Tuesday, October 2, 2012

This & That and my Lace Mat


I have had a very busy and somewhat difficult last few days, and as it has so often happened in the past for many of us, we receive a moral booster in the mail. 

Back on the 14th of Sept at Tat-ilicious I won a giveaway that Jess was having for her  Blogaversary.

I chose the option Jess gave me of a ball of  custom Messy Jess!-y colorway or 2 skeins of colors she already had.  I chose a ball of Messy Jess!-y
This is the picture that I sent to her
North Dakota Sunset
  I have always loved the sunsets that God has given us here in North Dakota so asked Jess if a thread colorway like this would be possible.  This is what she was able to do for me.


Isn't this pretty? It is a little brighter then the picture shows. It is size 40.  Thank you Jess!

She also sent along some beads... some meaning lots....







Here is a closeup of the Doodads in the bottom center because I want you to see the really pretty one.


Now back to my difficult days.
The past weekend was extremely warm (read hot) here in North Dakota, Saturday was 85 and Sunday got up into the mid 90's.  I am a chilly person, my normal body temp runs about 97, a good degree below normal of 98.6.  but I also don't do well when it gets hot, I have had either heat exhaustion or heat stroke several times.  I think I have mentioned before that the tomatoes out in the garden are not ripening, normally they would be dead plants by now, but there are just too many to pick green and let ripen in the house.  So we have been covering them on chilly nights, but that is a chore and the days are getting colder too so we chose to build a hoop house over the tomato patch.  15'X36'. 
This is what we accomplished. 
Farmguy, our son and a son-in-law were busy combining corn so Saturday I cut the re-bar and collected some of the wooden frame and a few other things and did some measuring in between the laundry and feeding the guys and running parts.
Sunday the guys were back at harvesting, but the neighbors who garden with us were able to come help in the afternoon for a couple hours. We were able to get the wooden base frame put together, the re-bar pounded into the ground and the hoops together and up. 

This evening we got the 2 end hoops up and the connecting pieces along the ridge.  Then covered it all with the blue tarp you see in the right hand side of the picture.
The plan is to use clear plastic like a green house in the next couple of days so the tomatoes will continue growing and ripening their fruit. 

The plans that I used are available online from several different sources.  I combined  ideas from several sources ~  LasPilitas greenhouse , Mother Earth News and some others.

I got over heated - not good.  and then when I was feeling a bit better later in the evening the cows got out.  They are supposed to be grazing in the harvested corn fields north of the house. The electric fences are working very well, but the river is so low, that when they go down for a drink, they simply walk across and then go around the fence and get out.  grrrrr.  The guys were still out combining so I went out to chase cows, fortunately, I could do most of it from the back of the 4-wheeler.



So no tatting was done over the weekend. 

I was able to get some of the 2nd round on my Lace Mat done tonight.

I decided to add a solid color for the chains in this row.  It is a used ball of thread with no label.  I had more of the repeat on the right side finished, but discovered that I had twisted the first round arm when I joined so had to un-tat and straighten it out.

Hope you all had a great monday, and you tuesday will be pleasant with lots of tatting and tea for Tatting Tea Tuesday.

It is time for bed.

14 comments:

  1. Heat exhaustion is nothing to be taken lightly, but you know that already.
    I am so glad that my little package was a pick-you-up after a hard weekend though!! <3

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    1. Thanks again Jess, I have some ideas swirling in my brain, I may have to borrow Jane's brain Cell #3.

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  2. You and your gardening neighbors are tomato heros! (Bob the Tomato from VeggieTales would be so proud.) As long as a four-wheeler is involved, even the cow-chasing sounds like fun.

    Ooooh, your HDT (is the colorway officially named North Dakota Sunset?) is sooooo pretty! Jess really does marvelous work.

    Thanks for this post. Really enjoyed reading.

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    Replies
    1. 4-wheeler beats running any day. but i liked the old 3-wheeler better, it was more maneuverable, but also tipped over easier.
      I don't know if Jess has officially named it North Dakota Sunset, but she did a very good job matching the thread colors to the picture

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  3. I hope the tomatoes ripen well after all that work. Jess's thread is so pretty, and I like the colours of the mat too, good idea to use a plain colour for the chains. Keep cool!!

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  4. My goodness, you had a very busy weekend! I don't do well when I get overheated either. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to accomplish what you did. I hope you're able to find a little time to relax and tat this week!

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  5. I'm so glad you're feeling better! Crazy busy weekend, it sounds!

    I grew up in North Dakota and miss the sunsets and seeing the sky, thank you for the lovely picture. Off to see if I can get ND thread from Jess! I think my parents would love something in this thread too!

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  6. What pretty thread! The hoop house is impressive, I'd love to have something similar to extend the season a bit here. Love your lacemat colors...hope you get more time to tat and rest this week :-)

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  7. That is a stunning sunset. Jess did a good job.

    Feel better soon and enjoy those tomatoes. I wish I could come and farm/garden with you too.

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  8. Thank you everyone for stopping and commenting. It looks like the hoop house will have to be completely finished by wednesday night. after that the days will be only in the 40s and the nights below freezing.
    Combine broke tonight too, so have to get that fixed quick.

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  9. Your lace mat looks like it is going to be really pretty!!! :)

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  10. Beautiful photo of the ND sunset.
    Your lace mat is looking lovely.

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