Shari's Garden

Been Away for a Long Time

06:04, Wednesday 1 July 2009 .. Posted in Musings and Considerations .. 0 comments .. Link

I have been away from my blog for far too long. The family and I have been working hard around the place getting weeds cut down, getting the gardens in shape, starting seeds and transplanting the seedlings when they are grown enough. In addition I have been working for my husband, that takes up so many hours of my day.

With summer here the temperature has climed in to the 100's but our spring weather was lovely. We had lots of cool cloudy days and lots of rain for our area. I am looking forward to any produce we might be blessed.

Not only that but I have been able to sell some of my homemade soap. Making more is on my To Do List, which just seems to be getting longer by the day.

Now if I can figure out how to get these grasshoppers to leave!

I hope your spring and summer have been full of all the blessings you could hope for. Now I must go and move the water hose to another rose bush.

Thank you for stopping by and have a good day.

A Little Spring Clean Up - Outside

01:14, Friday 3 April 2009 .. Posted in Around the Place .. 1 comments .. Link

My kids and I have been on a mission for the last year to clean up around the outside of the place. I am ashamed to admit that it has been terribly neglected and that my kids were embarrassed at the amount of clutter and the messes that I had allowed to happen.

Here are some before and after photos of a small project that we worked on yesterday. We have loads of sand stone here on our acreage, so there is not limit of terrace material yet.

Before #1:

Before #2:

After #!:

After #2:

There is still work to be done on this but we have made a start.

We are growing some ornamental grass that can be planted along the edges and some Rose of Sharon bushes that we can use around this area too.

The best part of all this work that we are doing, besides getting things cleaned up and nicer looking, my kids and I grow closer and closer every day. They are happy to help me with all the things that need to be done, it has not only given the a mission but they see the results of thier hard work and they are very proud of the way things are coming together. They work hard and never complain.

God has greatly blessed me with loving, caring and helpful children.

Thank you for stopping by.

Surprises in the Mail

04:48, Tuesday 31 March 2009 .. Posted in Handwork .. 0 comments .. Link

My Uncle John is one of the smartest people I know. He has a PhD in Animal Husbandry and has been a professor at a major university. Not only is he smart, he is so talented. He plays the guitar and was learning the banjo and he also does wood carving.

I have heard about his carvings but had never seen one, he and my Aunt live 2000 miles from here and I haven't seen them in more years than I want to admit. I am thankful for the internet, it has allowed us to be in touch in such a wonderful way. Well, my precious Aunt and Uncle sent me one of his wood bowls. I am in awe of the beauty of this piece, It will be treasured by me and my family forever.

Here are a few pictures of this lovely gift they sent to me:

Another view:

One more view:

You can visit his site and see more of his work at:

http://www.keoweekarvings.com/

Thank you for stopping by.

After Many Years..

07:00, Tuesday 24 March 2009 .. Posted in Around the Place .. 2 comments .. Link

My family and I live in a 35 year old double wide, we bought it used 17 years ago.

The lowest shelf under my kitchen sink was made of particle board, very thin particle board, that had gotten damp and saggy. Nothing could sit on this lowest shelf, everything would fall over and make a terrible mess. Years ago I tore out the shelf and have lived with using the floor under the cabinets. It wasn't a bad situation but I have always planned on having the shelf replaced. Yesterday was the day.

My son and I worked for about 3 hours, measuring, cutting, fitting, then my oldest daughter did the painting. Just before it was time to start dinner, we had finished. The shelf was in, all the goodies put back in place and the doors back on.

I keep going and looking at the work accomplished and am just thrilled.

Here is a before and after picture of the cabinet (don't you just love 1970 decor?)

And finished:

Thanks for stopping by.

Buried Treasures

02:18, Tuesday 3 February 2009 .. Posted in Musings and Considerations .. 1 comments .. Link

Many years ago I had a subscription to Victoria Magazine. Oh, what beautiful treasures I found in my mail every month. I started my subscription in August 1988 and kept it going until December 1996.

When I got to be a very busy mom, home teaching, raising chickens and goats, I packed away my old Victoria Magazines and cancelled my subscription. I was far too busy to spend my days gazing over such lovelies as I saw in those magazines.

Now, that my family is mostly raised, I can bring out my old magazines and once again look at the lovely pictures and re-read the articles that were so fascinating to me all those years ago. It is like having a new subscription and I will have more time to glean information from the articles and have better abilities to try some of the recipes and decorating ideas that are presented.

Not only will I be rewarded by a visit with some old friends but my girls will have the magazines to look through also. I can hardly wait to share the magazines and the ideas that this resourse will add to our home life.

Buried treasures indeed.

New Tote for my Projects

01:29, Thursday 8 January 2009 .. Posted in Handwork .. 7 comments .. Link

I have made a new tote bag for carrying my crafting projects. It is so much better than the paper bag I had been using, and it is big enough to hold my clip board with ease.

This is another "Making Love Out of Nothing at All" project. The fabrics are scraps from other sewing projects. The pattern is based on the rag quilt design. It is lined with homespun fabrics that I had left over from skirts that I made for my girls.

I was surprised at how quickly the whole thing went together, it took only a few days. For me the hardest part of the whole thing was cutting the squares, after that it went together in a flash. I ran it though the wash and gave it a good shake, then hung it to dry.

As you can see, it came out very nicely and will be a lovely addition to my crafting area.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit.

Making A Home

10:35, Friday 2 January 2009 .. Posted in Handwork .. 3 comments .. Link

I have always felt that it is a "woman's touch" about the house that makes it a home. We all have our different taste, mine is to add crochet pieces, embroidered pillows, afgans and such, to give a breath of life and love to my little home.

This week I have added a few new things to the home. I used some scrap fabric, that was in my storage box, to make a table cloth and matching curtains for my kitchen. I also crocheted a set of curtain tie backs. I purchased the crochet thread at a thrift store near me for $.50, and the pattern for the crochet is from a magazine that I have been using since 1990.

I call these projects, "Making Love, Out of Nothing at All". Yes, it is the title of a song but I think it fits. Everything I used for this project was left over from other projects or from things that were no longer needed.

Here is a picture of the tie backs, and a little bit of the curtain:

And for you crafy people that would like to crochet your own, here is the diagram:

This is from the Crochet Thread Magazine, issue #6, published 1990. I could not find that the magazine is published any longer.

Happy Crafting and Thank you for stopping by.

A Wonderful Anniversary

09:07, Friday 26 December 2008 .. Posted in Musings and Considerations .. 3 comments .. Link

It was 24 years ago, on this date, that I went to a doctor in Phoenix, Arizona, to help me quit smoking. I think the fact that it cost $200.00, that was lots of money to us, made a big contribution to the fact that I did, finally, quit.

I had some rough times getting used to not having my smokes. I did gained some weight and I didn't know how to go about losing it, but I have since learned and am back to my pre-smoking weight.

The good things that have come about by not smoking are worth noting:

I have three very healthy and happy grown up children, they have never smoked and I pray never will. They were never exposed to secondary smoke, nor were they exposed to smoking while I was pregnant.

I am a healthy 50 years old, and I don't smell like an old smoked up cigerette. My house, car, and clothes don't smell either. I have not suffered any smoking related illnesses since quitting.

I have learnt a great deal about self discipline from quitting smoking, I think that might be one of the most important lessons of all.

Thank you for stopping by.

Getting Ready for the New Year!

09:05, Thursday 11 December 2008 .. Posted in Organization .. 2 comments .. Link

It is that wonderful time of year to get calendars and organizers ready for the New Year. I print out my calendars at home, it is so much less expensive to print a black and white calendar, just pennies, compared to buying a picture calendar in the store. You might also be able to pick up free calendars at stores in your area. The Co-Op, where we buy our feed, didn't have any out this year, possibly the economy has caused them to have to stop this practice.

I have a couple of sites that I use for my calendars, here are links to some of them:

Printable Calendar

Time and Date

I hope that you can use these links, and support the sites, if possible. It is always nice of people to help us along on our journey, with their time and talents, we should return the favor, if we can.

One practice that I have, when doing my calendar, is to transfer all the birthday's, anniversaries, and other special occasions over to the new calendar as soon as it is printed. This may seem like a tedious task, but once it is done you will have the dates recorded and won't have to worry about missing Great Aunt Betty's birthday!

You can decorate your calendar, if you choose, with stickers, your own art work, rubber stamping, or printing out on color paper. The possiblities are only limited by your imagination and desires.

Thanks for stopping by.

Back on Track

08:47, Saturday 6 December 2008 .. Posted in Musings and Considerations .. 3 comments .. Link

It is time for me to get back on track with my weight.

Last year, on December 8, I reached my goal weight of 133. I was, quite honestly, thrilled. Since then I have maintained my weight loss but for 5 pounds. My weight is at 138 and I don't want to lose control and add back the 30 plus pounds that I lost. Today, I rededicate my efforts to loosing the 5 pounds that I have gained.

We are almost past all the birthdays and celebrations that require a large meal or treat, just one birthday left on the 20th of December and then I will not have the job of making and eating lovely, sweet snacks for the family.

I am using Spark People to help me track my food, water, exercise and weight loss. The site was a wonderful help last year and I expect to get the same results this year. I think it should take between 4 - 8 weeks to get the weight back off.

I am excited about getting back to my routine of healthy living.

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