Frosty Winter Day

 

 It is now December. The shortest days of the year are upon us. The white frosty chill has overtaken the land. Antelope Lake has frozen over creating a giant skating rink. We decorate our homes with lights and build fires to keep them cozy and warm. Sipping hot tea beside the fire. snuggling up with a blanket and a good book. These are the things that make winter a wonderful time of the year.

Ever since I was a young girl I have enjoyed wandering about in the woods exploring and searching for treasures. My family and I lived in the Pacific Northwest. In Alaska & Oregon I would find driftwood, pieces if moss and sea shells.

I moved to Wyoming as a young wife and in my wanderings would find fossils, petrified wood and awesome rocks. This is where I began beading and making earrings out of porcupine quills.

In recent years we bought a cattle/buffalo ranch in North Dakota. Now in my wanderings I find bones and skulls that I paint on. I love creating. My designs are inspired by nature, the colors in a sunset, a walk in the woods, the sun shinning off a clear blue lake.

My Etsy Shop gives me a creative outlet and fuels my dreams of one day becoming a professional artist.

Halloween Tale

 

 

                             Have you ever seen something that's not there and absolutely no possible way it could be there? I have. I was walking in the woods one fall day and came up on a rise. Over the fence was a gorgeous golden leaved tree. I wanted to get a closer look at it and perhaps take some pictures. I wasn't quite sure if the other side of the fence was our property or not so I cautiously crossed the fence and walked up the hill. There I saw a house. I was sure we had no neighbors this close. The house had a big prow front full of windows and three grain bins off to the side. I hurriedly turned around and left. After all I didn't want to be caught trespassing.

                         Since then in my travels around the lake I realize there is no house in that area, so what did I see? Was my mind playing tricks on me? Did I get a glimpse into the future or into another dimension? Weird!!!  

October

 

October is here.

What a beautiful time of year.

Pumpkins are orange,

The sky is blue.

Not a better time to say yoo-hoo!

Get out there and have some fun.

Hurry, hurry before fall is done.

Market in The Park

  Saturday in the park. I think it was the fourth of July. People laughing, people chatting. A man selling ice cream.

      I've been spending Monday evenings in the small town of Anamoose, ND. They have market in the park July through August from 6 pm till 8 pm. I've been setting up a table of wares, painted skulls, porcupine earrings, beaded bracelets and necklaces. There is a container of turkey feathers, farm fresh eggs and what ever produce is ready in the garden that week.

            Anamoose has a great little market. I enjoy getting to know the other venders. Julie who lives up the road from me makes delicious artisan breads, Grandma Volmer sells colorful jars of canned goods, Gerdi and her sisters make kugan, baked goods and the prettiest rugs and pillow cases.

           They serve sloppy Joes, hot dogs and root beer floats. It is a great place to spend Monday evenings. If you get a chance come to Anamoose and spend the evening with us.

Here is the link to my Etsy Shop  where you can check out some of the pieces I am selling.

Turn the Page Tuesday

Today is "Turn the Page Tuesday" the day some of us book lovers share the books we have read last month.

 "Saltwater Summer" is the first book I read last month.

   This tale of a young man's first summer as a commercial salmon fisherman on the BC coast, written by the renowned fisherman and outdoor adventure writer Roderrick Haig-Brown, has become a modern classic.

      Don Morgan, the seventeen-year-old has made enough money trapping on northern Vancouver Island to realize his dream; he has bought himself a 32-foot west coast salmon troller, Mallard. Now he is free to fish the entire length of the BC coast from Fraser River to Prince Rupert.

    This book caught my eye because my grandpa & grandma Sannar where commercial salmon fisherman off the Alaska coast. We used to drive up to Prince Rupert from Oregon, hop onto the ferry boat and ride to Ketchikan to visit grandma & grandpa.

 

Sometimes I just need a simple little Mystery to read.

 

In this book Clair Weatherly has fled a high-stress lifestyle for a slower pace-in Amish country; Heavenly, Pennsylvania. She only planned a short visit but instead found herself opening an Amish specialty shop, Heavenly Treasures, and settling in, Clair loves her new home, and she's slowly making friends among the locals, including Esther, a young Amish woman who works in the shop. So when the store's former owner, the unlikable Walter Snow, is murdered, and the man Esther is sweet on becomes a suspect, Clair can't help but get involved.

      

Check out other good reads at One of a Kind



 

 

 



Art in the Yard

  We've been doing a lot of painting around here. Sprucing the place up so it looks pretty. Dawn even painted the propane tank that sits outside our kitchen window. It makes me happy to look out and see the bright flowers & swirly sky.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

   Chocolate Zucchini cake is my favorite. It is moist, chocolaty and delicious. This is a recipe I have been making for years and came from my Mom's recipe stash.
    We have put a new twist on this dessert. Slathered with sweet strawberries and fluffy whipped cream makes this a decadent concoction.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

 

1/2 Cup Butter

1 3/4 Cup Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

1/2 Cup Oil

2 Eggs

1/2 Cup Sour Milk

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1 Tbs. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Cloves

4 Tbs. Cocoa

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 Cups Diced Zucchini

1/4 Cup Chopped Nuts

1/4 Cup Semi-Sweet Choc. Chip

 

 

Cream butter, oil & sugar. Add eggs, vanilla & sour milk. Sift dry ingredients. Blend with creamed mixture. Stir in zucchini. Sprinkle with chocolate chips & nuts. Bake in greased & floured 9x13" pan @ 325 for 45 min.

 

When cooled add strawberries, whipped cream & enjoy! 

Wild Flowers

 

 The small packet of wild flower seeds I purchased this spring have started to bloom. I planted them in the middle of the yard where an old stump had been and had to protect them from weed spray & lawn mowers.

   It's fascinating to peer inside of this clump of flowers & spot Bachelor Buttons, Poppies', Babies Breath and many more blooms.

 

What interesting things are growing in your yard?

Birthday Visit

   My Dad and his wife Sharon made the long drive from Oregon to North Dakota to visit for my Birthday. We had a grand time and they got to see new country. We spent a lot of time fishing Antelope lake and had a fish fry one night. Walleye & Perch Yummy!!
      I put Dad to work helping me get the lawns mowed. We had time to relax & reminisce while sitting on the porch sipping a cool drink.

     Dawn, Sharon & I made a trip to Harvey on the fourth of July for face painting at the park, then we came home to prepare for a party.

 

    Dad, Willie & Dawn set up tents and friends arrived for a BBQ, bonfire and fireworks.

We all had a good time!



Wild Roses

 

   There is a bank behind our house leading to the woods & fields up above. I have been envisioning flowers and ornamental grasses lining this bank and have planted a few things here but mostly it is overgrown with grass & weeds. Walking along it the other evening I spotted these wild roses in the grass. There is some nice bushes growing all by themselves. They where just hard to see with all the growth coming up around them. I got to work weeding & pruning, all the while swatting mosquitoes. Now you can see the pretty rose bushes. If I gradually add plants & flowers maybe someday I will have my hillside of blossoms.   

Treasure Hunting in Wyoming

 Dawn, Katie & I loaded up Dawns Blazer and headed for Wyoming last weekend so Dawn could register for college in our old home town. We stayed in the dorms the first night and got to explore North West College.

 

 

 The next day after registering we drove to Cody to meet with friends and do some shopping. I picked up some treasures at "Rockstar Cowgirl" one of my favorite bead shops. I haven't found many bead shops in our area so love going west to look for treasures. 

Have you done any treasure hunting lately?

Picture Day

 

Some days are just made for taking pictures.

Today was one of those days.



Turn The Page Tuesday- A Little Bit of Wisdom

 While browsing through books at a "Worn-a-Bit" my favorite thrift store I came a crossed "A Little Bit of Wisdom" Conversation with a Nez Perce Elder. After reading the back I defiantly had to take this book home with me.

Naomi Shihhab Nye writes- In Wallowa Country, Oregon, true Nez Perce country, people tune themselves to stones, river, lake bottom, trying to hear more than the bright air. It feels so much older and deeper than the USA there.
 Now here's a voice that rings so truly and wonderfully out of the terrible history of native displacement, that wakes the silence right up, speaks straight from the center, without fanfare but with great beauty and grace and more than "a little bit" of wisdom. A big necessary bit! Bravo to Horace Axtell and Margo Argon for the gift of this telling-- May these clear words from the source travel far, and everywhere.

 Since my family and I are from the beautiful Wallowa's I have grown up with these mountains, rivers and rocks as my back drop and know the exact locations Horace talks about in his book. Reading this book is just like sitting down and having a conversation with him. I think we have so much to learn from our elders if we would just take the time to listen.

Check out more good reads at Turn The Page Tuesday 

Congrats Dawn!!!!

 Our little girl graduated with honors from High School Sunday, May, 26th, 2013. We are so proud of her for the hard work and dedication it has taken over the past twelve years to earn excellent grades. The great friendships she has developed and the fantastic young women she has turned out to be.

 

After the ceremony we had friends and family over to celebrate the occasion. Here is our long time friend Marlin giving Dawn life advise.

"They can take away your horse"

They can take away your shoes"

"But they can never take away your education."

 

Yes, high school days are precious but brief

Where all your dreams come true;

It's not the end, but the beginning

Of a life we'll start anew.

Class Motto: "Nothing we do changes the past~

Everything we do changes the future"

 





 

Lacey Leaves

 

I love to gaze at the tree's when they begin to sprout foliage.

It reminds me of delicate green lace. Today is a perfect day with temperatures in the 70's with a light breeze blowing.

   Antelope lake is sparkling blue with fluffy white clouds in the background. I spotted a boat skimming acrossed it this morning. It seems this is the first really nice day we have had this spring.

Toot-a-loo I'm out to do some gardening.  

 

 

Crime Scene

 

   I glanced out the window and got the shock of my life. It seems a crime has been committed in my own back yard.

   You have to be careful at night around here but this happened in broad daylight. The criminals (white tail deer) have been terrorizing our farm all winter. They have murdered two small innocent tree's, looted and pillaged our haystacks.

 

Something has got to be done!

We can't allow these criminals to walk our streets!

Turn The Page Tuesday

  Once again "Turn The Page Tuesday" has rolled around and it's time to tell our blogging buddies about the books we have been reading. Last month I read two very good books.

I started out with "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana De Rosnay. Recommended by my daughter Dawn. They had watched the movie in French class. She said it was very good but would make me cry.

Right on both accounts.

With Sara's Key, Tatiana De Rosnay has touched the hearts of Holocaust survivors.

 

 Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door-to-door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard- their secret hiding place- and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.

 

Sixty Years Later: Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own romantic future.

 

 

 

The second book was found at a thrift store & what a lucky find was this.

 

 In "The Lace Reader" Towner Whitney, the self confessed unreliable narrator hails from a family of Salem women who can read the future in the patterns in lace, and who have guarded a history of secrets going back generations, but the disappearance of two women brings Towner home to Salem and the truth about the death of her twin sister to light.

 

This book has excerpts from The Lace Readers Guide- The lace reader must stare at the piece of lace until the pattern blurs and the face of the seeker disappears completely behind the veil. When the eyes begin to fill with tears and the patience is long exhausted, there will appear a glimpse of something not quite seen. In that moment an image will begin to form...in the space between what is real and what is only imagined.

 

The Lace Reader is full of magic & intrigue.

 







Walk about

   Today was a perfect day for a walk about. So camera in hand I set out to see what I could see.

 

   The sun was warm on my back. Little tufts of green grass are popping out. The ponds are full of water and the ice is starting to melt off of the lake.

Souri found a great place to go swimming.

Penny enjoyed exploring.

 

If you get a chance go out & have some fun in the sun.

 

 

 

What's old is new again

 

   My favorite vest has been falling to pieces. It had been snagged on to many barbed wire fences I have scrambled through while out on adventure. The duct tape I had been trying to hold the feathers in with was failing.

     This Marmot vest was found at a yard sale years ago and has kept me cozy and warm on my adventures ever since, skating, skiing, hiking and exploring. Something had to be done to save it!

      My mind turned to the Pendleton Wool remnants I had stuffed in my closet. My friend Jan and I made a trip to the Pendleton Woolen Mills and where lucky enough to be there at the right time to take a tour and purchase these wonderful wool scraps. I found the perfect piece to complement my vest and got busy sewing.

 

I see many more adventures in our future.

 

 

Turkey Trot

 

Tom Turkeys are out strutting their stuff

Trying to impress the ladies.

New Project Bag

 

Here is my new project bag. I just finished it this afternoon and am quite pleased with the results. Now I can carry projects about with me where ever I go. It has pockets on the back & Velcro to keep it closed so all my goodies don't fall out.

 

I have been working sporadically on this piece of embroidery for years. Not because it was hard or took along time to do but partly because I kept it in a cuboard and didn't bring it with me to work on. My new bag should solve that problem. I love to embroidery. My sister Paula gave me this "Crab Hill" embroidery pattern "Autumn Cornflowers" It was a fun project to embellish with beads and paint.
Now I can't wait to fill my project bag & get started on a new endeavor.

What crafty projects have you been working on?

 

 

 

 Who, Who, Can you see who's here? This cute little owl landed in the tree outside our kitchen window last night. He was only about seven inches tall. quite small for an owl and looked like a little

fluff-ball sitting in the tree.

 

Look out your window.

What do you see?

Any interesting creatures?

What could they be?  

Super Delux Ice Fishing Machine

   As we where out tagging calves yesterday afternoon we herd the BRRRR of a helicopter overhead. Looking skyward we spotted a bright red flying machine.

       Souri was worried. She is frightened of big birds and flying objects.

 

  This whirly-bird landed on Antelope Lake right in front of our farm yard. A man and boy emerged from this machine. They brought out their auger, drilled holes in the ice and proceeded fishing.

 

What a totally awesome ice fishing machine!