New in the Shop

Father's Day is coming up, and I've got some new things in the Purl & June shop that would make great Father's Day gifts.  I realized many of my scents were more geared towards women, so I have a few new scents to include the men!


Bay Rum is one of my new favorite scents.  And I love how the bars turned out!

Casanova is another new one for men.  It smells just like a perfect men's cologne.

And for those who like warmer, earthier scents, there's Cedarwood & Patchouli.

And they're also available in a gift set!  Set includes one Bay Rum, one Casanova, and one Cedarwood & Patchouli, plus a nice wooden soap tray. 

Crafty Saturday

Kylee got a kids' sewing machine for Christmas, and we finally pulled it out today so I could teach her to sew.  Poor kid, it's May and she is just now getting to use her Christmas present.  So we pulled out the sewing machine, and I could not figure out how to thread the darned needle.  It's a teeny little thing, so in about 2 seconds I gave up and got out my sewing machine (the one that belonged to David's grandmom). 

So she picked out her fabric, and decided to make a pillow case.  She wanted to sew her brother some underwear, but I explained she may want to start out with something like a pillow case.  She started by pinning a hem on what would be the open end of the case.  Devin looks thrilled, doesn't he?

It didn't take her long to get comfortable on the machine.  Devin decided to get out his needle felting stuff so he could make something while Kylee sewed. 

Then after Kylee sewed the hem, she pinned along the bottom and the long side. 

Then she zipped right along those seems, and voila!  Her very own pillow case that she made with barely any help from me!

And Devin worked on his needle felting, making a grape. 

Eating Machines

Larry, Moe, and Curly are eating and pooping machines!  These little suckers are always hungry, it seems.  I was planning on weighing them every day, but my scale either broke or needs new batteries and I haven't replaced them yet.  I know they're growing though, and their feathers are coming in fast!

Larry, Moe, and Curly

Meet Larry, Moe, and Curly.  They're pigeon babies who were rescued by a state highway employee today.  They were in a nest under a drawbridge, and when the bridge opened the nest fell and one of the guys scooped them up.  Nobody else wanted to deal with them, so David brought them home. Yes, my "no more animals please" husband brought them home and even researched how to care for them.  Just one of the many reasons why I love him!

I'm thinking the babies are about a week old.  Baby pigeons are about the ugliest baby bird ever!  Luckily they develop quickly, so they should be past this gangly, awkward stage soon!

Eating Machines

The babies are 3 weeks old now, and cuter than ever.  They've started coming out of the nesting box so they can explore and eat solid foods.  Their poor mom seems to be annoyed by them now and then, and she'll either lay flat on her stomach (so they can't try to nurse), or she'll hop up onto the nest box to get away from them. 

Why are rabbit faces so cute?

Kisses?  No, just trying to eat mom's food.

When you're feeding 9 babies, you have to eat a lot!

Kid Stuff

The kids have been in an after school program this year, and it just ended.  They had a showcase the other night, so parents could come see what their kids have been doing.  Kylee has been very busy doing lots of arts and crafts!

This is a French town they created.  Kylee's house is to the right of her. 

This is a flower she created with oil pastels.

I don't remember exactly what this was, but she made one of the squares.

Devin made this structure.  First they had to create the architectural plan, then he had to create it. 

This was a ticket to France they made. 

Some of the other students in the program created a mini-golf course using recycled materials.  They had it set up in the gym for everyone to try out. 

One of Kylee's best friends was also in the program.  They're cute together. 

Last night we had Family Movie Night.  We watched Brave, which was cute.  The kids snuggled in their beanbags, and Buford thought it looked really comfy, so he joined in.  We also had homemade vanilla ice cream and popcorn. 

This morning (Mother's Day), I woke up to breakfast in bed!  The kids made me peanut butter toast and a big glass of orange juice.  They also made me some really sweet gifts.

Kylee made me this craft with cut outs of her hands and really nice sayings on them.

Devin made me this necklace with sweet sayings.

Kylee made me the bird mask and the card in the middle.  Devin made me the card on the right.

Devin's card is tied in the middle, and this is what's inside

I tell ya, I'm the luckiest step-mom in the world!   I hope you all had a great Mother's Day!

4-H Field Trip

The kids' May 4-H meeting was a field trip, and we went somewhere near and dear to my heart.  We visited Wye Angus, where I worked as an intern my last semester of college and for a year after I graduated.  I can't even begin to explain how much I loved working on that farm.  I loved everything about it..the history, the scenery, the cattle. 

Here's a video explaining the history a bit, as told by my former boss.  He also narrated our hay ride for the 4-H meeting. Everyone piled onto the wagon for the ride. 

We went through the farm and out into one of the fields where cows, their calves, and a bull were out grazing. 

It was getting dark, but I still managed to get a few pictures.

The kids were pretty excited about being out in the field with the cattle.  I forgot that they only have sheep and goat experience, not cattle.  I think they were impressed with the size...especially the bull!

The bull. 

The cows were scattered at first, busy grazing. 

But after just a bit they got curious and wanted to know more about us. 

Devin was nice enough to take this picture of Kylee and me.

More cows...

More pretty scenery...

The kids had a great time!   They loved seeing the cows, and they were a little excited and scared knowing there was a bull just a few feet away.  Part of the tour was describing the breeding program, including embryo transfer and recipient cows (yes, cows can be surrogate moms too!).  Devin asked what an egg was, so on the way home I got to explain about eggs and sperm, and how when an embryo is frozen it isn't exactly like freezing an actual calf.  Fun stuff!  I enjoyed showing the kids where I used to work.  It was definitely a great 4-H meeting!

New Roof, Rabbit Babies, and More

We got a new barn roof!  The two layers of shingles were getting pretty worn and the roof was leaky pretty badly, especially on my side.  We decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and replace it before the wood underneath was damaged.  We went with a metal roof because it was cheaper, lasts longer, and is pretty maintenance free.  Even though we love saving money by doing work ourselves, we decided to hire this job out.  I'm so happy we did, because they did it so much quicker than we could have.

We went with the same color brown as we had before.  I love the new look!  We'd love to do the house with metal roofing in the future. 

We set the hammock up in the front yard last week when we put the animals out there to graze (so we could keep an eye on them).  Kylee and I got in some good relaxing time!


































The sheep/goat pasture is finally ready to graze, so I set up the first paddock for them on Monday.

















Then yesterday (Wednesday), I opened up another small section for them.  This picture below was taken Wednesday afternoon.  You can see the line where they grazed the first section.  Normally I would have put up a back fence (to keep them out of the already grazed section), but I didn't have time before work. 
















The lamb is following her mama, Darla, out to graze. 
















I thought this was a nice family picture of the purebred Southdowns.  Darla, the ram, and the lamb. 
















I knitted a jumper for my good friend's baby girl.  I hope she doesn't read this blog.  :-)






















My #2 doe kindled (had babies) on the 24th.  She had 11, but lost 2 shortly after.  She still has 9 fat, healthy babies. 

 

Rabbit babies are the cutest!

These babies' father is my American Chinchilla/Silver Fox buck.  I bred my #1 doe to the New Zealand buck, hoping for some purebred babies, but she didn't take.  I'll breed her again soon. 

And I need to get around to posting about the meat aspect of the rabbits.  I'll get to it some day!