By The Light Of The Moon

Last night my youngest son Sam went outside and called Mom look how big this toad is. I thought to it was big. He asked me to help him catch it. We finally got it in a container we use for cleaning the pond. On the walk to the pond I seen another toad just as big. Off I went to get another container. We had them both then. Sam could not believe we had two so big. As Sam set them free on the rocks around the edge of the pond the toads sat together by the light of the moon. Sam thought they may be talking to each other. Who knows?

So the two big toads went for a dip in the cool pond as we watched them swim around the pond.

The fish seemed to be a bit scared as they swam in circles near the toads. They may have been wishing for the toads not to make this their home to. We discovered this week we have a baby frog living in the pond. The little frog likes to sit on the water lettuce and sun its self. We do so enjoy the pond and all Gods little creature who live and play in it.

We will still be putting in the new 125 gal. pond and removing the pond we already have. It seems the old pond is not holding water. The one side is collapsing. Lucas has been working on digging it on the few cooler evenings we have had. Not to many of those. The homestead owner will let us put it in now.

It seems it needs to be a little deeper. We are trying to put this pond more to the ground so the sides will be supported more and we will not have to stack the rocks so high. We will still build in open spot between some rocks for the toads and frog to hide from those playful kitties we have.

I just love these happy hibiscus flowers out by the bird feeder. I am thinking we should plant some around the new pond. Maybe Lowes will have them on clearance? The beautiful hibiscus plants I have now were a gift from my Mother last summer. It may seem a bit silly to catch toads and watch the toads swim in the pond but really it is time my Sam and I spend together talking and laughing. Thats really the best part about it. Silly Sam and I by the light of the moon having fun and making memories.

Blessings til next time!

To Beat The Heat

After finishing lunch in the gazebo today the owner of the homestead took us on a little road trip today. We rode in a vehicle with A/C. This was so great. The temp was in the 100's today. I had mentioned seeing some things I would like to have at a place he took us to the other weekend. I did not have my pocketbook that day. So off we went. Every thing was still there today. The old double bladed chopper was discounted 25% off today. This is the largest gray granite dish pan I have ever seen. It even already had a hole in the rim. The wooden masher was another piece I have been wanting. One of the boys found it and when I seen the price I had to have it.

I have been wanting something to hang in this spot for so long. The wash pan fits just perfect. I love my gray granite. You can see some of my house collection on the shelf. They are Cats Meow houses. I started collecting them during the late 80s. At one time I was going to sale them. When I seen how much they were selling for on ebay I changed my mind fast. Instead I purchased more of them on ebay. They were listed really cheap. I had the windows trimmed and shelves built into the trim just for my houses. I had a comment on the houses from an earlier post so I thought I would add this little story.

I hung the masher from the peg rail in the hall. I am still crossing my fingers to have those doors covered like the kitchen closet door.

So here is a photo of the area in the LVR I would like to put a peg rail and or blanket crane. Gina(Cat Nap Inn Primitives) I really like yours and Carol(Firecrackerkid Primitives) you know how much I love your wood pieces. Thank you both for your helpful comments on this idea. Really you two and Mary (Gettysburg Homestead) are the ones who got the wheels turning in my mind on this project. Still trying to decide. What do all of you followers think?

My nasturims are starting to bloom. They have such a bright beautiful color. I planted some sunflower seeds last Sunday and seen today they have already sprouted and are at least 2" high. Planted them where the pea vines were.

Here is the hibiscus in full bloom this week. I just love to look at these beauties. They just say happy to my heart. I think that about sunflowers too.

Here is one of the hibiscus blooms up close. The humming birds sure are liking these flowers.

My daughter applied for a job last week. She would just love this job. She volunteered in the past but would get paid if she gets the job. They will be calling Monday to set up an interview. Please say a little prayer she gets the job. I guess that is about all I have to share for now. I wish you all a restful Sunday.

Blessings til next time

Growing Kittens

I just thought I would share some recent photos of Ollies kittens. They are growing and are so playful. The two tiger kittens I call the twins. One has a white nose and the other has a gray nose. These two like to be cuddled. The other two are not as happy to be cuddled. They seem to like to choose when they want attention. This is my favorite litter Ollie has had. I am hoping they will be here a long time. In the past most of her litters have either disappeared or gotten on the road and well you can guess what happened. So far one of them has hurt her little paw. Her claw was caught in netting. We had to cut the netting to get her free. She has lost that little claw and her paw pad is a bit swollen still. She gets around as good as the others thankfully.

I have been looking at old issues of Country Sampler magazines and blogs. I want to do something to the wall in the living room. I am thinking a peg rack or a blanket crane. I would love both but I am not sure the wall has enough studs to nail into in the area I want to put it. I think I will take a photo of the area and let all of you see for yourselves. There is plenty of time to decide. It will have to cool off here. We are under a heat advisory today and Saturday. I have some other flowers in bloom for you to see also. For now I will keep you wondering. Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings til next time!

Going Out Of Business Sale

The boys and I made a fast trip in to my favorite primitive shop today. I was very surprised the shop is already about empty. This was only their fourth day of the sale. The clerk said they did not expect the shop to empty out that fast. I will miss having it near by. It is the only primitive shop close by. The next one is a hours drive away. It seems primitives have not caught on in this area. I did find some really good buys. The wood turkey will hang on my arrow in November. I have seven other seasonal hangers I hang for different months. I have the bee hive hanging this month. I have been very lucky to get more than one of them at a great discounted price. Still looking for the black eyed susan flower at a discounted price. The turkey is in the July 2010 Country Sampler issue on page 96. I saw this set of six mini black baskets with potpourri in them displayed at Christmas on one of their trees. They still had a set left and smell good. I got the rusty bells and warm & natural batting at another shop having a Christmas in July sale close by. I have a pack of fat quarters I want to do something with some day. My youngest son thinks I should make a boy doll so I seen this little straw hat that would be perfect for a boy doll some day.

I added a berry candle ring to the peg rack. Another great discount. It looks full for now and I am happy with it.

So this is what I ended up with for the sewing machine box. They had no iron black crows but when I seen this light and roosters I liked them. It works for me. What do you think? Oh the shops had A/C and that was wonderful. The boys stood right in front of a vent while I looked around. They were in no hurry to leave. How ever a Mc Donalds was close by and they were hungry so we made a stop at the drive by window. So that was our big day out and home we are again.

I showed you a doll in the last post I started some time ago and I thought you might like to see the pattern. This is the photo attached to the pattern for the vacuum cover doll. I have material already here I will be using for her clothing. Right now I am working on her arms. If you would like a pattern for yourself I purchased it from an etsy shop Bettes Tomorrows Treasures some time ago. The pattern has a web address on it - www.bettestomorrowstreasures.com. I will let you see it when I am done IF it dose not end up back in a work basket again.

Praise God it rained for hours last night. I will trust it will make the grass green and perk up all the plants in the homestead garden. We will be heading out to the gazebo to play some yahtzee and look at a box of National Geographic magazines we were given. It should be cooler out there I sure hope.

Blessing til next time!

Create Work & Play

I started this doll months ago and lost interest. I have reclaimed it from a work basket to work on lately. I am still trying to cover that furnace door while the furnace is not being used. I got back in the mood after hanging the quilted runner I won in the Berry Homespun Primitives giveaway. There is no room in the closet for my vacuum cleaner so it has been in front of the furnace door. It is so much easier to get it here than digging in a closet but I really do not want to see it. So out came the doll body to start working on her again. The pattern instructions were to paint eyes on the dolls face but I am not going to even attempt that. So I decided to use two colored buttons. Thinking she may look more like ET than a mammy doll. What do you think. The boys have their own thoughts! Of course she will get a primitive dress to wear too.

Last week it was so hot but the boys did try working on the hole for the pond off and on.

The heat was just to much so I put some water in the pond and they took turns setting in the cool water for a bit. I said this is the largest fish in the pond. We are hoping we can continue this project. The owner of the homestead told me this Sunday he hoped I kept the tags for the pond because I was not putting it in. He dose not like the gazebo the arbor or the gardens. He wanted the flowers removed in front of the homestead so he could stain the cedar siding. He decided now he will not be staining until this fall. The flowers were transplanted in the new flower beds behind the gazebo and are not doing well at all. He commented I tore up his yard and destroyed his property. I have lived in his house for 15 years. I have been planting for 15 years also. I really care for him but he really hurt me. I guess we will see in the days to come. I hope he will change his mind. This means so much to me.

To beat the heat my middle son decided he would cut some small trees in the woods for tee pee poles with his hatchet. He is setting inside enjoying himself. Oh he also painted his face to.

For a little more fun the boys lit some fountain fireworks that were left over from the 4th of July. We lit a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed setting in the gazebo that evening.

This is a cabinet I got at a yard sale a few years ago and painted it to match the bath room bead board. I put painted tin punched panels in the doors. They had glass in them and the cabinet had a cherry finish to it. It was originally offered as a hostess gift from Home Interiors I believe. I have been searching for another one to put up on the opposite wall above the toilet but have not had any luck yet. It would be so nice to have more storage space for our things. The bath room has no closet in it. If I am meant to have one I guess one will come my way some time. All the kids and my granddaughter will be coming home this week. It will be good to see them all together again.
Thank you ALL for your wonderful comments for the paint color on my sewing machine box cover. Yes Gettysburg Homestead you are correct my walls are a bit mustard with chocolate glaze over the paint. The mustard could very well blend into the wall. The black dose stand out and I do like it. Cat Nap Inn Primitives you do have a point I can always paint it mustard later. It is only paint! So Crafty Crow I decide to go with trying a few more accessories before trying mustard paint. So far I have added a braided place mat to the top. I received a post card from my favorite local prim shop announcing 50 percent off. Unfortunately they will be closing their doors very soon. Maybe I could find something there. I was thinking of two black iron crows. We will see what fate offers I guess.

I wish you all a great week.

Blessings til next time!

Opionions - Opinions & What Do You Think

This past week all of the kids and my grandchild were home. We are planning a birthday party next week for my granddaughter. We will all be together one day next week. I am hoping for cool weather and clear skys. The gazebo will be the party location. The first birthday party to be held in it.

I have been wanting to repaint the sewing machine box cover. While everyone was around I asked for their opinions. What color do you think would look best I asked each of them. Well my granddaughters father my oldest son liked it the way it is gray. My daughter said black. My second son did not care but wanted to paint it for me. My youngest son said yellow (being mustard). I like the gray color but it seemed a bit cold colored. Oh how I wish our 90 to 102 temps would be a bit on the cold side. I had the idea to paint it black then mustard. After mustard I was thinking of rubbing threw to the black in areas then rubbing it with walnut stain.

Two coats of black paint were applied and it is over the sewing machine again. I really like it black but still wonder if the mustard over black with walnut stain would look better. So what is your opinion?

Thank You Berry Homespun Primitives The Giveaway Is Wonderful

I would like to thank you Angie at Berry Homespun Primitives for putting such a wonderful giveaway together. The package arrived safely at our post office. I left one of the boys go in and claim the package for me. When we got home he opened the package and I began to unwrap each piece. It was so special to get every piece. I only get to unwrap a package at Christmas. All of the goodies are so wonderful.

My kitchen colors are brown black & mustard so I started by hanging the runner as a small quilt under my roll pin and bowl keep. My old time aprons are hanging from the handles of my Grams roll pin and I really liked the runner in between them. I know most people do not use aprons these days but I like them. My Great Gram & Gram always wore one. I have been loveingly made fun of for wearing them by my kids. I have not decided where to put everything else yet. I was thinking the little shelf could house a small collection of oil cans in honor of my Paps memory. I have three at this time that were my Grams or Paps. Pap collected many things including oil cans. When he passed he had 300 oil cans. I would not need that many to fill the shelf. Small oil cans are now added to my treasure hunt list.

Good luck to all who enter a giveaway and may you experience the joy of having your name picked one day soon too. Thanks again Angie.

Blessing til next time!

New Plans In Progress For The Homestead Garden

This is a photo of the garden earlier this spring. The photo was taken from the large opening into the garden facing toward the gazebo. The fireplace was inside a flowerbed off to the one side of the kitchen porch and the pond in front of the porch.

The fireplace has been moved out to the side of the gazebo and now you can see the fire burn while setting inside of the gazebo. There is more light there at night now and less bugs. We still need to find some large thick rocks to finish the steps up into the gazebo.

The large opening of the garden facing toward the gazebo now has our arbor and swing in it. It has been stained to match the gazebo and the cedar siding on the house. We really enjoy swinging. When we some day get a porch with a roof we plan to put the swing inside the porch.

We decide we would rather have the pond to the side of the porch to allow an open walk area from the arbor to the gazebo after the swing gets put inside the porch. The boys dug up the bushes and flowers. They were replanted in the new rock beds behind the gazebo. We found a larger pond and then my youngest boy suggested we also reuse the pond we already have behind the new pond along with the waterfall we never used. If this works out we will have a really nice large pond. The boys went to it and started the hole. We will see how it all turns out in the weeks to come. If all goes as planned we will be looking for some more fish and maybe a turtle for the pond.

He is really working out those muscles with that digging bar. We had to remove all of the sylvia and day lillies in front of the house foundation also. The cedar siding is going to be stained again soon. It will make it easier for the worker to get his ladder in. I am trying to decide if I should plant black eyed susans in that area or just put mulch down.

This is the new pond and the waterfall we already had but never used. It will take 215 gallons of water to fill all of them. I am excited and hope it will all work out. I love to light up the pond and listen to the fountain at night. It is relaxing to me. My youngest boy can find lots of toads around the house to catch and bring to the pond. I guess you have figured out by now simple things can bring us the most happiness.

Blessings til next time!