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rufflles and the last rose of summer

Fiddling with ruffles in the magic room..

Here with my last rose of summer with a new flour sack bag... 
This big sunshine flower should brighten even a winter day...

Don't you think?

Guess where we went today?

This is the first clue. A farm that used to belong to an Amish family and so all the plumbing (toilets taken out) was not working and all the lights had been removed. It is located about 45 miles from Spokane in the Chewelah area. The new owners have been moving there for a year and a half. It takes a long time to move a FARM and all the critters. They are dear friends of ours. Kind hard working  people.
More information about their business here.
We went as friends to visit. It was nice. Jeff and Joy are unique in many ways. They have grown together over these 35 years of marriage. When Jeff says Joy took out that door and and replumbed the toilet..he means JOY literally did that...while he was out building a fence or tending to cattle. A few pictures may tell their story better.
Yesterday they were tending two little grandsons....

And so they were put in the wheel barrel and we went to see the animals.

They raise exotics. Also see the beautiful place they live. A big farm - 100 plus acres. Well, they could use 500 acres they have so many critters but a much bigger farm than they were on previously.

There camels have adjusted to the move better than the cows - they lost quite  a few cows - from the shock of the move.

I could have taken hundreds of pictures, but Jeff said - what are you doing, a documentary and I decided not to ruin our friendly visit with me snapping away. They had one little cow - their specialty - born at 13 pounds.
In the back yard they have an old auctioneer stand they are going to attach to the house - so the grandsons can climb out the window and escape.

Joy served us yummy soup and homemade bread prepared on her wood stove...

She laid the tile floor and put the stove in herself. Yip...Joy...did the work! She found a trough sink and install it also...LOVE this sink! Oh, and she has an old claw foot tub outside under this window all plumbed (she plumbed) with hot and cold water so the kids can take a bath outside. Joy confessed she's taken a bath out there a few times....

The grandsons slept in the tent in the living room - next to the saddle...

We talked about kids. Isn't that what parents talk about? They have four children - all living good clean service oriented lives. (RS Pres, YM Pres, EQ Pres, EM Seminary teacher) Three graduated from college, one with a full scholarship to Harvard. They are involved in doing construction and selling homes. They work together - except the Harvard graduate is getting Masters and will join them in a year. They want to live close to one another and by Nana and Papa so they can have their kids be raised by the farm. 
Jeff and Joy said - one way to keep a family together is have 50 head of cattle. I would have to agree.
We had a little tear in our eye as we left...amazed by these people. They work too hard. Then we decided they are doing just exactly what they want. They don't see it as hard work. They see it as fulfilling. The love their farm. We loved visiting.

Playing with pockets

I wandered into the thrift store and they had a great sale on summer shorts...shorts and bibs with POCKETS......fun pockets...

Lots of pockets...

And straps...

So I am playing with pockets and straps today.
I hope the 'magic' with them will happen.

How to make things rusty - The juxtaposition of rust...

I found a recipe to create rust...so here we go..
Gather objects to rust - a variety to see what works best:

then the formula for rust:

WARNING: This is not nice ingredients especially when combined  - so do this outside UPwind. I first put 1/2 cup vinegar in my pickle jar with a spoon full of salt - then measured 1/2 cup chlorine bleach in a big glass measuring cup and went outside. I stirred the salt to dissolve...dropped in the 'items' and then carefully added the chlorine bleach. Nasty combination..be careful. I picked up a stick and CAREFULLY stirred with my other hand holding a folded up washrag over my mouth and nose. Chlorine gas is not good for lungs.
Set the jar in a safe place (inside an old wooden box - not perched here for the photo shoot) OUTSIDE - with the lid off and went to check a few hours later...

The foam on top let's us know it is working and oh look at the brown solution. Oh, I hope this works.
The next morning...I go to a remote area (and over a container I can put a lid on and take to the toxic recycle center) carefully pour as much of the toxic liquid off as I can and then pour the contents into a cardboard box, with one end off so I can then drain the liquid out of the box easily.

Now sitting in the sun drying out - things are beginning to look lovely. Of note, the cheap earring is rusting the best, pins okay...bells pretty good...tiny hearts not so much. Once dry I will spray them with a sealer/varnish so as to keep them from staining fingers and fabric and use them on my heart pins with other various doodads and buttons hanging about.
The most interesting and comical part of the little experiment in rust...is this, my hubby brought home some nice old tools he found 'in the field'...

and last night while eating dinner asked if I knew of any way to get RID of rust on things. Hummm...as a matter of fact...

I'm doing the exact opposite...oh, my.

Air - sweet sweet air

Oh, I know you have all been holding your breath with me and checking like 3 times a day to see if I have come up for air yet.
Well.....happy day....2 and a half days later...we have air. I did take a couple 'before' pictures but couldn't post them until I knew there would be a 'after'.
But first a big long tale of rationalization and excuses. I have worked full time. for. sixteen. years. (and for 10 of those years I had a second job cleaning a post office every afternoon...ugh)  every single. day. (well, not every single day I had Saturday and Sunday off - if you call working in the yard - serving in the church - being a Grandma etc off) I was out the door by 6:15 a.m. - then stop to do errands - buying groceries -  on the way home and other miscellany and then drop said groceries on floor and rush to fix supper and do laundry and then basically crash on the love seat to pooped to pop.
Okay so the before...see the reason for absolutely having to clean is bags were creeping into the hall way no room in storage room....

Doesn't seem so bad, eh...well open the door baby...

disgusting....I could be on a TV show 'Do people really live like this?"

The answer is NOT ANY MORE - NO NOT EVER EVER AGAIN!

Whew....feels so good. I am headed out to Goodwilly....whew whew...air air air. This is the REAL me. Honest and true.
Whilst I was at it I put up some cute old stuff to see everytime I venture down here...

If'n you wonder where I am this afternoon...the MAGIC ROOM. Yahoo!

You know it is serious - when...

We put on tennis shoes to do the job.

Pepper is excited because she thinks we are going for another walk...but no...we are heading to the storage room for Mission Organization.
I hope to come up for air by supper time....

Bored? Are you kidding me?

Someone asked me if now I am retired from my real big girl day job it I am bored? This is what is on the docket for today...you decide:

This is the before mirror with Pepper...even she thinks it is pretty ugly...when I got home with it...I kept saying..."What did I do?" But our daughter in law has the best decorating sense and she hung a big cute mirror in her bathroom -  so I am trying to be like her. I am such a mess sometimes, I run from trying to be like one person to the 'tuther until I wonder who I am anymore.  In high school it was the same, I couldn't figure out who I was and so I was trying to be like everyone else until I was like a big box of miscellany at an auction...one bid takes it all. Here is a scrambled box of bits of everything, you take it home and see if you can make any sense of it. I feel like that sometimes - bits of everything. Hoping I can make sense of it somehow. Okay..so I am trying to be a cool as Jess and here is the almost 'after' working on it today...

Also re-oiling my big butcher block while I have sunshine to help it soak in...this butcher block has seen many 'good eats' in her day. Getting her all oiled up for another year of chopping and dicing.

Painting a little table this drawer fits in...going to make it look like this desk...isn't this black-sanded- edges-prim -looking furniture fun? Easy because you can just sand off the drips and painting mistakes and it looks like it was planned.

I don't know if my knobs are too big for this desk. Still debating. Maybe get littler-straighter ones. I just I finished last week and I love it. It had been a disgusting fake wood finish before. Well made old desk. Dove tail drawers and fun legs.

Note the pile on the floor is the current eBay auction..yes, I am listing at least 3 things a week. Not pictured is the boxes strapping tape - next weeks items. Let's just say, every room has 'activity' going on.

Very cute chenille bedspread I torn apart and dyed this bit orange for a little pumpkin thing I have brewing in my head...Turned out a good orange I'm happy with this...drying on my drying rack..

Three blind mice awaiting eyes on the kitchen table...(and glasses for a special granddaughter) who wears glasses.

Working on a batch of cards to give a lady at church ..who sends the nicest notes to everyone. She is amazing. We sort of look alike...well, we both have gray hair and are older...I love it when someone accidentally confusing us and calls me Marsha...such a compliment.

Messing with and figuring out flour sack pin cushions and heart pins..a little bitty bob for the Farm Chicks show...

Tea dying a few to see what I like best. Don't know  yet. I love how tea instantly makes something look - um - better - loved - ragged-el-le-er.  Oh and notice the fru fru thing...

I found this at a garage sale - actually an estate sale - I took it right off the living room wall. Estate sales make me sad. I feel like I am invading someones life. Taking something they loved and now it is just stuff to get rid of - just a haunting feeling sometimes. It had a masking tape price on it, so they wanted it sold so I bought it, but I wonder what she thought when she bought it or was it a gift? She had it hanging over a picture. The picture was not my liking but this do-dad made it pretty cute. She had a lovely decorated 1970's home. Have you noticed 1970 - gold and green and rust colors are coming back? Out with mauve and blue. Out-in-out-in...aren't we silly?  Anywhoo...I have primed it..going to make it cute somehow..either black paint and sand or white peely paint. Which do you think I should do?

Remember the nice clean top of my file cabinet...well, it is now slowly being buried under genealogy...and indexing. I so enjoy both of these. I have been indexing Alaska 1900 census records. Funny Funny thing on one census. The enumerator..made me laugh. There was a family (and yes, I am making notes of names etc it is just to fascinating) the 'head' name was  Saudoohlook and the wife Whoosjehun and then there was another wife named Kokdooye. The enumerator had put a little squiggly line by the two wife's and two big fat explanation marks. Is that funny? We all know what he was thinking, don't we?

I also have Sunday School lesson to prepare...enjoy this...when the lesson is good I love it...when I make a fool of myself, which seems to happen more than I like, I talk too loud too fast too much too intense...I don't like it so much.  This just happened. I am embarrassed, what to hide - not look at anyone - I have re-taught it a hundred times this week!

And I really want a nice red leather chair but until then...I am redoing this one. Oh, Rick is grumpy about painting beautiful wood...but it is a $3.00 chair for goodness sake. I have nice vintage bark cloth I am going to cover the chair seat with. I think it will be fun. Wonder if I should antique it with then sand the corners to make it look vintage...hum....don't know yet.

And I have gone through this huge pile of accumulated magazines - waiting for the kids to take or toss - I like red chairs, did ya know?

And I have peaches that need to be 'dealt with'. Going to make jam, tonight because we only have these few left. They have tasted so good this year.
And I have a dental appointment and buying the stuff for and fixing a veggie tray for  75 people for our
niece's wedding tomorrow.
BORED...you have got to be kidding....! And I couldn't be happier. I love being able to see and that my hands work and I can do so many things. I feel very blessed. Very blessed.

Miracles thoughts....

"It can't be a miracle unless it is impossible." Craig Lybbert

"To deny the reality of miracles  on the ground that the results and manifestations must be fictious simply because we cannot comprehend the means by which they have happened is arrogant on the face of it."
Howard W Hunter

I have a couple miracles I'm praying for.....how about you?

And...

W R Ogden doesn't know WHEN his birthday is...month or year....or where he was born or where either of his parents were born...he did live in New York before coming to Alaska. Can you believe that...he doesn't know his age? What age would you be, if you didn't know by the calendar?  I tell ya...scrapbookers would of had a hard go at it in Alaska in the 1900's...don't ya think? Oh my goodness - and his occupation is actor? That puts your mind to wandering and wondering - doesn't it? Actor - in Alaska - in 1900. Hummmm

What do you mean...No Name?

What?
I have been doing indexing of census records. I love it. I mostly do it in my 'snatches' of time. Like I am ready to go somewhere but 10 minutes early..Oh, I'll index. Eating lunch, Oh, I'll index. Ready for bed and it is only 8:30 (yikes!) Oh, I'll index.
Today eating lunch...I am doing Alaska. Alaska in the 1900's. The tribe is Kinik. Did you know that tribe? VERY informative - these census records.... Never a birth month - but usually a birth year. Only one name. I am listing them as given name as I don't think all the surnames would be different..or would they? No one on the page reads or writes. Occupations are sealer, fisher, domestic. Names like Nelognaok, Poutook, Ouke, Alok, Tootok, Punikunlu. Even thought I don't know how to pronounce them..I can just type the letters I see. Today however, really threw me for a loopteeloop.  For a wife...age 35..I was just typing the letters - not trying to figure out what the name was or how to say it and this is the letters I typed... (no name).  in parenthesis like that.. NO NAME. Then later on the same page older man...80. Old Man (no name). EIGHTY  and never had a name...Then this: infant (no name).
That has just set me to thinking. A lot. First of all, that makes doing genealogy pretty interesting...I mean...looking for your Grandpa and he has NO NAME. How could somebody live their life with no name? I love to hear my name. I love my name. I am my name. Who would I be if I didn't have a name. A nobody? I'd rather be Pelikshaumaook than have NO NAME. Whoosh...makes one think, doesn't it?
Something to be thankful for....a name.