Merry Christmas!

It's 10pm Christmas night. The gifts have been shared, food has been enjoyed, & we're currently watching "A Bug's Life." Of course one of Ruby's favorite new toys is the box to my fabulous new Le Creuset kettle set, but she loves her mega blocks and is intrigued by the elephant shape sorter. She also got a great handmade soft book from Grandma & Grandpa.







I also have to share the gorgeous new necklaces I received. The first is from Winemaker's Sister (hopefully the link works!) on Etsy, it is a spinning wheel charm and a stamped disc that says "SPIN". She has some beautiful jewelry and great stitch markers in her shop including Doctor Who, fairy tales, & bacon!

The second necklace is a beautiful Stella & Dot pair of charms. One is an "R" for Ruby. The other is her April birthstone, which is diamond. Very simple and lovely.



I haven't quite finished the gifts I planned to make, but I'm pretty excited about the fibonnaci socks I'm making for my sister. We'll also be going to a pottery store in Casper soon for Ruby to paint some things for her grandparents!


We went for a family walk last night at sundown. It was a little colder than we thought, but we were bundled up nicely.



And we did some sledding today since we got more snow yesterday.



Ruby loved it!


I hope everyone had a warm & wonderful day. Thank you for visiting!

~*~ Sharon ~*~

posted from Bloggeroid

The Homestead

Well, Bloggeroid seemed to work great yesterday! I'm super excited about this because now I can work on my journal in spurts, as Ruby gives me time to. Then I won't have to pull out the computer (hoping that it's charged) and hide it away again before she gets her hands on it. ;-)

Last night we had a gorgeous sunset so while I was out taking pictures I thought I'd also get some shots of where we live. In September I briefly mentioned that we moved to the other side of the ranch that Jake works for. We're still getting settled, but it was a good move. Since big game hunting season ended for the year (he guides for the ranch) he's been home a lot more and gets to spend lots of quality daddy/daughter time with Ruby.



We now live 5 miles south of one of the smallest towns in the U.S.A.; Lost Springs, Wyoming, with a population of 4. We are 25 miles to the nearest gas station & 35 miles from groceries, libraries, and general town stuff.

The above picture is of the old barn with Laramie Peak in the background. I haven't figured out how to get a good picture of the mountain yet, it actually appears much larger in real life from our place.

Next is the old chicken coop...



The quonset huts and the old loading chute...



And the house...



The house picture is from last month because I liked it better than last night's photo. ;-)

And one more picture of the old barn from a few weeks ago. It's a little blurry, but I like how the pink of the sunset shows through the open spaces.



Thanks for letting me share our "new" homestead!

*Sharon*

posted from Bloggeroid

Trying Out a Blogging App

I'm not sure the last time I was actually on my macbook, especially to blog, but it finally dawned on me that there's apps for just about everything so there's probably for an app I could use for APrairieSunrise too! The Blogger app had horrible recent reviews, but people seem happy with Bloggeroid so I thought I'd give it a go.

I know I've been gone for a long, long time. What can I say? I'm definitely not tech savvy and terrible about blogging. Hopefully (if I even have any followers left) you all follow me on Instagram, especially since I haven't even introduced you to my little Ruby and she just turned 8 months old the other day!! And she is constantly on the go, if she's awake she's getting into something! ;-)

So, here she is! My beautiful daughter, Ruby Verna. Born April 10th in the middle of a blizzard.



Since I don't know if this post will actually work or not I'll keep it short, but if it does work I hope to do a lot more journaling this coming year.

Thanks for sticking with me and I hope to chat again soon!

*Sharon*

Craft Book Month

When I signed up to participate in the Craft Book Month blog hop I had NO idea that I would be in the middle of a move to a different part of the ranch! So this is going to be short & sweet so I can get back to unpacking.  ;)


Books & crafts both have a very important place in my life and I was so excited when Lindsay invited me back for another year.

I chose a project from Alabama Studio Sewing + Design because, since Ruby was born, I've hardly had any time to sit at my sewing machine.  But I have been doing plenty of knitting and hand stitching. Natalie Chanin's designs are all about the art and love of hand stitching.  She uses basic shapes for her patterns, but through the use of stencils, thread, & embellishments you can make unique clothing that is all your own!

The projects and the photography are so beautiful and very inspiring.

 

 

My interpretation is much simpler.  I cut a Wiksten tank from a green rib knit then hand stamped a simple 3-flower pattern that I made.

 My favorite part is the stitching around the arms & neck.

I used the same green knit to make a Basic Poncho.  I then cut leaves from a coordinating blue rib knit and hand appliqued them around the neckline.  Of course, it's packed away in some box right now, but I will try to share a picture as soon as I find it.  I also have a T-Shirt Top in progress in a lovely purple jersey.

There are so many great craft books out there, go pull out your favorite and make something you love today! You can link up your own craft book projects on the Craft Buds website for a chance to win some amazing prizes.  And be sure visit all the other blog hop participants as well.  Thanks for stopping by!

An Evening Stroll

Jake took off this morning at sun up with his truck, trailer, and horse to gather some cows for work.

A prairie sunrise

And he came home just before sun down, which is rare.  Normally I don't see him until after dark.

So he got a little playtime with the corgi and then we went on a short walk.

Corrals at sunset

The homestead

Rough housing in the snow

"G" the mustang decided to join us on the last part of our walk since we cut through his pasture.  He came out to join us and followed us all the way back over to where El Gato was getting his grain after a good day's work.

"G" & Jake

It was a lovely way to wrap up a nice day.  Thanks honey!  :)

Stash Blaster: Week 8 - The Outhouse Edition

Last summer we had some plumbing troubles for several days and I was VERY thankful for the homestead outhouse.

Although we were still able to do dishes and get drinking water from the tap, the septic had backed up into the shower & tub which made bathing difficult.  So what did I do? Sponge bath on the porch!

I filled up a bucket, took it outside, and thanked God that it was 90 degrees and that we have no neighbors within 2 miles of the house.  :)

Before I did that though I decided that if I did in fact have to take a sponge bath outside I was going to do so as luxuriously as I could with what I had.  So I found a nice fluffy towel and some yummy smelling soap.  I also found a washrag pattern and knitted myself up a new washrag for the occasion.  It was a very quick knit (about an hour) with great texture and was an easy to memorize pattern.

It was actually kind of a fun experience and helped me realize what I can deal with, but I'm glad I don't have to do this on a regular basis.  Especially in the winter time!


So what does this have to do with this week's Stash Blaster?

Well, I have lots of cotton yarn from when I was first learning to knit and with Baby Tuckey's arrival just a few weeks away I thought we could use more hand knit washcloths around the house.  I whipped up these 4 in no time and have another one on the needles now. I'll probably end up making a giant stack of them and use them as gifts since I know of a lot of babies that are arriving this year!

How'd your week go?  What did you get done?  Grab a button from the sidebar and link up your most recent finish(es)!

Stash Blaster: Week 7

Well, I don't have any handmade completed projects to share with you this week.  Not because I didn't finish, but because it's a secret until the recipient receives it.  :)

I did make progress on my Scrappy Trip Around the World.  The blocks are ready to be sewn back together and the batting and backing are on their way!  There's also been progress on a knitted baby blanket and another pair of adult socks.

Scrappy Trip-along strips ready to be sewn together

I also made some quick birthday cards for a couple birthdays that snuck up on me.  It was fun to go through my old scrapbooking things to see what I had on hand, and to use up some of those tiny scraps that I just can't ever seem to get rid of.

Birthday cards

Mostly this past week has been dedicated to getting ready for Wiggles' arrival in a few weeks.

Wednesday was my 33 week appointment and our first birthing class.  I'm very happy that Jake was able to get the time off from work to go with me, he got to hear Baby's heartbeat again which is always fun.  Then we (he) drove home in a snowstorm, so I'm extra glad that he went with me!  ;)

We've also been rearranging furniture and cleaning out closets to make room for everything.

Travel system (stroller/car seat) from Jake's cousin

I moved the blankets we'd been storing in this footlocker....

A beautiful old footlocker that Jake's had forever, is becoming a toy box

...into this armoire, which was full of winter outerwear.... (the handknits are staying in the top section)

Something's missing....Any guesses?

...and the winter clothes went into a closet that first had to be decluttered of older clothes we never wear anymore.  Phew!!

We (well mostly Jake) also moved all the furniture in our bedroom to make a nursery corner. Although our house has 3 bedrooms things just worked out better for Baby to sleep with us for now.

Bedroom rearranged, ready for Baby

The dresser will be the changing table and I'm auditioning the Tula Pink fabric as a cover to protect the finish.

Nursery

Diaper basket

So although there wasn't much going on in the handmade department last week, there was plenty of other things to keep us busy!

Me at 33 weeks, freezing in the winter wind

Your turn!  Share your finishes, or almost finishes, from last week by grabbing a Stash Blaster button from the sidebar and linking up below.

Sunday Brunch is Back!

I don't know if any of my old followers are still around or not, but I used to do a post called Sunday Brunch where I'd share a favorite recipe that I made that week.  Looking back through my archives I just realized that it's been over a year (where the heck did 2012 go?!?) since I last shared my love of cooking on my blog.

I've missed those posts, and hopefully you have too, so I've decided to bring them back.

This is what I've been cooking the past couple weeks...

Dijon-crusted chicken with a butter & parmesan pasta

Steak & potato skillet

Cubed Steak Italiano (the veggies are part of the recipe) with Italian pasta and avocado

Huevos Rancheros

Hamburger Steak

Ground beef tacos

Beef & Spinach Lo Mein (with broccoli instead of spinach)

Meatloaf and sauteed bok choy

If you followed any of the recipe links above you probably noticed that they all are from Taste of Home.  I love my ToH cookbook because they have delicious, easy meals and use ingredients that you can actually find in rural America, where speciality markets don't exist.  I've also heard good things about America's Test Kitchen, I'm just not sure which cookbook to try.

What are your favorite recipes and/or cookbooks?

Stash Blaster: Week 6

Egads!  It's Tuesday night all ready??  Yikes!!

First things first, the winner of the January Stash Blaster giveaway is Mandy of Loverbunny Designs with her Camp Out Fingerless Mitts.  She won this fun little coin purse (pictured below) that I made which will be filled with some of my favorite notions.

Congratulations Mandy!  I'll be sending you an email shortly.

For last week's project I decided to make Baby Tuckey a bonnet from Vintage Knits for Modern Baby.  I used a skein of Belmoral Shetland wool that I received (along with other yarn & fiber) as trade for spinning some buffalo roving for the owner of Wyoming Wool Works in Dubois.

I chose this pattern to be my first from this book because I loved the modern take on an older style cap and thought it would look great on either a boy or a girl.  It still needs a button and I'm glad to have a lovely stash of vintage buttons to choose from.  The pattern was well written and I was able to complete the bonnet in a few hours.  The one complaint I have is I couldn't find a stitchionary in the book and since there can be different abbreviations for stitches I got a little confused on one of the decreases.  Luckily I was able to figure it out and continue on.

Modern Baby Bonnet for Baby Tuckey

I also started a Scrappy Trip Around the World quilt using my Simply Color jelly roll.  If you haven't seen the Instagram mania for this quilt you must, just search #scrappytripalong and see what all the hubbub is about!

There's also a new yarn up in my Etsy shop today.  I'm not much for pink normally, but I added a couple splashes of purple and a tiny bit of teal and really love how the color turned out.  It's approximately 86 yards of sport to DK weight and would make a great child's hat or pair of mitten, or maybe even a pair of wristers for you!

'So In Love' handspun yarn

So that's what I've been up to, how about you?  It's your turn!  Grab a Stash Blaster button from the sidebar and link up your finished project(s) from the past week. Remember, that your link-up will also enter you into this month's giveaway drawing.


***A quick note on comments:  I love and appreciate each and every comment I receive so much! And I respond to every comment, with one exception.  If you are not a Blogger user than you are most likely a "no-reply blogger" which means that your comment comes through to my email with a return address of noreply-comment@blogger.com.  Sadly, that means I can't respond back.  So if you're not hearing from me after you leave a comment be sure to follow this brief tutorial so that I can reply!