Country Life = Snuggle Bunnies

Remember the big fabric bunny rabbits in dresses that were big a few years ago? Last summer, when I bought some stuff from a man who was closing his antiques store, one of those bunnies was sitting in a chair I wanted. The man said I could buy the chair, but the bunny was part of the deal.

I decided to hang onto her until this spring, and put her out on the floor at Easter. She is in good shape, underneath the dust.

Dust. Bunny.

DUST BUNNY! 

Bwahahaha!

Anyway.

I took her dress and bloomers off of her to wash them, and set her down in a chair in our basement.

When I went downstairs later in the evening, here is what I found.........

It was a very cold winter's night, and Billy saw an opportunity to snuggle up with a new friend!

Come on, say it with me now.

"Awwww..."

Country Life = BRRRR!!!

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!!!

That's my baby in the photo. (Funny how those babies grow up!) This was taken a couple weeks ago in the well below 0 temps of the Polar Vortex. (In my day, we just called it a cold snap).

Kevin and his dad were out feeding the cattle. They had just about all the cold they could stand when George noticed how much ice had built up in Kevin's beard. Ok - there might be time for a quick picture before frostbite sets in!

We had a few warmer days after that, even a couple in the (GASP!!!) 50's!

But of course, in January those thaws don't last long. We're back to the below 0 temps, though not as far below 0. However, it looks like this snap will last longer. 

And this explains why my shop hours in January and February are very sporadic. I use to keep the shop open all winter. And I was miserable.

That old building is hard to heat. There were days I was sure my feet were going to freeze off. I'd keep turning the heat up higher. I was still cold. The gas company liked me though - I was paying them lots and lots of money!

If I was making lots of sales, I wouldn't have minded the cold. But the truth of the matter is that when the cold set in, and the snow was flying, customers became a rare and endangered species. 

Many days, I'd be lucky to see more than a couple people come thru the door. And many times, they wouldn't be buying. 

So, I got colder, and the gas company got richer.

Good for them, not so much for me.

And then there was the time I totaled our car trying to get to the store. Not good. Not good at all.

So........I started closing for the most part in January and February. I work in my craft studio in my basement, right next to a toasty warm woodstove. I'm happy, and I'm sure the gas company will survive without me.

Many weeks, I do open the store a day or two if the weather is more favorable. I make that announcement on my facebook page.

Right now, I'm working on Valentine's Day crafts. Will I be open for Valentine's Day? Who knows. It seems like we usually get a pretty big snowstorm right around that time. But that doesn't matter. I'm making the Valentines crafts more love related than holiday related. This works perfectly, because wedding season will be coming up soon, and I'm building up my inventory for weddings. And besides, isn't love ALWAYS in season?

I'll try to post some pictures in the next day or two of some of the projects I'm working on. I better go get busy!

And on those days when your teeth are chattering...........

HA!

Country Life = A Felt Food Gift

I want to show off what our daughter Jessica made for her niece for Christmas...

Felt food! 

How cool is that?

A sandwich complete with 2 pieces of bread,

 a hamburger, lettuce, Swiss & American cheese, a tomato, and 2 pickles.

A piece of pizza.

A fried egg.

3 beans.

An orange slice.

A strawberry.

A tea bag.

And for dessert?

A brownie, and 2 different types of cookies.

That sandwich looks good enough to eat!

For the finishing touch, she packaged it in a personalized bag.

Aunt Jess put lots of time and love into this gift, and I'm 

sure Abigail will have many hours of fun with it.

Very impressive Jessica!