Churn Dash Quilt

I love this block. Its called a Churn Dash block.
This quilt is extra special to me because, a dear friend of mine and I made these blocks together. About 18 years ago.
I was talking to her on the phone a couple of weeks ago. She said that she had this quilt on her bed right now.
I had to do a little digging around but found all my block and got them put together. I just Love it!
She made 60 and I made 60. And we each sent each other 30. So half the blocks in this quilt were made by her.
Every time I look at it I think of her.

Black Australorp Hen

Daffodils

I love these happy faces in the spring, if only they would last a little longer.

Thorns

Split Nine Patch Quilt

I love to Quilt...
I love to collect fabric,
I love to cut out my pieces, to put them together, but most of all I LOVE to complete a Quilt!

This is a Split Nine Patch Quilt.



But, Don't look to close, one of my blocks is upside down.

Grape Hyacinth

October Woods

Creepy Tree

Encourage each other,

Misty Lake

Encourage One another,

Horse

Encourage one another,

My Fountain

Encourage one another,

Wool

I love fabric!

From the Garden, Queen Ann's Lace

I Love Spring Time!

Encourage one another,
Lena

Shuckstack Fire Tower

We hiked from Fontana Dam in North Carolina to Shuckstack Fire Tower a couple of weeks ago. It was very cool!




At about 2 1/2 miles in to our hike you could see where we were going, look closely between the trees, at the top of the mountain peak, Can you see it? Shuckstack Fire Tower in the clouds.



See It? It this point I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. But I could see it was going to level out for awhile, my legs were very happy about that.



We made it!
The fire tower was build in 1934 and is 60 foot high. It sits on top of Twentymile Ridge.

The view was breath taking!





I didn't go all the way to the top of the tower. It felt a little shaky, and it is in need of some repair. But, the views were amazing from where I was anyway.

We climbed a little more than 2100 feet. Total hike about 8 miles. And was sore for about three day. But loved every minute of it.

Sunrise trough the trees

Chickens

I'm have changing my mind about what these little guys are. Just a few short weeks ago they looked like this, and I thought they were Buff Orpingtons.



But now they look like this. At 8 weeks old.



I think they are Rhode Island Reds. I didn't order them, but I was happy to see the surprise in the box when I received them.... Rhode Island Reds are good birds, and good egg layers. But NOT these!
Because, I think they are all boys!


I'll catch you up on my chicken count. Started with 22.
Two days after receiving them I lost one to Pasty Butt. ..... Yes, that is a real chicken medical term, haha.
Every one was doing great until, at 8 weeks, we let them out of the coop. And the dog got 3 of them. One black Australorp and two Rhode Island Reds. I love my Lab but, I wanted to beat her!!!
So, Now we have 18 and out of those 18, 10 are boys! Can you imagine the noise thats going to come from my coop when they start crowing!

Is any one out there interested in a Rooster? I have 9 to many.

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

I've been looking for a recipe of biscuits that can freeze for later use.
One day, I spent a couple hours making several batches to go in the freezer, of a different recipe. They turned out a little hard. My husband would ask, if we were going to have rock biscuits with dinner again. haha I was a little glad to see them gone.

This recipe is much better, but I'm always looking for new ones. If you have any to share. Please send them to me.



2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold
3/4 cup buttermilk (approx)

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450°F.
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal.
Add the buttermilk and mix JUST until combined.
If it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk.
Turn the dough out onto a floured board.
Gently, PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick.
Use a round cutter to cut into rounds.
You can gently knead the scraps together and make a few more.
Handle the dough at little as possible.
Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet- if you like soft sides, put them touching each other.
If you like"crusty" sides, put them about 1 inch apart- these will not rise as high as the biscuits put close together.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes- the biscuits will be a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom.
Do not over bake.

*Note: The key to real biscuits is not in the ingredients, but in the handling of the dough.
*The dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits.
*I have found that a kitchen aid or food processor make a better biscuits, because the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of over mixing.

*Note: You can make these biscuits, cut them, put them on cookie sheets and freeze them for up to a month.
Simply place them frozen on the cookie sheet and bake at 450°F for about 20 minutes.



After frozen place in a freezer safe bag for later use.

I found this recipe on food.com


Blessings,

Church Steeple

Blessings,

Happy Valentine's Day

Blessings,