Oooh! Oooh! Ooooh!

I just had the coolest idea and I'm going to give it a try; maybe even this evening or tomorrow.  I noticed this project here http://rustyroostervintage.blogspot.com/2012/12/ornaments-from-trash-and-scraps.html.  Then I found this one a few days ago here https://www.facebook.com/SouvenirMagazine.  This is a project contributed by Sadie Olive to Souvenir Magazine.

I'm going to see about combining the two projects.  It looks cool in my head.  We'll see how it looks in real life.  Off the top of my head, I'll use a mini canvas, tiny vintage buttons, antique book pages, antique lace . . . and . . . I'm not sure what else.  Maybe some old glitter?  Stay tuned.

Dec. 14 --- Turns out I needed to make some things for a school fundraiser.  This is on the back burner for now.

Benson!

My puppy is 9 1/2 months old!

October in Oregon

I was up in Oregon a couple of weeks ago, visiting my folk, sisters, niece, daughter and grandsons.

One of the days we took a drive up towards St. Paul to take some photos of growing trees.

These are trees in a nursery in the area.  Their colors really were beautiful.

On the way home, I stopped along the coast in Humboldt County to take some photos.

This is one of my favorite photo sites there.

I haven't had much of an inclination to write much in the last six months or so.  There are some health issues going on with my mom so I've been trying to get up there more.  It's still not as much as I'd like, but it's more than it has been.  I'll TRY to be better.

I think I like

Sherwoodshire Cottage Workshop. That way it can apply to any type of necklace or art or photography or whatever. At least for now. :o)

A Glimpse Into My Journal

This is my most recent journal/keepbook/inspiration book. It starts in January, 2007. I don't write in it nearly often enough, which is why I'm still in the same one 5 years later. This is a plain brown craft-type paper ringed blank book. It's about 9x12 so it's big enough for magazine pages. That's because I like to go through my favorite magazines, calendars, books, etc. and cut things out that speak to me. Then I put them in my journals. I go back all the time and look at old ideas for inspiration. This is the cover.

I have a trunk that Mike built for me for my 35th birthday. I realized I could set it on its' front and take the top off. Then I put the all of the audio/visual stuff inside on a couple of old fruit crates. I still have to make doors for it. I think I'm going to make them from some old knotty pine moulding from our old house and then use chicken wire rather than glass.
Mike and I visited Cherlyn in Okinawa in October of 2007. We're at the botanical gardens here, where they had a GREAT play area.

I LOVE this craft room setup. I'm just not organized enough to be able to pull it together . . . yet. I'm working on it.

These are some wonderful sayings/thoughts/bits of wisdom.

I wrote a little book for my sister and her kids. These are some of my drawings for the illustrations. No, it isn't completed yet. The words are and the contextual drawings are. I just haven't put the two together yet.
Can you tell I'm a pretty visual person. It's the way I remind myself of things.
From wayyyyy early in this blog. Emma is nearly 7 now.
I'm married to an unsung hero.
I have my own collection of old suitcases and always keep my eyes open for more. They're great for storing old letters, journals, negatives, etc.
I want to do this but haven't yet.
This is pretty cool. I have a lot of old buttons. It would be a fun project for the grandkids.
I love this. My Grandma and Uncle have something similar that they put together in their garden.
Roma.
Paris.
Yes.
I got this little poem from a woman who used to live in our town. She was the "town grandma." Rest in peace, Grandma Mavis.

Happy Saint Valentine's Day

Little Orphant Annie (The Goblins'll Get You If You Don't Watch Out!)

A poem my Grandma learned as a little girl, that she can still recite by memory. She's 96.

LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE

INSCRIBED
WITH ALL FAITH AND AFFECTION
To all the little children: - The happy ones; and sad ones;
The sober and the silent ones; the boisterous and glad ones;
The good ones - Yes, the good ones, too; and all the lovely
bad ones.



Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an'
sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-
an-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun,
A-listenin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!



Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers, -
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at
all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an'
press,
An seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout: -
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an'
hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'for she knowed
what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'bugs in dew is all squenched away, -
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' cherish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

I spent the day cleaning up the living room and thought I'd post a few vignettes. Nothing fancy, here they are.

Time Zooming By

I've got to get myself some sort of a schedule. I feel like my day is zooming past me and I'm not feeling like I'm accomplishing much. Time to take charge.

Speaking of taking charge, Katie and Emma are moving out! It's about the best (in my opinion) it can be. They'll be just four houses down the street. It makes for a pretty good safety net for them. We'll see how it goes but I'm excited for them and I'm excited for us. That means that pretty much the next week (ha!) or so will be filled with rearranging furniture and rooms. Mike will hate it.

Steps, Days 7-22 (Nov. 8-23) Part Two

Day two and we're ready to continue our drive to Odell (pronounced like 'yodel,' by the way).  Thanks to googlemaps, you can join me on our drive.  We left Swineshead and the next village we'll come to is Riseley.  

As you can see, we're in the middle of farmland out here.  There are a lot of little villages in the area.

Just coming into Riseley now.  There are a lot of houses in this village that are listed in the British Listed Buildings site.  

I LOVE this cottage.  I love the color, the beams and the thatched roof .

This one is pretty cool, too.  I like the way the windows are set into the thatching . . . or the way the thatching is built around the windows.

I'd live here, too.  :o)

This one looks like it should be an inn.

The Fox and Hounds in Riseley, Bedfordshire.  I think we should pop in for a bite to eat!  Check out their menu.  I think I could make a meal of just their starters. 

So we've had our lunch and now it's back on the road.

The doors on this old barn struck me.  I'm a sucker for doors and windows.

Seeing this makes me wish I was there.

Looking back.

Look at the difference in the weather.  Most of the time we were there, we were fortunate enough to have lots of sunshine, but we had our share of foggy days, too.

We're going to take a little jog to the right and then back down in the direction we were headed.

We could turn here to go to Odell, but we're going to go up a bit further.

We'll turn in here.  

I love the signs.  Wait until you see the arched bridge.  Better hope for no oncoming traffic.

Wonder how old this thing is?

Almost to Sharnbrook.  I love their old barns.  They're so much cooler than our old barns.

Another Wesleyan Chapel (Methodist).

Stone building and thatched roof.

Best be careful when you step out your front door.  You might step right in front of a moving vehicle.

More stones and thatching.

We turn left here to go to Odell.

I love their churchyards.  I think a cemetery SHOULD have upright headstones.  I don't care for the flat markers set into the ground.  Doesn't seem like there's a whole lot of character or individuality in that style.

Check out the houses on this street.  Wow!

Through the roundabout . . .

Check out the signs to get our bearings . . .

and back on our way . . .

to Odell!  So what's the big deal about Odell and why would we make a point of going to visit there you might ask?  Well, one of my ancestors, Reverend Peter Bulkeley, was born in Odell and was the pastor of All Saints Church there.  He was also booted out of there for "nonconformity."  As a result, he and a bunch of his followers headed off to the New World to take advantage of religious freedom.  He founded the town of Concord, Massachusetts.

This is the Rectory Farm for All Saints.  We passed it on our way to the church and came back after we went to the church.  We stopped in and bought some jams and then went back to the church.

Why did we pass it by the first time and then go back?

Odell's High Street

I love the way the buildings are right to the street edge.

If you look close, you can see the wall that's the beginning of the church property.

Almost there.

Ah.  All Saints Church.  We got here and hopped out of the car to look around and go inside.  Problem was, no one was there.  We looked around outside and then saw a note that said to go back to the Rectory Farm for the key.  There was no way they were going to give a couple of Americans the key to a 800 year old church, with no one there to supervise.  Or so we thought.

We went back to the Rectory Farm and met a very nice lady who indeed did give us the key.  It was an old skeleton key, about 5 inches long.  I'll try to get more photos on here later.  For now, these will have to do.

When we were there, it was May and there were flowers blooming everywhere.  It was spectacular.  We walked all over the grounds and then went inside.  I took a bunch of photos inside and we were even able to go down some ancient stairs and then up into the bell tower.  

Not ALL the way up.  Just to a second floor and then to where the rope hung down from the bells.

So cool.

Well, our little outing for the day is done.  When we went home, we took the motorways so we got home much quicker.  The lady we talked to at the farm was surprised that we'd driven "all that way" to visit the church.  They consider 25 miles a great distance.  

Now that I'm trying to get Christmas stuff ready and things ready for our short trip to Oregon (all us "kids" get to be together after not seeing each other for six years!!), I probably won't have much time to do my "walks."  I'm not sure so I'm being noncommittal.  :o)  There are some more special places I want to visit, though, so we'll see.