Black Friday

Today was the big sale day and I was right here, nice and warm and comfy. Watched all those people on TV out there at 3 am. Not me man!!

Jim and I had a nice Thanksgiving, roasted the one turkey and smoked the other one. So, lots of good sandwiches. It snowed most of the day, big fluffy flakes, mostly gone now. The wind picked up and blew it all away. Jim got some of the icicle lights up, just across the front this year. I found my blow up penguin, not sure where to put him so the wind doesn't blow him away. Same with my plans for garland on the porch pillars, not sure how they will survive. I still have to finish painting my wooden mice for out in the yard. Things like that are all fun, I'll put pictures of those up when they are done, I think they are going to be cute.

Half the fun is going through all the stuff and seeing what is there, and the memories of Christmas past. Some of the ornaments are ones the kids and I made back in the 70's bring those out and it's like a time warp. Same thing looking through all the old pictures, and wondering what were we thinking, that hair, those clothes. Of course , what we were thinking is that we looked pretty hot, the latest thing.

Good luck with all your holiday decorating, love to see pictures.

Barbara

Tuesday

Good News, Jim is on his way home early, an extra day, great!!! I had one of those days where I was moving all the time, but don't feel like I got a lot done. I was trying to find some more of my craft things, I had found an unbroken package of gold balls. I paint roses and snow on them, real pretty I think. I just can't find my snow, phooey. I went digging around in the big garage, found several more buckets of Christmas things. More lights for Jim to play with, he will be soooooooooo happy.

I decided to use my lil John Deere and cart to bring the boxes, etc over to the house. Seemed like a good idea, then I took a side trip. When they harvest the corn, the machine they use takes the husk off and then takes the corn off the cob. Very cool. The down side is they blow all the husks etc. everywhere, which mostly happens to be our yard. I discovered the goats like the husks, so decided to pick up a wagon full for them.

Off I went bumping merrily along, stopping now and then to scoop up armloads of the husks. The next bright idea was to see if there might be some of the cobs that had some corn still left on them. Along the sides where I was not able to mow the weeds had gotten very tall, now they are all dry and you can knock them down. There is a fence that goes way out into the field, but it is down in a few places so I decided to go out and then cut over, good plan. Until, I drove into a hole. As I am trying to rock the mower to back up I notice the fuel line has come loose and gas is squirting out. I guess when I was playing mighty bulldozer and knocking down weeks I rubbed the hose on something. So get off and try pushing it back up, no go. Just so happens I have an old spoon I picked out of one of the fire pits and was able to use it to loosen the hose clamp. Ta Da, I fixed it, managed to back out of hole and continued on my journey. Found where the deer are bedding down back under the trees, no one was home. The goats loved their husks, and I did find a few cobs with corn on them so they were doubly happy.

I spent time in the attic sorting out some of my painting supplies, the ones that were so neatly organized. With all the bumping around everything got discombobulated. I still have not found my easels and some other of my things, surprise. The garage is piled to the ceiling, you kind of make paths through and if you are lucky you find what you are looking for. It is kind of like a treasure hunt, lots of cries of "Oh, I wondered where that was, or I love that". Fun for the feeble minded.

Best to all, Barbara

Another Monday!!

This morning I felt as if I were in an enchanted forest, fog all around. Up in my attic space and looking out I could have been the princess in her tower. My prince will be back on Wednesday, so I will have him home for a few extra days. Later the sun came out, the winds died down and it was a very nice day. Over the weekend we had some rain and a few flakes, but not many, goodie. Went shopping and got a couple of turkeys, I will brine them and probably smoke one. This will depend on the weather, if it is windy or real cold, forget it!! They both go in the oven. My pioneer spirit only goes so far.

Do anyone else have issues with inanimate objects?? You know, you put something on a shelf and it promptly falls back on your head? You have something one moment and the next you can't find it. I was attacked by one of those plastic grocery bags as I came up out of the basement with arms full of folded laundry. So here I am, going down the hall trying to shake this bag off my foot, trying not to trip or drop the clothes. Somehow the handle was around my ankle, I just know the dog and cats were laughing at me. Finally, I reached my desk, put down the wash and got the dumb bag off. Then I lost the remote for the attic TV for 2 days. I finally found it, I had set a bag of material on it. Still missing are my good glasses, which I try to be so careful with. I was so careful they have been missing for weeks, hopefully when I am searching for something else I will find them. I am sure there is some sort of gremlin that lies in wait to pull these tricks on me.

I want to wish everyone the most wonderful Thanksgiving, enjoy the day and don't sweat the small stuff!! I am meeting the greatest people through this blog so I have even more to be grateful for. I was glad to see the new feature in Garden Goose's blog, since I am starting my own etsy store this is an added bonus.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!

Opinion Poll Please

I need some help here, please. I am thinking of starting an etsy store and wonder if you think these would sell?? My husband and I love taking pictures, these are some he signed and matted for a craft show I was in. I was selling my Christmas wreaths and ornaments and took some of his pictures along. As I have mentioned before I am trying to find things I can do from home.

In the store I could also put some of my handpainted shirts and ornaments and goodies I find in my trolling through auctions, yard sales and thrift shops. Any and all feedback is welcome, also what you think you would pay for these original photos.

Thank you so much, best to all

Barbara

I just discovered something new!! If you click or double click on the photo you can see it close up, Cool!! Oh, Violet Lady, the pattern I have for the Santa Suit has one for Mrs. Claus and for an elf!! I plan on making them all. On another note, on my blessings list a big item we are thankful for, Jim's sister had a scare. On her neck they took off a growth and also lymph nodes, this of course was terrifying. We are thankful the biopsy came back clear!! Hooray, hooray!! This is a big wake up call, check ourselves from head to toe. Jim just had a large discoloration taken from the top of his head, sort of a mini face lift. One of the first things I tell a new Dr. is " I grew up in Fl and have been an outdoor person my whole life, please check everything". I'm sure some of you can relate, we used baby oil and iodine for sunbathing, not much sunblock there.

Off, to sewing, have a wonderful day, Barbara

Santa Suit

I have been mentioning sewing a new Santa suit and Violet Lady noted I have not said who would wear it.

Sorry! A few years ago I "persuaded" my dear, sweet, Husband to pose as Santa for a special event. Much against his will he did it, he came home glowing. He said the look on the children's faces was beyond description, how they looked at him with awe. He was so moved, now he does it on a regular basis. I am not sure who enjoys it more, the children or Jim.

Visitors

When coming in from feeding the goats tonight I noticed a couple of visitors at the edge of the field. Figured they would be gone, but ran up and got the camera any way. Surprise, surprise

they were still there. A Mom and her baby eating the left over corn. Just as long as they stay out of my plants we will be fine.

I received a new email from Mother Earth Living and it had the best idea. Window quilts as an extra barrier against the cold. Since our home is old and prone to leaks I found this to be an excellent idea for us. I am not sure quite how fancy I am going to get, will depend on my mood and energy level. I think if I use unbleached muslin and scraps I have, they should not be too expensive. You can make them and put batting in them like a regular quilt or you can put plastic or some of the silver insulation. I think since we have already installed roller shades, I will sandwich a piece of heavy plastic and then stitch through the layers. You could get very creative, I may paint designs on them or cut things out of material. If they are half way decent I will post some pictures. They even said you could wet a window and put bubble wrap on it to block heat or cold, good idea in an emergency. At this point I am not that concerned with beauty, just warmth. I do have an old quilt and believe I will sew a channel on the back for a rod and put it over the landing window, I think it will look nice. So many ideas running through my head, possibilities.

I want to wish everyone the best Thanksgiving, it is good to have a day to reflect all that we have. Some times in the chaos of our daily lives we get stressed over silly things or little things that have little value. The truly important things get shoved to the back of the shelf, so we can use Thanksgiving to drag these out and dust them off. I know I am thankful to live in our great country, having a loving and supportive husband, healthy children. There are also things like a sound mind and body, things that become more precious the older I get. So to you all I say I am also thankful for wonderful friends, old and new. Eat until you pop and enjoy all those nummy leftovers.

Best to all, Barbara

When I took Elvira out this morning about 6:30 this was the sky. The way the clouds were stacked up and the colors sent me back in to grab the camera. On the weather they said this was the type of sky referred to in the "Red sky at morning, Sailor take warning". It indicates changes in the weather, fronts and all that. What it brought us was lots of wind. I am learning quite a bit about wind here, sometimes it is so strong you can not even hang clothes out. I have put things on the line with lots of clothes pins and had everything ripped off the lines. My understanding Husband put a stockade type fence between the house and garage, the wind was blowing the seed out of the feeders. It was also blowing the birds off the feeders! The only time I had encountered this type of wind was in Fl during tropical storms.

My new friend Carol told me there are stories of early pioneers going crazy from the wind. Trying to imagine being out in the wilderness, no neighbors, town a days trip away and the unrelenting wind, yep, I can see it happening. Even with the modern convenience of a car to take me where I want to go, telephones,etc. the wind can still bother you. It gets to the point you wonder if it is ever going to stop. This past spring it blew most of the blossoms off the apple trees. Late Summer brought apples on only one side of the trees and not many at that. Trying to work outside becomes a real challenge. I injured my eye in May while mowing, the wind blew thistle debries back into it, something I do not reccomend. Very painful. Of course, silly me did not have my safety glasses on at the time. Live and learn.

Tomorrow I really must start on the Santa suit, time is flying. I dragged the sewing machine up to the attic and have most everything set up, just need me to complete the equation. I will let you know how this goes, I tend to have adventures when I try to sew. Make the silliest blunders.

Thank you for your visit and have a wonderful day!!