Well, it snowed here again. Don’t worry, I’m not going to show pictures every time it snows for the next 7 months. But this was one of those really heavy, sticky snows that stayed on all of the trees.
It. Is. Gorgeous.
Kinda magical, don’t you agree?
I have the greatest husband. And father-in-law. I mentioned that I wanted some antlers (more- we already had a bunch) for a project I want to complete, and the next thing I know- this is what my garage looked like.
My father-in-law even gave me his “call” antlers that he uses when hunting. We are hunters around here, and a lot of the meat we eat is what gets harvested in the fall during hunting season. So, we did have a few sets of antlers lying around, but my father-in-law had a lot! And I think they were just happy that I wanted to use them for something. I’ve never really been into having them in the house before (again- tiny trailer plus no wall space or storage equals no decorating), but now I have a couple of ideas that I want to try using them.
Some of them are very old. But that’s ok. Some of them I am going to paint. Some I won’t.
I don’t necessarily want the skulls on them all, so here is hubs sawing the antlers off for me.
I can’t wait to show you all what I am making with my antlers…. stay tuned!
This is just kind of how we roll around here.
New pellet gun heaven.
There’s a lot of this going on too.
Mostly I just stand around and screetch at everyone to be careful. ’Cause that totally helps. And works.
When we went to the Cabelas near Spokane a couple of years ago on holidays, I was informed, by both of the men in my life, that this was “the happiest place on earth.” And you thought it was Disney World. Silly you.
It was the exact opposite universe from the mall. Everywhere, women were hanging onto the backs of carts, rolling their eyes and sighing heavily, while men romped from area to area with delight, bringing armfuls of stuff back. I spent 3 and a half hours in that Cabelas. And got to spend an hour in downtown Spokane, including at the Pottery Barn, to look for stuff I liked. Sigh. I’m so outnumbered here. The above pellet gun was purchased this very day. I was scared to bring it back across the border. I’m a scardy cat.
So when your son asks you to do a craft with him, you check that you heard it right, and then you come running. Even if it is a totally male craft. A leather quiver for his arrows.
First take a heavy piece of saddle leather and, using a nail, hammer, and a block of wood, pound holes all the way around it for the lacing. You can see we already had the leather piece cut and laces for the sides of the quiver (we just measured what would fit the best on his back- accounting for astounding growth spurts…).
It’s a lot of pounding!
We laced the sides (the tube) to the bottom piece and then attached a strap at the front according to how he wanted to carry it (he shoots left).
One happy little bowman.
Target practice is thirsty work apparently.
Even though we stayed up until 1:00 am one morning making his quiver, it was totally worth it and fun. I mean, how can you argue with this?
Do you think next time he’ll want to paint furniture with me?
No. Me neither.
I love a beautiful driveway. Long. Winding. Treed. Light dappling through leaves. A surprise view waiting around every corner.
Here are some that I really like.
So pretty, right? Here is a picture of our driveway after a recent hailstorm.
Also very pretty if you can ignore the whole hail- in -July thing. Our house is around that corner to the right. It’s a nice view straight on, but, if you start looking around as you drive up to our house, it starts to get a little, how should I say this…. messy?
This is the first thing that greets you as you turn off our main road onto our driveway.
This is what I like to call “my side of the driveway.” But, lurking behind it is this:
This constitutes what I like to call “the boys’ side” of the driveway. And it gets worse. Much, much worse. Although this skateboard ramp is very hard to ignore. And it’s huge.
My side:
A neat little shed.
A pretty stump of flowers.
Wild strawberries.
Then there is the decidedly male side of the driveway.
Apparently building supplies can also double as lawn ornamentation. I did not know that. Note the trampoline, giant pile of logs, fire pit, tarp, old garbage can, tin, etc. No self-respecting strawberry is going to grow over there.
No landscape is complete without a pile of boards and a pile of sand, currently being used by the boy of the house for a castle.
A tipped over wheelbarrow and abandoned stairs…?
Another wheelbarrow. This is the view from my kitchen sink window! You can see the ramp in the distance.
Don’t forget the camper.
As you can see, we have a driveway with a lot of potential, but it does need some work.
But, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I will take this as my surprise view around the corner any day.
Before we know it, our son will be grown and gone and I will be wishing I could look outside to the pile of boards, the sandbox, the skateboard ramp, the jump built in the middle of the driveway…
So I guess that although there are some really beautiful driveways (see Pinky’s new driveway here), I am happy with ours, both the pretty and the not-so-pretty-rough-and-tumble parts. All of it together sort of represents our family, and our home, and how we live here.
But maybe, some day, someone could pick up those building supplies and upright that wheelbarrow… just sayin’.
I am a mom, wife, and teacher. We live in the woods in the Rocky Mountain foothills of Alberta. I love to work on projects around the house and yard. I love to read. I am learning how to take good pictures. Thank you for stopping by!
-C
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