Mom and Pop's Aprons

I finished these two aprons for John and I a couple of days ago but couldn't take any photos until I knew John wasn't going to pop into the house and catch me. I still think he doesn't know he is getting a special apron for Christmas like everyone else. It was tricky to sew them too as I had to keep my ear tuned to the back door opening and rush to put them out of sight and pretend to be doing something else when he walked into the sewing room.

I made the frog fabric apron for myself and the UNL Husker one for John. I intend to wrap mine up too - may put a tag on them that they are from Santa. Will act surprised when I open it with everyone else opening theirs.

When the grandsons were here I had on an old apron and wore it to the table one evening. M, who is 3 asked me what I was wearing and told him I wore the apron to help keep my clothes clean when I cooked. He got this sad look on his face and told me he didn't have an apron. Can't wait until he opens his and realizes what it is.

We got ice, rain and snow on Thursday and are still dealing with the ice. Had to make a trip to town yesterday and the highway still only has one track each way that is not ice covered. The sidewalks and garage approach are still covered with ice too so walking can be tricky. Yesterday morning we woke to the sound of wind so besides being cold the wind chill was down really low. It is -3 degrees F here this morning but not as much wind but of course it will still be cold out.

John had to build fence for the cows across the road yesterday and waited until 3:30 pm hoping it would be warmer and less wind then. He was putting in an electric fence so had to push in the small metal posts. Wonder if he had to pound them in with a hammer if the ground was too frozen.

After he gets the posts in he strings out a strong wire that is attached to the posts with an insulator and will have a battery attached to the wire. That is all it takes to keep the cows in - they all respect the electric fence. It gives them a little shock if they touch it so they keep a little distance from the perimeter of the field. Using electric fences around the corn stalk fields is an easy way to clean up any downed corn and makes a cheap way to feed the cows after they come home from the pastures. We move them about every 2 weeks to new fields to keep them well fed. They stay in the stock fields until about 2 weeks before they are to give birth to their new calves in about mid March. At that time they are moved to the lots near the barn and are fed hay and silage (corn that was cut green and packed in a pile where it kind of ferments.) The cows love the taste of silage and it really doesn't smell too bad either.

So much for the "farm report" for today!

Lynn

Another 4 Aprons Finished

I just finished 4 more of the aprons for my family. I haven't had much time to sew for a few days until today so am glad to have these done. I did get fabric for John and even some cute frog fabric for myself I want to finish today yet too. Think I will wrap mine too and put it under the tree.

So far John has not figured out I am making one for him even though every once in a while he comes over to the sewing machine or pressing board and looks at what I am doing. I got University of Nebraska Husker fabric for him but it is a different print than the one I made for our son in law.

The flowered apron is for our daughter S - she loves bright fabrics and gardening, the John Deer Tractor fabric one is for our son in law J, the blue one with the heave equipment on it is for the 3 yr M, and the one with all the sports balls is for the 6 yr old grandson C.

It has been really foggy and misty all day here. So far we don't have any freezing on the roads but that is predicted for tonight.

We sure had a noisy night around here last night. John weaned the calves and they were bawling in the north lot across from our house and the cows were bawling in the south lot all night long. Thank goodness I had ear plugs to help get a little sleep. This morning I noticed tracks across our lawn and we saw that one of the cows was out. She had jumped through the tank and had been wandering all over during the night. My hope is that when it thaws next spring we don't have cow tracks in the lawn! Guess she was determined to find her calf.

Back to sewing....
Lynn

Aprons for Christmas - first 4

Here are the first 4 aprons I have made for gifts for Christmas. These 4 are for our oldest daughter, her husband and our two granddaughters.

Have the fabrics all cut out and hems pressed for the rest but have not had a chance to sit down and stitch them yet.

My husband had a convention in Kearney this last week from Wed - Friday and I did finish the rest of my shopping and purchased the fabric for the rest of my aprons. I spent some time in the motel cutting and pressing them to be ready for the sewing machine.

We picked up our two grandsons, C (6 yr) and M (3 yr) on our way home on Friday and kept them for the weekend. I didn't even want to tempt the 3 yr. old as he loves buttons and switches and if I would have tried to sew I am sure he would have helped me. Just playing and getting meals fixed was enough to keep me pretty busy.

The boys left with their parents Sunday afternoon and about 5 minutes later my husband and I hopped into our car and drove 2 1/2 hr. to see our granddaughters church Christmas program. We had wanted to go but didn't know if we would be able too - all depended on what time S & J came to pick up the boys. Our granddaughters were surprised and pleased to see us and that made our long drive worth it. After eating at the pot luck dinner at the church we headed back home. We both were tired today - partly from the long day yesterday and partly from keeping two active little boys.

I fully intended to start sewing first thing this morning but that just didn't happen. Had to make a trip into town to mail a package and to get a new cell phone. My old phone wouldn't stay charged more than a half an hour if I was talking on it, plus the back kept falling off and the battery would fall out. The new one is similar to my old one so I won't have too big a learning curve with it. Had all my numbers transferred over at the store so won't have to spend hours putting them all in - decided that was a good deal.

This afternoon was no better - had a funeral for a neighbor then this evening is a local cattlemen's dinner and meeting.

It has been so cold here the last two days. Sunday the temperature was 7 degrees F. when we left home and -3 degrees F. when we got back last night. Think it got as low as -6 and below 10 degrees F. today was the high. Yesterday the cold felt much worse with the high winds which thankfully died down before our trip home last night.

Lynn

Another Santa Sampler

12" x 15"

My older sister J made this Santa Sampler for me in 1995. She paper pieced the different blocks and machine quilted it. Isn't it cute?

I hang it with a white painted dowel and this year it is grouped on the wall with the pieced tree in the hoop.

I have post dated this entry since we have to be gone again for a few days this week. I sure don't want you to forget me! Actually am typing it Tuesday morning to be exact. If you haven't tried this feature you should if you are going to be gone and want to still keep posting entries to your blog. Just click on Post Options on the bottom left of the box where you type your blog. Change the "Post date and time" to suit you - that's it, so easy to do.

Not sure how much time I will have at the computer when we get home as we will be keeping our two grandsons over the weekend. At six and three they keep me pretty busy.

Lynn