Author : halleday

1732 posts

Sewing, gardening and painting
Not necessarily in that order.
Or maybe I should have called this my
late summer catch-up post.
Regardless of title…
I found a few fun garage sale deals this summer. Mostly storage items that had seen better days…such as a set of two copper canisters.
Only one pictured.
Not sure why,  other than laziness on my part.
I soaked all the black paint off using my favorite product Sol-u-mel and a scrubby pad.
After carefully taping the rims of the copper tin where the lid fits down over, I gave them new life.
The color is “celery”. Not my first choice but what can a girl do when free is the price.
Thank you County Reuse Center.
The black I had on hand…although now I am out. Good colors like that don’t generally end up at the recycle center.
Aside from painting the tins and a little bit of the lawn…oops…over-spray,
I’ve been sewing a lot!!
We’ve had a hot summer here in MN. Ways to stay cool are in high demand.
If you may recall back at the 4th of July, I made a bunch of neck cooling wraps for the days festivities.
I carry a zipper bag of them with me all the time now because you wouldn’t believe how often it has come up in conversation.
People asking if I know where to get them.  Well yes, in fact, I do!  *grin*
In addition, I’ve been gardening.
My green beans have been a disappointment this year, especially if compared to last years bumper crop.
My tomatoes are really starting to ripen and are oh so yummy.
Labor Day is quickly approaching…the kids head off to school the next day.
It’s bittersweet for me.
I like the extra freedom I am allowed but I honestly miss them not being around.
I won’t miss the bickering or tattling. Geesh, when will that end?!?!
The homework, the early mornings and activities add a different layer that always takes a bit of adjustment as well. I’ve started my list of  “projects” to tackle once my time is mostly my own again.
Until then…I’ll be around haphazardly….
sometimes posting…sometimes silent.
No worries…I haven’t gotten lost.
Just soaking up the remainder of summer with the family.

| | |

, , , ,

5 Comments

Card crazy

This summer I have been so “not creative”. Yes, I have done a few things but they were more utilitarian that artsy. More on those in later post. I’ve missed it and I think a bit of that creative energy just had to come out.

I made 7 cards in short order mostly from scraps.

Hopefully the creative energy will continue…or at least kick in big time after Labor Day when the kids are back in school. Until then I’m still trying to soak up as much “mom time” as I can with them.

  

| |

, , ,

6 Comments

I’m back….
from my computer woes to say…. 
I’m proud of our girl. 
Don’t get me wrong…I love them both equally but I had some special things to share from Little J. 
She took a ceramic class this summer and we were able to pick everything up just before my computer hiccups. 
She actually had a couple other pieces but I’m really not sure where she stashed them. Unfortunately, she has my “creative bent” for organizing….
The black glazed piece was the first…she said it’s to fill Gracie’s water bowl. Isn’t that sweet…too bad it takes 3 fills to do the job. 

She got to use a pottery wheel…I’m quite jealous! That is something I want to do sometime. Need to just dive in and take a class. 
This was her 1st bowl on her own.

This was her second….

This one I love because of the swirl in the bottom and that she made a lid that sits nicely on top completely by accident. 
Yes we spent a week driving 30 mins one way out into the country each day for a 2 hour class but I was totally worth the joy on her face. She told the instructor that she was looking forward to next summer when we picked up the pieces the following week. 

My other thing I that just had to mention as long as I’m singing the praises of my second born is late in coming. She got her hair cut for Locks of Love for the second time way back in June.  
Here’s the before:

And the after with 10 inches cut off:
Cutest haircut ever!! 
Perfect for a hot, hot summer such as this one.

 

,

5 Comments

Excuse the interuption

I got a new computer and didn’t realized the extent of stuff that I left on the old one!!!

 Yikes! 
You think that you write a comprehensive list and then you open Photoshop and realize….crud….you didn’t think of anything crucial to blogging or digital art at all!! I don’t even have my Papyrus font I like to use as my watermark. GRRR!!!! 
 I even had stuff to show you but things are just too messed up right now.
Instead I’ll share with you something I found written by Little J a couple years ago.
I keep this photo at the ready in my files for anytime I need a pick me up.
Be back soon…hopefully…

6 Comments

Green tea??

This is what I’m drinking this morning instead of tea. It’s a recipe I discovered on Pinterest.

I tried it yesterday since I had everything on hand and was so surprised at how good it tasted. You can’t taste the spinach at all!!

Here’s a link to the recipe.

I’ll be swinging by Kimmie’s blog later to see what my friends are up today…you should too!

 

|

, ,

9 Comments

Did someone say Roadtrip?!?

So my neighbor calls me Saturday morning and asks me to go on an adventure. She also had invited another neighbor on her adventure west. Shockingly, both of us said yes with 45 minutes notice…grabbed our kids and left.

Here’s the back of the van after our travels…. back country gravel roads are very dry and dusty right now.

We drove about 2 hours west of here to her sisters farm. They were having an anniversary party and it’s always “the more, the merrier” for their huge family.

Shortly after we got there it was decided that a few of us should go visit a brand new winery about 5 miles away….more gravel roads…

I sampled this wine and decide to buy a bottle so Mr. G could enjoy it as well since he was off on his own adventure for the day in another direction.  It’s called Rockin’ Coyote after all the coyote in the area that come out to serinade each night.

All the kids had a blast running and jumping across round bails of hay that were neatly set in rows. There were a few mis-steps but no injuries…only laughs.

After the eating and running off the calories we went on a hayride.

A whole gaggle of kids and a handful of adults hopped on a hayrack behind this tractor driven by the eldest son of our hosts.

It honestly was the longest hayride I’ve ever been on…..

We travelled around a “section”….

Later we found out a “section” is about a 5 mile fun but dusty trip….

We saw lots of crops…some horses…and the MN River Valley just below this farm.

My 90-some yr old uncle lives about 12 miles upriver of here. Such a beautiful area….

First English Lutheran Church

On the way home I wanted to drive through the town my dad spent his early years in. I thought I’d be able to pick out my Grandpa’s church without a doubt.
Time has really aged it. It was kind of sad.
I didn’t even stop to take a picture myself because I was so sure I must be mistaken.
I was the last baby my Grandpa ever baptized…and also his last grandchild. I have the baptizmal bowl from the fount that we all were baptized from. It’s one of my treasures.

Here’s a photo I found on Flickr from 2009.

All in all it was a fun spur of the moment 250 mile roundtrip adventure!!! I wish we had time to do more since we were in that “neck of the woods”…or prairie as the case may have been but there is always next time….

 

6 Comments

Bottle cap wind chime

I’ve been working on this project for longer than I care to admit. I found that I couldn’t work on it in the morning because I was too shaky from numerous cups of coffee to bead and bend jumprings. By afternoon, I just wasn’t interested in working on it.

As you can see I put my own spin on it. I used an old CD for the top of the wind chime. I also included beads with the bottle caps for interest. I’m so happy to have actually used a bunch of the caps I’ve collected over the years as well as all the ones friends save for me.

Now I just need to find the perfect spot for it. Mr. G and I were talking this morning about making a tiki bar on the deck or the patio. I think it would fit in quite nicely!

Here’s the original “pin” that
inspired my above creation:

Source: flickr.com via Halle on Pinterest

 

, , , , , ,

13 Comments

© 2007-2025 Halle's Hobbies All Rights Reserved -- Copyright notice by Blog Copyright

StatCounter - Free Web Tracker and Counter