Scrapbooking

So, I got a wild hair the other day and I decided to open a craft booth at the local festival this fall.  Well, for me to be able to get things done on time I decided that I should probably start now.

The festival is called the Pumpkin Festival.  It is in early October.  They have a pumpkin pancake breakfast.  A parade.  Lots of craft booths.  A classic car show.  A pet costume contest.  Live music.  And much much more.  It's lots of fun and I usually end up buying most of my Christmas presents from here. 

So, in honor of the Pumpkin in the festival, I started making pumpkin related crafts.  Of all the crafts I've started, these three I have finished and they are ready to sell.  Not all of my crafts are related to Scrapbooking, but they are the only things I have finished so far.  I have also decided to create a section on my blog of all the things I have to sell.  I'm going to have a scrapbooking tab and a Seasonal Decor tab.  So you'll have to check both of them out often.

Scrapbooking Embellishments

Pumpkin Embellishments:                         $1.00 set

This set includes: 5 pumpkins.  Approximately 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" each.

Jack-O-Lantern Embellishments:                     $1.00 set

This set includes:  4 Jack-o-lanterns.  Two - 2 1/2" x2 1/2" and Two -2"x4".

Halloween Embellishments:                            $1.50 set                           

This set includes:  10 candy corn, 5 bats, 2 black cats, 1 witch, 3 stars, 1 moon, 2 star strips, 2 candy corn strips, and 2 Happy Halloween's.  A total of 28 pieces.  The strips are 6" long.  The witch and moon are approximately 2"x2".  Everything else is approximately 1"square to 1 1/2" square.

To order:  aljones2u@yahoo.com

Shipping and handling is not included in prices above.

Double Whammy

My husband is a volunteer fireman.

And yesterday was a very exciting day!

We had a benefit dinner planned for our local fire department.  It was to be held at the fairgrounds from 11:00 - 2:00. 

Well, yesterday  morning LB got a call from the fire department at 6:30 AM.  It turned out to be a structure fire.  Wouldn't you know it, the one time the firemen tried to do something outside of fighting fires, they would be thrown off schedule by a fire!

They came in straight from the fire and set up for the Dinner.  It was delicious.  We had Brisket, Potato Salad, Baked Beans, Salad, and Dessert.

Yum!

This would be one of the reasons I didn't get on the scales this morning & why I'm going to the Gym as soon as I get finished here.

Anyway, We had a good turnout.  We even ran out of food.  Which is good news for the fire department. 

We got the tables scrubbed down, and the dishes all washed and we were taking our orders from the chief when we got another fire call. I've never seen a room clear out so fast.  I was the only one there that isn't a fireman.  I was left in the dust holding the brownie pan. 

I went home and cleaned up.  I cleaned the kitchen, did some laundry, played with the dog, watched a movie...LB didn't come back.  So, I decided to go down to the station and see what was going on. 

Come to find out the first call at 2:30 was to a car fire that caught the grass on fire.  They worked a couple of hours putting that one out and before they could even get back to the station, they were called out to another fire on the other side of town.  Before it was all over with there were 5 other fire departments helping put the fires out. 

They finally arrived back at the station around 7:30.  They fought fires for almost 8 hours total yesterday.  Luckily we don't have 3 fire calls every day.

So, after the trucks were scrubbed a put back in the bays, I brought home one tired fireman.

It makes me very thankful that we have people who are willing to put their lives in danger to help save the lives and belongings of other people.

The Scout

Don't Worry!  He hasn't been run over, he's working on it!

LB brought this jewel home a few years ago.  This is an International Scout.  He has wanted one of these ever since I have known him.

I'm not exactly sure what it is about this vehicle that makes it so appealing.  Maybe it's because I'm a female and I don't have testosterone running through my blood.  But LB loves this vehicle and has had several offers to sell it, although he has turned them all down.

Now, don't get me wrong, if it was all fixed up and had a new paint job, It probably wouldn't be too shabby; especially since you can take the top off and drive it like a convertible.

The other day, LB and I went to the farm to get it and bring it to our new house.  Before we could move it LB crawled underneath it and took a piece out of it. 

Now, I'm no genius, but I figure,that when car companies build cars, they don't just put parts under the vehicles for decoration.  Those are usually pretty important parts.    But, that's just me.

LB has assured me that it doesn't need this particular item. See below:

(It looked like a pretty important piece to me!?)

He says it will drive just fine without it.

 

But what do I know?  I thought you needed seats too!

Well, we got 'er started.

But we needed a little help to get her up the hill and out of the pasture. 

Then, the crazy haired dog and I followed him home!

Ah, the crazy life I live!

Amy

A Moose in A Shirt

My dog's name is Moose. 

Moose thinks he's a person.  Like I've mentioned before, telling him otherwise might possibly cause a major crisis.  I don't have time for an Identity Crisis, so PLEASE don't tell him.

Because Moose thinks he's a person, he thinks he should wear clothes.

As a matter of fact, if I leave one of his shirts out, he will bring it to me asking me to put it on him. 

It's pitiful, I know, but what can I say?

He likes to wear sweatshirts and...

football jerseys and...

Halloween costumes and...

camo and bandanas and sweaters and the list just goes on and on...

So, if anyone knows of a place to by cute dog clothes please let me know.

Love Amy

Burning Wheat Stubble

This is what we did this weekend!

We burned the wheat stubble of one of our fields this weekend.  We don't burn our fields every year.  It is only something we do for maintenance.  Burning the fields helps clean them up.  Any seeds from things we don't want in our fields, like rye or oats, gets burned.

 

We plowed around the field first, this creates a barrier to stop the fire from going to the next field.

LB strapped the torch to the front of the 4-wheeler.

And away we went!

We burn at night so that we can see if the fires spread somewhere they're not supposed to be.

Don't worry, I was tucked safely away in the tractor with The Mechanic.

Now, I admit, there were times when I was white knuckled inside that tractor. 

 

Even though I was nervous from time to time, I was glad I went with the guys.  It's definately a sight to see.

Prince Of Persia

I have a movie recommendation to make.

Prince of Persia. 

I really liked it.  I really really did.

Lots of action, lots of romance, but thankfully no nudity or sexual scenes.  If you have any kids that like super heroes or action packed movies,they need to see this.  (But remember that there is fighting.  Nothing gory though.)

LB and I went to see this movie last night and we both really enjoyed it. 

 I especially liked the ending.

Now, before I spoil it for you...

Goodbye

Caffeine Addict

I admit it; I am a caffeine addict! 

I know, caffeine in excess is bad.  But I love the taste of Mountain Dew!  And Dr. Pepper, And Coke, and Chocolate.  It's just so tempting.

Well, yesterday morning I woke up and decided that I was going to give up Caffeine. 

I have done it before.  It's was hard, but doable.  I stayed Caffeine Free for approximately 9 Months.  Then I fell into the temptation again. 

So, yesterday I gave up Caffeine.  Why did I decide to become Caffeine Free?  I'm still trying to figure that one out myself.

It was going pretty well.  All I had to do was not think about how good a nice cold Mountain Dew would be in this summer heat.

     By 10:00 I had an ice cold water.    

     By 12:00 I had another ice cold water.

     By 3:00 I had a headache. 

     By 5:00 I had a pounding headache. 

     By 7:00 I had a pounding headache and an upset stomach.

     By 9:00 I had a Mountain Dew and a Candy Bar. 

Now all is right with the world!!!

Farm Girl

Christmas

Christmas is almost here!

Ok, so it's still 6 months away, but that's better than 7 months. 

I love christmas! And I am already thinking about what to buy everyone. 

(I like having jump starts on everything)

Have I mentioned I love christmas?  I was all I could do to not put the christmas songs back on my ipod last night.  I withheld from the urge.  It was tough but I decided that I'd wait until July to put the songs back on it.

Well, just wanted to share my excitement with you for christmas.

Hope you are ready for Christmas like me!

Oh, by the way, I like the headbands with the sparkles on them (Hint Hint)

My Favorite Harvest Picture

I know this is the 3rd time I've posted this picture, but it's my favorite.

I thought that I should tell you what it is a picture of since it is my opening shot.  I know some of you know what it is, but there are some of my readers who are new to farm life. 

For those of you who don't know, this is a silhouette of a combine from the back. 

Amy

Harvest #4

During harvest it is very important to keep all the equipment serviced.  You don't have time for breakdowns out there! Like I've said previously, once the combines are started, they're not shut down until they are done for the day.  Every morning while we're waiting for the wheat to dry out for the day, we service all the machinery and fill up with diesel.

You have to clean the header out real good before moving to a new field.  This is so you don't carry anything bad from one field to another.  As in bad, I mean things like Rye seeds or Oat seeds.  They can spread like wildfire and hurt the quality of your crop.

Anytime there is a combine shut down during the day, it's usually bad news.  It's usually because of a breakdown.  Breakdowns are never good.  Breakdowns are bad.  They're terrible!

Have I mentioned how terrible it is to have a breakdown?

Well, we had one this year.  It was on the last day of being done; which caused us to have to cut the next day to get finished.  We almost made it without any problems!

This is my Father-in-law, the keeper of the tools and supervisor!

This year, we had a jam inside the combine.  The wheat was a little too wet and it became clogged inside the thrasher.  Unfortunately the only way to unclog the combine when this happens is to dig it out by hand.  You have to crawl up inside and dig it out piece by piece until you can get it loose enough to turn the thrasher over.  This particular jam took about 12 hours to get unclogged.  I did not get any pictures of the inside of the combine.  I was too busy picking out the pieces.

After we got the thrasher thrashing again, we had to clean out the header, because the wheat was backed up that far from the jam.  LB and the Mechanic climbed up inside to clean it out.

It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it!

Well, we got 'er cleaned out and ready to go!

Your Farm Friend

Amy

Harvest #3

LB's favorite job during harvest is driving the combine.  That's all he wants to do.  Which means that if I'm going to see him at all during this time, then I get to ride in the combine.  I really enjoy riding in the combine too.  I especially enjoy my seat; I get to set on top of the water jug.  I even have a small pillow that fits right on top so that my hiney doesn't hurt as bad after a couple of hours.  Just don't ever forget the pillow, the water jug leaks!

This is a picture of the combine header from inside the cab of the combine.  The paddles push the wheat into the sickles where the heads are cut off and augured into the combine to be thrashed.  The grain is then moved into the bin of the combine and the left over straw and trash is blown out the back of the combine.

See the grain heaped up on top?

Once the combine is full, the wheat needs to be dumped out so that the combine can go back to the field to cut more.  The wheat is dumped onto either a grain cart or a semi trailer.  We dump onto the semi trailer until it's full.  Once it's full the truck is taken to the elevator.  So then, we dump onto the grain cart while the truck is gone.  We do this so that we don't have to stop and wait until someone gets back with the truck.

I love climbing up where The Mechanic is and watching the wheat being augured.

 

See those beautiful golden grains?

Once the truck is full, it is tarped and taken to the elevator.

The End

Well, not really, there's a lot more about harvest that I haven't told you yet. 

It'll just have to wait until tomorrow.

Amy

Harvest #2

LB says that I'm not a very good blogger because a good blogger would post every day no matter how late they had to stay up.  So, I guess  I'm going to have to work harder at keeping you posted.  My Aunt Nana even told me that she had been checking every day so that she could see what exciting things had happened during harvest, and I'd let her down. 

 I'm sorry Aunt Nana.  Could you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?

I'll try harder, I promise.

Well, back to harvest. 

Well, one of the Major things about harvesting wheat, is knowing when it's ready to cut.  When the wheat is ripe, the head of the wheat will turn upside down.  Like in the picture above.  Sometimes, the heads don't turn all the way upside down because the beards(the things poking out the sides of the head) get caught on each other.  Once the head turns, you then wait for the seeds to dry out.  If the wheat is too wet when it's cut it's too dangerous to put into the elevators.  Wet wheat in an elevator will ferment and then becomes very combustible. 

So, the waiting game begins.  Every morning all the farmers get the equipment serviced and out in the field ready to cut.  If there was a heavy dew the night before, you have to wait until the sun dries it out.  Having a little wind doesn't hurt either.

Once the wheat gets dry enough the race begins.  They start the combines and they don't shut them off until the dew sets in again.  So harvest calls for some pretty late nights.

Well, I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Amy

Harvest!

IT'S HERE!!

It came a few days sooner than we thought it would, but Harvest is here!

I love harvest.  Of course, I've only been around farming for 6 years, but I really enjoy it.  To me it's like Christmas. I think it's the atmosphere that surrounds it.  There is an excitement.  It's not the excitement of just being excited, it's an excitement of hurrying to get the job done before the weather turns bad and ruins what's still in the ground, and keep your fingers crossed that none of the equipment breaks down, and hurry and get the trucks to the elevators so they can get dumped and back to the field so they can be loaded again.  Everyone just works together helping each other out.  I guess you could  call it an adrenalin rush.

Well, what ever it is, I love it!