Sassy & Sweet Notes

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Wish we could be with you to help celebrate! Enjoy your day, and find some cake!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Thanks for everything, Mom! You're the BEST, and I love ya dearly!

 

Bluebonnets and Dogs

Alan and I took Daisy and Twiggy out into the pasture this evening to get some photos of them in the wildflowers.

Daisy didn't really want to cooperate, so I was only able to get a few photos of her that are even worthwhile.

Twiggy did good at sitting, and smiling for the camera.

She's quite a spaz, so just getting her to sit still is a success!

But, do you think we could get them to sit side by side!? No way...

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Wishing Mom and Dad a wonderful Anniversary! If I did the math right (and I've never been one for math), today they celebrate 43 years of marriage.

UPDATE:
Well, crap. *LOL* I had the year wrong AGAIN! One of these years I will remember that they were married in 1971.

So, happy 42nd Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Happy Love Day!

To all my darling friends, I wish you love.

Go Fly a Kite!

Today, Alan and I had a bit of FUN on the farm! He pulled out a kite he's had tucked away, and we took it for a flight.

The kite is controlled by two strings, one held in each of Alan's hands.

Alan was able to control the direction of the kite by a quick change of his hand position.

He was very good at getting the kite to race back and forth between us! I made sure to keep a good distance, so I didn't risk being beaned in the head! *grin*

Here you can see the two strings that allow Alan to control the kite's direction. The line in the center is the tail that he added to the kite for drag.

It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. A light breeze made it a perfect day to go fly a kite!

Happy FRIDAY!

I can't tell you how thankful I am that today is Friday! It's been a very long week. It started out fine on Monday, but Tuesday morning at 2am I woke with a flu bug that kept me up the rest of the morning, and in bed all day and night on January 1st. Not such a fun way to start the new year. But, Wednesday rolled around and I was starting to feel better. I was still moving slow with the achy flu-body feeling, but was feeling better regardless. Alan is a good nurse when I'm sick and he made sure I was taken care of.

This morning we were supposed to get SNOW for about 8 hours, but we got NONE! I was very disappointed, as it's so pretty and quiet here when we have snow. We didn't even get any rain! Bother!

Twiggy has the right idea though ... all wrapped up in her snowflake blanket, keepin' cozy.

I have lots of crafty projects to share with you soon, so look forward to that!

Hope you have a delightful Friday, and even better weekend!!

Welcome to 2013!!

Alan and I want to wish you the very BEST in the new year! Thank you for sharing in our life on the farm adventures, and providing your friendship and encouragement. You make our day to day chores more enjoyable. Really, you do!! We're hoping 2013 is a bit gentler on us than 2012 proved to be.

Happy New Year, friends!!

 

Twiggy, dressed for Christmas!

I thought I would share a few photos of Twiggy, in her Christmas sweater.

Ruffles, a bow, and pom poms... CUTE!

Sitting pretty, ready to go. Anywhere.

Showing off her ruffles... and her need for a BATH!

Say CHEESE!

Happy Christmas Eve!

Christmas Wrapping for Pets

Christmas is for the pets in our family, too. Here are some treats and a softie I wrapped up for Gramma's dog, Mattie. Make gifts fun to open by tucking in a small bite sized treat they can find when the gift is opened. Tearing apart tissue is lots more fun when there is a tasty morsel hidden inside!

The tags were made with a cute image by Stampendous, colored with Touch Twin markers. I used various Spellbinder dies for the layers, and my Martha Stewart holly leaf punch for the leaves.

Woof woof!

 

Supplies:
Stamp: Stampendous, Studio G (alphabet)
Ink: Memento Black, Ranger Distress Ink in Antique Linen
Paper: Neenah, October Afternoon, Paper Accents
Shinhan Touch Twin markers
Two-Way Glue Pen, Ultra Fine Glitter, Button, Martha Stewart Holly Leaf Punch, Spellbinders label, circle, and circle dies, tea dyed retail tag, bakers twine, clear treat bag

Santa!

My brother Nathan and I were playing with the StarWalk app on my iPad. We were surprised when Nathan spotted Santa! And would you just look where I got a snapshot of him . . . Flying right past Uranus!

Who knew Santa would be out and about so soon before Christmas!

Ho ho ho!!

Give this Photo a Caption

Wintery Wonderland

In just a few hours I will be flying to Washington state to spend Christmas with my family. I always wish for a white Christmas, and it looks like this year my wish will come true! Today in Texas was 80*. Unusually warm, but 80* just the same. It's quite a bit cooler where I'll be for the next 10 days!

Wherever you find yourself this Christmas, here's to keepin' cozy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Alan and I want to wish each of you, and your families, a very happy Thanksgiving! We hope you are able to spend time with family, and fully enjoy the day.

Gobble till ya wobble!

A Winter Sweater for Twiggy

Twiggy loves wearing her little sweaters, especially in the morning when the temperature outside is a bit chillier than she would like.

This winter, when she's not wearing her pink cable knit sweater, she'll be wearing this festive green number.

Complete with a rolled down collar, this sweater promises extra warmth this winter.

We've noticed that the older Twiggy gets (she's almost 2) the crazier her wire hair gets. She's looking particularly goofy today!

Taking time to watch the goats is enjoyable when you're wearing a sweater!

And it's easy to enjoy the cool breeze when you're wearing a sweater!

Happy Monday!!

RAAWWWRRRR!

Guess who's ready for Halloween trick-or-treating!

It's TWIGGY!

I couldn't choose a favorite photo...

...so I'm posting several! Hahaa!

"Save me, Dad!"

Twiggy, dressed for the Season!

Twiggy got a new sweater today -- Pink cable knit for a dog!? You bet!

I picked it up yesterday while I was at Home Goods. I like that they have a pet section in the Home Goods stores. It's a great place to find beds and toys, too!

Happy Birthday to Me! *grin*

I thought this was a milestone worth celebrating with you!
And, as Gramma put it, now I'm half her age (of 80!)
Way to make me feel like a youngin', Gramma! *grin!*

Moose: 7 months old

While Daisy celebrated her 12th birthday, Moose celebrated his 7-month birthday! Based on when he was dropped off in our driveway on June 21st, and the vet putting his age at 4 months, that would have made him born right around February 21st! Works for me!

Everyone should have a 55 pound baby, as far as I'm concerned! *grin*

A few more photos from yesterday evening, just for giggles...

Happy Birthday, Daisy!

Miss Daisy celebrated her 12th birthday this weekend!!
Happy Birthday to my big ol' chocolate chunk!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Sending BIG happy birthday wishes to my Dad! Here is a mobile phone photo I took of the two of us in July, when I was up north for a visit.

You know Dad here on the blog through his comments, posted by DK Wight. He enjoys reading the blog and ALL of the comments posted, and considers many of you, dear readers, friends. He thinks it's wonderful that there are readers from all over the world, and really enjoys what you share.

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

Hope your day is marvelous!!

Tonight's Sunset ... and a drag!

We had a very pretty sunset this evening, and I got outside just in time to snap a photo of the last bit of color. Sorry, but I think I missed the most dramatic part while I was in grabbing the camera. The rays of the sun were shooting so high and were a brilliant pink color. Amazing! This photo is nice, but oooooh, what it could have been!

While we were out, Moose took Alan for a drag. *grin*

Moose is getting so BIG! And such a ham!

Variety of Photos....

Thought I'd share a few mobile phone photos I've taken while visiting Mom and Dad in northeastern Washington.

Boating on Davis Lake, trees in the front yard, and last night's full moon over the Pend Oreille river.

Such a great visit, and place to be.

Greetings!

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest! I'm up north visiting Mom and Dad for a bit, and enjoying every moment! The weather is gorgeous, company is cheerful, and the resting is divine.

I only wish Alan could be here with me, enjoying the peace and quiet. Alan is home on the farm, taking care of the farm critters. (Miss you, Mister!)

Mom and Dad's cat Tippy says hello!

The Better Choice

I read this article today about the potential of there being more pet deaths from imported treats. It's hair-raising, to say the least.

If you're looking for a better, safer, and easy alternative for your pet's treats, I recommend this book:

Three Dog Bakery Cookbook: Over 50 Recipes for All-Natural Treats for Your Dog

I bought this book years ago, and am so glad I did! Most, if not all, of the recipes can simply be mixed by hand in a bowl. Even the recipes designed to be used with cookie cutters don't have to be complicated. Roll out the dough on a baking sheet and using a table knife just cut grid lines to create square cookies. No need to make shapes if you're short on time.

I like that I can easily substitute recipe ingredients (like whole wheat flour, and organic ingredients). And it makes me happy to make treats for our "kids". Who doesn't love cookies that have been made with love?

Need a low-to-no salt treat for your dog? Good luck finding one at the store! Make them at home instead!

Read the labels on your pet treats ... you might be surprised.

Our dogs give homemade cookies 4-paws up!

Happy Independence Day!

Hope you and your family enjoy this day of celebration!

Cheers!

Image: Patriotic Flowers

Meet Moose!

It was just last Thursday morning when this young guy was dumped in our driveway. I took him to the vet the next afternoon. He wasn't at all thrilled about being at the vet's office. He either wanted to be in my lap, or was almost content hiding under a chair, and he did not want anything to do with walking on a leash! There were legs and feet in all directions, and lots of sad, sad stories being sung. But aside from hurt feelings, and getting a little carsick on the way there, he got a clean bill of health.

After much thought and discussion, Alan and I have decided to keep him for our own instead of adopting him out. So, let's make it official, shall we!?

Meet Moose!

The vet aged him at 4 months old, based on the growth (or lack of) his adult teeth. His thin frame weighed 30lbs, and I was told he was at least 10lbs under weight. So, we're pretty sure he's a baby elephant. He doesn't know it yet, but we'll be returning to the vet's office in a couple more weeks for the rest of his shots, and then again the following week for a little snippity-snip-snip. There are sure to be several cookies involved.

He has a very sweet personality, is very cheerful, great with the other critters, and Alan will tell you that Moose is already a Mama's boy. *grin*

Moose has a job that he seems happy to do, and that is to keep coyotes and other predators away from the house. He already has a good WOOF, and as he grows that WOOF will only get bigger!

Welcome to the family, Moose! We are excited to watch you grow into your FEET!

Happy Father's Day!

To my Dad, Alan's Dad, and your Dad, too!

The photo is of my Dad (you know him here in blog comments as DK Wight), while he and I were out fishing on Georgetown Lake, in Montana a couple summers ago. It was a wonderful time, and he even caught some fish! Fun!

Want to see other photos from that trip? Here you go!

PS: Dad, watch the mailbox!

Thank you...

Thank you so much for all of your virtual hugs and well wishes regarding my post about Mister Farley. It means a great deal to get love and support from you, my friends.

I'll have something cheery to post very soon.

Mister Farley ...

It is with great sadness that I share this... Dearest Mister Farley was put to rest yesterday. My heart is broken. Miss Daisy now wears his collar, and shares in our sadness of losing her best friend.

Forever in our hearts ... we love you, Farley.

i miss you

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!