Work, work, work.....

It has appeared to have returned to the hot, sultry weather in Missouri.  You can't expect much more in August but you can always hope.  We've had nice gentle rains though so the garden is looking great.....just slow.  Can't believe it's August and I've had one ripe tomato and 2 ripe zucchini.  Wish I knew why.  Oh, well, I'll have great fall veggies.

 

When I found this white box, it had apparently been used for storage in an out building.  It was filthy but is a really early handmade piece with solid boards on all sides and bottom.  The top has hinges and 2 boards.  It turned out so darn cute.

 



The garage is full of projects so was relieved to get one finished and taken to Leola's.  I don't have room for furniture at the shop but my primitive things seem to sell most in the fall and winter so maybe I'll have room soon.

Peaches are ripe in our area so purchased some at Farmer's Market and made about 8 jars of preserves.  Earlier I made strawberry so I'm set.

 

We've been doing a lot of planning for our fall open house that will start on the evening of September 5.  I'm really considering carrying some wool.  I have tons of it that I've collected through the years and would love to dye some and fix a really great display.  Bought a great cubby from Judy that will be perfect.  We'll see how much I get done.

 

We (sisters) are planning a fall trip to an antiques show in Franklin, TN.  It looks to be wonderful and the town is so cute.  Love a fall trip...especially when it includes antiques.  Won't be until October but I'm ready now.

 

Think I'll finish this and go sit on the back porch for awhile.  The locusts are calling my name and think it may have cooled a bit.

Monday morning ramblings......

It's been a couple of crazy busy weeks in my world.  With fall open house at Leola's, my friend, Barbara, coming for a visit from California, and reunions in both Sarcoxie and LaRussell it's been a whirlwind.  Oh, didn't mention that it was mine and my sister, Jean's, birthdays.  Think I'll take a couple of days and just do nothin'!

Barbara flew in on Friday evening (yes, her arms were tired) and we left early on Saturday morning to go to Sarcoxie to see old friends and be a part of Chief Sarcoxie Days.  We lived in LaRussell for 5 years when I went to grades 8 through 12.  Our high school was in Sarcoxie.  It's always fun going back and reconnecting.

This next picture is of Judy (sister) and our friend Barbara behind one of the old buildings in Sarcoxie.  When we lived there, it was such a vibrant little town.  So sad to see it so dilapidated.

On Sunday we headed to LaRussell.  It was a beautiful weekend and a great day to set in the little park and enjoy our old friends and the bluegrass music.

I'm sorry but we thought this sign was so funny.....

There were 4 of the "Routh girls" at the reunion....Mary, Jean, Judy and myself.

It was such a fun little town when we lived there.  There was originally a train station and several wonderful old buildings.  Our parents owned the mercantile which burned while we were there.  It was rebuilt using ugly concrete blocks and has long been closed.  It does still have a post office.

 

This is the pump in the middle of the street which is always decorated by Linda Whitehead Heman for these occasions.

 



Our good friends, C.D. & his sister, Sue, lived in this house with 13 other family members.  Would love to know who built it.  It has such different architecture for LaRussell.  The first picture is a horse shoe that was embedded in the sidewalk.  They said it was there when they moved in.

This is C.D. visiting with Judy and me.  He now lives and works in Montana and North Dakota but comes home every chance he gets.  He's had more life experiences then anyone I know.

 This is his sister, Sue.  She still lives close by.  Her parents house is now empty but she still owns it.  We want to go inside so bad but she says it's in too bad of shape.

These are a few more of the little buildings around LaRussell.

There's so many rocks in this soil that they used those as cheap building material but can you just imagine how long it must have taken to build this.......& how bad your back would hurt?

We're so lucky that the weather has finally improved.  Cooler temps and nice rain showers over the weekend.  It's feeling very fall-ish so think I'll go in the back yard and cut sweet annie.  It's just beginning to turn.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Fall is in the air.......

Fall is definitely in the air and you can see it all around.  When I look out my front windows, I see color appearing in my big maple tree.  Gratefully, it's raining here this morning (remainder of the hurricane) and it makes it smell like fall.  Slowly, the grass is turning green again and the garden is perking up.

I've been working hard to get everything together for Leola's fall open house and I think I'm getting there.  Judy, Linda and I took off this week to find our bittersweet and other dried things to decorate the store.  We have a good friend who lives on Stockton Lake and has lots of land so we headed that direction.  We loaded in his truck and drove out through the pastures.  It just does so much for my soul to get out into the country once in awhile.  It was a warm but beautiful day and no problems with bugs or poison ivy.

There's nothing like seeing those first orange berries out in the woods.  Unfortunately, most of the bittersweet that grows along the roads has been killed by road crews spraying to make their jobs easier.  Have you noticed how many dead trees there are on our country roads.  They, too, have been sprayed.

The back of Judy's pickup was piled full of this glorious vine.

Jim wanted to show us this old deserted house.  What a wonderful photo opportunity.  I'd love to make a wonderful Christmas wreath and go back in December for more pictures.  Can't you just see it with a wreath on the door?

We risked the rickety steps and broken floor boards and went inside.  There were the most amazing muddobbers nests.  This one looked like a bat.

This picture is our dear friend, Jim.  He's one of the few who has chosen exactly the life he wants to live.  It's great to be around someone who's so content with his life.  Love that......it seems so rare.

Stay happy, Mr. Stockton!

Well, better get busy again.  Lots to do.  Have a great weekend.

Preparing for Fall.....

I've been trying to get ready for Fall Open House at Leola's and seems I've had little time for anything else.  There's merchandise to order, cards to get designed & printed, plus trying to get my merchandise ready.  The weather at least has cooled the last few days so it's feeling a little more "fallish" and we've actually had a little rain. 

These are some of the pumpkins I've been making.  Made some last year but trying to make these a bit more primitive (sorry if they smell like coffee).

So it's back to the grindstone today trying to get work done in the garage.  It's been too hot all summer to work there so lots of catching up to do.

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday.  Can't believe my g'kids are starting back to school today.  Boy, time flies when you're having fun!

What a weekend......

This has just been an amazing weekend.  We had such a good opening night for Leola's on Thursday evening.  We had all worked so hard the previous days that we were a little pooped but with so much going on, we kind of forgot.  I managed to get a few pictures between writing tickets and wrapping merchandise.  This is a pic of some of our favorite customers from Lebanon.

Debra came to take pictures of the shop and brought her sister.  Do they not look great in Pam's orange jackets?

Mandy and her nice husband are always there to support us.  We have so many good, loyal customers.  Wish I could have taken more pictures of them.

The store never looked better.  Check out some of the creativity.





This seems to be a slow downloading day for blogger so think I'll try posting more photos tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday.  It's a beautiful day in the Ozarks and we're headed to LaRussell, where we lived for about 5 years during my high school years.  Our friend, Barbara, who's visiting us right now, also lived there & they have an annual get-together.  We've never gone back for it before but with Barbara here, we thought we'd go back and see some our old friends.