LuAnn Kessi

Here are a few of the mama cows being sorted off into different pens.

Every head of cattle is branded with the DK brand on their right hip.

This is one of the bulls. As far as bulls go, he is a gentle giant and beautiful too.

This is the pen of calves. I rarely get to see them up close when they are out in the pasture with the mama cows. This is always the best opportunity to photograph them each year.

I hate to play favorites but.........how cute is this little guy!

I have a soft spot for baby calves. At one time I bought bull calves from the dairy, as many as 50 a year, and raised them on a bottle. It was a great way for me to be a stay-at-home Mom and have an income.

This is an up-close image of part of the corral. I love the metal strapping that is wrapped around the posts and intertwined with weeds and ferns.

This is teasel.....Brad calls them Horrible Weeds.

They are leftover from last year. I like when they get to this state and they are all dried out and prickly.

More Horrible Weeds in front of the sheep barn.

They inspire me to put them into a photo transfer quilt sometime.

If you are inspired by any of these images, you are welcome to download them and put them into your artwork. I would love to see a photo of what you do with them.

To see more Cattle posts CLICK HERE

To see more Home posts CLICK HERE

To see my Studio CLICK HERE

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

"You Rogue"

Abandoned store in eastern Oregon

Frozen faucet at the sheep barn

Hens and Hollyhocks in the yard

What inspires you?

LuAnn

To see more journal quilts CLICK HERE

You will see the red barn in the center of the photo.....just to the left is a small yellow building......this is the Thread Shed.....built in 2000 by my husband. This is where I spend most of my time. I have a lovely view of Marys Peak as I sit at my sewing machine; I can watch the horses munching on hay in the barn and listen to the hens clucking softly. I am also being watched........I can just feel it. I have become a spectator sport. When the windows are open I can hear them breathing as they watch me. I am never alone......the spectators are always there.

This is my view out the window of the Thread Shed. Yes, these are the spectators. I think the hum of the sewing machine grabs their attention. They push each other around trying to get the best view through the big picture window. They can spend hours watching me make quilts.......I am never alone.

Hanging clothes on the line also fascinates the spectators.......

Jockey shorts, t-shirts and most any kind of laundry can really draw a crowd around this place..........I am never alone.

In the spring they watch me plant the garden and tend to the flowerbeds. They are very interested when Brad is BBQ-ing on the patio out back. Our children are grown and no longer live at home, but we will never really be alone...........the spectators are always watching.

When I am not making quilts, I am somewhere here on the farm with my camera.

May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn

Click on each image to enlarge it and see details.....

"Strength & Courage" was created for my youngest son who knows every inch of the river below our house, every beaver den and where all the best fishing holes can be found. As a child his cowboy hat always had an eagle feather in it that he found laying along the river banks. The river was his second home, and his quilt reflects his love of the outdoors.
"Cabin in the Woods" was created for my husband. It contains the douglas fir tree that is so prominent in our part of the state, as well as the elk, deer, beaver and salmon that swim up the river each year.

"Big Bear" was made for my oldest son, who has always had an admiration for bears. On my way home from town late one afternoon, I came around a corner just in time to see a black bear on the road, he stood up, looked at me and climbed the hill on the other side of the road. The border on this quilt is the bear paw block set on point, which seems to move in a clockwise direction, as if running around the quilt.