My boys

So, we are packing and after as many moves as we have made, shouldn't we have this figured out? Apparently not and it is certainly confusing my two dogs.  They have been with us for 10 years and are both rescue boys, so we are not certain of their age, but they have obviously bonded so much that they will sometimes sleep in the same bed. We have had 13 showings so far in 9 days and that has been a little puzzling for them also.  Most of you checking this blog again know that we have had a hilarious black cat named Coalette.  Showing a home and traveling so far from here presented us with a problem where she was concerned.  Luckily, we have a terrific young man, whom we have known for many years and he agreed to take her on a trial basis for a couple of weeks.  That turned out to be the very best decision for us and her and I think for him.  She adapted immediately to the change, and he has assured us that he is happy that she is with him.  He sends us texts and we laugh at her antics.  It probably helped that he has known her since she had been with us as a kitten.  The transition went so very well and we are relieved that she has such a good home. 

I met with my quilting group this week after 2 weeks when we got 8" of snow last week and it was the last session until September.  I will miss them so very much.  We have been so fortunate to have developed such wonderful friendships here and our neighbors are the very best.

Most of my sewing room inventory is packed, but my machines and some fabric is still available so I will not be twiddling my thumbs and the Mr. is still killing dandelions with a vengeance.  I will try to keep this blog current so stay tuned for more of our Marvelous Adventure.

"Animals are such agreeable friends--They ask no questions; they pass no criticisms."

Another Marvelous Adventure

It has been a year since my last post....needed a break I guess.  But a new adventure awaits us and I have been instructed to keep all of my family and friends informed of our next move.  Yes we are moving again, and this time to the state of Washington in order to be closer to family.  My siblings are now in other states and as we age, these times change our priorities.  So I have posted realtor sign and my front door.  5 days already has brought 12 showings, an open house and 2 days of realtor tours.  The movers have been contacted and we have begun to pack, although we really don't know exactly when we will be leaving.  It will be soon and we will be staying with our daughter and son-in-law when that time comes and we will be there until we find something.  Being blessed with good health, it became apparent that we needed to do this while we can.  We will miss all of our friends and good neighbors and that does leave us with a heavy heart.  So, I will be posting regularly so that all who wish can follow this adventure upon which we embark and can stay abreast.  (And it has already been a short adventure).

Stand on your head today

 I have been so busy this past week that I had to actually cancel a quilt retreat that I had been planning all year.  Where has my summer gone? I have taken a class for which I planned before I thought about it too much, have had a buddy spend a weekend here, (our rock birdhouses above) (sorry I forgot to flip them) and went to lunch twice this week with friends. That usually shoots the heck out of a day.  In addition, we are planning to leave very soon to spend a few days in sunny CA with our son and his family.  I have had to arrange for the critters to board, now laundry to do, packing and met with neighbors to let them know our plans.  So the rock houses, stand on your head, are supposed to be bird houses and although we have made them in the past, I left mine back in the move and wanted another one.  This one above belongs to my friend...the funnel is topped with a drapery rod finial sprayed silver and mine below has a very long blue plastic funnel.  We also used a different adhesive which I will not recommend as I am still finding it on my skin and it has been a week.  I do not jest!!!

Now the image of the oreo pig is one I am using as inspiration for a primitive quilted wall hanging and I hope to finish it soon.  I have loved the pig chopping blocks that I have found.  I am currently working on several quilts and hope not to start another before I finish these.  I keep having ideas and I usually succeed in finishing my projects, but I am feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment and have only myself to blame.  I missed seeing my friends in Encampment at the quilt retreat, and loved having my friend who came to do the birdhouses and am blessed that two of my neighbors have become such good friends that they each took me to lunch this week.  I am truly blessed to have such friends in my life.

"Be a friend to yourself, and others will." ~ Scottish Proverb

August so soon

Oh my gosh, it is August already! The last part of July was a whirlwind. Our daughter and her husband came for Frontier Days and everything between my last post and the first of this month has been a blur.  We had two terrible hail storms, a picnic with many, many past coworkers, finishing the pond above and time spent with neighbors, lunches, coffee meets and quilt shop trips.  This week is the county fair and we have hit numerous garage sales on weekends. As the days begin to shorten, I am reminded that the snow won't be far behind the end of this month.  I had pictures of the pond progress, but for some reason, lost track of them.  These pictures are not very good, but this pond is in the shade most of the day and tucked next to the deck, it is pretty sheltered.  I was able to use the old pump that I have been packing around for over 20 years though and love the sound of the water falling.  I have been able to schedule two months of rooms at the library for our sewing and quilting group, and we are trying to schedule a couple of trips to visit our two kids on the west coast and don't know if that will happen any time soon.  I also have a friend coming this weekend for a crafting project. So, now I hope to get back here on a more regular basis.....perhaps?

"If you want to be original, be yourself." ~ Anonymous

Washtub coffee table

 So bear with me while I tell you some of the things I have been doing.  First I had a good friend come and stay a few days and she conned me into going to the Wy State Garden Convention with her here.  I have to admit that it was wonderful and I met so many great people for those 3 days.  We did some garage sales also while she was here.  But this post is about a project the Mr. helped me to complete.  I have been packing this old washtub around with me for over 20 years and had been trying to come up with an idea to make a coffee table small enough for my living room without spending a lot of money.  Those of you who know me know that I like to reuse and recycle so thanks to Pinterest, I decided to enlist the Mr. to copy an idea I saw.  He is so willing to go along with my hairbrained ideas. First we cut a from

piece of plywood for the bottom of the tub. I found fencepost tops at the local hardware for the feet. We went to the local Restore for Humanity and found a table with a top that would work and it was only $9.00.
He took the top of and we discarded the rest of it since it was pretty much destroyed anyway.  I then sanded it and gave it several coats of black spray paint as well as the post tops.  The screws protruding had to be cut off as they were too long for the wooden bottom piece. I sprayed the bottom wood piece with a silver textured paint that I had on hand. The bottom piece was adhered to the tub with construction adhesive as well as the new feet and each was allowed to dry several hours.  So there are several pictures here and after scrolling to the bottom, you will find my two babies modeling the new

coffee table which I simply love.

Baking again

I used to bake a lot...in fact I made quite a few wedding and birthday cakes years ago, but I also have a weakness for breads and carbs in general.  Unfortunately, those turn into sugar when they settle in your system and I have been trying to watch my sugars. I have been pretty successful so far.  However, that has limited my baking! I find that I am not the only one with this love for breads and my neighbor, bless her soul, sparked the need to find a scone recipe that wasn't too sweet.  In fact we were on the quest to bake biscotti.  How sad is it that friends have to schedule time together by checking their calendars. This biscotti lesson was scheduled days ago and last night I scheduled a quilt trip with a friend for a date the two of us could find  open.  Even that was difficult.  We just are blessed to be able to stay so busy with these friends.  So these are the scones that I tried and I would make them again, tweaking the recipe a bit.  This one had chocolate chips which I would eliminate and dried cranberries which work really well. I would also cut them a bit bigger...8 pieces rather than 12.  It was a pretty basic recipe, not too sweet, which could be adapted and I will make it again.  We did make the biscotti...carbs again...but it is also a "go to" recipe and perhaps I will post it another time.  Baking is always more enjoyable when you do it with friends.

"Masquerading as a normal person day after day is exhausting." ~ anonymous

Trunk re-do

This is an old trunk that I purchased over 20 years ago and it has followed me for the six moves since.  It was always my intent to refinish it in some manner and is in relatively good shape.  I discovered that it does have original hardware although some had been painted and the leather handles have been replaced.  The tray is missing, but the paper inside (sorry I forgot to take a picture), is in wonderful shape.  Finally I began that process this week. I first stained the wood with a can of some stain that I already had on hand and it really looks great.  Then I proceeded to paint it with another jar of acrylic paint that I found at Hobby Lobby on sale for little or nothing. The last step was to embellish the hardware with "rub and buff" .  I did spray it with an all purpose clear matte spray. Forgot to mention that it was actually pretty dirty, so I spent some time just cleaning it with some steel wool and a soft cloth and mild all-purpose cleaner.  The canvas had a few worn places but all in all not bad so I did not attempt to remove it.

I am totally please with the results and can cross one more thing off my bucket list!