Our trip to the Country Living Fair

If you remember I told you that we had plans to go to the Country Living Fair this weekend and we did! My friend Pam and I headed out early Friday morning arriving just a little before they opened and took it all in. I don't think we left a stone unturned or a booth unvisited. It was fun,what I enjoyed the most was running into lots of old customers and visiting with them and seeing what treasures they found....I found a few myself too! I enjoyed the fair but really think that our fall and spring trek to Round Top and Wherrington just as good if not better. One thing that amazed me was how far some of the shoppers had traveled! We visited with one lady that was from Utah and had flown in just for this show!  I was surprised at the number of vendors, really thought there would be more but there were some truly wonderful hand made crafts which I am drawn too...being in retail for so long I am jaded by the "market products" that I saw during my market visits so I zero in on the handmades and antiques which there were plenty to see and admire. The one thing I would have changed was the availability of food and drinks, we stood in line for over an hour for lunch because they only had one place serving food which to us with a crowd like they were expecting should have been better planned but other than that it was a fun day.

Another highlight of our trip was getting to meet K.R. Wood, he was performing in the area of the cafeteria and a delight to see and hear. One of our long time customers and friend Karen Jellison and he travel around and share his talents and love of Texas History. He has an original chuck wagon and all the "fixins" for an original campfire experience complete with cowboy music and folk lore. What a great resource for teachers, scout groups and special occasions! They do this full time and do a great job! You can find more information HERE.  Take a look and see if you could use this great talent in some way, you won't be disappointed.

Carson's new bed

I keep forgetting to share with you the bed that Mike made for Carson. Right before they came for spring break he got into his "big boy" bed at  home so we didn't want him to have to use his crib while they were here, so we came up with this youth bed idea...and I have to say I love the way it turned out! We got a SOLID WOOD door at Home Depot and cut it about 3/4 down to make the head board and the foot board then made the side boards out of 1X12 lumber. Mike added the railing until he gets used to sleeping in it but it can be easily moved. We used the mattress from the crib which was perfect and of course had to add the Toy Story bedding and Woody as a bed mate!! Carson loved it and so do I...what do you think?

Just what we have been waiting for the Country Living Fair is coming to Austin!! This is suppose to be a great show and well attended so make your plans now....go early and go comfortable...here is a link to the information...be sure to go mid way down and click on the program and schedule...we are planning to go Friday so if you see me across the way be sure and come say something..we can compare notes and compare treasures!!

http://www.countryliving.com/cl-fair/country-living-fair-austin

Anyone need a really cool spring/summer project to do with your kids?? I have found it! We got a fairy garden delivered to us the other day and started filling it up immediately! Here is a picture of the finished product (for now) we started with just a fairy garden theme and quickly turned into a princess/fairy garden! The kit has the container, dirt, rocks,gazebo and fairy dust , we added the picket fence, lights, larger rocks and some princess / fairy accessories found at our local pet store and our toy stash. You can plant real plants or choose the perfect plastic ones like we did!! Anyway you go it is a wonderful creative project that can change in the blink of an eye or in the imagination of a four year old....I had so much fun I may start my own. We got our starter kit from my friend Suzanne at Second Street Seasonals. I am sure you could order one from her or start your own the ideas are limitless!! Be sure and share with us what you come up with.

Let's do some canning!

Okay so I won't fill a pantry or all my food source won't be out of a canning jar but I would love to be able to can some of the fresh produce available starting in the next week or so...what's on my list you ask?? (aren't you sweet to ask, thanks!) I am thinking salsa, peaches, green beans and maybe some cucumbers. I have found some wonderful ideas and recipes on pintrest and we have our Uncle Sam's not so secret recipe for salsa, that we both love, to start with. Any other suggestions? and for you locals have you heard of this farmers market that is open on Tuesday?? I think that is on our to do list next week....anyone else found a farmers market that you love?? Please share! and watch for those recipes and hints as the summer progresses..as for now happy picking!

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter everyone, I hope your weekend is full of families fun and great memories. We will have our traditional day, early church, egg hunt and lunch. We are looking forward to it and hoping for a continuation of the beautiful weather we are having. Hubby planted his winter rye grass in the back so that the kids would have a nice soft area to play, it is so hard to keep grass in our yard because of all the trees and draught statis that we are usually in, but this year the rain has been good and it looks lush and green for the big day of hunting eggs, playing kick ball and whack ball (as Carson loves to say!!) Blessing to you and yours and as always if you don't have a church home and would like to join us we would love to have you here is a link to the information times and schedule.....www.bbcfamily.com/

My spring cleaning hint

As you know I have been decluttering my closets, cupboards and cabinets and I must say my biggest find were the leaf bags that you can get at Home Depot!! If I remember right you get 5 or 6 for like $2.99 and they are HUGE!! More important they are strong. I filled up 16 of this dudes with everything from paper records to old linens and towels! They held everything! For the paper records we just added them to the burn pile in the back (which I highly recommend either this or a really good shredder!) and hubby burned them with the brush. The others I just folded over sealed with some good packing tape and put them out for the trash collection. So if you need a good way to clean up I highly recommend these bags....happy cleaning!!