Merry Christmas Eve!

 A sunset picture from last week. We can see the power plant outside of Saint Johns from our driveway. I happened to look out the window and thought the sky looked like it was on fire.

 Tilly and Harley looking out the window watching.........

 these little guys. The bunnies just drive them crazy.

 We got an inch to an inch and a half of snow this week so we will have a white Christmas.

 I baked an apple pie yesterday. It was delicious!

 You can barely tell from this picture but this morning the sun was shining on the grass and the grass was twinkling! It was like there were tiny Christmas lights spread all over the acreage.

 Acres and acres of twinkles. Isn't God good? We didn't put up a Christmas tree which kind of bummed me out but this morning, the day before Christmas, God let me know I didn't need a Christmas tree when He gave me natural Christmas lights. I'm  just in awe of His love for me.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you might see some sparkles. I can't keep from looking out the window at the incredible beauty. I love it out here so much.
On Wednesday, Daisy Mae and Lil. Abner had friends over for dinner which included us. Daisy Mae is a fantastic cook and we had a wonderful time. She has to work on Christmas day. She made the most wonderful dessert..crock pot lava cake. Oh my gosh!!! So delicious, my hips were screaming with joy with every bite I took.
I'm so grateful for the friends we've made here at the ranch. Don and his wife have been keeping us supplied with eggs. I'm surprised his hens are laying so much in the winter but he said he has their coop very well insulated and has lights on 16 hours a day and plays country music all day. A happy hen is a laying hen!
We have been so blessed this year. I don't know why God has been so good to us because we are so undeserving. Never the less, I am so thankful for his goodness and mercy.
Last Saturday, I got an email saying one of my childhood friends had passed away. He was the love of my life in third grade thru junior high school. He'd had a rough childhood and had been in trouble with the authorities so my parents didn't want me to have anything to do with him. Under parental pressure, I broke off contact with him and spent the next 30 years dreaming of him on a weekly basis. In my dreams I was always searching for him. I finally tracked him down and we talked on the phone and caught up on the years. On a yearly trip to Oregon, I stopped in Klamath Falls to see him and his wife. After his rough child hood I think all he wanted was to be loved and accepted and he found that with his wife, Sue. He found the perfect woman for him. Knowing he was ok and that his life was a content one, the dreams stopped. His wife and I became friends, I just adore her. Now just before Christmas she has lost the love of her life and is devastated beyond belief. My heart breaks for her. Please say a prayer for her.
I hope and pray you all have a very Merry Christmas and wonderful 2012 and remember to count your blessings.You can find joy in the little things in life like the tiny ice crystals shining brightly on the grass outside your window.

I'm back!

 Well, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Or a rabbit. We have one in our freezer waiting for a couple of more so we can have Tom over for a wild rabbit dinner. Anywho...... we made these gift card holders at the Stampin Up class.

 Here is another ornament unfolded.

 This is a side view of the ornament. It takes 5 3x3 squares of cardstock, you stamp both sides, score and fold and glue together.

We experimented with punch art and made these candy holders. I'm not into punches too much. I'd rather make a cut file and cut them out with my Cricut. I have a program where after snipping a picture of something, I can take it into a program called Inkscape and make a cutting file out of it. Saves me tons of money by not having to buy those expensive Cricut cartridges. Plus the possibilities are unlimited!
Really not much else going on at the ranch. Pa has been out cutting some wood but other than that, it's been a bit chilly to be out doing much of anything else. He ran to town today to get a load of water (someday a well on the property?) and now he is off visiting Lil Abner.
Please plan a visit to come and see our little slice of Heaven. We'll leave the light on!

Snow last week, snow expected this week

 Here's what it looked like last week when it was snowing. It was coming down pretty hard but was gone the next day.

 Isn't it pretty? The best thing is, it doesn't last long. Not like the last year I lived in Illinois in 1978. That was the winter of the Mother of all Storms. 100 inches of snow, stuck in my driveway for a month, diesel in semi trucks freezing and turning to gel, driving home from work in a white out. I worked at Kmart at the time and they suggested we all stay in the store overnight but I wanted to get home to my kids and I knew the store would be closed the next day. Ahhhhhh, the memories.

 I call this hail, Pa calls it sleet and Arizona calls it grapple. So take yer choice.

 Doesn't this put you in a Christmas mood?

 While my buddy, Katie was at my house, she showed me how to put this cutting file together. It is a 3-D book and instead of pages inside, there is a drawer you can slide out and put gifties in.

 How clever is that? I am a huge Peter Rabbit fan, don't ask me why cause I have no idea!

 Went to the monthly Stampin Up class on Saturday. We made this ornament.

 also made this gift tin. It has gift tags inside that we made. I can never figure out what to do with empty tins so now my mind is working over time on what I can do with the little tins I bought or those Altoid tins.

 Sorry these are out of order but this is the Christmas ornament all folded up,

I couldn't get a picture of Tilly jumping up to watch TV but I did capture her intently watching. I have more pictures of the goodies we made at the class but they won't download so I will end this post and start another one!

Great Give Away

http://www.partyblog.mygrafico.com/silhouette_giveaway/

For all you crafters out there, you should check this out! My friend Katie has one of these cutting machines and they are awesome. You can check out her blog here: http://www.ktsangels.blogspot.com/
She came over yesterday and we spent the whole day in my craft room having a blast. It is so nice to have a crafting buddy. Saturday I will be meeting with her and we will hop over to Joseph City for the Stampin Up class.
Sorry I haven't posted lately. I ran out of monthly mega bytes. I can't wait till my two years with Verizon broadband is over and I can switch to 17 monthly megabytes with Wild Blue. It's just $10.00 more than I am paying now for 5 MB.
My Mini Schnauzer, Tilly, has discovered the TV. I'm trying to get a picture of her jumping straight up in the air trying to get to the animals on the screen. I wonder if she thinks she is looking out a window. Anyway it is so funny to see her sitting in front of the TV watching just like we do except her ears are thrown back and they twitch to the sound. My ears don't do that but I haven't been paying attention to Pa's to see if they do.
Show Low got two feet of snow the other day but we only got 1/2 inch here at the ranch. Last night at 10 pm, the temp was 9 degrees in Show Low. Right now here at the ranch it is 18 degrees, but it's a dry cold, ha ha. Our England Works stove is working like a charm. It heats the whole 2200 sq ft house in a snap. Once the house is warm, we only have to put one log on the fire off and on thru out the day. The house is so well insulated, it stays warm thru the night. I've only burned myself twice putting a log in the stove. One of them will leave a scar on my wrist, it looks like a brand, it is so deep.
I have a couple of pictures but haven't downloaded them yet. You'll have to wait till next time.

Pictures as promised

 Duh! I didn't realize I had my telephoto lens on so that's why I couldn't get a wider shot of the rainbow.

 Of course this doesn't do it justice but it was so pretty.....take my word for it.

 I suppose I could have enhanced it with Picasa but didn't think about it in time. If you want a great program to download your pictures, download Picasa. It's free, it's easy and you can clean up, crop, enhance, change colors, etc with this program.

 Did I mention Picasa was free?

 What beauty God creates~

 I made these cute boxes at the Stampin Up class. I really enjoy this monthly outing.

 Two greeting cards. The Stampin Up rep has 4 tables set up and everything in an envelope for us to create with. She has the stamps, punches, inks, pens, just everything we need. That lace punch was a challenge to use. You had to stand up and really put some pressure on it.

 We learned how to use a template and sponges to make the circles and then stamped leaves on top. So pretty!

We made these calendars. Had to stamp trees on 8 top note die cuts, (4 for each calendar) , then we stamped leaves, birds, flowers, snowflakes on each tree, then a sentiment and then glued everything together. The calendar folds different ways to show each three month segment. Fun, fun, fun!!
Pa says it is starting to clear up. I hope so cause I have to run into Saint Johns tomorrow to get the mail and some ice so Pa can make home made vanilla ice cream for Thanksgiving.

Just a quick comment

Who ever predicts the weather here has no clue what they are doing. It was supposed to rain, not supposed to rain, supposed to rain, not supposed to rain, blah, blah, blah. 20 % chance of rain today, blah, blah, blah. It's raining pretty hard now for the first time in awhile. Even NOAA can't get it right!!!!
Just before it rained I looked out the guest bedroom window and it was so black over Saint Johns but there was the most beautiful rainbow. It went from halfway to Saint Johns all the way to Holly St at the ranch. I don't have a wide angle lens so couldn't capture the whole thing. Will post it after I get dressed.
In yesterday's post, I forgot to mention how thankful I am for my old friends! Sorry, I didn't mean to leave you out when I mentioned my new friends. Gosh, you have stuck by me thru thick and thin. My friend Becky in Illinois has been my friend for 40 years or so. She has seen me at my best and worse and still loves me. Thank you Lord, for my old friends too!

A week of wildlife

 It's been quite a week for wild life. We had this Scrub Blue Jay visiting, helping himself/herself to the bird bath and some bread I threw out for the birds. There are two of them hanging around, actually. This is the first we have seen Blue Jays. Once in a while we got a quick peek at Mountain Blue Birds but they tend to hang out a couple miles away on one of the main roads at the ranch.

 Sorry for the lousy picture, I was using my telephoto lens and taking the picture thru the window...and you know how clean I keep my windows!

 Then we had a flock of these cuties. I will have to look them up to see what exactly they are, Chickadees? Once again, thru a window.

 Then there was this interesting fella.

 Yep, a tarantula! Seems late for them to be wandering around since we have had freezing temps over night.

I tried to get him to walk up on my gloved hand but all he did was raise his front legs and his hairy butt in the air. Did you know that they can throw those hairs at you?
One late afternoon as we sat at the kitchen table, I saw a coyote in our back yard. Of course I didn't have my camera handy. He was looking for a rabbit. He didn't find it and left and shortly after, the bunny came hopping out, lucky to live another day. One morning we saw a rabbit in the garden. I left the gate open since there was nothing in there. So I snuck out and locked him in and then let the dogs in to chase it. Once they cornered it, all they did was lick it. I left it out there alive but when I checked on it later, it had died, probably of fright. Never one to waste anything, I took it over to Tom's to see if he would let his dog Max have it to play with. It was so funny...Max carried that thing around for awhile, then settled down, started at the nose and proceeded to eat it.
Let's see, oh, we borrowed Tom's rototiller and left the ramps on the truck over night and in the morning, Pa said a rabbit had gone up the ramp into the back of the truck. Rabbits are every where this winter. Drives the dogs nuts. Harley was running from window to window barking his head off following the rabbits. I dug up my shallots, garlic and onions while Pa was rototilling, planning on replanting them when he was done. The rabbits came up on the porch and ate the tops off all the onions, garlic and shallots. Bet they won't be kissing anyone with onion breath. I replanted the bulbs, don't know if they will survive the winter but they weren't big enough to do anything with anyway. Pa and I went to our favorite pile of horse poo and got a truck load to work into the garden so it can sit and stew all winter. We've been putting the ashes from the wood stove in there also.
Yesterday, I picked up my friend Katie in Holbrook and we went to the Stampin Up class. We made two Santa boxes, two calendars, and four greeting cards. I'll post those pictures later. Even tho it is pretty far away, it's good to get off the ranch for a day and be around other women who have similar interests. It's a pretty good deal for $10.00.
Due to Provo Craft being butt heads, not allowing third party software to be used with their Cricut cutting machine, those of us who own one are in the process of replacing our machines with some other brand that not only allows third party software but encourages it. Katie just got a Silhouette Cameo. Boy oh boy, is it nice! It can cut more intricate cuts and you can print out a picture and the Cameo will cut around the image perfectly. As far as we can tell, it can't cut chip board but it has a little window where you can click on the type of cardstock you are using and it tells you where to adjust your cutting depth. I was thinking of getting a Black Cat Lynx but they are very expensive and all the parts you need like cutting blades and cutting mats are VERY expensive so now I am leaning toward a Cameo. I wrote to Provo Craft and told them I will no longer support/buy their products . I got a form letter in reply so to heck with them!!!! They sued the two companies who made third party software so they no longer can use their product for the Cricut. Luckily, as long as I don't upgrade my Cricut, I can use the old software. Gosh, I use the thing almost every day and would really miss not being able to make my own cutting files. I have a few Cricut cartridges to use with my machine but they are so limiting, who wouldn't want to make their own files? Lots cheaper also.
Hard to believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Where has this year gone? We've been here a year already, can you believe it? This time last year (within a day or two) we were living in the motor home. Now we are happily ensconced in our new home, snug as a bug in a rug.
I forgot to mention that Tilly caught a mouse in the house the other day. Who needs a cat? Tilly is a great hunter. She even goes after birds and caught a dove a few months ago. I wasn't aware Miniature Schnauzers were bird dogs, but there ya go.
One of Pa's friends from Vegas will be here the day after Thanksgiving. He won't be staying with us but will be in Alpine, elk hunting. Pa might stomp around the woods with him one day and his friend will stop by to see our place. Hopefully with an elk haunch for our freezer.
Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and remember to thank the Lord for all his blessings this past year. I'm so thankful that He got our house sold so we could move to the ranch, I'm thankful for the new friends I've made since being here and for the love of my family. THANK YOU!

Life plods on

 Last Sunday, I canned the tomatoes I had in the freezer. I canned 7 quarts of stewed tomatoes which consisted of celery, onions, tomatoes and green peppers. After the tomatoes defrosted, I had to pour off some of the water but that didn't hurt the stewed tomatoes any. Oh my gosh, don't those look pretty? Not too bad for using a makeshift water bath canner. I can only do 4 jars at a time and they cook for 50 minutes. Next year, I want both a water bath canner and a pressure canner.

 We got a smattering of snow this past week. I am so in the mood for Christmas!!!!! But I have to get past Thanksgiving and cooking for 8 people. I'm intimated already! Pa and I went grocery shopping in Show Low on Wednesday and got all the stuff for Thanksgiving. We have such a small fridge that we will have to fire up the fridge in the motor home for Thanksgiving. I absolutely hate my fridge. It is one of those side by side ones and the veggie bin is about the size of a bread basket. I am a big veggie eater and need more room for produce as I can't run to town every other day to buy fresh produce.

 Doesn't this put you in a Christmas mood? My friend Katie is trading cutting files with me. I met her in Saint Johns for a soda on Thursday and we exchanged DVD's with digital papers and cut files. We went to the pharmacy to look around. From the outside, it looks tiny but once you get inside it is huge! They have all sorts of interesting things to look at and buy. They even have a craft section (how did I ever miss that?) , a sewing section with mini bolts of fabric, gift ware and all sorts of goodies. This was the first time I had been in there since moving here.,

 What can I say. Once I left Illinois, I swore I would never look at snow again. In the 30 years I lived in Vegas, I went to Mount Charleston once in the winter. Now I love looking at the snow. It must have something to do with the fact that I don't have to go out in it. I did survive the winter of 1978 in Illinois where I was stuck in my driveway for a month. The snow was unbelievable that year.

 Here's Jaz in her favorite position. I should get a treadmill and make the dogs run on it every day. We won't mention that I should also!

We had our first Blue Jay visit. Before I could get a good picture, he flew away....darn it. This is the first one I've seen in Arizona. We did have a couple of Robins fly thru this fall on their way to who knows where.
I've been plagued with sinus headaches for the past few days. Now that it is kind of rainy, the headache is finally gone. I  had to put menthol patches on my forehead and temples to get any relief.  Sure glad no one came to the door, they would have thought I was weird! Sinus tabs or asprin did no good except to upset my stomach.
Pa made a wood box to put by the stove. It's only 8 inches tall and maybe 4 feet long. I thought he was going to make a tall box to hold a lot of wood but he said this would hold enough. Funny how our visions differ. He also made an insulated box to put around the batteries in the battery shed to help keep them warm. Eventually he will make a regular battery warmer. They run more efficiently if they are kept warm. Hmmm, why does he put little batteries in the fridge to keep them cold?
On Friday, I ran into town to see "the biggest craft show in the White Mountains" Ok, you could see the whole thing in 20 minutes. I bought two barbed wire candy canes for the Christmas tree. There were no paper crafts so maybe next year, my friend Katie and I can make some things to sell.
I had the nicest surprise. Remember Pam and Bob from Sierra Highlands ranch who came for a visit? She sent me a box of her home made soaps. She  makes them from scratch using goats milk as the base. What heavenly smells come from her soaps! Right now I'm using the Coconut one. Makes your skin so soft and yummy. I can hardly wait for them to sell their house in Cali and move out here. Between Pam, Katie and I, we should come up with some spectacular crafts in the future.
It is supposed to rain today, We've had some sprinkles and heavy cloud cover. I hope it is nice on Saturday. I'm headed to Holbrook for another Stampin Up class. Until then.............

Snow!

 Anyone know what kind of grain this is? I thought it might be barley but I looked up pictures of barley and this ain't it! I had this one lonely grain  pop up in the garden and couldn't figure out where it came from. My gardner friend, Tom was perplexed also. Then he was wandering around his property and discovered the same thing near his garden, growing next to a bale of straw. He had maybe a dozen stalks. So we now know it came from our bales of straw but still don't know what it is.

 Last night when I went to bed, the wind was howling like a banshee. Woke up later to hear rain pounding on the roof and woke up this morning to snow! Not much but it sure puts me in the mood for Christmas.

 It was still pretty dark out when I took the pictures.

 Isn't it pretty? While living in Vegas, I only had one type of clothing which one could wear all year round with maybe a sweater or light jacket in the winter. Here you have to have two wardrobes, hot and cold gear. Sometimes I start out with a thermal shirt on and have to change to a short sleeve t-shirt later in the day and back to the thermal shirt in the evening. Yesterday we had a fire in the stove and it got so hot in the house, you could have baked cookies on the dining room table. I had to use my fan in the craft room!

 My curly grass probably won't survive the winter. I've already brought in my geraniums and don't have room for any other plants in the house.

 My buddy, Katie sent me a file to make this "wooden" crate. I worked on it yesterday. When I saw the one she made, I thought it was made of real wood even after holding it in my hand!

I also made this basket. It is made with wood veneer which I can cut with my Cricut machine. I messed it up but managed to save it in the end. I've finished the hard part of my grand daughters Christmas present and will work on the rest of it today. Might be a good day to do some baking also. Maybe chocolate chip cookies?