New Fire Pit

Growing up it seems we always had a fire pit.  Us kids had lots of fun starting the fire and cooking our hotdogs on sticks we cut from the woods. On warm summer nights sometimes would get out our pup tents and set them up around the fire for a campout.  Anyways, I thought it would be nice to have a fire pit at our house, so yesterday I made one.

Part of the time was spent digging out the pit.  Thanks to my strong man for helping me empty the first  heavy  load of dirt!   

 Here you can see the back of our house.  When having a cookout you are bound to forget something, and it's nice if you are not too far from the house. :)

View from the other way.  Now it would be nice to get a few park benches and solar lights:). 

The first fire :) I only had a few minutes so I just burned some dry weeds.

They're Almost Here! :)

Almost ever since I married and moved to Canada I've wanted to get some laying hens. For various reasons it didn't work out last year, but now it is finally happening! I was able to borrow a small Hova Bator incubator and a neighbor let me have around 30 eggs from her chicken flock. Today is day 20 since the eggs started incubating and already I can hear little peeps and pecking noises coming from some of the eggs. I am kind of excited. :):)

At the beginning I had a little trouble getting the temperature in the incubator to regulate and was worried the eggs might not hatch-glad I was wrong! :) To complicate it more, the thermometer I am using only registered in Celsius, something I still haven't gotten all the way used to! I now know for incubating eggs the correct temperature should be 37.5 c.

My husband bought me my chicken coop a few months back, :) and my brother built the nice chicken run on the side the last time he was up for a visit. I might do another post after the chicks are hatched, hoping the are mostly hens! :)

Hummingbird Chair

A few days ago I finished the details on this chair. It was fun coming up with the idea and painting it, but the same time, it was also a challenge to find the time to work on it with two little ones! It's great to have it done! :)

The chair originally was yellow and black, with a few other colors mixed in here and there. It took primer, plus three or four coats of the cream paint to cover everything before I could start painting the flowers and humming bird.

Finally finished! :)

Sauerkraut and Crocks

On my list of thing I want to try doing is making sauerkraut (and pickles). When I was little, my Grandpa used help us make sauerkraut. I remember going down in the basement and watching him check the big crock of kraut to see how the fermentation was going. After about six weeks it was finished, and my mom would then can it for us to enjoy later. My favorite way to eat it was when my mom would mix it with sausage and stewed tomatoes with a little sugar. We first learned to eat it that way from an older man from church we called "Uncle Henry". He had us all over for supper one night and fixed this dish. But back to the kraut,:) I had been looking up the process of making it, but my problem was I didn't have any crocks. Then, a few days ago I saw an ad in the "Bargain Hunter". Someone was selling three crocks, a eight, five and three gallon and they only wanted $23 dollars for all three! What make it even nicer was it was right here in the town where we live. I went to look at them and since none had any cracks I got them all. I was excited to get such a good bargain! Hopefully, I can post more about how the sauerkraut making progress goes when I try it. :)

Learning Room aka School Room

I love the idea of having a "learning room", one that is fun and inviting, where school projects could be done as well as more serious study if needed. I came across a few pictures of rooms which got me inspired. I really like the idea of maps, charts and pictures on the walls with maybe some dry erase or chalk boards. Of course, it wouldn’t be complete with out a pet, maybe a hamster or fish tank. :) Also, lots of good books! For the walls, I am so used to everything being painted white that I am ready to try something different. It will be a few years before our oldest little one is old enough to start school, but with a room like this she could start learning now (Not that our children need a special room to learn, but I think it would be a neat place to enhance the experience :). That's why I like calling it a Learning Room. Growing up, I thought it would be neat to have a special room like this, but not everyone has the space and that's fine too. Some of these ideas can be incorporated in other area of the house as well.

I *love* the huge map on the wall! It looks perfect in this setting. I also like the idea of having a small couch (or rocking chair to rock the baby while keeping an eye on the little learners:) in the room to make it more comfortable and homey. :)

I thought this would be a cute way to put up special pictures that the children draw etc.

I love the simple color scheme in this picture. Using a book shelf as a double desk is a neat idea. I also love the baskets! They would work directly on a wall as well; a cute way to help keep papers organized.

I have a long way to go before I come close to having something as perfect as the pictures, but hey, it doesn't have to be perfect. :) I intend to keep an eye out for items at second hand stores etc. and maybe someday I can make my dream learning room:).

Rock Paintings

I thought it would be fun to do a little rock painting, and so, after I found some smooth rocks at my in-laws, I had fun painting the below animals. :) Around a month ago I was able to get a bunch of acrylic paint for 40% off at a craft store so that's is what I used for these.

What I've done so far.

A little piglet, I think this one is my favorite:).

Lion.

Hamster.

Rabbit.

Crochet Projects

Here are a few crochet projects we have been busy with lately. It's definitely been fun to put all our new yarn to good use! I'm hoping to be able to start on a few more projects as soon as I finish with my afghan. :)

My younger sisters (almost completed) afghan.
She does such a beautiful job.
I love the pattern that she choose for this one!

Here is the afghan that I'm currently working on.
I will try to get a picture of it when it is all the way completed. :)

Old Calenders

Recently I've been trying to think of ways to use old calender pictures now that the New Year is here. :) Some of the pictures were so pretty, and I did not want to just throw them out, so I decided to make a few envelopes out of some of the pictures and hang others. I will also probably be using some of them for home made cards.

We usually buy our calenders from Bible Truth Publishers. Their Scripture calenders are so beautiful! If you never have, I would recommend that you check out their web site. In addition to calenders, they carry many wonderful Stories and Biographies all at reasonable prices. We have ordered from them for many years.

The smaller calender pictures after being cut; they made great hangings.

To make envelopes out of old calenders simply
take apart a store bought envelope to use as a pattern,
cut and make adjustments as necessary.
Trace around the pattern, cut out and then glue the sides.

Finished envelopes. :)

Colors of the Season

Inspired by my good friend Lydia and her advice on: "Beautifying Our Homes With Flowers," I decided to give her suggestion a try and bring some color indoors! :) Since we have plenty of wild flowers growing behind the house right now I had no problem with getting enough for all my arrangements with some left over to dry. I have never done very much with flower arranging, so these efforts were more of an experiment, but it was fun trying out different ways of putting the flowers together. :) Thanks for the inspiration Lydia! :)

All the flowers :)

Various Containers for arrangements.

The pitcher arrangement.

Purple and Green

Nothing fancy, but at least it's nice and bright it's now on

my desk helping to make my room more colorful. :)

"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah." Psalm 68:19

::Braided Rugs::

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. Psalm 68:19

Some of the fabric....

My sister's project. :)

This is all I've done so far...:)

We were recently given a large amount of fabric which has been quite a blessing. Some of it is very old fashioned, but we came up with the idea to use it to make braided rugs. :) While I've never tried this particular craft, my sister made it look so easy [smile] that I thought I would try as well. With so much going on lately I haven't had much time to devote to it but I hope to find more time soon. :) All I've done so far is to cut and braided a few pieces... Has anyone else ever tried making rugs? I'm interested in trying to make crochet fabric rugs as well as braided.

Simple Crocheted Potholder

This potholder is a fun project to make, basically all you have to do is start out with a crocheted chain and then single crochet around the chain. :)

Start out with a single chain approximately nine inches in length.

Crochet around the chain. (One round.)

Continue crocheting around the first chain. This is how it should look after 13 or so rounds.

Almost finished!

With a large needle (in this case I made my own using a stick from outside, lol! I'm sure a real needle would have worked better but this one did the job.) sew the opening together using yarn as thread.

Finished and ready to use! :)

~Latest painting project~ Finished!!

Well, I'm finally finished painting! It took a bit of perseverance because of the detail-I thought I would never get done! It was fun though. :) I really enjoy working with oil paint. The book I was painting from did get overdue by around four day's but I found out our library does not charge overdue fines on books, which is nice. :) It took me 18 days to finish, I'm happy to finally have it done. :)

~Finished~ :)

With the original photo.
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Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 106:1

~Latest Painting Project~

Hello everyone! :) Here are a few pictures of what I've been doing in my spare time the past few days. I have only used oil paints once before, and this picture has quite a bit more detail then my previous attempt so I'll have to see how it goes.

Ready to paint...

And Here is what I've done so far (on the right)....

I really enjoy working with oil paint since it stays wet long enough for me to correct any mistakes that I might have made. :) Anyway, I will try to post a picture once I'm all the way finished. The picture that I'm painting from is in a library book so that will give me an incentive to get it done faster before it becomes overdue. :)

Leaf Stamping

I recently found the idea of leaf stamping and thought it would be a fun to try. It was interesting to see how the variety of leaves stamped differently.

I used a variety of leaves with different shapes and textures. I even used some herb leaves such as sage which has a very pronounced texture that stamped really well.

One of the corners, with three leaf stamps.

(I think the three that I used here are maple, sage, and wild grape.)

Ready to write.