Spooky Hat

Foil and tape and time to create.

Claws and felt make my heart melt

EVA is just the base for the face.

Foam clay is the way to make it stay.

 

Fall farm colors

These mums were bought from a local farmer. Very happy with the colors.

After a decade of wanting a Japanese maple, we got one. I was not seeing the price drop even after a decade. So we just bought one in our zone locally grown. I am happy with the growth as it is a three year old specimen. The mums may stay or not, depends on how they overwinter next spring.

Cooler weather means sleeping cats

Had a full farm call this week. Our vet came over and gave shots to equines, felines and canine all in one go. It was so nice to have the entire herd taken care of at one time. No more piling the cats in the car and driving to see the vet. No more accidents in the car and cage. I rounded up the herd and all were ready for whatever they needed. After the vet visit, farm call, all animals were quiet and nappy for the rest of the day.

More mums blooming.

 

Haunt You

I bought a set of outdoor led  pumpkin heads. They were kind of plain, so I upgraded them.

Painted with flat black and then layers of oranges. Sprayed with mat clear spray.

final effect at dusk 

 

Playing with wood

I am diving into wood and lasers.  Along with wrapping up Halloween, I am prepping to make some of these for our church for the Christmas season.

 

Blue Bayou

Here is a sneak peek at my latest project. This is something I have been playing with and learning about for a while EVA foam. It has leather like properties but is very light weight.

Some heat and lots of sewing of layers.

I am sewing neon tubing as I layer the eva foam. I could just use UV resin but I prefer more stability in the final product. Only wish the battery pack was smaller. Might use solar or rechargeable neon tube lights for the next one.

 

They Call Me Mello Yellow

I was given some seeds of yellow watermelon to grow. This year I did just that and boy did they produce for me. This one was 20 pounds.

Big yellow sweet melons. But the drought was hard on the melons. Several were split by deer and overwatering. But the few I saved were over the top tasty.

The grower did not know why the skins were white but the inside is normal and yellow. I gave some starts to a fellow gardener and hers were also very sweet and white on the outside.

The seed were from a farmer in Salem, Missouri. I wanted to save this line so I did not plant any other type of melon so the seeds will carry the same dna next year.

 

Flower me

This is a hand sewn hand painted placemat set of 4 sold in the 1990's at various stores. Though it looks old, it is not. It was made in China on the back. What I love is how sturdy these are. The dye is very suspect and fugitive if wet, not practical as a placemat.

I am in the process of stabilizing these colors to use this placemat as a purse embellishment.

I had hoped these colors were wax based but they are watercolor based. 

I love the vines and flowers and the tiny stitches. I will try to copy this design using wax based colors.

Just another neat fiber project I am working on.

 

Restoration, Rest and Visitors

This was the final wax up of this very old Japanese inlay wood box. Several stripped layers down to the original patina under the barn dirt.

Rich variety of woods and inlay. I also removed and reinstalled the handles of this small box. Beeswax in a very light coat to French polish the outside and cutting board oil for to moisten the dry Japanese cedar drawers. This box still has a light scent for its age.

Frosty taking a nap on me as I read. He loves to get on my back for the rare times I take a break.

Alan's cousin came to visit our farm. This was the first visitors since the pandemic began in 2020. It is always a pleasure to share our joys of living on an Ozarks farm with others.

 

The road less traveled

Having lived under a rock as a black sheep of the constantly moving family it is nice to break away from the traveling circus.

Moving away and cutting off all contact has been a blessing. Not an easy blessing, but one I can get on with my own life type of blessing.

After getting my DNA results I finally know where I come from. I always had an idea and now I have a big brother to share my journey. I lost my younger brother years ago after he cut off contact with me.  Like mother like son.

What is funny is I never thought a parents past could affect offspring years later. Sins of the father type of stuff here. Or rather sins of the mother. Amazing what DNA can tell you. Health, cravings, related family you never knew you had but share.

But all that was out of my control, it was the hand I was slapped with in life. But the nice thing about being an adult, you can get away from that drama. You can go and start your own life. And that is what I did decades ago. I taught myself how to play music and various instruments I wanted. I learned how to farm. I learned how to shoot and how to chop firewood. I learned how to grow my own food. I quilted, taught and repaired anything in my hands. The Ozarks can teach you a lot of things about yourself. It is not a place for the weak. It is a great place to build a life you have dreamed of.

It is a sweaty, scar filled, muscle ride of hard work but it is a good life. 

A blessed life thanks to God who answered my pleads and prayers with grace.

 

All the pretty ones

In this drought and heat we still have the hardy zinnia.

There were a mixed bag of seeds I collected and saved. They produced some fun colors and super sizes for cutting all summer long.

 

Ducks and berries

My Muscovy are getting very big and now fully feathered.

They eat every bug they can find. Since I raised the runners with the Muscovy they are a fast moving pack.

The blackberries are in full swing in the Ozarks.

They feed the wildlife and occasional human forager.

 

Planning ahead

This is how we heat our upstairs using wood pellets. They get one-two ton of pellets put on our truck and then we off load each 40lb. bag of them by hand. Very hard work for a person at any age. I got it in my head we needed a better way to get these into our shop so we can stack them. I wanted loading rollers ever since I saw them used at a Tuesday Mornings warehouse/store a decade ago.

Finally our local used warehouse supply store posed several used ones for sale. We drove an hour away to look them over and came home with one. It took us two tries to get it off our truck and back on to terra firma. It is very hot here and this is hard to do in the heat.

And here it is still strapped together.

It is over 35 feet long when stretched out. It is height adjustable and very smooth. Now we can slide the pellet bags instead of carrying them from the truck and into the shop. I am very happy with this and the future old me will be as well. The price was $225 for one used 35 ft. loading rollers set. We had to remove some  stuff to make room for it. But that is another story for another time. For now we are almost set for winter.

 

Dead things and suntea

The rains we got two weeks ago have left us now in the Ozarks. It is the drought time of year for us now. High 90 heat and 78% humidity. It brings out the wildlife for water. An armadillo met its maker via my shepherd this week. I was not in a hurry to deal with it and so the smell began and the flies. This brought about the vultures, natures clean up crew. The deceased dillo was only about 30 feet away from the house. 

I set out my jar of sun tea for the day. About three hours later I checked on the tea. The lid was covered in blood droplets from the vulture fly overs. I had to toss the tea and wash the jar and start over. I moved the dead dillo into the far pasture first. This made the vultures happy with free range snacking and me happy for blood free tea. Ah the joys of Ozarks farm living.

I have been busy in the garden with Kajari melons, tomatoes and cucumbers.

The Kajari love this heat and are very nice hand sized one person serving sized melons. I can understand the devotion to these small sweet melons. They are very tasty. They fall off the vine when ripe. I bag mine to prevent bug damage. They trellis up very well. Worth the price for the first seed packs. Now I have many seeds saved as each melon is loaded with seeds.