~*Update, Freebie Finish and an Oops*~

Hello Dear Friends! I hope you are all happy & warm... enjoying the pleasures of Fall as it is in full force now. I've been keeping VERY busy inside. Last week I decided to move my craft stuff (and there sure is a lot of stuff!) to the basement. Planning this huge move, I was thinking it would only take 1/2 of the main room ~ kind of a rec room. Well.... let's just say, I'm slightly off on my planning. LOL I have taken over 1/2 of that room.... but also the laundry room and my stepson, Jamie's, old bedroom. How it all fit in the spare bedroom (without a bed), I'll NEVER know. When the lil' red house does get finished, I know there will be no problem filling it up! The project started on Sunday, was worked on yesterday, and was still worked on some today. I'm almost finished though and really enjoying this new change.

Tony built me shelves to stack my wool upon, plus worked tirelessly helping me get the heavy things down the stairs. I'm so thankful & grateful to have such a wonderful hubby! Jamie, Craig (my other dear stepson), and Trinity helped a whole bunch too! Thank you to ALL my AWESOME boys!

Here is how the old room looked yesterday..... a lot of stuff, huh?



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Today I received notice of another freebie finish....



This darling ditty was made by Staci of Snippets and Stash. Red is my very FAVORITE color & I just LOVE this! Don't you? Staci stitched this on 32 count linen & filled it with crushed walnut shells. I do just love it! Thanks Staci for showing us!

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Now for our Oops!



This is the windshield of our car. The spiderweb crack was caused by the head of a 6 year old. Yup, Trinity. Don't worry, he wasn't hurt. The car wasn't even moving! He and I were waiting in the car to pick up Cub Scout popcorn. He does ride in the back, but sat in the front to wait & avoid the cold weather. For some reason, unknown to me, he decided to stand up and jump. As he did this, he head butted the windshield causing the crack. I was so shocked! He said he wasn't hurt... but there sure were tears of guilt, remorse, and 'uh oh'. He wasn't punished, but was given a sturn talking to about being too excited at times. When we arrived home, he bought his piggy bank to Dad & I offering to pay for the Oops. No, we didn't take it. There is someone coming tomorrow to install a new windshield... not something we needed to spend money on so soon to Christmas, but we will make it all work.

I'm sure this is something we will never let him live down though... he will forever be teased for having a hard head! LOL

Gotta go work on this move some more. Until next time, many warm smiles to you...

Betty

~*Deconstruction Started Inside!*~

YIPPPPEEEEEE!!! WooooooooHOOOOOOOO!!! But very NASTY!!!

Hi Friends! Tony started tearing out the inside of what will hopefully, someday.... be my studio! He added the front porch a few months ago, you may remember. Yesterday, he decided to start tearing out the old bathroom.... which lead into more work today. Oh, was it nasty! (I helped a little bit)



The look on Tony's face says it all ~ doesn't it?

The little house was build sometime in the late 1800s.... or so we think. It was originally just one room, but now has three. There once was a door on the north side that led out to where the outhouse was. It has long been closed off & the previous owners added this bathroom in the corner of the main room. Over the years, many of which have been vacant, the pipes have frozen, shifted, and busted. The 'septic' is no longer ~ per county code. It was hooked up to the well, but has been disconnected. So.... my lil' studio won't have running water or a 'potty'. That really doesn't bug me in the slightest... it is only across the driveway from our home.

He worked on it all day. It is now a clear room ready for new floors, walls, and wiring.... then the fun stuff.... like PAINT! I'll take some more photos so you can see the progress.



I'm off to hook for a bit ..... :)

Many smiles to you!

Betty

~* Just a Quick Update *~

Hi Friends & Folks!

Today was Trinity's last day of kindergarten.... and the poor kid had to come home early because of an ear infection. Bummer! We made the visit to the doctor & he will be back to GREAT again in 5 days. :) He is very happy that it is now Summer.... and looking forward to swimming (after his ear is better) and t-ball. He is very proud that he passed kindergarten (you know I am too!).... and happy that he will be a big First Grader next year.

Tony did more work on the front porch for the studio. It is looking DARLING! He even hung my metal star. What a keeper he is!!



It was too dark at quiting time last night to work on the roof, but we have some recycled barn tin that he is planning on putting on top. We don't have enough to do the entire roof for the house. So for now, it will only be over the porch.

We found the original wooden screen door in the barn loft. I'll be making a visit to the local farm store for a spring.... so it will have the vintage 'cla-bang' sound when it closes.



I've already made the garden plans for the front of the porch. There is a huge stone that will be moved over to the narrow end of the porch to use as the step. Then I'll be planting a yellow climbing rose on each side of the front (the long side). After the roses, this will be the perfect spot for an herb garden. Of course, I still need to finish painting the house. That will come... in time.

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Now... more update info for my stitcher friends! I have one of two models finished.... the other will be done by TOMORROW. I PROMISE! Also, I have a third chart worked up to offer as a gift. (more on that soon) The patterns, if all goes well, will be available by Friday. I'll keep you posted.

Many smiles to you,

Betty

~* Angry Hog Causes Construction Delay! *~

How is that for a headline! It is true. Yesterday, my loving husband was hard at work building the front porch for the lil' house (my future studio). When, out of the blue, a big black hog showed up! We may live in the country, but we are not farmers or ranchers.... we really have no clue how to deal with livestock of any kind. We knew though, that this hog couldn't get out in the road. We didn't want it or anyone to get hurt.... we live on a busy road with lots of traffic and semi-trucks. So, I took off in the car to visit the near by farms. Yes, asking everyone I saw the silly question, "Are you missing a pig?" (Well, it is silly to me anyway.... I am a city transplant!) About a mile away, I did find a family that said they were 'probably' missing one. The woman I spoke with said she would send someone over. I took off back to the house. The hog was still in the field behind our home. Over an hour later.... no one showed up to take the hog. We called the sheriff. I did feel a little bad for the officer that took the call though. He was a younger man, maybe pretty new on the job. Can you imagine the flack he must have taken from the other officers? Well, he set about looking for the owner. Shortly after he left, the owner showed up. (The hog belonged to the family I had spoken with.) The owner, a friend of his, and my husband worked for nearly 2 hours to get this hog into the trailer. It was exhausting for them, I'm sure.... but very interesting & a little comical at times too. The harder they worked, the angrier she got.... but they eventually succeeded in herding her onto the trailer. She is now safely back at the farm. Well.... until she decides to take another walk!



I was very happy to see that, for the most part, they kept the hog towards the back of our property.... and away from my flowers.



Tony promised me a front porch for my studio as a birthday present. He felt bad that it wasn't completed by my birthday. Yesterday, he had set a goal to get the framing and the flooring finished. It will be a covered porch and have a railing. The wood he is using is left over from other construction projects and re-used wood from an old boxcar in the back of our property that we are tearing down. (the boxcar is very unsightly now) Because of all the 'hog' excitement.... he stayed up working late last night with flood lights. Tony is a night owl anyway... he was still out there at 11:30 when I went to bed.



I have two little girls, Ima Jean and Katie Jo, that are living in the lil' house right now. Ima Jean supervised the construction from her perch.



Here is the old boxcar ~



The wood from the boxcar is being used on the flooring and the railing. It will be nice & olde looking! ~



Tony met his goal last night. He is such a wonderful, loving husband! I sure do love him! ~

Hard at work, late at night ~



This is how it looks this morning ~



Yesterday was a fun-filled, interesting day. I wonder what today will bring?

Many warm smiles to you all!

:) Betty

~*Look At my MUD!*~

Well, it rained all day yesterday and is predicted to rain again this evening.... it is misty right now ~ but I wanted to show you some of my garden FUN! I have PLAYED in the yard quite a bit over the past couple of weeks... and thought you might like to see.

Now, before I show you, let me just say... this is PLAYING & FUN! My Mom will be coming for a visit on May 4th to help me with the front of the house & help me keep it more 'professional' LOL. Here is what it looks like today. Nice MUD, huh?



Looking from our front door... (I didn't do anything here... this is all natural)...



Now for some FUN!

Remember, we live in the country. The previous owner used what she had as planters. We have a couple of feed bins and even the kitchen sink! I moved the sink to the pump house and put it atop a couple old cream cans we had. It sits next to the fish pond & will make a cozy spot. The shovel hanging from the pump house is a garage sale find ~ the perfect size from Trinity when he wants to help Mom. The long stick we believe was used as a walking stick... we found it in the barn.



Nothing is left untouched around here when I am playing! This ol' tree is in the yard behind the lil' house (my future studio) and the pump house. It has a hole in it... so, I added a little dirt & some plants. They did good last year... so why not again this year?



Oh... and I have to tell you about this! I recently purchased this AWESOME birdhouse from Jenny of countryrustic. She does fabulous work! She is very sweet & professional. Tony built the little shelf for the house to sit on. I then had him put a bottom on it & we made it into a 'Bed and Breakfast'!



One last picture for today.... more later after things are blooming. We have many Redbuds here & they are all looking so beautiful....



Well.... I hope you have enjoyed my garden tour. There are so many other spots in the yard I want to show you... but they will have to wait for the seeds to start sprouting. For now... I'm off to stitch on those cross stitch models a little more. They are getting closer to being ready.

Many smiles to you...

Betty

'primitivebettys' Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog! This will be a great way for me to share with you all about my folk art, hand-dids & update you on my studio progress. From time to time, you will probably hear about my wonderful family too & all the fun happenings we have here at our country home.

We moved into our country home just over a year ago. We love it!! The home we live in is just an ordinary, comfy ranch home. There are no bells & whistles with it.... but that is just how we want it. Across the driveway is my future studio. This is the original farmhouse for the previous owners..... but it will become my playhouse & studio ~ once we get some electricity & other work done to it. So far, I have only been able to start the exterior painting. My 5 yr old will be starting kindergarten next week ~ I hope to find more time to work on the studio and my folk art then.





I do LOVE rug hooking, needle punch, 'prim' stitchery, and prairie dolls...... it is in my blood to work with my hands. You can find my wares on Ebay with seller name 'primitivebettys' or primitiveandfolkartfolks.com. I also hope to update my picturetrail to have offerings there soon too. Till next time..... many smiles to you!! Betty