Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Pa and I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2013. Let's all pray for a year where people aren't killing each other. For every one to have food to eat and a way to pay their bills. For people not to forget the real reason we have CHRISTmas.
We are so grateful for all of God's blessings this past year, for our friends and family. God Bless You!
Last time I looked out the window, it looks like we will have a white Christmas this year. It was a snowin' and a blowin' !

Belly Up To The Bar!

 The following pictures were taken in a 5 minute span of time. The bird baths were empty and the birds were patiently waiting for me to notice.

 After filling them up, the first to arrive were the Juncos. They seem to be the bravest.

 A few more......

 and more....

 The word is out!!! Do we have the only water on the entire ranch? From the looks of the gathering, you'd think so.

 They were going thru so much water, I had to use the saucer on the upside down pot as another waterer, er,er,er. Besides that, they need to work for their food so now they have to scratch it up off the ground.

 When I put the bird seed in the saucer, the blue jays would come down and scoop up whole mouth/beak fulls. What pigs. Now they have to work for their supper also.

 I really love the Bluebirds. Western and Mountain. When we first moved here, we never saw Bluebirds except on Main Street. Which is really a misnomer. It makes you think we are in the middle of town having a dirt road named Main Street.

 Now the Bluebirds have put out the word and they all meet here. "Hey, they are serving free drinks at the McMahills!"

 It's quite the gathering place. I'm actually thinking of putting up another bar....I mean bird bath.

 It's amazing how fast they drink it dry!

 "Anyone for another round? This one is on the house!"

The birds are very skittish. If they see any movement in the window, off they fly. So I lowered the blinds a bit and peeked thru with my camera. Yes, I washed the window, in the corner at least. The pictures turn out like I'm looking thru fog but with the auto contrast in Picasa, they look better. If you want a great free program to download your pictures in, Picasa is great! You can do a lot of things using Picasa.

I made a few more Christmas cards, this one with an image from Lettering Delights and just tore the paper to make snowy hills. Glue and glitter made the snowflakes.

 It rained last night and was supposed to turn to snow. It is cold and windy. A great day to stay inside and play in my craft room. I made this Scottie dog gift bag this morning. I bought the file from the Silhouette store.

Isn't it the cutest thing? I need to make a photo booth so the flash doesn't wash out my pictures. The only problem is where to store it? My craft room is full.

For those of you who couldn't see Katie's nutcracker, here it is. Can you believe it is made all of paper? Simply amazing. It is a file from SVGcuts.com and I must say they make amazing files to cut. But what makes Katie's special is that she has such a great eye for color combos. My mom paints and my dad was quite the genius in creating things so they both have an eye for colors and what goes with what. I must have missed getting that gene because I really struggle. Not to mention that I get glue everywhere! Oh well, artist or not, I still love spending time in my craft room.

Looking out my window, I see the clouds zipping by. We may just get passed by with the predicted Winter Storm. The sun peaks out every once in a while. Now that I'm retired, the weather doesn't bother me.

Wayne got rid of his horses. They were costing him a fortune to feed and water. He found a guy who has a riding stable in Snowflake who would take them. This guy has riding programs for disabled children so it was a win/win situation for all concerned.

Well, friends and family and the occasional passerby, that catches us up for now! Until next time........

I think winter has arrived!

    What makes me say that, you ask? It was 5 degrees outside at 7 this morning. Luckily our house is so well insulated that it was a whopping 62 degrees inside at the same time. Since it was so cold and windy yesterday, we had a fire in the stove most of the day and put the last log in at 8. So we don't think that's too bad to wake up to 62 in the morning.
   Since the high was only 40, today was a good day to stay inside and play in my craft room. Here it is 5 at night and I'm still in here, crafting away. I made a bunch of Christmas cards for Pa to send out and made three gift cards for some grandkids. Want to see them? Well here they are:

    Pa is in the kitchen making biscuits and gravy for dinner. I'd like a couple of scrambled eggs on the side, please. I've run out of ideas in the cooking department so it's nice to have a break. One of the downsides of living 60 miles from the nearest restaurant is that we don't go out to eat very often. We do have a fast food place or two in Saint Johns but it isn't the same as having a leisurely dinner, getting waited on and such.
   That's really it for now. I was so happy with how the cards turned out, I had to share them with you. So until next time!
    Oh, did you watch Bigfoot last night on TV? They featured people who have seen the hairy beast over near Payson. The Native Americans have seen Bigfoots for centuries. Anyway it was an interesting program. One of these days, they may actually get a picture of one.

Just a Quickie

    For those of you with your minds in the gutter, this isn't one of those kinds of posts. I just wanted to let you know that it is windy and cold and cloudy. Just the kind of day to stay inside and play in my craft room.
After wasting a 12x12 piece of white vinyl....what a mess, I finally had success decorating a charger plate. Why are they called charger plates? Because they charge you for them? Because you are going to put cookies on them and charge around giving them out? I have no idea!

But I loved how this turned out. I'm going buy more at Walmart on payday if they have any left. Too bad I can't find a cheap source of vinyl. This would be something to make for a craft sale next year. Katie and I will have to put our heads together and see what we can come up with. There isn't a big market for craft items even combining Holbrook and Saint Johns together.

 I saw this Shadow Box book on Susan Blue Robot's blog and thought it was so cute. I spent hours looking for a pattern which I never found but I did find instructions so converted the measurements into a cutting file.

After a lot of mountain/valley folds and trying various sticky tape and glues, I finally got it to go together just right. Yes, yes, I went thru lots of card stock before getting it right. Now I need to find some things to put on the front and inside. But first I have to finish up making Christmas cards. I only made 10 and then felt guilty for not making more for other loved ones.
  Be sure to check out Katie's blog to see all the goodies she's been making. http://www.ktsangels.blogspot.com/
I don't know if everyone can see her Facebook page but if you can check out the Nutcracker she just finished using cardstock. It's awesome. If you can't see it, I'll ask permission to post it on here.
http://www.facebook.com/katie.wenger?ref=ts&fref=ts

What have I been up to?

Last Sunday when I went to visit my BF Katie, I brought along this cute sled that Pa had bought me at a garage sale in Vegas. Now, it's not something that you hang on your wall all year long. I didn't want to get rid of it since he was so thoughtful to buy it for me. So Katie picked out a nice font and some snowflakes, cut them out of vinyl and I have a new Christmas decoration! We both thought it turned out soooo cute!

 I'm in such a Christmas mood, why I don't know but what the heck. I made these 3D stockings a couple of days ago and will make more for Tom and his dog, Max and Wayne and his dog Lucy. I'll fill the dogs stockings with dog treats and their owners with candy or something. Maybe I'll just fill theirs with dog treats also! Boy, won't they be surprised!

 These are so easy to put together. On some I used a tape runner and the others I used glue. I tried hot glue on one of them. The tape didn't want to stick very well and with the regular glue, I had glue all over me.

And with the hot glue, I kept burning my self! Will it never end?

 One of the many things we are blessed with out here are some beautiful sunsets.

 Of course most of the time we are camped out in front of the TV and miss most of them.

The above two are on different nights. I love the one with the full moon. One night during the full moon, I woke up and thought car lights were shining in the bedroom window. We sleep with the curtains open so I can see the stars at night before I fall asleep. I'd like that entire wall to be nothing but glass.......dream on.

Our bird bath has been quite busy lately.

 I ended up putting water in the one I put bird feed in. They seem to be as thirsty as they are hungry. Now I throw the seed on the ground so they have to work at it to find it.

 We fill each bird bath at least once a day since they go thru the water so fast.

It's really funny when one wants to take a bath and the rest want a drink. Yes, yes, I took this thru the kitchen window and it is dirty. I'll clean the window inside and out, I promise, in a day or so, really I will!
We've had as many as forty birds getting a drink at the same time. When we first moved here, there wasn't a bird in sight and it kinda gave me the creeps.....too quiet, ya know? But as the saying goes, "give them water and they will come." Ok, so I made that saying up but it's true just the same.
Better go and wash that darned window....but if I do, it will scare the birds away. Maybe I'd better put it off for a few days, right?

Goodbye November!

     Golly, gee whiz, November is gone already! It was a rather quiet month. The day before Thanksgiving, I made 36 deviled eggs, two pumpkin pies and a blueberry pie. On Thanksgiving we had Wayne and Tom over for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Which I must say was delicious, even if I did make the whole thing myself. The two bachelors went home with a big doggie bag and the next day, the dogs got the left over turkey. I can't stand the taste of left over turkey!!!

    Tom and I went to Flagstaff on Monday to pick up the pump and other things needed to complete the repair on the community well. For a man, Tom is fun to shop with. He likes to browse, even in thrift stores and craft stores, so I didn't feel rushed. I found some Costco cookbooks at Saver's. Have you seen those? You don't have to use Costco products. I donated a bunch of stuff to Saver's including two boxes of Cooking Light magazines. I've subscribed to Cooking Light for almost 25 years and have only cooked three things from it....but I have saved those darned magazines, just in case! I have more boxes of them to donate as soon as I find them. Anyway, our next stop was the Goodwill Weigh and Pay. We had so much fun in there! I usually can't find a thing but I hit the jackpot this time. Each of my dogs got a new stuffed animal, I found some old Readers Digest books that I needed for a craft project ( I'll probably read them first). Oh, some gorgeous dinner plates that will go in Wayne's Christmas gift, (we're on a budget here!) a huge flat bowl that will end up as either a bird feeder or bird bath, a set of silicone baking mats which I will use in the craft room because glue won't stick to it and a Hoover Steam Vac with all the attachments. And it works! And it only cost $8.00. See  why I love the Goodwill Weigh and Pay? Most of the stuff, you pay $1.49 a pound but the heavy stuff has extremely low prices on it. Tom found a couple of things to buy also. We had a yummy lunch at Sizzler and then headed for Joann's and Michaels. This will be hard to believe but I didn't find much at either of those places. Does that mean I have enough craft stuff? Is that possible? Tom wanted to tour Old Town but we ran out of time so maybe we'll do that next time.

  Today the guys, Pa, Wayne and Tom are at the community well pulling up well pipe and the old pump. This has been the longest project! If our POA president had kept his nose out of things, it would have been done months ago. But he is a control freak even tho he doesn't know diddly about most things. They had gravel put in all around the driveway around the well so trucks won't sink during the wet weather. So hopefully, we won't have to go to town everytime we need water within this next month.

   I can't begin to describe our weather. It freezes at night but the days are in the 60's. Sunny days, clear skies, lots of birds at the birdbaths. We've seen so many Robins this fall plus both Western Bluebirds and Mountain Bluebirds and two red shafted Flickers! And Blue Jays, Juncos, house finches plus those pesky towhees and doves. One night I left the garden gate open and the next morning, Pa saw 10 rabbits in the garden, 10 in the front yard and 5 in the back yard, all at the same time! Where's the gun? Those cotton tails make mighty fine eating.

    Speaking of eating, I'd like to find some sort of class that teaches ya how to find things that are safe to eat off the land. Don't think I'll find anything like that around here. Obviously the ancient Indians found things to eat out here. Ha, I can just see Pa eating something I found in a ditch. Did you know you can eat baby tumble weeds? You cook them like spinach. Last night we invited Wayne to eat with us. I made spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. I have some spinach, artichoke spread that I put on my garlic bread before I broil it to brown the bread. Wayne tried it once and said he liked it so I had been putting it on all the garlic bread for the both of us. Pa wouldn't let it touch his lips. So last night I mentioned that I was going to put it on our side of the garlic bread and Wayne got a funny look on his face. Turns out he hates the stuff and can't understand why I find it so delicious. He was just being polite all those other times. Pa had a good laugh over that. I told Wayne I really appreciated the fact that he was willing to try something new whereas Pa would cut out his tongue before trying anything unusual. All thru dinner Wayne made comments about the bird poop on my garlic bread. Good thing I have a good sense of humor. I even shared some of my Lindt chocolate truffles with him for dessert. That's another thing Pa won't eat. Who in the world doesn't like chocolate truffles?  One of the reasons, I've lost my love of cooking is because Pa is a meat and potatoes man and won't try new things. I get tired of making the same old things over and over. I guess the reason I buy cookbooks is to look at all the things I can't cook because Pa won't eat them. That is one of the reasons, I won't be renewing my subscription to Cooking Light. Every time I found a recipe that looked delicious, one of the main ingredients was something Pa won't eat......like mushrooms.

    Craftwise, I'm in a grand funk. I'd like to make some Christmas decorations but why? We probably won't have a tree this year. When there are no kids around to share Christmas with, and no presents to put under the tree, it seems like a waste of time. Of course the kid in me really wants a tree so we will see. And the kid in me would love to have presents to unwrap. Unfortunately I married a relative of the Grinch who never gets in a holiday mood and would just as soon ignore all holidays and birthdays. Guess I'll never get rid of the kid in me and I really don't want to anyway......so there!

   Sorry , no pictures this time. I did take a picture this morning of the full moon so maybe I'll post it next time. I'm off to Holbrook this Sunday to spend the day with my BF Katie. Can't wait to see her and have some girl fun.  Until next time......

Snow and playin in my craft room

 We got a bit of snow yesterday. And we woke up to this today. It was so pretty.

 A view from the back yard.

 Part of the front yard. Now that it's the afternoon, the snow is all gone. It was a great morning to play in my craft room. As a matter of fact, I got so busy, I forgot to put makeup on or curl my hair. Pa came in awhile ago and commented about the straw sitting on top of my head.

 I've been making Christmas decorations using cardstock and spray glitter.

 I put the decoration inside of my trash can to spray the ornaments. I finally had to leave the room because I was about to be overcome with fumes!

 I really like how they turned out.

I bought a file similar to this card and the pine trees were so close together, when I cut it out, they turned out like fuzz so I just made my own version of it. Spent way too much time and don't think I will cut out any more.

 Just finished making this get well card. I found a picture of one on the net and made my own cut files. I'm just tickled to death on how great it turned out. I'm usually not happy with what I do....my own worst critic.

Guess I had better do something with my face and hair incase someone stops by. I'd hate to scare them to death!

Play Day

Yesterday my dear friend, Katie came over from Holbrook for a play day in the craft room. We made Christmas ball ornaments.

It is so easy! You buy clear ornaments, take the top off,pour in floor wax and gently swirl it around until you get the entire inside coated, let the floor wax drip back into the bottle of wax. Then you pour glitter into the ornament, swirl that around until the entire inside is covered and then pour out the glitter into it's container. Snap the metal top back onto the ornament and Viola! you are done. You can decorate the outside with vinyl decals, mod podge designs on, use stickers or just leave them plain. We ended up making them on the dining room table instead of the craft room....more elbow room. Lordy, we had glitter everywhere!!!! It was so much fun. The bigger one on the right side is a flat round one so I think I will make it look like a pocket watch. Katie brought a box of greeting cards she made to show me. We showed them to Pa and he acted impressed. He must have been because he mentioned them again this morning and said how nice they were and how professional they were. I'm trying to get her to put them on her blog so she can sell them. If she does, I'll let you know in case you want to buy some lovely cards. Let me tell ya, she's better than Hallmark! One talented lady. Her blog is KtsAngels and you can click on her icon on the right side of my blog to see what she is up to.

Last week, on a nice day, Pa and I took the Granniemobile and went exploring. We found a mini Indian village, probably just a clan spot and explored a bit. You could see where the hogans/houses must have been because there were stones formed in a large circle. There were about five or six of them in the surrounding area. One thing Pa noticed is that each mini village has their own pottery designs. The area just three or four miles away from this spot had different designs on the pottery shards. I should have taken pictures but didn't. Some designs must be universal because there are some of the same designs every where we look but the rest are unique. We drove along a deep wash to see if anything interesting was down there and found a coyote den with fresh tracks.

 Also saw this tree with it's roots exposed. Hard to imagine that at some point in time, the water rushed thru this wash and washed all the dirt away from the roots.The wash is probably 12 to 15 feet deep. Juniper trees must have a strong will to live! They get by with very little water.

 The next day, we went out exploring again and found this petrified tree trunk. It was at least 15 ft long. Imagine how many years it's been laying out here! Just when you think you are the first person to walk around in this spot, you find a beer bottle or an old can.

 Here's more of this tree or maybe another one. It was all in the same spot. We just left it there since we didn't need any petrified wood.

 Besides that, it 's nice to leave it for someone else to find.

 I call this the Stonehenge of Woodland Valley Ranch. I really expected to find a fire ring or some type of Indian artifact inside the circle but there was nothing except a packrat nest inbetween two rocks.

 Not a rock in sight within a mile and here are these huge stones sitting in a circle.....amazing!

 You can never be bored here at the ranch. There is always something to see and explore. Honestly, I could do this every day of the week and never get tired of it.

Another amazing site is a tree growing out of a rock formation. Very little soil but the will to live is so strong, the tree finds enough soil to grow. I think there might be a lesson here!

Woke up this morning to clouds and we got a little rain. It is still cloudy and maybe a bit of snow is expected. I don't care! I can always spend those snowy/rainy days in my craft room.

The mice just about destroyed my lilac bushes so Pa and I built metal hardware cloth cages around them with tops. The hardware cloth has quarter inch holes in it so I don't think the little bastards can get thru it but they sure will try. Heck, I had rabbits knock over the little cages I had around my wild yellow daisies so they could eat them. I really need to find some horse troughs to plant my flowers in, ya know, the long skinny kind. Wayne is thinking of getting rid of his horses so maybe I can talk him out of his. Hay has gone up to $16.00 a bale!!!!  The ranch has rabbit brush and snake brush all around which is poison to horses, it eats their brains so he can't let his horses free graze. The vet said that is probably why both horses lost their colts. They got loose for a couple of days.

Are ya ready for Thanksgiving? So far, we are having Tom and Wayne over for dinner. I'm going to invite another couple over also. Why do I do this when I hate to cook?????  It's a good thing turkey and dressing and all the trimmings are so easy to do.

Oh my, now the wind has come up and sand is blowing all over. Maybe it will blow the rain and clouds away. Good thing I didn't dust the furniture recently. The dust and sand manage to find its way inside no matter that the windows and doors are shut tight.
Until next time!