Playing Catch-Up

I've fallen behind on Roberts photo challenge. The Husband and I went to the cabin for a few days to work on construction projects, he's been on vacation from work this week and I've had so much fun working on stuff with him...it's great having him around. The photo request for Friday was to show what I find relaxing. The shot above is out of the kitchen window at the cabin..it's not really a kitchen yet but we have a propane stove there and it's where we keep the ice chest. I love standing here in the morning to make my coffee, almost every morning somewhere between seven and eight the hot air balloon pops into view, then it coasts by the cabin and floats down the valley, I get to watch it as I sit on the couch, drinking my coffee and reading my book. If the balloon isn't too high I can see it as it goes by, once it is out of sight my coffee cup is usually empty and it's time for me to get started on a project.

The request on Thursday was for my favorite view in my home. The photo above was taken out the window of the guest room here at the farm. I love seeing the stripes in the lawn from the mower, the willow trees shielding the road from view. In the winter when the trees have lost their leaves I can see the mountains in the distance.

My other favorite sight is the view toward that guest room from the end of the hall, the sun shines in the window and down the hallway first thing in the morning. When I moved here these floors were covered with old carpet. A few years ago I ripped up the carpet and refinished the old fir floors. The wood was really beat up and stained but I was determined to bring them back to life. After a lot of hard work stripping and sanding I just put a clear coat of varathane on them - they're far from perfect but I like them that way.

The photo request for today is me...yeah...I'm supposed to show a photo of yours truly. I'll have to think on that for a bit, hopefully I can come up with something creative to post later on in the day.

Sentimental Treasure

Robert asked us to show something of sentimental value today as part of his photo challenge. This little pill box belonged to my paternal grandmother. She made the best butter cookies in the whole world, she grew beautiful roses...she was a hard worker who occasionally would get completely frustrated - I know who I get that personality trait from!
I think the happiest I ever saw my grandma was the day 29 years ago when The Husband and
I (then my fiancee) went over to see her and grandpa to show them my engagement ring - she
was beyond excited. The saddest thing for all of us was that from the time of our engagement to the time of the wedding grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and she was unable to come to the wedding. For eight long years grandma was in a care center, when I would go to see her she didn't know me or any of my cousins. The memories of my grandma that I hold on to aren't about her time in the care center but of the years before her memory was taken from her, of cookies, funny stories, playing pool in her basement, spending the night upstairs in her pristine spare bedrooms.
When I go for lunch with my cousins we can spend hours playing "remember when"....
laughing until we cry....

My poor old kitchen

Roberts photo challenge this week is called "show me"...and today it's the kitchen. I've walked into the kitchen for two days and tried to think of cool, funky ways to take a photo of it. I came up with nothin'....not one stinkin' creative thought. I've been working in the party barn this morning - I must have used up all of my creative juice out there. Oh yeah...and I decided to "keep it real" for the photo, dishes in the sink, on the counter, in the dish rack....and a few paint brushes there to the left of the sink that need to be cleaned - hey man...we're workin' around here!
This poor old kitchen needs a lot of TLC. The dishwasher hasn't worked in years, the fridge leaks, the cabinets are circa 1967, the linoleum is from the early 70's...oh yeah - and the washer and dryer are directly behind me where I stood to take this shot! Yup, no laundry room at this old farm..when I grow up I would love to have a laundry room. We talk about adding on space, adding a second bathroom. I've drawn multiple plans, shopped for cabinets, talked to an architect and contractors....but I just can't take the plunge, we even arranged for financing!

The Husband and I ran a few errands this weekend and while we were at Costco we saw some old friends...they were buying flooring for their kitchen, living and dining room - their entire kitchen is gutted right now. She invited me to come over and see it when it's all finished, maybe I'll just live vicariously through her...or maybe...we'll just move in with them.
Hey now, there's a thought!

How to beat the Mailbox Mashers

Rural life comes with certain hazards. When I first moved to the farm I had a fondness for cutsie mailboxes. I hand painted the letters, I had one with cows painted on it. These snazzy mailboxes are like a magnet to those delinquent road-trippin' juveniles with a whole lotta pent up anger and frustration....or maybeeee...they're just bored. They will spend an evening cruising back roads, one guy drives...the other guy holds a baseball bat and takes a swing at mail boxes - I think they get points or something...maybe the dude that picks off the most mailboxes gets a case of beer, who knows.
My days of cool mailboxes are definitely over. I get the cheapies and wait 'til they are completely demolished before I put up the new one.

The Husband came up with this groovy idea. The mailbox sits on a post, he added this second post the the side of that one...making sure that it supports the side of the mailbox as well. Any bat-bearing juvenile delinquent that wants to take a swing at the mailbox is going to have one heck of a sore arm if he makes contact with the post, there is just no way the mailbox is going to go flying off the post if it gets smacked.

It's been a few years since I've had to buy a new mailbox...this one looks pretty tired but it sure beats having to fish the mailbox out of the ditch!

Wasn't that a great idea?

This post was inspired by Robert who is hosting a photo challenge this week...yup, another photo challenge. Hey man, I like 'em. The name of the challenge is "Show Me"...today is the mailbox, I think tomorrow is the kitchen.

Uh oh, does that mean I have to clean it?