Deck pics as promised

I promised you some pictures of the additions and changes to our home. Here are a few but keep in mind that we have still got to paint the house. I have picked out a nice chocolate brown instead of our poopy brown which by the way was called 'cabin brown' when I bought it. It looked good for awhile until the light hits it just right, yuk!

old railing

new railing

new addition

craft room door

I am so thrilled to finally have a roof over the back deck and the view through the living room window is no longer blocked by the ugly railing. This has been my wish for several years and it finally was able to happen for us.

My husband is officially retired now since the new owners (again) at the Ford dealership would not hire him back as they said he was 'old school', we are now able to get a lot more done around the place. We have a neighbor who has been out of work, he builds homes, so we were able to help him out along with having some of our plans fulfilled. He will be putting an open roof, gazebo type over another small deck area where we sit out with an open fire pit in the winter. He has done some really nice work for us from roofing the work shop, putting lights in it and the chicken coop is now wired, to new front porch steps, new step to craft room and making the bought door fit the craft room properly.

I am really gonna miss when he moves away. I keep praying that our economy will come back and so many workers can go back to work. He has four girls he is trying to raise by himself so any work coming his way is a plus. We have told our neighbors of his beautiful work, so for now he is staying busy doing things for them.

As for my husband, he now sees there is no end to all the work that needs done around the place. Just keeping the yard work up is a daily chore. I think he has finally realized I have'nt been sitting around here on my butt any more. Guess that's why I don't have one. (giggle)

We Did It!

Today was the first time my daughter and myself decided to set up a booth to sell our crafts. We did this in the town of Bonanza at their annual town yard sales and Big Springs Carnival. This is how our booth was set up. Before everyone started arriving we were set up in about 30 minutes. When we did our practice run, it took about 5 hours. We have never done anything like this ourselves and we really wanted it to look like a booth we would both stop at and purchase something from.

I wish I had taken pics of all the other vendor booths that set up and the crowds of people that flowed throughout the day. We decided if we sold even one thing we did okay. We managed to sell several of our products and got some really good feedback from the people. It was a great learning experience for us as well as meeting the new vendors and learning from some who have done this for a long time. We had so many nice comments on our booth set up and the pretty way we displayed our crafts and how some were made. This of course lifted our spirits which helped us make the decision to do another event.

We have already signed up for the Chili Cookoff event and Homemade Craft Fair in late August. It is going to be two days for the first time this year but we plan to do just one day. We are looking forward to making some more things and keeping the old creative juices flowing.

It has been fun to see other people enjoy what we have loved making these past few months. I promise I will try to take more pics next time. It was a pretty good turn out for our small town.

Home from vacation

I've been away on vacation visiting my son and siblings and my mom in Idaho. Everyone is doing really well and my son looks great. We did a little shopping and yard saleing but mostly sitting around, resting and talking. The weather there was hot in the high 90's compared to home in the 70's. The air conditioner was in force as outside was pretty humid most days I was there. We had a good visit as usual but it is always too short. It is hard to be away when veggies are growing in my garden and hubby does'nt quite water the way I do. Needless to say the sprinklers have been going since I got here.

I did come home to an awesome suprise from my hubby, of a new back deck addition and finally, my roof! Now I feel like I have extra rooms I can got into. It totally makes the whole place look like a cabin retreat. I love it!

I also got a new door for my crafting studio with windows to let in more sunlight. I guess he did'nt do too shabby after all. Will post pics when I get some time.

We have lots of projects in the works around here and the biggest one I would like to get done is painting the house along with my new deck area. It has been 3 years and it is in dire need of paint. So I must retire for now as I have lots to do. Stay tuned for pics in the near future.

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, I could surely use some extra hands. I'll even put out the sun tea.

4th of July

What a great day we have had. My daughter in law and myself have been busy the entire day creating beautiful things in my craft studio. I have made a couple of drawstring purses, and a pillow. She has decorated and designed a dozen or so gift bags. We have totally enjoyed the peaceful day it has given us.

I decided to take a break from it, and there was no better way than to go riding on our quads all up and around the countryside. The resevoir below was full and looks as pretty as a lake. By the time we got back home, her husband cooked us up some nice BBQ'd ribs to die for. With that, some good ol' potatoe salad and a wine cooler or two, it was a nice way to wind up our day. One thing for sure we have not missed some great BBQ these past few days.

Yesterday we went to the show to see the new Pirates of the Carribbean, which was a pretty good flick. Day before we spent the day going to antique stores and finding a few things we could'nt live without. It has been really nice having someone around to share my studio with and do all the girlie things we love to do.

Hope everyone is having a nice and safe 4th of July. We will sit peacefully on our deck and listen to the firecrackers in the not so far distance.

Annual Klamath Falls Cruise

Last evening my hubby and I went first to dinner at our favorite Mexican Restaurant, El Palacio. After stuffing ourselves and finishing off a couple of blackberry marquritas, we mosed out onto the sidewalk to watch the annual Klamath Falls Cruise. There was at least one hundred this year compared to the last couple of years. It has really grown and was a delight to watch. Here are some of what we saw. You'll probably find one in there you owned at one time or another. We always do and love reminising about the times.

Hubby's fav

You can see there were lots of people all up and down the sidewalks watching the show. Out at Moore park earlier is where the Show and Shine started and there were over two hundred cars lined up so you could walk around the cars and look inside and drool to your hearts desire. We were not able to make the show but at least got to see some of these beauties as they cruised down the street.

I could'nt put all 70 pics on here but I hope you were able to find a few memories of your own you can share. 

Farm Chick road trip

As many of you know there was the Farm Chicks Annual Antique Show in Spokane, WA on the 4th and 5th  this past weekend. This was my first year attending and my daughter and daughter-in-law went with me. Although it was a long drive, we planned ahead to have a day before the show to go thrifting and antiqueing around the town.

Faith and Wendie

Farm Chicks Antique Show

We stayed at the Pheasant Hill Inn near downtown Spokane, and it was only a ten minute drive to the fairgrounds where the show was being held. We had the pool and sauna where we enjoyed relaxing after a full day of shopping.

I would wake the girls very early so we could enjoy a nice breakfast at the motel and then it was off to stand in line for about an hour and a half. We talked with many other farmgirls and discussed what each was looking for. Some had come the years past with their husbands but decided this was a girls playground this time out.

Once the gates were finally opened, it was a mad rush to see all the treasures inside. I did manage to find a few things from the show, but for the most part, it was pretty overwhelming to say the least. After four hours of walking around trying to see the different booths, we called it a day.

paper garland

this vender makes the farmgirl necklaces

 We went to see The Wolf People and took the tour to see all the wolves and hold a couple of the babies. They also had a nice gift shop where we could pick up a few souveniers.

 When we arrived at their home in the hills, we were pleasantly seranaded with the howls of all the wolves. It was music to my ears.

 This is what he gets to do on a daily basis. They think of him as dad. He has his hands full with all that he does to keep these wolves fed and healthy until their last days. They are partnered and each have their own acres to live out their lives in.

5 weeks old

3 weeks old

By Sunday we had decided not to attend the show but to hit every antique and thrift store we could find. I believe we managed to spend the full day buying up every kind of antique and treasure we could get our hands on. We hope to make antique shopping in Spokane and the surrounding towns on the way home an annual event for us girls. We had way too much fun.

Even after leaving WA and entering back into OR we still found some antique stores to shop in. One lady even opened her shop just for us because she remembered us 'farmgirls' from two years prior in her store. Now that's what I call hospitality.

With the truck bed and back seat completely full we were back on the road and after 15 hours of stopping and shopping we got home in time to brush our teeth and hit the sack. I could barely feel my legs anymore. Now we must start planning our trip for next year.

just a little stroll

Three hours and a little help from my brother-in-law, I got all the brick laid for my path. It still needs a bit of tweakin'  around the edges, but I think it will work just fine. A little bump here and there will  give it just the right amount of a fun stroll.  I think I'll plant some steppables along the sides and put a couple of my galvanized buckets by the door filled with lavender. What do you think?

It sure beats walking through mud and dirt only to track it inside and having to remove my shoes as soon as I enter. That floor is really cold in the winter.

I can picture a small roof overhanging the door area to keep the rain from going inside when you enter. A door with windows to bring in the early morning light would be awesome. Haven't found one of those yet, but still looking. I'm sure I could go on and on with ways to spruce it up around the outside. I have lots of ideas.

With this project complete, I think I'll go and sit a spell and finish up a book I have been reading, as it was hard to put down for awhile. I'll just go soak up some much needed sun on my ever so white body, and take in some vitamin D along the way.

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, stop on by and enjoy a nice iced cold glass of sun tea with me. I would enjoy the company.

The thing is.............

that when it finally warms up enough for me to be outside, all I want to do is work for the most part. With the grass nearly to my knees it was time to rev up all the lawn equipment and get to work. First I mowed the corral, then the lawn, did some weed eating and pulled a few weeds from the garden.

It looks inviting enough to sit and have a glass of iced tea, but............... not yet.

One would think that I have done enough for one day, but............ no. Hubby comes home and says "hey, the guy down the road is having a yard sale. There is a lot of copper stuff there."

Now come on, who can resist the urge to shop at a yard sale? Certainly not me. So, I hop on my quad, mosey on down the road and sure enough I buy up all the copper stuff on the table.

Look at all the neat things I picked up for just $14. There is a canister set, two tea kettles, pot, ladles, coffee mugs, and two lanterns. I figure I can use the glass bottles for some of the handmade things I will be doing for the booth in July. Oh and I picked up the coffee grinder too. Not a bad haul, but..................


 As I was leaving the guy doing the yard sale says he has a large animal trough he said, my husband said, I may be interested in. Of course I am........ I am using them as raised gardening beds. So back home to hook up the trailer, I go back down the dirt road, load it up and bring it home. But.............before I leave he mentions that I might also be interested in the many 12x12 bricks he has.

Of course I am....... So after unloading the water trough it was back down there to load up 80 bricks so that I can then haul them home and unload them all by myself. Boy, am I pooped.

I am hoping to make a very nice pathway to my crafting studio from the house so I will no longer have to walk in mud.

This will be another project for another day. But.........................

for now, this is where I wish to lay my head and just enjoy the rest of the afternoon with the sun and wind blowing in my hair.

Looks pretty good to me.

Oh how I love the warm Spring days.

Some of my many projects

I thought I would get my day started by showing you some of the many projects I have been working on. Some of my aprons are made from new fabrics.

produce bags

levi apron

Some are from old jeans.

Some with vintage doilies as pockets.

 pillowcase apron

                                          Some are made from recycled vintage pillowcases.

vintage tablecloth apron

Farm Chicks cart

This cart I plan to take to the Farm Chicks show in Spokane in a couple of weeks. I can hardly wait to see all the many crafts and antiques that will be there.

gift bags

My daughter and I played around with decorating some gift bags and tags.
I have many other projects I have been doing and so many more to complete before the end of July. This is when I will be having a booth in our small town of Bonanza. This is not something I have ever done so I am really trying to boost up confidence in what I have to sell. There will be a parade and a few craft booths and food vendors at the park. I have been thinking about this and working on this since I went to last years  event. There were not many booths, which is one reason I decided to do one,  as at this same time the whole town of Bonanza and its surrounding areas are having their Annual Yard Sale. And let me tell you, it is HUGE. Miles and miles of shopping.

My daughter plans to make some homemade products for the bath, face and laundry. If all goes well at our first time booth, we may think about another at some other time. I have to get over the anxiety of making nice, presentable, sellable things and making sure I set it up where it draws attention as well.

Wish us luck.

Been away too long

I have been doing so much and been away from blogging for far too long. I tried to catch up on some of my favorite blogs last night and even popped in on a few new ones. Looks like many of you are still having the same kind of weather we are out here in Oregon. Nice and warm one day and the next we still see snow coming down.

The grass around here is now mid calf, which means I will need to start getting out the lawn mower and weed eater. I almost do not want to work in the yard, which has always been something I have loved to do, but have been busy making so many different  crafts, that I don't want to stop.

I managed to get some of my garden cleaned up. I have peas, radishes and some pole beans coming up. I most like to see my bulbs which survived the squirrels last fall, shining bright with their full blooms. I have baby chicks that are ready to be moved into the big house. They are flying around and loving the warmer days of Spring.

Like everyone else, I am sure, we have many things going and lots more to do. So I just wanted you all to know, I am still kicking and will post some pics of some of my projects as soon as I can sit down long enough to load them up.

Hope you all have a beautiful day and I love seeing what everyone has been up to. And my, the crafting gals are so darn clever. I love learning new crafts and getting some much needed ideas. Some blogs are so creative and pretty. Wish I could get lessons on that.

Hugs,
Gail

My Mini Aussies and Minpin

    

      Sorry if I confused you on my mini aussies with chickens.

              

                 I did'nt have a picture of my girls together so I just had them get on the couch and snapped a quick one for you.

 

       These are my girls that keep me on my toes every day.  It's like having small children in the house again as they want attention all the time.



left to right: Pearl, Onyx, Jade

        Pearl helps herd in the chickens each night and Jade was the herder last night (she's just learning). The chickens went inside in under two minutes.

               You think they are getting the idea that when dog shows up, it's time to go to bed? Sure makes life easier for me.

              I tucker out real quick trying to round up chickens going round and round (real cute, not!).

       You're probably wondering why I put the chickens in at night. Reason is, when a snow storm is getting ready to hit, I want them in out of the weather so I don't have to round them up when it is hitting us hard.

            Most times they do put themselves to bed at dusk which then all I have to do is collect the eggs and lock up the little door.

            The aussies aren't as happy when that happens. 
                                 They love their job.
                                   (mom does too)
Hugs,
     Gail

Hens like their new home

We got a new roof put on the chicken house over the weekend. I got all the roosts put in along with some new nesting boxes. Hubby wired it so they could have heat. After collecting three at a time, and moving the girls up to their new place they spent all day out eating bugs and grass.

Today however, there is once again snow on the ground, but you can see they still come out occassionally.

With it being only 32 in their coop, I had to install the second light so it would warm up a bit inside for them. They seem to be doing pretty well living up here but I am still only getting 2 to 4 eggs a day for now. It will be so nice when my babies are grown and giving us a few more eggs each day.
Evenings are still a little crazy putting the hens to bed. They want to go back to the old coop that is also up here in the corral. The babies are in it right now.

So I bring up my oldest mini Aussie, Pearl, and tell her to "round em' up" and she gets them to go back into their coop for the night. I really need to learn the terms they teach the dogs to herd, but for now slow, easy, wait and round up, seem to be working just fine. Now the youngest mini Aussie, Jade, would rather play but she is fearless of anything right now so I really have to keep an eye on her when the deer are nearby. Her being the youngest and smallest makes her the toughest. She puts the other girls in their places quite often.

Since there is not anything I want to do out in the cold today, I think I will make up a batch of brownies. Stop on over and I'll even put on the tea kettle.

Sunshine makes me smile

My hubby found the cutest chicken coop for me. It reminds me of an old gypsy wagon without the wheels.

You see it here on the trailer being hauled out to our home. It will need some cleaning out inside, nest boxes and roosts built, but after that the girls are gonna love their new home.

I plan to place it up in the corral where my chickens will have tons more grazing room to roam. Sunshine will abound throughout the whole day, even through Winter months with less trees around to block the sun.

Since I cannot tell which hens are laying and which are not, I was due for new chicks so, I bought a few more Banties so Ol' Henry (the rooster) will have more girls his size. Hope I get babies in the not so far off future. I got a couple of Barred rock, Rhode Island Reds, and a couple of Bantams, (which I have not raised before) but am told they lay nice brown eggs.

As you can see the new chicks are loving their nice warm  home for the time being. The weather outside has been in the 30's to 40 degrees in the daytime and mid 20's at night, but they stay all cozy at a nice 80-85 degrees inside.

I just love watching my hens pecking the ground and taking dirt baths, chasing butterflies and running around chasing each other. With Spring in the air I hear my chickens singing "freedom at last" when they can finally get outside the coop and soak in the sun.

As you can see by now,  I am once again able to post pics. No, I don't have my desktop back yet, but my daughter said "pull the chip from your camera and put it in the laptop and just download your pics". Duh, now why did'nt I think of that sooner? Probably because I am not technically smart when it comes to any computers or just about anything in the past 10 years of technology. If you ask me, kids today are born with computer chips in their brains. They really understand all this stuff. God, I miss the 70's.

Thank goodness Spring is here, at least some days, so I can once again say "freedom at last" and enjoy the warm sunshine and just smile. At least I don't need a chip or a computer to do that.

Sewing for Cancer

I've been keeping myself busy sewing some chemo caps for our local Cancer Center. I hope to have quite a few by the end of April as I will deliver them on May first. Several other gals in our local chapter will also be making some so we are hoping for a good donation this year. I found clearanced fabric at Walmart for $1.50 yard and I am able to get four caps out of each yard. With my new sewing machine purring along, I can whip out a cap in 30 minutes. I cut out four at a time, press and stitch the ties and the whole thing goes together pretty fast from there.

I'd show you pics if I knew how to put new pics on my laptop, but I don't know how. The caps are the kind that the doctors wear with their scrubs. I just know that what ever kind we can put together, they will be very much appreciated by the center.

Here are a few of what we made in 2009.

One of the gals did crochet ones, one did fleece and I did the sewing ones. This year I am sticking to the sewing ones and maybe a few fleece, but the crochet I will leave to those who are much better at it. 

I did'nt make any last year as I was grieving the loss of my sister and my sister-in-law, both who passed away from cancer. It was a very tough year but for now I hope to focus on ways of helping others.

I would say to all you gals that know how to sew, when you have a little extra fabric you are'nt sure what to do with it, make a chemo cap from it and donate it to your local Cancer Center. These caps are passed out on a daily basis and are always needed by the centers. Just keep in mind to use a soft material that won't itch or scratch. You will not only be using up your left over materials, but you will be donating to a very good cause.

Let's pray for a cancer free world some day.

Hugs,
Gail

Computer problems

Boy when it rains it pours. I have been having computer problems along with our power going out from 2pm to after midnight. Now my desktop computer will not come back on and this laptop has been intermittent about wanting to work. I took this one to Staples and they got it working for awhile. Some how a power pole caught fire, wiped out over 1,000 homes of electricity so I sat in the dark last night, well I had candles burning, but I could'nt have my cup of tea and could'nt find my book light to read by. Let's just say it was an early to bed night. No phone lines even this morning and when they did come back up, still no desktop computer. I can only hope it isn't fried.

I am not very computer literate so don't know what the secret is to try to get it to come back on. I hate to spend the money on another one and I would have to hire someone to transfer all my stuff if the hard drive is'nt wiped out too.  I really miss my desktop because I do all my printing off of that one. I'm keeping my fingers crossed someone can tell me the secret to getting it up and running again. Until then I can only pray my things are'nt lost.

Gosh, we just have so many power outages around here. Usually one, if not more, each day. It can't be good on a computer, I'm sure. Wish me luck.

I received an email from Mountain Rose Herbs this morning and have been elated ever since. I went to check this http://www.rootstalkfest.com/ out and have'nt stopped thinking about it since. If you or anyone you know has any interest in sustainable living and want to learn all one can from one fabulous weekend, then you need to check out what is happening this coming September. I, for one, hope to be able to attend and am hoping to get a few of the Charming Chicks to go along with me.

Not only sleeping out under the stars, great organic food, live music and many workshops and classes being taught, someone will even tell you a bedtime story. Just kidding.

Actually there will be folklore stories and a time for costume at a Masquerade ball. There will be hiking, canoeing, archery and lots of crafters about. I don't know about you, but this is my cup of tea.

Now if I can just hold it down until September 22 - 25.

Check it out if you enjoy the great outdoors and need a perfect weekend getaway.

Welcome back Ford

As of today, Harvest Ford is up and running again but with a new owner. He came down from WA where he owns several dealerships up there which include, Jaquar, Landrover, Lamborghini, Rolls, Royce, and Bentley. He bought this dealership and plans to purchase two more Fords. Praise the Lord.

Everyone was called back to work and many who had already taken other jobs came back as well. I am so grateful and releaved to know all our friends and my hubby still have work in this town. I believe it looks as though they will stay on here for a very long time.

Thank you all for your prayers and blessings. This is in deed a great day for all the workers of Ford.