December / Jan.

Me in front of job site house
rock work is done
realtor's tour is over
septic system is in
mid. Jan. open house was a success
another open house will be in 2 weeks
people were out in droves we had great weather for this!

We finally sold this one and took it in the a$$ b/c of the down mkt.

http://www.tb.com/detail.asp?ListingId=312535&Mode=6
pics on inside at above link.

November Progress!

Garage Doors are in!
Kitchen floor is down too
but you can't see that from this picture.
Rock work is on.

Property is listed.
Carpet is down.
Tile is down and grout is sealed.
Counters are in.
Cabinets are done.

House is staged
tree is up.

Still to do
two towel racks
a few shelves
put gutter back up
septic system to go in
some clean up.
Take pics.

October Progress!

The back-hoe has been leveling the dirt digging
the trench for the water line and ready to
dig hole for the septic system to go in.

Most of the laminate flooring inside is down.
and it's looking great!

The flooring is glued down in laundry and main bath room
it looks wonderful; tile is down on the entry way and master bath room
it looks awesome lighting is working now too.

Picked out cultured stone to go on soon as it gets in.
Oct. was a productive month!

Custom cabinet guy hurt his hand so we had a delay
on those they should be done in Nov.
Gutters and doors have been ordered.
Delay on carpets.
Some of the subs. have been hunting!

Siding & Paint Progress to Report

This week:
Siding is to be completed;
sheet rock is up and done;
interior paint is done.
Exterior paint going on weather permitting;
order doors .

Realtor has people that want to see it
so they can pick the flooring etc. they better hurry.
We are getting positive comments about the floor plan;
and the large garage!

Next Month:
Custom cabinets are being built as I type this and
will be done by Nov. 1 that is the target date.

Roses With Roots

I'm doing great did get lots of gardening done today;
roses, berries, bulbs are moved;
and I planted new tulip bulbs in pink white and purple,
and onions by the three new roses I put in yesterday.

Last week I got two more fruit trees planted
a red plum and apricot.
Gardening is great exercise too!

Siding

More progress!
This is a view from the back
with the siding on.
The pluming is in now too.

Dream Home Pics.

Top:
Bay window framing is in and more roof trusses are up!










This is the back view of the house more trusses up over the dining room where French doors will be that open out to the deck patio area.
A patio or deck will be off the master bedroom.
It will be white with med. brown accents on the exterior
and earth tones interior unless some one buys it and
changes that. [People are already asking if the house
is for sale!]

Fire!

On my walk today I took this photo with my camera phone
in the distance you see smoke rising from
fire in the area from dry lightening we had last Friday
it's where we where we ride ATV's, and used to go boating
up Hell's canyon.

Garden Wedding

Over dinner for our 34th wedding anniversary was last week hubby and I were laughing because I told hubby I wanted to get married in a wheat field ie [stubble field] remember we are from the hippie days; I wanted a ring of daises in my hair. Hubby's family were farmers I thought it would be a nice touch. Mom vetoed this idea she was right. So I settled on a garden wedding. Boy was that a lot of work! Hubby said he got in on the preparation for that. Mom sewed the dresses and a lady from the church made the cake we used a recipe for the punch from my grandma's and & grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary celebration mom had to get the recipe from my aunt.

It was a simple affair 104 guests very memorable. T-storm the night before had us picking up tree limbs the morning of the event off the lawn.
My wedding bridal bouquet was not what I'd expected and I wept over them my aunts rescued them. Granny grew delphiniums in her garden those baskets were in front of the mock orange in the yard bloomed and were fragrant as we said out vows that we had written. The day was not too hot just perfect! The photographer, was a guy at the church that had been doing it for his work in the basement and the pictures turned out well.

We had a potluck after ward and people kept waiting for us to leave;
the photographer pulled us aside and said we should stage an exit even thou we were staying for the meal so I changed and we went around the block and came back for supper.

ATV Ride

ATV-ing was great fun for us this weekend. Hubby and I got separated and I found an awesome trail to ride on and picnic spot. We saw a dead rattle snake in the road on the way up; on my walk this morning I saw a humming bird; and some wild canaries up in the mountains, hubby saw an eagle some deer. The smell of the forest was great.

When we got home we cleaned up the ATV's and put them away and the stuff that we used for this picnic ride in Washington. Praising God for a safe return trip home after a close encounter with a deer hubby had to swerve to avoid. The huckleberries are not ripe yet but the blackberries around here are just now coming on.

Dear son and dear grand daughters came by for a visit. He loved hearing about our ride!

Dear son in law stopped by to deliver the trailer they borrowed for a camp out in Idaho by the one of the hot springs in the central part of the state. I got paid for some work last month so this is great.

Trusses are here.

Trusses were on time today.
Heat wave here makes morning work the best!
Pic. #1 & 2 are trusses that were delivered and set in place today.

Ground Breaking

pic #1. dear daugther helping to sight in the depth of the first digging.
pic #2 digging with small backhoe;
pic #3 # power is in

We broke ground on the property last Sat. the family was there. Dear daughter was helping with survey equipment. They had a small cat and bob cat to move dirt around.

The guys were excited dear grand son was playing with the water! Guys and gals all sizes love to play in the dirt and it was an exciting day for all of us! They have poured the footings did that last week; and foundation was poured today.

I've been working on the yard at home dug out a smallish apple tree that had bugs in in the trunk so it had to go. Doing granny duty so dear daughter can work at the job site doing concrete work. I've also been painting the stairway too.

What I Love About My Dream Job

That’s one of the things I love about my dream job of home designer the fact that my schedule is flexible and I can call dear daughter and if I need help on this too. It’s great to have family living close by. Riding motor cycle out to check on the water meter and power pole on the lot to see if they were in and seeing 4 deer just across the path!

I'm setting up a note book for this with 1-12 numbered dividers, some color coded ones and others with a-z tabs. We are in the design phase of this still the guys are working on securing the permits and doing paper work. I found a kitchen design note book and hubby and I agree we hate all the ideas in it they are off the wall and funky ideas to weird for around here.

I was hoping we could say we had broke ground by now. Hubby had to draw up another view for the house plans. And one for the floor joists. But those are done now so we are chipping away at the progress. I’m meeting new people and enjoying that part of it.

I’m keeping a log or journal of the progress each day. Adding to the contact list and hoping that helps next time we do this. Some days it like three steps forward and two steps back. But that’s how it is in life at times.

Checking In

Today I promised my self I’d update my blog so here goes!

Last weekend it was cold and we did not do much for the memorial day weekend. Thinking this weekend we could have a family gathering, but the weather is so nice that they are camping! Great idea it might be time for a tree fix for us too.

This week I mowed the back yard for my exercise and the roses and irises are great this year. I weeded the garden last night and the tomatoes are doing great in the new spot we planted them this year.

It was a good week here I marked a mile post three years on my weigh loss journey some thing to celebrate! I was at the local green house produce stand the other day and found a rose bush I will get to mark this occasion. While I was there I also found some peach jam with no extra added sugar I was excited about that! So I’ll get some of that too. The sugar free apple pie is gone, I have a peach one in the freezer. These are great in lunches I have wedge shaped containers for hubby to take in his lunch. He said he was forgetting to eat breakfast, so I tucked a plastic spoon in his Bible cover as a reminder this has been working great such a simple thing too!

I’ve been working on my card file putting verse of the day on file cards until I ran out of them. Making a master list of my favorite inspirational verses for a projects or two.
I’ve been working on outside stuff and the house shows it. I’m not doing as much with my crafts these days.

Next week I’m on carpool duty dear for grand daughter. That’s one of the things I love about my dream job of home designer the fact that my schedule is flexible and I can call dear daughter and if I need help on this too. It’s great to have family living close by. I went through the books in the book cases in the basement and weeded out a few and found one for kindergarten teachers addition that dear daughter can use for dear grand son. I’m glad I found it before he had out grown it! Dear grand daughters are past that phase now.

Progress on the house building project but it is a bit slower than we had hoped.

Books

My new book shelf is full! I've read half of a book, a novel last evening outside under the big shade tree in the front yard. It was very relaxing.
Now that the weather is warmer I can do that again!

I'm reading "The One Minute Millionaire" by Mark Victor Hansen co-author of "Chicken soup for the soul" and Robert G. Allen author of "Nothing Down" and "Creating Wealth". Lots of info. in this book is review if you've read any of the rich dad series. I love this book the right side of the pages are a fiction story that teaches, the left side is the info. and formulas graphs visual aids etc. my brain loves this format!!!!

I just finished reading "Driven to distraction" riveting reading! I have another A.D.D. book to read later on maybe in the fall called "Understanding Attention Deficit Disorder". It is fascinating learning how the brain works.

I have "Positive Thinking For a Time Like This" by Norman Vincent Peale in my T.B.R. pile, I enjoy his work. I have some Debbie Macomber light fiction novels I want to get to this summer in my TBR pile, I started Daily word prayer journal found it at a yard sale this weekend. I have one chapter left to read in "The Secret".

I ordered a Joyce Meyer Book and teaching series "Habits Of Highly Effective Christians" I'm looking forward to getting that. I've seen these on TV not really new info. in them but I"m looking forward to review and seeing if I can glean any notes tips and pointers from them. Last week I got T.D. Jakes "Reposition Yourself Living life without limits". There is a work book that goes with this book too.

I'm in the middle of "Prophetic Evangelism" by Sean Smith; and found "Elements of the Writing Craft" by Robert Olmstead at the thrift shop so I had to have that one too! I am about half way done with "Time Out For Prayer" by Julie Baker this one is excellent!

I have started reading "Einstein's wife" to read a bio. I enjoy biographies!

New House Plans

We got the closing papers signed on the lot last week. Hubby drew up the plans for the inside of the house yesterday took longer than we anticipated, today he has to do the outside plans. He had some architecture in collage so he knows what he’s doing and learned some fun tricks to help with this. This week getting the plans drawn up is the goal and then getting a material supply list together and submitting them for approval. To make sure they are in accordance with the stipulations for the new subdivision. Hubby will be back to work this week after a week of vacation he his rested up and doing better.

Last night to relax I colored on a print that was some sepia brown and white and some color so it’s all colored now! That was fun! I’ve been reading and enjoying that. I’m reading one minute millionaire going now. I have a print to frame up also.

Dear daughter has an open house today. Dear son begins his new job tomorrow. Grand kiddos will be here tomorrow I’m excited as I have some new crafts to do with them.

I finished crocheting up a prayer shawl last night and have yarn for another one in lavender and white I’m looking forward to working on it. I have yarn for a larger project in aqua blue and sea foam green colors! That will be fun I’m wondering if I should knit or crochet it! I’m looking forward to discussing this with my friend we knit together and met every other week. Seems to be helping us both to discuss stuff going on in our lives. These days we both seem to have quite a bit going on.

Busy Week

I mowed yesterday for my exercise. It was 86* great weather. My plants trees and bushes are all still alive I’ve been watering them I need to get the sprinkler on the grass today. I felt great after that! I've been doing great at maintaining my weight loss.
Mowing was my exercise yesterday!

Last night we took a short motorcycle ride over to the lot and stopped by to see the grand-girls. That was fun! Went to the lot and saw a bull snake he lives there we’ve seen it there twice now. Hubby is getting stuff lined up to build a spec. house to sell. He wants to do that for his job/work after this fall. I’m over the fear part of it now. Yea that took some time.

We grilled patties in the carport last night. It was a bbq for two had family over for a pizza party on Monday for mom's day. The car is in the shop so there was extra room! Used my smaller folding craft table it worked great. I made scalloped potatoes from
a mix and they were awesome my new favorite dish to make for a b.b.q. now it’s much easier than potato salad.

My gratitude journal helps, and doing a card file or using a planner, or pc reminders helps with A.D.D. the book Driven to Distraction said, so I’ve already found what they suggest helps.

I got an unfinished book case six foot tall and I’ve been gotten it oiled and loaded with my books note books journaled mags. etc. help me making less clutter of books around and that has been my progress this week.

Dear son has found a job working for a pest control place. A guy he went to school with. They are excited it’s pretty good money.

Dear daughter had a Realtors tours twenty five Realtors were through the house on Tues. a.m. she brought Joey over they hung out here. The have their house listed and are excited to move again in the the new one they have built a one level home in a new subdivision with great views on some of the lots.

We watched the movie “cowboy up” it was good. Kiefer Southerland the guy in 24 was in it.

Community Event Week

I delivered donations to a church yard sale this week. Glad to get these items out of here. I cleaned the lawn chairs that were in the carport and picked up the yard. We are loving spring here the Dogwood festival and County fair are both this weekend. We went to the dogwood festival today and I got to go to the craft fair. Hubby went to the show n shine. So glad to have better weather and more fun opportunities to enjoy the great out doors. The scent of lilacs is lovely when I'm outside these days! Love that!

Hubby has recruited me to help in his new business he needed some one to delegate to run errands fetch parts and supplies and general go-for. Let the contracting begin! I did some errands for this that past two days when I was out and about any way. My dad was a contractor so this is not new to me.

My e-bay items did not go so I brought them back home.
Will be trying motor cycle parts next fender and muffler for 98 Vulcan classic 1500.

De-clutter mode!

We got our taxes off then did a clean sweep in the office went through papers worked on getting files purged and the filing system set up ready to go for a new year. There were files to put in deeper storage after the sale of the farm last year it was time to move some of the boxes again. Hubby was off for some dental work and had time to help me with this office stuff.

This week we are getting ready for a block yard sale. Dear daughter and family are getting ready to move and as she does she said it's double duty sorting for the move and for the yard sale. I cleared out the pool house and I'm going to be using it as a potting shed this summer.

Last weekend we got the news that our son has won the election for A.S.B. Pres. by a landslide victory! He said that he has some meetings this week in two other collages in our state. Prayers appreciated for them and my prayer is that they are able to brain storm some ideas for better safety and protection for schools collages all across the nation.

Giving E-bay a go!

I found a local movie rental store that will put items on e-bay for a reasonable fee. So I'm giving e-bay a go this week. They take the photos and ship stuff off so I don't have to run all over town to find packing materials and a ups site to ship from so it's worth it to me to try this!

The wooden decorative boxes they said weigh too much to ship so I had to go fetch them back home. Learning as I go here.

Yard Sale Or E-Bay!

Yard Sale List:

Our neighbors have recruited every one for a block yard sale.
These are great for generating 
higher traffic. 
 
Pick date for sale.
[Keep in mind higher value items for e-bay as you sort 
there is more than one way to de-clutter.]
 
6 weeks before sale: 
 
Collect donations & yard sale items.
Find out local guidelines;
is it okay to post signs and have sales in your area?
Compose add for local adds in and classifieds 
nickel shopper, penny-saver, money saver add paper 
and area newspaper.
 
1~2 weeks before sale: 
 
Clear junk out of front yard this can be done earlier. 
Clean garage carport shed etc. sweep and set up tables. 
Clean tables and move to area where sale will be. 
Buy or make signs kids can help with this!
Wash sale items toss broken things 
Get change and move sawhorses to carport put plywood near by.
 
Week of sale: 
 
Clear & rope off area 
Cover items not for sale 
Bring boxes & bags & containers out of house for sale items. 
Get electric cord ready to test appliances.
Have adding machine or calculator handy. 
Put change in fanny pack  
set up till area table store bags & papers under table 
for wrapping breakable items. 
 
Day of sale:
 
Put out signs & refreshments if you are severing them,
Get change out use fanny pack.
Take signs down! 
Or you may be getting folks at ten o’clock at night; 
my friend said this happened to her!
Get Chinese take out or order in subway or pizza so you 
don’t have to cook. Having a yard sale is hard work 
like moving but it burns a lot of calories! 
Move cars out of the way if possible so customers can park!
 
After the sale:

Call for donations pick up after sale.

Son Runs for Collage A.S.B. President

I have news! Last week I found out our son is running for A.S.B. President. We will know in a few weeks if he got it or not. He is currently Vice Pres. a junior majoring in communications.

library thing

Easter Week

Yesterday one of my finds was a flower pot that had the words violet painted on it and a painting of some violets in bloom. I have lots of these in the yard so it will be great to put one in it. On the way home I stopped by the nursery and got two fruit trees a peach and nectarine and got those planted. Now I'm trying to figure out where to put an apricot tree! It was 29* here over night and I am SO glad I put the annuals in the play house. I just got them out for some sun. It's a lovely day here and will warm up through the end of the week.

I found a couple of books by a favorite author Emilie Barnes and a wire bound journal and a planner, planner size note book plus filler pages for these at the thrift shop. I like the bigger size rings in the planner and I'd been looking for one so I'm delighted with these finds. Speaking of books I found library thing web site and have most of my books there some I've read some to read some that I'm currently reading. See link in blog title for this post.

I've been getting ready for a block yard sale the weekend after Easter is keeping me busy I"m getting "stuff" rounded up for this. I went through the books last weekend. It feels good to get progress on this! Tonight is Family Dinner at dear daughter's.

Gardening News

Another trip to the garden store is on the docket today with the truck for trees this time. The herbs shrubs roses and grass seed is in, annuals are next.

Yesterday I got a fake rock planter with a hole in it for planting and put it by the front door, a cane bottom chair with a hole in it from the thrift shop will be holding plants soon. I'm finding gardening to be very therapeutic. I got some snaps, tall marigolds yellow and white, and purple and white pansies. Fruit trees are next nectarine and peach and I found some bulbs!

The other peach tree died well past it's prime of the life span about 25 years for fruit trees, with lovely blooms in the spring we enjoyed these! Last year we took out the apricot tree and pine they had bugs and the above ground pool went in now it's back to grass and this made room for the new tree additions.

Major Tweak!

Today I’m trying a new browser
Firefox I’m tired of the I.E. not working.
So going to give this one a go.

-----> Edited to add on 3/29
I like this it spell checks when
I post on message boards!
Also I can increase font size on them too.
Now I am wondering why I waited so long!
I love it!

-----
Our greatest glory is not in never failing,
but in rising up every time we fail.
Emerson.

Spring Fun!

Yea! I made it in to my writing blog; I've not been able to get in here for a while. So I'm happy to see that I can get in again. I've finished a green knitting project for March. We have been on an ATV ride it was so-o good to get out of the house and see the changes in naure after our ride last fall there was more burning and there were trees down. Some on had went ahead of us and move the biggest logs out of the way. I've been to a Business Boot Camp training also. We are having wonderful warmer weather here is was up to 70* on Saturday. The roads were drying out and dryer than we expected. Some snow is at the top in the shady spots. We saw a heard of elk, mtn. blue birgs and wild turkeys. Bulbs are blooming in our yard that makes outside work
much more fun again now.

Think Week

I remember an interview some one was doing of Bill Gates about this time last year I think it was. He was talking about having "think week". Setting aside time a week to read books, articles and go over other info. he does this three or four times a year he said. Julia Cameron recommends a going with out media for a week. So I decided to take their advice grounded myself from the computer last weekend. I got quite a bit of other stuff done, and made some decisioins I needed to consider and got some knitting, crafting reading and caught up on my off line journals.

Feels Like Spring!

The geese were honking over head again this morning. This week it’s been warmer fifty - one degrees yesterday and today it was forty - seven it felt like spring out. I resumed my walk on the hill by here and I’m in great shape I was rather surprised by this. Yesterday I did ten minutes and no ill effects, to today I bumped it up a bit and I did more 45 min. plus ten on the level I could tell I’d done more when I got home but it felt good. I picked up a bag of trash today as I walked, then when I got about a half a block from home I saw nine white tailed deer that was fun!

I called a friend and she said even though it’s been cold she is still getting eggs from her chickens. We had a great visit and it was good to catch up on news and compare notes on what we have been up to the past few weeks.

It has warmed up here 40* - 56* here for this week my walk was realy rather plesant today outside! I saw people hauling trash off to the dump, roses had been pruned, others were getting pedal bikes ready to use for spring and I saw a robin today too!

Changes

Now that the weather has turned off mild again this week for a while any way, I am able to take my daily walks again now. I saw geese honk as they flew over head on my walk yesterday and several other days this week. They were out for their daily exercise too, they fly laps over heads circling the area. I see or hear them often. I enjoy watching the birds in the winter on my daily walks.

There have been other changes here as well, as grandchildren grow up go off to school and other activities there is not the need for me to do granny duty. I’m getting my life back so I’ve been tweaking my plans and getting some fun things back on to it that I like to do. I have been missing some of these things weaving, ladies groups such as Women’s Aglow, spinning and weaving guild meetings, life groups at church, it's time to call and order a book I've been wanting to read, walk at the beach and around the island where we camp, my list is growing!

No Escape from Cold!

Winter has a cold icy grip on our country from Washington to Texas there is no escaping it! I was remembering some of the winters we experienced as children. When I was three or four my granny knit me a two piece red snow suit! There are pictures of me trying to ride my trike with the red snow suit on. It was a sweater and knit pants. That took some time to make and what she did that long record cold winter.

Hubby’s family had horses and cows on the farm when they were kids. Feeding them was a lot of work in the winter keeping ice out of the water troughs. Hubby tells great stories of this and those 4-h projects that they did as kids. They raised pure bread championship Herefords the red cows with white faces. My stories of sewing aprons are not nearly as entertaining! We have some good times remembering when we raised rabbits.

We had a bad winter when were kids that was in 1963 with three plus feet of snow we made lots of snow forts, and played outside because of all the snow we missed a lot of school that year. Our mom’s had hot cocoa for us when we came back inside and shed the numerous layers of clothing, mittens hats and boots to dry by the stove.

In high school we rode a snowmobile, I think I enjoyed sledding more because it was quiet and no fumes. Many of us had sledding adventures some high school buddies were unlucky and crashed into trees with broken bones they had hospital stays and missed a lot of school. Back in those days if you broke a leg you stayed home.

We were talking about how much snow is on top where we were riding A.T.V.’s last summer and the snowmobile trails are busy on the weekends. This year I’ve been getting a lot of knitting done for grand children other family and myself members ski scarves, shrugs, prayer shawls, and ponchos! I’m SO glad I had just stocked up on yarn before this cold snap hit!

Furried and Feathered Friends

Our furry and feathered friends need to be remembered this time of year, with the cold snap in our nation birds and squirrels are in need of food and water too. Today when I was clearing some stuff off the steps I found the walnuts dear grand son and I had gathered on one of our summer walks. So I scattered some of them under the tree where a family of squirrels has taken up residence.

We’ve had many hours of entertainment watching them play. Scampering up and down the tree, teasing the neighbors cats, grooming and sunning them selves and even looking in the window watching us makes me wonder what they think of us when they peer in the window. One time they chased robins out of their nest and on a different day at a different house I saw the robins chase the squirrels out of the robins’ nest. So I’m adding this to my list to do at least while the cold weather is here and the nuts last.

Life Lessons 06

List a few of the things you won’t change this year.

1. I'm thinner fitting in to the size I wore in high school now!
Yea!!! Keeping on with my health and fitness plans!
To see what worked for me check out my yahoo group cyberhealthclub.

2. Stay organized ~ with my plan by using peelsplanner yahoo group I set up several years ago helped me and others to get and stay organized.

3. My airsplanner getting organized for the holidays yahoo group
helped me to stay sane on track with my plan for gifting all year round prep.

4. Myprayerplanner yahoo group goes in the category of spiritual growth.

5. I'm keeping my groups at least to the end of 07.
[I set a goal of 5 years to succeed with these and my 5 years is up! ]

6. Planning
We have planned our vacations out for the year and we are keeping what we did for last year it worked for us the past few years. So we will do that again.

Journaling b/c it's fun for me!
I want to do a couple of them; one sketch journal and
a leather journal they have been "too nice" or "too good" to start
but what the heck I"m not getting any younger!

I got a granny journal but it's geared toward remembering my youth and
I want to get down some of the fun things we do with grand kids around here. I'm going to rip out the pages with journaling prompts
and use the lined pages or just use a different one b/c I have another focus! More fun reading is going on my list this year.

Best purchase of 06 new ATV 's for us and a used caddie! [car]

List some things you will change!
Some of the changes I'm looking forward to for 07 are ~> read on...

I'm looking forward to getting a pc and camera this summer. What I'm changing getting a pc w/out a pen stylus. Hubby can use it, but I type faster than I write so I just do not use that feature it. My camera phone is not working using the pics I used to so will need a digital camera, I’m trying to do some research on that now. I did not want to rush the purchase until I checked in to these. I do not want to spend a lot in case some one dumps it in the lake like someone’s phone but at least that had a plan for replacement on it.