Halloween was in the house!

HALLOWEEN IN OUR HOUSE

Enjoy taking a look at my Halloween Villa's, I have received from my loving husband over the years.

- Zelda's Wax Museum-

-Village Witch Way Flight School-

-Halloween Hay Ride-

-Black Cat Dinner-

Costumes for sale!

-Trick or Treaters Bobbing for Apples-

-Mickey Mouse's Haunted Mansion-

All of these fun villa's are the creative work of Department 56, the detail is just fascinating to me.  I toy with mentioning to my husband that Department 56 also creates fun Christmas Villa's, but having just the Halloween ones makes them even more special to me. Hope you have enjoyed the photos as much as I like having them set out each Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by my blog, Betty

Garden boxes not as easy as they say!

 

After much discussion between Glenn and I we decided to "mix up" our yard. For 8 years we have planted our garden in the backyard, planting your traditional garden plot in rows of corn, beans, zucchini etc. Glenn has played around with the garden watering trying to get to the most bang for our buck but if you know Central Oregon the watering is one of the many challenges you come across in your garden. Just to list a few; cold nights, short growing season like under 50 days, deer, rabbits this is what makes up gardening in the high desert of Oregon.


http://www.sunset.com/garden/perfect-raised-bed-00400000039550/

The above link is what we used as "guidelines". Those of you that know my Husband will understand what I mean. Our good friend Lisa was over for the weekend, she got to see 1st hand Glenn and I trying to get the 1st box built. After we were well on our way Lisa states that most people hire out to have this done or buy kits. My only comment to you my dear friend is "now do you really think we are like most people"?

I am please to say we are 1/2 way done with the 3 boxes we are building this year deciding to build the next 3 in 2012 for a total of 6 boxes. Moving the boxes to the front yard is a good decision but pulling up sod is a killer. My core muscles are so sore, but I guess that is a good thing right. Every night since we have started this project both Glenn and I are popping aspirin for our aches and pains, it is so silly getting old and what you have to put up with isn't it.

If I could see into future I would say the 3rd week of June will be the date I can sit back and wait for the seeds and baby plants to start growing. That is my personal goal to have this all completed. If you are wondering what we are going to do with the huge garden space in the backyard, we are turning it into a small field of wild flowers mixed with sunflowers it will be a sight to behold so you can be sure I will be posting some wonderful photos for you to enjoy.

Getting started is the easy part!

 

 

 

One frame built.

Pulling up sod, Google it, they make it sound so easy. Just do this they say, oh the pain it puts on your body:(...

All 3 frames built as I type 2 frames have sod removed, 1 frame has its mixture of dirt in it, just waiting to be planted.

Remember to mix your dirt you buy from the dirt place with peat moss. What is peat moss anyways??

I don't like that old sod, it is going to the dump.

Micah taking a break from studies to play us a tune or two. Thanks we needed that and I am sure he did too. 

 

I will update my blog on our progress as it happens. Thanks for reading my blog and have a great growing season. Betty

Good People don't come along that often but when they do....

With a title like that what do you suppose I am up to? I work with the most wonderful Lady (leaving her name out to protect the innocent), Lol. How this all started is when  I was discouraged with my outdoor bathing area it wasn't going as smoothly as I had hoped and I was venting one night at work about it. While no customers were in the store if that matters to anyone reading this post:). I got some wonderful advice from her and she understood exactly what I was talking about, I was explaining that cost was a big issue and anytime you want to create something outside you can just see the $$$ adding up. So I think you get the drift.

The conversation I was talking about happen well over 6 mos. ago, to bring you current, my co-worker/friend is moving out of the area, and there we were working together on one quite evening. What I didn't know was her next statement was going to completely change my thoughts on well lets say a lot of things and what she didn't know was she was tapping into one of my passions that very few people know about outside of my wonderful Husband Glenn, my kids and a few very close friends. The passion being my yard. Now if you know where I live, you might wonder why I say its my passion because I differently don't have the "Good Homes and Garden" yard but I have yard that is me and I always say its a work in progress that seems to get me off the hook when needed.

After a nice conversation and I find out she is not going to be able to take a lot of her yard belongings and they are for sell. She invites me over to take a look, I can hardly wait to get home to tell Glenn, he sees how excited I am and really doesn't understand but says OK we can take an hour out of our weekend to stop by and see what she has for sale. 2 loads later and well over 5 hours invested here is what I picked out, I should say Glenn had his eyes on a few pieces also. Lets see if after looking at the photos you can tell me which pieces Glenn picked out. Go ahead and leave a comment I like the feed back...

We don't have everything placed where we want it, but most of the stuff is in the vicinity of its new home:)..

This beautiful bronze Dancing Lady is going to be placed by the outdoor bathtub. Perfect!!

One of many heavy pieces that Glenn was a real trooper in helping me with. Solid concert what a wonderful piece.

The sound is amazing, it lingers on well after you ring the bell.

These are the pieces my Friend knew I would like and boy was she right. Front yard is their new home, when we gaze at the stars in the summer we will feel  like a King and Queen due to the size of these chairs.

This is the detail on each of the chairs and bench, each post has a bird house on it.

OMG, the quail they are so cute and if I remember correctly they are from Sundance Utah, you know Robert Redford's stuff, you can look it up online, fun outdoor items and more.

What can I tell you about this "jack" rabbit I can tell you "I Love It"!!!

Pots, I only wished I had, I think all 5 of them are going on the back patio, summer photos in a few months.

The top of this photo is our roof line off the garage, this wonderful sunflower is at least 6'5". It will welcome you to our backyard all year long but especially in the summer/fall. As a side note ignore the paint that needs to happen on our house that is on our to do list.

I am not a fan of bird houses but this one is different and I knew when I saw it, it belonged  in our front yard..

 

 

 So I have plenty more to show you but that will have to wait, they require plants or ?? on them or around them. I hope you enjoyed seeing what I purchased this weekend for the yard and as you can see I am very excited about everything I got. A special THANK YOU to My Friend who will always be welcome in my yard for a glass of tea,,I am going to miss working with you!!

Let's do this together!

This past month has been very stressful for both Glenn and I. There were times I was wondering if we could handle just one more thing in our lives. Now with all that has been going on, it hasn't been life threatening or any thing like that but just little stressful life situations.

A few days ago I decided to just sit back and look through some magazines that I have not had the time nor the energy to look at. While looking through Whole Living Magazine I am across this article, boy did it hit home. The article reminds you to work with your marriage and remember it's not just about you, you have a partner that might be having just as hard of a time as you. This article gives you 5 steps to build a happy, lasting marriage.

1. Create Rituals - Researchers found that the shared emotional investment in the ritual made the couples feel a closer bond.

2. Be a Daredevil - so go ahead and pursue some exciting activities together.

3. Sleep (well) Together - the better you sleep the more positive you are about life.

4. Support Each Other - When a spouse felt supported even in daily obligations, he or she was significantly happier in marriage.

5. Build your Career - A dual-career marriage is OK!

Just thought I would share these five strategies with you,  if anything reading this reminded I am not the only one feeling the stressful situations that life throws at you from time to time.

Hope you enjoy reading my blog, Betty

Japanese Gardens to Voodoo Doughnuts

It is funny when your children are older and on their own you always know as their Mother when it is time to have one on one time with them. So that is when I either travel to Portland to stay with Casey and his wife Holly or call Kadie and have dinner out and then shop or leave Central Oregon for the day and visit the big city with her.

So a few weekends ago I traveled to Portland and had a wonderful time with Casey and his wife Holly. It so happened to be a beautiful weekend in the city so we adventured out to the Japanese Gardens. If you are ever in Portland this is a wonderful place to go, it really takes you to another place and the beauty of it all can overwhelm you if you are not careful:)!
http://japanesegarden.com/

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Voodoo Doughnuts
Whatever you do don't forget to stop here and enjoy their fresh made doughnuts the experience is one you will need to experience yourself.

http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/locations.php

I always enjoy my time in Portland, it is especially nice when I get to spend time with family or just hang out with Glenn in down town Portland, something we haven't done in a really long time. Just a hint!

The Joy of Reading!

Every now and then you find a book that is worth the time you put into it to read. At least for me that is, I am a very slow reader and I don't read a lot of pages at one time. So when I find a good book to read I like to tell everyone about it. I use my oldest Step-Daughter Amanda and Virginia and Lady at work as my resource on good books. They have never let me down yet, so keep up the good work.

There are times I am going to blog about books that I liked, and would recommend to other people. Maybe blogging about my reads will keep me from going into great detail with Glenn about the books I am reading. I am sure at times my conversation can get boring.

The book I am currently reading is:

One Thousand White Women

The journals of May Dodd

by: Jim Fergus

The category is historical fiction, the author took a true life event from the 1800's which supposedly ended quickly, but the author put a real twist on the story and made the event happen instead.

The event; The current Chief of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe traveled to Washington to ask the President Ulysses S. Grant to trade One Thousand Horses (500 broke and 500 wild) for One Thousand White Women. The Women were to marry the eligible Indians, and that is where I will leave you. I am just getting started I will let you know, more at a later date or if you have the time go ahead and by the book at your LOCAL bookstore and read it for yourself :)

Pine Cones for the Birds

On New Years Day, Glenn and I made food for the birds. We took pine cones, bird seed, peanut butter, bacon grease, Brer Rabbit Molasses and twine to hold the cones in the trees. I really haven't seen any birds yet but I know they will come... The cones look cute. hanging in the trees but I don't know if we picked up the right seed for the birds that are around here in the winter. I put my photos on this post backwards sorry, I have had a long day.

These deer are all I have seen in the back yard, I wonder if they like bird seeded pine cones, I bet they do. I will have to check on my next day off.

Christmas Decorations from the past!

I am pleased to say, our home is almost 75% decorated for the holidays. What I appreciate about this is my Family lets me decorate over a period of days so I don't get to overwhelmed with the whole thing. We also leave up our decorations until after New Years so we are able to enjoy all of them. I really don't have a "theme" throughout my house well I guess you could call it "original Christmas theme" you know what I mean; Santa's, Reindeer, Snowmen,Angels, and Nativity Scenes, you get the picture right?

The shadow box below is from the 1980's the figures inside the box are maybe 1/4" tall, so I was having a hard time keeping my hand still. (I put on my Christmas list a small tri-pod I wonder if I will get one:) The box is made out of cardboard and the indents are pressed on during the molding of the frame on the back wall is wall paper material, very cool box.

up close photo

The Nativity Scene below is painted by my Sister, she completed this set in the late 70's for our Mom for Christmas. When Mom started going to Arizona for the winters I asked her if I could display it during the holidays. I just loved the whole set I would just sit and stare at the eyes on the people she painted them so well they even have little eye lashes. I have to apologize I have done something to my camera so closeups are blurry when I have a chance I need to sit down with the manual and figure this out until then please bear with me.

You can sort of see their eyes in this photo this is one three Shepard's, look at the little lamb sleeping :)

Of course Mary, she is so pretty!


One of the three Wise Men.

This is another shadow box I got in the early 80's, it is made out of wood and the figures are about 1/2" tall. See Santa's sleigh on top of the tiled (wooden) roof. Here is the living room Christmas Scene.
And of course Santa and Mrs Clause relaxing after a hard day in their room. Why its in this house only the designer would know.



Merry Christmas to all the "blog readers"!