Blogiversary

I was doing a little blog cruising over the weekend and I ended up at a life coach site. A few years ago a casual acquaintance of mine became a life coach so it sparked my curiosity. The blogger who led me there had taken the Enhanced Life quiz...I think that was the hook for me. The blogger described how she was working hard to complete a lot of the tasks that were listed on the quiz. Curious...and thinking to myself, aw heck...I'm pretty stinkin' happy, I think I'll take that lil 'ol quiz, it will be fun!
Section One, three questions in, and all I could think was - - -
Uh oh.
Wake. Up. Call.
It was called the Clean Sweep quiz and the first section focused on home.
Not that my life isn't good, it's really good. But it's kinda messy. Messy office, jam packed closets, kitchen cabinets, garage...yup...dang near everything isn't as orderly as I'd like it to be.
It's time, time to clean up and clear out... the time is now.
Crazy, I know. It's the holidays after all...but I kinda think that's the best time to do it. I can clear out and organize my Christmas stuff, get rid of what I don't need, then while I'm at it I might as well clear out my closets. There are clothes in there that I'm sure the Women's Shelter could put to good use at this time of year. Once I get the ball rolling who knows, I just might tackle that kitchen remodel I've been babbling about for the last ten years. Yikes!
Of course, all of these chores are going to take a lot of time and energy. Where will I steal the time from? I guess the most logical place would be...blogging.
On the third of December I will hit my one year blog anniversary....woo-hooo! I've almost made it a whole year :)
It's been great, I love the blogging community, but I'm taking a break. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned I might take a break and a few of you left really nice comments, thank you for that...I really mean it, it was super sweet. Of course I can't go cold turkey! It's going to take some time, I'll have to slowly ease that lap-top off my lap and back to the desk. I'll still be stopping by my faves, commenting occasionally....but I kinda want to be a lurker!
This is probably my last post for a good long while so I'll take this opportunity to wish you all Happy Holidays,
and of course happy blogging!
All the best,
S~

Wreath Day

One of my favorite days of the year...today was Wreath Day at this old farm! My friend Tami and I pretending that we made all of the wreaths...little worker bees that we are.

Mom, me, my niece and my sissy...crafty ladies I tell ya. Hmmmm, I think we made a lot more wreaths last year. Too much talking and snacking and not enough workie workie. Hey man, it's who we are...it's what we do.

Yum. Cranberry bliss bars from Starbucks, part of the wreath day tradition.

When everybody else is out shopping the day after Thanksgiving, I'm out in the craft barn with my friends and family....exactly where I want to be. I love sharing the space, making lunch, trying new recipes and laughing and crafting with my favorite gals....for me it just doesn't get a whole lot better than that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I couldn't resist...this one is a pretty good fit for this old farm.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

I'm off to cook some food and count my blessings....hmmm...don't know if I can count that high, yup, that's how I'm feeling today, incredibly blessed.

My Goal is to be a Babe

Ha! Gotcha.
Not that kind of babe. Not a chickie-hottie "babe".
I want to be like my great aunt Babe, my grandma's sister.

This morning I went to her 85th birthday party, the woman is amazing.
She's fit, she's trim, she has less wrinkles than a lot of women 25 years younger than she is.
She's active, she's always got something on her calendar
She even golfs three times a week!
So...I need to get focused on my "Babe" makeover.
First step...guess I better get some golf clubs.

Happy Birthday Aunt Babe!

And she rants...againnnn?

I'm going buggy. Citi got bailed out this morning, over the weekend they announced that they were just fine, their assets were secure - and this morning...a big fat bail-out.
What I want to know is who exactly is doing the math here?
Good grief!

Speaking of math. My darling niece is attending a state university. The university is having serious financial difficulties. The FBIS (Fat Boy In Suit) who has the groovy job of running the U makes $888,000 a year, he's taking a little heat about his salary so he's opted not to accept his most recent bonus/cost of living increase? Isn't that nice of him, but he's made it clear he's not willing to accept a decrease in his salary.

Oh My Giant Bucket of Crap!

$888,000 % 12 = $74,000. each and every month..think about it...one guy, driving up to the bank window to deposit his monthly paycheck - it's freaky people....just plain freaky!
It's a state university... our state is pretty much bankrupt.
I know I know, our country is full of these people.

Last week the news was full of reports about pirates off the coast of Somalia taking over oil tankers and holding them for ransom.
In my mind this guy is no different than those pirates.

Perhaps it's time for a little bit of mutiny on this ship called the USA Bounty?

Sorry about the rant, I had to get it out.

*correction*
UW President Mark Emmert makes $905,000 a year according to the Seattle Times.
Sorry 'bout not having my facts straight, I mean really...what's $17,000 among friends.
Well Mark, that's what a lot of folks live on for a whole year.
Imagine that.

Gin The Dancing Dog

I tried to tell Bergie that we should get

creative with our exercise....

this is the look she gave me.

I don't think she's feelin' it.

If you're curious click on the link:

Gin The Dancing Dog

Oh. my. goodness.
We have a lot of work to do

Dear Trespasser(s)

My Dear Trespassers,

I have an idea.

When you come to my place to hunt, gather, picnic, frolic, exercise, hike and whatever else you like to do here...I think we should make a deal. I know you're not comfortable asking for permission to stop over here, so you can drop my request on the front porch before you leave...or a little IOU would be fine too.

When you take my daffodils, leave a bouquet for me too.

When you take my lilacs, same thing.

When you take my blackberries, leave an IOU for a pie or a little pint of jam would be nice.

When you take fall foliage, leave me a cat-tail or two for my bouquets.

When you take a duck, hmm...I like smoked duck breast, an IOU will do.

When you take service berries, same thing as blackberries, jam or pie is fine.

When you take a deer, I'll call the cops...the deer and I have a deal and those no hunting signs are there for a reason.

When you chop down a tree, a little stack of firewood would be a good idea.

But.

When you take a whole truck load of rose hips and wild red winter berries like you did today, you owe me a wreath and maybe even some money...that's pushing the limit.
I'm totally into sharing.
But.
What I don't want is your picnic trash, pop cans, dorito bags, beer bottles, wine bottles, dirty diapers and doggie doo doo, oh yeah...FYI, that recliner that you left doesn't match my decor.

Thanks,
I'll be waiting for my pie, the ice cream is in the freezer.
S~
p.s. about that case of whiskey you left hidden in the brush, I think you were probably planning to pick up later? We gave it to my brother-in-law, if I may be so bold - could you leave vodka next time?

Farmgirl Humor

This one tickled my funny bone.

I'm not picking on anybody,

I'm blonde...sometimes,

just not this year.

Million Dollar View

I drive by this little restaurant once or twice a week, and I'm almost always in too much of a hurry to stop. This past weekend we finally gave it a try.
I'm so glad we did.
This is the view from where I was sitting, yeah...they call it their million dollar view.
The best part? Besides the view? You can get a burger for five bucks!
The food was great, the beer was cold, and the service was fabulous.
If you're local give them a whirl, I think you'll be glad you did.

Blue Mountain Grill
Highway 9
Acme, Washington

Send out the trainer

Ten years ago I was living my life in overdrive and working full time. The farm was still a functioning dairy, The Husband was working seven days a week, really long days. I was working in sales and as a corporate trainer. My job was based out of Seattle, two hours from the farm so we had an apartment in the city, but I was rarely there. Two weeks out of most months I would fly to another city, usually west of the Mississippi...where I would spend five days training new sales employees, or retraining existing sales staff that was performing poorly, they were usually pretty close to getting the boot.
When I would meet with employees in need of "retraining" the first thing on my agenda was to have a conversation that went something like this.
"OK...I'm sure you know why I'm here. The boys in suits don't like your numbers, but I'm not a boy in a suit. This week I'm here to give you everything I've got, we're starting fresh, what I need to know is ...do you really want this job? Because if you don't want it, why don't we just get it all right out in the open here, I can fly back home today...there is plenty of work for me to do back in my own territory. So, are you in? Or do you want me to go back to the airport? It's really all up to you. At the end of this week I'll be writing a report, and you'll get to sign it...in fact we'll be writing it together. What do you want to do this week? Do you want to help me write a glowing report on Friday or do you want to give me a ride to the airport right now?"
The joke at the corporate office was that when Shelly went out to "retrain", those employees would either quit or their numbers doubled. It wasn't always about numbers, sometimes it was about filling out reports correctly, or following company policy...and now that I don't work there anymore I can say that it was usually because their doofus district manager didn't train them right in the first place.
So, I've decided I need some retraining. This old farm blog will be a year old in two weeks...and I think it needs a boost, or a boot....not quite sure which. I'm boring me, so if I'm boring me I can't imagine how much I'm boring everyone else. It's time to shake it up, or shake it off. I read so many cool, sassy, creative blogs...maybe I'll just be a place where readers can go to find better places to go....hey...now there's an idea!

Sweet Rosie

Rose and her daughter Lilly

My sweet and sassy puppy was snuggled next to me on the couch this morning when I opened my e-mails. In my in-box was an e-mail from my friend Deb, the message she sent told me that her sweet Rosie went to dog heaven this weekend.
A little over two weeks ago Rosie was at a beach party having a great time. A few days later she wasn't feeling well so Deb took her to the vet, her liver was in bad shape...Rosie was in a lot of pain and surgery wasn't an option.
Rosie never met my new girl Bergie, but Deb and I talked about getting the girls together so that Rosie could teach naughty Bergie some manners, sort of like a big sister.
We never got that chance.
We just never know what tomorrow will bring, so let's all give our puppies a hug, take them for a walk, or a drive...and maybe an extra treat or two.
In loving memory of Rosie.

My Fave Designer

So, a few nights ago I had crazy dreams about remodeling and cranky designers. The one designer that wasn't in the dream, a designer that I know in real life, my faaaave designer and lovely pal Jenny.
This girl has more creativity in her little finger than I have in my whole body. It's always so much fun to go to her house because she never runs out of ideas...it's like a crazy magic design fun-house. And it's pretty....oh so pretty.
A few years ago Jenny moved into an old farmhouse that needed a lot of work, of course Jenny grabbed a crowbar and got right to it. Well, the house is about finished so she needed to go someplace with all of that creative energy.
May I present...drum roll please....
The Duck Dock in Jenny's pond.

Every time I look at this photo I crack up. I dream about building stuff like this - the cool thing about Jenny is, she dreams it...and then she does it.

Love that girl.

* Click to make the photo larger and check out the "Duck!" over the door...
he he he

Kitchen Nightmares

I've been reading house porn again, that's what I call decor magazines. They're my weakness, aw heck...it could be so much worse, that's what I tell The Husband...it's just House Beautiful and Traditional Home (ok...and a few more).

I found this kitchen photo online and I actually figured out how to save it, sorry to say after all of that I can't remember where I found it. I loooove the look of this kitchen, in order for it to work in my house I would have to shrink it down to about half the size, hmmm...probably even less.

I've only been dreaming about a new kitchen for twenty eight years. Right now I have curling 70's linoleum, a leaking fridge, a non-functioning dishwasher and brand new stains on the carpet that leads to the dining room because the washer sprung a leak a couple of weeks ago -yay! Oh yeah, the washer and dryer in the kitchen....true multi-tasking.

My daydreams of a new kitchen have now wormed their way into my dreams at night...only they're not so dreamy. I've been taking pain meds and muscle relaxers (crappy back) and they always give me strange dreams, last night was a doozy. My dream was that I finally committed to a kitchen remodel and ordered the cabinets above...only they didn't fit. The kitchen island in the photo was installed in my existing kitchen, and there wasn't room for anything else....you couldn't even walk in the door, the whole kitchen was one big beautiful granite topped island - no fridge, no sink, no stove....no nothin'. Just one giant island that you couldn't even walk around.
Of course my favorite decorators were there to tell me I should have known better than to design my own kitchen, even my favorite decor bloggers were there to tell me what dummy I was.
Big bunch of meanies.

Now wonder I'm scared to remodel.

Dear Mr. President Elect

Back when you were campaigning and you told us that your girls would be getting a puppy, specifically a rescue puppy....a lot of us were quite pleased that was the course you would be taking. I don't want to have to get cranky with you about this, but is it my imagination or are you doing a little bit of back peddling on this one?

Please don't do that.

I understand that your daughter has allergies, so you can't get just any old rescue dog...but you can certainly find a specific breed through the rescue system.

Check out Seattle Purebred Rescue, I'm sure they would be happy to put you in touch with a Purebred Rescue organization in your area.

A lot of us out here really want to see a whole bunch of folks adopt rescue dogs, let's face it...if you do it, you'll be inspiring a vast number of others to do it as well.

Please don't disappoint us, there are just far too many great dogs in shelters out there that need homes!
Oh yeah....and I think you'll have plenty of room at that house you're moving to, I've been there...it's quite lovely.

Thanks for listening,
I'm just another American who knows the joy of having rescue dogs join the family and hope you will too.

When The Going Gets Tough!

I get busy.
There was so much bizarre energy floating around this week with the election, the economy, weather issues...I had to find things to distract me.
I cooked like a bandit, yup...there was a cook-a-rama in my kitchen. Now there are a lot of homemade meals in the freezer, food to warm us up when we come in from working outside and we're cold and wet. Chili, chicken soup, potato soup and old fashioned pea soup.
When I wasn't cooking I was moving stuff around, I sorted things, moved all of the Christmas decorations to a new location. I found stuff I had totally forgotten about, I found the old files I used when I was planning our wedding. I should just get rid of most of it. That's what happens when you've never moved. I live in the same house I moved into when we got married 28 years ago, The Husband has lived here since January of 1966...that's a really long time!
It's fun to look through the old stuff, it's like a giant memory book up in the attic....but really, why on earth am I keeping my old roller skates?
Oh yeah...and I found a pair of Candies mules...circa 1978, I put them on, clomped around the attic...and promptly took them off before I broke an ankle.
How the heck did I ever walk around in those things? Walk! I think I disco danced in them!
No wonder I have bad feet 30 years later.

Duck...it's a hunter

Yesterday was such a beautiful sunny fall day.
Today...not so much. When I got up this morning it was raining, the wind was blowing...the leaves were flying off the trees and sticking to the windows because they're zooming sideways.

Bergie doesn't care if it's windy and rainy...she's happy to run around the farm in any kind of weather. I try to make sure she stays close to me but sometimes she chases a bunny, a duck, a crow, a bug, a leaf...you name it....and she'll chase it with all of the puppy enthusiasm she can muster.

A few minutes ago a stranger came to the door and asked if he could duck hunt in the corn field. I told the guy no, told him I have a new dog that I'm working on training but she's not really there yet...I just can't take any chances with her. I didn't tell him that I hate the sound of shotguns, it completely freaks me out.

Why on earth do I feel guilty? I don't know the guy, I don't like guns, I have a puppy who is easily distracted....and heck...the cornfield isn't that big and it's bordered by two roads that have a fair amount of traffic, it's not really a good place to be shooting off firearms.

I keep running all of these reasons through my head...and still...

guilt.

They're Coming!

Two little girls are going to get a puppy,

a shelter/rescue puppy, in the White House..how cool is that?

One More Day

Just one more day of listening to "crappy" political ads.

I can't wait for it all to end.