Snipets....On the Road Again

Tulip Tree located on the grounds at Shakertown Kentucky



Stone Fence...Shakertown Kentucky...so beautiful



Sheep Shearing...Shakertown Kentucky



" Going " He handles me with such love and care.


" GONE " boy do I feel nekkid.


Cemetery...Shakertown


Shakertown Kentucky...Brick Building


Shakertown Kentucky...Horse Barn

Saturday Finds~ Two Left Hands on Etsy

Love all the mossies, petal pillows, necktie lady pillows from twolefthands shop on Etsy. Notice all the detail in there faces, the colorful designs, very artistic, I'm drawn to there beauty.


Check out her shop on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5125950

June 2008 Street Fair Pictures

~Love this large Cabinet Mr. Pete made for us to sell at our shows. I drew out the plans sitting in church one Sunday morning~ don't tell the pastor I was not listening to his sermon, ok~

~Pictured are various styles of birdhouses, a primitive cupboard, old dolls, a primitive bench, perfect for display.

~Pete's version of a Antique Crock Bench~ more pictures of shelves and birdhouses~

~Birdhouses~ Primitive Cupboard~Early Lighting~ Prairie Dolls~

Osage Clayworks of Osage Arkansas

Picture of Newt outside of his Shop in Osage Arkansas

Pete and I enjoy meeting other artists-designers during our art show schedule~ after all you do spend many hours together and friendships are made~

We've had the privilege to meet Newt Lale~ potter extraordinaire of Osage Arkansas.

He's a vendor at War Eagle Fair as well, Pete and the other gentlemen spend hours visiting, sharing story's, laughing alot~!

We visited his store on our way home~ being the history buff I enjoyed every minute in his shop, full of eye candy and history.

Check out his shop if you are near Branson Missouri or Eureka Springs Arkansas he's just a tad south~

Link to his shop:

http://www.osageclayworks.com/index.html

Dapper Dan the Snowman's Kid Brother

Well, really I'm the kid brother to the original Dapper Dan~ I'm just a bit smaller that's all~

Sporting the same top hat, bow tie, and carrot nose~ Both of us are made from stainless steel~

I'll be coming to Etsy very soon~ been to cold to take pictures of me in the snow among the pine trees.

War Eagle 2008

View from our motel-cabin on Beaver Lake.

The house and barn on the original War Eagle site.





The War Eagle craft show began in 1954 with local artists only then added the states that bordered Arkansas, today they come from all over the United States. Four large tents are erected along with a barn to house the artists~ Concessions with homemade food abound. The middle picture is " Sherman " he pulls our cargo trailer, he loves to hang out along the fence in the shade.

Huge tents filled with artists from around the country
" sherman " hanging out along the fence line~ he pulls our trailer
Vendors tents along the war eagle river


The war eagle mill was constructed in 1830 by Sylvanus Blackburn~ flood washed it away and it was rebuilt. The Union and Confederate Army's used this during the early years of the civil war--it was burned during the end of the war and not replaced until 1873. Today's structure is a reproduction of the 3rd mill constructed in 1973.

It's an active mill grinding mill today, you can purchase items from there gift shops or dine upstairs on the 3rd floor~ Another step back in history moment as you walk inside the mill.

War Eagle Mill and Wooden Bridge

War Eagle Mill


Peaceful and serene river~ simple beauty.

Peaceful and serene is how to describe the war eagle area, love walking along the river or standing on the one lane wooden bridge gazing at the geese-ducks or children playing in the water, fishing too~! A step back in time when life was simple.

View of the River with tents in the background

Looking down over the War Eagle River from the road~ awesome~!

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Love traveling the road to War Eagle Arkansas~ a fascinating and nostalgic historic site nestled in the rolling Ozark hills of NW Arkansas. Home of the Mill a most picturesque place in the natural state.

Fall is beautiful in Arkansas~ Love doing the craft show at War Eagle a working mini vacation for us.

In the splendor of Autumn...
Warm days, cool nights, colorful scenery- that's typical of War Eagle in October. Famous fried chicken or barbeque dinners eaten picnic-style along a mill pond reflecting the flamming fall revue and azure sky; that's the stuff of which memories are made.

~Historic War Eagle River One Lane Wooden Bridge~
~ Road to War Eagle~ love this part of the drive~ so beautiful~

Harvest on the Farm 2008

Fall is a beautiful time of year~ the temps in Minnesota are still on the mild side, the trees are various shades of reds~orange~golden~ mixed with browns n greens to create a most awesome sight.

It's also time for the corn and soybean harvest, the fruits of the farmer toiling the soil.

Pictured are the semi trucks waiting to haul the corn to the storage bin site, the large blue grain cart unloads the corn into the semi's, so the combine does not have to stop to unload the grain, like in the old days of farming. These carts move along side the combine when they are full they unload in the semi trailer. This is modern day farming at it's best, so the farmer can continue to harvest, thus less time in the field, saving money in fuel.

The massive combine is a John Deere 30 ft corn head which combines 18 rows of corn at a time, it gives the moisture of the corn, plus yield~ it's an amazing machine. The grain cart is pulled by a Cat track tractor.

Gone are the days of walking the soybean fields pulling and hoeing the weeds by hand, Pete and I enjoyed this time together with nature and the earth, listening to the wind talking thru the soybeans, rustling the trees near the creek, a deer drinking water, unseen by man except in the soybean field. I got a great farmer tan~!

Today at coffee the older men were reminiscing about the past, last time horses were used to plant or plow the prairies in our area, during the 1940's the work horse era seized to exist, tractors had arrived.

The old truck in the picture we call Chet~ after my grandfather~ it was his farm truck. We use him to haul the completed wood or metal art from the woodshed/metal shop to the house. We love chet, he's a good old truck. My grandfather lived to be 102, was a farmer and blacksmith so it's fitting that Chet the truck has a new home here at the farm. I call Pete the modern day blacksmith.

I'm going thru old photo's from my mother in law with more pictures from the past on the farm so come again to reminisce about the good old times when life was simple.

Sneak Peek of a New Birdhouse

Yesterday in Minnesota was beautiful here on the prairie, no wind, mild temps. rare~!
So I was busy taking pictures of our new items to list on Etsy.

Later in the evening tryed to download them into our computer, no disk found. grrrrrr. Hello there mr puter it's in there~ can't you sense it, nothing has changed from the day before.

I'm thinking to myself, give me back my old digital camera with the floppy disk~ so simple, never had issues. Someone decided they were outdated, must continue to make things better, I understand that way of thinking,but sometimes old items work fine. The old saying, "If it's not broken don't fix it" is very true.

Oh guess I began rambling again, do this from time to time. Sorry. :) Anyways, we call this new birdhouse "Limeaide with a twist of Pink." She'll be available in numerous color combinations, in my glory playing with paint palettes.

Still to come, Harvest pictures from the farm, War Eagle show in Arkansas, mini trip to Kentucky and more story's about farm life.

Till next time~ have a grand week~!

Happenings on the Farm summer 2008

I'm outside taking pictures of items to list on Etsy~ but earlier I'd ventured into the machine shed, never know what treasures you'll find in that building. Tucked n wrapped laying on a flat bed trailer were mini birdhouses on a stick, hmmmm. What are they doing there? Mr Pete, these are to cute to be hidden, was my thought so up to the house they came, layed them on the brick ledge and resumed by picture taking, looked up and there was a baby bird sitting on these mini birdhouses. What a site not seen often, he was so cute. Lucky I had my camera so I could catch this moment. Looked away and it was gone, poof~ another baby bird had left the nest.
















We tiled out a mud hole this summer~ this is a big deal~ With heavy rain water sits in the lowest area, thus drowning out the soybeans or corn, hence you loose yields.

Yes we have city water too, even in the boonies~ years ago a rural tower was erected 20 miles away to serve the farming community and a few smaller towns around the area. Ours sprang a leak, the two of us were using between 40 to 50 thousand gallons a month...ouch~! I took pics of the machine~ so these are a few glimpses from the summer of 2008 on the farm.

The corn is growing rapidly, very lush and green, perfect amount of rain. I loved to sit and listen to the old farmers talk at the coffee shop in the mornings. One man would say: " you can hear the corn growing at night, if you listen to those ears ". The dog days of summer, helps produce dew, for the corn and soybeans, there leaves soak up the moisture to survive the heat of the day.

Taking a few pictures of the corn drying down I noticed an ear of corn with a few kernals laying beside it. Mr squirrel is dining today on corn and stashing it away for the winter.

Come back again as I'll show pictures of the harvest.