In The Back Yard...

We have had a warm, sunny and beautiful autumn

and the dahlias in the back yard are loving it...

 

This is a 30 foot flower bed chock full of

dinner plate dahlias....yes, they are giant!

We have enjoyed their gorgeous, saturated colors

for several months now...

They love the warm days and cool nights...

These are a riot of color !

The Western Oregon RAINS are coming soon...

If I wait until after it rains...

this flower bed will be wet and slimy

and awful to clean out.

The dahlias are beautiful but...

they gotta go !

Poof !

Just like that.....the flower bed is cleaned out.

Time to haul off the wheelbarrows of flowers.

I planted this Iris flower bed 20 years ago

in front of the house:

It is time to move them to the back yard...

New Iris Bed:

I dug up the iris plants in the front yard,

separated the rhizomes, 

there must have been 1,000,

shared them with my friends and family...

and replanted some in the back yard.

150 newly planted iris...

They will bloom next June and look like this !

The Cowboy put up a temporary fence

around the new iris bed...

the chickens wanted to get in there so badly

and scratch around.....Naughty Chickens !

 

The grape arbor in the back yard

is putting on a show this time of year...

Grape Leaf

Just as beautiful as any flower could be...

The raccoons ate all of the grapes !

It is time to trim the arbor.

The goats could not resist coming over

to check out the flower garden clippings !

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Design Boards...

 I have been using design boards

aka flannel boards for years...

I decided to make some pretty ones

with a bound edge treatment...

They are basically a foam core board

covered with batting and

bound with binding.

I use them to lay out the pieces of a quilt block

to keep it in order while I am stitching it together.

I also use them to carry fabrics and binding

from the cutting table to the sewing table

to the ironing board.

You can prop the design board up

in a book stand or small easel to keep it vertical

while you are piecing your quilt blocks.

I am heading for a Quilt Retreat in Idaho

next week and I am bringing along

a pile of design boards to give the quilters !

Here is a great design board tutorial

by Lori Holt

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Yard Work....Cowboy Style

When I need help with yard work

I know just the right guy for the job... 

The Cowboy jumps right in and

gets right with it !

Within minutes tree limbs are cut

and ready to load up and haul away...

While the Cowboy is limbing,

I am cleaning out the flower beds...

It always looks worse...

before it looks better !

Making some head way...

The chickens join in cleaning up the flower bed !

The limbs are down,

time to load them on the dump bed...

All loaded up and ready to haul them off...

The limbs are all cut on the 2nd tree...

Another load of limbs to haul off...

The first 2 trees are all trimmed up

and the flower bed is cleaned out...

Trimming the limbs off the 3rd tree...

The Cowboy knows how to get things done!

My little yellow Thread Sheds 

sits in the background

patiently waiting for me to come in a sew.

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

A Good Scratchin'.....

This is Black Beauty #4 

Whenever she sees the Cowboy out in the pasture,

she comes up and stands by him...

patiently waiting for a Good Scratchin'

She says....oooh that feels so good !

Enjoy the Video:

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Horse Panel....Border Treatment

 

I am making progress on this

Horse Quilt Panel

I am piecing Bear Paw blocks

for the border treatment...

All 16 Bear Paw blocks are done...

Now to trim the panel and make them all fit.

The Horse Panel...

High Horse by Riley Blake Designs

We spent the weekend trimming 

flowering cherry trees 

in the front yard...

It was a sunny and beautiful day...

The red maple trees are putting on a show !

Here is your COLOR BURST for today !

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Rhodie Removal...

 

This is the Thread Shed...

it is my happy place.

These gorgeous pink rhodies are 20 years old...

They are taking over the building...

it is time for them to go.

We are enjoying a dry and beautiful October...

a perfect time to remove the rhodies.

The Cowboy fires up the power saw and

gets right with it !

He cuts off the rhodie at the base,

hooks onto it with a tow strap,

then I haul it out with the 4 wheeler...

The Cowboy loads the rhodies

onto the dump bed...

This is just one rhodie bush !!!

You can now see the left side of the Thread Shed...

2 bushes removed.....progress !

Amazing....I haven't seen that window for years !

One more rhodie bush to remove...

The rhodies are all gone...

I sprayed the side of the building with

30 second cleaner...

it removed all of the moss.

The chickens were so excited to scratch around

in all that exposed dirt...

We were so successful removing the Thread Shed

rhodies, that we just kept going:

Rhodies in front of the house are 

also over grown...

It is time for them to go!

All gone !

Looks much better.....ahhh

Yes, we removed rhodies from the side of

the guest house too!

No more rhodie trimming every year !

We are into low maintenance landscaping now.

We found yellow paint in the garage...

today I am painting the buildings

while the Cowboy trims all of the trees in the yard.

We will sleep good tonight !

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi