One for Far Side

 We went for a Sunday drive and happened on a car show in Innisfail.  We really  enjoyed  strolling through  the line up; some amazing restorations  and some good ole farm trucks.  Then we saw this Desoto and had to take photos for Far Side and Far Guy. 

It was for sale for $29,000 Canadian eh. 

Sunday Stills- Handmade

 Hand made or hand built? That was on my mind. Hand built speaks to me of larger projects, such as the horse shelters Ted built for me, and the insulated water tank for the horses, and the welded pipe round pen, etc. etc.- so many things he has built for me and I am truly grateful to him and so very proud of the talent and care he puts into every project. 

Hand made seems to me to be the smaller craftier items, such as this loon ornament made by Connie and Gene of Far Side of Fifty blog. It is usually one of the frst things I put on my tree!

Perfectly carved, painted and balanced!

Another ornament I have was made for me by my step mom. One year, I was admiring the big pine comes that dropped in their yard, and that Christmas she sent me this adorable little snowman she made.  He is so cheerful!

It occupies a place of honour hanging from my kitchen curtains

The most cherished hand made item we have though, was made for Ted's dad, who just turned 89, and we think it was made for him by his mother . 

He has had a few updates over the years, and his fur has worn away a bit, but he is all intact with moveable arms and legs. 

His little overalls were also hand made, in 1961 at the GWG factory in Edmonton, and he has worn them ever since. We keep him in a glassed in curio cabinet  to protect him  from dust and wear.

For more Sunday Stills handmade items go here!

Auction goodies

Ted and I worked at an auction on Saturday, and I found a few items to follow me home. I bid on a box of stuff because of a nearly new set of Wahl animal clippers in it, got the boxful for $5 and it had a few good things in it. Also got this lovely Austrian dish:

This is the makers mark on the bottom:

I googled it and apparently it's from the 1890's to 1900's. Cool!
Also got some of these:

The left one used to be a butter churn, the middle one has no bottom and the other one Ted is claiming, so I get the other two for planters.
Also got a galvanized tub with some old harness bits that came out of a mine. A good day!
And yes, we do have green and growing grass here in Canada- not all of us are getting the nasty spring storms that are hitting Alberta and the mountainous areas.
The mares are still hanging in there. I heard from Chickory's owner- she is waxing so stand by- baby pics coming soon!

Sunday Stills

The challenge this week is to photograph things we consider vintage. I'm going to my archives because I am way too busy this week to do a photo shoot.

The vintage version of a boombox ghetto blaster- a gramophone- we sold it a while ago.

Vintage photo of my mom and dad, on their wedding day, February 20, 1950.

Catch up post

Since I had such a busy weekend, I didn't have time to blog, although I did manage to read a few of yours.
Reggie went home today, and we may have to set up some playdays for him and Merle, they had a blast together. I had some requests to get a photo of both their faces- let me tell you, it wasn't easy. One would sit still, and the other would move- or they would just start rolling around like whirling dervishes. They are so cute when they play!

As you can see, Reggie is quite a bit bigger. They both played so hard that they slept well too.

A while ago, I mentioned that Ted was restoring an Armoire for Janice, so here are some start to finish photos; she picked it up on Saturday.

Here is a closeup of how it looked before Ted started- this is some of the inlay detail.

It's laying on its side in this photo, that's the base for the drawer below it.

Here it is with the sanding partially completed.

After sanding, you can see that the inlay has mother of pearl, the green and the white parts.

Ted started the oiling, using Tung oil....

which really made the detail and the wood grain pop....

et voila! The finished product. Compare this to the first two photos.

On to the auction; there were some interesting antiques there along with all the usual household and shop miscellaneous stuff. Like these two John Deere ladies bicycles, which sold for $75 each (they are worth a few hundred on Ebay):

There were plenty of old implements and steel wheels, like this potato planter-

I thought it would look good as a planter. And these rake wheels caught my eye- and a lot of other people's as well- I was thinking of a garden bench like Lisa and Linda have.

There were these old cast iron bedframes, which are apparently popular as garden planters too.

None of these items came home with us. We did get a nice coal oil lamp for $25, and some old wooden boxes and a wicker washtub stand, as well as an old whetstone on a stand, and Ted got some tools and an oxy-acetylene cart and hydraulic tank with a pump (for future use on a log splitter; we're getting too old to chop firewood!).

Yesterday it was cool enough for me to light the wood stove, I guess that sure is a sign of the beginning of fall.

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Stills- Low tech, high tech

Ed gave us a neat challenge this tine; to photograph something low tech with it's high tech counterpart. Not too hard around here because we have lots of antiques! But first, here is an obvious one:

The lowly pen and paper, replaced by a keyboard and mouse.

Then there is the annoying LED light clock, and the old mantle clock, which is wound up with a key and has the most beautiful chimes.

This is Ted's grandma's sad iron, and my electric iron.

There are three upgrades on light in this one- from a candle, to a kerosene lamp, to an electric lamp. Back in the days of just candles, electricity would be really high tech!

My treasures

Sunday when I should have been relaxing, I decided it was time to make the green tomato mincemeat- especially since the person who gave me her grandma's recipe was staying the weekend with us, as she and her husband came down to help with the auction. We made and canned 10 quarts, and it turned out really well.

As promised, here are the photos of the items I bought -

the barnboard cupboard that I put in my tack room,($20!)

and the hall table, which is in my office (also $20!)- I still have to clean and oil it.

The farrier was here today to do the mares. Chickory has apparently gotten over her big pout and is her sweet self again. She has really nice feet. Velvet is a Diva -in her own mind- and fussed a bit, but she is slowly improving. She seems to think that she doesn't hafta hold her foot up that long, don'tcha know!

The snow is slowly creeping down the mountains towards the valley, but I hope it holds off for a bit. My friends in Alberta and Saskatchewan are getting blasted with a breath of ole man winter though.

Pups, Peppy, and Auction updates

Now that the auction is over, I have a little time for my blog, and catching up on yours. The auction went well, no major problems and the rain held off until the last hour- of course, that was when we were selling the stuff outside of the building- go figure! I bought a couple of things- a handmade barnboard cupboard that is going in my tack room, and a hall table - pictures in a day or so! Ted bought an antique dresser, some birch firewood, and an old oak tabletop that needs a pedestal built for it.

I have had some email updates on two of Tess's pups from their owners.

This is Corb,

and what they say about him:

we’ve starting obedience training with Mary Lane here in Cranbrook. He’s so clever! After the first meet and greet he had it all figured out! Look at those eyes, he’s so sweet and those freckles...we all just love him to bits!

He was a very sweet boy, and I'm glad his people love him as much as I did!

The lady who has the one I called Chad, renamed him Henry, and this is what she had to say about him:

I have been meaning to write for a while and update you on Henry. He's doing great! He has so much energy but is calm and obedient in the house. He is getting quite tall. He is over 30 lbs now and still growing.

So far all the folks who have Tess's pups are loving them; just check out Janice's blog and Jenn's blog- Kali and Abby are both doing great and are waaaay too cute!

The fellow I get my hay from has 2 of the boy pups, and says that they are already trying to help him with moving cattle. I think I'm pretty happy with the cross of Tess and Moss, and I have three orders for pups so far, if I get 3 more I'll probably breed Tess again next year.

I got an email from the lady I sold Peppy to- for those of you new to my blog, Peppy is the colt called Choctaw Peppy on my sidebar, that I sold last year; he's Velvet's full brother.

Here is the story on him:

Pepper is doing real well; spent 3 months at the trainer - Daryl Cartier. I think he did a great job.  One of my boarders (actually two - mother and daughter) fell in love with Pepper the first time they saw him and got to know him. It wasn't an easy decision to sell him but Kymber, the daughter, will use him more than I and she wants to show him English and Western. The horse and rider are both so young and it is a bit of a concern.

 She's a good little rider, 14, and seems to be able to handle him real well. He will stay here with me and I can help her with colt issues. He's a good mover, with a nice easy lope. He's quiet and a little stubborn at times - a colt.  They follow your blog also and would be tickled to see you post her picture and the news that they now own him. My heart is a little heavy though. 

So all in all, I think I have a small but successful breeding program for both my dogs and horses- and by the way Kai is doing well, I'll be sure to get some photos of him soon with his new buddy, a Fjord weanling.

And just a quick note from Beamer:

There's snow on them thar mountaintops! 

Which means I have to make sure he has his blanket on at night, and lots of hay for him to share with his buddy Url; they now share the shelter, which is kinda cute.

A visit

Barby returned yesterday afternoon, hung around in the trees bordering our yard. He let me stand right underneath him and talk to him. I offered him some raw meat but he wasn't interested, just flew to another tree. He hung around all afternoon, I even rode under his tree on Beamer, and he just stayed there. So I spread sunflower seeds around the perimeter of the yard to attract mice for him- if he doesn't get them, Foose will!

Speaking of visiting, we have friends from Alberta here for the weekend to help with the auction on Saturday- they're the ones who own Luke, Tess's littermate. we have so much stuff for the auction, it's crazy! We are going to be really busy.

Backhoe, tractor, seed drill, boats, campers.

Horse drawn implements, and yard decor galore

Antique furniture,

and a Singer Treadle sewing machine that works.

So much stuff that I don't have time to show it all! I am clerking the sale so I will have a long day tomorrow.

Sunday Stills-glass

This was a difficult challenge for me- I found out just how hard it is to take photos of glass. The reflectivity was my problem, trying not to get distracting stuff that takes your focus away from the piece itself. Especially difficult was this one, which is a piece of smoked glass that I sandblasted a picture on. It used to be a stereo cabinet door, and when the cabinet fell apart I kept the door, and just keep it in my window.

Mostly, I went with glass used in art, such as this window in our church:

This is an antique carnival glass dish from my husband's family, it is a lovely piece of art:

Also from Ted's collection, can you guess what this is?

It is the bottom of an antique shot glass.

Wordless Wednesday