Goodbye Little Black Brindle

Our sweet, sweet Little Black Brindle lost his battle with tracheal collapse and congestive heart failure early this morning.  We are heartbroken but so very grateful we got to care for him these four years.  We will miss him the rest of our lives.  The Cottage will never be the same without him.

                                        Good boy! Brave boy! Sweet boy!
                                                          Thank you.

So Much To Do

We are having a blast being tourists in our temporary home.  Here are some we enjoyed earlier this summer:

Superior Lighthouse

By the shores of Gitche Gumee, By the Shining Big Sea Water...


 

 Countless Lakes

Farms Galore

2014 Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival

From Cozy Cairn Cottage, baa baa for now!

Audrey

Embracing Changes

Lots has happened at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  As you can tell from the last two post, not all changes are good. We sadly lost a very good neighbor to the war in Afghanistan. He had left his loving wife and newborn daughter only three months before his tragic death. And Little Black Brindle was diagnosed with a life threatening condition this Spring. He has improved with medication but his condition has not changed. The medication has just reduced swelling of his throat so he is breathing better. Please continue to pray for my poor sweet pup.

My Master Gardeners class was very interesting and I was looking forward to trying some new things I had learned. I had gotten my required additional volunteer and training hours in early which is a good thing because my Ever So Handy Husband got offered a job in a different field and was put on a 12 month project in Wisconsin. Rather than stay home and be lonely we closed down the cottage, packed up our small motor home, the dog and the cat and a few kitchen items and headed out for Central Wisconsin.

The last weeks Prairie Cairn Cottage has been reduced to less than 220 square feet! We like to think of it as the Cozy Cairn Cottage. But not to worry Cozy Cairn Cottage will be relocating to a more "spacious" 2 bedroom apartment home soon. The fun part is we didn't know where we were going to wind up or when so we didn't bring anything but a few kitchen items. Now I get to go out and furnish the new cottage. How fun is this going to be?

Cozy Cairn Cottage

Where the heck are we?

What happened to being a free range dog?



Life on the road

Please Pray for Little Black Brindle

Our sweet Little Black Brindle has been gravely ill.  He has been diagnosed with Tracheal Collapse.  This unfortunately is a common condition in small dogs.  In his situation his trachea collapses when he breathes out and he has a difficult time getting the old air out of his lungs so he can refill them with new air.

Because his tracheal collapse is lengthy he is not a candidate for surgical correction. The only thing that his doctors can do is to give him a cough suppressant and steroids to reduce inflamation.  If you are a Christian, please lift this sweet little boy up to God in prayer to restore proper breathing in his body.

"Jesus looked at them and said "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Matthew 19:26

Audrey

Memorial Day

In memory of our neighbor

Andrew McAdams

Army National Guard

January 10, 2014

Afghanistan 

Andrew was a true hero.  He will be missed.

Let's Talk Gardening

I am pretty excited. I signed up for the Master Gardener Course and my first class is tonight. We are jumping right into it with the first class all about botany. Hopefully I will glean enough from this course to have a more productive garden here at Prairie Cairn Cottage.

I am also pleased to announce the completion of the hat I made for my Ever So Handy Husband. I didn't quite get it complete by Christmas but it was done before he had to make a trip to frigid North Dakota. He said it came in handy and was really happy with it! Yeah!

Happy New Year 2014

Well, we made it through the holidays here at Prairie Cairn Cottage! Christmas was good to us this year. Little Black Brindle got some new balls and a squeaky, stretchy fox which he loves! Tabby got a pole with a long string to tempt him to chase but his favorite where 3 fabric mice. Both pets chose the toy I thought would be their least favorite. Guess I don't know them all that well after all!

New Year's day had me working on the things I'd like to spend more time on in 2014 or new crafts I'd like to accomplish. To that end I enjoyed a day of knitting, sewing and I tried my hand once more at spinning on a drop spindle. A few goals were set for 2014. For Prairie Cairn Cottage we'd like to finally get fencing put up,a shed or two put up, and the new chicken coop built. Personal goals for me include learning to spin, learning to knit hats and socks and walking more. Of course adding a few more critters to the Cottage is always a possibility!

Count Down Begins

Like all of you out there, Prairie Cairn Cottage has begun the countdown with only one week left. I just got my packages to out of town relatives in the mail yesterday and cards sent off Monday. Whew! I am cutting it short as usual. Anyone out there besides me vow to make next year stress free? I've already figured out what I want to create and give as gifts and the timeline necessary to accomplish that goal. Let's just say that as soon as this Christmas ends, I'll be starting on next year's gifting. Mr. Tabby and Little Black Brindle are looking forward to Christmas this year as well. A visit to our local pet store for treats should have their presents all wrapped up. The stockings that I made them last year have been hung and are adding that special touch to the decorating at Prairie Cairn Cottage. Thanks for stopping by the Cottage for a Christmas visit. We hope you find the joy of the Savior's birth to be at the heart of your holidays. Audrey

Weekend Crafting at Prairie Cairn Cottage

What's on my needles?

knitted dishcloth

What is under my needle?

Lil' Rascals quilt kit

What is on my hook?

crocheted skillet cozy

What is on my reading shelf?

A Cairn treat for you



Skunked

Blech!  My Mom say I gots skunked this mornin, wha-ever dat means.  I just knows all a sudden I smells really bad and it was makin me crazies!  One minute everting is normals and da next I's feels like I gots this stuff all over my furs and I's couldn't wipe it off!  I's tried everting a Cairn could think.  I tries ta wipe it off on da grass, I tries ta wipe it off ona straw bale but nottin worked.  All 'cuza dat new kitties I's sees this mornin.  I don't gets it, I like kitties, whys this one gotta spray that stuff all overs me? 

My Mom den gives a boy a bath with dis fizzy stuff.  I's didn't cares, I's wanted dat stuffs offa mys furs.  My Mom says ta tells yous it was:
   1 quarts hy-dro-gen per-ox-ide
   1/4 cups bakin sodas
   1 teaspoons Dawn
She gets a boy wet in da tub an den rubs dis stuff all overs ma bodies.  Den I's just gots to sit der for awhiles.  Den she gets ma shampoos and goes overs ma bodies agains.  Den I's gets sprayed down reals good and den I's gets a toweling. 

I's feels much better but now I's gonna go take a naps.

Where do your dreams take you?

 I dreamt that I was in a tornado and got swept away to a distant land.  My Mom and Dad where there with me, thank goodness, and we saw lots of strange sights:


There were large bodies of water.



I walked miles of shorelines.

Saw strange sights like an abandoned goose egg.

More sights like ornate churches.




Mom kept disappearing into things called quilt shops.  Lucky for me she kept reappearing.

  

blech!  I gotta quite eating the cat's food.

Finally Summer Fun

As busy as June was, July proved to be a bit more relaxed.  We hosted a few overnight guests for Cheyenne Frontier's Day.  These were friends of our friends so I got to "play" B&B proprietress.  I've often thought that would be a pleasant occupation so this gave me a chance to host strangers in my home.  I must say it was a lot of work but I enjoyed it.  Who knows, we may just put Prairie Cairn Cottage out there as a B&B or perhaps an event location.

You know you live in the West when this is the site that greats you as you open the front door.

 In the garden there has been a lot of green bean planting, endless weeding and frequent watering.  The garden shed is coming along with the roof finally being put on and the door and window installed.  The new wind break is growing like gangbusters.

I have also managed to find some time in the sewing room.  Two years ago on my birthday my husband bought me a serger.  I had wanted on for a long long time.  We went to the store and looked at all the models and decided on an Elna mid range machine.  I brought it home and set it up right away.  And there it sat.  For months it sat.  Seems it intimidated me.  This was not like sewing on my sewing machine, this was faster, more efficient.  And a lot more threads!  I gave myself a swift kick in the rear and decided I needed to learn to use this wonderful gift.  So I got the book out and decided I would make an example of all of the stitches it would do.  Figured out how to thread this intricate contraption and stitched out my samples.  And then it sat there.  For months it sat.  I was still intimated!  What could I use this wonderful gift for?  How could I ever learn to actually use it?  Did anyone teach a beginning serger project?  Sadly, I couldn't find any class like that.  And there it sat.  For even more months it sat.  Until last week!  I realized I had some extra flannel that I would probably never use again.  I needed some rags that I could dust with, mop up spills with, all the things you use rags for.  Hmmm...why don't I take this flannel, cut out some rags and use the serger to stitch them up?  Brilliant!  I found a tutorial on the internet on how to serge square corners and I've been happily making myself a useful rag and learning to use my serger.  My serging is still pretty wonky but these are rags for goodness sake!  Who cares what they really look like?  Who besides me is likely to see them?  And so my newest Elna is beginning to bend to my will not I to hers!

Life is good sometimes.  And when life is good, people need to eat.  I got to spend the entire day yesterday in the kitchen baking and cooking up a storm.  When you don't have to get a meal on the table for ravenous appetites but can cook and bake at your leisure it becomes a pleasurable experience for a lot of us.  And so it was at the Cottage yesterday.  I first made bread, my favorite loaf I shared here.  After that I decided I wanted to make Oatmeal Whoopie Pies.  I had never made them before but after reading someone else's blog about making them, I have wanted to try my hand at this treat for ages.  I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe here.  These are wonderful!  I now want to try chocolate whoopie pies!

Sorry, I didn't remember to take a photo of the finished treat, but trust me.  They won't last long!

Life at a less hectic pace at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  Won't you come join us for a spot of tea and a Whoopie Pie?

Audrey

Summer is in full swing

Have you found yourself busy as the bees that visits your flowers?  We certainly have.  Lots of new happenings here at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  Lets see if I can catch you up.

A bit of a garden got planted.  Peas planted back in April gave us some delicious snap to our salads.  Lettuces and radish planted didn't sprout even one leaf but we are having some moderate success with tomatoes.  All of the plants here are very short and we've decided it's due to the ever present winds.  Plans are in the works for some hoop houses and we also may put a wood 6 foot fence up to block the wind.  We got some pumpkins planted late so now it is a race against the frost.

The chicken coop My Ever So Handy Husband was building has been moved and will become a garden shed.  Some progress is being made but he has been working on so many other projects this one keeps getting put back on the back burner.  A much larger shed was purchased off of Craig's list and we have plans to make that into the coop.  It will hold many more birds than the original.  One major problem with this project is when the shed was delivered, it got dropped about 3 feet and damage was done.  Side walls needed to be taken down and the framing needed to be repaired.  It too has taken a back burner as of late.

Speaking of chickens we are sadly down to 2 .  Poor Miss Pearl was found dead one afternoon.  Again, no known cause.  The remaining two are happy as can be and I suspect there may have been some fowl play in Pearls demise.

The big project that has taken our time and attention has been planting 250+ seedling trees in shelter belts around the Cottage.  Between site preparation, planting, drip irrigation and such, we have been busy as Johnny Appleseed.   In probably more years than we have left, the Cottage should be protected by Ponderosa Pines and Junipers in the winter and Ash trees will provide shade in the summer.

Friends of ours have bought a vacant parcel in our neighborhood and are in the process of building.  Since they had no place to live we offered to let them set their bus turned RV up at Prairie Cairn Cottage.  It's really nice on the inside, she even has an old claw footed tub in there.  They have been great helping out around the cottage.  She owns a tractor and was kind enough to prepare the shelter belt site for us.  Yes, that is her on the tractor.  She is a dear person and a fellow sister in Christ.  We've really enjoyed having them this summer.  They have a Rat Terrier who has become Little Black Brindle's best friend.  They also have 3 cats, one who is very old and has taken a liking to Tabby and being in the house rather than the RV.

 



Another project that has consumed much of our time has been painting our old house in Colorado.  We are down in Colorado often enough that we never sold the house or rented it out and we needed to paint the exterior.  There was some damage to the siding on the kitchen bump out so we tore off the old siding and replaced it.  Next up is to get the roof replaced.  Colorado is known for hail and the former Cottage suffered some damage last year.

Goodness!  That is more than enough business for this gal.  I plan on taking things a bit more relaxed for what is left of the summer.  I hope you find your days with plenty of time built in to enjoy the summer sunshine and gentle cooling breezes.

Thanks for taking a break with us at Prairie Cairn Cottage today.  Come back again and we'll drink some Lavender Lemonade and watch the breezes blow the grasses out on the prairie. 

Audrey