Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Our First Duck Egg


We've been expecting our first duck egg and today was the day.


Look at that bright orange yolk and the white was very viscous as it should be.


My daughter ate it atop her leftover Thai lunch.

I've been taking a lot of photos recently so here is an update of what I've been up to-


I realized I needed to allow myself some quiet moments with a cup of tea to come up with some decorating ideas. I was running around too much and not thinking. I was staring at this corner of the dining room one day and remembered the old ladder we found in the basement. I folded up a few quilts - I didn't like how they looked hanging on the rungs- and put them on the ladder in the corner. You can see the curtains I made and I still need to hang the sheers I made. I am pleased with how it looks and like that I've used something that otherwise might end up at the landfill.


I had my second and last English Paper Piecing class with Cyndy. During the second class I showed her how to put the hexie path on her hexie flowers. She made all these flowers in between the two classes. I was very encourage by her progress. She is making a little table cloth for her daughters kitchen table and a small table topper for herself. We also went over finishing a hexie quilt. I thought I might do a blog post about that as well as some tips I have for EPP.


We are renovating our master bathroom. I don't know why this is wearing me out when the contractor and his help are doing all the work! They have been here several weeks - we are also turning a small bath into a small laundry room - and this week the roofers joined the fun. The dogs and cats are really mystified, excited and/or irked by all this activity.  When it is all done I'll show a before and after pick. I love how it is turning out.



We harvested over 200 lbs. of winter squash. Here is a look at some of the butternut. I hope this lasts for months in the basement as they say it will. I love roasted butternut and butternut squash soup.


Have you ever heard of pawpaws



We have two pawpaw trees and the fruit is now ripe. Lots of big seeds but the flesh is delicious - kind of a combination of banana and mango with a custard-like consistency.



We've been eating them out of hand and freezing some of the flesh. They are good in smoothies and I've been told it can be a substitute for banana in banana bread.


I hung a couple of quilts on the second story stair rail.  I made the one on the right several years ago. I found the one on the left at a yard sale a couple of months ago.


Please don't look at the walls - we are in the middle of removing the wall paper.


I love this little strip of pink gingham. It only goes about 12 inches of this one side. This corner is squared off and-


this corner is rounded.


Dave and I went to Octoberfest at the Frontier Culture Museum. This is the Irish homestead.



They had Tunis sheep at the American homestead. They are hard to find around here though they were once very common in the mid-Atlantic region. I'd like to have a small flock of Tunis some day. I love their coloring.


I had to snap a photo of the beds in the American home from the mid-1800's.

Tomorrow night I'm going to see the play Quilters at Mary Baldwin College with my cousin. Have you ever been to a performance or heard of it? It's new to me.

10 comments:

  1. Wow, so much fun here. Love the quilts on the old ladder! I've read that you should wrap the rungs in acid free paper to protect the quilts, but I haven't done that myself. : )
    My butternut didn't seem to get fully ripe before the frost got the leaves and vines. : (
    I've had the Bare Necessities song memorized since I was a child, and that is the only place I've heard of the pawpaw. Sounds interesting.
    Sweet old quilt--looks good on the railing, along with your double four-patch.

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  2. Great post Maureen! What a wonderful lot of butternuts - love them, and pawpaw is one of my favourite fruits. The fruit shops in Australia stock a beautiful tropical variety that is quite dark - almost red - inside, and they are the sweetest of all. The ladder is a great idea - looks lovely stacked with quilts.

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  3. Yum! Butternut squash is a favorite of mine. I roast it and put in chicken lasagna. Looks like you are making steady progress on all the renovations.

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  4. You sound like you are settling into your new life very well! Duck eggs are quite large aren't they? lol Very jealous of your new bathroom, but not the re-do getting there.:)

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  5. Just checking in on you Maureen and your house of activity. Looks like you are making progress.

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  6. Lovely photos Maureen. Is this your first fall in your new house? Sounds like your daughter is really enjoying your new lifestyle.

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  7. wow you have been busy! Duck eggs, how wonderful! looks delicious.
    your hexies are so pretty.
    good luck on all you house projects.
    wow! what a bumper crop of squash!! yum

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  8. What a fun post. I love the Tunis coloring, sweet face. The duck egg looks great, what color!
    Your house is coming along and looking good. When we had roofers it drove the dog nuts, she was a mess for days after the left. Saw the Quilters a few years ago and would love to see it again, I remember it being very good.

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  9. Ahhh, just ducky! Your egg is the very picture of healthy critters, so be very proud. Thank you for the little walk-about-the-house tour, and nobody minds the wall paper in progress in your charming home. The quilts are wonderful to see! Loved the shot of the American Bedroom at the Frontier Museum, too. Great post!

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  10. I have never seen quilts folded on the ladder rungs - so perfect!

    Is your quilt on the stair rail an Irish Chain variation? I just absolutely love all that COLOR - you have a great eye for putting fabrics together.

    Our pawpaws go to feed Becky's pigs, but that bread sounds like I should give it try. Now, I have to see if we have any pawpaws left this season.

    Enjoyed your entire post!

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