Cherries!

This one basket was our entire crop this year. Glad I didn't bother netting the tree.

Thrift store addict

Most recent purchase:

It is about as big as my face and cost 2 bucks.

Recent Projects

First up: Cloud Lantern's for the bedroom:

These cloud lanterns made from paper lanterns, batting and hot glue.  I am planning on making two more of these; another small one and a large one to hang over our headboard in the master bedroom. I want to make some wire attachments though so that the end result looks less round. I would also like to find a dimmer florescent bulb to go in there.  This was my  inspiration.

Second Project: Learning to "put it up" (canning):
Colin and I decided that it would be fun to take a canning class from ABQ Old School. We are going to have tons of apricots and a bazillion tomatoes so what we learned in class is certainly going to come in handy. The only problem with learning to put up our home grown bounty is the fact that our pantry is already full of baking supplies. I guess I need to get going on using the 20+ pounds of ghirredili chocolate chips I hoarded from Costco during the holiday season. I need to reorganize the kitchen and see if I can make space somewhere.Who would have guessed that the new kitchen wouldn't have enough storage? Can you imagine my conundrum had we not remodeled?

Below are the items we canned in the class: Poached Pears in a Vanilla, Clove, Orange Syrup and Pickled Jalepenos. Sorry for the blurry picture.

Down comes the dead tree. How lucky could we be?

Very very lucky. This giant cottonwood came down last Thursday and it did zero yes you heard me zero damage to the house or the neighbors houses. It did mess up the back fence and crush half of the chicken pen. Don't worry, the chickens are all safe and sound. It also didn't pull any powerlines down. Just telephone and cable which were not connected anyway. So now we set to the enormous task of cutting it up. I am ever so grateful to Robb who came this afternoon to remove some of the huge branches from the neighbors yard.

New gate

Before

After

Shocking! I made this gate from a door I got at restore. I split the door in half using a table saw (that was semi scary, not scared of the chop saw -very scared of the table saw). The I cut 1 x 6s. Half of the them are from the old window sills in the kitchen. Yay for reusing stuff. I screwed it all together and painted it. I think it is "Mosaic Tile" from Bear Paint at Home Depot. Hanging it was the hard part. I wanted to get it done before my sisters got to town and the day I started was super windy. I got a nice bump on the head from where the gate fell on me when I was measuring the bottom hinge. Colin installed the deadbolt (which at some point I will spray paint with hammered black paint.) Colin said that when he was adding the deadbolt the neighbors came out an clapped for him. Yay for curb appeal. We might add a handle to match the ones on the garage too. 

During

Walkway reveal

Ta da! Check out my moms blog today for a better picture. Heather's Water Works.

apricot update 2

Looks like we kept the apricot blooms from freezing. Here is a tiny green apricot. The tree is covered in them.