Sassy & Sweet Notes

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Yup, it's true... not only Mother's Day, but today is Mom's birthday as well!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Wish we could be there with you today to celebrate ... hope you had some cake for us, too!!

Hugs and KISSES,
Alan & Anna

Happy Birthday, Alan!

Wishing my sweetie a very Happy Birthday today!

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Biiirrrrthday to yooouuuu....
Happy BIRRRRRTHDAAAAAY Dear ALAN...
Happy BIRTHDAY, to YOU!
*Smooches*

(He's gonna be *thrilled* when he sees this photo! Haa!)

An Anniversary, and a Sunset

First, here's wishing Mom and Dad a wonderful, happy anniversary! 42 years, if my math is correct! Wish we could be with you to help celebrate ... or, at least have some cake!

And, what a lovely sunset we had this evening as the last of the big storm moved off to the west of us. Thought I'd share it with you! Going....

Going.....

Gone.

Thanks for checkin' in!

Beautiful Day!

It is such a beautiful day here today, and the neighbor's cows say hello!

Tomorrow is Sue's birthday (Alan's mother), so I'm cooking up a nice dinner for us all tonight. Roasted chicken, garden pasta salad, corn, and fresh bread. For desert, lemon cake for the girls, and brownies for the boys. Mmmmm...

Hope your day is just as beautiful!

what's with the moose...

Below is a comment Dad made on THIS post that's not to be missed, and a little visual help with a rotated photo to give you his perspective:

"Great pictures and Memories, during one particularly loud giggle session I walked in to see what got them going and saw things from the "wrong side" of the table. For fun go back up through the pictures and check out the Hula girl upside down or stand on your heads....  I thought she was a freaked out Moose.....and the "coconuts" were the eyeballs....  so I said "what's with the moose" Ma?.... What moose? was the reply. So I picked her up and turned her upside down and promptly got laughed out of the shop! We see lots of confused meeses around here in the spring..... I went back to my ham samich and my fishin show.... Love, Dad"

Haa! Thanks for more laughs, Dad!! *grin*

Christmas 2011 Crafting

Finally got photos taken of SOME of the holiday crafts made up and Mom and Dad's this Christmas. I didn't get photos of everything, though.

This year we focused on felt projects. Some we made with shapes cut out using metal dies, and others we made with free-hand cut shapes using hand-drawn patterns or ideas from books and magazines. Usually we take over Mom's dining room table with our project mess, but this year we got to enjoy the new quilt room Dad built for Mom. We spread out our supplies along the counter, and pulled in the old (retro-old) kitchen table as our work surface. There was a large stack of felt on the counter, as well as boxes of felt from Mom and Aunt Patty's stash, too! I brought cutting dies from my house to use for our projects (why pack clothes when I can bring craft supplies instead!), and we used Mom's die cutting machine. There were beads in every color imaginable, buttons galore, and every embroidery floss color, all right at our fingertips.

One of the projects we made was made with the Gift Card Envie die from The Cat's Pajamas. We made needle keepers that we decorated with various cut flowers, beads, and embroidery. On my needle case, I used the Sunflower Rosette die from The Cat's Pajamas to create the large flowers for the front of the case.

The backside is embellished with two buttons that also act as the closure for the case.

Inside, yellow felt "pages" work perfectly for keeping my needles safe and secure.

We also made cookies! I remembered seeing this idea on Linda's Catered Crop blog last year. Her project turned out so cute, I knew I needed to bake up my own batch of cookies! If you do a Google image search for "felt cookies" you'll find all KINDS of great ideas! It's amazing how long a project like this takes... it might actually be faster to bake real cookies! *grin* But using metal dies to cut the felt into shapes works great! We used Spellbinder dies for our cookies and frosting.

I made a gingerbread girl using the Sizzix gingerbread die, and various other dies for embellishment. My favorite is the Icing die, by The Cat's Pajamas! It's the perfect size for these little woolies! To create her dress, I sandwich'd her between two pieces of red felt and carefully cut out the shape of her dress. Once cut, I hand stitched the side seams of the dress together, as well as the arms and shoulders. The white scalloped collar was added last.

And of course I had to make a gingerbread boy, too. Dressed in tidy overalls, he's ready to hang on our tree. A quick way to create clothes for the boy is to cut out a second gingerbread body using the color you want to use for the clothing; for my project I used blue. Then just chop off the extra parts on the colored cut-out, like the feet, the arms, and a little area to create the neckline. Easy peasy, you've got overalls shaped perfectly for your fella!

By FAR, the funniest project completed during the week was this hula gingerbread girl that Mom made. Quietly working away, Mom used the small Sizzix gingerbread die to cut out two body shapes from brown felt. She did a short row of blanket stitching for hair, and embellished the body with two mother of pearl buttons, green embroidery floss for the skirt, and two beads for eyes. It's perfect in every way! We laughed and laughed when she showed us what she had been secretly working on!

Aunt Patty made pretty red felt cardinals and attached lapel pins to the backside. Here, mine is pinned to my sweatshirt, all festive and cheery!

Using a project from one of her many books as inspiration, Mom made this cute little partridge ornament. Won't she be a cutie on the tree!

Using a Spellbinders flower die I made this snowman face ornament.

On the backside, I used the beautiful Snowflake die from The Cat's Pajamas to quickly and easily embellish the back. I love the stark contrast between the black and white wool felt.

And finally, using an idea from a magazine article Aunt Patty brought with her, I made this snowman face mug rug. The mug is one that I hand painted years ago at a paint-your-own-pottery shop, and just happened to be the mug I used this morning for my coffee!

Each scallop on the mug rug has a simple snowman face -- two knot eyes, and a quickly stitched carrot for a nose. The sample in the magazine article was so perfect, I didn't change a thing!

We sure had a ball creating our projects this year! Wonder what we'll dream up for Christmas 2012!

Mom's Quilt Studio Progress

Thought I would share the progress of Mom's quilt studio, a room Dad added onto their house for Mom to use for her quilting .... nothing short of amazing. She has her pretty fabric all folded and organized on the shelves. You can see *some* of her finished quilts up on top of the shelves.

The counter, covered with the die cutting machine, dies, stacks of felt for our current holiday crafting projects, as well as other odds and ends that we drug out for crafting. There's also one of Mom's cute little Featherweight machines on the counter, begging to be used (or taken to my house - HA!).

The library, getting organized; the ironing board being used for last minute Christmas gift wrapping.

The machine, extended to the size for quilting a queen sized quilt, and extra machine parts still in boxes on the floor. Extra parts will move into storage areas. In the foreground sits the craft table, soon to be replaced by a larger handmade table that Dad is builiding. The design wall in the background, soon to have cedar wood trim borders; and all the pretty fabric stacked up on the shelves. Oooooh la la!

The loft, ready for storing batting for the centers of the quilts. I think it might make a nice bunk for sleeping visitors. Haaaaa!

*Some* of the Christmas themed quilts out on display. And a pretty wall hanging with deer and birch trees made for Mom by Aunt Patty and Aunt Judy.

Imagine the fun that is to be had in this room!

Turkey Feeding Time

Here is a quick video of Dad feeding one of the flocks of wild turkeys in the front yard, Christmas morning.

If you have trouble viewing the video on the blog, you will find it here on YouTube.

Hope you're enjoying your day!

Bark!

Our farm is located in the country, a good-long distance from any cities of noteworthy size. There is a freeway access point near the end of our county road which unfortunately is a frequent dumping spot for pets by irresponsible owners. It's quite sad, as these abandoned animals have no way of fending for themselves in the wild; no food, no water (especially now, during the drought!). And they're being dropped in a highly populated raccoon, snake, and coyote area, not to mention the other wild animals, like hog, fox, and bobcat, as well as the ever-dangerous nearby freeway.

Three weeks ago, on a Friday night... Alan and I were driving back from the city. It was evening, after dark. We rounded the corner of our county road and in the beams of our headlights, a little pale colored dog popped up out of the ditch. I stopped the car, but the dog was gone as quickly as it had appeared. We called and called for it, but it never came out of hiding. We told the neighbors about it, so we could all keep an eye out for it. The ditch is quite deep, full of brush (and a snake-haven), and not anywhere I would want to wander into.

Fast forward three weeks, to Saturday... I was an hour away in the city, and Alan was working. Alan's mother, Sue, stopped by the farm mid-day. As she was headed home, she saw the little dog pop out of the ditch and then disappear back into the thicket. She stopped the car and called to the dog again and again. Finally, the pup came out of the ditch and allowed herself to be picked up. Thin as can be, and clearly in need of care, Sue took the pup home and gave it food and clean water. Alan stopped by and helped Sue give the little dog a bath, and together they assembled a warm bed. It wasn't too long before she was sound asleep.

Meet Frosty, the newest member of our extended family.

When we first saw Frosty that night in the ditch, we thought by the dog's coloring that it may have been an older dog. But turns out Frosty is just a young thing -- I'm guessing no more than a year old. She weighs not quite 5.5 pounds...thin as can be. She has bug bites on her tender ears, and the pads of her feet have a few sores, likely from bug bites or thorns.

I am fairly certain that she is a Portuguese Podengo Pequeno. Her ears are as long as her legs, and she has the wiry coat and exact coloring to match the breed.

We cannot believe she survived as long as she did, three weeks, in the thicket of the ditch.

Alan's mother and father are keeping Frosty, but since they work away from the home all day during the week Frosty will come out to the farm during the day for 'doggy daycare'. Alan and I work from home, so Frosty can hang out with us during the day, and at the end of the day will go home again with John and Sue. Hopefully as a family we can work her through any abandonment issues she may have, and she will come to love her new BIG family.

She's not too keen on Daisy and Farley yet, though... she thinks they're awfully big. They really just want to play with her, and be her friend. Hopefully she warms up to them, and learns they're her family, too.

Shame, shame, on the people who left this little dog at the side of the road. Now, I suppose it is entirely possible that someone could have stopped for a "potty break", and the little dog got away from them. But if so, why weren't local authorities or neighbors contacted? Why wasn't a note posted on any one of the several street signs at the end of the road? There is one house within clear sight of the corner, within easy walking distance. If the owner simply "lost" the dog, I would think they would ask for assistance or leave their name and number if the dog was found. We will never know what truly happened. But given the frequency of dropped animals at the corner, we can assume Frosty wasn't just "lost".

Now, she's found.

My Trip to Oregon...

I'm home again after a wonderful trip to Oregon to see my dearest friends.

I had a GREAT time, and it was hard to leave the clean, crisp air of Oregon behind. We spent Saturday at the coast, visiting favorite beaches, and just enjoying the day. The Florence bridge is such a historic place.

And the waterfront in Florence is always busy with local, and visiting, fishermen.

The weather was perfect - we were quite comfortable in just jeans and t-shirts. There were lots of amazing tide pools to explore! They were full of little fish and hermit crabs.

There's really nothing like visiting the Oregon coast. It ranks right up there as one of my favorite places to visit. In the late afternoon, a big fog bank rolled in and covered the beach with a thick, heavy mist so we headed into Yachats for dinner. I had fresh pan fried razor clams, and they were deeee-LISH!

Sunday we went to a local farm to pick up fresh produce and a few pumpkins and gourds for Halloween.

The local produce in Eugene is something to be seen... it's just phenomenal.

Pears, fresh from the trees on the farm. Delicious!

Potatoes so fresh, they still had that wonderful earthy smell to them. Mmmm!

Pumpkins, in all shapes and sizes, ready for carving!

And I couldn't believe the tomatoes. YUM!!

I wanted to take a dozen of these home and roast them right up!

How about some winter squash for long-term storage! Imagine how wonderful these will be mid-winter, when the air is cold... I'd like a dinner invitation, please!

More peppers, and lots of fresh greens...

This display of beans put my garden's bounty to shame!

They had spinach and carrots right next to each other, and they both smelled so good!

There are very large fields full of pumpkins for those who want to take a wagon ride out to the fields, but we opted to stay close to the farm stand where there were lots of pumpkins to choose from.

And where we could have THIS! It was a great ending to a wonderful day at the farm!

Every moment was spent with friends, and I had a wonderful time! I am so grateful for their friendship, and hospitality.

As for me today, I am still sick. Tonight, my temp is up nearly 3*. After literally two days of being in bed, medicated, you'd think I'd be feeling better. But I feel like I've been hit by a bus, and sound even worse! What a dreadful end to a beautiful vacation! *grin*

But we got a little rain this evening, so I can't complain.

Greetings from Oregon!

I made a quick trip out to Oregon to visit my girlfriends for the weekend. I have no doubt I will enjoy every moment! The weekend will be filled with good friends, good food, good music, good coffee, and good FUN!

What's planned?! A day at the beach, shopping at favorite retailers, a trip to our favorite pumpkin patch and local farm, wonderful meals with friends, a night of live music (with favorite local musicians) at a favorite pub, and a few days spent enjoying the lovely Oregon landscape and weather. How refreshing! I only wish Alan was able to come along. He's got life on the farm in the palms of his hands this weekend -- here's hoping all the critters mind their manners for the next couple of days!

So, here is a west coast greeting to ya'll!

And, Alan ... I'm bringing home Oregon chocolate! *grin*

Happy Birthday, Alan's Dad!

Alan's dad, John, celebrates his 75th birthday today. Happy Birthday, John!!

We enjoyed dinner with Alan's parents last night, and are headed over this evening for celebratory cake and ice cream. I put together a birthday card for him, and cracked up the entire time I was making it...

Fishing Ewe Mower Birthday Fishes

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Wish we could be with you to celebrate this year! Hope you do something FUN, and eat CAKE!

Hugs & Kisses!

I'm Baaaack!

Back from my trip up to northeastern Washington, where I spent a long weekend with Mom and Dad, celebrating Mom's birthday, and helping them with a few things on the construction of the new addition Dad is adding to the house -- a beautiful quilting studio for Mom, a big new pantry, and an enclosed back porch for covered winter wood storage, boots, coats, etc.

At the back of the house you can see where they had to remove some of the ground behind the house for the new addition. The windows are in the quilt studio, the corner w/out windows is the new pantry, and the wall on the right is the now-enclosed back porch.

The concrete pad of the old back porch was the foundation for the newly enclosed back porch. This area used to be covered, but without walls, and used to be for firewood storage.

Inside the now-covered back porch, there's lots of room for wood storage, coats, boots, and even a second refrigerator or upright freezer!

Once in the house, just off of the back room to the left is the new pantry. Won't that be a great space, full of shelves for storage!

Beyond the back room is the quilt studio! With loads of room for shelves for fabric storage, a design wall, counter-top work spaces, and the center of the room reserved for Mom's long arm quilting machine.

By the time I left, we managed to get the ceiling panels in the pantry and backroom up, the walls painted with their first coat of sealant (more sealant and paint to come!)...

...and the inside walls put up in the porch.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the fun weekend! Can't wait to see the progress next time I'm up!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I'm catching a flight this morning to Washington to spend a long weekend with Mom and Dad. I'm looking forward to it! Perhaps we'll have some BIRTHDAY CAKE!

Happy Birthday, Mom!! See you SOON!!

Happy Birthday, Alan!

Happppy Birthday to you,
Happppyyyyy Birrrthday to you,
Happy Birrrrthhhdaaaaaay, dear Alan...
Happy Birthday to YOU!

41 looks GOOD...
no, make that GREAT!
on you!

Happy 40th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

March 20, 1970 (wait ... doesn't that make it your 41st?) ... or maybe I have the wrong year! Haa! HOUSTON, we have a PROBLEM! *grin*

March 20, 1971!

I was going to post a photo of you two on your wedding day, but I can't find one! I thought for SURE I had one of you two, standing in Grandma's dining room cutting cake, with the mule deer mount looking over your shoulders!

Must .... Keep .... Looking!

OK ... here's the best I can do!

Here is a photo of an 8x8 scrapbook page I made for Mom in 2005! And the mule deer mount I was remembering was actually an antelope! Notice I put the wrong YEAR on the tag... OOPS! I wasn't even alive ... how am I supposed to remember!! *GRIN*

Holiday Projects Shared (Better Late than Never...)

I finally got around to getting some photos taken of a few of the holiday projects I made while up at Mom and Dad's over Christmas. I made this wood and paper snowflake (like the ones we've been making for a couple years now). It's covered with glass glitter and is VERY sparkly!

Mom, Aunt Patty and I always have a craft day (which usually lasts more than one day), and this year our primary project was covering unfinished wood shapes with holiday paper to make ornaments. This little reindeer was one of my favorites.

This Santa face looks very similar to one that Mom made. I used her idea for the fuzzy beard, mustache, and hat, and also her cute little sleepy eyes. I also used beads for the nose and mouth, just like she did! What can I say, I wanted my own sleepy Santa! *grin*

The wooden shapes are some that I picked up at the local craft/crap stores (JoAnn, Michael's, Hobby Lobby) prior to the holiday (and maybe even last year, or the year before). Some of them weren't necessarily "holiday" shapes, but we made them work for what we were doing.

It was fun decorating both sides, too!

I really liked using the heart shapes. I chose papers that were more "country" than "holiday", and then went on and added a tin snowflake... Doh!

Another shape we had several of were little wooden stockings. I added a scalloped paper ruffle to this one.

We used various papers, some from Cosmo Cricket, some from October Afternoon, and maybe a few others. Here are three hearts that I paper pieced (an idea I stole from my Mom!), but didn't get them finished.

I'm thinking I kind of like them like this, so I might just seal them up and use them as coasters instead of ornaments!

Here is another one that I didn't get finished. This is an example of one of the shapes we used that wasn't necessarily "holiday" themed. Once I get some rustic twine added, and maybe a tin star and button, won't this be cute hanging on the Christmas tree?

We have so much fun sitting around the dining room table working on our projects, giggling and laughing at our ideas. Mom is the silliest, and comes up with the craziest ideas! This was a star she was working on, turning it into quite the humorous Santa! *giggle*

Christmas is the only time of year we're together long enough to do anything like this, and it's so much FUN!

SUPER Chicken

Mom and Dad gave Miss Daisy a new toy for Christmas... I think she loves it. *grin*

Mister Farley was laying in front of her, halfway into the kitchen. Pouting.

Scary *flash* eyes!

It's hard work being a puppy!

PS: Mister Farley got a new toy, too ... a stuffed TURKEY! Cool!

This & That

Good morning! We're well underway now for 2011; hope it's been good for you so far! I flew back to Texas on Thursday, and Alan and I had a quiet weekend.

Friday night I futzed around in the kitchen doing some cleaning and organizing. Two weeks ago bought myself some cute Pyrex refridgerator dishes and wanted to make some room for them in the dish cupboard. They are from the Butterprint line of Pyrex from the late 50s, and feature a cute little chicken. I've been watching ebay listings for about a year, and finally just decided to buy myself some. I found a listing that wasn't overpriced, and the dishes were said to be in excellent condition with no chips. They arrived in perfect condition!

Fitting them in the cupboard started an entire re-fresh of all the cupboards. I used to have a squishy removable foam shelf liner in the dish cupboard. It was an ugly brown color, and needed to be washed. I got it all washed up and then decided to change it out for some pretty, flowery, heavy duty scrapbook paper. I like the paper lining much better - and it was an inexpensive way to freshen the cupboard! At midnight, I was washing the silverware tray. Pretty exciting stuff for a new years eve celebration! *grin*

I've drawn winners for the 2011 On the Farm calendar blog candy, and I've got good news for two lucky readers! I have decided to give away two calendars, instead of just one.

To celebrate the new year, I figured comment #11 should be celebrated! Comment #11 was by LacyQuilter who said "Happy new year, Anna. What a fun calendar. I've just been sitting reading. No parties."

I also chose one winner at random (#48 was drawn), and big congrats go to Boulderneigh Michelle who said "Since your "farm" photos are my favorite part of your blog, I'd love to win a calendar. We didn't really celebrate at all, old married folks that we are. :-)"

Get in touch with me ladies, and I'll get your calendars out to you right away! You have your choice of standard size (11" wide), or small (7" wide).

Today I'm cooking a turkey dinner for Alan's parents, nephew, and us. We haven't been able to celebrate Christmas together yet (various travel schedules), so a nice turkey dinner seemed like a good way to wrap up the weekend and spend time with the family.

Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

More SNOW!

 
Eight inches piled up today, so Dad went out and did some clearing in the driveway with his monster-sized snowblower.

 
The mountain and trees across the small valley are beautiful with the freshly fallen snow.

 
The snow was fluffy, but would have been great for snowballs and snowmen. It sure coated the trees nicely!

 
And Mom's lilac tree really looked neat at the edge of the front deck!

Time for hot cocoa!

Scenic Woodland View

I'm still up at Mom and Dad's enjoying the snowy winter weather of Eastern Washington. Thought I would share a few photos I took of the view from Mom and Dad's front yard... lovely! *grin*

 
Snowy trees are pretty covered in frost.

 
The rock faced hill has always been a favorite of mine.

 
Trees standing tall in the shadows look very majestic.

 
And of course, here is their kitty Tippy enjoying a lounge on my sweatshirt. I think she was a little put out that I took her photo. Hmmmph.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with family and friends!

Happy Holidays!

 
Alan and I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas, and all the best for the coming year! Ho ho ho, Moooo, Quack, Snort, Cluck, Meow, Woooof!, Naaaaay, Cheep, and Heeee Haaaw! Merry Christmas!

Dashing tooooo the snow...

This morning I'm catching a flight north to Washington state to spend Christmas with Mom and Dad. While I'm not looking forward to traveling, I am looking forward to 10 days in the snowy white north! Alan is staying at the farm taking care of all the critters, and will spend Christmas with his mom and dad. While I'll be enjoying chilly temps and snow, Alan will be experiencing some very unseasonal 50-80 degree weather. I wonder if January will bring cold winter temperatures to Texas...

I will post as often as I can! *grin*

Don't forget to make peanut butter cups for Christmas!

Sharing Christmas Ornaments

Having a very sore back has put a ripple in getting things done around the house, and now I'm behind on several projects...UGH!  But, slowly but surely we've put out the holiday decor, and I'm starting to feel a bit better. At least I can stand upright now! Tonight I took some photos of some of my favorite ornaments and decorations, and I thought I'd share!

We have quite a small tree in the house, but it is PACKED full of all kinds of ornaments. Honestly, I think every branch has some kind of decoration. I have a fun mix of old and new, rustic and vintage, inexpensive and priceless.

Putting out holiday decor is one of my favorite things. Even though I don't put out every ornament each year (the tree is too small), every ornament gets carefully unwrapped and adored, and the memories enjoyed.

Several years ago, Mom wrapped up a box full of some of the ornaments from the family tree that were "mine", and gave them to me for Christmas. This little painted wooden angel ornament was in the box from Mom...adorable! You can bet she's on the tree!

My parents gave Alan this beautiful Old World Christmas glass Santa firetruck ornament a couple of years ago. It's displayed in the china hutch year round!

I've had this little carved snowman ornament since high school. My friend Kris and her family gave it to me. It's still one of my favorites!

The fireplace mantel is decorated with rustic pine swag, faux berries, pinecones, metal reindeer (and a moose) and lights. This tall handpainted Santa stands at one end.

This tall Santa stands at the other end, in his fur-lined hat and coat.

Some of the ornaments on display are handmade, like this snowflake I made a couple of Christmas's ago with Mom and Aunt Patty.

Some of the ornaments are ones I've picked up throughout the years, like this birchwood Santa.

And some are from my childhood, like this little white bell (one of two that I have), that still hangs from it's original (though slightly tattered now) green ribbon.

Some are blown glass and really "fancy", and others are more primitive, like this bear riding Santa...

And some are even more primitive, like this carved wooden snowman in his braided hemp scarf.

I love the fun mix of new and old, uptown and country.

Our holiday tree promises never to be boring!

Have you put out your holiday decor yet, and have you come across your favorites yet?

Happy Saturday!

I treated myself to a few new goodies recently, and did a bit of fiddling around with them. I bought the Sizzix Bigz Tags #3 die, and the shape of this tag is one of the shapes it cuts. The other tag shape in the die is a bit more traditional, with the diagonal corners at the top of the tag. I like using the Bigz dies, becuase unlike thin metal dies, the Bigz dies cut the weight of chipboard I like making projects out of. I also bought the Primitive Stars Bigz die as well, and look forward to using it on my holiday projects. Also on this tag I used my Potted Sunflower stamp from Whipper Snapper.

I also recently purchased the large Making Memories self healing work surface, which you can see in the above photo. It's 17x23, and significantly larger than the version offered in the Stampin' Up catalog. I had been using the 12x12 self healing mat on my Score-Pal, but wanted a little more elbow room. The new mat is working out perfectly, and is actually helping me keep my work table more organized, and tidy!

Have you picked up anything new recently?

 

Unrelated....

I thought I would share this photo, as some of you have mentioned missing Dad's comments (DK Wight) here on the blog! This is my Dad, on a recent fishing trip on the Snake River. Fishing = no blog commenting. And sometimes he is at a loss of words when I post crafty projects, rather than farm and garden posts.

Say hello, fishy fishy! *grin*

Dad is a very active member of the local flyfishing club, and coordinates trips for the club members to take. Great fun is had by all!

Happy weekend!

Happy Birthday, Daisy!

Six years ago I adopted Daisy from a family who could no longer keep her. They were her third family, and I was her fourth -and forever- family.

Today she turns 10, and I think if you asked her, she would tell that she is as happy as can be.

Happy 10th birthday, to my favorite chocolate chunk!

I think it's time to whip up some of her favorite treats!
(If you know Daisy, you know that EVERY treat is her favorite treat...)

Sweet Miss Daisy *Hearts* Cookies (for dogs)
2 cups Whole Wheat flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
2 TBS Honey
1 Egg
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup Milk (soy, rice, goat, or fat free cow)

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder and garlic powder together in a mixing bowl. Stir in honey, egg, oil and milk. (I just use a fork for all the mixing and it works great!) The dough will be somewhat dry, but it will stick together.

On a wheat floured surface, knead the dough 10-15 times. Pat into nicely shaped ball and roll out onto cutting surface 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes (we recommend HEARTS), or cut into 1.5" squares. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 15 minutes. Let cool on the sheet. Serve one cookie to all dogs, and store remaining cookies in an airtight container.

All the dogs on the farm give these cookies TWO PAWS UP! WOOF!

Happy Birthday, John!

We've got another birthday in the family today -- Alan's dad, John, celebrates his 74^th 73^rd 74^th birthday today. (I think I've finally got it right!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, John!

We're having John and Sue (Alan's mom) over for dinner tomorrow, and it should be fun. Burgers, presents, and cake! Can't go wrong with that on a Sunday afternoon!

I made a spice cake ...oops! not a spice cake... it's a butter pecan cake (mix), topped with a coconut pecan frosting. I hope it's good!

PS: Here's a sneak peek at another one of my new stamp illustrations, part of the upcoming Whipper Snapper release!

 

Happy Birthday, Dad!

It's a BIG day for Dad, and wish we were at his place to celebrate with him. He puts on a great BBQ dinner (not just on special days, either!), and some grilled viddles sound pretty good!

Some of you may not know that Dad often comments here on the blog - watch for comments by DK Wight -- you're sure to get a giggle. Some of you know his handle and look forward to his posts as much as I do. He enjoys the friendly community of readers here, and "knows" all frequent commenters, asking about you by name when I'm visiting. You're all a part of our extended family! *grin*

Please join me in wishing Dad a very happy birthday!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Trip to Montana: Part 2

Our first day at Georgetown Lake was rather stormy, but on day 2 we woke to sunny, partly cloudy skies. Mom decided to stay back at the RV to do a little quilting while Dad and I hopped into the boat and went out to do a little sightseeing and fishing. The water was like glass!

Dad told me about the trouble they're having with wood beetle infestation in the pine forest around the lake (as well as other places). The pines you see on the hillsides around the lake are being killed by the beetles (I thought it was forest fire kill when I first saw it). It's quite sad actually; soon there will be very few trees left around the lake. The forest service is having to harvest the trees, leaving the hills around the lake very bare. Dad said that over the past three years or so, the forest around the lake has changed dramatically. In talking with one of the campground caretakers, he told us that the forest service has 2 years to clear the infected trees from the forest. It will take a long time for new trees to grow in their place.

While Dad and I boated around the lake, we came across dozens of mother ducks and mergansers with chicks of various ages. They happily cheeped to one another while they searched for bugs around the grassy shoreline.

The weather on the lake changes rapidly, and it wasn't long before large storm clouds moved in. We could watch the rain come down on the mountains around the lake, and while it sprinkled on us a bit, we managed to stay dry -- for a while.

Dad did some fishing (I don't have a license to fish, so I sat back and watched and took photos)...

...and Dad even caught some fish! Beautiful rainbow trout he held just long enough for me to snap a photo, and then released back into the lake where maybe they'll be caught again (or not).

Eventually, the storm caught up to us and we ended up having to boat back to camp -- I would have taken photos of us heading back to camp across the lake, but the rain was really coming down, our clothes were soaked, and a storm like that isn't the place I want to have my camera out in. *grin* But I did snap this photo of a mama duck and her baby later that afternoon.

We enjoyed nice hot chilli for lunch, and after the storm passed, we loaded up the boat and went out to fish another part of the lake. This time, Mom came with us.

Dad caught several more fish, and this one may have been the largest of the day.

Or maybe this one was...

Or maybe this one...

It's all proof that Dad's hand tied flies work!

It was the perfect way to spend the day; the week.

The next morning we had to pack up camp and head home. The drive down from the lake was just as enjoyable as the drive up.

The views from the ridges around the lake are spectacular! And I was thrilled to have some clouds in the sky to add interest. Open blue skies can be so boring! *grin*

Local ranchers were busy putting up hay, and giant golden round bales dotted the pastures.

I must say that the Philipsburg valley is truly beautiful, and I enjoyed every moment of the trip. Well, aside from the nasty head cold I picked up...

I really liked how the sun shone in the pastures, and the clouds cast shadows on the hills.

Looking back towards the lake, it looked like another storm was expected for the day.

Mom and I found this Philipsburg "road" and posted road signs quite humorous...

In case you missed it: Trip to Montana: Part 1

Trip to Montana: Part 1

 
Sorry for the long break in posting time -- we spent the week without electricity, out of internet range, or on the move. But now we're back to the comforts of Mom and Dad's house, and I thought I would share a bit of our adventures from the week! Hope you enjoy!

 
On Monday, we packed up the last of necessary things and jumped into the RV, destination western Montana. My parents live in northeastern Washington, so it's a quick drive across northern Idaho. We drove along the shores of Pend Oreille lake, a family favorite destination.

 
The lake looked to be in perfect summertime condition, and was quite inviting, but we had lots more driving to do to get to our destination.

 
We stopped at Cabinet Gorge Dam, one of the dams along the Clark Fork river. The gates weren't open, but the swirling water at the base of the dam was really neat to watch!

 
We followed the Clark Fork river through open valleys, through small towns, past ranches, and beautiful river views.

 
Imagine owning the ranch on the other side of the river ... talk about scenic!

 
Before long, views of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Area and the Mission Mountains came into view.

 
And the views continued to be spectacular!

 
The color of the grass really caught the afternoon sun, giving the entire landscape a bright, cheery foundation of color.

 
Monday night we ended up staying the night in the RV east of Missoula, Montana. It was well past dark when we went through Missoula, and we didn't want to miss the spectacular views we would have once we turned off of I-90 and headed south towards Philipsburg and Georgetown Lake. Tuesday morning's weather brought new clouds and spots of sun on the ranch land. This photo was taken at the edge of Philipsburg, looking towards the mountains where Georgetown Lake is.

 
We stopped in Philipsburg for an early lunch, and some quick shopping around town. Philipsburg is a beautiful little town, known for it's well-kept painted buildings and historic existence.

 
We stopped in at The Sweet Palace, where I was amazed at the variety of sweets on display on the shelves - down both sides of the shop!

 
Each jar, each basin, held it's own unique flavor of treat.

 
Their fudge is all handmade on location (I witnessed it!). This was just a small portion of the flavors they had available... there must have been 8' of fudge on display. Wow!

 
And they make their own custom chocolates, too! I thought these were rather neat looking, and they're rather delicous, too!

 
We poked around town a bit more, enjoying the cool mountain air, and the fresh air that came with the morning rain showers.

 
There are neat statues around town made by a local artist that tell various stories or feature local wildlife. Near the fire station, this Indian statue was particular interesting.

 
Here you can see the Indian, following an injured minor through the forest.

 
We ate lunch at Doe Brothers, and it was delicious!

 
Homemade chips and delicous sandwiches!

 
After lunch, we drove up to Georgetown Lake, where it was perfect weather for boating.

 
So, boating we went! And it promptly started to rain - the weather changes fast at 6500' elevation. Here's Mom, posing for a photo.

 
There are some modest little lake cabins around the lake, and there are shacks, like this one...

 
Here's Mom again, enjoying the boat tour around the lake.

As this post is getting rather long, stay tuned for more lake and fishing adventures. *grin*

Whitetail Deer

 
This evening, the deer that visit Mom and Dad's front yard came by for a visit. I slipped outside with my camera to see if I could snap some photos without scaring them off. Here are a few of my favorites! (Sorry if the photos look a bit grainy or dark -- I am having to do the photo prepping on my laptop, which I don't usually do.... so it's hard to tell if the photos look "just right".)

 
Mom and Dad's cat, Tippy Canoe, insists on laying in the yard when the deer visit. I think if she were big enough she might actually try chasing them away!

 
Speaking of Tippy, here she is in all her cute, princess fuzzy butt glory!

 
At least one of the does has a fawn and has started bringing it to the yard in the evening with the other does. She's full of energy, stomps, snorts, leaps and runs, and has amazing spots!

 
Personally, I think she's adorable!

 
The last bit of sunshine filtered through the trees and this gal posed nicely for me.

 
Peek-a-boo, I see you!

 
The area has had a lot of rain this year, and the grass is tall and thick. The deer have lots to eat, and are doing a good job of fattening up for winter.

 
My parent's other cat, Streak, loves to be outside in the evening. In fact, she loves it so much, she runs and hides so we don't catch her and take her in before she's ready to go in.

 
Here she is, hiding under the edge of the stairway on the deck. "Noooooo, I don't wannnnnna go in!"

 
Here's another gal, coming into the yard through the trees.

 
Camo?

 
Long skinny legs, and long chinny whiskers!

 
Tomorrow we're packing up and headed to Montana... yippy yahoooo! I think we'll be taking Tippy with us...

 
...and Streak, too! Camping kitties ... who knew!

Greetings from the North!

 
Hello friends! Yay! I'm officially on vacation! I finished out the work week from here at my parent's house in Washington, so today is officially my first day of vacation. Yahooooooo! We haven't done much since I had to work Thursday and Friday, but just being in the cooler temps is enough relaxation for me. We're planning a trip to western Montana to a little town called Philipsburg and camping at the nearby Georgetown Lake. It's one of Mom and Dad's favorite spots, promising lots of wonderful views, wildlife, and dramatic weather. I can't wait!

 
This weekend I'm attending my 20 year high school reunion - here's proof that I was there. We had a relatively small class of about 70 grads. Twelve or 13 of us actually completed K-12 grade together, so there is plenty of life experience shared between a good number of us. It was wonderful to see old friends! Last night classmates met up at a local pub. It was great to see those who could attend, and those that weren't able to make it were missed. Good stories were shared, lots of laughs were had, and beers were enjoyed, too (though, just water for me, thanks!). We're meeting again this afternoon for a picnic in the local park. Kid friendly, and good family fun is to be expected. I'm looking forward to taking my camera and snapping photos -- I do like photographing the kiddos!

Back home in Texas, Alan has been dealing with the farm and all the critters. It's certainly a lot of work for one person.  They've had HOT temps and that always means extra work around the farm just making sure water stations are full and fresh. Our area did get a little bit of rain (about 1") yesterday evening, so that should keep things from getting too terribly crispy over the next few days. Cross your fingers more rain is in the forecast for the farm!

'til next time... *grin*

Headed North...

Tomorrow I'm flying up to northeastern Washington to spend 10 days with Mom and Dad. Last year's summer trip was a great time -- fishing, camping, river floating -- and I'm looking forward to the adventures we have this year!

Alan is staying home to take care of the farm, and he will be missed. Sooner or later, we'll be able to take a little vacation together. Since he's staying here at the farm, drop in here at the blog now and then and leave a note for him. He always reads my blog for any new posts and/or comments. He'll enjoy hearing from you!

As for me, I'll see what I can do about putting up a few posts while I'm away. Who knows... maybe I'll even get around to posting daily!

Happy Father's Day!

 
To my Dad, who today is cruising around the Oregon Coast in the RV with Mom. And yes, I am GREEN with envy!

 
To Alan's Dad, John, who is always very helpful around the farm! We'll see John and Sue tonight for dinner -- yummy BBQ time!

 
To Alan, the BEST darn dad our critters could hope for.

And to all the other dads out there! Enjoy your day!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

 
I hope you have a beautiful day!! Happy Birthday!!

Alan says "Happy Birthday, Mrs. Wight!"

The photo above is Mom (on the bike) looking so cute in her pedal pushers and striped t-shirt, and my lovely Aunt Judy.

Happy Mother's Day!

To all you Moms out there, have a wonderful day!

Enjoy these photos taken of mothers on the farm throughout the years. We've had a lot of mothers here, that's for sure!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Happy Mother's Day!

Vacation Photos

First of all, thank you for all of the super nice comments you all left on the blog and in emails for Alan while he stayed home last week and took care of the farm. Being home on the farm alone is a lot of hard work, and I know he appreciated all of your notes. While he was here tending to the farm, I was enjoying a fantastic camping trip with my parents! I took about 350 photos, and here are a few of my favorites... (You can click on the photos to see them a bit larger.)

On Monday, we drove from my parents house (in northeastern Washington) through the Idaho panhandle into northwestern Montana. Mom and I drove together in the Suburban towing the river boat, while Dad drove in front of us towing their little vintage camper trailer with the pontoon boat strapped to the back. Amazingly enough, it's not a very long drive - just a couple of hours (if that).

We camped on the shore of the Kootenai River. Here is the view just a few feet from the back of our camper when we arrived at camp.

Just a couple of miles up-river from the campground we stayed in is the Libby dam.

I really enjoyed taking photos at the dam -- the colors were super, and the lighting was just as nice!

I kept kicking myself for not taking my "real" camera on the trip, instead of just my pocket-sized point-and-shoot.

Dad and his friend Jeff planned a short float down the river that evening, so they launched the boat and headed out with their fishing poles. It was a perfect evening for a float down river.

The next day, Dad and Jeff took Jeff's wife Paula along for the daily float. I put the pontoon boat in and followed along. Mom stayed back at the camper and did a bit of quilting. We had a bit of wind to deal with, which made floating down-river a challenge at times. But at the end of the day, we made it down river just fine!

Paula did a bit of reading along the way.

I took some photos of my toes, and the amazingly clear river.

Jeff caught some fish, and Dad caught some fish! Every fish caught during the trip was safely released back into the river.

Fishing from the boat.

More fishing from the boat.

Dad, fishing from a rock.

Jeff, making some changes to his set-up.

The two guys, fishing.

Love this shot of Dad through the grass on the riverbank.

A real whopper!

What a wonderful afternoon!

We saw at least two bald eagles during the day, and several osprey nests as well. This osprey nest was a fair distance from the river, but I took photos anyway! There are three birds on the edge of the nest, and one other bird from the nest was flying along the river. I really had to zoom in and hold steady to get this shot (not easy to do while you swirl around in the river's current!)

Here is another view of the same nest, pretty far back from the river.

We floated the river until the sun set behind the mountains.

The next day we decided to move down river to the west side of Troy, Montana. We found a great site at a riverside campground and planned an afternoon river float down the Kootenai River to where the Yaak River meets the Kootneai. On this day, Dad and Jeff took Mom in the river boat with them, and I tagged along behind in the pontoon boat again taking more photos.

Here is Jeff fishing the river on one of our many stops along the way.

Here Dad is fishing a narrow channel of the river, off of a long rock bar in the middle of the river.

The sun was sparkling off of one of the many treasures on Dad's hat.

The afternoon sun created dreamy light on the slower parts of the river.

I like dreamy light!

Can you see the water coming off of Jeff's line? That's cooooool!

The following morning, we started our way home. We stopped in at Ross Cedars for a short hike through the old growth forest.

The old cedars are quite amazing. Dad placed his hat on this one for a photo op.

The scenic views were beautiful...

...at every turn!

And when we finally pulled into the driveway, the resident wild turkeys came running to say hello!

Happy 37th Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Today is my parent's 37th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! Wow... 37 years. Congratulations... oh, and uh, the card will be late!

When I talked to my Dad earlier this evening, he asked how the farm faired with all the rain we had earlier this week. I'm a firm believer that a picture's worth at least 10,000 words, so here are a couple photos for you, Dad!

The weather is a bit different this spring. It was on March 19, 2007 when Alan and I rode the 4-wheeler through this pond...there wasn't nearly as much water in the pond at this time last year! The wildflowers were also starting to bloom this time last year.

This week I noticed a few little white star flowers blooming, but no sign of the blue bonnets yet. We needed this week's rain. It's been real dry so far this year. Maybe the rain will jump start the wildflowers.

Alan was in search of frogs this evening when we were down at the pond. We've noticed that the frogs and toads are real loud during the evening and at night.  He saw a few, but they were too far out into the water to catch. Wouldn't THOSE have been good photos!

I really enjoy days and evenings after a big rain. The air is clean, everything smells fresh, and the evening light is crisp. As Martha would say, it's a good thing.

Mom and Dad, I hope you enjoyed a nice dinner in town. Knowing that you got lots more snow today (they live in Northeastern Washington), it's nice to be able to send you a little bit of virtual sunshine!

It was a beautiful day, and we had a wonderful sunset. Here's one more photo, just for you.

Happy Anniversary!

Me and my Ducks

Last night I was looking through some of my image files for a client, and came across some family photos I scanned a while ago for my Aunt Patty.

This is a photo of me in our back yard, carrying a wooden spoon (why? dunno...), and my ducks Soup & Quackers. I like the angelic glow.

I'm going to guess and say that this was the summer of 1974, but Mom and Dad would know for sure. Maybe one of them will leave a comment on this post, and enlighten us all!

Maybe Mom knows why I was carrying the wooden spoon, too!

This photo reminds me of one of my Whipper Snapper stamps, called Gretta.

A great day at the beach!

What a fun day we had at the beach today! My Mom and Dad are here visiting for the holiday weekend. Today, we packed up the dogs and headed for the beaches just north of Florence, Oregon.

The beaches along this area of the coast are long, sandy and spattered with lava formations and clifs. It's a beautiful place, but as inviting as the water looks, it's numbing cold!

The dogs thought it was a great time, running in the surf, rolling in the sand, and chasing each other like wild, crazy animals! What you can't see in the image of Daisy and Farley running is the slobber wrapped around Farley's nose - he's a slobbering maniac!

The Oregon Coast is a great place to escape the inland heat. It was 90+ degrees in Eugene, but 65 and sunny at the coast! Perfect!

Here's Daisy's idea of a spa treatment. She'll leave sand in my bed for weeks, I just know it!

Isn't she beeea-uuuuu-tiiii-ful!