Getting Ready !!

Already Friday night and another week flies by...

Lots of busy days but until today nothing I would want a picture of...

Today was state wide inservice for our schools. Sam was out of school as was, my sister Toni a teacher and my niece Emily.

Toni and I like to work together so when I have a big project she helps me and likewise I do the same for her. Sam and I spent the day helping get their house decorated for fall. We use the same basic things for all seasons but flip them around, paint them, move them inside, outside and sometimes upside down!!!

We have had the porch swing in a couple of different times.



Sometimes its out here on the porch...

This property has been in my brother-in-law's family for many years. It was once a campground where families would come from the city and play in the Pudding River, dance in the dance hall , buy treats in the little store and generally have a great time. Our family has had many good times out here on the Colvin's Pudding River Ranch !!


Today was the Canby High School Homecoming Dance, here is Miss Em

nearly ready for her date.

All ready for the desserts that will be served after the dance!

All ready for a fun time!!!

Quilts and Other Treasures

This is what I did with the pumpkins and pansies that I got Saturday at the pumpkin patch..

It was fun going to the Polk County Flea Mkt Sunday morning. I got there a little after 8am. It's about 45 minutes from Silverton. It is a small Flea Mkt but I always find something .... For that matter I almost always find something I 'have to have' where ever I go.. I like just about everything so it's not hard to find something wonderful.. I met my friends Cindy and Lisa there, it is almost as much fun seeing them get a 'treasure' as getting one of my own.

From Rickreal where the Polk County Fair Grounds are, we headed to the Collectors Mkt at the Marion County Fairgrounds. It has been a few years since I had been to that show and it has gotten a lot smaller. But naturally I found things I 'had to have'. I love this little pink phone to go on my key chain.. I think someone I knew had this when I was a teenager.. On the back it says...

"The Princess phone ... IT'S LITTLE . IT'S LOVELY. IT LIGHT'S!

At noon we met Isabel and Jean and went to a quilt show and cottage tour in Salem.

Here is a shot of Isabel modeling the. pink cashmere coat that I found. I do have a pink coat similar to this, but this one is sooo much better and it's old, so how fun is that? I love the fact that it has 3/4 length sleeves.

I ran into a friend of mine at the Quilt Show. Maureen is a member of the quilt group that was putting on the show and tour of cottages. The money that they were raising was being donated to HANS...Help Autism Now Society.. Maureen made the pinhead dolls in the picture..Here is a shot of Maureen, Isabel and Jean in front of the quilts.


Maureen made the pinhead dolls in the picture..









I like almost all quilts but I love old quilts, with old patterns and old fabric. Of course I like them to be in good shape,but I also really love quilts that have been washed and worn and show use. Naturally I prefer them to be pastel and have little postage size pieces and hand quilted..

I believe in using my old things, so I really like to use old quilts for table cloths. I like to put a vintage table cloth over the top of the quilt and then sometimes a doily on top of that. When we are going to eat at the table with an old covering I usually use a 'machine' quilted place mat on top, if it is just 'everyday.' I don't like to change the table every day so that way I just have to wash the place mats. It seems like the harder we try to be careful the bigger mess we make... I really hate to eat on a table without a tablecloth...kinda strange I know, only thing worse would be vinyl (don't tell my mom I said that) naturally I wouldn't refuse a meal regardless of the table covering.

Here are some of the quilts I have at home. I wish I had a great way to display all of them because I enjoy looking at them. The one on the table is one that my cousin Judy made me a few years ago. She bought the kit in Silverton when she was here visiting. Then made it and sent it to me as a surprise!!! The one on the chair my other cousin, Kay sent me for my 5oth birthday.. I love both of them!! The quilts and the cousins!! The quilts on the ladder are some of my favorites .

I have several others that are also my favorites, just depends on the one I'm looking at that moment. Not to mention that my favorite things change from time to time. I prefer to think of myself as constantly evolving, as opposed to fickle...

There was a time, not so long ago... that I would say 'uck' if you said orange. Now I keep seeing it in my house...I particularly like it with pink and green..A few years ago I would have and did in fact look all over for white pumpkins to decorate with. Now you can see I have orange ones...
Of course they need to be on a pink cake plate to really appreciate their beauty...

One of the life's lessons that I have had trouble with over the years is... never say never.. It applies to many things, actually most things.. I could take that a step further and that is, don't even think it...
If you do... it will come back to haunt you one day, and if you forget that you said it..someone will remind you!!

Is that an orange tablecloth under those flowers??

Taking Time for Fall Fun!!

This is a picture of me happy as can BEE!!!

Yes, I did indeed get all the names on a new spreadsheet, and tomorrow Dusty will come help me get them on labels. Seriously it would be faster to write them out using my best penmanship. However, I can't believe how much better this program is than the $20 one I bought for my 'vintage' computer... Of course I couldn't figure out how to make it work on my own, but if someone puts my fingers on the right keys...well there is just no stopping me!!

I know what your thinking, why doesn't she just take a class and learn to use a computer??? Well... now that I have HP the wonder laptop I think maybe we might take an obedience class. Especially because HP came with Vista, which is new enough that none of my helpers are familiar with it...How funny would it be if I was helping them out someday on the computer???

When I saw that I would get finished with the mailing list before my dead line, (I tried to finish last night but my eyes started going crazy about 1:30 am so I had to give up and go to bed)..

I decided that Sam needed a trip to the Pumpkin Patch.. There is a really cool one near us, Bauman Farms. This is not the Pumpkin Patch that I took the big boys to 20 or so years ago... Oh my goodness this is practically Disneyland.. They have hayrides, zipslides, haymazes and that is just the beginning. They also have pumpkins for sale.. go figure?? I love the flowers and the way they pay attention to details. I bought a few apples, some corn, pumpkins for the house and some orange pansies.. I'm thinking a new table centerpiece is on the way!!

They have these big crates of apples for sale, fresh donuts and all kinds of flowers. I wish I could say that my flower baskets look as good as theirs at the end of the season. They



definitely don't!

Here is The Red Power Ranger in his ' Sam Outfit '

The animals are fun. I like the goats and Sam loves the horses, but what is more country than chickens? They have all different varieties.

What do you suppose someone fed this one?

If this isn't the Truth

I'm getting pretty tired of looking at pictures of my house decorated for Christmas, 2 years ago. I will stop after this post and move on to other things. Part of the problem is the house is not 'photo ready' if you get what I mean. I will get on that, so I can take a few pictures. It would also be nice to get back out to the shop and make some kind of organization out of that mess.. Then I could show you what I have been making, besides a mess..



I love the picture of the chalk board. Vanessa, the girl that was helping me in the shop at the time drew that. I left it until after Christmas. It was of hard because we use the chalkboard all the time for messages. It has of course moved several times over the years, I have had it about 6 years. Sam loves to climb up on the table and draw.. mostly Power Rangers. He likes me to call him Rocky, that is the Red Power Ranger you know.


















I should have been organizing the chaos that has taken over the house...What a disaster.
But no, I am playing 'working' with my new best friend HP the laptop. I don't need a lapdog I have a laptop!! What's more he doesn't have to be fed, cleaned up after, or walked. Now that's my kinda pet!


I was looking at some of the sites I always do and think I will just " surf" for a few minutes. Anyway you have to read this from Susan Branch's site. It is so true and I guess you just never, never know ...http://www.susanbranch.com/PancakeStory.html

I finally got my mailing list re-organized and ready to input into HP, I have been over these names so many times I have every one of them memorized!! I used an old list, cut the names apart and taped them onto a clean white sheet of paper. I left room to add names that I have gathered from more recent shows and sales. I crossed off names that have come back on postcards returned by the post office. It really is a huge task since its hard to know if people still want to be on the list, or if they have moved or whatever. I have found that even though it is a hassle, it is by far the best way for me to advertise.

I have wanted for sometime to be able to do some of the process with e-mails but until now it wasn't practical. Now that I have HP, watch out! Here I go.

Sounds so easy in theory. Get the names, e-mail address and off you go. Not that easy!! You have to push the right buttons and all that... I did get a new program at Costco that is suppose to be what I need.. Microsoft Office.. actually managed to install it, by myself.. found the program I needed ..well.. I tried for a couple of hours to figure out what I should do. So I think I better get a little coaching. I admit I am a little gun (computer) shy after the last episode I had with the mailing list.















This picture is of the master bedroom. Which is now the guest room . Which is actually where Ty my 'original' baby is sleeping. Tyson was the baby of the family for almost 15 years before Sam took his place in the birth order..Ty is actually still my baby, he will be 21 in less than 2 weeks... hard to believe.


Here is a shot of the other end of the bed room. Do you recognize the rose painting next to the mirror?


I decided a few years ago that I wanted the whole house to 'blend', that way I can move almost anything, anywhere in the house and it works with the rest of the room. That's also why I almost exclusively have things I would have in my house for sale in the shop. I'm sure you know about the revolving door...

Many people ask during an Open House if they can buy something in the house, I tell them just wait, soon enough it will be in the store. Then on the other hand don't wait too long to get what you want in the store or it will be in the house!!

I thought you might like to see a

bigger view of the dining room. Kind of a a whole room shot.

This is the tree that you can see in the corner of in the bottom left side of the picture above.

It is so strange looking at these pictures because they were from 2 years ago... Of course last year was better and these look 'unfinished' since I keep tweaking it every year.. Add some new (mostly old) things and take some away.

Some of the pictures I am not showing have snowmen and santas which I am leaving out because now I am going a different direction, more sparkle and glitter and they don't fit in as well. Not to mention most of them are not in a pastel palette so they don't 'work'... I haven't gotten rid of them they are part of the 20 big tubs that get hauled out for Christmas..

I decorate very early for Christmas since I have an Open House every year along with my Christmas Sale in the shop. It will be Thursday Evening November 30th and Friday and Saturday December 1st and 2nd this year. Consider this your 'save the date' postcard. If you would like to be on my mailing list just leave me your address and I will be sure you get an invitation..

I never thought I would be an artificial tree kinda girl, but the fact that we heat with wood and I start decorating right after Halloween, it works for me. Not to mention there has been lots of progress made on artificial trees over the years. However wouldn't I love to have one of those aluminium trees from the 60's!! When any of my boys yearn for the 'good ole' days and want to cut down a 'real' tree I tell them to go get one, bring it in, set it up in the stand and I will gladly decorate it. I haven't had any takers for that job.. They are happy to let me do the decorating. You don't suppose they figured out that I would redo the tree after they went to bed when they were little.. Let's keep that information from Sam since he does stilll want to help.

I will close with this last shot. I sold this pink desk at Farm Chicks, their last show September 2006. I loved doing their show and I am looking forward to doing it again. They have changed their venue and now it will be at the the Spokane Fairgrounds in early June of 2008. I am planning on being a vendor there with my friend Cindy. http://queenoftarte.blogspot.com/ I hope you will try and go, it will be so fun!!



Looking at these pictures makes me start thinking about getting the "dreaded tubs" out from the barn... Actually I don't dread it, but you should see my boys scatter when I mention it is time to bring them to the house!

Pink Roses

We're making progress on the upstairs. But of course we had to make a trip to town to get supplies. We've been to Home Depot so many times they should have a reserved parking space with our name on it. There is no way I could go there and only buy what I had gone for... So I got this really sweet miniature pink rosebush. The weather here is rainy and so maybe the rose was my way of denying winter is on the way.

I have spent the day doing some bookwork and fiddling on the computer. I like the new format for the blog. It looks a lot different but I think it is easier to read.. I like the extra pictures on the left. If you don't like it, don't worry I will undoubtedly be changing it soon.

We actually went to Home Depot to get 3 new windows for upstairs. These actually open and will look so sharp from the outside. As opposed to the plywood that had been in one of the three windows for some time. They together are only 7 feet across and 3 feet high. That is good since there is a gaping hole in the wall tonight. Dave assured me the wind was blowing the opposite direction.... Did I mention the rain and how cold it has been today???

This is a closeup of the new rosebush I couldn't believe how pretty the color is. I hope the rest of the buds open.

Of course I counted and there are 7 buds. Most of the other plants only had 5, so naturally I chose this one. I love pink roses and I have one outside the back door that I moved when we left our home in Oregon City. That rose is called Fragrant Delight and is totally lives up to it's name.

Here are 2 of the pictures with pink roses that I enjoy and I have had for a long time. I'm sorry the photos are so lousy but.... I often think of what my oldest son Dusty said to me not long ago. "Mom, you are so good at so many things I'm surprised you don't take better pictures." Was that a back handed compliment?

More Magagzine Pictures

Here are a couple of shots

of the dining room.

This is the Family Room

I hope you found a copy of the Romantic Country Magazine. I hope to have them for my sale the first weekend in November and then again the first weekend in December, when I have my Open House and Christmas Sale.

If you could see my house now I'm sure you would say, she'll never be ready in 2 short months. We are trying to finish the upstairs. When we moved in 12 years ago I immediately started ripping the ugly paneling off the walls. I found even more hideous walls that needed repaired and that's why a short 12 years later we are putting up the drywall, then of course the taping texturing and painting to follow. You just have to love an old house...

I hope you aren't thinking that this year there will be a tour of the upstairs. Maybe sometime but I know how my carpenter/husband works and that just won't happen... I'm just hoping to get it done in the next 12 years!!!

I have a habit of starting lots of projects and sometimes it can take several false starts before I get to the end. Now is the time to finish this project. I'm sure you know that one thing leads to another and now I'm into cleaning out all kinds of closets and years worth of 'treasures'. Most of the treasures are from three big boys that have since moved out and then back in and in various stages of both. It is hard to know what is worth keeping but I'm trying to be merciless... I am however finding it easier to throw out other peoples things than my own...

Have I mentioned before that life gets in the way of progress. This week was another, full of life's happenings...

I had a full day Monday, helping a friend and going for supplies for a dinner I was organizing for 600 later in the week. Tuesday I filled in at an auction that I attend whenever I can. That evening I helped my friend Gail with her Ladies Night event at her store 'Panache, by Yours Truly'. Wednesday I made a quick trip to Eugene to take my mom to the doctor. That worked well since I could go by Costco in Albany on the way back and pick up more supplies for the dinner and run them to Sublimity to put in a freezer. Thursday was the BUSY day, I started working on the dinner at 4am and finished about 9pm... Friday I had a play day I helped my friend Lisa redecorate her living room (A Thing for Roses). On the way home I stopped at Goodwill in Woodburn and strolled through the aisles until they closed.

The reason I had some much time to myself was that Sam and Dave were out of town for a couple of days attending a funeral. I would have normally gone with them , but I had the commitment for the dinner.

When we first moved here I was constantly surprised. Whenever I would drive up to the house after being gone, I would be shocked by what the house actually looked like. In my mind it was lovely, fresh paint, picket fence, manicured lawn and in reality it was far from it...

We really have made lots of changes and progress but I get impatient and ready for this to be done so we can do something else. I have lots of ideas and I'm sure Dave knows that so really, what's the rush?