Hard work pays off

You all know I have been needing to keep myself busy as to help me heal and here is part of that busy. You remember when I started, it was just a hill with weeds and not an easy task for mowing or weed eating. So for two days, I pulled weeds, and moved rock. With my daughter's help we got it cleared off enough to begin planting new shrub and flowers. With some soil amendments and a good compost (there were worms in the soil also), things should do okay. Especially since we have been having some good rains come our way. So here is what it looked like.

This is pretty compare to how it could get. But now it is starting to look the way I could picture it and I cannot wait until everything is really grown up. This is a night garden so everything is planted in the white or silver shades with evergreens. Bulbs have been planted over the entire hill also. Next year will really show what I've done. But you'll get the idea. The rocks are what I could roll or lift over, but I am waiting for Big Hank (tractor) to bring in some really big boulders. It will not only look nice but it will keep the soil and mulch from running off. Just at the flat top of this hill I'm thinking of putting down a slate patio to sit out on. When hubby retires, we are moving my stairway on the deck to this backside, and it will be much wider. Another project, another time. Anyway this is what keeps me going, no matter how much hand cream or gloves I use, you can always tell I'm digging in the dirt.

The Broken Chain

This poem was sent to me and I needed to share it with you.


                                           The Broken Chain

                              We little knew that morning that God
                                   Was going to call your name.
                               In life we loved you dearly,
                                     In death we do the same.
                               It broke our hearts to lose you,
                                    You did not go alone;
                               For part of us went with you,
                                  The day God called you home.
                                You left us peaceful memories,
                                   Your love is still our guide;
                               And though we can not see you,
                                   You are always at our side.
                                   Our family chain is broken,
                               And nothing seems the same;
                                 But as God calls us one by one,
                                   THE CHAIN will link again.

                                               

Eileen A. Conklin

1948-2010

To my sister ,

You were my mentor and my strength. I will miss you but will never forget you. Until we meet again my heart will be broken.

I have spent my days staying busy gardening until I am bone tired to just shower and fall into bed. Today I went to town to start getting back into my routine of life. I will continue to keep myself going and knowing through heartaches and sorrow I can watch life from beginning to end in my garden where this is the 'simplest of life's blessings.' "We must have faith that in all things there is a time and a season. It is a gentle and healing reminder that allows hope to be restored and joy to become renewed. " (quoted from MJ magazine)

Time of Sorrow

I have'nt been posting in awhile as I lost my oldest sister, Eileen, to cancer on May 19th and traveled to California to be with her family and attend her funeral. This happened fast and was totally unexpected so I am numb and unable to function at this momemt. I will be spending my time working hard in my yard and trying to get my heart and mind to rest. Will be posting when times are happier. Thanks to everyone who has sent me prayers and blessings.

God bless,
Gail

All the many things I have been up to

 I recently went over to Boise, Idaho and saw 'Sugarland' in concert. They put on such a wonderful show. I traveled through snow, hail, rain and wind to get there, but it was well worth the trip. I have not boogied so hard in a long time. Yep, that's me on the right. Quite tipsy and diggin' every minute of it. I wiggled and jiggled everything that would. The security kept trying to get me to stay in my seat but as you can see, I won. Had a few others join me after a bit, but I never stopped until the music was over. What an awesome show!

Since I have been back home I have been very busy with my new puppy I also brought back with me. (yeah, I'm a glutton for punishment) Her name is 'Pearl' and she is a mini Aussie. She is 6 weeks old and a little spitfire. She keeps me up through the night but Onyx is learning to enjoy having one of her own to play with. Now if she had come with potty training, it would have been so much nicer for me.

Can you see how cute she is? They play so well together. Something I did'nt think Onyx would do, but they get along really good so far. They are letting each one know who's boss.

We have had a couple of nice days of sun here lately so have begun to do some yard clean up. Since I could'nt find a big hunk of a man to help me out I bought a tractor instead to  help with the work around here.  I'm new to the tractor thing but will get the hang of it soon enough. Been practicing moving boulders and some compost about. I guess I'm turning into a real farmgirl after all. This here is my new ride. What do ya think? It's no man but it'll do what I ask of it.              

                                                 I've started to dig up the ground down the slope going to my chicken coop, to put in some posts for walking on. It helps to have better traction in winter and I could use all the help I can get to climb back up the darn thing. It may not look like much, but I'm not gettin' any younger. Hope to put in some landscape with retaining wall and plants so I can quit having to weed eat and mow down here. It is not real easy to do on a slope to begin with. I darn near have turned over my riding mower a few times. Besides, I want to put in a low maintance, drought resistant yard.

I hope to have this looking a lot prettier by the time this summer is over. It will probably take me that long to get it done. I have all the plans in my head, now just have to keep busy making them happen. No time to be idle, got too much on my plate and we have very short summers.

I've gone crazy for F's

FRIENDS

I've never had a lot of friends in my life until now. Karen, whom I met last July, sent me these wonderful dishcloths she made, in the mail the other day. I should have figured out she was up to something when she asked me what color my kitchen was, but I'm a little slow.  She sells these and many other items on her etsy shop http://www.kpaints.etsy.com/ . Check out all the pretty things she makes.

I had been looking at these, off and on, wondering if they would really work, they do! It is like having a scrubber, sponge and cleansing cloth all in one. Wait! That's what it is. I love how they work.  I even had to purchase some for my daughter, who never seems to have any cloths at all in her kitchen. I think she will love them as much as I do. 

These would make nice Mother's Day gifts too. (hint)

FABULOUS

Saturday I received my first Mail Art in the mail and it was from farmgirl 'grammygail' from the MJ site. Look at the work she put into it, isn't it pretty? This is really a great way to let your artsy side show and have fun making them too. Then you get to send them off to someone whose name was sent to you, you get a new name each month, and you receive from a different person as well. It will be fun to see all the different talents of many women around the country. And purhaps make some new friends along the way.

FUNNY

Our local group of Charming Chicks had a girls nite out last Friday nite. First we went to the El Palcio's restaraunt and had margaritas and lots of appetizers, listened to April (she's the one at the head of the table) tell us her horrow stories about camping and flying on planes. They were horrible to her, but had each of us in stitches. From being removed from the plane (first time flying) to having her campsite attacked by bears and her spending the nite in her truck. That gal's a hoot! I had'nt laughed so hard in a long time.

Then after taking a few pics of our evening, we walked, a bit tipsy you think? (Cheryl and myself)  to the Ross Ragland theatre across the street from El Palcio's (nice windy nite air) to watch the Diva Nation Four Bitchin Babes. These ladies can tell you a story of what being a woman is like, which is hilarious! They do so while playing guitar and piano.

This was a nite to remember with good friends, good food, and a whole lot of laughter. I hope there will be others.

So now that I have caught up on what has been keeping me busy, it is time to remember to "Live like there is no tomorrow, Laugh until you pee your pants, and Love with a big heart".  To my good friends now and to those I hope to meet, keep smiling. :)

Old fashioned candy

Old fashioned candy is not a thing of the past. At least not in my house. While out shopping, once again,  I happened upon these bags of '50's' candies in Ross. I'm not sure I know what each of these candies are or what they taste like, but look at the cute packages they came in. There are Mary Janes, candy necklaces, chick o stick, smarties, Tootsie roll, wax bottles (loved these), hot dog bubble gum, necco wafers, mike and ike, root beer floats, and just so many others.

Does'nt this just bring you back a little to being a kid? Me, I'd be looking for all the magazines from the neighborhood just for these candies. I would spend hours at a time pulling my red wagon and going door to door asking for old magazines. Then I would go home to cut out all the coupons then  rush off to the local store to cash them in for candy. I wonder if any one else did this.

It was just one of the many things we would do as kids. After the stores decided to take only the coupon for the item it showed, we started to collect pop bottles for the money. That was until my youngest sister decided she would rather turn over the wagon just so the bottles would break so she could eat the glass. Now that's another story.

So now that I am no longer clipping the coupons for candy, but still collecting coupons, to get a discount on my grocery bill , and I am saving my bottles and cans for coin , I have to do whatever I can to get the goodies I would love to have. lol  So I have entered into a giveaway, with beautiful things, at the Brambleberry Cottage. Now I am sharing this info with you. Check out what Liz is giving away, just tell her I sent you, and have a wonderful day. Don't forget to keep clipping those coupons.

Small pleasures and tastes of childhood

I just could'nt stay away from the antique and thrift stores any longer. It had only been two days but I was drawn back to find these great kitchen items. I am using the jar for my dish soap and the boxed can opens on top, just slide it, and I have my borax for scouring the counters and such inside. Aren't they great?

I'm not sure what the can had been used for before, but I would guess some type of laundry soap maybe. The glass jar is an old citrate of magnesia. My daughter found a great old lined wooden box for her laundry powder. Looked like some kind of cooler.

We just never know what we can use an item for so with eyes wide open we search the shelves until something pops out at us and we just have to have it.

My daughter recently found this great cookbook " ATaste of Georgia". I just had to borrow it. I have been so busy writing down many of the recipes. Recipes I remember having as a child. It is the type of recipes that you don't have to ask someone in the store what it is you are looking for to put into your recipe.  In other words, easy to find ingredients with fabulous results.

I'm not from the south and neither was my mom (Sweden), but we lived back in New York and then in Arizona and these recipes are just the way my mom cooked. She would call Swedish meatballs, 'shittabullas'. I spelled it the way it always sounded to me. lol   Here's a recipe you can try.

Swedish Cocktail Meatballs

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1egg

2/3 cup milk

1 Tbsp. finely chopped onion

1 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

For the sauce: use 1 (12 oz) bottle chili sauce, 1 can beer, 1 (6 oz) jar sweet pickle relish.

Mix the first eight ingredients together and then form into small balls. Brown the meatballs well in cooking oil.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together, then add all the browned meatballs. Simmer on a low heat for approx. 30 minutes.

Bon' Appetite!

Something to smile about

I spent yesterday planting rhubarb and Shasta daisies that I got from my friend, Robin. I cleaned out the old strawberry bed to start a new one, and went riding around the countryside with my husband looking for a small tractor to purchase. It would sure make some of my work around here a lot easier.

This season I will be using my small watering trough I filled with dirt for some new strawberries this year. I bought 30 bags of potting soil at our local greenhouses in town for $2 a bag, so that I could fill raised beds for this season. I have lots of plans to redo my flower beds and garden beds and hope they cooperate with me this year and bring me lots of pretty flowers and vegetables.

These are the water tanks I will be using. They are just sitting around empty. Might as well make use of them and grow something that the rabbits won't be able to reach. Plus, it will be easier on this old back of mine too. Can't wait to see all my plants blooming in these.

Here is a picture of my raised bed area I built last summer and I  have started my radishes in already (which have come up) along with some pole beans. It is not very tall but will keep the soil in rather than wash it down hill.  It is suppose to rain today so I am keeping my fingers crossed so I won't have to go out and sprinkle my seeds.

I even took our old kitchen sink and buried it into the dirt to hopefully grow some vegetables in it as well. Oooh,  I just remembered we have an old toilet sitting around outside,  I just might have to find some trailing petunias to plant inside it. :)

Look at my daffodils, they're smiling. Aren't they pretty? The tulips actually had been eaten down by deer so I had covered them with straw, and they came back with some new blooms.

I was recently sent a picture of some pretty flowers from kpaints to cheer me up (we had gotten buried in 4 inches of snow that day). Now I can just keep on smiling cus' she sent the sunshine too! My flowers are finally in bloom and making me happy. Thanks, Karen. Spring is back!

What happened to Spring?

Can you believe this is what we had to wake up to this morning? THIS is why I need a revolving closet. It was'nt two days ago I was enjoying the 70 degree weather we had. I was getting ready to pull out the shorts! When the sun is hot, I can't be found in the house. I have been  busy cleaning up my garden of its weeds, planting seeds, broccoli plants, blueberries, blackberries, onions and lavender plants. I hope everything will be okay after this stuff. I know we need to build up our state's water supply, but come on, can't we be finished with this?

I'm not really complaining. (bah humbug) It is pretty to look at and fun to play in. It's just that I am so ready to see flowers and things in bloom and start getting fresh vegetables from my garden. I have planned already to go into town today to pick up some more top and garden soil for my raised beds, so when the snow melts I will be putting in more plants and seeds.
I am determined to have a Spring.

Like our realtor said when she sold us this property, "if you don't like the weather right now, just blink and it will change." Well I've been blinking all morning and so far nothing has changed. Oh well, it's off to town to make the most of my day. Hope everyone else is enjoying theirs. And for those of you who have flowers in bloom, please mail me the scents. :)

Project of Love or Was It Crazy

Any daughter knows that if they Ask mom she will usually jump right in. lol So I did.

My daughter wanted a hippie, hobo purse and wanted me to make it. So a few weeks back her and I went looking for the perfect material and found this already made to look like a quilt block of material and a pattern to boot. So we purchased it and I took it home. Weeks went by, and I was busy sewing many other things,  and every time I picked up that darn pattern for this purse, I, for the life of me, could not figure out what it was telling me to do. Is it the patterns that are getting harder to understand? Or maybe it's the old gal that's reading them. Ya think?

Anyway..... I would pick up the pattern, read it, and then put it down and walk away. More days went by and I knew she was waiting patiently for me to get it done. She would just say "it's okay, take your time." So I finally decided it was time to sit down and put it together without the use of the pattern. I began by laying out the fabric and figuring what I wanted to do with it. I just started cutting and piecing and after 9 hours and a couple days later this is what she gets.

I have embellished it with special pins, earrings and beads from her children. I used my old huge safety pin (the kind we wore on our skirts in grade school) to hold the beads and stones, that way she can take it off or replace it with different items. It is definetly a one of a kind bag that I am proud to say I will not make another one. Whew!

It would help if I had the proper tools to work with all those stones and cutting wire and you name it. But that's okay because I say, No way, no how. One is enough.

I know my daughter will cherish this purse for many years to come. Yeah, I know my granddaughter would love one, hint, hint, but hey, she already got the little crochet critters she wanted.

Oh how we love to please, you know I would probably do it anyway.  Is'nt that what mom's and gramma's are for?

Yeah................. it was a crazy project of love.

p.s.

shhhhh..................I think I will suprise her with this on Sunday.

This Poem Says It All

Kari Marie Butler

5/27/92 - 4/11/08

"If tomorrow starts without me
     And I'm not there to see
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
     all filled with tears for me.
I wish so much you would'nt cry
     the way you did today
While thinking of the many things
     We didn't get to say.
I know how much you love me
      As much as I love you
And each time that you think of me
      I know you'll miss me too.
But when tomorrow starts without me
      Please try to understand
that an angel came and called my name
      And took me by the hand.
And said my place was ready
      In heaven far above
And that I'd have to leave behind
      all those I dearly love.
But as I turned to walk away
      A tear fell from my eye
For all my life, I'd always thought
      I didn't want to die.
I had so much to live for
      So much left yet to do
It seemed almost impossible
      that I was leaving you.
I thought of all the yesterdays
      The good ones and the bad
I thought of all that we shared
      And all the fun we had.
If I could relive yesterday
      Just even for a while
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
      and maybe see you smile.
But then I fully realized
      that this could never be
For the emptiness and memories
      would take the place of me.
And when I thought of worldly things
      I might miss come tomorrow
I thought of you, and when I did
      my Heart was filled with sorrow.
But when I walked through heaven's gates
      I felt so much at home.
When God looked down and smiled at me
      From His great golden throne.
He said, "this is eternity, and all I've
      promised you."
Today your life on earth is past
      but here life starts anew.
I promise no tomorrow
      but today will always last
and since each day is the same way
      there's no longing for the past.
You have been so faithful
      so trusting and so true.
Though there were times you did some things
      You knew you should'nt do.
But you have been forgiven
       and now at last you're free.
Ao won't you come and take my hand
       and share my life with me?
So when tomorrow starts without me
       don't think we're far apart
For every time you think of me
       I'm right here, in your heart."

To Washington and Back

My hubby decided to trade my small quad for another snowmobile so of course it could'nt be close to home. We were on the road yesterday from 5 am to 8:15 pm. We went from here to Kennewick, WA. and what a beautiful mass of open scenery. I have traveled  that way before, but you know you can always find something new along the route. Here we spotted an old church and a school house up the hill in Grass Valley. I wish I could have gone up to the places and looked inside. I really like the church. It's kind of a shame that the windows are gone and the interior is now exposed to the weather. It was really windy here also.

I took a few pics of these old barns along the way. I just love the structure of them and that they contain so much history. Some day I would really like to just get out and go explore in some really old places. Can you imagine some of the treasures one could find.?  There were wind power towers everywhere you looked along the mountain tops and we understood why.

We fought the winds most of the trip but I snapped what pics I could through the window of the truck.

I liked how all these tanks were in a row and this is the shot I got driving by them.This is the dam that is on the Columbia River and this water tank which was alongside the river and near the railroad track was pretty neat too.

Then on our way home the skies were changing again and we eventually ran into a good downpour of rain. These clouds were pretty cool to look at and some of the the fields were so pretty with green grass and blue skies.

All in all it was a good day but was really glad to get home so I could stretch out my back and legs once again.  Now my little Onyx is telling me it is time to come and play ball. So until next time, have a wonderful day.

Spring Swapping

Look at this beautiful spring cup I received from farmgirl Diana (gramadinah) in our cup swap. What beautiful colors with a great saying. I really like the coasters she made. I have not seen any done this way before. I must really nudge her for the pattern. They are almost to pretty to use. Oh she sent me an Idaho Spud, which it did not take me long to devour. That was a new treat but one I would gladly repeat. I'll have to look some of those up next trip over to Idaho.

I am so enjoying swapping with farmgirls. It is such a treat to get a suprise in the mail that is not a bill or junk. I recently sent out a tote bag for a swap and am looking forward to seeing mine when it arrives. I am also doing a tote bag swap within our farmgirl chapter on the 18th. Ooohhh, love new goodies. Speaking of goodies. Head on over to Rose Petals and Rust for Stephanie's blog giveaway. Just tell her I sent you and to pick me. lol

Well I better see what I can get my swapping hands into next. Busy, busy, busy.

Gatherings

Today while walking up the path to the car I hear the sound of the Canadian geese flying over head which always makes me look up.  I love the sounds they make while they are flying back home in their uniform ways. It is so beautiful a site I had to share. I only wish I could somehow catch their sounds. This is a treat I get a few times in spring each year. The gathering of their kind eager to get back home.

It was such a beautiful day that all the Charming Chicks met for lunch at a Matzalan Mexican Restaurant to celebrate birthdays for April and Joanne ,who was unable to attend, but April  and the rest of us had a delicious lunch with all of our chit chat and laughs and opening of presents.

Julie made a delicious angel food cake with whipped topping and blackberries. Yum! Susan had a time cutting the angel food with the knife she was given. Looked like something a pirate would use.

April wore the traditional birthday hat while the waiters seronaded her, and  than we all joined in and sung Happy Birthday.

It was a great day of gatherings with all my newfound 'sisters' and we are all becoming good friends. It is really nice to be able to share our stories, our knowledge and we just plain enjoy being together. I'm not sure how all the other patrons managed to get through their lunches while we carried on, but as we were leaving, one lady actually told April happy birthday with a smile.

 To many more good times and fun gatherings.

Good To Be Home

It is always nice to get away from home. Especially if you get to see family and have different things to do. I got to spend the week with my siblings, my son and my mother while staying in Idaho. We enjoyed each others company and did a lot of running around to thrift and antique stores. The weather did'nt cooperate real well but we still did manage to get out and about.

It was a lot of family in one place but we ate well and laughed a lot. I did miss the birth of 13 new baby ducks out at my mom's pond. I did see these babies walking along the canal.

We had plenty of animals around to keep everyone on their toes. There were 4 dogs, 9 cats and two birds.  And there were 10 to 15 adults and kids in the house at one time or another.

The weather was really crummy driving home through rain, snow and slush and ice on the road. We saw a couple of cars slid off the road into the ditches but we stayed at 35 mph in the really slushey areas. It took a few hours longer to get home, but we made it in one piece.

Although we got to listen to my sister's new puppy wine like all get out and our other two chime in at times. Oh boy was it a treat. But look at that face, how could you not love it?

So today I looked through all my emails and have cleaned house and done laundry. Tomorrow I think I will just rest up for the week ahead and catch up on everyone else.

Happy Easter.

Off to Idaho

I am packed and ready to leave on Sunday to visit my son and family. I expect to be at least a week, maybe more. I just wish our weather would cooperate. It is snowing off and on and very cold so I don't know what to expect over the big mountains getting there. But this is something I have been waiting to do so my older sister is coming up from California and we will drive over from here. It will take about six hours so not a bad stretch at all. I will be taking Onyx with because she cannot stay home all day with no one to talk to her.

Besides she got this cute little dress she wants to show off to her gramma she will be seeing for the first time. Isn't she cute? I love having a little dog to dress up and she does not mind wearing anything I get her. This one is a little on the snug side so its time to go up a size. She started out the size of my palm when we bought her and she now weighs 7 pounds.  She is 1 yr 3mo old.

Her bags are packed with her dress, coat, kibble, chews and toys that she has so elegantly been putting into her crate she sleeps in. This will be her third long vacation trip. She travels very well and enjoys being with people.

So we will share our pics when we get back so everyone can see what a good time we had.

Makeover Time

Please forgive me, this may take me a while to figure out. I just changed over to a 3 column so now need to figure out how to put it together right. I will be working on this as I go. Learning something new, could take me awhile. Keep checking back and hopefully it won't be too long a process.

Nature Book Find

I went to our local Hospice thrift store and as soon as I walked in the door I spotted this great journal for $3. It has a tag on it that it is a Fair Trade book made of twigs, leaves and recycled paper handcrafted in Indonesia. It also says the family that made this collects the leaves, twigs and dried fruit from their garden to create the cover and make the recycled paper in their kitchen blender. They live in a village of Tegallalong, Bali. This is so intricately put together, I cannot even imagine how many hours they must have put into making such a piece. The pages are so soft and delicate they almost feel like silk.

To get the history of where it came from and how people elsewhere make their living and how much work they put into this book with their very own hands makes this ever so special to me. I may not be able to travel to see how other people live but this sure makes me feel like I'm right beside them watching them work. One can daydream, right?  I think I may have to put some nature onto the pages of this book. I have some pressed dried flowers from last summer I think I will place in this journal and see what other things of nature I can find to fill these beautiful pages. I will just have to take a nice walk about the property today. I usually find a bluebird's egg or moss, something I know will be appropriate for my new little book.