WHAT WAS I THINKING?

I have relinquished control of the TV. I got a digital cable upgrade for Gareld for Christmas that has The Outdoor Channel and Verses Channel. That is all that has been on all day! He usually sits in his chair and sleeps through anything I am watching. Now what will I do? I quess I will get alot more done in my basement craft room. I am behind on my scrapbooking by a few years. Time to catch up on some unfinished projects. Merry Christmas, Gary!

YUMMY!!!

Christmas Eve morning Morgan and I went to Sandra's house where we had a cookie decorating and gingerbread house making party with her kids. Sure makes a pretty presentation here at home on some stacked glass cake plates.

Deck The Halls

I love to show off my collections and enjoy looking at them myself all month long. Jeremy got the Orchid for me. The house is all decked out for the season and we are enjoying the festive feeling it brings into our home.

I have this as my screen saver for this month. I love, love, love my little chubbies. They are tabacco tins by Bristol Ware. There is a Santa, Mrs. Clause, Snowman and Caroler for christmas. I have a set of all four for each of my kids and myself. I have lots of Santa's...it was the first one I discovered and my collection started. There is also a cowboy, businessman, singer, chef, and baker. I have a few of all of them. They are one of my favorite things.

The little house is something I got of Phyllis'. In the frame is an antique card and the book is a poem by Robert Frost called "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" which seemed fitting for this winter scene.

I found this little old santa this year at a flea market in Eugene. I collect old postcards, flower frogs and round graters and I've used them all here in the kitchen.

I saw blocks like these one fall in Salt Lake at a store so I copied the idea and made my own.

Many years ago this nativity set was on the cover of "The Friend" magazine. I cut out the figures and painted it all free hand. It turned out to be a really cute set and one of my favorites.

Over the river and through the woods....

This year we went to the woods for a tree. We have been getting them at a tree farm for the last few years. The price kept going up and the choices were fewer and fewer. National Forest Tree Permits are only $5...what a deal. Gareld and I hurried up to Mt. Emily (we didn't get stranded like my sister did) and hunted for just the right one. I'm pretty picky. It decided to snow today but it added to the feeling of christmas. It was a fun outing. We got "the one".

My Tradition

Saturday was a great day. I decorated my tree. I have a tradition that started a while back. I do the tree myself. I guess when I started doing themes I wanted it just right so the kids got left out and I've done it every since. We usually had another tree somewhere in the house they could help with. I hope I haven't done damage and sent my kids out into the world not knowing how to decorate a tree. I like to be alone. I pop in two movies that I have watched every year while decorating and I have a good ole time. I used to watch them on video but Brandon and Monica got them for me on DVD so I can continue this quilty pleasure for many more years.

Oh Christmas Tree

I like to have a theme or a color scheme each year. I've done Santa Clause, Victorian, Snowman, Nativity, Noah's Ark, Vintage Kitchen, Hunt & Fish, Patriotic, Gold (my least favorite of all) Red and Green, Green and White, Silver, All Natural, and I can't even think of them all. I started doing themes the year we lived in a bed and breakfast. I had a different tree in every room and it was a lot of fun to do. I then decided to continue it. This year I saw a really pretty one in a magazine that was green, white and silver so that's what I did. It is beautiful.

Dream House

We came back from the Log Home Show in Spokane a couple weeks ago with this plan. Of all the choices this was the favorite. We still don't know if we are going with a log home but this is a really nice one. We would love to live in something like this and it would be so cute sitting on the property.

Floorplan

This is the floorplan that most fits what we want. We want the front of the house to face the valley....but we want the living room to face the mountain behind us so we can sit and watch the animals. I want a front porch, Gareld wants a back deck. We want an open kitchen, dining, living area big enough to have a large group seated all in the same room for holidays. We need a ceiling tall enough to hang head mounts although most of those will be in the shop room. We really like this and hope we can make it happen.

Parallel Parking

Here's a good reason to move off this road! We have been lucky though. For the 17 years we have been here and have been parking on the street this is the first really bad hit we have had. One time a bicyclist broke a tail light but they were nice enough to leave a note. This guy (or gal) kept going and left the car in the road until the cops knocked on the door at 4:30 a.m. Notice I park my car up on the grass. Morgan spent the night while Gareld and I were out of town and this is what happened. TOTALED. Now she has my car and I am driving the ranger. We are still waiting for the settlement.

Off The List

We are one step closer and another thing is checked off the long list of "to do's". Last week we had the septic system installed. We are trying to get the things done that can be completed this fall before winter sets in. Gareld is having plans and estimates made for his shop. It has to wait until late spring now for construction. That is the first thing we will build. We still have to sell our house too. Just a little hold-up in forward progression. We have showings but not an offer.

Disneyland Flashback

Dad has lived in California since I was in grade school. Sandra, Steve, Suci and I spent many summers with him. We have been to Disneyland many times. As I had my own kids we made several trips to visit grandpa and go to Disneyland many more times. I LOVE Disneyland because it is a great place to spend quality time with family. Look at those faces!! Cousins Lexy and Mclain are there too. Thank-you Grandpa Lee for taking us to the "Happiest Place On Earth". Now we just have to convince Gareld that it really is.

The Big Five-O

We just got back from a fabulous birthday trip. It included alot of my favorite things: Portland Expo Antique Show, flea market, thrift stores, crispy cream donuts, the coast, road trip, Disneyland, my california dad, Fresno Temple, casino buffet dinner, beautiful Utah, and much more. I had a great time. It wasn't Gareld's favorite kind of vacation but he went along for me. You only turn 50 once!!

There she blows...

We have water! We hired a well driller and he has been working for a week trying to get through the mountain of rocks we will live on. He ran into some stubborn boulders down about 140'. He made it though and we have 180' well. We were really hoping he would find water close to the top. Our worst case scenario would have been 400' or deeper like some of the wells in our area. We got lucky...( or blessed).

Century Farm and Counting

Here's a fence full of kids during the celebration of reaching the 100 year mark back in 1996. These are all Smith Kids. Kelsey, Dylan, Morgan, Brandon, Breanne, and Jeremy. Love the fresh faces!!

Pee Wee

Here's a picture of Phyllis on the ranch at Lower Cove. Her nickname was Pee Wee. She's the youngest of the seven children born to Story and Agnes. Mason 1915, Judson 1916, Manford 1918, Lovene 1920. Raymond 1921, Della 1924, then surprise eleven years later Phyllis 1935.

On the Map

This is our address: 68389 Kerns Loop Cove OR 97824. Back in 1896 great-grandparents Mike and Lydia Morris rented 320 acres in this area. They moved here with their son Story after spending 7 years in Elgin. In 1900 they bought it for $12,000 in promissory notes to be paid over 13 years. They were able to pay it off in 7 years. In 1912 their son Story and his new wife Agnes bought 80 acres up the road 1/4 mile known as "the old Pearce place". Mike bought another 160 acres next to his own land and Story bought another 240 acres across the road. The family now had 800 acres of land out in Lower Cove. Story Morris owned all the property after his parents were gone. His children all inherited portions of it. Gareld's mom Phyllis got the 80 acre Pearce place now affectionately known as "The Property". She willed it to him. Thank-you.

Home Sweet Home

.....pick blackberries at the property, hunt on the property, trap shoot at the property, release pheasants on the property, look for antlers on the property, shoot squirrels on the property, family photo shoot at the property, pick rocks at the property, glass the hill on the property, hike to the canyon from the property, eat plums on the property, there's bears on the property, pick apples at the property, take friends to the property, dream about the property, inherit the property, LIVE on the property.

I am starting a blog! I want to record our progress from start to finish as we make our move out to the property. We've always called it "the property" as long as I can remember. We have spent a lot of time out there over the years. The kids love the property, too. So join us on this journey and see it all unfold here as it happens.