Sassy & Sweet Notes

Last night, dinner was delish! Grilled pork steaks, onions, and garden grown mixed vegetables. Yummmm!

Watercolored Peonies

Peonies remind me of my Gramma, so I thought I'd paint some!

Arches Watercolor paper, distress inks, Prima watercolor paints.

Crazy Weather, Here and THERE!

For those of you who know we still have the farm in Texas, and know that it's located south of Dallas (it is right under that upper X), yes there was significant weather there this afternoon. Alan is there with his family, but all is OK. Others in Texas were not so lucky with these storms. Thank you for checking in to make sure we are OK! We appreciate you thinking of us!

This past week in Washington state, we got 18" of snow and were without power for 3 days. Thankfully, our power was restored late Christmas eve. Once power was restored, I held out faith and quickly put together some side dishes for Christmas dinner that needed refrigeration and hoped they would survive the night in a working fridge. They did!! Several of our friends weren't so lucky, and didn't get power restored until today. Bummer!!!

And, for those of you now confused by SNOW in Washington state and TORNADOES in Texas .... we currently have two properties. I'm at the snowy one in Washington state, and Alan is at the "scary" one in Texas. *GRIN*

Anyway, thanks so much for checking in with your concerns after hearing about the bad storms in central Texas. We appreciate you thinking of us!

Again, Merry Christmas to you, and blessings for the coming year!

Merry Christmas!

Family, friends, and all creatures great and small, a very merry Christmas to you and yours!

Miss Daisy, and on catching up...

I'm sorry I've been away for such an extended period of time lately. We've been quite sad here, and to be honest, because of it I haven't done a lick of anything crafty. On April 13, we had to say good-bye to Miss Daisy... I posted about it on facebook, but haven't been able to log onto the blog and post about it until today.

Pixie has been going through stages of anxiety and depression, so I've been doing what I can to help her through things. She's a sensitive girl, and we've had to address things like loss of appetite, clingy behavior, and high anxiety (especially at night) and if I have to leave her at home during the day while I'm out and about. She is doing a bit better, but there are still a few things to work on.

The weather has been amazing, and with all the cheerful spring colors screaming from the flower gardens and flowering trees, it's a nice time to just sit and be thankful for the good things in our lives. As much as we might want to, I know we can't hole up forever, so we might as well get the chin up and get back to regular going's on... right!?

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, to my Dad! Thank you for everything! I love this fun family photo!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I love this photo of Mom. I took it several years ago when Mom, Dad and I took a fun camping/fishing vacation up to Georgetown Lake, in Montana. I say "up to" because Georgetown Lake sits at just over 6,000' in elevation. It's a beautiful lake, perfect for fishing and boating.

Mom, I wish we could be with you today 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!

Thirteen Favorites from 2013

I thought I'd wrap up 2013 by listing 13 favorites from the year... let's see how it goes!

January I started my term as a guest designer for Taylored Expressions. This was my favorite project.

February brought the first *but not only* babies to the farm! *swoon!*

March brought us two baby brown African goslings ... oh, how I love these birds!

April was filled with the wonderful smell and sight of wildflowers. Especially blue bonnets!

May light was amazing.

June was a good month for the garden. Early in the month we enjoyed our first harvests. It's amazing how good you feel when you grow a portion of your own food! We also welcomed Fidget (the duck) to the farm as a hatchling. Duck picture, garden picture... this was a difficult choice!

July was hot and Fidget just kept growing. I loved hand raising this little bird! I was her mama, and she wasn't shy about letting others know! Our daily walks down the driveway were certainly a highlight of the summer!

August always feels overwhelmed by weather. Hot weather, stormy weather. And the sunsets are always spectacular! August in 2013 was no different.

This card I made in September seemed to kind of wrap up lots of things I love: Fall, Gardening, Stamping, Illustration, Color, and Chickens...

October means the start of dress-up time for Twiggy! This little dog is so cute it should be illegal.

November was a good... no, GREAT! month for egg production!

December always seems rather short, since I travel to the northwest for Christmas and have to have my month of December wrapped up mid-month. But I created some of my favorite projects of the year in December this year.

And finally, but certainly not least, this photo of Alan. Life on a farm is a labor of love, and I feel so lucky to be able to share this experience with him every day. Here he is digging out the hole for the foundation of the new flagpole we added to the farm in 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!! Happy New Year, friends!!

Merry Christmas!

Alan and I would like to wish you a very merry Christmas! Peace, love, and joy to you and your family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pipeline Explosion

(Photo from WFAA.com)

It was a strange week around here... for those of you who don't know, we live in the town in Texas that dealt with the November 14th Chevron gas line fire. Our entire town (of about 700 people) was evacuated for a little more than 2 days. Parts of town closest to the fire location continue to be evacuated. Our farm is located at the very edge of the city limits (and evacuation area). Thankfully we were able to stay at the farm and Alan's parents were able to stay with us (they live where the evacuations were in place).

Here is the view of the site, as taken from our yard (phone pic). Yikes!

No one was injured, and we give thanks to the local responders who helped keep our community a safe, and secured area.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to you!

Bzzzz!

*love this!*

Happy Haunting!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Whoohoooo!!! Hope you have a wonderful birthday!! Enjoy some birthday cake for us, too!!

Love, Anna & Alan, and all the farm critters

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!