Sami's Secret Garden

Bought this Ages Ago!
Found it on the Kitchen Table When I Returned from my trip

Found these on Sami's Bedroom Window Sill
She's not telling what she is growing
Most of these goodies were 'rounded' up from
my stash piles (things to fix, things forgotten)

Fun Stuff!
The painted pot was broken,
(one of those School Mother's Day Gifts from a few years back)
she glued it back together
She found a peat pot to put inside of it
The little greenhouse is from many years ago!
Each of the kids had one
We started seeds for their own little gardens - in 2001?
The yellow pot is what I use to water the Christmas Tree.
Oh.. And one of my Portmeirion dishes, I see!
***********

While I was at my four day training session, my cell phone rang one mid-morning.

I dont' get many calls, and when I do, I worry.. So, there it was, ringing loud. I answered it - apologizing profusely to the instructors, giving the plea 'it's my children', and left the room..

Here's the call:

Sami: Hi Mom!
Me: Hi Sam, what's up? (tinge of worry in voice)
Sami: Where are the seeds?
Me: What seeds?
Sami: The garden seeds! Where are they? You know, flowers?
Me: (Sigh of relief).. In the storage room upstairs... What are you up to?
Sami: Never mind! Bye!

Several of my coworkers were curious about what the heck my daughter was up to! They get to hear all sorts of 'guess what my kids did now' stories.
I then turned the phone off.
Later that afternoon, I had a message from Sami again:

Sami: Mom! Where's the soil? I need soil!!!

So.. I called back and left a message on where the potting soil is.

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

Another Call: Ranch Stuff:
When the workshop was all said and done, I had another message. This time from the Sausage Man. Oh boy. THAT was not a good call! And I wished I did not answer it. It really threw off my 'what a great learning experience' feeling and turned it into a panic.

The sausage man is in Mackay, Idaho, six hours away from us. We meet in Boise to do our 'exchange'. Boise is 3 hours away. Well, his assistant decided to deliver our order on Saturday, to Nampa, Idaho where our other processor is, and apparently he 'forgot' to tell everyone he was coming! the other processor was not open. And no one here knew anything about it.

The Sausage Man was pissed! I told him I was out of town and asked if he called my husband. He said he called, when no one was at the plant, but no one answered at the ranch. Well, if we are 3 hours away, what was he expecting? And on a Saturday? We run a ranch! No one is home during the day! DUDE!

I wish people would just plan these things out! Arrrrr.. Talk like a Pirate Day..

So, our sausages took a tour that day... 10 hours, in all. It better have been frozen!

Arrrrrrrrr.

Back From A Week of Adventures!

Hi all!

I just returned this evening from a week of adventures.

I'll share details and photos later.

Some of the hightlights were:

• A swimming Polar Bear
• Connecting with a long 'lost' friend and a favorite Uncle
  
• Hiking a steep hike with the kids
• Dancing the night away and just having fun
  
• Meeting some amazing women who have done amazing worldly things! Wow!
• Sleeping in a sleeping bag three nights in a row!
  
• Being reminded of my creaking knees, stiff bones and older age
• Falling asleep during a training session while a video was playing and it was still morning!
  
• Missing my family on day 3 of being away
• Coming home to a chalked sign on the walkway that said Welcome Home Mom! and getting two awesome snuggles!!!

Vacation is fun. But coming home is a beautiful thing.
Photos later!

Project 365 - Day 79 - and Hitting the Road!

Day 79 - Favorite Things
Yesterday I left at 7am for Boise, ID
Did not return until 6pm
Met customers at noon
Had a meeting from 1pm until 4pm for the Capital City Public Market
During my lunch, these goodies were my indulgence!
Love sushi and great mags!

Recycling Fun Stuff
And see the cute green grass on the container?
I saved it.
I know it's going to end up on an Easter Card!!!

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

So, the bucket of bolts and I made it during the 300 mile round trip.
My car has 260,000 miles now... plus a few more.

(My car was in the shop Thurs and Fri - went in to be serviced, and was quoted 1,500 in work!)
HA! I chose not to do the work.. and it was misdiagnosed anyway. A water pump fix turned into a thermostat issue. WHATEVER!

Anyway, it was absolutely gorgeous in Boise yesterday!

And, today is Sunday...
In less than 2 hours the kids and I are hitting the roadster for a short trip.
Back Tues night.
Then I leave Wed through Sat for training....

Not sure when I'll be blogging again...

Most Likely -Going Unplugged!!!

Have a great week!

Project 365 - Random Days/Week in the Life?

Project 365 Day 77 -Baby Goat - Car Shop Mascot
While I was waiting for my car to get serviced on Thursday,
this little bugger decided to visit me, the contents of my purse,
and the paper I was reading.
Yes. A goat. Inside the Shop Waiting Room.

Project 365 - Day 75 - All in a Days Work!
I love my job!
That's me, on the left, and having way too much fun!
The two ladies with me are co-chairs of UcFitKids
one is the director of the Commission on Children and Families
the other is the head researcher, PhD at OHSU, in LaGrande,
very important women in the 'kids health' arena.
We are reviewing survey instruments for our Farm 2 School program.
The gal behind the camera is my assistant/coworker!
PS. I was wearing all my St. Patty's green - a day early...
Just because I knew I would be stuck on the ranch on Wednesday!
(My socks have little bunnies on them!)

Day 72 - Morning Sun Through My Granny Glasses
I started wearing the chain on my glasses back in December
I got tired of sticking my glasses on my head!
This was a morning for last week's Delivery Day - My papework to the right

Day 72 - Old Wagon Wheel - Spring Snow
Out doing morning chores and catching the beautiful sun!

Day 72 - Steer Head
Decor on the back deck

Day 76 - Redneck Slippers
All of us need new slippers!
We have a 'no shoes allowed' in the house rule

Day 75 -Ranch 'Hot' Rods
A chevy that runs (the one that broke down on the way to Wy)
A Ford that doesn't (at the shop to get fixed)
Fladbed trailer (needed necessity)
Back Hoe in the Back (another needed necessity)

Just a few photos from a week in my life!
Have a great day!!

Project 12 - Febuary Layout - Re Shoot!

Project 12 - February Layout
( I re-shot this using a different method)

My Interpretation of the Sketch
(click on photo 2 enlarge - 2 12x12 pages IRL!)
Supplies:
Papers
Base: Basic Grey Infuse
2nd Layer Cardstock: Double Mates Fairy Tale Pink
Patterned Paper: Cloud 9 Design - Be Loved Collection
Embellishments
American Crafts: Thickers
Making Memories: Journaling Book Rouge Paperie, Glitter Tickets, Dimensional Hearts
Jenni Bowlin: Vintage Calendar Page
Stampin' Up Stitched Felt
Hero Arts Stamps: Flourish Background & Valentine Sayings
Journal Card at bottom left: Pink Paislee Cupid Collection
Inks: Versamark, SU Marker

Here is my entry for the February Project 12 Sketch. I focused on our Valentine's Day festivities. Can you see the background stamping on the light pink card stock? It is a watermark, made with versamark.

Journaling Reads:

Feb. 2010
The best day. We had a special breakfast, a lazy day, and fun dinner w/ lamb chops, rice, crab, Caesar salad, asparagus, then chocolate dipped strawberries and orange slices. Just us!

To learn more about Project 12, just click on that blue orb on the left side of my blog!

Note: I'm trying to get this whole '2 page layout for the web' thing down. My last post was the result of 'pasting' two photos together in PSE6, saving the file as a 4x6, and other tricks to get it posted, such as flattening layers, etc.

The result looked grainy.

This time, I took 1 shot, and cropped where I needed to, then saved it for the web, in PSE6.

Less steps and it looks much better!

Thanks for your patience.

Stop the Press!

Check it out!

There's even a photo!! Yep.. That's me...

OK. When you are done with that, you can go see some of Sami's critters...

Here!

Project 12 - Febuary Layout

Project 12 - February Sketch by Becky Fleck

My Interpretation of the Sketch
Note: on 3/17 I swapped out the first photo with a better
one that wasn't so grainy! It's a learning process.

(click on photo 2 enlarge - 2 12x12 pages IRL!)
Supplies:
Papers
Base: Basic Grey Infuse
2nd Layer Cardstock: Double Mates Fairy Tale Pink
Patterned Paper: Cloud 9 Design - Be Loved Collection
Embellishments
American Crafts: Thickers
Making Memories: Journaling Book Rouge Paperie, Glitter Tickets, Dimensional Hearts
Jenni Bowlin: Vintage Calendar Page
Stampin' Up Stitched Felt
Hero Arts Stamps: Flourish Background & Valentine Sayings
Journal Card at bottom left: Pink Paislee Cupid Collection
Inks: Versamark, SU Marker

Here is my entry for the February Project 12 Sketch. I focused on our Valentine's Day festivities. Can you see the background stamping on the light pink card stock? It is a watermark, made with versamark.

Journaling Reads:
Feb. 2010
The best day. We had a special breakfast, a lazy day, and fun dinner w/ lamb chops, rice, crab, Caesar salad, asparagus, then chocolate dipped strawberries and orange slices. Just us!

To learn more about Project 12, just click on that blue orb on the left side of my blog!


Additional things I remember from Valentine's Day (for my memory):
I decorated the table for the kids before they woke up (fruit, little stuffed buddies, and orange juice in champagne glasses). Dick bought them both helium balloons shaped like hearts (they got the 2 days early when they all went shopping for me) and the balloons were hooked to their chairs. At lunch, I cracked two full crabs and we had a huge crab salad. Then, dinner is what I described above (we actually had rack of lamb that I cut into chops after they were roasted). Dick bought us a beautiful bottle of red wine from the Cove winery, along with chocolates. Valentine's was a family day - just the four of us. We really don't make a big fuss about it as a couple.

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

Day in the Life notes...
Today was another beautiful Spring Day (I forgot my camera in the car, oops). With capitals!!! The kids and I went walking/scootering along the Leo Adler pathway in Baker City (17 miles away). Our plan was to walk all the way to Charlie's Ice cream Parlor and get a treat. First we stopped to play in the swings at Bidwell Park, then we walked downtown. Man, it was a 'squeeze' to sit in a swing! I'm thinking a spring dieting plan is underway! When we arrived, the Ice Cream store was closed!!!!! Jake bummed out! Plan B was Dairy Queen.

So! It's Oscar Night! I have it set to record just in case we get sidetracked - but no doubt Sami and I will be watching it the minute it starts! While in town today we bought some tasty treats for the festivities... cocktail shrimp, fortune cookies, and organic mac and cheese. Sounds tasty, eh? Just writing it makes me cringe!!! We'll try and sneak in a veggie or two! OH! Carrot sticks and dip sound great!

I'm bummed out that the liquor store was closed (Dolt. It's Sunday!).. I had visions of sipping on a lemon drop during the showing...

Oh well!

Have a great rest of the weekend..

Gifts in My Life

A Gift from My Son
I Cashed in my Christmas Gift Certificate That Jake Gave Me

Gifts from Friends from Our CA Ranch Area
Lemons and Oranges
Boatloads of both!
Dick took lemons to Portland for the Chef's Collaborative
I took lemons and Oranges to the Farm2School Workshop
Still have tons!

My Oldest - A Gift from Heaven
And the view!

I had a phenomenal day yesterday...

I left at 6am - 17 directions south - to help Mr. Sexton put together a meat order for a hospital - big stuff!

Then drove about 45 miles another direction, north-east, to facilitate/lead a Farm 2 School workshop for the communities in Union County. Six school districts. Lots of producers, parents, community members. The meeting was from 9am til 4pm. All together we had 70 attendees!!!

Finally, hit the road about 5pm.. a gorgeous drive through the mountains, and in 54 degree weather.

Spring. Our first beautiful spring day.

Got home. Changed. And went outside and helped the kids do chores, and just had to take it all in. Overwhelming, really.

My mind was a whirlwind - decompressing from a phenominal meeting (lots of happy people, which makes me happy) - and the beauty around me, and my beautiful family.

I am so lucky.

And I had to thank God, for just a fabulous day and all the gifts in my life!

I'm still riding that cloud...

(even with a 20 degree am wake up call!)