Sunday, April 25, 2010

Project 12 - March Photos and April Layout

Left Side of Layout
Photos:
1. Sami, Jake, Uncle Frank, Marjorie at the Portland Zoo
2. Jake & Me at Multinomah Falls
3. Sami and Jake (he is hiding under the A frame) at the Community Pool in Portland
4. Jake & Sami at the falls

These photos are from our 'short' spring break to Portland to see my Uncle Frank and his sweet and talented wife Marjorie!
It was short, sweet and so fun!!!!
The kids loved the downstairs apartment.
They would love to visit lots and lots!!!

Right Side of 2 Page Layout
Photo 1: Me and my 'long lost' friend, Terri, in Portland
Photo 2: Sami and Jake enjoying a Sunday morning breakfast
and reading the paper!
Joy. Bliss. Love it when life is 'slow'!!!

The Two Pages Together

Above are the pages I completed for Project 12. A monthly sketch is provided, and this is about all I seem to be getting done 'creatively' these days!

Here is the journaling:

Highlights of March 2010 …

Weather: The mildest winter yet, but it dragged on. Snow. Melt. Repeat. Spring started teasing us toward the end. It was good to see the sun again!

Work: Big workshop March 5th for F2S. It Rocked!!! Greatest Day!! Gorgeous drive back to the ranch and my heart was full when I arrived home. Lucky girl.

Boatloads of oranges and lemons delivered from friends in CA.

Sami started her ‘secret garden. Called me at a 4-day training session (which cut our spring break short!! ARRRRR) with emergency questions. Where are the seeds? Where is the soil? Cuteness! Made my day. Met some amazing women, world travelers and workers. Slept in a sleeping bag 3 nights. Even danced one night! Old knees and stiff bones! Came home to a chalked sidewalk ‘Welcome Home Mom! And snuggles.

Spring Break: Quick trip to Portland, OR.. Lots of great adventures: Stayed w/ Uncle Frank, went to the Zoo and saw a swimming Polar Bear, Kids swam at a Community Center, hiked the Multnomah Falls, saw a long lost friend!

Sunday Breakfasts: Cozy. Lazy. The best.

**************************************************************

Recap of What's been happening:
We wrangled chickens on Monday, and moved the 'renegades' on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday..well, you get the idea... Lots of escapees. They are 'mostly' now in a 'hot' fenced in field..and no longer in my yard!!! YEAH! I posted on the ranch blog. You can go see the photos and stories... In a nutshell, I got shocked about 5 times the first day, the kids got yelled at, and so did the dogs, all before 7 am, by Mr. Stressed Out who thought chicken wrangling was in our bag of tricks. Um.. No..

Tuesday I got to drive back and forth to Idaho, then speed like a demon to the school to pick up the 17 dozen tamales I had orders for!!! Thank you my peeps!!! Um.. the tamales were not ready.. Hello? Could ya call? Next day.. Wednesday.. I stayed home to write a grant for my other job.. Got a call when school was out. 'Mom, the tamales are here, where are you'? Good thing I was home! I tell ya. Communication.Communication.Communication. I love Sami's teacher but at times that lady is NOT organized. We often get the info too darn late!

Friday night was the School Carnival. It was fun fun fun!!! Sami worked hard, tryng to raise money for my birthday trip, I mean, her school science trip to the coast (tee hee!).. We both helped setup, and she manned a bowling booth. She really wanted to win some goldfish at another booth but by the time we were done with our jobs, the goldfish were gone! So, we played bingo and she came home with lots of loot!

Saturday: I cleaned the downstairs of this house - 4 hours worth!!! Still so much to do, but it was driving me crazy... Clutter. Yuck. And yes this was the highlight of my day! The kids and Dick tagged sheep - meaning, Dick sheared the 'birth area' of the ewes. Soon we will have baby lambs! (You know what that means, right? Bummers. Bottles. And frequent feedings!)

Today was our first day to use the outdoor BBQ. We grill indoors most of the time, but the outdoor grill was calling us to break it in for the season! And, since the deck is no longer a 'mine field', it was a nice treat.

Tomorrow I hit the road for work - just about every day I am in a different city, with meetings. I come home Thursday night, but turn around on Friday to go to another meeting (I should NOT have said yes!), then to Boise on Saturday! Oh my...

So.. hoping for some zen time in the hotels - and a hot bath or two.

******
And....
Thank you for your patience as I build this blog up again. It's going to take some time getting all 'my friends' here. I am having to enter your emails one by one into the invite list, and it's time consuming!

So, I have setup a group in my email system to that I can email everyone when I have a new post.

Hassle hassle hassle!

But it will be worth it! I feel 'free' now to share photos, stories, and things in my heart without having to be too cautious. The above photos are an example. I did not want to share these earlier. And, now I can!!!

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Testing

I am 'testing' having my blog private.
Let's see how this goes.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

What I Know About You - A Layout about my Father

What I Know About You
(click on image to read journaling)

This is the first 'real' layout I have made about my Dad. He died close to 20 years ago (this coming August) and every time I attempt to do a layout, I step away from it.

This layout was actually inspired by the current challenge over at the Good Grief Blog. The challenge is to 'report simply'. I have to say, making a simple list, and simple layout, finally brought me to the scrapping table - actually, digi-table. All that you see in the layout above are digi-elements, and very basic. Nothing fancy. (I'll add my sources later. This layout is due tonight!)

I have been following the Good Grief Blog for sometime. If you have lost someone close, and are grieving, I suggest you follow it, and leave a comment now and then so the girls don't feel alone. What they are doing takes so much courage! Let them know you are there supporting them and how much you appreciate their work. Eventually you will be able to tackle the emotions, and put your thoughts on paper as well. Believe me, it does take a while!

The photos: The top is from when I graduated from CSU Chico. 1988. I love how my dad has the tassle on his ear. He always had a playful sense of humor. My little sister Paula gets that from him. Two years after this photo was taken, my died. Who would have known???

The bottom photo: Is from the year I did a 'road trip' to Missouri with a girlfriend (we left from CA, with our backpacks -it was an epic trip!) and then, my Sister Avis & I drove the route back - she moved to CA that year. I was attending a Jr. College at the time, so it must have been 1984 or so... In the photo, my dad and I are leaning up against his convertible El Dorado Caddy.. That man sure loved his cars and convertables!! (There's another thing to scrapbook!)

Thank you to all the ladies at the Good Grief Blog. I finally did it. You are all an inspiration.

and, thank you to anyone out there reading this as well:)






Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter Day - and Crazy Week Wrap Up

Dick and Sami Heading for the Portland Farmers Market
During our biggest Winter storm of 2010!

Prepping for Market!
We have a new logo on those cartons!

Funny.. Everyone is working expect for Jake!
Love that fun boy!
Jake and I got to have lots of 'snowed in time' while Dick & Sami were gone

Sweet Cheeks!
Look who comes hopping into the yard looking for snacks.
He's still alive! What a clever bunny.
During the storm he laid low - somewhere.
His buddies who are out in the pasture poultry pens had to be dug out!
HUGE snow drifts got into the pens on Friday. I could see them from the house
and had a panic attack.
I thought one was a gonner.
Just piles and piles of snow.
I shoveled my heart out, almost in tears.
So glad that bunny was alive.

These Girls are the Reason we are NOT having an outdoor egg hunt here!
My yard is being taken over by chickens
Some of them peck other eggs - so ours would be attacked
2nd, too many surprises out there in the grass from them!
To date we have close to 200 chickens!

Easter Decor
Kinda handy when your daughter raises Bunnies!

Easter Morning - Bunny/Chick Races
The kids favorite part of their loot!

Easter Loot
(Egg hunt is later!)

Happy Easter friends and family!!!

We are off to a very slow start. Leg of Lamb is in the oven and that is about as far as I have gotten! Well, with the exception of hiding the indoor loot.

Sami and Dick got home from the Portland Market just after 8pm last night (they left at 3:30pm on Friday!) and we were up until 10pm hearing about their great adventures!

Highlights:
  • They left during our biggest Winter storm (to date) of 2010! No kidding! April 2nd. Huge wind and snow storm here.
  • When they were driving over Ladd Canyon a car spun out in front of them, went into the median (big grassy/snow area - Thank God) and they could see the man's face.. He made it safely.
  • Susan, our GPS gal, got them lost, a lot, in Troutdale when they were: trying to find their hotel, when they went out to get dry ice, and when they tried to get back to the hotel. Susan, we are learning is a Country GPS Gal. She does not do cities well! She did the same to me the week prior when we went to visit my favorite Uncle!
  • It rained during their market day. They came home with all sorts of wet things! The canopy is setup in the garage drying right now.
  • They had fun fun fun!!!!!! So glad for them!

Getting ready for a new market is stressful. Lots of publications to make (me), supplies to get (Dick and Sami), and super heavy things to load (all of us)...

On Wednesday our hired hand had a kidney stone attack! He was driving the tractor, hit a ditch, and the stones kicked in.. Unfortunately, no one was around and he was on the ground writhing in pain for quite some time... He called Dick (who was in Idaho) who called me (who was in La Grande 45 minutes away) and I called our neighbors, who got to him just as his wife arrived. No one knew what was wrong and we all feared different injuries. He went to the hospital and got the diagnosis.

Thank God he was 'fine'! If you can call kidney stones fine.

When his daughter called, she said 'my dad has rocks in his kidneys'. Oh my...

Another storm is sitting on the mountains. We have plans for an outdoor feast and bonfire.

Have a great Easter day!

Thanks be to God. And I have to say, we have witnessed a lot of blessings this week!

2023 December Daily : Monday December 5th

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