So what do you do during a blizzard???

So knowing the blizzard was do to arrive we made a game plan on what to "redo"  Now keep in mind this is our usual "MO".  Wait until 3 weeks before the open house and do something major. 
This is the before - nice but just a regular sheet rocked ceiling.  And yes working around the Christmas tree and all the decorations!

The during

Now this next one is a no no,  he is on the "this is not a step step"  lol   I hate heights, so my knees get shaky just looking at this picture. Considering that is a 12 foot ladder!

The final result

Just love the look!  The old rusty tin fits the walls.   Talk about a warm and cozy room.  I enjoy the fireplace and warmth the room itself puts out.   But maybe just maybe we will try to do something to the house when we are not under such time limits!  Or not...

Let it snow.... then let it melt!

It was a crazy storm we had Nov 18.  The news kept calling for it to start over night, well I woke up to rain hitting the windows.  Keep in mind we live in Minnesota - so rain in November usually means ice.   Not the case this time, it was warm enough to have actual rain.... to start with.   This was the morning view.

Then about a hour later things are starting to pick up a bit.   We had 40-50 mph winds with this storm so schools closed, clinics and stores closed early.   But as I was starting the day I thought " this is not what they were calling for, guess the news got it wrong".  Well time would tell..  This was less than a hour later at about 9:30

Then we went into Blizzard warning mode and by noon this was looking out my sewing room window.

However, it was over by Saturday morning leaving 14" of new snow.  It was quite pretty and life went back to normal with driving thru the 14" with ruts of ice underneath from the rain that froze when the temps dropped.  And let me tell you the roads were so rough I thought I would damage my car. 

But it was strangely not to last.  Temps warmed up again ( which is kinda odd to lose that much snow late in November)

SO this is the view now.  Muddy dirty snow.

To market To market...

Been busy with sewing and getting stuff ready for market in Springfield Ohio that we sold at on Oct 19.   What a difference in weather - we had temps in the teens and all the leaves had already fallen from the trees here.  Got to Ohio and it was 85 and trees still were holding onto their leaves and just starting to turn color.   I thought I would share a pic of our booth all set up!

Now it is time to get stuff in my little shop for the Holiday Open House.  SO I have been sewing all day like usual.   I made stuff for the shop but decided to bring it to market and sold it all.  So now its remaking the ornaments and dolls!   Here is a look at a few items I have made.

 The Raggedy Ann's all sold out, not sure if Ill get a batch made before the open house! 

 These Santa head ornaments are great!  They have alpaca beards.   This is a remade batch since all sold in Ohio.

 These were gone instantly at market!  Should have made many many more!   Im currently making 11 more for the shop - they are in pieces as we speak on the sewing room table waiting for stuffing.

 These were also gone quick at market so here is a new batch!

And these gals are just so amazing!   I love their faces!

So that's what I have been doing.   I have my pile of stuffing bought to get me thru the winter sewing for Feb market in PA.   Picked up 320 pounds of stuffing in WI on my way home from Ohio.  I look at that picture and my hands start to hurt.  Its hard on the fingers and shoulders stuffing dolls- but I have a deep tissue massage scheduled for Monday!   Thank Goodness!

Well I best get back to stuffing snowmen! 

Make Do fountain

The gardens are starting to tire out with the signs of Fall arriving.  We had our first frost advisory of the season last night.  It was in the 30's and a bit chilly in the house this morning since I refuse to shut the bedroom windows quite yet.  So as I watch the season change I still like to "update" the gardens.  I say update very loosely since in most cases the updates involve old items.   Anyway, I had a more current fountain in my garden that started to leak this summer.  Sure did take me a while to figure out where all my water went over night.  Id fill it up every morning and it was empty by the next.  There was no visible signs of a leak anywhere, but after another storm the crack finally showed itself.  The water was leaking back inside the fountain.
SO I had this old shower head for the last 5-6 years just waiting to be a fountain.  I needed a wash tub stand, and as luck would have it I found one at a auction this last weekend.  Ive seen them over the years plenty but kinda forgot about my old shower head!
I love the result - the sound is beautiful and it is right outside my sewing room window.   I need more plants now around it since my old fountain had a bigger base and took more ground.

And I must say this is so great!!!!
Time to go stuff more dolls,  a lot more dolls....

Great friends and fireworks!

Every year our neighborhood gets together for a potluck picnic fireworks!   Our neighbor George celebrates his birthday that weekend and he also has a pyrotechnic license.  He loves putting on one heck of a show for the neighbors.    We have maybe 25 houses in a mile radius at the most so its a small area each with a min of 2 1/2 acre lots.  But we all bring friends and family to watch this show!   Now keep in mind there are less than 100 people that are invited (that includes the non neighbors that attend) and we all bring our lawn chairs, sit in the front yard and watch this - so much fun living out in the country!   The video is the last 34 secs of a show that lasts 20-30 min.   This is his grande finale - not bad for a fireworks display in his front yard!  He does  AMAZING job!  He is licensed and gets all the required permits.   The video is from last year but get to enjoy the get together again in 2 weeks!
Enjoy!

 

Yet another storm...

We have been hit here again with such bad weather.  I thank the Lord that we have not had this damage at our house, but this is all within 5 miles.   The winds came up so strong, I sat straight up in bed at 3:30 am.   I am ok with storms but winds scare me horribly!   About 10 years ago we had 90 mph straight line winds come down our road.  We lost 5 trees - one on the top of my sons car, making it into a instant taco shape.  I ran down to wake him up to get his sound equipment out and he thought I was playing a joke on him.  I asked him - Have I ever woke you up at 5 am to tell you there is a tree IN your car?  He jumped up right quick and went to save anything he could.  Car was totaled of course. The neighbors lost 23 trees on one side of us and the other over 30. It was a mess!   But the storms in the area last Thursday hit on the same path of a destructive storm just last year.  There was horrible damage July 2015 and yet again Thursday.  The country fair happened to be going on and the grounds were hit.  Thankfully a great group of volunteers were able to get the trees off buildings and patch together the tents so the fair could open just a few hours later than scheduled.

 We also have a amusement park here - Paul Bunyan Land, with Babe the Blue Ox.  Poor old babe could not handle with wind poor guy has a crack in his side and a bent horn.

They were able to get a hoist and put him upright - just looking a bit rough.

Christmas in summer!

Getting ready for market in Oct, means Christmas in Aug.  Im sewing reindeer for Santa to ride! I always have my helper close at hand -

I have become very good at sewing one handed as not to disturb the cat.  Any one else make things more difficult for themselves just so they dont upset a sleeping animal?   I find I wont move so I dont wake the cat - you know he doesnt get enough sleep with his 23 hour sleep schedule.

Here are some pictures of my work load.   It just hurts my hands doing all that stuffing!

 Above and all ready for paint.  Below are ones I had to stitch the legs on.

Sturbridge

We also spent the day at Sturbridge Village.   It was a beautiful day and got there right when they opened to beat the school kids on their class trips.   Just about made it thru the entire village before the kids were everywhere!   If I didnt know better I would have thought we were at a amusement park.  But I remember the silliness of being a kid on a class trip - even though it was a long time ago. 

 This little house was so cute but dang tiny house living would be interesting!  But back in the day this would have been quite nice.  Now everything has to be bigger and bigger.  Im ready to downsize but not to this extreme. 

 The little kid hole in the outhouse made us laugh.  But I guess it is practical. 

 Got to have chickens - I just smile at their antics.

 The landscape is so lush.   Unlike here there are vines growing on everything!

 I love this sink!

 Look at these wide floors.  And all the years and years of use the knots are actually raised up.

If you ever get the chance to go, do so.  I enjoyed the peaceful walk thru every building and the beauty of the landscape.