SHEEP SHEARING DAY

We went to Sheep Shearing Day at Missouri Town this morning. Violet got to see how sheep are shaved and what they do with the wool after. Shaving, washing, spinning and dyeing, weaving and knitting.

Naked sheep. This is the same sheep from the above pic after he got his hair cut. They had lots of demonstrators today. You could have even bought the wool. A woman bought all the wool cut from the sheep we watched being shaved.

We got to pet these guys once they came out of the field.

Then we went over to the boat docks near the lake and had a picnic. Both of us were very hot and tired when we got home and took naps.

LANDSCAPING MAKEOVER

 







 




New landscape edging went in yesterday in the front and both sides of the house. We pulled out all the white stones that were breaking and falling apart. We put the stone in when we moved in the house 6 1/2 yrs ago. We were very disappointed with how it was not holding up. Our neighbors just had this edging put in a couple of weeks ago and we loved it. It's stamped concrete! This stuff is going no where. This will be a lot easier to trim around and hopefully keep out the weeds better than the old stuff.
My only complaint about the new edging is how much further they had to come out. I've gained almost a foot in front which leaves kind of a weird blank area up front. I'm going to have a lot of light and decorative rock rearranging to do. Maybe some new phlox.
I'll post pics off the edging again after we get everything all cleaned up.
 

We added another veggie box this year to the back yard.

FLOWER GIRL DRESS

Flower girl dress 90% done. Button hook at neck needs to be added, belt loop added at back  and lining needs hemming.

Flower hanging because it's heavy. Thread belt loop will be added behind the flower to hold it in place.

VIOLET'S SHOP

 

I brought some cardboard home from work. I found some big pieces in the recycle bins and new I had to do something with them.

This was a big hit with the girls. I've got a bit more cardboard left. I'm thinking a gas station with pump.

KITE FESTIVAL

We went to the kite festival at Longview yesterday. Unfortunately it was not very windy and we didn't get to see a whole lot of kites. It was still beautiful outside and we enjoyed some kettle corn.

This was as high as some of the big ones could get off the ground.

BIKE PRO

Can now start and stop on her own. Her favorite thing to do right now is ride up and down the driveway curb.

SHY VIOLET

This is Shy Violet from Rainbrow Bright. An appropriate shirt for Violet.
I've had this shirt laying around for a while. Problem was it was an adult size small. So I cut it apart and resewed it into a childs size small.

original

FLOWER GIRL "DUMMY" DRESS

Now I can cut into the good material and not be nervous.

I might take the final in around the waist about 1/2". It's a smidge big and I don't like how the cumberbun is making the dress pucker in the back. I'm going to add some thread belt loops the same color as the cumberbun so it stays in place and doesn't slide down.

GILLY!!!!!

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Baby Gillian sketch to add to Grandma's collection.

CLEAN & SHINY

All checked out great!

EASTER PLAY SONG

You can watch this larger by clicking youtube in corner.

Easter bunny bow.

SCHOOL EASTER PLAY

I love how some of the girls have drawn on beards. Violet wanted no part in that.

BUILDING & PLANTING

I decided to make a planter box out of cedar for the back patio. One of those plastic planter boxes fits inside. There is no bottom to the box so it slides right over the plastic box.

I stained it to match the deck. I'm thinking of making two more for the front porch, but paint them white to match the house trim.

We put this bed in when we moved in the house six years ago. I tried growing climbing rose bushes up the arbor but they just didn't take off. So I decided it was time to fill in the space.
I planted 12 plants his weekend too. I planted 2 purple cone flowers, 3 black eyed susans, 2 different daisies, 2 bee balm marshalls delight and 3 coral bells.
I repainted the arbor a few weeks ago too, to match the new trim color on the house. It's more of a cream now and not white.

I added this little section 2 years ago when I got the Finch bird house. I planted the honey suckle then to climb the post and our old chiminea. I decided to add plants here too. Many of the flowers I bought are wild flowers and they will grow anywhere from 20-36". I think it will give nice height to the area.
The finches were not happy I was hanging around. They kept dive bombing me.

A great cottage garden photo I found at hgtv.com
I hope someday the area looks like this.

DRESS COMPARE

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Looks better on Violet. Or maybe my bangs are just too distracting.

EASTER

Way too excited about jellybeans. What kid is really that excited about jellybeans?

All dressed up. Wearing vintage couture ;) 31 year old dress, made by Grandma Fabsits, I wore for kindergarten pictures. I had to let out the hem 4 inches otherwise the dress was way above her knees. At 4 she is already much taller than I was at 5.

Searching for eggs Grandma Young hid in our back yard.

Opening an Easter gift from Grandma Fabsits.

Guess what she's wearing tomorrow?