Lucky

I feel lucky these days.




I won this beautiful necklace and earring set from Lolly over at LollyChops. I love to visit her blog for the photos, crafty ideas and a good laugh. I've hardly taken the necklace off since it arrived late last week. Thank you Lolly!


Then after months of not finding much at the thrift stores I found these lovely jars last week. The photo doesn't show it very well but they say Chattanooga Mason on them. I've never seen such a mason jar nor have I taken the time to research them. But, they have cleaned up nicely and are proudly holding rice and beans in my cupboard.




At that same thrift shop I found this old case. I have been looking for one in good condition for ages so as to gussy up and hold my little projects in car with me while I'm waiting to pick the girls up from school.






It gussied up quite nicely I think.












Finally, I also found this vintage Christmas fabric in one of my favorite color combinations . . . red and aqua. Dude! Red and aqua!! It's a panel of sorts and I'm adding some borders with the plan to make it some sort of quilted wall hanging for the holidays.



Did I mention I'm feeling lucky?

-dana

Tasting it too

Dude. Crockpot applesauce rocks.




The tastes of fall are some of my most favorite.

Like, totally.

-dana

Being home

I love that I get to go on field trips with my girls.

-dana

Fall at my house

Goose bumps in the morning. Late afternoon sun like cinnamon. Squirrels pouncing in the fallen leaves. The promise of Razor's famous pumpkin cookies. Field trips and applesauce. Ghouls and ghosts.

I've missed you Fall.

And I won't let you pass me by. We are busy with some crazy cool stuff but I will breathe you in and savor you. For you will be gone in a blink of an eye.

-dana

Busy little quilting bee

I'm participating in a virtual quilting bee and this is my block for Autum. She sent the fabric out and gave us all an idea of what she liked. Hope she likes this one.

See the button there on the left for the Busy Little Quilting Bee? Click on it and you can see lots of photos from all the women participating.

-dana

Delicious bounty

We have harvested hundreds of jalapenos from the garden this summer. No lie. I know that occasionally I have the tendency to exaggerate. However, we really, really have harvested hundreds of those suckers this year.





So over the weekend I threw together a little recipe I will heretofore call Cheesy Jalapeno Bake.

I cleaned out the seeds from the insides and then steamed them until they were soft. Then laid them flat in a baking dish. Then I laid strips of bacon over the top and broiled them until the bacon was crispy. Then melted a generous amount of cheddar cheese over the top.






We all ate them so fast it was as though they never existed.





Arriba!

-dana

Running feet revisited

Carrie over at Ruffled Feathers is having a giveaway of some darling scarves she has made. I love the contest entry requirements.

Feet are often photographed in my house so this one is right up my alley.

-dana

Sure bets

Moments ago as I was brushing my teeth Razor came to tell me that he loves opening a new jar of peanut butter because he can just scoop it right off the top and not have to reach in the jar. After I spit the toothpaste all lady like into the sink I asked Razor how many jars of peanut butter does he think that we buy in one year. He said probably 10 or 12.

Ladies and gentlemen, in these financially uncertain times nothing is guaranteed. Well, almost nothing. The fact that my husband will hunt me down to tell me how much he loves a new jar of peanut butter every time he opens one is guaranteed. So at least I can bank on that 10-12 times a year.

Peace of mind. It is a beautiful thing.

-dana

On your marks

Razor/Dad loves to race and this weekend the girls could race too.




Razor/Dad warms up.





Boo and Licious warm up too.





We're happy to see him in the front of the pack. But really, we're happy to see him cause it means that the real race starts soon.







On your marks. Get set. GO!!









Now in this last shot I'm unclear as to what Boo may be thinking. She is either
a) tired and squinting her eyes to see the finish line;
b) mad cause another girl beat her to the finish line; or
c) disgusted that I'm blocking her path with my camera.




My money is on option C.

-dana

Razor is the M.A.N!

If you've followed this blog for any amount of time you know that my husband, Razor, does a sport called Adventure Racing. Wikipedia does a great job explaining what that is.

And, you also know that last weekend he raced for a qualifying spot in the national race.

Drum roll please . . .


HE MADE IT!!

Well, he and his team made it I should say.

This is such a big deal and I'm bursting with pride and excitement for him!

I still think he's nuts but I'm bursting with pride nonetheless.

-dana

New patchworks for fall

I've always wanted a Halloween quilt so I finally made one.





While I was at it I made this for the mudroom door too.



I'm starting to smell fall in the air.

-dana

All I need

Camping with the Brownies was just what I needed. A gentle reminder that nature calms me. That my children are truly remarkable. And that I love my cozy king sized bed.

The troop leaders were amazingly creative and well organized. Every detail was thought of and the 12 Brownies in attendance (wonder where I got the idea that there was going to be 33??!!) had the time of their lives. Nature crafts. Scavenger hunts. And, a well equipped kitchen where each girl got to make her own dinner that was cooked right on the coals of the fire in a tin foil pouch.

In a way I wish that I had brought my camera and taken shots of the running and jumping and bug squishing. And the sticky marshmellowy faces and grass stained knees. But sometimes, just sometimes, I like to just breathe it all in and forget about the lens.

I feel refreshed and centered.

And a little itchy and sore.

-dana

I heart you all!

Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement. The support that I find here is remarkable. Truly.

On to the winner of the necklace.




The random number generator chose comment number 147 which as I counted it belongs to:

Blogger Denissa said...
First I would like to say that your quilts are gorgeous!! I was so disappointed when I FINALLY made up my mind on my necklace choice and Lisa no longer had this one! I would LOVE,LOVE, LOVE this!!
How sweet of you to give away!
Hope its me :)


Well, Denissa it is you. So email me at dana@oldredbarnco.com so I can get your shipping address.


The next giveaway will be three quilts to three different winners. That'll be a real hoot!

-dana

Finding my groove & a necklace for you

I'm having the hardest time getting into the swing of things since the girls have gone back to school. I am doing things. All day. Everyday. But I am feeling rushed, anxious and scattered.

Fall is the busiest time of year for my little soap company since I do so many shows and festivals on the weekends. And, Razor is doing an adventure race this weekend where his team hopes to qualify for Nationals in November. Boo and Licious are clogging a little extra in preparation for the big fall festival where the group performs each year. Oh, and this weekend the girls and I are camping with the Girl Scouts. And tonight is Meet the Teacher night at school.

When I type it all out like that I realize all that we have going on. Perhaps a few deep breaths are in order. ::Inhale:: ::Exhale::

So anyway. I need to clear some things off my desk. This gorgeous necklace has been sitting here since I bought it sometime in June. It is made by the talented Lisa Leonard and I'd love for one of you lovelies to have it. Leave a comment and I'll randomly select the winner on Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon when I roll back in from camping with 33+ Brownies. Sunday afternoon when Razor is back from racing nonstop through the night like a maniac. (And, just for the record, he is a maniac.) Sunday afternoon when several of my to-do's are crossed off my list and perhaps I'll feel more like myself again.

Good luck homies.

-dana

ETA: I'm too tired. I'll pick the winner Monday morning. Hope you'll forgive me. :)

I'm keeping this one

My favorite quilts are mismatchy patchworks. And, this one is certainly a mismatchy patchwork.












I'm keeping this one for sure. In fact, it's on my bed right now.

-dana

Bandit

This young lady makes photography easy. And another thing . . . when did seniors in high school start looking like this? Where is the big hair, bad make-up and terrible clothes? Dude. We are gonna have a serious problem when my girls get to high school.

-dana

Horsing around

I was lucky enough to photograph a high school senior today. She brought along a friend . . .



a horsey kind of fellow.




I'll be a few days processing the whole shoot but will post some more here tomorrow. Thanks so much for letting me hang out at your barn.

I have a thing for barns.

-dana

Makin' da jelly

I spoke yesterday about loving my husband because he bedazzles with my daughters. That speaks volumes about him as a man, husband and father. But, I gotta say, another reason why I love him so much is because over the weekend while I was out doing a show all day Saturday and Sunday, he was home turning our grapes into grape juice.

Why?



Cause I asked him too.



And because it was jelly makin' time.






You don't want to be in the kitchen when I make jelly. It's a big ole' mess. Sugar is everywhere. Somehow I flip sugar skyward everytime I open a new bag. Let's just say that I had sugar stuck between my toes. Eh-hem.










I ended up making 13 quarts and 4 half-pints of the delicious purple stuff. Enough to last us until next jelly making time. Luckily for me I had just enough grape juice left to make a huge pitcher of this heavenly elixir.




Goodbye summer.

-dana