Tap Dancing and more!

Hello again dear friends. My, it's been three weeks already since my last post. Time sure flies when you're having fun! As my post title implies, I've been busy tap dancing. But not the "Lawrence Welk" kind that involves fancy footwork. On Feb. 10, Colvin and I tapped several maple trees around our acre of paradise and have 8 1/2 gallons of sap in our refrigerator just waiting to be boiled this Saturday. This week the temperatures will be PERFECT for more sap running, so our gallon total will be closer to 10 or 11 by the end of the week. On Friday night, we'll build a small cinder block fire pit in our driveway and start the LONG boiling process Saturday morning. In the end, we should be left with a quart (plus some) of heavenly sweet pure Pennsylvania maple syrup. It's a lot of work, but SO worth it!

This picture was taken 2 years ago in 2011. We didn't have a sugar season last year as the weather was MUCH TOO WARM for the trees to do the necessary freeze and thaw that makes the sap run.

Besides keeping the sap company, I've been stitching up a storm. Once again, I've been invited to have a sampler appear in the special Halloween issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine. I finished it in record time and am now waiting for the frame to arrive. I'll share a sneak peek in a future post. Now, I'm making fabulous progress on a sampler that will be a future release this year. I haven't named it yet, but I think you'll like it. It has lions on it and that's all I'm going to tell you!

CHICKEN UPDATE: In a previous post, I wrote about putting light in the girls coop to help get them laying again. My experiment worked! Two weeks after installing the rope light, we were blessed with an egg! On a good day, we get 2 eggs, which isn't great, but better than nothing! At least I won't have to lower my standards and succumb to BUYING eggs. It's humiliating when you know you have 5 hens in your backyard!

Well, I think I've bored you enough with my country life activities! Thanks for stopping by!

Diane

Let's start at the very beginning...

a very good place to start. 

When you read you begin with A, B, C. 

When you sing you begin with...

Do Re Mi.

And that my dear friends, is the subject of my new 4 part sampler

series that will be released at Nashville in just 2 short weeks!

"Sing a Sampler Series"

The Most "Upscale" Cross Stitch Design yet!

Part 1 of 4

Can You Carry a Tune?

From a very young age, my Mom encouraged me and my sister, Sara to sing. We sang together in church, for Sunday School programs, and when we grew older, we both sang in the high school concert choir. From 10th-12th grade, I was fortunate enough to attend District choir, and in 11th and 12th grade, I made it as far as Regional Choir (which is one step further than Districts.) In order to be considered for these special choir events, one had to audition in this manner: You were taken to a room and before entering, you were told what song to sing and how many stanzas to sing. Upon entering the room, you were not allowed to talk. There were 3 judges in the room, with their backs to you. You were given the starting note with a pitch pipe. And then you sang acapella. You were then judged against all of the other auditioners based on pitch, tone, enunciation, and dynamics. And you thought American Idol was tough!

Singing at these events was quite an experience. If you secured a place in one of these select choirs, you got to travel to the hosting school and stay with a family in that school district for a couple of days. During those days, you practiced. And practiced. And practiced some more. Then as a culmination of all your hard work, a concert was held on Saturday afternoon. The stage was alive with color as each participant wore a choir robe in their school colors. Ours was maroon and white. And I wore it (and my aviator goggles) with pride.

Regional Choir Participants from Montrose High School, circa March 1990. Can you pick me out?

 Believe it or not, this trip down memory lane has something to do with my new 4 part sampler series that will be released at Nashville. Even if you are someone who can't carry a tune in a bucket, take heart, as now you can Sing a Sampler! Here's a sneak peek of what's to come:

Peek of Part 1

Peek of Part 2

 I'll have you (or at least you needle) humming in no time!
Thanks for stopping by the creek. I'm glad you came!
 Diane 

Why Don't Dogs Wear Socks?.....

......because they don't stay on! How do I know? I tried it, that's how.

I felt so bad for Molly and her beautiful speckled tootsies every time we had to go out in this BRUTAL arctic cold that we've been enduring all week. Colvin was concerned, and asked me if I could make Molly some socks. Sure. No big deal. I dug out a pair of worn out wool socks and proceeded to cut them down to fit her feet.

I think it took me less time to make them than it did to get all four on her feet! After victoriously donning Molly's feet with her new footwear, we were ready to brave the cold. We were only 10 feet off the porch before the first one came flying off, and the other 3 followed suit shortly after. **SIGH**. At least she can't wiggle out of the sweater I made for her!

"Mom, does this sweater make me look fat?"

So, no more sock-making for me. Instead, I'm going to channel all of my energy into stitching on my 4 part series sampler. Can't wait to share some peeks with you!

Stay warm!
Diane and barefoot Molly

Let there be light....

in the chicken coop, that is. For those of you who may not know, we are the proud parents of 5 Rhode Island Red hens. In 2011, we bought them as tiny chicks that Colvin raised for his 4-H project. We originally started out with 6, but the neighbors dog made an unwelcome visit one day and decided to have chicken for dinner. As the girls grew, they began laying and eggs were abundant in the land. However, as chicken do, they molted for the first time this past fall. When they molt, eggs become as scarce as hens teeth! After the molting came the darkness of the long winter months. Still no eggs. In case you didn't know, chickens are solar powered. They need 12-14 hours of daylight to trigger them into laying eggs. So, not enough light=no eggs. Until this past weekend.....

This is our A-frame chicken coop that Colvin and I built together. On Saturday, we installed a string of LED rope light under the top ridge board. 100 feet of extension cord, and one timer later, from 4:00am-7:00am, the girls now have light. And now, we wait. Such an egg-citing life we lead here down by the creek!

Thanks for dropping by!
Diane

Winner! Winner! Dutch Oven Dinner!

Hello blogging friends! I have just returned from a weekend campout with our boy scout troop. As I sit here writing this, I'm still in dirty clothes, smell of woodsmoke and in desperate need of a shower! We had a great weekend for camping, even though we still had snow on the ground. It was an inside campout, which made everything a bit more"civilized"! We stayed at Camp Susquehannock which is just over the mountain from Silver Creek. We stayed in "Aspir-Inn". Quite rustic, but very Little House on the Prairie-ish!

Our home sweet home for the weekend!

 The boys are in charge of planning their menus and cooking them on their own. We adults have our own menus and all chip in with the cooking and clean-up. Saturday night, we enjoyed a supper of Ham and Scalloped Potatoes, cooked in a dutch oven, right in the stone fireplace. The boys baked a cake in their dutch oven, which turned out quite well. Good job Colvin!

No beans and franks for Troop 50! We may be camping, but we eat like kings!

The weather here was warm for January–40-ish degrees. But we never saw the sun because of all the thick fog covering the entire area. Camping is always fun, but it's good to get back home (to enjoy indoor plumbing!)

OK. Now for the moment you have been waiting for...... I have gathered and documented all the sufficient data in the most high tech way I could think of.....pen and small slips of paper. I folded them in half and placed them in a carefully picked cardboard box and shook them with all my might! The winner was drawn by my cell mate, I mean, soul mate, Alan. He's such a good sport!

Shpinelka, you are the lucky winner of Sweet Friendship! Congratulations! Please drop me an email at silvercreeksamplers@yahoo.com, and include your name, and address, so I can get your pattern in the mail. This was a lot of fun, and a special thanks to "Mouse" for recruiting quite a few followers for me! OK, meeting adjourned. There's a hot shower waiting with my name on it!


Thanks for spending some time with me here, down by the creek!
Diane

The Fun Begins at 50!

(cue the music, balloons and falling confetti)

 Wow, There's Fifty!  

Oh My Gosh!

If you haven't already left a comment declaring your 

favorite Silver Creek pattern, please do so now!

Please have your comment posted by noon, Sunday January 13.

 I will then collect all the data and draw a winner.

OOOOOOOO, this is so much fun!

Thank You So Much!