Finished Field Bag

Woo Hoo!

I just finished this Amy Butler Field Bag, and I love it. I started it in a class at my local quilt shop two or three months ago, and I just got back to it. It turned out great, but I think if I make it again, I will leave off the zipper and put in a big snap. The directions and I don't seem to see eye to eye. I love the fabric, Moda for the lining and Heather Bailey for the floral ,sorry I don't remember what the polka dot is. The shape is really fun, and the piping that I have never done before was a snap. I can't wait to go on an overnight trip and try it out. It is fully lined with four giant pockets, and I know that it will pack well. I am sure I will find many uses for this bag, I am a bit of a bag and purse junkie.

I hope every one had a blessed Memorial Day weekend, full of family, fun and thanksgiving for the great county that we live in, and the many brave Americans who gave their lives to keep us safe and free.

Pam

Another Dish Towel

Here is another towel for the soon to be opened Etsy shop. I am not being as creatively productive as I had hoped, but stuff is getting done.

We had a great time with Mom here, it seems like we always think we can do more than we have time for, but it was a really fun rush.

Daniel (my son) weighed in his pig for the fair. I am his 4 H leader and I really enjoy all the kids in my club and their animals. Our Fair is the first of August and Daniel and the other kids are all busy making sure their pigs are well fed, have plenty of fresh water, and spending time with their animals, learning their personalities and working on their showmanship skills. I look forward to fair every year and this year it looks like all my kids are on track to do well and have a great time.

Visit with Pam

I spent three days at the farm with my daughter Pam. We talked about the blog, ate good food, shopped, and enjoyed the animals. Of course it is always good to get a grandkid fix as well!
Pam loves to look for treasures and at one of her favorite shops I found this cute teapot with a copper cozy. Mom and I had our tea in it this afternoon. A local restaurant has these yummy lemon bars and chocolate mint bars that Mom loves, so I brought some home to go with our tea.
At a previous visit one of my finds was this rooster pitcher. I love it, but haven't decided what to do with it... use it for a pitcher, or a vase, or what...?
It seems to call to my love of chickens and pitchers .

We had a busy time, including a trip with grandson Daniel's 4-H pig to the weigh-in.
She is a calm, easy-going animal and I'm looking forward to seeing Daniel show her at the fair this summer.

I took O'Reilly with me, and he had fun with Pam's 3 dogs. They are all adults, and he is still a puppy. He was a source of fun, but they just wanted peace sometimes, and he doesn't get that. Also, he has a bit of the "hoover" in him, and thinks anything on the floor is fair game. Oh my. Pam's floor is much cleaner now than when we arrived!
Remember when I talked about O'Reilly's training. Well, I am interested to see how that goes this week, as last week he simply refused to do anything that was asked of him... acted like he didn't know what I was talking about, and anyhow had other, more interesting things to do... like playing with the other dogs, ignoring my commands unless I offered a treat and generally being obnoxious. I plan to walk him an extra long time before class this week and maybe wear him out so he won't have the energy to misbehave. Wish me luck. More on this later.

Recently Thrifted Treasures

Here are some treasures from two different thrifting outings. I didn't realize that I liked yellow so much.

Thrifting is one of my favorite past times, I love it because I can usually afford what I can not live with out. It is also a great place to get inspiration and practice enjoying something really neat or beautiful without bringing it home.

While thrifting I can usually find more things that I just love but don't want or need than I actually can't live without.

I have also posted some pictures of my treasures in their new homes.

As I talked about in my disorganization post. I am trying to cut down on the amount of clutter in my home. I don't want to give up on my thrifting and miss some really great treasure so I have had to make a deal with myself. Nothing comes in unless there is a place for it to live, and that means sometimes evicting an older treasure. So far so good and I haven't let myself down yet.

Dish Towel

Here is on of my first dish towel for my Etsy inventory. I am very happy with it and am excited about this new enterprise, however since I announced that I would be open for business in July, I have had several moments of pure panic. I know that many of you out there have Etsy shops and blog regularly and you are my heroes. I am struggling ( with myself only) with giving myself time to blog and create, I think its because I am enjoying it so much. As you know from my earlier post I am not always the most organized super homemaker, and I have a little anxiety about this. Sometimes I feel like I am having too much fun and not being responsible enough. I know, I know ,what a silly girl, I need to embrace the fun and the many wonderful gifts in my life and stop trying to deserve them. Thank you Lord for not always giving me what I deserve. So, I am off to be creative and enjoy it for awhile and then be responsible for a while and then creative again. Gosh I have a great life, and so do you! Let's all enjoy Sunday !

Dogs

On a recent trip to visit our son and his family on the coast, I snapped this picture of our puppy, O'Reilly happily playing with Astro. The size difference is interesting, and seemed to make no difference to the dogs. What fun they had!
This puppy has been a blessing to me. We've almost always had dogs since I was a child, but after Walter (our terrier mix) died 5 years ago, I didn't want any more. Then I began thinking about how much I loved having one... and also about how much trouble they are! My daughter Pam talked me into "just looking" at puppies, and then I was lost.
O'Reilly has been so much fun. It is also kind of like having a new baby in the house at first. He is a smart little guy though, and learns quickly. I also decided to take a training class for the first time in my life. We had always just gotten a dog and loved it and played with it, and put up with things because that's just the way it is. This time, I wanted a well-behaved dog. Partly because my 84 year old mother is living with us, and I didn't want the dog to jump on her, or trip her. I thought it would be good to get some pointers. Oh my! It's like little miracles when you know how to teach them. Then the trick is to try to be smarter than the dog!

Vintage Re-purpose

My newest creation, a small vintage dresser scarf turned into a lavender sachet/eye mask. I folded it in half stitched up both sides, loosely filled with lavender and rice then stiched all the way around. I love the way it turned out, and will make a nice addition to my bedside table or as inventory for the etsy shop I hope to have up by July.
I picked the dresser scarf up at the Goodwill As Is store, and loved the hand embroidery. My Goodwill As Is store is a great resource for vintage linens, especially linens I can feel good about re-purposing. Linens with holes or stains that can be worked around. One of my passions is vintage linens, but I can only display so many tablecloths, and dresser scarves. I love to find new and creative ways to use more of them in my decore. Its fun and creative and I so love the hunt for raw materials. What have you re-purposed lately ?
Pam

Baby Owl

Look what Missy (our Cocker/King Charles cross) found in the yard this morning. Missy really wanted to eat it but after chasing her around the tree eight or nine times in my robe, I convinced her that it was a bad idea. The poor thing must have fallen out of the tree early this morning. Mom and Dad owl were in the tree above the baby, hooting, clicking and making a sound like a dog bark and baby had his wings out his fluffy feathers puffed and was clicking at us too. After I got the dog back in the house, I watched him from inside for quite a while, I don't think he could fly yet and was attempting to climb the tree without much luck. A neighbor stopped by soon after and picked him up and put him on one of the limbs (out of dog reach). The baby spent the next hour hopping from limb to limb but not gettting any higher. I had errands to run, so I kenneled the dog and wished him luck. When I got back he was not in the tree, and not anywhere that I or the dog could find. I saw Dad owl in another tree later that day so I think Baby must have been close. Encountering baby owls in the yard at 6 am is just one of the great things about living on a farm. I have heard Mom and Dad owl talking to one another early in the morning and in the evening for months. I'm so glad they chose our big trees for their nest. Hope your home and yard are a blessing to you also.
Pam

Garden and Friends

The iris are beautiful, the yard looks good and the new fence makes a great background. A few months ago a powerful windstorm took it's toll on our fence in the back yard and we decided it was time to replace the old thing. As often happens, it was one problem after another... first the fence, then the I went to get ice cream from the freezer and found it was soup! A week or so after the new freezer was installed, the dryer stopped working. I always think things happen in 3's... so hopefully this is it for awhile.
A friend and I visited another friend in the hospital yesterday. We hadn't seen him in awhile, and it was hard to see the effects of his illness. We visited a bit, prayed with him, and left flowers from the altar at church. It seems that we are at the age when friends and family are suffering illness, disability, and even death. It is sometimes hard and always makes me think of my own human frailty, and that of the ones I love. The garden renews me and gives me hope. The beauty of nature has always been a source of strength and faith.

Prom

Its hard to believe that my daughter is old enough for the prom, it all goes by so quickly it really doesn't seem like all that long ago that I went to the prom. Prom in my day was a lot different, you had to have a date and it wasn't really a group thing. I think prom today is much more fun. Erin didn't have a date this year but had more fun with a group of her friends than she would have on "a date".
Prom also reminds me (as well as the kids daily count down) that school is almost over and a busy summer awaits. Erin shows sheep and Daniel my son shows swine at the local county fair.
Daniel got his pig for 4H two weeks ago and the morning after prom, we picked up Erin's lambs for her FFA project. They are so cute.

Have a great day I have many projects I am working on and will have pics soon.

Spring Chores

Time to turn on the sprinkler system and survey the damages... after having a new fence installed in the back yard, we were afraid things were in a mess. Husband donned the proper gear for sprinkler blow-outs and set to work. Thankfully it wasn't too awful, and now the water is available to the garden and lawn. I picked a huge bouquet of iris and columbine, adding a few sprigs of rosemary... smells so good! Trying to weed a little each day, to prevent sore muscles. Not as young as once was. Sun is shining and balmy breeze is blowing... what a life!

Days Fly By

The days are flying by too quickly... the weather has finally gotten beautiful and warm, and in my cottage garden the flowers are blooming and the weeds continue to grow as well.
The puppy is growing too and loves to play and walk and get into everything that isn't nailed down, and some that are. The cute factor goes a long ways though!
My wish list for this weekend is to work in the yard, go to puppy training class, get to the pool for exercises with Mom, send a card to a friend, be renewed at church, and go to a Luau! If I could squeeze in some knitting in the evenings, and clean out a cupboard in the kitchen, that would be good too.
I love being inspired by others, and often will find myself creating a new craft, card, or garden spot after seeing something in a magazine, on a blog, or at a friend's. I hope to always be open to new ideas, and maybe pass on some as well.
Sherry

Disorganization

Why can I never catch up with the Laundry and the housework? I am beginning to believe that my family has too much. Too many clothes, too much stuff and too many activities.
I read lots of self help books on how to declutter and organize my life ( they are in a big pile next to the bed, spilling out of the bookshelves and on the end tables in the living room).I love these books and their wonderful advice, and I am great at making an organization plan, implementing the plan is another story. I believe that things are better now than a year ago but I have trouble making the organization stick.
My husband and I have a farm in southern Oregon, the prices last fall were the worst we have ever seen, and this year we a facing a drought and water crisis. I am using our financial situation as a great opportunity to initiate a spending freeze, ( this should help with the too much) and look for ways to improve my homemaking skills ( I will post what works for us).
I have gotten lots of good advice, great ideas, and many free patterns and tutorials from many wonderful blogs out there, and I wanted to join in the fun and be able to provide those things to other readers like me.
Pam