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