Iris and New Calf...

The Iris bed is really putting on a show...

100 Iris here in the front flower bed.

The aroma is lovely.

It is hard to walk by them 

without grabbing the camera!

The Cowboy built this bird house years ago...

Each Spring Tree Swallows come to nest...

The male Tree Swallow waits patiently outside

while the female sits on the eggs inside...

It won't be long until we hear

baby birds peeping!

Yes, we are still calving...

This is our newest Baby.....Ben

Ben.....asleep under a foxglove.

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Painted Canvas.....Tote Bag 2

Remember when we made some

Messy Painted Canvas?

I used a piece of my canvas to make this tote bag:

I didn't take in-process photos while stitching up

the tote bag.....here it is all sewn up and waiting

for the painted handles to dry...

Here it is completed with the handles...

It is lined...

The sides and bottom are quilted...

I created this bag in a class

with the Harlan Valley Quilters...

It is a 2 sided bag.....lots of FUN!

Here are a few of the students with their 

messy painted canvas tote bags:

Betty

Lani

Linda

Karri

Kathi

We celebrated with margaritas!

Many Thanks to our instructor, Donna Irons.

She came all the way from Idaho 

to teach this class!

CLICK HERE to view ALL Painted Canvas posts

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Iris Blooming...

The Iris bed is beginning to wake up...

After a very wet, long winter...

the Iris are beginning to bloom!

The light today was just right for photographs...

The yellow iris always bloom first and fast!

Be sure to double click photos to enlarge them...

The Lupine are also in bloom...

Over the years, my photography has inspired

some of my quilt making...

This is an iris quilt created in 2011:

CLICK HERE to watch me create this!

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Dottie.....The Chicken

A peaceful evening in the cow fields...

Each evening we check on the cattle...

They are all content in grass up to their bellies!

This is Mary Black Feather

This is a heifer with her very first calf...

Happy Mother's Day!

Mama and Baby are doing just fine.

We were working yearling cattle in our corral

here at home...

Dottie, one of our hens, shut down production.

She got into the corral and began pecking around for worms, clearly oblivious that 57 head of  500 pound yearlings were in the corral with her.

We were afraid she would get trampled.

She walked closer to the yearlings and...

they all backed up....afraid of her!

Enjoy the Dottie Video:

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Moving Cattle...

The lilacs are blooming...

That means it is time to move the cattle...

Most of the cows have calved.

The winter pasture is exhausted.

It is time to move the cattle up river

to spring pasture...

2 miles of narrow and winding road...

The cow and calf pairs are on the road...

The cows do this every year,

they know the way.

There are three of us on the cattle drive today...

It is a beautiful day to move cows...

First stop is the barn lot.

We will sort off the cows for breeding...

Some of the cows will be bred by Shorthorn bulls.

The others will be bred by Angus bulls.

The sorting is all done.

Time to move them down the road again.

The cattle are happy to be in lush, green fields.

Everything went smoothly today.

Very little traffic on the road.

The cows and calves all cooperated.

The bulls loaded in the trailer easily.

It was a good day!

CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi