Winter in Florida

photo by Samuel

The Barn Gets A Facelift... and more!

Barns have so much character... I just love them!

This is our old barn... our home was built in 1976 so we are guessing the barn is of a similar age.  It's bones are very sturdy but it has some boo-boos that needed fixing!  A storm some unknown years ago pulled up the roof on the left side at the front and back.  The top floor in the back left corner, having no roof, has rotted.  The bottom right half of the barn was floored (but the flooring was mostly rotten) and the bottom left had no flooring at all.  Other than that, it was in great shape -- considering...

After many hours and much sweat the barn has a new floor on both sides and the roof is mostly repaired.  One more section and it will be all done.  The barn has a new front and new doors that are just awaitin' to be hung! 

New floor!

And painted to seal it.

The outside wall being built.

The interior wall separating the two halves.  The lower half of the wall was already there.

All ready for doors.  And the door up top needs to be fixed too. 

Isn't it pretty?! 

Today, if it doesn't rain, the plan is to finish the top front left of the roof overhang, repair the loft door (and we will probably close in the other door opening) and hang the doors on the ground floor.

Then we'll be all ready to move the storage stuff into the right side and the workshop stuff into the left side.  We'll add electricity later.

A Baby Gift

A close up of the quilt

The red is baby wale corduroy.

The back of the quilt with the toy.

It crinkles :)

And is soft on one side and fuzzy on the other.

I hope they are much loved!

My Happy Place

I have pictures to share of my Happy Place :)

This is the door between the guest room/sewing room and the open space with the computers, door to the bathroom, laundry room, pantry.  Um... how to orient you?  That door is on the east wall.  The curtain to the left is a storage closet for craft stuff.  We have the door but it hasn't been hung .....yet.....

Looking left, the futon and the shelf on the left with Matt and Jennifer's stuff that is still here.

Now your back is at the door and you are facing west.  Those french doors open into the back yard.  See the brick column?  There and to the left was the garage opening.

The dresser with Matt and Jennifer's stuff.  That cabinet holds the snaps and all the embroidery machine stuff.  Hanging on the back of the bookcase--diaper, trainer and bib patterns.

Now your back is to the futon.  Directly in the foreground is a work table.  That's Molly's machine, MaryVance is using it to make a quilt.  Under it are three drawer things with patterns and various sewing supplies.  That shelf to the right has hairbow making supplies on the top shelf, the second shelf is a tote of fabric for the children to use and the bottom tote is mending --- blush.  The large cabinet holds more supplies for sewing, knitting, crocheting and all the scrapbooking stuff.

Your back is to the french doors.

Standing in the corner with the larger cabinet.  My sewing L and fabric shelves in the background.

My spot.  Sewing machine to the left, serger ahead.  I don't like the way the fabric shelves block my view of the doorway but I can't see any other way to do them for now.  When Matt and Jennifer move their stuff out of the dresser we can put it in storage and then maybe put the bookcases flat against the wall.  Or something?

My cutting table.  Right now the ironing board is there because I'm working on that quilt I told you about.

How's that?

Off to finish those wipes.  The bread will have to wait until tomorrow.  Matt just called.  He's coming back with steaks to grill!

Mmmm..

Dana

Hand-Foot and Mouth Disease

Looks like our sweet Sam has HFM... he had a slight fever severals days prior to this:

The flat rash is on the tops of his feet and is spreading up his legs.  It's also on some parts of his arms.  He has a few blisters in his mouth, his throat is a little sore. 

If you are not familiar with HFM, do not dispair, it's a simple disease. 

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common childhood illness that is caused by a viral infection (most commonly the Coxsackie A16 virus). It typically affects children under the age of 10 years, but older children and adults can also be affected.

"Symptoms generally start to appear 3-7 days after becoming infected with the virus, beginning with a mild fever, tiredness, reduced appetite, and sore throat. The characteristic features — mouth sores and skin rash — usually develop one or 2 days after the onset of fever.

The rash appears as flat or raised red spots, which may form blisters. The rash is not itchy, and usually affects the palms of the hands and soles of the feet."
http://www.mydr.com.au/kids-teens-health/hand-foot-and-mouth-disease

HFMD is usually a mild disease, and children generally recover within 7-10 days.  There is no specific treatment for HFMD, and because the disease is caused by a virus, antibiotics are not effective. (Antibiotics can only be used to treat bacterial infections.) However, a simple pain reliever such as paracetamol is often all that is required to treat the symptoms.

So prayers that Sam will heal quickly and that it will not spread are much appreciated!

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow...

Where have I been?  I just realized I haven't blogged in a long time... time for an update!

We spent the weekend working on the barn.  The months previous we (we = the boys) had cleaned out the barn... of thirty plus years of someone (many someones) junk!  The barn has two sides, the left side had a dirt floor and the right side had a wooden floor.  The wood was rotten and termite damaged so we removed it.  Mr. Lonnie came Saturday and Monday and he and Tony and the boys (and Matt when he got off work) rebuilt the one floor and built a floor on the dirt side and repaired the roof.  Yeah! 

There's still a little more to be done but hopefully it won't take long.  Then we can move all of our stuff from the 20x24 storage building and begin renovations on that!  We are going to convert that into a little bedroom/living room/kitchenette for our oldest little birdies. 

What else has been going on... let me think... June 2 was Luke's birthday, he's 12 now!  We celebrated his birthday on May 31.  Tony took him out for the traditional 'Birthday Breakfast with Daddy'.  Luke wanted to wait until Matt got home to have his party so we had a supper birthday party.  Luke wanted Legos and a fishing pole, and he got a few other small things.

June 2 we left for Virginia and we were gone until June 8.  We took Jennifer up for her best friend's wedding.  Susanna's (the bride) grandparents go to church with us and we took them up also.  It was a really fun trip!

Next we had Father's Day.  Jennifer made a special breakfast for her hubby and her 'dad' :)  It was much enjoyed! 

Then Jennifer's 20th birthday on the 21st... we had supper and a little party for her.  She wanted a strawberry cake so I modified my favorite white cake -- it was pretty good.  When I perfect it I will share the recipe.  Matt surprised her with a laptop :)  We got her a waterproof camera for the beach.  She's such a shutterbug but doesn't want to take her good cameras to the beach ;)

Tony's birthday is July 1.  We had a supper party for him too :)  He also wanted strawberry cake so I made the modified one again with another change.  I like the first one better.  And this time I made a Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing which was preferred by all to the Strawberry Buttercream I made for Jennifer's cake. 

July 21 is Molly's birthday... guess what kind of cake she wants?  LOL

Soft Pretzels

Soft Buttered Pretzels

-Pillsbury recipe

3 to 3 ½ c all purpose flour
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1 pkg dry yeast
1 c water
1 T Crisco (I used butter)
6 c water
¼ c baking soda
2 T melted butter
Pretzel salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, etc…

COMBINE: 1 c flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a medium bowl. Blend well. Heat 1 c water and 1 T butter to 100 – 110 degrees. Add liquid to flour mixture. Blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Stir in an additional 1 ½ to 1 ¾ c flour or until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of bowl. Knead in ½ to ¾ c flour until dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in greased bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and cloth towel. Let rise in a warm place (80 – 85’) until light and doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

SPRAY two cookie sheets with nonstick spray. Punch dough down. Divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into a 16 inch rope. Form into pretzel shape. Place on greased cookie sheets. Cover. Let rise in warm place about 15-20 minutes. Adjust oven rack to top position. Heat oven to 400’. Combine 6 cups of water and baking soda in a shallow sided saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil. Slowly drop pretzels into water, one at a time, cooking 15 seconds on each side. Remove from water with slotted spoon and return to greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with pretzel salt, etc…

BAKE for 8 minutes. Brush with melted butter. Bake 2 additional minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Brush generously with remaining butter. Serve warm.

I changed the Crisco for butter... you know how I feel about butter! :)

Pictures of the New Girls Room

Spring Portraits, 2010

Caleb (17)

Molly (15)

Samuel (14)

Luke (11)

MaryVance (10)

Elijah (8)

Isaac (6)

Joseph (3)

Nehemiah (19mo)

**Photographed in Neosho MO**