Surprise!!

I'm not good at surprises, and I'm pretty sure tonight's adventure summed up why I should just give up all together on surprises. Here is the way it played out...




A couple weeks ago my good friend Sheila's husband was selected as First Citizen of their town. Wow!! What an honor, and what an all together nice guy he is and very deserving as well! There is a dinner to acknowledge him and celebrate his award, well of course I want to go and I see in the paper last week that Wednesday is the last day to get the tickets so I have Dave stop on his way home and get our tickets. So far so good, and I didn't mention to Sheila that we would be coming so then I decide not to say anything and let them be surprised to see us. And if you have been reading for long on this blog you know we don't go out very often, for a variety of reasons. But this was a really great honor and I wanted to be there, so it was worth the hassle.
Okay it started at 6pm, Dave comes home changes clothers and I tell him I think we need to be a little less casual, so he changes again... I change and we are off, naturally it is a couple minutes after 6pm when we pull in to the big parking lot at the Catholic Church where the dinner is to be held. There are close to a million cars in the parking lot, it is raining cats and dogs, but what the heck, it is worth getting soaked to do what you want to do... We go to the room where I know the dinner will be held, huh... there is only one young woman in the room and she is feeding her baby. I asked her, where is the First Citizen Dinner being held? She turns to me and says, it was Monday.... Surprise!!! Oh by the way, did you know it was Lent? Don't you just hate surprises??

So you won't think I am a complete loser, I thought I better show you that I do occasionally get something right!

I made the cutest bag out of a feed sack. Pam came toting one to the blogger party and I couldn't quit thinking about how fun it would be to make some.

I got a few sacks from Tomie (the good brother)

With horses, chickens and cats why wouldn't he have feed sacks?

I wonder how he would feel about raising pigs??

I started cutting and sewing, much easier with a pattern, but... I wanted to use the bag without cutting the sides and wanted the strap to be a continuous piece, so I had to just go for it.





Hopefully the next one won't take so long. I am happy with the results and now I am on the hunt for more sacks. I love that they are incredibly strong and durable, webbed plastic.... what could be more durable?? Originally I was trying to make a bag that could be used as a reusable grocery bag, and that is why I wanted it to be strong. Now that it is finished, I can think of a lot of uses. Who could have enough bags to carry their treasures?
I'm collecting things for Expo, it is next week. I found several of these, they would be great for storing all kinds of things.



On second thought maybe I should think about keeping them, as an attempt to be organized???

On The Road Again

Actually on the highway, the cyber highway that is... I knew you would be thrilled to know I FINALLY got my computer back!! Yippe !!! Now I can move on to the rest of my life! Not only move on, but blog about it as well. I would bore you with all the grizzly details concerning the return of the computer, but I wouldn't want you to know how absolutely cranky/crazed, I can get when I am pushed to the limit. Let's just leave it at, when I asked to speak to my "case manager's" supervisor, he told me that he answered directly to the CEO, who didn't take calls from customers. So I said," well pass it on for me that I am not happy!" Well, I am happy now and lets just say, better late than never!

Here I am, (see how happy) with my 2 older sisters at Tarte's Sale last Saturday. Thanks Isabel for the picture!

Did I say older sisters? I meant to say, that I was the oldest (by a few months.)
We had a great time seeing everyone and all the wonderful things that Cindy had in her barn.

Here is Cindy and Barry with the Boys from Barn House.

Here is proof, you can have a big project/event/sale.

Work nonstop for several weeks getting ready...

And still like each other when it gets there.

Congratulations! Wonderful Job!

Hope You Can Come

I took a little trip to Oregon City yesterday to see if I could lend a hand to Miss Cindy (Tarte) as she is at crunch time getting "this show on the road" the debut of her new venue is Saturday.

She has been up and down this ladder several hundred times.

She's done it so many times now she flies off the ladder, when the job is done.

Natalie seems to be saying, "Wow, Cindy that's pretty impressive."

It is pretty impressive and I'm sure you won't want to miss it!

DIRECTIONS to the barn (Please Mapquest directions from your specific location) These are general directions from the freeway. There will be round signs out a the major turns off Hwy 99 and at the driveway.

From I-5 North, take I-205 North to Exit #9, Oregon City. Turn Left on Hwy 99E go through Oregon City staying on Hwy 99E until you reach South End Road. Turn Left on South End Road. Go 1 mile and turn left into 20131.

From I-5 South, take the Aurora Donald Exit, turn right toward Aurora, go through Aurora and turn left onto Hwy 99E. You will stay on Hwy 99E through Canby. Turn Right on South End Road go 1 mile and turn left into 20131.

From I-205 North or South, take Exit #9, Oregon City. Turn Left on Hwy 99E go through Oregon City staying on Hwy 99E until you reach South End Road. Turn Left on South End Road. Go 1 mile and turn left into 20131.

Random, Ramblings...

Unbelievable as it might seem, I am still having major computer issues. The kind where the laptop still isn't working and so I can't download pictures from my camera... Rumor has it that a new, one is on its way... Don't worry you will be the first to know...
So with that said, today while we were in Junction City getting my parent's house ready to sell, and Mom and Dad were at her house and she was watching/entertaining Sam, I asked my sister in law Judy, to take some pictures that I could use for my blog. What the heck she had nothing else to do... And everyone knows she takes the best pictures!

Who are those sweet children, you might ask?

That would be my brother and I. I can't help but wonder why he got to wear a pink shirt while I got a green dress??? How fair is that? My mom said that this picture was "touched up" and those weren't the actual colors... Sounds like she is making excuses...
I have mentioned before that we (my sister's and I) call our brother, Tomie "the good brother", for no reason other than he is...
Yes, he is the only brother, but none the less he is still the Good Brother.
When you see how it goes on his farm, I know you will agree.

The rooster, Red or maybe it is, Fred... anyway they all have names...
Sees Tomie coming, he shouts"Ladies",

And here they all come a runnin'
Snack time.

Here you go, just a little taste...
Some for all of you...


Are you too warm?

He is so cool, the rainbow shines for him...


He built the chicken coop and the incubator,

Notice how happy his chickens are...

Sam's loving the farm.

He doesn't actually feed the pretend deer, and Sam doesn't really ride it either...

That deer does make a great photo opportunity.

Sam wants to be like Uncle Tomie.

Or perhaps like Grandpa??

Last week Sam said,
"Mom, in a long time when I have babies and you are the Grandma, will you come live with us?"

Rolled Out The "Red Carpet"

I prefer to think of the new carpet as "dark pink".

Here is a closeup,

I'm sure you will agree...
I spent the week tidying up the place, remember that I always like to have a "good showing" the first time someone sees the house and after that...anything goes.

I knew it was time past time to dust, so that means rearrange in my world. I knew I had to pace myself, so I left the furniture where it was, but took everything off the mantel.

Great now what do I do with all this??? This is it.
Here is what is left. I wish I had taken a photo of this chandelier before I had Dave take the wiring out, turn it upside down and make the bulb holders steady enough to hold the candles. Originally I bought this thinking I would hang it upstairs, but sometimes a person has to improvise... Too bad now I will have to go looking for a different one to hang upstairs...

and while I was changing things around dusting


Something different on this wall at the bottom of the stairs.

I had help one day from Lisa and Isabel, we decided a major overhaul of the shop was in order so... thankfully the next day my friend Marcia came to help me finish the project. Between shows and sales the shop transforms into a storage unit/catchall and was quite a challenge to transform.

To say I was a little tired, might not adequately describe what I was feeling. I had these clever little patches that you can stick on "where you hurt, so I had a case of them and stick I did. One night I hurt all over so I got into bed and covered myself. Next morning I peeled them off, took a shower and started at it again .
I noticed later in the week I had some new "varicose veins" on my knees. This didn't really surprise me because boy had they hurt... I thought I would get a little sympathy from my friends, so I whipped up my pants leg Saturday morning to show my "battle scars". They were pretty impressed with the first knee, but one of these girls with great vision said, "it looks like ink or tape more than a broken vein." All of a sudden it dawns on me, tape residue from those miracle patches... But I really did have a sore knee. Good thing I have friends to keep me under control, and even to advise me about adequate personal hygiene...

From left to right Lisa, Martha, me (the one with no glasses) and Isabel.

What great friends these girls are, they came early, stayed late and made sure the blogger party flowed smooth and all our friends were well taken care of, (I was busy nursing my bum knee.)

Naturally I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but I'm sure if you check the rest of the girls blogs they will have some to share as well.

I did manage to get a few shots I thought you might enjoy.
Pam and her 2 beautiful daughters, Mindy and Stacey. They couldn't stay to make crowns, so we sent them away with scepter/party favors.

Julie and ChristaI had never met them in person and I really enjoyed getting acquainted. Their crowns turned out wonderful!

You might recognize Sylvi, she was having a day with her adorable daughter Cecelia. They came a little later in the afternoon, and it was such fun laughing with them.
Sylvi and Isabel

This is a great example of why you shouldn't take pictures facing the sun. My excuse might be, we so rarely see the sun, I didn't realize...

Although the pictures aren't great, the time we had together was wonderful.

I had to rush out as soon as the party was over, since I had a little issue with my schedule... Yeah I double booked the day... Said I would be in charge of a high school dinner at church for 100... Good thing I had help there, but I did manage to make 100+ cupcakes to feed the hungry.

And about those aches and pains...