Still hot and no rain

Oh my word!! No rain and we are still in the upper 80s and 90s this week!!   This is just horrible and not just for MI but all over people are experiencing this terrible drought.  There is rain happening all around our area but north and east we havent gotten a drop of it!!  they are saying possibly later this afternoon!! HOPE and PRAY we get some!! 
We took our Buster Brown swimming in the lake and he was such a happy happy guy!!  My camera was full so I didnt get to take pics!! =( but we will go again soon.  The lake was so warm hard to believe that big body of water was sooooooooo warm!!

My mom and I have been busy busy making all kinds of canned goods at the kitchen.  Each week we are doing up a bushel of pickle cukes and this week we made some of our cold cucumber salad. 

Ready for the processor to slice em up quickly!!

Dont these look pretty!!  the red pepper pieces and red onions give such a nice addition of color to these jars.  Fresh dill, peppercorns and a sweet sour vinegar brine were added. 

Love love LOVE using mason jars for market items.  I have so many at home and use them  instead of plastic tupperware containers. 

Dilly beans out of the canner!! I so wish they would keep their pretty green color!  but they dont.  Wonder if I should do some refrigerator dilly beans!! they would look awesome! 

AND THIS IS MY FRIEND'S NEW SHOP!!! not sure why I only got 2 pics!>?  but we were busy talking and laughing so I must have gotten sidetracked!

So this is FARMHOUSE CHIC PRIM ANTIQUE!~ in downtown Glenn! 

Love the displays and she is doing an amazing job turning this old lovely historical firehouse into a shoppers delight!!  I am taking things there and also some baked goods each week.   She also has a facebook page for the shop and you can view offerings as they arrive at the shop  Chick it out!! 

I am off early this am have to go to a doctors appointment.  I have a party I am catering for this weekend so need to get things ready for that and also markets.

Hope yall have a blessed day and keep cool and hydrated out there!!

HUGS

Darlene 

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Sketch lo 8

HAPPY HAPPY MONDAY!!

According to the forcast we are gonna get a few inches maybe on wed but not much before then.  That's ok though as it has been really really cold this am it was only 16 and now it's a whoppin 27 out.   So this am I  worked on number 8 sketch for our sketchathon over at scrap-friendzy.  This really has been fun and challenging to make a lo using someone else's sketch.  I love a challenge!! 

The black and white photos didnt need much other than I matted them with some great black paper with old vintagey handwritting on and a solid black cardstock back.   I love how the flowers turned out, layers of vintagey sheet music paper by THE PAPER STUDIO at Hobby Lobby and then distressed the edges and added a bit of bling with at light pink gem.

a few words cut from another piece of The Paper Studio patterened paper and some more bling to the top.

17 is the title of this page.  This pretty gal is Brandi my stepdaughter, so hard to believe that little freckled face kid is almost graduated from high school!!  GOODNESS where do the years go!!  Hubby cant believe it either.

This by the way is her graduation pic.  I love the splash of pink in her flower and have always been drawn to black and whites. 

I really have to get busy today and get sketch 10 done which was posted this am.  It should be a busy week as I have things to get ready for markets next week and there are 4 next week!!  So can do up my dry ingredients and some mixes to get ahead of the game and the pierogi well they can be in freezer for a week so they really should be done this week.  A new on is on the menu will post about after we try and sample to see if they are sellable!!  LOL.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments and emails about my card from the CR84FN8 color challenge.  I cant wait to do next weeks!! I actually think that will be a good thing for me as I dont usually do color ones so add that to my challenges I am lovin! 

Hope yall have a great monday and I will talk more later!!

HUGS

Oh and I posted on fb but wasnt sure if I did here yet but it sure was a sad day we lost our oldest rooster the other night!! RED FRED!! he actually had been in several customers pics as since he was such a sweet thing people would ask to have their pic taken holding him!  I did baby him a bit as he was up in age and the younger roosters picked on him so I would bring him over whereever I was working outside and he would talk to me in his rooster jibber (yes I got to know it and could chit chat back to him) LOL, and just stay near me and when I called him he came running like a dog would!!  Oh my dear sweet Red Fred rest in peace my friend!!!

Here's my pretty boy, he was an auracana rooster and when the sun would shine down on him his neck and back feathers loooked like they had gold in them and his beautiful dark green tail feathers just glistened, and thank goodness back in the day was quite busy as we have several offspring of his!   He was 13-14? years old and that is really old for a rooster!!  He actually is kind of famous a dear customer came here one day and took pics of him for a childrens book she was writing and wanted to include Red Fred in it!!  Gotta find that book now!!

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

What's good wed?

Buster Brown being silly and maybe a bit disgusted with his food bowl~~ we usually feed them at night when we eat supper and while eating Buster was showing us in his own way he wanted his NOW!! and I mean now after these pics he decided to pick up his bowl and throw it down on the floor!  He is so silly!! makes me laugh!!

My little silly boy Barney!!

This is Pete our shop dog who is actually more wolf than dog but boy is he a great watch dog!!  He LOVES my dad and my hubby but no one else can get near him at the shop!  And he just loves his squeaky toys, I get him a new one regularly and boy that dog keeps them nice and plays with them, unlike my boys who trash everything seconds after gettin them!!

This is litttle Precious the  grandparents baby!!  She is a stink pot and just adores grandma and grandpa!! oh and she is NOT spoiled at all!! LOL

And little Bubba laying on Busters bed in the sunshine!!  HE will lay in the warm sun for hours!    So  I thought everyone could use a smile today and these guys all make me smile!! 

Whats good today you ask??  THE ELECTIONS are over!~!  Oh my goodness my phone will never be the same!!  I am sure it will be happy and I am so glad not to see anymore backstabbing commercials!!   I read over at musingsbyroxie's blog that is it terrible all these phone calls and it is all automated!! not even realy people anymore!! THAT IS SO TRUE!!   Our phone company just changed to Frontier from verizon and oh my gosh!! what a mess to have to call them!!!  We had no phone line the other day just an open line all danged day too (one good thing though I didnt have to hear the campaining that day) anyway I tried several times to call and report the problem only to listed to minutes and minutes of an automated person tell me there appears to be nothing wrong!  I was so angry it would not let me speak to someone at all and then wanted me to go outside *(not in the rain though) and take the cover off of the box on the side of the house and check the wires!!!  WELLL I have news for them it WAS raining and I wasnt about to monkey around with stuff like that!!  So instead I had to keep calling on my cell phone rackin up minutes to keep reporting it and at the end the recording just kept telling me nothing is wrong and if we have to send a service tech out you will be charged fees!!! STUPID! what the heck has happened to customer service in this country!! And dish network is the worst for this too!! You are also dealing with all automated lines but when you do get to speak to someone a person who (no offense anyone) cannot barely speak english gets on the phone and you can barely understand what they are saying or talking so fast you miss things and have to keep asking what did u say?  STUPID again!!  I am just so sick of it!!   I take time to talk to my customers and thank them for any purchase or even if they come to my booth at markets and say hi and look around.  It only takes a second and a smile makes a huge impression if you ask me!! How many times have you been to a store, restraunt, or in a business and the person you deal directly with doesnt even say "thanks" when you spend your hard earned money at their establishment!!!???  Makes me sick!! The other day while shopping at a local grocery store I made my purchases and the cashier didnt say one word NOT one!! not even to tell me the amount of my purchases but upon leaving the store the little greeter guy at the door say "Thanks for shopping at Meijers today and have a great day"  I told him thank you very much for being so polite and his smile will keep bringing me back to this store! I will just be sure to use the self check out lane!! LOL
So with all that being said I am on a mission to tell people to just remember one thing a day!! SMILE to someone, anyone, a spouce, a child, a parent, a customer, a boss, a coworker, a stranger ANYONE!!  just make an effort to smile at someone!!! or if you dont come in contact with anyone smile at yourself in the mirror it will make you feel better!!! 
So have a wonderful fall wed yall!!
HUGS
Darlene
i am off to the kitchen to bake today!! YEAH!! YIPPEE!!YEE HAW!!play time!

 ~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Storms and more storms coming!

This is Charlie!! one cool rooster we have, he hangs out by the house with his own harem!  He has 8 or so girls that are always round him. 

Wow last night was really bad outside!!  I usually have to find him and carry him into the coop at night as he is the VERY LAST one to go in, we have a couple other roosters that he doesnt like so he waits til they are all setteled in and dont notice him! LOL

WOW  the thunder and lightning was LOUD!!  poor little Bubba was really upset until we all went to bed together then he settled down.  I am very thankful we didnt loose power as there are several thousand people without it around us.  Hope the kitchen didnt loose it!!  that would be horrible I have lots of things to get down for market tomorrow and they are callin for more possible severe storms in morning!! well wont hurt to get a bit wet!! And in the 80's friday but then dropping into the 50s next week.  HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL!!   We are known to have a beautiful fall and when hubby and I got hitched in late october it was 80 degrees that day!! yeah sinceI had to have an outdoor weddin on the farm at my parents house.    So  here are a few pics from tractor show.This is our golden jubilee and below is my hubbys grandparents with the H.  This tractor was bought new in 1951 by hubbys great grandfather and we still have the original sales reciept for her!!  It is just waiting for me to have enough time to scan it and make art with it!! LOL

I am in withdrawl from doin altered items since we have been way busy with the markets this summer!! Cant wait to alter something!!  SOON!! I promise!

This is hubbo and Grandpa Bill!  Proud of ya Gramps!! He had a new knee done a few weeks ago and is at home doin great!!  And I am super proud of hubby for all he does!! Everyday he surprises me with something! 

Little Bubba sittin in the truck!~ He sits on the seat so good!! Barney is layin under a blankie on the couch here sorry it is so blurry!  He on the other hand beebopps around the truck jumpin from the front to back and back to front the whole time we are gone!!  Buster just sprawls out on the back seat and "chills"  they all love goin bye bye!~!

LOL this was our golfcart comin home as it rained all day sat and we went mudrunnin at the campground!!  It was fun but dang we had mud everywhere as you can see!  even on the seat and hubby's back had been splattered up with it too!    Well I hope yall have a beautiful wed I am gonna get ready to do chores then head over to the kitchen.  My grandma Rose's pumpkin pie spice bread, banana bread, cheese bread, upside down peach cake, apple crisp muffins, pumpkin cranberry muffins and some apple cake are on the agenda for todays baking!! so I got my work cut out today!! 

Oh and I did get an ok yesterday from Wolverine hardware in South Haven to do our winter market csa drop in their parkin lot this winter!!!  YIPPEE!~! Dave and I will be settin up a schedule of when we are gonna do this in ALLEGAN again and now in South Haven~  you can order something or just buy from what I make that week.  It will be from november thur april!  We did it last year in the Allegan parkin lot and had lots of customers come out and actually we only had 1 yepper 1 day of really cold and windy weather!!  So will give yall the details soon!!

HUGS

Talk soon!!

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

WERE BACK HOME~~

YIPPEE HOME~~
There is just no place like home!~ It was a great vacation and we had lots of fun but I am so so so very happy to be back home!! We loaded up 4 of our tractors and the "boys" our 5th wheel and went to a big tractor show for vacation. My inlaws camp in their 5th wheel behind us and lots of friends around us. The weather was gorgeous, only one day of rain and we actually had the furnace kicked on to chase that morning chill out but still it was fun!! and alot of work, work before leaving, while there, and then now that we are back home everything needs unloading!! oh well my boys sure love it!! they were little angels!!

Here's one now~ My Buster Brown chillin on his new bed I bought for him. 

There is just sooooooooooo much to do there that we usually spend the day running around the flea market, or riding around on one of the tractors or watchin the demos goin on. We are members of this club the flywheelers and also volunteer throughout the week on various tasks, my hubby and father in law worked a morning inside a heated farm history museum, on the day it rained (at least it was warm for them) they had fun and learned new things there, while my mother in law and I sat under a canopy selling raffle tickets, *(WHICH WAS FUN) thanks mom!! Had a ball and we sold out of tickets in an hour!! And I like to work on the peoplemover, which is a big trailer that folks sit on while a tractor pulls it all around the grounds. That was fun!!

And I am so so excited!! I found an old 1930s maybe 40's typewriter all there!! and the exciting part you might ask is????????? NOT only one but I bought 2 of them!!! Gee what is an altered country chick to do??? get all those letters cut off and make some altered jewelry with them!! LOL  These things weigh a ton too!~ WOW

This is a sulkey my hubby made last summer, I painted the back of it for the farm.  We got lots of comments about it while riding around on it.

Here is the pretty little case tractor that the club raffled off.  Isnt she a cutie, and she would sure would have looked nice in our lineup of tractors!~LOL oh well next years giveaway is a John Deere!!  hubby would love that one! Our H by our campsite.

My mother inlaw patiently waiting for us to get goin on the tractor cruise to town.  There were around 155 tractors this year, we had all 8 seats full on our trailer. This was on the way to town.  I am standing on the back of the H while hubby drives.  Our flags even stayed on the whole way there and back, It was so windy I thought one would break off.

Our gang arriving in town, the pavillion you see in the backround is where the market is each sat.  We have an awesome market spot! Just a couple of the tractors in the parkin lot in town.

This is hubbys work tractor he fixed up, a Ford 8N with the forklift on it it came in handy to load things on our trailers.  Not that we bought that much!! LOL  We didnt come home with another tractor this year.  He still has to finish our waukeshaw he bought at last years auction.  He did find an old motor for it for parts and also we got a go cart~ yepper a go cart!~ It's in pieces but there is quite a story behind this baby~~ I will share that and pics another day. It is a good story~Here's our gang on the trailer front row is my inlaws, next row is my sister and brother in law and their baby, then my friends daughter and last row my dear friend and her hubby.  Mary and I bake together, everyone had a great time!~! we could have used more seating, as we were loading up a couple came up to hubby and asked if they could ride with us! I felt bad but we didnt have enough room for anymore.  Hopefully they got to bumm a ride with someone else.  It is tradition for us to go to town then go into Dairy Queen for ice cream~  and let me just give yall an fyi!!! their chocolate silk pie blizzard is the BOMB~~ oh my goodness it is rich and chocolatey and so so yummyo~~ gotta get another of those before they close for season~~ it has vanilla ice cream, chocolate fudge, and actual pieces of chocolate whip cream pie in it~~ OH I gotta stop talkin bout it or I will be drivin to dairy queen now!~!LOL

We also bought some great old wood pulleys, I found a couple of old enamelware pans a bit rusty but that is a ok by me!! my hubby got lots of old tools and some new ones and of cource a few gadgets we just HAD to have ya know!! But it sure is great to be home (in case I havent mentioned that yet) the gardens are winding down and all that is left pretty much is squash, some pumpkins and gournds and some indian corn, the dang punkins are already orange!!way too early for them but they will look cool around the farmstand which I need to start decorating for fall soon!! like now!! LOL I am goin to the kitchen to work on a few things, not sure if I will go to market tomorrow as they are calling for heavy rain 90% chance and windy and cool so my products will not stand up to the dampness and I dont care to be out in the cool rain either! If it was warm and rainy that is ok but it is really coolin off here in michigan lately. The leaves are just starting to show their colors!! YEAH YIPPEE fall is my favo time of year!! the smells, the colors, all the fall produce and of cource the cooler sweater days!

Well I better git er done and git off here !! gottta run to our other farm and pick some apples and squash!

And oh my gosh dont forget all you survivor fans TONIGHT TONIGHT TONIGHT is the season premier~!~ YEE HAW!! got the dvr all set just in case!!  Love LOVE LOVE JEFF PROBST!~~

 

Talk to ya soon ! yall have a super day!

HUGS

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Relaxing monday

Here are so pics from FSAM on sunday in Grand Rapids.  I think everyone's looked great!~

This gorgeous butterfly landed on the gals table next to me and it actually sat there for quite awhile.  Must have been takin a break in it's busy day.    It was just gorgeous against all the colors in the table cover. 

Ok well relaxing...................... NOT!!  LOL I did have some errands to run today took my mom and brother to stores to buy ingredients for the week.  3 markets last week was alot for me!!  I am tired!! really tired.    Yesterday's FSAM wasnt too bad, it was in the upper 80s and not too much traffic coming thru but we still had quite a few sales.  Pickeled asparagus was my most popular item then my blueberry jalapeno jelly.    This am I finally got to get all the laundry put away that was in baskets and stacked ontop of the dryer for wayyyyyyyyy too long, did dishes from supper last night, had to print off some labels for this weeks goodies, cleaned the fridge a bit and then tried to organize some of my little signs I take to markets.    Well it is time to make supper hubby is gettin hungry and let me tell ya lately he is such a dear sweet guy he has setteled for 2 over easy eggs and toast or an english muffin!! last night however we did have a nice steak dinner we shared with the boys and had a very nice quiet evening together.  Nothin better than be with my hubby and my boys at night!! or anytime of day actually.    I sure missed them yesterday being so dang far away...................well an hour but still I felt so far away, like hours not just 55 minutes LOL miss them every minute of the day when we are not all together. 

I also hope all the men out there had a very special FATHERS DAY yesterday sorrt it is late but I just didnt have the energy to get on puter last night, the bed was wayyyyyyyy to nice at 9pm.

Have a blessed evening!!
  ~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Quiche

These are my lemon lavander triangles.  They have our organic lavander buds in them and the sugar I used in making them has been infused for several weeks with fresh lavander sprigs.  Smells so nice!  I could maybe sell them for "stress management" relaxation cookies!! LOL they really do smell good, lavander is one my alltime favo scents.  I made some homemade dryer sheets that were infused with lavander essential oils and love to use them on our bedding.  Heavenly!

Friday was quiche making day in the am.  Susan and I used some awesome ingredients and went at it! 

She did a bit of decoration on the edge of the crusts that looked like roping.

Steamed fresh asparagus 3 pound of it.

Here's a few of the asparagus n cheeses waiting for the egg mixture which was 8 cups of milk, 80 eggs and lots of cheeses.Oh they turned out yummy!!  We did a few with ham and some veggie ones which I cant wait to try some fresh broccoli and maybe tomatoes.  They were quickly frozen and taken to market yesterday.  In by the way my little chest freezer that will be accompaning me to my markets now.  Ravioli, pierogi and the quiche stayed perfect in freezer.    Next week I am plannin on takin some frozen pies too.

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

and I am making my pickeled asparagus and strawberry rhubarb jam since the berries are lookin rather yummy!!  Boy we had massive downpours yesterday evening into the early am today it is flooded everywhere again.  Lots of rain to make everything grow.  Just too bad we cant order some for in july and aug when we will be cryin for a bit of rain!

My mom and brother came and helped me at market yesterday and it was so much fun!! THANKS MOM AND JOEY!! love havin my family meet my super wonderful customers that come out to markets!  And Joey sold lots of his herbs too!!yeah!!!  If I didnt mention before my brother has a little herb bus and has been attending allegan market for a few years now.  This spring there were a few changes with him and we moved his greenhouse over to here and my mom and I helped him plant lots of herbs and some veggie plants too for markets.  So I was able to bring a few to my market for him.  My brother is a special kid, he is mentally handicapped and we do alot with him.  Poor guy fell a few months ago and broke his arm so it has been along spring  for him.  But hopefully his last splint will be comin off this week.  He has done exceptionally well and tolerated it very good!! LOVE YA JOEY!!  He was excited and laughing as the customers came and bought his herbs.  He knew what was goin on. 

Well hubby and I are gonna do a bit of shopping this am and I am hoping to maybe get a few more things planted in the garden today.  Then it is back to the kitchen to work tomorrow!!  I have an order for some strawberry rhubarb muffins and also my babka coffee cakes for this week.

Hope yall have a blessed sunday!

~~HUGS~~

Darlene