Archive for the ‘Primitive Crafts & Country Style’ Category
May
23
How gorgeous is that? This painting was created by artist Kelly Walker from a photograph of Patriot and Zip, my two rescue horses. This painting will be made into a print for the Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue benefit at my studio grand opening party on June 16.
You can get more details about the party here (you’re invited!), but even if you can’t come to the party, you can participate. Every individual or family who donates at least $25 or more to the Heart of Phoenix for this event will receive a print, suitable for framing, of the above art. Attendees at the party can take their print home that day. If you can’t attend the party, your print will be shipped to you. ALSO, every person who makes a $25 donation to the Heart of Phoenix for this event will be entered in a drawing for a custom pet (pets, farm animals, etc) portrait by Kelly Walker. (THAT is an amazing prize. But even if you don’t win, you will still receive the print.)
Checks should be addressed to: Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue.
Envelopes should be addressed to: Chickens in the Road, P.O. Box 858, Clendenin, WV 25045.
Coming to the party? Register here.
Find out more about the Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue here. HOP is a 501(c)3 charitable organization and your donations are tax-deductible.
See you at the party (or in the mail)! The grand opening party is my first charity event–and my very first event, period–for the studio. Please help me make it a big success for HOP and the horses!
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May
12
I was going to wait until Monday, but I’ve got everything ironed out, so I’m posting today! (See, sometimes I reveal a surprise late, but sometimes I’m early!) The studio project is winding down, and everything should be completely finished in the next few weeks. By or before the day I receive my health department permit, I promise to have every last Kickstarter photo reward out, so if you haven’t received yours yet, hang tight, we’re near the end! Meanwhile, I’m already planning my first event–a grand opening party with a benefit for the Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue.
When: Saturday, June 16, 2012, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Sassafras Farm, Roane County, West Virginia.
How: This is a free event, but you must register to attend and receive all the info for attendees, including directions to Sassafras Farm. Please do not attend without registering–I need to know how many people to expect. Find the grand opening party registration form here.
You’re invited! I will be hosting a cook-out with hamburgers, hot dogs, and all the fixings, plus chips, cookies, ice cream, and beverages. This is not a potluck–you don’t have to bring a thing. This is a thank-you party for all of you who have helped make the studio happen, whether it was by being a Kickstarter backer or by your support and encouragement along the way. The party will also be a fundraiser for the Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, as my way of starting to pay back by giving on.
Along with the free food, during the party there will be art demonstrations by Kelly Walker, who will be at Sassafras Farm that weekend painting in the studio. (Remember Kelly’s amazing murals at Stringtown Rising? She’s coming to bring her gorgeous touch to the studio now.) Watch Kelly transform the studio walls right in front of your eyes and find out more about her process in creating her incredible art.
Tinia Creamer from the Heart of Phoenix will also be here giving a basic horsemanship clinic. If you’ve ever dreamed of owning a horse of your own, or just love to be around horses, come learn more about what it’s like to bring one of these magical creatures into your life and all about their basic care, tack, etc. Tinia will also be here to talk about horse rescue. Don’t miss the chance to meet this amazing and big-hearted horse expert.
THE PARTY IS A FREE EVENT. Donations to the Heart of Phoenix are suggested, but not required, for attendance. Along with the art and horsemanship demonstrations, enjoy the Sassafras Farm petting zoo, tour the farm, hike a nature trail, or just kick back with a plate of food.
But! I think you’ll want to donate! Every person who makes a $25 donation to the Heart of Phoenix for this event will be entered in a drawing for a custom pet portrait by Kelly Walker. You can enter more than once to the drawing–for example, a $50 donation will give you two chances in the drawing, a $100 donation will be four chances, and so on. The drawing will be held live during the party. Donor names will be on slips of paper and Tinia will draw from the bucket for the winner. (Note: The custom painting is for a pet portrait only, not a people or landscape portrait. The winner will send photographs of their pet or farm animal and work directly with Kelly as she creates their one-of-a-kind work of art. If you have no pets or farm animals, I’m sure Kelly would be happy to paint one of the Sassafras Farm critters for you from a selected photograph!) The painting will be a 6″x8″ framed canvas, or a 12″x12″ unframed canvas–ready for you to frame, your choice, and is valued at $150.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! You can enter the drawing for the pet portrait even if you can’t attend the party. If you plan to attend the party, feel free to bring your donation directly to the party–we’ll fill out your slip and get your name in the drawing bucket. If you can’t attend the party, mail a check addressed to the Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, in an envelope addressed to Chickens in the Road, at P.O. Box 858, Clendenin, WV 25045. Checks must arrive no later than Friday, June 15, 2012 in order to get your name in the bucket. (I’m not responsible for entries that arrive too late for the drawing! I can’t control the mail. Put your envelope in the mail early!)
Important!
Remember!
Checks should be addressed to: Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue.
Envelopes should be addressed to: Chickens in the Road, P.O. Box 858, Clendenin, WV 25045.
Coming to the party? Register here.
The checks will be collected by me to tally the total raised by this event and will be presented to Tinia Creamer at the party. One hundred percent of the donations from this fundraiser will go to HOP. All expenses for the party are being carried by Chickens in the Road. After the event, I will post how much we raised to help save neglected, abused, and starved horses. Let’s do it!
BUT WAIT, THERE’S STILL MORE! Every individual or family who donates at least $25 or more to the Heart of Phoenix for this event will receive one print, suitable for framing, of a painting that Kelly is working on now of this photograph of Patriot and Zip, my two rescue horses saved from starvation by the good work of Tinia and HOP.
Even if you don’t win the pet portrait, you will still receive the print. Prints for every donor are being provided by Kelly Walker. Attendees at the party can take their print home that day. If you can’t attend the party, your print will be shipped to you.
Please note that to receive the print and to be entered for the custom pet portrait, you must donate at least $25 to HOP for this event, in person on June 16, 2012, or arriving via mail by June 15, 2012. Again, donation to HOP is not required to attend the grand opening party, but you’ll miss out on receiving the print of Patriot and Zip as well as the chance to win the pet portrait. You can still enjoy the free food, petting zoo, nature trails, farm tour, and art and horsemanship demonstrations.
Check out the Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue here. HOP is a 501(c)3 charitable organization and your donations are tax-deductible.
Visit Kelly Walker here and see some examples of her beautiful work.
Please come out and celebrate the studio’s grand opening with me! Don’t forget to register if you plan to attend. Find the grand opening party registration form here.
Want to do more than come to a party? Weekender workshops are open for registration. Sign up here!
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May
2
Decluttering and minimizing has been a longterm effort for me. I’ve gotten rid of a lot of stuff in the last couple of years, but there were still boxes of “stuff” that I brought with me when I moved. At the time, I couldn’t handle dealing with what remained of my clutter. Now that I’ve lived in this quite small house for several months, I’ve confronted my clutter again. I’m determined to live within the bounds of this small house. I don’t like clutter, so living within the bounds of a small house with limited storage pushes me to get rid of more junk.
Most of the junk I have left involves boxes (and boxes) of old personal papers, childhood keepsakes, and stupid crap like notes I wrote in class in junior high. (WHY? Why do I still have these things????) Some things were difficult to get rid of, and I find I have to take several stabs at it, then I can usually finally get rid of it. Other things are easy. It always works best for me if I have something for comparison. Today, I had a box of my old childhood dolls. My mom saved all my dolls. And I had several other boxes of crap. I had to decide what I had room to keep. I used the dolls, which I care about, as leverage against the other stuff. Did I care about this, that, and the other MORE than the dolls? I was easily able to throw out a lot of crap like that! Space for the dolls was a higher priority than almost anything else. Little could live up to the doll test.
It IS entertaining sometimes looking through these old boxes of crap. Example: For some reason, I held onto these school passes all these years. (Not to mention an old name tag from Camp Wamava. Seriously. NOT EVEN MY OWN. The used name tag of boy I had a crush on. I probably stole it from a trash can after he threw it away!) Anyway. Back to the General Use Slip school passes.
I could be admitted to class at any time! Excused! Or I might need to visit the lavatory! Or my locker! Oh, the options. I could leave early, too! I might need to visit the doctor. Or the dentist. Or go home. Or OTHER. I could do anything, and be anywhere–with a pen and my stolen pack of General Use Slips.
I showed these to Morgan and she said, “I’ve never done anything like this.”
WHAT IS WRONG WITH KIDS TODAY?!
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Apr
27
Minnie Belle, back when she wasn’t naked.
Her mama, Annabelle, getting naked:
Miss Crazy Jacob and Crazy Jr. That’s CJ to you.
When I got the sheepies naked this year, I decided I was going to do something different and actually have the wool processed. I’m going to have the wool from Minnie Belle, Miss Crazy Jacob, and CJ spun into yarn (each in their natural colors) and have Annabelle’s wool turned into batting for felting or other crafts. I’m having the wool processed by The Fiber Factory. They specialize in alpacas, but also process for sheep. Most importantly, they process small batches, which is perfect for me with my four sheep. I called some other places and found I didn’t really have enough wool for a “run” (especially since I want to keep Minnie Belle’s separate to keep her yarn her natural color while keeping Crazy and Jr. together to keep their natural color, and of course also keep Annabelle separate as batting).
I need some help from you crafters out there in filling out the forms for my wool. I have to specify a skein size. 200 yards. 250 yards. Or other? What is the size skein you prefer when purchasing yarn? I may keep some of this yarn for myself, but I plan on selling most of it so am interested in hearing what people prefer and find most functional in skein sizes.
I plan to get this wool boxed up and out of here by early next week, and I should have yarn and batting available for sale in about three months! I’ll have the yarn and batting available online through my website, but I’m also setting up a little “farm store” in conjunction with the studio where I can sell eggs, yarn/batting, soaps, photo prints/magnets/postcards from my farm photography, and probably a random variety of whatever else I have going on–jams and jellies, herbs, plants, who knows. I’m a multi-tangetial operation!
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Apr
21
It’s exciting as we approach the finishing stages of the studio! Before I show you all the latest progress, I want to remind you what the studio looked like when we started.
Ack, that’s no good!
After the demolition, there was drywalling and painting. Notice that closet in the back was removed to make way for more space in the kitchen.
This week, the cabinet frame went up and the sinks went in.
And the floor started going down!
And down.
And it’s finished!
And it immediately got so dusty and dirty from work continuing around it, you can hardly see how pretty it is.
But eventually the work will be done and the floor will be clean. It’s beautiful. I love it and am so happy with my choice there.
Coming up: Next week will be all about trim and finishing the cabinets. Appliances will start going into place and finishing touches added, such as the self-closing main door and other assorted health department requirements. The countertop on the sink wall will go in last because it is on order and won’t be in until the beginning of May. The studio should be finished by mid-May. I’ll have the health department out for a final inspection and get my permit! Thank you to all of you who helped make it happen. I can’t wait for all of you who can to come see it!
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Apr
13
I went shopping today for flooring for the studio, dragging Dave and Matt along with me. I started out with two options in mind: 1) real tile, or 2) commercial vinyl tile. In both cases, I was taken by the idea of black and white tile, installed on the diagonal. I thought that would look so pretty! Earlier today, a friend said to me, “If I came to your studio, dropped something, and broke your floor, it would ruin my entire time.”
Hmmm. There are a lot of negatives to real tile. Cold, hard, potentially slippery, and it can crack–and will certainly shatter anything breakable dropped on it. And I wouldn’t want anyone to feel bad if they dropped a heavy pot during a cooking class and broke a tile. Back to considering the commercial vinyl option. I was torn between the two options. Torn, I tell you!
Of course, once I was in the flooring department, I was overcome by so many other choices, and of course, I ended up choosing neither of the original options.
As it happens, real tile in solid colors isn’t easy to find these days. Solid colors aren’t that popular, so they don’t carry them in in stock. Everyone wants pattern and texture. Solid black and white tile is a special order. That’s almost hard to believe, but I’ve been to the store, people! You can’t find it!
Already wavering on my real tile desire, I decided to check out the commercial vinyl. Here’s the closest I could come to my black and white tile dream in vinyl.
Everything has pattern to it. No solid colors. Close, but…. I just wasn’t excited by the black and white in vinyl. It made me feel like I was in an elementary school or a hospital.
Then I was sucked in by the vinyl plank flooring displays.
THIS IS MY FLOOR!
I chose the dark one in the middle.
It’s not at all what I went to get, but I fell in love with it. It looks very much like real wood, but it’s not. It fulfills the health department requirements. (Relatively smooth, durable, and non-absorbent.) It didn’t cost very much more than the commercial vinyl, and it was a lot less expensive than real tile. I think it will look gorgeous in the studio.
My photographer friend Jerry lives near there and sneaked up on me in the flooring department.
This is me telling Matt and Dave, “Here’s my latest greatest idea!”
Matt and Dave: “We’re never gonna finish this project, are we?”
That’s how most of our conversations go.
(I’m just kidding.)
Anyway. I have a floor!
Well, not exactly, but I have a floor in boxes!
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Mar
27
One of my fencing projects this week involves fencing in the house and studio grounds. Fencing in this area requires little more than a straight shot along the road to connect up the existing fencing (with a short shot at connecting to the rear barn yard). The work began yesterday at the drive, setting heavy posts for the double gates.
There is a section of white picket on either side of the drive.
The picket fencing I’m using is what I found in the barn, left by the previous owners.
I’m using field fencing to connect up to the rear barn yard.
I love, love, love the new “grand entrance” with the gates! These gate posts will be painted white to match the picket fencing, and dusk-to-dawn lights will be placed atop each tall gate post. (I’ll probably leave these gates open most of the time, but it’s nice to know I can close them if I want/need to.)
The field fencing also goes up the bank to the house–that would be a difficult spot to use the picket fencing, and it sorta disappears using the wire anyway.
Once up at the house, the white picket fencing starts up again. The support posts for the picket fencing will be painted white to match. I think the picket fencing looks really cute with the little old farmhouse. Quaint. I love it. (Some individual pickets are missing–I have them, and they’ll be replaced by the time it’s all done.)
I have just enough picket fencing to go up alongside the studio, then they’ll finish with field fencing to connect up to the upper pasture.
If an animal were to escape from any of the connecting fields in this direction, they would still be inside fencing, making an easy “catch” for me. It also means that I can move animals (such as cows or sheep) from the front or rear barn yard to the further fields, inside fencing, without going through the goat yard. Right now, all roads lead to the goat yard, and to move animals back and forth from the further fields means getting past goats. Anyone who has/knows goats will understand why this is a big hassle. Now I can bypass the goat yard when moving animals. It also will allow me a secure location for dog visitation on the porch. A dog won’t be able to leap from the porch in a short, fast, straight shot down the bank to the road ever again.
And beyond all of that animal convenience, fencing in the house and studio grounds feels good in some other, more visceral, way, The house feels a little exposed atop this bank by the road. The fencing and gates make me feel more cocooned. This is more of a feeling than a reality, but I like the feeling anyway. I also think it looks nice. I’ll post more photos when this is all completed.
I’m really enjoying this fencing palooza. While I may not be doing the fencing myself, I’m actively involved in it, planning, directing, managing. I love managing this farm on my own. Making plans, and directing their realization. I’m also loving seeing it all start to come together, these little dreams and plans I’ve simmered over the winter. Today, work will continue to finish the house and studio grounds fencing. Tomorrow, the superboys will be back, finishing the Park field, and I have another guy coming to put up electric and make minor repairs (including replacing the gate) in the horse field to prepare for Patriot.
By the end of the week, I’ll be moving animals. Which is a good thing because–
Look at that. The gate isn’t even off the hinges now, so I have no idea how she’s doing it, but that sheep has figured out that she can get out and she’s getting out every day. She doesn’t go anywhere. She’s always right outside the fence, eating the green, green grass, waiting for me to come let her back in. That’s Miss Crazy Jacob, who has, by the way, become much friendlier to me since I’ve spent so much quality time with the sheep this winter in the front barn yard.
P.S. It’s time to call the shearing man! I would really love to have some of my wool processed. If anyone can recommend a place that will process raw wool, please let me know!
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Mar
21
Yesterday was busy at Sassafras Farm. There were so many people here! Two deliveries–I’ve started ordering some of the supplies and equipment for the workshop kitchen. Just a few. (I’m over-eager.)
One delivery was a new pressure canner. (The other delivery was actually something for Morgan.) The pressure canner I’ve been using is 50 years old. Nothing against older canners, as long as they still test accurate, but they’re not ideal for teaching purposes.
Then! A man from the electric company shows up. He said, “I’m here to turn off your electric.”
Me: “But I pay my bill!”
He said the studio was a separate meter and nobody had been paying it.
Me: “I didn’t know it was a separate meter!”
He said, “Good thing you were home.”
He told me to call the electric company and set up the separate account for the studio. He went away without turning off the electricity. Whew. It’s always a surprise around here!
And behold, the naked studio:
Everything has been torn out–walls and floors. The best part is that nothing will be wasted. I gave the carpeting to Debbie. (Those of you who were at the retreat will remember our retreat cook, Debbie. She has a room in her house that needs carpeted. The paneling materials will be repurposed for other projects, too.)
Dave and Matt have also been working on the studio plumbing.
Meanwhile, I spent several hours gardening. Remember this area that needed a hair cut and a clean-out?
I cleaned it all up, including tearing down some of the ivy from the cellar.
And I mulched. And mulched. AND MULCHED. And still didn’t finish mulching. There are some perennials in there, and I was careful to mulch around them.
Then Dave and Matt said they had to figure out where the water heater was in the house. I said, “There’s not a water heater in the house. The water heater is in the cellar.”
No, no, no, they were convinced there was another water heater–in the house.
This is not a big house! Where could a water heater hide? Then I remembered that I had suspected that there was an opening behind the little built-in shelves in the dining room. I’d suspected it when I’d been painting in there. I had stuff on the shelves, though, and was too lazy to take it all down to see.
So I took it all down so we could see.
And they pried the shelves out.
And whaddya know, there’s a water heater!
Debbie was still here. She said, “Suzanne, that’s where they’re going to hide if someone is lying in wait for you.”
I said, “You mean a midget????? NOBODY COULD FIT IN THERE!”
In fact, the water heater can barely fit in there and the wall was put up AFTER the water heater was put in there, apparently. The water heater is WALLED IN. It will NOT fit back out of that opening. (Remember all the stuff about the stairs? How the stairs were rearranged and the wall changed at some point in the past? It’s all related. See The Short and Incomplete History of the Stairs.)
Dave said, “If you ever wanted to replace that water heater, you’d have to take this wall down to get it out.”
Me: “I DON’T WANT TO TAKE ANY WALLS DOWN!”
Then he told me that if the water heater ever needed replaced he could bypass it and I could run the hot water from the water heater in the cellar. So I cancelled the heart attack I was about to have.
This house just love to play with me. It thinks it’s so amusing.
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