The day I saw the elk herd, I got home after work and took this shot from our deck. They were getting ready to bed down for the night and are along the tree/pasture line on the right.
I love to paint seasonal designs on windows....anyone's windows! I just did this one for our local quilt shop. I want her to stay in business so I change her window and spend money when I'm done! Hey, I figure it's my duty to spend to help the economy! I leave open spaces as her shop needs the light. And soon, it will be Daffodil Daze in our community!
I headed down our gravel road for work yesterday morning, hit the main road and this is what I saw at the cattle ranch across the street. At least 70 elk. They were magnificent. Worth being late to work, without a doubt.
I love working at a small middle school - about 135 kids. Last Friday, I was helping in a class when the teacher gave the kids a choice: to watch a movie or to quietly and anonymously pick up trash from the school. This included the elementary school. My photo says it all.
I had planned a totally different photo for today but after seeing Amy's blog, I realized this is the pic I needed to post. We don't have a nekkid man statue in this field, but it made me think of her photo just the same. Her Virginia hills in the background were rolling hills where mine is the Upper Table Rocks. (Check out Amy's blog.....link should be on this page somewhere.)
Okay...moving along through the house at the end of the hallway is my sewing/computer/art room. This is where you will find me most of the time....starting yet another project. I like to have numerous things going at the same time. 
On Fridays, we take turns baking for work....calling it Fat Fridays. It was my turn so I made this 6 layer spice cake with cream cheese frosting. 5 hours to make, 50 minutes to devour. I also made the Jello layers. Mmmmm.
So yesterday I laughed at Jack thinking he will ever see a 19" trout on the end of his fishing line. Sure as shootin', he goes fishing and catches a 19" trout that, according to him, would have fed 5 people easily! (Notice the key words "would have"...he and his buddies were catch-and-releasing their fish yesterday.) No cameras in the bunch of them. Am I gullible to believe his fish tale?
I am taking a break from the home tour as this photo was too good to pass up. As mentioned before, Jack is now a cook. I discovered this inside the spice cupboard. (It's been there for ages but I seem to pay more attention to the little things now that I'm looking for photo ops.) I think he is a dreamer, don't you?
This isn't the normal object on a home tour, but it is important to me. Having been born in Seattle, I spent many years surrounded by the dark, damp, dreary weather. It depressed me so much that I moved to L.A. to see the sunshine. When we decided to retire back in the Pacific NW, I was worried about it being too dark so we put two skylights in rooms that didn't face the sunny side of the house.
This was my granmother's treadle sewing machine and I try to use it from time to time just for the memories. Upstairs is the master bedroom and bath...down the hall is the laundry room, my craft room, guest room and guest/main bath.
The walls are now a buttery yellow...they would be fire engine red if I had my druthers. Since there are two of us to consider, I decided the red highlights are sufficient. These swing-out chairs were the only furniture we had for months and months as we tried to agree on ANYTHING! Finally, a couch, chair and table were agreed upon....but these served us well - and still do, for that matter.
I do not have a dishwasher because I hope to never take this view for granted. I enjoy standing at my sink washing dishes and breathing in the beauty all around me. In the island is a trash compactor which truly helps when you live in a rural area. We separate everything, recycle, burn papers, compost and crunch up everything else for our bi-yearly trip to the dump.
And this is the North view....Yes, those are freeway guardrails out the window! I'll explain that in a later blog. Notice Jack's flat screen t.v.....guys and their toys!
Soup is on the fire, woodbox is full, laundry is drying and we are ready to nestle down. I do love this country life...going "green" comes natural.
I decided it was time to paint the hallway and entryway. We have been putting it off due to the extremely high ceilings; but when we got this outrageous bid ($5,000) for someone to paint it for us, we bought the do-it-yourself-paint! Jack did his high-wire act, scaring the crowd below (me).
I love the process of kneading bread dough; it is good therapy to me. (Notice you can't see my kitchen with flour hanging from the cabinets, dusting the floor and covering me from head to toe. I actually think I enjoy tossing the flour around as much as the kneading!)
This is what the halls look like on Speech Day! There are 80 kids involved in Speech this year and we only have 300 in our whole school! I couldn't help but snap this photo.
I thought I'd brag about Jack today. He is so talented with creating things with wood. These are a bit larger than a recipe box. He made them out of a solid piece of wood then added the sides. He saw the pattern in a wood working magazine and they were miniature boxes. These were gifts for his sis and sil at x-mas time.
Years ago, Oprah brought on stage with her, a wagon full of beef fat that represented the amount of body fat she had lost. Since then, I would visualize my weight goals. When I'd bring in the groceries and lift a 5# sack of flour, I'd think, "This is what I need to lose...my poor heart is working overtime to carry this around all day long."
I'm not a jogger, but I feel like I've run a marathon this week! One day, I started with a meeting before school, then work, then a meeting after school; no time to go home for the AWESOME meal Jack had cooked so I grabbed a bite at a local restaurant with some co-workers and on to another meeting!
Normally, we get a couple weeks in February that is warm and wonderful, today was just such a day. The red tail hawks are flying in pairs. I managed to zoom in just enough to catch this one against the blue, blue sky.
I pulled out this morning on my way to work and thankfully, had my camera when I passed our little pond. I wanted to do a "freeze frame" and just stay in this moment for a few hours. (sigh)... 'didn't happen!
I sound like a broken record, but I love my job. I was asked to make a lifesize Purple People Eater and a yellow polka-dot bikini girl for our music concert last December. Then I was asked to dance behind one of them as the choir sang a medley which included my characters. I hated to just toss this one after the production so I hung him in my little area at work. This is the reading corner for anyone to use.
I know I will be posting more photos of Buckshot throughout the year, so I'll start with a favorite. His name was Buck when I bought him, (for good reason), so I changed his name and his nasty habit. We are best buds now.
