Still no pictures!

I said I would take pictures, but I guess I lied 'bout that one. Oops..... I have been meaning to do it, but I got a little carried away with life. First the chickens, then the garden (which is not blogged on either) and then the dog. What dog, you say? You've never talked about a dog?

We have a Brittany Spaniel named Woody. Awesome pet, awesome pheasant-hunting machine. Super intelligent, easily bored when in the house. So he can get naughty when left alone. Our solution to this? Get another dog! Well there were other reasons, valid ones, honest..... My husband has always wanted two hunting dogs, and he is absolutely DEVOTED to Woody. Couldn't ask for a better dog owner. How could I refuse him? I love dogs too, truth be known. 

So, the sewing pix went out the window. I did manage to fix the facing by the collar and add some extra cloth to add length. Remember, the pattern didn't allow for turn-of-cloth and my upper collar and facing was a little short in length. I will embroider some viney stuff to cover up the seams. It'll look "on purpose" I hope that way. Also sewed up the sides and pockets. Next week, I'll be hemming. After that, the sleeves, then the lining. I'm pluggin' along!

I did find the time however, to take a picture of the canines in my life. Until I take a picture of that coat, here's one of the boys, Woody and the pup, Dash:

Time to meet the crew

I thought it was about time for the gang to be introduced to the world. I realized that I had been talking about my birds as far as breeding them without bothering to introduce them as individual birds. I do have birds I retain for breeding, but that doesn't mean that's all there is to my chicken-keeping. So without further ado, here we go:

This is Jake, my son's backup rooster. He's handsome, but has to take a back seat to his brother this year!

This is Elroy, my son's top rooster and 85 and 88. This guy is has the ladies this year, lucky roo. For some unknown reason, the girls rarely get names at my house. Maybe because there are so many more of them? I don't know for sure. The numbers come from their legbands. In order to show, birds have to be banded and it is an easy way to keep track of birds that are very similar to each other. The green spiral legband on Elroys leg doesn't have a number. I just use spirals to keep track of good birds when they are growing up. Green is a keeper, yellow, a one to watch, and a red is to be sold.

Here are the our family's special birds. These ones are the charmers in the barnyard. From left to right: Mr. Moto, a Japanese. He is our pet rooster. Girler is a Millie Fleur, Belgian Bearded D'Uccle (what a mouthful!). Brahma girl is Mike's first big winner, a reserve best in show. Last is Double D, a reserve best in show at the State Fair, and an excellent hen to boot. 

Here are some of my birds, Ethan, 34 and 39. They are all year olds, full brother and sisters. I'll be hatching and showing these 3 this year. I still have to match up the girls with my older rooster and Ethan with the older hens.
Here are 127 and 65. They are the older Chantecler hens Ethan will be matched to later this year. Proud girls aren't they?
This is the the oldest Chantecler rooster, Buck. He has a lifetime pass at the house also. A good looking bird and a gentleman also.

And finally the babies!!! If you look back on the first post I made, you would see them as week old chicks in January. Look at them now, they got big fast! There is nothing I enjoy more than feeding the young ones and watching them develop. It's the best part of having birds, the time you take just to WATCH them. They are fascinating critters. 
Now you've met them all........... at least until I hatch more!

Made some real progress this weekend

Its amazing how bored you can get being sick. If you are used to being active and getting stuff done at home, having to slow down and rest can drive a person to desperation. 

I had a whole week off of work to rest my back and all I wanted to do was work on my coat. Only thing I could do, actually. So in small bites, separated by naps and pain pills, I worked on the applying the edge tape to the lapel and stitching the facings on. I got it done too! 

I do have to put the decorative saddle stitching on the edges and fix the upper collar. The pattern didn't give me enough room for "turn of cloth" of the upper collar. The edge that is supposed to be stitched to the lining is unfortunately now halfway up the collar on the inside. I will have to patch in a piece of wool and hope for the best. Maybe some decorative hand stitching over the seams of the patch to hide it?

I promise to take a picture when I get a moment to breath. Now that I'm better I have a lot of "ketchup" to do. It looks better than I had hoped, maybe in another 6 months it'll be done!

A lesson in patience

Have made still more progress on my coat. I just haven't had to time to talk about it until now. I managed to give my self whiplash! Betcha didn't know that was possible. Neither did I until I managed to pull it off. I was moving a half-built dog house through a too-small door to the kennel. It was quite heavy and awkward. We did manage to get it in the kennel, but at the cost of my neck.

2 weeks, 2 doctors, 3 prescriptions and a missed week of work and I am feeling better. Please remind me never to do that one again. Dumb, dumb and dumber..........

I did manage to do a little bit of work on the coat in between pain pills. Good thing I had lots of hand sewing to do. Its a lot harder to hurt yourself with a needle than with a whole sewing machine. And it was good for me to, to be patient and hand padstitch the lapels. I mean, you have to patient to get better and patient to get a nice lapel. Now I don't know if mine is good or not, but I sure was patient sewing it! I still have the edge tape and bridle stay to apply.

I am faithfully following my book, "Tailoring, traditional and contemporary". I feel sometimes like I study 1 hour to sew for 10 minutes. But it is paying off, the book is very complete and thorough. I would recommend it highly as a reference.

Seriously I think this kind of sewing is good for me, it is teaching me to value a good garment over a hastily constructed one. Oh yeah.............I was the one who made the dog kennel too big for the door. Like I said, dumb, dumb and dumber!