Small Animal Fun

 

I had left some baskets and tubs on my deck for someone to stop by and pick up and Boots decided these were the purrfect place to relax.  He also enjoyed sitting up and gazing in the window to see what might be happening in the house!  The tubs have been picked up, so we moved a bench over since he seemed to enjoy that spot so much.  Now all 3 kittens sleep there at night so they are close and ready for loving when the door opens in the morning.

Here are the terrible trio.  They have really grown and I'm sure have a ways to go judging from the size of their paws.

David and I attended a free longarm quilting machine road show last week.  I enjoyed seeing their van in the parking lot and appreciated the sentiment on the back........

Three guys from Iowa did the presentation and demonstration.  They had 5 machines set up for us to try out.  I just liked the visual of 3 guys traveling the highway in this cute van!  I did learn a lot, and was so busy checking it all out that I didn't take any photos of the machines.

At home, the beets were pulled and made into beet pickles...........17 pints!  A couple more batches of sweet pickles have been made as well, and I have been making fresh tomato sauce and salsa.  

Sarah and I went to Bethany to visit my parents this past weekend.  My sister came down on Friday with my nephew's girlfriend.  Chad and Jackson came down on Saturday after football practice and brought their new boat.  Sarah enjoyed some time on the boat Saturday afternoon.  It was strange to have 6 people there and my dad be the only guy.  Dad took the 4 of us girls (yes, it's nice to consider myself one of the girls) to the Amish Small Animal Auction on Saturday morning.  We went in his old rusted out truck so that we could attempt to "blend in".  We didn't blend.........we were some of the only people wearing facemasks......... and shoes!  We tried to social distance as much as possible, so I tried to be closer to the animals than the people.  

I texted David that morning to let him know we were going to this and his response was, "Remember, it's like a national park.  You don't take anything out and leave only footprints."

There were sheep, goats, calves, pigs, pot belly pigs, and lots of birds and rabbits.

Sarah and I liked the ducks.

We didn't realize there would be so many quail, pigeons, and even turkeys!

And chickens and roosters, of course, and then more pigeons.

And so many people..........apparently this was the social event of the month.  The hillside was packed with trucks, trailers, wagons, and buggies.

Of course, they had lots more than just the animals to auction..........

I was able to pass this sewing machine by as well as all the other junk.  Everything from old doors, lumber, boats, to dining room chairs.

We followed David's directive to the letter which meant that we didn't leave with a pecan pie from the selection of baked goods.  When we told him about this, he said next time not to leave with anything that was alive.  Then I reminded him about the sewing machine!  He just can't win!

Having just had dental surgery on Thursday, I spent some time relaxing on the couch with some baby quilt binding and Tucker, my sister's golden doodle.  I did finish the baby quilts and my Dad held them up for photos.  The first is for Chandler, my third cousin who is due to have her baby in December.  She is doing her nursery color in the darker green.  This is the Moda Love Charm Quilt pattern.

This one is for Elliott and Andrea, David's nephew.  They are expecting in November.  I bought this panel on the sale table at The Stitch in Jefferson, IA and added the border.  They are doing lighter greens, and Elliott likes elephants.  This one we know is a boy.

I realized that I didn't have any photos of people from our trip north, so here are Carmyn and Jackson.  We really like Carmyn.  We told her we're not quite sure what she sees in Jackson though.  She had to get home Sunday because her family has a large hog farm and they were doing vaccinations on Monday.  She invited Jackson to help........nice date!

We are heading to St. Louis this weekend to start getting Sarah's apartment set up.  I'm sure there will be many adventures to share (if we don't murder each other) next week.

Christi