Recycle and Reuse

Duct tape and staples….. always a great combo for a boy’s 4-H project! CJ and I made this tote from an old T-shirt of his. Staples instead of sewing covered with duct tape made the seams, and the duct tape again was used for the entire lining of this heavy-duty tote. And, besides fun colors, duct tape now comes in tie dye, which was perfect for this old T! (You can just barely see the duct tape under the handle in this picture.) Another purple ribbon! Way to go buddy!

Here comes the Sun

I have a way of coming up with 4-H projects, that I want done for the house or garden, and this vine trellis was one of them. Sticks from the creek, old garden stakes, and a trunk slab made this a Purple Ribbon project all the way to the State Fair... guess it even was considered for some art award too. It was photographed for a new Design Decisions manual, so maybe it will be "published." Kudos to you RJ!

Halloween

My one little guy wanted to be Frankenstein for Halloween this year, so I put hubby and him on that project. Didn't really have an idea for the other one, until I heard him talking in his sleep about fixing something or making something, and I thought to myself, "that kid is going to be in building or science of some sort." Then, it hit me. He could be the Mad Scientist! And, come to find out their cousin was the Bride of Frankenstein. Someone did get a picture of them running around town, but I don't have it yet. How fun!

And, Frankie came from an idea off the good ole www. The head is a cut out milk jug, and the clothes all came from Goodwill. Hated to cut up his "everyday" shoes! And, yes, my crazy idea of jumper cables for the Mad Scientist ended up a nice touch.

Summer 4-H projects

Besides not having much of an internet connection this summer, we were quite busy with baseball schedules and 4-H projects. I'll try to upload a few favorites. I think the boys each had a dozen or more projects, so we won't show them all. It was really fun, but again, we all have a goal to get these started and maybe even done (LOL) before summer hits.

For Computer Mysteries, the boys each made a faux magazine cover. It went really fast, of course using Creative Memories' Storybook Creator Plus. They both recieved high honors, purple ribbons, and CJ the Reserve Champion. They were both so great, but I told RJ, I'm sure the judge liked cute puppies better than calves.

Ferdinand the Bull

We have been quite busy this summer, and one of the projects were three bucket calves. The Pinzgauer calf I showed earlier this summer we finally named Marley. This little red angus our neighbor helped name Ferdinand the Bull from the 1930s Disney story. The first day I took him out for a stroll, he stopped at the honeysuckle bushes and loved them. In fact, after I carefully got him down for a snooze where I could see him from my studio, I lost him. I looked all over around the yard for him, knowing he couldn't have gone far on those new, very shaky legs. Well, there he was hidden under the honeysuckle bushes. Thus, Ferdinand the Bull fit him well.

Two peas in a pod... or woodpile

I truly admire those National Geography photographers. Patience for the shot, but quick on the trigger all while in some precarious places. I know my shot here would barely get a "Thanks for particpating" ribbon at the fair, but it was the best I got and I only had two shots. And, my zoom is in need of repair. I had taken a completely blurred image and then finally got this one. It is the very first peafowl chick hatched at our place. I didn't want to stress the peahen, so I only shot once and then went back later hoping for a clear shot. Can you see the little legs under the peahen to the left. That's it! And, not only was she hiding in the woodpile behind a bench, but I had to squat down, and wait for any type of view of the chick hidden very well under her wing. I was in my lovely position next to the pygmy goat pen, and Nibbles ate my hair twice and my pants once, then Nosey came over to see if she could get a taste. And, yes, those are their names! Fits 'em to a tee! Hopefully, I'll get some better shots, but we're excited nonetheless about our first little hatched fowl of any kind!

Wow! Summer has come and with all its craziness; baseball, 4-H, gardening, mowing, kid camps, etc., etc. I will try to catch up on some of our activities. One fun thing I have been working on are flyers for Pilger Days. July 17-19. Here are couple new events. Participate if you can.... we really want to make this first year for these a success to lead to more fun years.

The Synchronized Swimming will be so fun to watch and do. You don't even have to know how to swim or get your hair wet. Pick a song and a buddy or two or more and go! Any age, any size, any talent!

And, this is the first year of what we hope to be a great jaunt for people to come to Pilger Days. Bring your crafts, art, produce or clean out your garage or grove. Bring your shabby, chipped paint, rusty, dusty junk..... someone is looking for it!

First fishing of the year

We took the boys and a friend of theirs over to a Pilger Rec area on Saturday evening. Gorgeous night, and they caught a fish about as soon as they threw their line in. But, they were all these tiny little "chubs" -- the worms were almost bigger than they were, which was fine since we preferred to catch and release anyway.

I had fun "catching" shots, including these pelicans. I couldn't get very close, but I thought it was quite odd to see them in NE Nebraska. Chewy the dog came along too and had a blast hiking and running around. However, I spent a couple hours afterwards pulling 60+ tics off him! Yuck!

Name that Calf

Our feedlot neighbor gives us his feedlot "accidents" -- fat cattle are not supposed to be bred, and a lot of these calves die. He knows they need extra care, and doesn't want to mess with them. And, we give them lots of TLC. Yesterday, we got the call -- you would think we would be prepared this time of the year, since this is our sixth one in the last few years, but we never are. We had to run to town for shots, colostrum, and milk replacer. This litte guy is doing great. He is a cross-Pinzgauer and just quite adorable. Pinzgauers are from Austria and are rare. His white markings are Pinzguaer, but they are supposed to be chestnut, and he seems to have more black.

Now, we need a name for this cute little guy..... any ideas?

Honey Do's & hard boiled eggs

Do you ever come up with what some may call strange or creative ideas? These ideas will pop in my head, and thankfully I have a husband who entertains those ideas and is handy enough to tackle them. I bought this bunk bed years ago at a garage sale. It was painted with thick glossy lime green, orange, and yellow paint, which may have been okay for some, but not me. I didn't have a clue what to repaint it as, but knew it would be perfect for my then toddler punks. Then, the idea hit me. We'll paint it like a log cabin and the slide a waterfall. Perfect! So after burning out a couple sanders and using Kilz primer we got it repainted. Sadly, my practice side is showing and the best side is against the wall, but still not bad. And, look at the awesome waterfall hubby came up with, including frogs, butterflies, fish, and a dragonfly. And, yes, Kermit lives underneath the waterfall. Another idea we have been working on for a couple of years was putting in a barn door for the door to my studio. I came across an awesome door on a falling down barn, asked the owners, paid for the collapsed barn, and walla we have a barn door. It took a bit, but dear handy hubby came through, and now we have this awesome door in our basement that works wonderfully too.

The latest project was some old wooden windmill blades. I knew when we got them I would want to try to hang them in our basement rec room. However, they are quite large and heavy. Well, while my mom, friend, and I were off junkin', dear handy hubby and our eldest punk got them hung. I was so excited. Everyone sees them seems to love them too.

I guess after 20 years of crazy ideas, I'll keep that dear handy hubby, even if he keeps putting fresh eggs in with my hard-boiled ones, and only hears half of what I say. At least he seems to hear the crazy ideas if I say them enough. You're a keeper. Happy Anniversary!

P.S. To decipher hard boiled versus fresh eggs, spin them. After you put your finger on the fresh one to stop it, it will start spinning again (and, it doesn't spin as easy as the hard boiled one). The hard boiled spins faster but stays stopped once you put your finger on it.

Cutting felt just got easy!

Quilters/crafters may know this already, but I stumbled upon a great idea when using felt. In cutting out the crazy templates we chose for my son's church banner, I just taped the shapes/letters on to the felt and cut right through the tape. No marks, so no need to worry which side to trace on, and the felt doesn't stretch or move when cutting in those small places, even inside the letters. It also made the felt firmer and easier to cut. My son was easily able to cut out nice shapes too. Walla!

Now, if someone can just teach me how to turn this photo, here's the finished project!

Button Flower Bouquet

A good friend of my mother's made these flowers for me and for a few of her friends. They sit on my little ironing board shelf in the mud/laundry room. With spring on the way, I thought I would share the idea in case someone had some extra buttons laying around. Have fun. (P.S. please ignore my wreath that is in desperate need of a refresh. On my to-do list!)

Our Little Angel...

It has been a healing blessing for us to share Aspen's story. These words have always helped us and we thought we would share them on this special day that they may comfort others.

Someone said these very simple, uplifting words to me, "She will be in Heaven waiting for us. She will be perfect, and she will know us and we will know her." Thanks Fr. Tim

Grande skinny mocha please.

It may have been the chilly morning and not having my coffee yet, but doesn't this town look like they are welcoming everyone with a cup of coffee? And, yes this is in April after a blizzard!

Pretty wires...

Don't all these wires look kind of pretty?

But, this all came from a huge mess that we are still messing with. We had to dig up part of driveway to lay a new power line, which then broke a water spout, and tore up some drainage tile. And, we can't park in the garage until we get cement poured, which would really be nice with this spring "winter storm" on its way. Such a mess. We even had to dig up our brick path and some perennials. :-( We we're just waiting for something to do! Ha!

No ironing required!

I rarely iron.... in fact, I got rid of my real ironing board that really only got used as a shelf, and now I have to run to my mom's to iron or just rely on that wrinkle-out spray; but, I am quite fond of this old one I dressed up a bit. It actually serves to hide the ugly space behind our dryer that we could see from the kitchen.

The letters are copper wire, the sunshine is made from square nails and an old shingle from the barn, and the fence is an old snow fence.

I also used an old wooden children's ironing board for a cute little shelf in the mudroom. Yep, about the only way an ironing board gets used at our house.

Wall flowers

We chaperoned a Sweet 16 dance this weekend. How fun. Hubby and I got our share of dancing in. We danced with them, learned some new moves, tried to teach them some moves, and all had a great time. No wall flowers here. It doesn't matter that the guys were outnumbered by the girls, they all usually dance in groups anyway. Some were skilled enough to text and dance at the same time. And, the chicken dance is still a hit.

Our weather forecasters

Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil may have predicted six more weeks of winter, but our chickens know spring is in the air. They don't step a foot out all winter, unless it is a really warm day and even then they stay within a few feet of their coop. However, they have been trooping around all over for the last couple weeks, even across the ice glaciers on our place. They were even excited to get out this morning when it was 6 degrees! They are good little weather predictors. If it is only going to be a short rain shower, they stay in their coop until all is clear. If it is going to rain all day, they come on out and get to their business as normal. So, watch your critters.... they could help remind you to bring your umbrella!

In the zone....

BJ bowls once a week and has bowled for several years. You would think I would remember, but somehow I rarely remember until he is walking out the door. (Denial?) We finally bought him his own ball so he didn't have to use the one with his mother-in-law's name on it and also bought him some new shoes... the old hand-me-downs were litteraly falling apart, leaving little specs of rubber on the lane as he bowled.

See his shoes in the background. Where are those way cool striped ones that you got to wear after hundreds of others had sweat in them? And, his ball has another hole way off to the side. What's up with that?

Guess the new ball and fancy shoes have helped. They have been winning their league quarters and the whole season (39 wks!) quite often the last couple of years, and his score continues to imrpove. He bowled a 600 series last night with a high game of 247. He was quite excited... so kudos to you hon.

Just pretending...

As I trudge along doing chores, I feel like I'm a pioneer woman, hauling water to the goats and the donkey (too short to drink from the tank) and hauling in wood to the house on the sled.

I let the horses out in a different pen to have some room to romp. Annie gets all excited. Her nares flare, and they all start hoofing for grass.... mind you they have a manager full of leafy bailed grass inside the barn. I wonder if they are just pretending they're on the prairie or that old dormant grass is really that much sweeter. Husker the miniature donkey I know is prentending to be a mighty steed, trying as hard as he can to kick up his heels. Who can't smile at his effort. Whoa, there goes Annie bucking up a bit, probably pretending to fight off a mountain lion on the prairie... nope, just a bunny ran by.

Around the bunny trail....

I took the bunny trail around the house after chores and cound't resist sitting on the back patio to watch the snow and the birds. I just love snowy days like

this with the snow coming down so gently and fluffy.

Fifth Grade Basketball

RJ's team played in their first tournament of the year. They didn't win, but they definitely improved as the games went on. RJ didn't score any this time, but he did score 4 points at the game on Monday. They all continue to improve, and they are fun to watch.