Busy,...Busy Summer.

Canned Peaches

Peach Salsa

Peach Salsa

It has been a very busy summer.
Joel, our friend from Great Britain visited with our family early in July. We took him to see the Cleveland Indians beat the New York Yankees (oh yeah), Cedar Point and Niagara Falls, Canada. I think he enjoyed his stay.
Allison and Joel

Joel loving the Falls!

Allison ,Joel and Emily getting ready for the 4th of July parade.

We also went to the Deathly Hallows part 2 movie. Joel was priceless when he shouted before the movie started...."There's a troll in the dungeon!" Everyone thought his accent was spot on! LOL!



Now we are hosting Hinata, a student from Okinawa, Japan. She will be visiting with us for three weeks. So far we have taken her to a Scrappers baseball game and the Ohio State Fair. Many other fun things are scheduled for her as well.
As for me, I've been busy canning. My husband bought some delicious peaches from Rhodes Farm Stand and I canned peaches, made peach jam with Rosalie and Emily and even made homemade peach salsa.
Yesterday I took the girls to a friend's farm and picked some blueberries. Then another friend dropped off his excess pickles and for the first time I made sweet pickle relish and homemade (not Mrs. Wages) Bread and Butter Pickles.

Still more Grandma handiwork

Little Bunnies in a broken egg shell - Great for Easter... in pearly paints

A bell cookie jar and a Bell ! (Christmas Motif)JAMIE ADOPTED

Bunny and a Girl on a Pumpkin. (Can you tell Emily and I are getting tired? We are mixing the seasons!)

Another Boy and Girl Bell set and a candy dish. LINDA ADPOTED

Little girls standing in the wind. Small figures.

Candy Dishes, a Poinsettia 8"(COOKER), heart (8x6) and yeah 6"(COOKER).

A mini stein (does NOT open) and mini vase ala 70's... just add lava lamp :)

Santa...the bag can hold candy - maybe (its an odd shape and size), Snowman and Santa Cup.

4 mugs for you! Starting from left.... wooden style, Roman Chariot (?), Snow covered cabin, and a ship. All in awesome shape as are everything I've posted. COOKER ADOPTED

Music Box figure - pearly paints ALLISON ADOPTED

2 Christmas Bells.... not quite the same... Can you spot the difference?

Girl in a shell... I don't know if you can distinguish, but in the background Grandma glued pearls and rhinestones in the back of the egg!

Next project - Grandma's handiwork

Jim and I decided we would learn how to make wine. I went to an initial lesson, ordered the equipment, received the equipment and scheduled a home lesson to begin the process.But in thinking ahead, we were wondering where we could put our wine. We don't have any space in our home to house a wine cellar. ( we don't have a basement). So we decided it would be best to borrow Grandma's basement. However, in recent years Grandma's basement has be a refuge for many wayward items of hers and ours. :)
SO I decided to clean out a room for a wine cellar. I felt like I was on the TV show American Pickers. I found many neat things, some garage sale fodder and other potential heirlooms for the family. I will post here some of the findings. Should anyone in the family decide they wish to keep some of Grandmas Handiwork, email me and I'll send it to you.
Off to find more treasures!

2 TURKEY baskets and one Scarecrow/Pumpkin head basket.

BUNNY Basket (number 2 of 2) and in front are three ceramic eggs she made. The one of the far left cracked and she glued it back together. They all would look good in this basket of hers!

BUNNIES!!! In the background are two bunny door hangings (ala door wreaths...see-- on a wicker flat) and in the foreground a famous bunny basket. If you don't have one-- this is one of the two that are left.

These are Christmas ornaments crafted out of plastic canvas and hand stitched.

Choir Bells - These are a pair of bells - 1975 -

Baby (trying to suck on it's toe!) 1973 - pearly paint

This is a little child holidng a basket containing a bunny - 1972 - pearly paint

Unsure what to call this cutie - hummel style - 1974 COOKER ADOPTED

SCHOOL BOY AND GIRL - 1971 - humel style

KISSING ANGELS - 1977 - Pearly Paint


PAPERBOY - 1971 - Hummel Style (she even wrote "Vindiator" on the newspapers!) LINDA Adopted

Mini Garden Pot--I mean mini,tiny, itty bitty... you get the deal. 1980!

That 70's Show! A candle holder (74) that will hold a massive candle and a small vase. (73)

A little larger vase... with gold paint! 1971

Hill Billy Mug... this made me laugh! ALLISON ADOPTED

Leprechaun Decanter... The hat has a cork around it to be purposed as a wine/liquor decanter. I like the guy... he's cute.

Another hummel style piece. She did an awesome job on this.COOKER ADOPTED

And everyone needs a dutch ceramic shoe!

And I found this Hershey collectable if anyone wants. JAMIE ADOPTED

Quick the sun is shining!

After about another week and a half of rain, the sun peeked out this afternoon. I took advantage of this break in the weather to check the hives. Swarming weather is upon us and I want to make sure that they are happy.

Great Weather for....

DUCKS!
Its Raining AGAIN! We had to cancel the shearing for the Alpacas as they are wet from head to toe. We are now on a sunshine waiting list. At this point it may be fall before they are sheared. :(

These are the hummingbirds that visit our feeders. (photo was taken last week when we had sunshine)

Lily of the Valley is in bloom

Black Raspberry patch

Red Raspberry Patch

Fiber day 2011 at Agland

Agland in Canfield hosts a Friends of Fiber day. They have alpacas, and llamas on display and a shearer handy to shear sheep and goats. Inside the ladies sit and spin.
Enjoy the photos.