Urban Prairie Home

Decorating ADD

2009-10-04T19:15:00.002-05:00

Okay....after not blogging for the better part of the year, I'm back. Gina from the Shabby chic Cottage has put up a 10 things in 10 days decorating completion challenge http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/2009/10/throwing-down-gauntlet.html

and I'm in. Here is what I hope to complete so far...

First and foremost is I need to pick-up and clean my house enough to pull out the fall decorations.
I want to put together and paint some stuff I thrifted to make pedestals.
sew up the bathroom shower curtain I've had partially finnished for some time
Frame and hang up my giant fork
Paint the outside garage door and install the doorknob
paint the end table in the kids bathroom
Hang the kids handprint pictures
paint the basement banister
order the kitchen trim
Re-pot the peace lilly in the dining room (it's decorative---a half dead peace plant is not an attracive room feature)

Here's hoping....

Kitchen-Klatter Magazine

2009-01-11T15:42:00.006-06:00

...So I'm driving home with the family last week-end through the little burg of Florence and I see a sign that says 'fabric' and 'vintage' and I new it was my kind if place. Bill and the kids waited in the car while I prowled the delights of this little store in Florence, vowing to come back when I had more time. The coolest thing, tho, was a box of "Kitchen-Klatter" magazines from the late 40's early 50's that were hiding there. They are full of gossip, recipes, household hints, ideas from the farm, etc.. They were produced in Shenandoah, Iowa in conjunction with a radio show by the same name. I love the advice about treading lightly in the hen house to avoid startling the chickens into a molt, or keeping a taffy pulling recipe in plain sight for the young folk to arrange a social event around. Then there was the letter from the lady visiting friends in Rural Louisiana who observed the 'happy sharecroppers and their simple lifestyles'....well it was another era wasn't it. Anyway, I bought a couple of issues and all things considered, it's a fun read. In fact, I've set up a blog to share excerpts from some of the issues I have, and will add more each month as I can. I will keep on open link here on my blog or you can get there directly at www.kitchen-klatter-urbanprairie.blogspot.com

How to Make a Handkerchief

2009-01-09T08:33:00.002-06:00

How to Make a Handkerchief: 7 steps (with video) - wikiHow

Go green, use a handerchief! Someone told me even with bargain tissue, it costs about .02/blow to use throw away hankies--not to mention a waste of resources. Even after washing, it's still cheaper to use hankies. Perhaps its a bit unsightly to wash a used hankie, but we wash our undies after using, don't we? Let's not get started on that!

...and it's not just me
Using a hankerchief instead of tissues to blwo our noses Link:
http://becomingdomestic.co.uk/2008/10/04/using-a-hankerchief-instead-of-tissues-to-blow-our-noses/

Using a Handkerchief Makes Me Feel All Funny Link: http://lifelessplastic.blogspot.com/2008/04/using-handkerchief-makes-me-feel-all.html

...and then it was Christmas!

2008-12-26T18:57:00.002-06:00

You know Christmas is close when the pre-school has it's holiday program. So first you dress up in your holiday best...

...and you have to eat treats after with your pesky sister...

...and your goofy neighbors come over for dinner and have WAY too much fun with the presents you got them...

....and everyone sits down and watches a movie

.....and.....finally.....it's Christmas morning.....

....and Santa does NOT disapoint!!!

We "Halloweened"

2008-10-31T21:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, so the verdict is in and Halloween 2008 was a success...a major haul for all! The weather was perfect, there were scads of kids in all the neighborhoods, and the Kiwanis event brought home many trinkets (that will be in the donation box before weeks end...but I digress). All of childhood should be made of these magic moments.

Almost Halloween

2008-10-30T13:16:00.001-05:00

Halloween is almost here and the kids are already enjoying the perks of growing up in a kid friendly community--there's a Halloween party almost every night right up until the big event itself. They already have enough candy to stuff a Pinata, but they're always on the prowl for more. Tomorrow, Halloween--then the sugar plum walk (more candy), a visit with Santa (more candy)--I think the local dentists are behind this!

County Fair Parade

2008-08-12T09:26:00.000-05:00

The culmination of weeks of fair preparation....the parade. Laurel is in the middle. This is an action shot of the girls throwing candy to the crowd. Bill thought ours was the best float in the parade--but of course he's biased! A wonderful time was had by all.

Farewell old friend

2008-08-08T09:10:00.001-05:00

After a dozen good years with us, and thirteen years of age, our good 'ole farm dog Ajax left this world for greener pastures. He posed for this picture as the poster boy for a county wide animal control campaign I was involved with 7 years ago. He's a very good actor---looking very much like the abandoned animals he represented in this picture, which he certainly was not. It's my favorite photo of him. You will be missed old friend.

2008-08-08T08:25:00.000-05:00

This years fruit harvest is outstanding! This is just part of what I was able to get off the Colonade tree this year. Most of it will be pie filling, but some will be made into applesauce and maybe apple butter. I guess after last years frost, the trees are working overtime. I wish the vegetables were doing as well this year. We've been struggling to get stuff to to market...not sure why. Well, at least we have some apples!

Howdy!

2008-07-10T10:53:00.000-05:00

Everyone has a blogspot, so why not me? This is my preliminary setup...I hope to flesh it out as I have time (HA!). How cool is it to be published?