Mid-October, Really?!?

 Hard to believe, but true!  School has been keeping me very busy and the weeks are just flying by. 

 I found a way to incorporate my crow puppet into the seasonal decorating.  He may need to come to school for a spooky poem or story soon.

 I bought these harvest pictures at a rummage sale near Barrett this summer.  Not sure where the pic's are from though.  I love the horses in the picture below, also note the guy on top of the thresher in his overalls.

 Look at the ladies on the left, I bet they brought out a good lunch.

 I found these Waverly drapes at the BB for $3.  I like the yellow with the green walls.

 Here are some fancy headbands I made this evening.  They're for the classroom sale to support the humane society.  Some of the kids have been using their noon hour to make some beaded jewelry to sell.  The sale will be at school in a few weeks.  The flower on the top left is my first attempt at a fabric flower.  It was super easy. Kris, I used some of the material I bought at your sale.  Bigger ones would make nice pins and tiny ones would work well on barrettes  for little girls.  The feather band on the right is my favorite feather headband, made from pheasants.  I think this bag came from Paul or Royce. They are SO easy, just some hot glue and then I had some button type decor purchased from the dollar store to finish them off.

I realize that was a very random post but those were the newest pictures off my camera so I just went with it!  Have a good weekend!  Laurie

One of my favorite pictures this summer

POSH Chicago

I just ran across this picture from POSH in Chicago.
 I've been here in person and it's one of the prettiest shops I've ever been in.  

Fargo has direct flights to Chicago now.  It's a great place to head to for long weekend getaway.  Very tempting to go back with a one hour flight and now just a 75 mn car trip.

Summer Blooms

All the coleus I purchased in Jackson is doing great!

I broke the bowl of the bird bath years ago.
Just came up with the idea to put a pot on it this summer.

 More coleus.  They guy I bought it from says it's easy to save and root.  Might be easier just to buy from him again next spring.  It was super cheap for coleus and it took off in a flash.  Not the geraniums though, they're slow and I'm definitely going to try to save them because they're very unique and pretty.

Inspiration Peak

I could sit up here for hours....

Dan and Mike

The Hallorans came up this weekend. It was a beautiful and chilly weekend, perfect for a hike up to Inspiration Peak. Our first trip there this summer and we usually get there once a summer. It always fun to go with someone who's never been up there before and this was the case with the Hallorans.

The twins are in first grade now. One had a splint and the other a walking cast so tubing was not an option even if the weather would have allowed.

I should have made Dan take his glasses off so we could see his pretty brown eyes.

Danette and I had a great time on Saturday thrifting at the Bargain Bazaar and then scored at a big antique rummage sale nearby. I love this time of year. If only fall could last a little longer than it usually does. Maybe this year. We have a TON of acorns dropping this year, more than ever before. I'm going to google what that means. I'll let you know.... That reminds me I'm trying out a new acorn and wool craft. Should be able to finish it this weekend and will post.

I should also mention that today was just a fantastic first day of school. One of the smoothest I think I've ever had. I hope this is a sign of things in store for the year. However, I am reminded how fast the day goes when I'm at school and there aren't enough hours left in the day for all the other things I like to do, like sit around and drink coffee for an hour or more thinking about what I might do. :) Just in case you are thinking I am totally lazy, I did get the ceilings painted in the kitchen and dining room last week. We had to put a new light fixture in the kitchen and that was my impetus. It looks much brighter now. Will post a photo eventually. Good night!

Feeling Crafty...

I bought three small bags of felt this summer for less than $3 total and recently found a tutorial for these flowers on Pinterest. I made a green one too. I think they would be cute on headbands for little girls or bags for big girls. They are very easy and I plan to try one with regular fabric maybe a print. Cutting and glue gun was all that was required.
The felt flowers are glued on the back and came from the dollar store in a packet of goodies. There are metal flowers that are bunched together for three dimensional look in front. Just something new I tried, inspired by a picture in a magazine. It's small, 3x5.

Random pictures

I was taking pictures of the pretty flowers and Big Kitty decided she should be included.
We've had a couple of 3 inch downpours this summer It all flows down Sandy Point and fills in down here. It doesn't go into their cabin luckily. We've been fine, it just gets very mucky.
Shari, Paul & Nancy ran in Flekkefest this summer. Nancy won her age group and was the second woman over all. She's training for the Twin Cities Marathon in October. Quite an amazing feat I think!
Sophie and Carly pose with Daphne in her cute little life jacket.

Sophie & Carly fishing-no luck.

Stuff I've been buying

This is a stock photo that is nearly identical to my rummage sale find over Flekkefest. It's a Franklin Covey rolling laptop bag/organizer. Mine has one big pocket on the side not two. Dan was very impressed with it and thought it was for him. I will let him borrow it. :) So, I got it for $2 and it's currently selling for anywhere up to $150 online.
Here are my birthday cowboy boots. I can't wait to wear them somewhere.

I found one of these wire skirt hangers and it's a very handy organizer. I know a couple of people who are looking for them so if you have one you don't want or spy one at a rummage sale, please buy it for $1 or less.
The wood cubby/organizer was purchased last week at the Bargain Bazaar for $5. They sell something similar at Pottery Barn for a lot more. It's on a side table in the DR for now. If you are on my FB page you know that I am trying to get the painted floral trim off the top edge. I have been rubbing it with alcohol and that is taking a lot of the paint off but it takes awhile.
I am SOOO happy with this Descoware pot!! It had no handle and they wanted $1 for it at the BB. Someone said it might make a nice dog dish. I had never heard of it before and it says made in Belgium on the bottom. I researched and found that it was a popular item with Julia Child and the company was taken over by Le Crueset in the 1970s. I've used it three times and it cooks like a dream! I hope I can find more. They are not very common but I would like to have a 11 inch skillet and maybe a larger pot. Ebay has them. I had a broomstick in the garage and it had a threaded end that fit perfectly in this pot. I cut it down and sanded it a bit and it's great!!

Items found and created

I rescued this from the dumpster, any creative ideas for its use? It's sitting on the floor in my pantry presently, holding extra bags and some food. It doesn't really fit in there so I'm trying to think of something else.
Last week I was just delighted to find this book at the Fergus Goodwill. I even paid $1.99 for it, which is high for a thrift store book. It's about a woman who reads to a bear in the woods and even though he doesn't understand the words, he loves being read to and she loves reading aloud. The message is the joy reading aloud and being read to brings to anyone. I will be reading this one to my 5th and 6th graders and will join the other picture books I leave out just for fun.
Look at the beautiful illustrations. When I was paging through it on the way home in the car, Dan even commented on how nice it was.

Here's my most recent mini clipboard re-do. I was lucky to find a pack of Amy Butler paper at the dollar store, it was more than a dollar but very worth it as I just love her style.

Approaching storm

Another big storm came through on Sunday night and this is what it looked like about 30 mn before it hit us. Just a little rain this time and short period of strong winds, no damage and very few sticks to pick up.

Bad Blogger

Sorry I have been neglecting my blog lately. I probably have no followers anymore! I snapped this photo on the way to Shirley's Bday party as I loved the patterns in the countryside. This says summer to me. It smelled really good out there too! If you are reading this that means you are still checking in with me, thank you for your patience!

A new niece on the 4th of July!

July 3rd, 2011

July 5th, 2011

Kenzley Reagan Heath was born on July 4th at 7am.

Chicken Shot

I posted a bunch of chicken pictures from Kris's flock and thought I would share just my favorite here. Kris I'm down to my last dozen eggs so if your hens are still laying in the oppressive heat let me know and I'd love to pick again. Does the heat slow them up? I would think so. This hen is so striking, does she have a name, Kris?

Shirley's Birthday

It was Shirley's 81st birthday a few weeks ago and she posed for me under her beautiful rose arbor. It's been a few years since I have attended her birthday lunch and it was a very nice afternoon.

Three generations

Here's the birthday tag I made for Shirley's gift.

Fourth of July Humor

Our cabin neighbors two doors down have a funny sense of humor. They cleaned out the top of their hill lot to create more parking and tenting space for all the grandchildren and great grandchildren. Nobody actually slept up on the hill because of the storm on the 4th but hope to in the future. One of the daughters explained that in their family they call Sandy Point, "old money" the golf course area is "new money"so this hilltop was named "no money hill."