Vent signs

These vent/screen thingies have been laying around our basement for awhile now. I don't even remember where I got them. And I couldn't think of anything to do with them. I knew there had to be something, but what?

Finally, one day it hit me.

Signs!

"Home" seemed as good of a word as any, so "Home" it was.

For whatever reason, the photos enhanced the spray varnish more than you can see in real life. That is especially noticeable in the red one. Sometimes I think cameras have a mind of their own.

I like that these are unique, something different.

And that there are 2 less things laying around my basement!

Cute decor farming vs. Real farming

This is a new farm display in the shop. I painted the barn wood signs, and the sheep shears. A friend made the stuffed pig and chicken.

Farming looks so easy in decorations. Fun and charming and cute.

While farming can be all those things, in reality it is a LOT of hard work. And ingenuity.

George and I were watching out of our kitchen window as our son Kevin was trying to lure these 2 longhorn cattle into the trailer.

He had bought them a few months earlier as feeder cattle. The time had come to take them to the butcher, but they didn't want anything to do with that idea. Actually, they didn't want anything to do with people. Period. They were very skittish, especially the red one, AKA Red.

An attempt to load them into the trailer went badly a couple months ago. Instead of going in the trailer, they jumped a fence, and luckily, no one was hurt in the process.

After giving them a few weeks to forget that experience, Kevin parked the trailer in the field, and started putting grain in the front of it every day, and then would walk away. Most of Kevin's cattle are grass fed, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The 2 longhorns would cautiously look around to make sure no one was near, then they would mosey up into the trailer to get the grain. Kevin let them do that for a couple weeks, until they were somewhat comfortable.

Then he started putting the grain in, and sticking around. The photo shows the first night he tried to stand at the back of the trailer and quietly wait. That showdown lasted for several minutes.

We had a better view from the kitchen window of what was happening than Kevin did, so George sent him a text message to move away from the door a few feet. Look closely at the photo, and you will see Kevin behind the bush, still watching and waiting. The black cow wanted that grain, so he slowly moseyed forward.

Red wouldn't come any closer.

After a few nights of this, Kevin was finally able to close the door behind the black one. Red watched from his post safely out of reach.

Farming is patience, and we have another plan for Red.

And Kevin announced he will never buy another longhorn again. Those long horns are too long reaching. No need to add that element of danger to the farm!

Farming decor may be cute, but real life farming is a whole 'nother ballgame!

Artist brush mishap

I was cleaning my artist brushes late last night at the kitchen sink when one of my favorite ones slipped out of my hand and into the drain.

Slick as a whistle.

This morning, as George was preparing to tear the drain apart, I decided to try my luck first with a pair of barber scissors. It worked! It took a few trys, but the blades were long enough and skinny enough to reach down and gingerly grab the brush.

But the story doesn't end there.

By the light of the flashlight, we saw a second brush! The barber scissors also pulled it out. Oh my. It had been there for a LONG time. It was covered with gunky goo to the point it was almost unrecognizable.

I know blog posts are all about the photos.

But believe me when I say, you don't want to see a picture of the gunky brush!

Trash to Treasure Windows

Still playing with windows...........

We added hardware cloth to these ones. I've seen similar ones on Pinterest hung on the wall, with jewelry hanging on them. Great idea!

Can someone tell me why hardware cloth is made from metal, but called cloth? One of life's little mysteries. At least to me.

These are rather large windows. Around 4 feet long or so. (I'm guessing. They are at the store. I'm at home. And neither my arm nor my tape measure will reach the 7 miles between us.). We simply added an old board to the bottom for a shelf. Actually, it wasn't as simple as it sounds. The window bottom had a slant to it that had to be trimmed off.

Old feed sacks and old windows make the perfect pair. This sack is pretty faded out. But then so is the paint on the window, so they still make the perfect pair.

We still have a few more windows to work through. Truly a case of one man's junk is another man's treasure!

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..."

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!

Toy Food made from Felt

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!