Creating Fun

Now that I have the door prizes completed and sent out I can now get busy creating again on some items I have been wanting to make.  When Larry and Libda came over I made them each a little gift.  Larry is an hunter and Linda loves to knit or crochet.  I made them each a coffee mug with their interests.  I also made a couple of signs and something for Pam.  Check out what I made!

We Got A Dusting Of Snow

Snow is predicted three times this week.  The weather people predicted snow last night and we got a dusting.  They are predicting more snow on Thursday night and then again Saturday night.  So far they are 100% correct.  we never know what will happen here at the farm.  Sometimes the weather people are right on and other times they are so far off it is like we're  had a dome around us.  It will be a lot colder today. Yesterday was sunny and in the 50's.  Today it is suppose to be cloudy and temperatures will stay in the 30's.  Since it is winter I am not complaining but enjoying (?) the seasonal weather.   Check back through out the week and see if we stay at 100%.

New Lighting

The RV pad and the fence that welcomes everyone to the farm has new lighting and it is all solar power.  When the fence surrounding our MASH sign was put up solar lights were put into the fence posts to provide some light to a very dark area of the farm.  Well a after being up for about two years it was time to replace them.  The RV pad that is just across the way from the welcome fence also got lights put into each fence post.  Now a dark area of the farm will have some light.  Also electricity is being put in on the recreational side of the RV pad.  It will be very nice when it has been completed.

Lupper With Friends

We had visitors at the farm yesterday.  Our good friends Larry and Linda came over for the afternoon and we had a great time.  We decided to do a late lunch early supper aka Lupper.  Larry & Linda arrived around 1:00 and we started grilling at 2:00.  Tim did the grilling, as usual, and because we were having mammoth chicken breasts it took awhile.  We do BYOM (bring your own meat) and then everyone brings sides to share.  We had some good sides! It was a great afternoon with great friends, great food and great talk!

Fighting The Bugs

There is a battle going on in the Crafty Cottage and it deals with one of the most loved bugs Lady Bugs.  I use to think lady bugs were so cute and harmless until I came to Tennessee and met the lady bugs here.  These Tennessee lady bugs are mean, smelling, annoying and the bite.  From about April through October these lady bugs are outside doing their thing.  Once November hits they decide to come inside and become a major problem.  Because the Crafty Cottage was empty for a few months while I was in Florida it became a haven for the lady bugs and since I have been back I have dealt the the mess they create.  First there is the smell and it is awful.  Since it is cold out and I am working in the Crafty Cottage I cannot air it out by opening the window and the door.  So, I burn a candle ALL the time I am in the Crafty Cottage.  I sweep up daily and clean up the nasty brown lines they leave behind.  This goes on everyday then, while I am working, I am constantly getting rid of the lady bugs as they decide to dive bomb my head of land on what I am working on or with.  Like I said, we battle everyday and this will continue until April.  I hate lady bugs!

"The Greatest Showman" Again!

Last night Lisa and I went to see "The Greatest Showman".  This was Lisa's first time but I had already seen it once while I was in Florida.  I obviously liked the movie because I did go see it again and I have been listening to the soundtrack almost every day.  It is a musical about P. T. Barnum and portraying him as the greatest showman. I don't know enough about him but if this movie is any indication of what he was like then he was a dreamer that made his dreams come true.  If you have not seen the movie go see it.  You will not be disappointed. I loved it!

Still Working On The Same Projects

Tim and George are still working on the RV pad fence project due to a small snag yesterday but they expect to maybe get the fence finished today.  The snag is dealing with a hole but will explain more tomorrow about it.  I am still working on the February SAS door prizes.  I have the paper all cut up for the cards so now I have to make them all.  Hopefully I will be done by Friday so I can get the box out Saturday but no later than Monday.  So we are all staying busy at the farm still working on our same projects!

Putting Up A Fence

Now that the weather is a little nicer outside, in the 40's, George and Tim were busy working on putting up a fence around the new RV pad that George has been working on.  It is actually the old RV pad but with improvements.  He has wanted to put a fence around the RV area to define the area but to also get is some character.  They got a big portion of the fence done today but there is a little more to complete which should be done by tomorrow.  Good job Tim and George!

The Door Prizes Have Been Created!

The Door Prizes for my sister Pam's SAS have been created.  Now I have to make them all.  After spending the past three days designing three sets of Door Prizes (DP) now it get to make 7 packs for each DP with 4 cards per pack.  In other words, I will be making a lot of cards.  Pam's SAS is the first week end in February so I want to get the DPs done this week so I can get them to her in time.  I did receive a wonderful surprise yesterday with a box full of stamping goodies from my sister Pam.  She spoils me so.  Thanks Pam! I better get to work!

WooHoo, Super Bowl Commercials

So for me the only reason I will watch the Super a Bowl is for the commercials.  I really could care less about the two football teams playing so for me this year it will be all about the commercials and maybe this year, while the game is on, I will be playing games until a commercial comes on.  The Jaguars played very well and should be very proud.  The Vikings, unfortunately, were only in the game the very first couple of minutes of the game.  So on Super Bowl Sunday, I will be rooting for the commercials!

Who Will Be SuperBowl Bound?

Today the NFC and AFC championship games will be played and this year, due to some NFL players, it has been difficult to watch a lot of games.  I stopped supporting several teams due to the kneeling during the National Anthem and although I have not forgotten those players blunder I can look past their idiot decisions and begin to enjoy the NFL again.  This year two teams were opposites during the playing of the National Anthem.  The Jaguars screwed up majorly by disrespecting their nation while on foreign soil.  Dumb, dump, dump!  The Vikings never took a knee all season!  Bravo! With this said I will be watching the games today and I will be rooting for both teams.  I caught Jaguar fever during my stay in Jacksonville and the fact that the players realized their stupid behavior in London and apologized to their fans have helped in forgiving them.  The Vikings play in the same division as the Bears so enough said.  So the Vikings play the Eagles for the NFC championship and the Jaguars play the Patriots for the AFC championship.  Go Vikings and Go Jags!!!

After A Two Month Hiatus...

... I am back to stamping.  My sister Pam's SAS is the first week end of February so I need to get busy.  Due to my sister's generosity I have been given some new stamp sets from the new Stampin Up Occasions catalog and yesterday I spent the day, well half the day, creating the first door prize with the new Panda Stamp set.  It is a cute set and Che k out the picture of what I made with it.  It felt good to be in the Crafty Cottage stamping and creating again!

Jumanji 2017

We went and saw the movie Jumamji yesterday and it was so much fun!  It is not a remake of the original movie Jumanji starring Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt but it is it's own story.  The only similarity was the board game and even then it was changed.  It is a laugh out loud movie and the audience was doing just that and so were we.  If you want a fun, adventure movie for all ages then go see Jumamji.  You will not be disappointed!

Cold But Pretty

I remember bundling up as a kid to go play in the snow.  Snow pants and jacket, scarf, mittens, boots and a stocking hat.  That cover two layers of clothes and long underwear too.  Yesterday I had two layers on the bottom and three layers on top as I spent the afternoon in the crafty cottage.  It was very pretty out but cold.  The sun finally came out full force in the afternoon and although it was 20 degrees out it felt a lot warmer be cause of the sun.  Today will be warmer and we expect to see a lot of the snow melted today.  It is truly Winter here!

My First Snow Of 2018

It has snowed and it is my first snow this year.  Lisa and I ventured into Morristown yesterday so I could do some blood work and then we went grocery shopping.  We were on a mission to beat the snow storm that was coming and we did by about three hours.  Snow was originally predicted to start falling around noon but was delayed.  About 4:15 the snow began to fall and it snowed, on and off, until about 11:00 P.M.  I will post pictures of the snow; yesterday and today.  After the snow quit the temperatures dropped drastically and it is a frigid 16 degrees out.  Since the snow is a wet snow the temperature plummeting has turned the snow to ice which may mean we are not going anywhere until it melts and temperatures rise above freezing.  WooHoo, Snow Day!

I Am Back At The Farm

I am back at the farm after being gone for about three months.  During my absence a few things did happen around here and once it gets warmer I will be checking out all the improvements.  I love my new refrigerator and will be filling it up today.  I will be racing the snow storm coming.  I hope I win.  It's good to be back and we got home just in time to see the view!  I did miss it!

A Fresh New Look At The Farm

Lisa has decided to change up a few things for herself one being getting healthy and she started by losing weight and is maintaining it now and she looks great!  She walks daily and now swims a few times a week.  She has just done something new again and decided to change her hair style.  She is going natural and has just  taken the steps Needed to do so.  It looks good and Lisa seems to be getting better with age.  Hmmm, kind of like a fine wine!  Way to go Lisa!

Gravel For Quail Way South

A few posts ago I was sharing that Quail Way going towards the orchard was being widened.  Let's just call it Quail Way South. It is done and the final step was to gravel it.  Yesterday the gravel arrived and was put down with ease by the gravel dump truck until it got towards the end and the truck got stuck.  The gravel was pretty heavy on the road and the truck which was backing up could not get enough traction to get going.  George had to get his truck and pull the dump truck up the road until it got traction again.  We know that when you get closer to the orchard things can get stuck and it wasn't the first time this has happened. It just never happened with a dump truck.  Unfortunately there is not any pictures of the dump truck being pulled but the road looks great!  Good job George and Tim!

Just One More Thing That Went Wrong

So just when you think nothing else could go wrong I received this text from Tim yesterday:

One thing then another. The sheds circuit breaker popped a couple times and of course lost power to the heater but luckily the pipes didn't freeze and I had already moved all the freezer stuff inside to the new fridge.So inspected it today and found the 30 amp RV receptacle I installed was melting and shorting out. With George's help we decided to hardwire the shed and remove the receptacle. Should be no more problems with that now it is an improved design.

The good thing is the box the receptacle was attached to did its job and shorted out instead of causing a fire.  The pipes to the washer and hot water heater are good and it did not blow up the hot water heater, washing machine, dryer or freezer.  Phew!  Good job to Tim and George in getting it replaced and making it  better!

Great Job Tim!

The refrigerator is completely installed and the kitchen is back to normal!  Well the “new” normal.  We had a much smaller fridge but now I will have double the size I had.  I won’t know how to fill it but I will try!  (Tim just cringed) Tim did a great job getting rid of the old fridge, making space and figuring what we could replace it with and then getting it! Thanks Tim!

The Refrigerator Is In!

Tim and George picked up our new refrigerator yesterday and got it into the RV and all set up.  The hole that Tim created where the old refrigerator was has been expanded and allows the new refrigerator to fit.  The fridge we had in the RV was 8 cu feet but the new one is 17.5 cu feet.  I will now have a refrigerator that is double the size that I have worked with for about 10 years.  Just think, now I can buy full size condiments and gallons of milk.  I will have a veggie drawer and a fruit drawer. Can you tell how excited I am?  It looks great but I will share the finished picture tomorrow.  Check back and see it!

When It Rains It Pours OR When It Freezes It Destroys!

Poor Tim had to of had one of his worse Winter days ever yesterday.  The severe cold is not being kind to Tim or the RV.  He had pipes freeze, thaw and back up not only in the kitchen yesterday but also in the basement of the RV that just happened to take out the furnace.  So, not only was there no water but no heat.  Needless to say Tim is ready for Spring and is seriously thinking of taking a vacation from Winter and heading south.  By the end of the day, with a ton of work on his part, Tim got the furnace working again and some water back.  I am so sorry Tim and I hope your days will get better and everything will work correctly for you.  Here is to better days!

Now The Hole Is Ready

I said in yesterday's blog that the hole was ready for the new refrigerator but I was corrected by Tim:

On the fridge blog. It's not quite done . I spent the day blocking off the rear vents, removing the gas line and building a new base over the electrical box and wires. I will text pics.

And he did...see to the right.  Now the hole is ready for the new refrigerator which has been ordered and we are now waiting for it to be delivered.  So now we all get to wait and see what kind of refrigerator we are getting.  Tim knows and has only shared the brand and color; he wants to surprise me!  Thanks Tim, the hole looks great!

The Hole Has Been Made!

Tim has been a busy man and has gotten the broken RV refrigerator out of the RV and has prepped the area for a new "home" refrigerator.  After he finished the area for the new fridge and had all his measurements he headed to Lowes to see what he could get.  He did pick a refrigerator but had to order it because they did not have it in stock.  So now we wait to complete the project.  For me I am in suspense because Tim is keeping it a secret as to what size the refrigerator is.  I know it is black and it ended up costing $550.  Now you all get to wait with me for the refrigerator to get delivered and installed!  Way to go Tim!

A Refrigerator Soon!

Tim spent his last day of 2017 working on removing the broken RV refrigerator and preparing that space for a new refrigerator.  We decided not to get another RV one mostly because we wanted a bigger fridge and save some money.  Buying a conventional fridge over an RV fridge will save us about $1000. Although I am not happy about the refrigerator breaking I am happy to be getting a bigger refrigerator so cold food storage won't be an issue.  I have post pictures of the beginning of the project.  More to come on the next blog!  Thanks Tim!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year 2018!  I hope this will be the best year yet for all.  At the farm they were celebrating with snow.  They received about 1/2 an inch.  They were okay with it since no one was going anywhere.  Happy New Year!