Bare Footed~

For a postcard swap I entered. Theme is Summer. Whatever we interpret that to be.

Water color background. Stamped wording, flower punch and feet sketched then cut out of an old poetry book.

Stacking Wood~

We woke up at 6 this morning because we had some serious wood stacking to do. Today was 102 degrees at our house and we knew it was going to be a hot weekend. Wednesday I cut the grass in the front and back. I also weeded the front flower beds. Thursday I did major cleaning mostly downstairs but I did some cleaning upstairs too in preparation of a hot weekend and not wanting to clean while it was hot.

Front stack is only 1 row thick. Back pile is 3+ rows thick.

We really needed to stack firewood but we knew it was going to be a hot weekend so alarms (I need more than one to wake-up) were set for 6am. On a Saturday? It's a shame but it had to be done. We were finished with outside chores by 11 and knowing we got everything finished and all looked nice was very rewarding.

This pile is 2 rows thick.

This faithful trailer, purchased for 100.00 about 6 years ago has served us so well!

I think of summer as 'vacation' or 'time off to enjoy the weather' but in lots of ways, it's time to prepare for when the weather doesn't allow us to. Reports say our natural gas will go up as much as 30% this fall so this wood will really help keep the costs down. I don't mind the manual labor and I feel better about preparing for up coming needs rather than depending on an 'on' switch to provide all our needs. We were talking about how faithful God is to provide all this free wood. No money out of pocket. Time to chop and stack is nothing. We're thankful to have the good health that allows us to do it.

One paticular piece of wood didn't want to go on bottom so it bounced back and let me know. Ouch.

Camping Scenes~

Camping at Detroit Lake, OR

Again he fishes~
Never get tired of Oregon beauty~
A stop on the walking trail~
Catching the light~

WIP~

Here's a WIP for a swap I 'think' I got into. Not super sure because the blog owner had to okay my comment post & that's how we signed up for the swap. I really do hope I got in. I want to participate badly but if not, I guess I'll be giving them away right here. Fun either way.

We're going camping at Detroit Lake. Have a good weekend~

He Fishes!

Since day one, he has fished. When we were poor (and I mean poor) he fished, when we were doing well he has fished, with all of our four kids he has fished, as a child himself he has fished, with his brothers he has fished, with his dad he has fished, with friends he has fished, then he fished and now he fishes. He loves to fish. He says he thinks of nothing while he fishes. He's totally fishing and nothing else. His mom used to send him and his brothers fishing all day at the beach, by themselves, when they were young. They only had to be back before dark. Those were the days when you could let your kids go beyond the corner.

Surf fishing with one of his brothers and his dad.

Our oldest son surf fishing.

Second son showing his prize. He's the one who now loves to fish.We start em young in our household.
He taught one of my nephews to fish and now that that 'boy' is 6'5" and 300 pounds, he still fondly recalls my man teaching him to fish. That 'boy' now goes to Baja, Mexico monthly and charters boats so he can fish. He too now loves to fish. Two of my other nephews call my man just to tell him of fish they've just caught and my man enthusiastic listens and wants to know all the details. He's sincerely happy for them and loves to hear all about it. Our oldest son likes to fish but our second son loves to fish. I love that he is so passionate about it and gets some of his greatest joy from sharing it with others. He's taught people to fish, or he's cooked (he's a yummy cook) fish for others or he's shared his catch with friends. Some way some how he shares his love of fishing.

This is my most favorite picture of my husband. This is so him.Happy Father's Day!

Black & White~

Made for a ATC swap.

Puppy Sweetness~

My son Tommy has a new puppy. Her name is Jewels. She's 7 weeks old and a Mini-Daschund. She's so tiny and so cute. She has the best smelling puppy breath. Say Hi to her!!

Bye~

Sunday Sun Day~

We spent the day on a friends family farm. It's been in their family since 1883. The simplicity of life on a farm is beautiful. The day was sunny and it's been a long time since we enjoyed such lovely weather.

Secured:

Time slows to a calmer pace:

The guys gathered:

Water pump. Next to the site of the original home:

Girls climbing trees:

Woodpeckers were here:

Peonies:

Norman was the only child who inherited the farm: Karl is our friend:

360 degree view from the top of the hill where the house/barn sits:

Family crest on the front of the barn:

Faithful farm truck in the barn:

We had a fun family day~

Curly Girl~

I'm a curly girl from birth. All my childhood photos are of this chubby little girl with curly hair. Well not much has changed except I'm a woman now. Still chubby and still curly. My dad has the straighest & silkiest hair that I grew up wanting. His ancestors are Mayan and I look mostly like him except for the hair. His mom and his maternal grandmother had long straight hair & his grandmother even has bright green eyes. But no such luck for this girl. I took after my mom's side of the family. My mom is curly and so was her mother.
Before I started having babies, my hair was thicker and heavier. The more kids I had, the finer and kinkier it got. My maternal grandmother had 11 kids so I remember her hair as mightly kinky and wirey. I wonder if I would have had 11 kids, would my hair be just as kinky & curly? For the sake of experiment, I'm having 7 more children. NOT.

As a child my hair was always neat in pony tails, pig tails, braids or barretts. My mom was good about keeping it neat and out of my face. In 2nd grade we moved to the beach in Southern California and during my high school years, I'd blow dry my hair for about half hour trying to get that perfect Farrah hair. I'd get the perfect hair only to walk outside into the morning beach air full of ocean spray and moisture..walk about one mile to school and arrive a curly mess. I'd walk straight to the bathroom to try and salvage it as much as possible. Not all curly hair is equal and my hair not only does something different each day & excercises the right to change midday but it doesn't stick to the rules of hair products made for curly hair. The label will say 'controls frizz', 'smooths frizz', 'makes the cuticle smooth'...and the list goes on but my hair is rebellious and laughs in the face of advertising. Why didn't I embrace my curly hair all these years? Why did I try and conform just to look like every.other.girl.at.school? What's wrong with original, different, unique, curly, savage like, the born to be wild, flying in the wind, every curl going its own direction, never the same each day, never the same one hour to the next look? Enlighten me please.My oldest son loves straight hair. A taste he's had from a very small age. His girlfriend has long curly hair like mine but she's nice and will straighten it because she knows how he likes straight hair. As a child, more than once, he'd see me straight out of the shower and ask me to "leave your hair straight that day". As if I've ever had a choice in the matter. I'd lovingly explain that my hair was made by God and it wasn't a choice I had but he'd still plead for me to "leave it straight and not to curl it that day." Oh how I wish I had a choice. Long, thick, silky, straight, glossy, draping, flowing, lovely hair that I've never experienced a day in my life. Did he know my suffering? No because he has said gorgeous hair that he inherited from my dad. Little bugger.

My whole life I've been told "I'd die for your hair", "women pay big bucks for that curl", "you're so lucky to have such curls" and the list goes on but I still blew it dry to get it straight. Of course it only lasted a few hours each day but I did like it straight. One of my closest cousins thought I permed the roots every couple of months to keep it curly. All our lives she thought it was a perm. It was because she had straight hair and wanted my curly hair. She thought all people had straight hair and only a perm could make it curly. That really cracked me up. Well it's only been a couple of years that I've learned how to embrace my curliness. Some days it looks better than others. Some days it's a smoother curl and somedays it is out of control.

Now, do I dye the curls or go with the natural "highlighting"?