New Kitchen Island...

We found this a few weeks ago...

we thought it would make a great

island for our kitchen

 

It needs some work...

in between haying...

I have been sanding and painting

The butcher block top was a mess...

lots of stains and dents and scratches !

I spent an hour with the sander:

very pleased with the newly sanded top !

Now for the new paint color:

Squash Blossom Yellow

The yellow is so cheerful in our kitchen !

The butcher block top gets a food-safe finish

of walnut oil

Here we go...

So simple to apply...

I am in love !

This will give us so much more counter space

in the kitchen.

Here comes the show ' tell:

Makes you want a glass of lemonade !

The wire baskets on the side

make for extra storage space...

The Cowboy's aunt gave us the kitchen table.

It is from the 1960's...

The table and new island fit nicely together...

Now, time to get back to the hay fields...

lots of mowing, raking and baling to do !

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

#LuAnnKessi

Hay Season....Raking & Baling

We are back in the first hay field today...

 

The mowed grass has dried out some

and I am raking it into windrows

so the Cowboy can come along later and bale it...

This is my ride today...

The Cowboy's John Deere 4440

This is the hay rake...

It is attaches to the back of the tractor

and creates the windrows

These HUGE metal tines scoop up the hay...

Windrows...

The rake merges the hay into a row

and the wind dries it.

The Cowboy is baling up the windrows...

The tractor straddles the windrow and

the baler scoops up the hay and creates

a round bale...

The ravens spent the day 

in the hay field with us...

We also had another visitor in the hay field:

Garter Snake

She is a real beauty...

Garter snakes won't bite you unless provoked. They won't chase you. They are really very shy and are not looking for a fight! Garter snakes do produce a very weak venom, but the venom is so mild that it rarely has any effect on humans.

The raking is all done...

I get to sit back and watch the Cowboy make bales.

Another beautiful day in the hay field

More To Come !

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

#LuAnnKessi

Hay Making and Foxgloves...

 

No stitching for me today...

Mowing the 2nd hay field...

I am not alone...

Lots and lots of turkey vultures...

they follow the mower looking for

tidbits to feed their young...

nothing goes to waste...

It was a beautiful day to be out of doors...

The field is mowed and I am heading for the barn !

It is Foxglove season here in the 

Pacific Northwest

Foxglove growing up and through 

an old squeeze chute...

Foxglove growing up through an 

irrigation pipe trailer...

I love the spotty throats inside the blooms...

Pink has never looked this good !

One of my favorite times of the year!

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

#LuAnnKessi

Hay Season & Feathers...

 

Work before Play

I spent the day on my little red tractor...

It was nice and cool out...

a perfect day for mowing hay

Look what I found:

Elk Antler

Elk herds spend a lot of time 

grazing in the hay fields,

and in the Spring the 

bull elk shed their antlers...

I kept my eye out, but didn't find any others.

It was a beautiful day outdoors !

When I came home I was

itching to do some stitching:

I pulled out a yard of hand dyed fabric

and put together a quilt sandwich 

and just played...

I have been doing so much piecing,

I forgot what it was like to machine quilt...

YLI Variations Thread

Always a favorite of mine !

High Contrast.....yellow on blue

Very satisfying !

A perfect way to end the day.

5 more hay fields to mow.

More To come...

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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

#LuAnnKessi

Wild Goose Chase.....Top Done

I spent some time in the Thread Shed

yesterday piecing the last 2 seams 

of the Wild Goose Chase quilt top:

 

2 Seams left to piece together...

1 seam left to piece together...

Giving it a final pressing...

I took it outdoors for a photo shoot...

I put it back on the design wall

and noticed that the very last flying goose

on the bottom right corner...

is upside down.

Time to get out the seam ripper !

Wild Goose Chase 56 x 66

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LuAnn Kessi

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