Here's another hint

So what does Halloween and Cereal Boxes have to do with each other?

Here are 3 more hints.  Think custom.

Tape and a ruler

 Scissors (my 10 year old took this photo of me - I think she is super creative even if it meant standing on the table)

And the last is a pattern.

Halloween Craftiness

So since I am going to cut off my facebook usage (except to help with the Cache Valley for Hope cancer foundation page AND pinterest) I want to spend more quality time with my blog. So hopefully you'll see more of me here and on a regular basis.

So what does a cereal box have to do with Halloween?

Other than cleaning out my cupboard.

It's really cool.  Any guesses?

I can't wait to show you (step by step).

Missed these - I'm organizing and backing up photos today

These photos are from August 11th but I forgot to post them.  

 And these are the first few jars of tomato juice that I canned.  I ended up with 40 quarts total this year.  The last 14 jars were thick tomato sauce because I was running out of jars and I wasn't in the mood to run to the store.

Pile of dishes after using my roma strainer to prepare the sauce.

Proof that we live in the middle of nowhere

Well, not really proof but you get the idea.  We sit smack in the middle of an alfalfa field.  Which is quiet until the hay gets cut and it's grasshopper season.  I cringe just thinking about it.

This made my heart swell with joy.  

After homework my son asked if he could help his dad mow the lawn before shower time.  

He pretty much took over.  

I never mow the lawn.  I've mowed once since Tyler and I married.  That was over a decade ago.  It's just one of those things he keeps track of and gets done and he does it well.  And I'm so short that with our hills here, I don't know if I could actually mow this yard and survive. 

Just because I can...

Not a post about gardening - SURPRISE!

Sometimes it is nice to create something just because I can.  I made these just for fun.  I put them in the windows on the front of my house.  I would have made more (my office window is empty) if I had not run out of vinyl.  This is totally custom.  I looked for a few ideas online and then went from there - no pre-made digital files here. I created everything in Adobe Illustrator and then made them into SVG files.  Then opened them in my Silhouette Cameo designer series software.  

Nothing is printed.  I used the Cameo to cut out the shapes and then I pulled off the excess vinyl. You can do just the opposite if you need a stencil.

Next time I'll make the spiderweb larger and put it in the center of the window. This little it looks more like a bullet hole.

Garden Harvest and getting there...

These are some of the Cherokee Purple I've harvested.  They are delicious and are my second favorite for flavor and the plant produces a lot of tomatoes that are especially large.  This one weighed 1.2 lbs and the one to the right that you can sort of see was 1 lb.

I took photos tonight because it's Sunday and I don't work in my garden on Sunday.  I did walk around and look at it. 

Bell Peppers starting to get big.

 Cayenne Peppers

Cherokee Purple on the vine - splitting because I changed the water schedule again.

 Early Elberta peach tree

Small Early Girls

 Jalapeno

Melon

Big Daddy onions drying

Red Beef Steak

 My garden tonight

 Spirit Bush Pumpkin

Garden Update

I don't know if we'll ever get this front flowerbed finished.  I have big plans.  Simple plans really, but big impact.  So I stuck a few extra cabbages in the front since it's not happening this year. My son was so excited to pick this cabbage. 

 He felt so accomplished.

These are Hungarian Partridges. We have had a large flock here for a few weeks.  They like to sit in my garden when the sprinklers are on in the grass.

 Another cabbage.

My corral bells are blooming.

And more pumpkins are turning orange.  I already have 5 inside.  We'll see how long they last.

And a flock of little grey birds with yellow fronts are fertilizing my garden for me for FREE! They love sitting on the empty trellis and well, they sound so pretty and they quit hitting the living room window so they can stay.

My big Daddy Onions are almost ready.

And these crappy cages are not tall enough or strong enough.  

These cherokee purple are getting huge.  Last week I picked 1 at 1.2 lbs and another at 1 lb.

And this cage bit the dust, literally. 

My husband stained the beams on the front of our home.  He also bought 2 4x4 beams that are 8 feet tall for our grape vines.  My daughter decided to stain them.  I know all about the leaching into the soil stuff but by the time these things produce any grapes, my daughter will probably be in college.  Our soil is terrible.

My son thought it was great to climb on the propane tank (because that's something we never let them do).

This is how big one of the vines is after 4 years.  The other two are half the size.

Some of the flowers out front are so pretty.  I really need some blooming fertilizer for the rest.  

The beams look so pretty after being stained.  What a difference!

Now I'm going to go work on a project with my Silhouette Cameo ... for Halloween ... it involves black vinyl.  yay!

Night out Against Crime and Life Flight takes the center stage

It was fun to see Life Flight come in and land.  Unfortunately it wasn't grandpa.  He actually relieved this crew the next morning.  But it was still fun to see.  And it was funny to here the nurse say, "Oh I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU LIVE! We fly over all the time." And by that she means, 'we fly nice and low right over your house so you can come running out and wave at Grandpa'.

My son peaking in.

My daughter peaking in and telling her cousin next to her all about how cool her grandpa was to teach her all about it.

Did you know this is the only CIVILIAN operated hoist in America?

Well, now you do.  My Dad worked hard to get it and they have saved many lives with it.  Check out one rescue HERE - and yes, that's my dad flying. I don't know how my mom sleeps at night.