North Porch

Sunny weather = construction. We are finally seeing sunny days after a very, very wet spring.

That wet spring, made getting this porch up even more urgent, because we had seepage in the new building because of all the relentless rain. Having rain hit the wall and soak the dirt was not a good thing.

Setting the post pads.















Looking the other direction. Note, we still do not have the siding finished, maybe we will get it done this year.
















First poles and header, with a little adjustment.















More adjusting, oops a bit to high.















cutting notches for the beams to connect with the roof beams.
















like this














Adding more beams, not he is doing this alone.











































3 posts, 2 headers and 6 beams. That is enough for one day.





























Now you can get a better idea of what is happening and an overview of "the homestead"
a bit of the garden in the foreground and...............















the potato patch in straw. Note the new water faucet, sure is nice.















Why the card board.......covered with grass clipping is will feed the soil over time and make it nicer to walk on the the dirt.

Until later.

WE HAVE WATER!!!!!

Really, we have had water for about 2 weeks now, I am just a bit late in writing about it. Alot of things have happened in that two weeks, some a comedy of errors and the other the lose of our neighbor and friend.

The digging begins here at the meter pit, we have some of the worst "dirt", it is so sticky when it is wet and we have gotten so much rain this spring. We took the first opportunity and dry day in weeks to get going on this project.
Thank goodness we had this trackhoe to do the digging, it was even hard and laborious then. Because of the depth of the freezes here we had to go down 5 feet into the earth for 500 feet, over hill and dell.




















Starting at 8 am this is the progress by 4 pm. The dirt is so hard and sticky, Kirk had to dig out the bucket because it got impacted. I took the picture at about the half way point, on top of the hill.















We have to go over the where the telephone pole is, we have plumbing up to that point for outside faucets. Plus a leg off to the right on the other side of those little mounds for a faucet for the garden.















The next day we had some help, Dave did the digging while Kirk put the line in. I stayed inside because I was cooked from the day before. It was ok with me, I am not to good at that kind of stuff and it was HOT.















The above picture is taken from the porch of the house, Dave is digging near the garden.
Below, is taken from upstairs and you can see all the dirt they moved on the second day.
We have running water, no more storage tanks, hauling water or pressure pumps coming on day and night. Ater nearly 4 years of hauling water, it is not hard to get used to. We do appreciate it though, oh and I can do laundry when ever the mood strikes.......LOL.














Oh and I had to share with you..............Missy Mew no longer fits in the thong.

Dance

I got this in an e-mail and just had to share. Rejoice in the Lord God almighty!!! This new version of the 'footprints' story really caught me off guard at the end...What a blessing. JUST READ IT! FOOTPRINTS...A New Version Imagine you and the Lord Jesus are walking down the road together. For much of the way, the Lord's footprints go along steadily, consistently, rarely varying the pace. But your footprints are a disorganized stream of zigzags, starts, stops, turnarounds, circles, departures, and returns. For much of the way, it seems to go like this, but gradually your footprints come more in line with the Lord's, soon paralleling, His consistently. You and Jesus are walking as true friends! This seems perfect, but then an interesting thing happens: Your footprints that once etched the sand next to Jesus' are now walking precisely in His steps. Inside His larger footprints are your smaller ones, you and Jesus are becoming one. This goes on for many miles, but gradually you notice another change. The footprints inside the large footprints seem to grow larger. Eventually they disappear altogether. There is only one set of footprints. They have become one. This goes on for a long time, but suddenly the second set of footprints is back. This time it seems even worse! Zigzags all over the place. Stops. Starts. Gashes in the sand. A variable mess of prints. You are amazed and shocked. Your dream ends. Now you pray: 'Lord, I understand the first scene, with zigzags and fits. I was a new Christian; I was just learning. But You walked on through the storm and helped me learn to walk with You.' 'That is correct.' 'And when the smaller footprints were inside of Yours, I was actually learning to walk in Your steps, following You very closely.' 'Very good.. You have understood everything so far.' When the smaller footprints grew and filled in Yours, I suppose that I was becoming like You in every way.' 'Precisely.' 'So, Lord, was there a regression or something? The footprints separated, and this time it was worse than at first.' There is a pause as the Lord answers, with a smile in His voice. 'You didn't know? It was then that we danced!' To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance. Ecclesiastes 3:1,4. Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny isn't it? Are you laughing? Are you thinking? Spread the Word and give thanks to the Lord for He is good! Funny isn't it, when you go to forward this message, how many on your list are not receiving it because you're not sure they believe in anything? Sad. It's not WHAT you have in your life, but Who you have in your life that counts... Think about that. I ASKED GOD I asked for a flower, He gave me a garden. I asked for a tree, He gave me a forest. I asked for a river, He gave me an ocean. I asked for a friend, He gave me 'YOU.' Send this to whomever you think of as a friend.. I did. He is the Lord of the dance!!!

Studio Progress

Work has begun on the walls, we worked last Saturday on the walls of the studio. This is the south wall, I will be inside my own wooden box. LOL. It is so peaceful working up here, I find it hard to stay away (in fact I should be up there right now, quilting). I have this idea for the windows, how to cover them...........should the quilts for over the windows depict a pine tree or a cherry tree in bloom?? Envision a tree outside the windows, a huge tree, as if you were looking right into it or perhaps even inside it. Each window will depict a part of that tree, and even wrap around the bay, pine or cherry?? I was going to do a cherry but am leaning toward a pine. What do you think?















We had a little visitor for about 3 days. We rescued it from the dog and the cat. We are thinking the cat brought it home (kitten style) and then sat it down, the Rocky (the big 80 lb lab) had it in his mouth. He did not hurt it, in fact it was not hurt at all. So we brought it in and gave it a box with batting in it.


After it rested, I gave it some
lettuce, and it ate a little.

Next day it would not eat,
but that afternoon, I went out
and cut some grass and
that was the ticket, it ate and ate
then it got all hyper, even
escaping from its box.

I was so happy to see it
doing so well. As you can see,
it is the cutest little one.
Next day, I took it down to an area where there is alot of grass and alot of places to hide
and released it. I had to give it a nudge but finally it is back were it belongs and we
got to enjoy 3 days with it in our home.

Next up, making dandelion jelly.............................

Studio Update

The floor is down, the stairwell walls covered, finish is on AND the longarm is home.















Tonight we took delivery of part of the wood for the walls. In the foreground of the picture you can see the stairwell wall with the top plate on. I spent all day Monday sanding and finishing this area and the top part of the stairs themselves. Still have to put another coat of mud on the walls in the stairwell, then do the faux leather finish, and sand and finish the remainder of the staircase, but that is for another day.
Today, I worked on a birthday gift for grandson #2.
We are getting there slowly but surely, and paying as we go. It is wonderful working in this room, it is peaceful, bright, airy. Ya, I like it alot.

Until later.

Quilt Drawing

I read about this family over on Robin's blog and wanted to help by posting their need here.




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Donation quilt - Open Heart Surgery fundraiser
In September Don has to undergo open heart surgery to repair or replace the Mitral Valve - and we have finally come up with a way to raise money for what we will owe after insurance pays their part. To read more about Don's surgery - click here. I have been making quilts for years, it is one thing that I can do to contribute to our situation - and we've decided to use one of the quilts for the fund raiser, and it is the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that was finished just last year. It is hand pieced and machine quilted, by Julie from Idaho.

It is double bed size - the fabrics are 100% cotton, all tone on tones . . .
Julie did a fabulous job - using her home sewing machine . . .
It is Don's all time favorite quilt - he says it just makes him happy to look at it . . .For a donation of $5.00 you get your name in the drawing five times - a donation of $10.00 gives you 12 chances and $20.00 will give you 25 chances, etc.

To keep this from being an actual raffle - anyone can have their name entered without a donation (though we really do appreciate the donations, but completely understand if you can't donate, not everyone can in these economic times and we don't want you to feel bad about that). Send us your good wishes and prayers - they mean so much to us.I have talked to many internet and local friends - and they are all excited about this and we already have many donations and offers to take donations for us also.

The drawing will be Sept. 6 - Don's birthday - the surgery is scheduled for Sept. 4, at this point. Any money raised over the amount that is needed for our co-pay on the surgery (approx. $25,000 if everything goes smoothly) will be donated to another person or family with a medical need. We welcome ideas of who to donate to once we reach our goal.

To donate, - we are currently working on an online payment process - email for details.We also accept checks, just email for the address to send them to. Some of our friends are taking tickets already and gathering donations, which we truly appreciate. It is amazing the support and love we feel during this stressful and scary time.If you would like to post about this donation quilt on your blog, we surely would appreciate that - and you would get your name in the drawing 5 more times and for each person you send over this way who donates - another 5 times in the drawing.Thank you all for reading this post - and for your support and prayers.

Today's a good day

Afternoon all! Yes, it is a good day. The sun is shinning, the wind is blowing (well it would be better if it weren't) and I am feeling well again. WAHOO.

I knew I was on the mend when I kept myself awake thinking about planting potatoes and onions, feeding plants with worm compost tea, and working the beds and compost pill on the top pad.

So today, though I did not do all these things, I did feed the plants in the greenhouse, and cut the potatoes and spread them out to dry (among household chores). This should be a perfect week for planting, temps will be in the 70's. Spring IS here.

No pictures today, but I will get some of the gardening to come.