It's FAIR to Say We've Been a Bit Busy!

It's FAIR to say the very next day after we got home from that beautiful wedding, our daughter plunged right into getting ready for the fair. 

With 5 goats to haul, it always involves the family! Time for the momma's to get shaved and the baby girl needs to be tattooed.

By the next weekend Grandpa had added wheels and a handle to the Goat stand but it was still in need of some paint. We just so happened to have two eager "Grand's" willing to do the job. 

Of course the 4 year old didn't last long painting. He bailed before it was finished, but the 4H'er had to work till it was done. Her reward was a birthday celebration at the water park. Yes, here in Yuma water activities are normal for this time of year.

The beach really was a lot more fun. 

Since the beach is right outside the back door, it gave me the opportunity to finish my table. There wasn't much left to do. The Iris's had opened up really nice and I didn't lose a single one. I was concerned since I picked them up in the beginning of my shopping the day before. What ever was I thinking! By the time I got home they had bent over and the only way to salvage them was to cut the stems at the bends. This ceramic basket that came with a really nice bouquet of flowers a few years back worked just fine. Using glass bead helped stand them up, and a couple that needed added support, cut stems with leaves on them provided the perfect solution. I really like how it came out.

To end the day we colored some eggs. Mom, Dad, and big brother were heading home from a spring training game between the Angles and the Padres. The grandson was excited because his Angels won!

As usual, after church we have our egg hunt. 

It's FAIR to say that I still have some limits, so we used the patio and the beach as the hunt field. Of course we can go high for the oldest "Grand"son, and low for the "Grand" 4 year old, and somewhere in between for "Grand"daughter. They had a great time as always!

Dinner was delicious and filling. 

With a good nights rest and after the days work was done, it was time to take the goats to the Fair!

FAIR to say, it's FAIR time!

Today was a feed only day. Maybe fine tune some things so the momma's and their pen are pretty for tomorrow is Herdsmanship!

It's FAIR to say we are quite busy on Our Journey Through LIFE!

Our St. Patrick's Day Celebration!

"Meant to post this Saturday, but I actually fell asleep with the computer in my lap." 

Everything turned out just perfect!

First the rehearsal...

A quick meeting to go over the plan. Then we all practiced the line up. My son had chalked out the path we will take at the venue and we all walked to our spots. All the kids behaved so well for this, they will surely do an awesome job for the wedding. Once all the serious things had been covered, it was time to get silly!

 We all enjoyed a great meal and the time spent with some awesome friends and family.

 Everyone had such a great time!

"Our Journey Through LIFE" has yet another wonderful memory add to it. 

You all will have to wait till the professional photos have arrived for the wedding. I only took a few before the battery villain struck again. Yep, I had both my batteries charged for the occasion, as well as a blank memory card. Unfortunately the charger with the second charged battery in it never made it into the camera bag. On top of that, the cord I had my phone plugged into wasn't charging my phone, so I had no use of it either. It didn't bother me though as there were so many others taking photos. I was happy that I wasn't going to be one who had their phone or camera in their hands. Always counting blessing!

Preparing & Planning!

Other then working on the many garden and outside projects I have been doing, I have also been working on the rehearsal dinner menu, seating and table centerpieces. 

This was my first attempt with some supplies I found at the $1 Store. I starched the scarf to use as a table runner.

Then while searching for other ideas I found this one.








I love the simpleness of it.


However, completely changing would add more cost, plus more time to shop for the items, both of which I am limited on.


So I came up with my own version using what I had with only having to buy the split peas.

I'm thinking, once I get in the actual room, arrange the tables, and add the necklaces and gold nuggets it will all come together as it should be. I have a Plan A and a Plan B.

I haven't been this excited for St Patrick's Day in a long time.

Remember when we did this in 2011...

It's going to be another great day on Our Journey Through Life! 

It's Never To Late To Be A Rock Star!

While sitting outside watching the "Grand" kid play, I had an awesome idea. 

See that strip of random rocks, it goes the whole length of the house. Well, I remembered a blog I had seen with a number of garden ideas, and remembered these flowers. I think this would be the perfect spot and I think it's about time the railing gets added too so it can't be used as a short cut anymore.

There was also a fairy garden at same place. 

Can you tell I LOVE all shape and sizes of rocks! Yep, they seem to follow me home all the time. Not only that, but some years ago I had 3 different sizes delivered by a BIG dump truck. These rocks have been reused and re-purposed a number of times over the years. Thanks to the ideas from the blog post, I now have a few more ways to reuse them again.

In case you need more projects on your list like I seem to do...check them out at...

http://kitchenfunwithmy3sons.com/…/the-best-garden-ideas-a…/

Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle

When our daughter wanted to get married at the house back in 2009, I bought two fake triple topiary trees. You can see them on each side of the stairs. 









They hung out there for another couple years. I think it was during our 4th Boo Bash, we draped an old sheet over them to create a  couple ghost. It was then that I noticed the sun was destroying them, fading the leaves, and causing them to deteriorate. So I moved them up closer to the door after that.





Between 2012-2013 high winds had blown many of the leaves off so I filled in the blank spaces with spring flowers and tulle. 

I have searched many years of photos looking for the first transformation with no luck. During 2013 I swapped out flowers though out the year.

My favorite was the poinsettia's for Christmas. For some reason I didn't snap a shot of both of them done. I added some of my stand up decorations along side them. It looked really nice. Why didn't I capture it?







By the beginning of 2014 they had fallen completely apart, so in the dumpster they finally went. Large eggs filled the planters that spring.






From Spring into Summer I planted flowers in them which did fairly well. Until we had to leave for a couple weeks and by the time we got home, the sizzle of our summer sun had done them in.


Since I didn't do "Grand" trees this last year, I use two of the trees to create a Christmas front porch.


I have looked into replacing the fake trees but for now have decided to just keep being creative with the planters for another year.

So today I am going to fill them with some spring annuals and see about making or finding some kind of bunny on a stick for some height. Maybe add a couple eggs, with the jumbo eggs along side. I'll just play around with it and see what I come up with. With 40 years of STUFF, there is no need to go looking for anything new.

It's just another way I get to enjoy Our Journey Through LIFE, reusing, re-purposing and recycling things I already have! This year a lot of things are getting a new look on our JOURNEY! 

PS: Hubby is reusing and re-purposing some things also to create a milking stand for our "Grand" daughter. I can't wait to share his process when it's completed.

Thirty-Eight Years Ago

3/4/1978