, I think it's painted instead of dyed.  However when it's washed it softens.  The solid white background fabric is by Choice Fabrics.  I buy this by the bolt directly from the company because I use solid white in most of my quilts.

To transfer the embroidery lines to the background fabric I'm using a blue water soluble marking pen.  It too can be purchased at Joann's or just about any crafty type store.  By the way, I don't receive any money for link clicks.  Just a happy customer sharing ideas.

Now this  may make some of you cringe.  For my applique and piecing I'm using Maxi Lock Serger Thread.  I know it can be taboo in the quilting community but I'm not one to let the quilt police tell me what to do.  I've never had any issues.  The only thing to keep in mind when you use Serger thread is it does put off more lint.  So you would want to treat it with mineral oil or thread conditioner of some sort or clean your machine more often.  There are several benefits to dipping your threads in mineral oil.  I use this mineral oil and this information on dipping the cones from a award winning quilter.

To add a little stability to my background fabric I added Pellon Fusible Ulta Lightweight Interfacing to the back.  It gives just the right amount of stiffness without needing to be removed.  

For my raw edge applique I always use Heat N Bond Lite.  I love this stuff.   It's a really good product that does what it says it will do without making your quilt super stiff.  If you do as the instructions suggest it works perfectly every time.  I've never had it come loose on my projects after washing.  The link I provided is for Joann's but honestly I buy it most of the time at WalMart.

All of the stitching was done by machine.  Yes, I'm a lazy quilter.  I love applique but I do not like for it to take forever.  Machine stitching cuts the time down so I can get onto the next project.  If things take to long I become bored and the project becomes a UFO.  

With today machines having so many stitches that we never use this is also a great time to try out some of them.  To be honest these are my go to stitches.  I use these 2 the most.  The one at the very top of this picture takes a stitch, back stitches one stitch and takes a stitch.  So your getting 3 layers, making it look like hand stitching with 3 strands of floss.  The second stitch is the basic blanket stitch.

The next 2 stitches were spur of the moment.  Getting out of my comfort zone using these.

Here's a close up of how they look when finished.  The blanket stitch was reduced to a very tiny stitch.  I suggest doing a few test stitches on a piece of scrap to see what looks best for your thread and fabric.

Jacquelynne's instructions are always easy to follow and understand but I'm old and set in my ways so I chose to do some things a little different.  The cutting was the same for the first block but I didn't want to draw lines.  Instead I use the lines on my machine for making the flying geese blocks. It super simple to sew from corner to corner.   If you would like to try this technique I have a tutorial for how I put the lines on the bed of my machine here. 

Sewing a second line about 1/2" away from the first line will give me a spare half square triangle to use in another project.  Just remember to move the needle over a little and then remember to put it back when finished.

Then cut between the two sewn lines.

The same process was repeated on the other side of the flying geese.

Trim it away and you'll have 2 tiny Hst's.  Cute!

Here's one of my bags of bonus Hst's.  I've collect 4 bags of these over the years.  They come in handy for small projects.  Someday I may try to make a quilt from all of them. 

The block went together super quick.  I love how it turned out.  

If you make these blocks you can use the following hashtags to make it easier for everyone to find your blocks on social media   #HappyLittleThingsBOM and #HappyLittleThingsQuilt

You can also join the Facebook group to share your project, get help and be inspired by the many different quilters.  

AUGUST GIVEAWAY

This months giveaway is sponsored by Olfa.  One winner will be chosen from each participating blogs listed below.  You have several chances to win this bundle of goodies!

Make sure to visit all the blogs and follow the rules on each blog for entering the giveaway for the most chances to win.

A Quilting Life  https://www.aquiltinglife.com/

Podunk Pretties http://podunkpretties.blogspot.com/

The Crafty Quilter   https://thecraftyquilter.com/

Flamingo Toes   https://flamingotoes.com/

Allie-Oops Sweet Happy Life   http://allie-oopssweethappylife.blogspot.com/

Happy Quilting Melissa http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/

The Quilting Nook https://thequiltingnook.wordpress.com/

Kathy's Quilts  https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/

Attachments area

The Official Giveaway Rules

• Giveaway is open to US and Canada residents. International winners will receive an alternate prize.
• One prize per person per giveaway.

 To enter the giveaway on my blog

All you need to do is leave a comment.  Any ole comment.  Giveaway will close on Sunday, August 11, at 11:59 pm.  I will announce the winner on August 12th.  So you'll either want to check back here on August 12 or leave your email address in the comments so I can contact you directly.  You will have 24 hrs to confirm or a new winner will be chosen.  It's just that easy! 

To leave a comment on this blog just scroll to the bottom of this post and find and click on the word comments.  Then scroll till you see a comment box.  Add your comment and click on the word comment below your comment.

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~ My Poor Baby Girl ~

For those of you that have pets you'll understand this post more than those who don't. In the very short time since we brought Khaleesi into our home she has become my friend, my baby and an inspiration.  She's also great at giving me many laughs.  Her personality is changing and blossoming with each day that passes.  At around 18 months old she romps around like a puppy full of energy and wanting to play.  That in itself tickles me.  To think 5 months ago she was afraid to even come out of the horrible cage she had been living in for her entire life.  We still have the cage and she has access to it if she feels the need for that old security, however she rarely even gives it a glance.  Yesterday morning, like all mornings, she was full of energy.  Normally in the morning we go for a long walk and do a little training outside before it gets to warm for the both of us.  But on this morning we couldn't due to something I'll explain later.  So I put her on her long lead to allow her to run around the yard while I got a few things done in the house.  When I checked on her about 15 minutes later this is what I found.  That little booger had chewed up a newspaper.  Notice her looking away when she saw me looking through the window...LOL!  This newspaper is what I use in her training.  No I don't hit her.  It is used like a clicker to alert her.  Obviously she doesn't like my makeshift clicker.

  

We had a long day planned so I decided to leave the newspaper mess and eat before we headed out for the afternoon.  This new low sugar and carbs diet is easy to follow.  Staying away from high histamine foods is not.  So I pop a couple of Benadryl and enjoy some old favorites made low carb and low sugar.  A grass fed and finished cheeseburger with egg, dill pickles, onion, mustard and no sugar ketchup I made with monk fruit sweetener instead of the sugar suggested in the recipe.  Here's the video I used to make it.  TIP: the recipe calls for All Spice and Cloves, it's a bit over powering.  I had to double all the other ingredients to tone it down. My change made it taste almost exactly like Heinz Ketchup...YUM!   The Almond Flour bun is also homemade.  I make these 12 at a time then freeze them.  I rarely eat bread anymore but every once in a while a girl wants a burger. They are also great for toasting in the oven to make garlic bread. Video recipe for the buns here.  The coleslaw is my own creation.  It's your basic coleslaw recipe minus the sugar.  For the sauce I used Organic Non GMO mayo thinned out with Organic Non GMO heavy whipping cream, sweetened with Monk Fruit, salt and pepper.  Mr. Podunk had no idea he was eating healthy and gobbled down several helpings last night.  He normally won't eat my "health" foods.

Our big day out is not a fun day out.  A Vet visit due to an injury from getting over excited on her lead.  I'm sure everyone has seen the wire covered with plastic/rubber dog leads used in place of a chain when you need to let your dog out unsupervised in a non fenced yard.  They are very strong and work well as long as your dog doesn't over reacted to other critters being in the yard.  The wire cut into her where her leg connects to her body.  Of course I felt like an horrible pet parent.  After talking to the trainer and the vet I feel better and realize that this cut is better than her being ran over by a car. The only time she is on the lead is when we can't be outside with her.  

The cut is about 2 inches long with a rope burn that is about 6 inches long.  They decide to sedate her a little since she's a little nervous.  The sedation is more of a calming drug and is not meant to put her completely out.

After the drug kicks in we all goggle up for the laser treatment of her wound.  How cute is my baby girl sporting her goggles?  I couldn't help but give her a little Mohawk too....LOL!

This laser treatment is new to me.  The vet says it stimulates the damaged skin and encourages it to heal.

The whole process only took about 5 minutes and it's painless.

 Since the wound could not be closed with stitches we were sent home with an anti-inflammatory(doggy Ibuprofen) and antibiotics.

And of course the dreaded head cone to be used if needed.

Thankfully she's a good girl due to the medicine and we don't need the cone, at least not for now.

#khaleesithegermanshepherd  #germanshepherd #podunkpretties

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~ Update On Me and the Easy Quilt ~

Hello Happy Quilters!  It's been awhile since my last blog post.  I've posted a couple times on other social media but for the most part I'm still in a "Funk".  Thank you so much to those of you who have reached out to me this week via e-mails. Not much has changed.  The health issues are still a concern.  To keep the whining to a minimal I'll just say that Benadryl has become part of my daily routine to keep the histamine rash at bay.  The natural remedies haven't worked and for now I refuse prescription medicine.  With a little relief from the rash, getting back into the studio for a few minutes here and there has been possible.  The Disappearing 9-patch QAL hosted by Julie at The Crafty Quilter blog was supposed to be the kick in the pants to restart my MOJO.  Sigh....what can a gal do but go with the flow, even when the flow is more like a trickle.  The nine patches have been sliced and diced and hung on the design wall.

These florals mixed with the large scale gingham in the Elm Park by Laura Ashley make my little ole heart melt.  Pairing the Laura Ashley with Lakehouse Drygoods green print added a subtle consistency to the quilt with overwhelming the design.

Getting row one together wasn't easy.  I literally had to dust the cobwebs from my sewing machine.  The rest of the studio webs can wait.  Yes there's webs everywhere when the sunlight shines into the studio.   I could leave the webs for a few more months and have natural Halloween decor!....HAHA!  

Hopefully I can get the rest of the quilt together before they become covered with more webs.  Wish me luck!  I need all I can get.  Love you all!  Thanks again for your quilty vibes and cheering me on during this funky time.  I hope to be back to normal or what I consider to be normal soon.

#disappearing9patchqal #craftyquilter #quiltalong #podunkpretties

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