Needle felted pumpkins. And charcoal soap

Last night, my oldest grand daughter and I went over to the studio. She had an art project she needed to work on. And I wanted to do some needle felting. Well, I was going to make wool dryer balls, but started making some pumpkins. I think they turned out so cute. I love them. I love these colors a lot.  I need to dye some wool so I can make more of them. Need to get ready for fall markets.

What else can I needle felt for fall?

This is the charcoal soap cut up. This is the first time I have done anything like this. Next time I make this soap, I'll use my taller long wooden molds. But I think it turned out pretty.

While we were in the studio, it rained. One time, I thought we were in a tornado. The wind just all of a sudden started howling and blowing the trees over. Then it poured rain. But this morning, all the beds I had planted with kale, collards and radish seeds, were all fine. Didn't get flooded at all. We sure did need this rain. But this week, in the low 90's.

Happy last day of August, y'all! And have a happy and safe Labor Day!

Mom and her new dog, Abbyelle (Abby)

Yesterday, my family worked on getting my mom's fence finished so we could go get her new dog, Abby. Her back yard was fenced on all 3 sides, but not connected to either the garage or house. She lives right behind the big park in town, and there is a creek between her and the park. So lots of people are there all day. And sometimes kids walk through her yard and through the back gate to get to the park. Not any more.

We put up 6' privacy fence. But the gate that needs to go to her back yard is really wide. So we just put up a fence to get it all enclosed so we could let the dog out free. We'll have to figure out a way to make a gate that won't be so wide for mom to be able to handle. Meanwhile, she can go through the garage for now. And Abby has the whole back yard to play and run in.

There have been some break-ins near mom and she was getting a little nervous being there alone. Abby is an American Staffordshire Terrier. Or a Pitt Bull. She's 1 1/2 years old. We found her at Mckamey Animal Shelter in Chattanooga. She's been there most of her life. She had a foster family where she stayed about 6 weeks. So everyone was very happy to see Abby go to her new forever home with mom. Someone actually paid the fee for her. They were all there yesterday, including the foster mom, to see her off.

We stopped at Tractor Supply and took her in with us to get her a big bag of dog food and some treats and some tennis balls. Which she loves. This little girl will be spoiled before too long. But very much loved and cared for. The foster lady said Abby slept on the bed with her. So mom is letting her sleep on her bed. They had a really good night last night, their first night together. Mom said Abby slept all night. She was worn out from her big day.

She will be a good companion and protector for mom.

Louise the big brown cow.

Louise in the stall. She takes up the whole 10x10 area. She's HUGE!

I put her over here on this side so she could start eating all the tall grass. Then I'll bring the sheep and alpacas over in a few days.

I was putting the chickens up for the night a little early, because I was getting ready to plant my kale, collards and radish seeds. I had tilled this morning. I wanted to get the chickens put up so they wouldn't go in the garden and start scratching up what I'd just done. BUT, Black Bart and 2 of the hens would NOT go inside the coop. Louise was still laying in that same spot and I guess Black Bart was just a little scared of the big ole furry monster. I don't think he'd been this close to her. And right next to his coop now! So he and the other 2 hens took off in the opposite direction. So I had 1 hen in the garden while I planted. I could tell they'd already been in where I'd tilled. I had to go get Louise up and away from the coop so I could get those bad chickens in. I did finally get them in. Where they will stay for a few weeks, til the seeds sprout and start growing.

It was HOT out there! I was thinking how the end of August heat is so different than the end of April heat. Like April is new and we welcome a little heat. But by the time the end of August rolls around, we are ready for some coolness again. I am anyway. A nice cold shower helps a lot!

We have to go to my mom's in the morning. She's getting a dog from McCamey Animal Shelter and they want her to get her yard completely fenced in. Because this dog is very strong and she kind of pulled mom while she had her on the leash. So they were concerned about mom. So we will be putting up 3 sections of fence in the morning, then going to meet Abby's foster family. Everyone at the shelter is so happy for Abby. She's been there the longest of any of the dogs. She will be a good dog for my mom.

Hope y'all have a great weekend.