September Is Exciting!

 It"s been a while since I have taken the time to sit down and visit with you so now I will show you the busy treadmill of my senior days this month.

Our grandson Liam, is named after my husband, his grandfather William. The naming was such a wonderful surprise, I cried tears of joy upon seeing him with DIL Nicole & our son, Mitchell, & baby Liam.

Nicole did not have an easy time with the breech birth & the doctor decided that a cesarian was to be scheduled. The three are all doing very well. 

Liam was born September 5th, 2024 weighing 7lbs 1oz Beautiful baby boy!

He is growing daily, and they send pics via messager.

I made Liam this growing mat from a panel by Northcott and I  made four bibs and a vertical hanging growth chart from another panel from the same collection. 

Ok, that was my great news from the Alberta kids and the new branch on the Richardson Family tree!

Now the the terrifying experience I went through with the chickens!

It was 7:30am early morning and Baxter went crazy at the front door & really wanted out.

I opened the door to hear a chicken screaming for its life! I put my boots on & went after Baxter who had got to the chicken area before me & frightened an enormous bird of prey off of Rusty the Rooster. 

OMG, the bird flew over my head & its wing span was huge!! I had adrenaline running through me & I chased it with a rake flaring it in the air as it sat in a tree & watched & listened to me calm the chickens down, my heart pounding and feeling so bad for Rusty who was the gentleman rooster I knew him as but now he was a hero to his girls!

His comb had been yanked and he was bleeding for about 2.5cm but what I saw next made me cry.

There he sat on a log exhausted from the fight of his life & his eyes opening & closing from that exhaustion. The four hens gathered around the log he was on & held him up with their bodies to warm him and be together, the united flock they had become. 

It looks dark when its wings are down but what I saw fly over me looked like the spotting of an owl!

Maybe it is the baby eagle that the parents were teaching to fly a couple of months ago?

Of course, this is all happening when Bill is working away! I told him what had happened & he said that deer netting would go over the open area. He did install it & it looked great & I feel at ease that the chickens are safe from birds of prey. We thought that the trees would have been protected...we thought wrong and it was the raccoon & fox that I was worried about!

 

The same week as the attack, I awoke to find this in my dressing room! That was a downstairs mouse trap that had no food in it?!! Rexton may be 10 years old but she still is playful and a good mouser!

I screamed & Baxter came running & the mouse then moved its feet & I screamed again & the dog was frantic & barking. I ran & got my gloves & an empty bread bag to be rid of it. 

I placed it trap & all in the bag...what to do next. I couldn't kill it so I took it outside & released the trap in the outside firepit, it ran under debris that was already in it. I told it if it lives it is free, if not then a cremation would take place next burning. What a week!!

I wanted to do something with the chickens' empty feed bags & came up with the idea of making outside pillows making something from nothing, I stuffed it with selvage fabric scraps so it had good weight & will not blow away.

Stuffing it with fabric scraps & if they're mine they are truly scraps! LOL

This was their first feed bag when they were chicks. :) I found the wrought iron chair at Open Door Antiques in Chatham & it's perfect for the pillow!

The empty areas are for the planting of thyme but that will be next spring now. The geraniums did great back by the coop!

This was their 2nd feed bag, I put small pompoms on the ends & lined the inside with bubble wrap & brick for a filler.

My girlfriend Debbie sent a wonderful hydrangea wreath idea & I made grapevine wreaths & cut many limelights to dry for this project next year for us to do.

Sitting on the front porch you only see these limelight beauties now! Those are the three bushes that have filled out.

They are starting to change to pink so I cut many to hang & will do the same with some pink ones next week if all this rain doesn't make them have rusty-coloured flowers.

That clipping didn't even put a dent in those large bushes!

We were at Atlantic Auctions Inc. in Loggeville last weekend I got this maple hutch & table with chairs for $35! Yes, thirty-five dollars!!

The hutch is perfect for storing & displaying planting pots & seeds.

This is the limelight hydrangea bush that was moved there two years ago, it too is thriving!

And the one by the flagpole, well just look at it this year!

I placed the loose bits in the metal bird bowl to dry out.

And hung the other full stemmed pieces from the pole to dry out. I hope this works & it was not too early to do this, time will tell. 

Now for the drum roll for the excitement I had this week...

Henny laid an egg!! Her very first egg was on Tuesday but not in the nesting box, then again on Wednesday but again, not in the nesting box. I took two marble eggs and some lavender & placed both in the nesting box. Thursday she laid her egg in the nesting box and a Reba, the Rhode Island reds laid one in the same box that afternoon!! Two hens lying with just two more to go. 

Since May 6th, this is what we've been waiting for!

I had placed the baking sheet/towel with cherry tomatoes on top of the cat tower, she wasn't using it until yesterday and what a mess I had to pick up. I heard a noise when vacuuming but couldn't find anything that would cause it, and then I saw Rexton playing & chasing something, a mouse again?

No, it was a tomato!

Oh my, it seems my days have such excitement in them these days. What was I thinking placing those tomatoes on the cat tower? Well, last year it was the cranberries & she had them everywhere, so I thought high & out of sight. Wrong. LOL

I also made two grapevine orbs, this one is quite large & I had Bill nail a stake to hold it from the wind as it will sit outside all year to keep the gargoyle company.

It is hard on my arthritic hands to clamp the hog clamper but I had an easier time this year than last so I hope my hands are getting stronger but I was told it is only going to get worse. So I really keep my hands busy! I love seeing artistic sculptures done with nature, it so belongs there and warms the area with interest.

This is the second one, I think I will wrap it some more with the grapevines.

This is the one that I made last year & you can see how the colour of the vine lightens with age.

The paper-pieced dragon was a lot of work but so worth it when it came together!

I plan on putting his name on the bottom & making it a wall hanging for Liam's room as he ages. 

I have been working on the garden door insulating quilts & have the Christmas one done! It's called Hanging Stockings by Lori Holt.

The colour looks drained from my phone photo. I plan on rug hooking small stockings for the presents that will be wrapped in brown paper this year. I want an old Christmas feel to the house, it will also mean less work! 

This pic from my phone is so washed out from the light in the foyer. I will take a proper photo when I have the border on it. It is called Crows In The Corn by Lori Holt. 

You can see that I'm working with bright colours these days to lift my mood. I do feel more comfortable with the darker natural colours that will probably come out through the winter to ground me.

I am so happy you have stayed til the end, it was a long blog and much has gone on this month with highs & lows in my daily living that are moving way too fast for my liking. I think that is why I'm seeing so much about 'Slow Sewing' on Youtube, I like listening to books, and I'm on the second 10-hour tape of Black Ink Heart, one of the Strike series that aired on TV made from the book.

I can sew or prepare meals and listen whilst being read too!

Have a safe weekend this long weekend and I will try to be more proactive with doing my blogs. 

Hugs, Cynthia