Ready For Guests

Next Wednesday my Sister arrives from Canada. 

The guest room is ready!

It's been nearly 3 years since Sue was here with us in Kansas

but this will be her first visit since we've moved to the farm. 

The last time she was here we lived in the big old Victorian

in town....now we're here in the country

in our tiny cozy farm cottage. 

I'm excited to see her

and the wonderful friends who are dropping her off

while they continue on to Tulsa Oklahoma.

She'll be here for two weeks...

lots of time to yack...shop...explore...did I mention yack?

;-)

See this pretty quilt?

One of my favorite Bloggers gave it to me!

She said she thought of me when she saw it...

how cool is that.

Thank you my friend...I LOVE it!

It's perfect.

The pattern and colors are gorgeous.

I have a fluffy Canadian goose down comforter 

that I put at the foot of her bed

although I doubt she'll get

cold as she can see the wood stove

from her bed.

I LOVE that floral pattern and I love the lilac color.

The little black dress...pinafore apron and hat

and hanger was made by Amish

not far from us.

Sweet Dreams Sis...

we'll see you soon!

Are you having company over the holidays?

A Little Fall Decorating

I don't have a lot of indoor fall decorations.\

to play with.

I think I need a trip to Hobby Lobby!

If you're looking for dust....you're probably

going to see it.

I promise I'm going to dust and polish before

my sister get's here next Wednesday!

No use doing it twice....right?!

The white pumpkins you see ....

they're from our last years crop 

and they're still looking good. 

I found this little crystal bowl at a garage

sale years ago and it wasn't until

today that I REALLY took 

a good look at it.

I don't remember seeing this spider web.

I don't know who the maker of this bowl is

but who ever it is they did a beautiful

job. The cut work is deep and 'crisp'

and yet it's very delicate.

Not bad for $1 !

I'm not sure how much more decorating I'll be doing

but if I find something I like while Sis and I

are 'out and about'.... and it's a DEAL

it will be coming home with me.

Are you done your fall decorating?

~~~~~~

I'm still working on my blog.

I'm sorry if you've been looking around and

clicking on things and they aren't working.

I may have to delete a couple of tabs as I'm a

computer klutz. 

I think everything else is working OK.

If you find a problem please

let me know.

Thanks.

I hope your weekend is a good one!

For The Love Of Animals

This video was sent to me this morning

and I thought I would post it

in the hopes that you

would love it

as much 

as 

I did.

(please turn off my music in the side bar first)

VIDEO

This was a video that was made

for the Wade SPCA in Raleigh North Carolina.

The company who made this video donated

their time and resources along with 

the staff and volunteers of

the facility. 

Unfortunately a music company stopped

the video on YouTube. 

You can see the making of the video

on YouTube but not the finished product. 

What a shame that a large company can

be so 'small' as to stop a video

because they wouldn't 

make any money

from it. 

Shame on them! 

If you haven't seen this before...enjoy!

If you have....enjoy again...it's worth it and 

PLEASE 

donate to your

local animal center.

:o)

Random Shots

Our garden shed/chicken coop all ready for winter

I headed out the door with my camera one morning

this past week to get a few pictures

before the predicted frost hit.

This is WAY too early...

we should have a few weeks before

we get hit with frost! 

Last year at this time I was still picking

tomatoes and did so well into 

November.

We got the coop all closed up

meaning we closed all the 

'window's' and what I call

air flaps screwed shut.

At least that will

help keep 

the

chickens 

warm and cozy

when the winter winds howl.

You can see the 'air flaps' just under the roof line. That little hole is for the cats

This building is also where our barn

cats spend the winter months.

Well at least two of them

will be in there.

Olly

has made 

it very clear that

he's going to be spending

the winter inside the house near the wood stove.

Lizzy and Henry 

have a nice warm bed nestled

in the straw to keep them

cozy during the cold winter nights.

This is our 'work horse'.

We've been planting a few trees

around the farm to add some color

and this machine is a real back saver. 

We planted two Autumn Blaze Maples

and an Eastern Red Bud.

One day this baby will dig

us a pond.

This pile of rocks is my treasure.

Most of it came from the foundation of 

our old barn that burned down 

over a year ago.

I still miss that old BARN.

Henry and the rest of the critters

came with me as I walked around

the farm snapping photo's.

Socrates our scare crow has seen better days.

The only thing he was guarding that day

was the tomato plants which was

a complete waste of his time. 

The tomato plants grew HUGE but they never

even produced one nice big Brandywine

for a sandwich all summer.

The 'cherry tomatoes' 

did better but still didn't give us 

many ripe ones at first and then for

some reason (probably because the 100 degree

temperatures ended) started producing again.

If it hadn't been for them tomato season

would have been a complete flop!

The last of the Orangello watermelons.

They really didn't do much this year

because of the heat either.

Our Lilac Lane is a little greener after only 

and inch and a half of rain and cooler temperatures.

This is where I 'while away' my time

with a magazine and an iced tea.

The Mum's are looking good

and Henry thinks so too.

More Mum's on the back porch

with Sedum bringing up the rear.

Henry just had to get in the last shot for the morning.

Since these photo's were taken we've had a 

light frost. The tomato plants tips got hit

and a few of the herbs and my gourd vines

but everything else looks OK.

Funny thing is the temperatures have gone

back up and we will be enjoying

80 and 85 degree temperatures 

for the next couple of days!

Welcome to Kansas!

Farm Friend Friday

Farm Photo Friday

Come join the fun and meet some nice people!

The Dust Has Settled!

Well the dust has settled ... somewhat.

At least most of the flowers were

washed clean from the rain.

I still have to wash windows and do 

more cleaning before my sister 

arrives two weeks from today.

Can't wait!

To see my sister...not clean house ;)

My Blog 'construction' or re-construction

is still going on but I'm 

happy with how things are looking

so far.

Salvia and Lavender 

The plants seem to have survived the

dust storm none the worse for wear

and are looking much better 

now that our temperatures

have cooled.

I planted some Russian Sage, Big Twister Rush and Variegated Japanese Silver Grass to replace 

the two Graham Thomas roses, 

hydrangea and clematis

 I planted this spring.

I replanted

those elsewhere. 

It seems it was a bit too dry and hot for 

them in that spot so now they should

be a lot happier next summer.

I hope. 

The bees are enjoying the last of the flowers.

The old porch boards really show up this close!

Oh well they will eventually be replaced

with a new screened porch.

Hubby was going to do that this year but with

the record breaking heat that lasted up

until a few of weeks ago

that project will have to wait

until next year.

Just as well as we would have had to admire

it from inside the house because it was just

too hot to be outside! 

It's been a strange year weather-wise.

We went from a LONG COLD winter to a 

very short cold spring 

and jumped right into a record breaking long

HOT summer that just ended recently...

to an early freeze which is to happen

tonight. 

Makes me shudder just thinking

what our winter could be like!

Time to split more wood I think.

How has your weather been this year?