Sunday, November 29, 2009

oh yes we did....again



...Illinois state 4a CHAMPS!!!!!

here's excerpt from our local paper on our great schools here....
"When you look at great programs like Metamora, like Geneseo, like Joliet Catholic, they all have one thing in common," Vogelsang said Friday night from Memorial Stadium. "The whole community has bought into the program.

"The kids know what's expected of them because they've been around it from such a young age. The parents know what's expected and they don't coddle the kids."

Metamora and Geneseo met in the IHSA Class 4A state-championship game - two prime examples of what it takes to make a great program. The Redbirds made an emphatic statement by claiming their second state championship in three years with a 41-7 victory.

"If you look at both schools, they have so much in common," said former Geneseo all-stater Wayne "The Train" Strader. "They both have outstanding academics, they both have high participation rates in their extracurricular activities, and that produces well-rounded kids."

Vogelsang agreed.

"Metamora has something like 75 percent of its students involved in an extracurricular activity," he said. "Whether it's golf or band or scholastic bowl, the kids get involved and that gets parents and grandparents involved, and pretty soon the whole community is involved."

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Redbird jammies tonight




Let's go Redbirds!!!!

the day is here!!!! the birds are bringing another football championship home!!!!

pj party after the game....... 1230 am Saturday morning ....Metamora Township Celebration Performance – South Gym
“CRAZY CRAZY RED EYE SPECIAL” in Redbird Pajamas


.......wear your redbird jammies!!!!!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A humble country thanksgiving.


Blessed you will be in the Country! (Deuteronomy 28:3)

We are more than blessed and thankful for our lives in the country. May we all have gratefulness and humility in our lives. Happy Thanksgiving from our humble log home in the woods.

Monday, November 23, 2009

hedge balls and santa claus



we have had a great few days here in central illinois. so the human backhoe and i have been doing a lot of outdoor decorating, just cause it's too nice to be inside.

first a pic of santa on the roof......

uhhhh ......well guess not....it's the human backhoe putting the cover back on the chimney that blew off in a storm.

least he's got red on.....albeit red shorts! yes, it was that warm...at least for hubby.

while hubby was putting up xmas lights around the exterior of the house, using his 28 foot ladder in some spots...i had to keep busy doing something else. something about seeing a 350 pound man on a roof 30 feet up above me, makes me a nervous wreck. especially because he is my dear hubby and i need him around for more human backhoe projects.

so i decided to gather a few objects around the lake to fill my flower boxes with for the season. soon this......


became this (these).......



had a hedge apple fest....didn't i?....hehehe

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Oh yes we are........again.



In the small town that we live in high school football is a BIG thing. This is the third year in a row we have went to the Illinois state championship. Won one, lost one. Time to break that tie....with another state championship boys!



It is time to see if dreams of these little boys
will be fulfilled by these big boys dreams and determination Friday 7 pm in Champaign.

*have i told you how much i love and appreciate our schools..the community and parental support here is so inspiring..it is a great place to raise our children...including this one little bubba.....

some photos courtesy of pjstar.com

Friday, November 20, 2009

For katie's mom



This morning I dropped by my coworker, Katie's new house. It is still being completed, but she is moving in very soon. Katie was at work, but her mom was there working on few little projects for Katie. Her mom gave me a tour of the house and yard as it is now. Wish I would have had my camera with me, but oh well, next time.


Katie's mom and I were working on an unsolicited landscaping plan in our heads as we stood out front of the house admiring her new mud yard. The grass seed is to be planted next spring as it is a bit late in the year to plant it now.

We agreed that annabelle hydrangeas would look nice against the pale green color of the house. And a clump birch was something that would fit nicely too. As we continued to talk, i suggested some dogwood bushes. She was unaware of what these were. soooooo.....

I am posting them here for her to see what they look like around my yard. Red twig is pictured above and a yellow twig dogwood is below.




Here's a pic of red twig dogwood, hydrangeas, and a clump river birch that i have planted together on the left side of my house. Kinda gives you a bit of an idea what this would look like at katie's new house.



Thanks Katie for letting your Mom and I dream up your new landscape...:) It was fun.

We look forward to having you all over sometime.......including Mom.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Leonard has arrived



..... and the xmas decorating season has now begun. Leonard, our family reindeer, is hanging above our mantel in his warm winter gear. This has made our youngest son, Eric, quite happy. Eric, I know you read this...and you are a goofball, but i love you so. Look how happy he is....

The human backhoe worked on this for most of the afternoon.....
....no ornamentation yet, just the tree and lights.

It was nice to just spend a quiet day with hubby. Putting up a xmas tree and listening to the holly channel on xm. More to do, of course, but it was a great start for the season.


Gotta love these mice.....

The christmas store at downtown disney at walt disney world has a whole collection for decorating a log home. Gotta love that disney and log homes can go together. Who would have thunk it.

CNN is covering Decorate for Dax, here's the link...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/11/18/decorate.dax/index.html

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Decorate for Dax




http://www.decoratefordax.com/


wanted to pass this link on .... a really sad story, that has produced such an uplifting feeling in central illinois. so many neighborhoods are coming together for this little boy. it has reminded of us all of the true spirit of christmas here. please add this child and family to your prayers.

also wanted to mention that it is a blessing to live in a school district that recognizes christmas and the true spirit of the season. the grade school kids are dressing up for dax tomorrow in christmas inspired attire. they are then gonna send their pics to dax, so he can see the kids all dressed in the spirit of xmas. thanks to metamore grade school for participating so kindly for dax.

now i really need to work on decorating for dax! bless you dax!

Monday, November 16, 2009

The Unknown Postal Sorter



so today i was in the mood to decorate something. i was wanting to stay out of the human backhoe's way, a.k.a hubby, while he was putting the new kitchen sink and faucet in. did i mention we are in the midst of a house remodel? we are always reworking some part of the log home. we are trying to be true to the authenticity of the log home and our way of life. simple, beautiful and durable, with a hint of modern, are the keywords for all additions we will be making.

i didn't want to mess with getting the new artificial tree up without his help. even tho i really wanted to work on it, but i knew that keeping on one task was enough for today. you know how hubbies are, they aren't as good at multitasking as we women are. just kidding hubby...really you are the best at most things. i am blessed to have you.

instead i worked on decorating the postal sorter i bought this summer. i had all intentions of placing this in our great room, but just couldn't find the right spot for it. it ended up next to our bed in the master bedroom. the funny thing is the longer it has been there ........the more it grew on me in that location. good thing i like it there, as i don't think the human backhoe would like to move that again anytime soon. today i worked on finding baskets to put on the top shelf. found them.....check them out in the pic.

i wish i knew more about this sorter, i purchased it in bloomington, il. the sweet lady i purchased it from had no information about it, other than she had bought from her neighbor down the street. oh well....it's a beautiful piece just the same.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

worn-out fall



ok....from far away my fall boxes look pretty good still.....


but from close-up.....uhoh.....


a little bit of rotteness is happening. and salvia is just hanging on, barely. i am mainly just using it for filler anyways. soon it will be time for new winter evergreen boxes and planters. already have the evergreen trees to pot up for the planters. just waiting for the day of thanks to come. looking forward to freshening up for the winter. unfortunately i don't have any pics of last years evergreen boxes...but i do have this one....


look at the size of those snowballs....wow!


one pic from last year's winter decorating




the mantel has fresh greens and luminaries. look at that roaring fire.

i am really getting excited for decorating this season. i think i am gonna put the new blue spruce artificial tree together tomorrow. may not put lights on it yet, but at least it's a start for the season. i have a feeling more and more interior pics will be appearing....and that's a good thing for this time of the year.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

hardscape in the garden


well today was probably the last good day of weather for awhile. it has been really nice for the last week and tonight the rain is coming back. may rain for 3-4 days. spent the early evening hours in the garden, which is now at 4pm......just lovely....not.

since hubby, the human backhoe, has been working soooo diligently the last few days on getting the biggest chunk of our east side brick patio completed, i decided to take some pics of some of my favorite hardscape objects around the five acre woods property while he toiled away.




the first pic, above, is my all time favorite garden ornament. i got this back when i worked at my secret garden. a sweet little flower shop in columbia, mo. i believe it is still open to this day. loved that job. i have had this for at least 15 years.

i also took this pic of the new plaque i bought today at the goodwill.....thought was so quaint and true. not sure where i will permanently hang it, but just couldn't pass it up. here's what it reads, "a dedicated birdwatcher dwells within".......wonder if that is me or one of the kitties?

here's where i hung it for now....under one of our lanterns at the entrance to our garage.



















the next pic shows a new little sitting spot that i worked on the other day. it was getting darker out by the time i took this one. this area overlooks a canadian goose nesting box out in the middle of the lake.




and here's our new patio as it is progressing from a few different perspectives. it is coming along very nicely. don't know how much more will get done this fall tho....winter is will be knocking soon.







if you look really closely in the last 2 pics above you can see the human backhoe in his orange shirt.

and now for a softscape pic........ it's little...... kittyrat ...... our outdoor kitty, who keeps watch over the new patio area.

Monday, November 9, 2009

compost project



never having had a true compost bin, i think i have found a great solution on how to build one for absolutely nothing. remember all those retaining wall blocks purchased and transplanted by hubby. well they were delivered on wooden pallets. 6 to be exact. um.......hello.....new idea for compost bin. see picture above....a few screws and the right placed picked out (i.e....hidden from sight)and we will have a pretty good composting area. new project for hubby to complete before winter. i'll add it to his list....

Sunday, November 8, 2009

fall cleanup



well this weekend was fall cleanup for the front flower bed. it was also the day the farmer dude decided to chop his soybeans down, which delayed my being outside for about 2 hours while he did the dusty deed to the field in front of our little log cabin.



you can see why i couldn't stay out in this dusty cloud and work on my front garden. what a cloud of dust!

soon this.....

became this......

i then headed back outside to finish the flower bed. this bed is predominantly made up of black eyed susans that have reseeded and reseeded. i try to keep them under control by removing the seed heads and pulling up strays when necessary. there are plenty of other plants in this bed. i am just trying to keep ahead of the "susans" to help the other plants to not be choked out. all deadheading and cleanup went to the compost pile. added pine mulch from the all the pine tree needles lying around the property. this was a pretty hard task this day as the wind was really swirling. here's the cleaned up flower bed.



both farmer dude and i got our cleaning work done for the weekend. i am sure happy bout that......and i know the farmer dude is finally thrilled to get those soybeans out before xmas.

Friday, November 6, 2009

east side project



oh what a difference a few months make. this is our hillside that we are slowly reconfiguring, looking down from the eastside of the house, before we started. my garden shed is in the background. so cute.

first we worked on the top portion of the retaining wall. this took most of the summer, with hubby doing this all with a shovel and his back. i purchased and transplanted lots of plants. hubby, he purchased and transplanted lots of retaining wall blocks.



this shows part of the patio area that hubby is currently completing. we will probably have most of this completed before it freezes again......least i hope so.



this next pic shows the area further down the hill, that hubby will finish next spring or summer. depending on the weather.....no doubt.




we still have stairs to finish and a dock and bridge to put in still ......some day. and even a little fishing shack ..........some day ......some day. here's a flooded lake view that the fishing shack will have .........some day.



lots of work to do outside ......maybe we need a backhoe?...oh nevermind ......hubby is my backhoe.

living the log home life...........
thanks for visiting.