I hear a chuckle from Heaven!

Gosh, it seems like every now and then I catch myself looking up in the sky with a smile on my face, it almost feels like I am returning a grin to someone as they "chuckle". I am going to assume it would be my Dad...sound crazy? Maybe, but it's true.

Here is a great example; the other day Kendall brought over a trike to ride outside. As she was showing me her trike she lifted the seat and looked at me as she " babbled" something I didn't quite understand. When I looked to see what she was talking about there laid an extremely old cow belle, probably from her Dad's Grandparents ranch. My thought was only Kendall would have a cow belle stowed away in the trunk of her trike. That is when I caught myself looking up into the sky smiling, I think I felt a chuckle and that is something that my Dad would of laughed about. Not only because he would of found that funny but he also would be very proud of that little girl.

Sound crazy? Maybe, but it is true!

Spring could be in the air!

 .WWorked in the backyard this weekend. So much has to be cleaned up from winter I will have to pace myself because it can all be overwhelming. We move our cricket trailer to the backyard that was interesting but it's nice to not have it taking up so much space in the driveway. Btw, can't wait to be able to camp more as the season progresses. 

Moved all the compost from a years worth of piling to the garden now just need to have Glenn till it all in. Oh yes and the crocus are coming up in the front yard, they are right at the front door it is so nice to walk out and see then 1st thing.....Have a good springtime week!

My rendition of crazy quilt squares!

I have found the quick pleasure in "crazy quilt square" sewing. I keep making these squares all colors all sizes at some point I will need to decide what to create with them. But until then I guess I will just keep sewing one square at a time....

I guess your getting the idea😃. If you have any suggestions on what I should create with all of these and probably many more please feel free to let me know..

Time and Changes

For the time being I am out of the corporate inviroment and have taken a new path in life. 5 days a week I am watching over and caring for 2 of our 4 grand children. So If you can imagine and understand that is what has probably kept me from blogging, I guess. Don't you think sometimes you might need a break from something like this? Blogging...

While I was starting some early spring cleaning this morning I thought of a previous blog I created about window washing soap and that made me think "I really should blog again". In regards to the window cleaning advice the solution is simple and effective check out the blog post in my history..you won't be sorry.

Note to myself: maybe I should blog once a week.

        A 2 year olds choice in foot wear. (Kendall) 

Halloween Bean Bag Bats!

Halloween is upon us, one of my favorite times of the year. One night when I should of been sleeping but couldn't. I grabbed my iPod and tapped into pintrest, after typing in the search words "Halloween tutorials" I came across this; http://www.pinterest.com/pin/137570963591445697/. Then I must of feel back to sleep.

The next morning I was up bright and early and to my surprise I started digging through my scraps found everything I needed to make my 4 Grandkids these cute silly bats. The fun thing about the bats is they just hang around the house on a door knob or something like that. My 2- 2year old Grandkids like to wear them on their arms sort of like a purse.

If you want something to sew that doesn't take very long at all and they are just the right size to were you can use fabric out of your scape bins, virtually no cost and a fun 2-3 hours of a Grandma's time. This is a tutorial you should look at.

 

 

Happy Halloween!

That Old Fence has seen better days.

I have always pointed out different types of fencing to my husband that we pass by going down the road . I guess it comes from growing up on a farm with livestock fencing was always an important topic.

The fence that holds our home/yard together is beyond repair, and trust me I have mentioned it just a few times over the years. About 3 weeks ago Glenn says out of the blue, "well Betty I guess it's time for a new fence, how about you gather up some estimates and see what this is going to cost us"! I couldn't believe my ears, I have been waiting for those words to come out of his mouth for 6+ years and now the day has come. YIPPEE!

The next day I am on the computer doing my research about fencing, then I present to Glenn my vision of a fence, and to my wonder, we weren't far off on what we both wanted the outcome to be. After a some discussion I lined up 3 different company's to come out and give us their ideas and basically in a nut shell estimate how much is was going to cost.

It's funny to say but the decision is going to be made on who can come in with the best price for tearing down and hauling away our tired old fence. Materials and labor are pretty much all the same price on the 3 quotes. Don't you think that's funny too?

To cut down on cost I came up with doing part of the labor myself; after creating a "phasing schedule" showing, If I work 5 days a week for 1 hour (my wrist and back dictate how long each day I can pull off this manual labor) I will be done with the clearing of old dead tree limbs, 4 to 5 inches of pine needles and overgrown junipers trees and lilac bushes by the end of November. Yikes!!

Where do I start?

About 3 feet is all I can clear away in an hour so I think my phasing schedule might be a little off. The good thing about this is we don't plan on having the new fence built till spring 2014. I have found I am as happy as a person can be clearing out years of pine needles and giving old trees a hair(limb) cut because the end result will be something I have waited for, for such a long time. Who would of thought something like a new fence would come as such a joy in my life right now.

I guess I will start right here.

Redmond to Salem to Portland and back!

WOW, it is the 2nd week of August our summer is now here and almost gone. What a bitter sweet sad summer we have had here at our house. I haven't been blogging at all this summer as my husbands parents both passed away and I felt all my energy was needed  elsewhere. This has been a very busy and emotional time for me, I feel it was my "duty" and out of much love to take care of the Husband during his time of grieving. Then yesterday I realized after visiting the grave site where Jason's body is buried and just the week before watching Glenn and his family spreading the ashes of their dear Mother Anna Louise that the grieving don't really stop it is just there from time to time. So as Glenn has said to me, "I just need to get back into my daily habits and move on where I can live with the memories I have of my parents and not their deaths".  So there you have it, I am now understanding that the grieving will continue but in a different way, it does become part of your life you just need to work through it and continue on.

Summer blog August 2013

Yesterday Glenn and I took Micah to the Portland airport where he departed back to his current home in South Korea. Micah coming back home for a week was such a nice enlightening time for us. We did so much this past week and I will continue to have a few more entries about this but for now lets start with our trip back home to Central Oregon.

Happy summer travels to you and your family, Betty

What we see heading up the mountain, YIKES!

Not looking much, better that's for sure.

At the top of Mt Hood, these are clouds we are driving through, so much for the summer fun.

Off the mountain and heading into beautiful Central Oregon.

Almost home and still such a dramatic sky ahead.

Watching the sunset on the mountain range we just drove over, through our car window.