Great finds

We took a trip over to Medford today, which is 75 miles for us, and purchased two dog kennels for $200. If I keep rescueing animals it will be nice to have a place for them to be safe. I thought I might even take on boarding once in awhile too. While we were there my eyes spotted the galvanized animal trough, so of course I had to ask the woman what she was gonna do with it. She sold it to me for $10 and the smaller one for $5, and she gave me the old wheel barrel that was gonna be taken to the dump. I think it will look great with flowers in it, and she then gave me the old milk stool and honey pail and large igloo dog house. Not a bad catch for the day, would'nt you say?

two kennels

A little bit of work ahead to get the kennels cleaned up and set up, but it was well worth the price to have extra room for the critters. By the way, that snake skin on the left of the pic was a rattler my hubby came upon a few days ago. It measured in at 47 inches and let me tell you, it was large. I had'nt seen one since moving away from Phoenix, AZ. I don't even remember one being that large then. We skinned it and now it's drying. Bet it'd make a pretty nice hat band or belt.

I will be using the troughs as my raised gardening beds. I have three already and they are working out really well for me. Besides not having to bend over, they keep more heat on my plants therefore helping them grow. And with our short season, every little bit helps. We are suppose to have a frost tonight, ugk, so I have covered my tomatoes with hopes of one day soon, having red ones. I can't say I am ready for Fall just yet since I have'nt had any red tomatoes from my garden to speak of.

How is your garden doing? Hope you are having a bit more luck with yours than I have had again this year. Keeping my fingers crossed still.

Tinkering

I have so loved trying my hand at making different types of crafty things. I see so many beautiful items that you bloggers have made that I am tempted to try them myself. I am just not that talented in many of the crafts but I did attempt the coffee filter wreath. My first one turned out so bad that I knew I had to really think about the layout of the filters so that they would come out more even all the way around.

As you can see the uneven layers from this one. I just was'nt thinking, just glueing away...


So a few days ago I decided it was time to try my luck on another coffee filter wreath. After burning my fingers so many times from the hot glue gun, and using lots and lots of filters, this is what I ended up with.

Not bad, huh? With practice I hope to improve. It definately takes time to complete one of these. I worked several hours one day and finished it the next.

Then I decided to try one of those cone shaped paper rolled wreaths. After using some pretty old music paper, most were tearing, I finally got enough rolled up to put this wreath together.

It turned out okay, but always room for improvement. This one was a little easier, but still managed to take a few layers of skin off my fingertips. Those glue guns get hot! 

There are so many projects I would like to try. I am still practicing the fabric roses. Not even gonna show you those pics. :/ Talk about needing lots and lots of practice. But what a fun way to use up all my scrap material.

I will keep watching your blogs for more fun projects and want to thank you all for helping this ol' gal learn some new things. There are so many great crafters that I have found through blogland. Love that you all share with us.

Blessings,

Gail

Doggone it, we've done it again

Yep, we have once again rescued another dog. Her name is Suzy Q. She is a Heeler and about 10 months old. I brought her home yesterday from an older gentleman who cannot take care of her. She is doing very well with our other girls so far. My goal is to teach her how to be around my chickens and cats. These are all new things to her.
Is'nt she cute?

That's Pearl on the right. She is just a little over one year now and she's a mini Australian Shepherd. She is totally jealous but loves having another she can run and play with. Her cousin, Cora, comes up every few months to play. She's a Heeler too and about the same age as both these girls. Won't they have a ball all together?

For the past few days I have been dogsitting our neighbor's dog, Zeus. I think he looks more like a giant slouth. What do you think? He is such a gentle dog, but boy is he a big, big boy.

Life has'nt been boring around our home. Plenty of doggy music going on. We have our two little one's , Jade (mini aussie) and Onyx ( min pin) playing together in the house while the others are getting to know each other better.

 Suzy Q is sure loving to run around the acreage we have, but I need to teach her to be in a kennel also. We put our dogs in crates to sleep at night. Keeps them out of mischief and gives us better sleep. At least sometimes.

Driving crazy



Whitehorse Falls

My younger sister and her daughter have come to visit us this week. We did an overnight to the beach but first stopped at a few of the many waterfalls our area has to offer.
This one is right off the highway with picnic tables to luncheon at and a bridge to walk out onto for a better view of the falls. Everything is green and breathtaking.


Further down the highway we came across the next falls which we had to hike some ways back and up into the woods. It was quite a climb but very refreshing once we got near the top. It is almost like a huge canyon opened up and out poured the falls.

Watson Falls

Toketee Falls

After climbing as far as we did, we did not make it further to the top so this was the view I could capture. We then continued down the road to the falls that really took us on a hike. There were 97 stairs to climb up along the way with 125 coming back down. But the view was well worth the hike. My only wish was that there had been an elevator down to the pool of water itself. One could certainly work up a good sweat getting to it.

After the falls we drove on into Bandon, Or. to find a spot for dinner and a place to lay our heads. Spent the night two blocks from the ocean and slept like babies.

Bandon

Off to breakfast and while looking for our beach we missed our turnoff in Gold Beach where we were hoping to spend a few hours, only to end up in Northern California on Crescent City beach instead. Spent some time there before journeying back towards home, only to once again miss my turn off and we ended up far north  near Crater Lake driving through miles and miles of forest before finally reaching the highway closer to home. Although we missed some sites we did manage to be pleased with the many lakes and mountains and gourges we saw along our trip.

Crescent City

Next year, map in hand, we plan to stay a little more settled into a campsite where we can lay around, relax in some water and do some gentle hiking. Leave the driving to just getting there and getting back home.

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.