Here is another project we have been working on. We got this order way back in the summer and were told they would be back at Christmas to pick it up. We procrastinated all summer and finally got around to it last week. It is made from sassafras and smells wonderful. Each piece is a solid 2" thick board, legs are 3 inches thick. It is not light. You should have seen the log he sawed it from! I think it was about 3 ft. across at the stump. They wanted it so it can be hauled back home broke down and they will put it back together when they get it home. I am not sure what the "Blood Babies" means but I know they were triplets and 2 died at birth. We didn't think that black paint in the letters would look right here so we decided to burn them and the angels with a woodburning pen. That took much longer and was harder but I am still convinced it looks better that way. The angels and the letters are all done with the hand router, just following the pencil lines from my pattern. We didn't have it done by Christmas but we were lucky, they are staying a week.

The man has a tie on! Notify the press! I can count on one had the times I have seen him in a tie. He had to wear it for the Cantata at church so I had to grab my camera.
Tiny Tim seems to be doing great. I haven't had to feed him much lately. Every time I go to feed him, when I pick him up his little belly is already round and full, just like we like it. It will take him a little while to catch up though. All the big guys have their eyes open but he does not.

Sofia and gang are doing great. All fat and sassy.

Here is our little Tiny Tim hanging out with his brother. They are both 2 weeks old. I don't think he is getting anything from his mother, I hardly ever see him bellied up to the bar so we are trying to feed him about every 2-4 hours and once a night when I am home. Sis wont get up in the night to feed him so he misses a meal on those nights. When we are gone all day he gets a little hungry but seems to be doing okay. He is strong and active and always hungry. He doesn't seem to really latch on to the bottle and go to town. Alot of it is just mouthing the nipple so I have to squeeze the bottle every few seconds to send a little into his mouth. If I can just keep him going for another 2 weeks we should be able to start on a little solid food.

What has been keeping me busy this week

An older man at Church saw the guitar I made and decided he wanted something. He chose a mule so I made this for him. It is about 12 inches across.

The nurse that comes and gives Bea a bath saw me working on some signs and had to order 2 for her kids. She didn't want them varnished, she is going to use a waterseal on them.

I had one week to make these 8 below and the 2 above. Their name is Trehune and the bible reference is a blessing. She must have a big family. These are 16 inches long and about 7 inches wide. She picked these up today and ordered 2 more for next weekend and is planning another one. She has to do some measuring first.

I am glad these are all done. Maybe I can relax a little now. Well, not until I get the cole slaw made for tomorrow any way.

We had to make a trip to the vet tonight for an emergency C-section. She tried and tried from about 3 pm. At about 7 we decided to call for help. I met the vet at the hospital at 9:30 and we were out of there plus 5 more puppys by 11pm. It seems the first one was turned some how and couldn't get out. We lost that one but Mom and the rest are doing fine. We had her spayed while she was out, I was planning on doing that anyway. I will be staying up for a while tonight just to keep an eye on her after her major surgery.

Here is a flash from the past.

We decided it was time to intervene. Our little Tiny Tim was just getting lower and lower so I looked up an emergency puppy formula and am feeding him with a bottle about 3-4 times a day. They said use canned milk, water, yogurt and an egg yolk. More then one site had a version of that recipe so I guess it has been tried out and works. He likes it any way and will suck it right down. I am at Bea's these next few days so Sis has to take over the job for a few days. She's doing great and I am really greatful for her help.

snow day

No church today because of the snow but I still have to get out in it. We have to go to the shop so I can get started on those 10 sign orders that I have to do this week. It doesn't look too bad out there but I would much prefer to stay home by the fire.

Can you spot my problem child. I am so worried about him. He is still eating, we make sure about that but just isn't thriving. I wanted to stop at the vet yesterday when we were out but the vet wasn't open because of the snow I guess. Everybody say a prayer for him and send him some good energy.

We made it to the Christmas party and back in one piece. It was slick but the rain made it passable. Here is what I have been working on this last week.

Sombody at Church said that she couldn't ever find a keychain with her name on it. She can't say that now.
These were Christmas gifts for the hunting buffs at the Christmas party. The top one was about 12 inches top to bottom and the bottom one was 8 inches I think.

While we survived the...

While we survived the Christmas shopping this morning, although Terry(?) said if he's(?) known it's been that bad, he wouldn't have gone out. Now we are on are way to Terry's family Christmas party and we've got ice on the trees, and it looks pretty but it's looks scary. I'll talk to you later. listen

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We are headed out Christmas...

We are headed out Christmas shopping with about an inch of slushy(?) ice and snow, so this should be a fun day. We'll catch you later and tell you how it went. listen

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Here are more snowflakes to to with the ones we have out on the ground this morning. It snowed but it is raining now so I guess it wont be too bad out. Sorry that I didn't put a link up, it was late when I posted last night but here it is.

I will be very busy this week before Christmas. I have 10 sign orders to have done by the weekend. 8 are all alike and are simple ones so I should turn them out pretty fast. 2 have a bit more work in them but I think I can do it. I may have to call in some help from the troops (Terry and Sis) but it will get done.

We found these snowflake patterns on the internet and Sis has been busy. All the clippings on the living room carpet look like it has been snowing inside.

Just keeping an eye on them.

Terry calls it a herd, not a litter.

We are a little worried about this little guy. I call him Tiny Tim. He is the smallest, smaller then a newborn kitten. He seems to be skinnier then the rest of them, not as round and plump as like he should be. He is eating, and seems normal, but we are watching him close to make sure he doesn't get pushed away by all the bigger guys. Oh, there are 5 girls and 2 boys.

Merry Christmas everybody...

Merry Christmas everybody from Sarah. listen

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We have puppies!
Not 4, not 5 or even 6 but she had 7 little squirts!

We have never had 7 at once before. Sofia had 6 at one time but never 7. And..... Sofia is due too, next week. She will have at least 4 but probably 5 or 6 so we will soon be overflowing with puppies again. Just call this the Dog House, it will smell like one here for a while anyway.

See if you can count the heads.

Looks like I will have to speak a bit plainer or it wont make sense but for voice recognition it's not too bad.

Hey, so this is my turn...

Hey, so this is my turn up to be interesting it looks like it work. All I have to do is call this number and say what I want to say over the phone and here it does, show up in the blog, so you all might be hearing from me a little more often now and you might want to try it sometime. We'll see. listen

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Just trying this out....

Just trying this out. It's something new I found on the Internet. I can blog using my cell phone. Just speaking into the cell phone. I wanna see how it works. Talk to you later. listen

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Check out the new feature on the right. I don't know if it plays automaticly (hope not) or if you have to push play. Will be updating it occasionally.

Keeping Busy

Here is the next batch going out tomorrow. Still have at least one more to do.

This lot, plus one more not pictured, should bring $145.00. That is nice around Christmas time. A couple of years ago while we were really low on money, I made me a sign. It says "God Will Provide" and I still read that sign about every day. It is so true.

Yvonne, the icing is just powdered sugar with enough milk to make it spreadable. When I covered the whole cookie I made it a bit thinner and used a paint brush. It did dry pretty hard, except when I was trying to move some and bumped the tray and they landed upsidedown on the floor. Pick em up, blow em off and mention that handy 3 second rule.

Here is a picture for you Sharon, taken Thanksgiving or Christmas of 2004. Maybe it will be a little incentive to put down that chocolate.

I found these pictures on my camera when
I came home today. Poor Pup!

Ahhhhhhhh..... will it ever end???? When will it be over? This is just too much! I looked in our snack cabinet this morning and was shocked. Krispy Kreme dougnuts, chocolate covered cherries, peanut brittle, chocolate covered peanuts, hard Christmas candy, peanuts in the shell, maple nut goodies, 2 big chocolate bars, dry roasted almonds, Little Debbie snack cakes, candy canes......need I go on? Oh, and don't forget the Christmas cookies on the table and the pumpkin pie in the fridge. This has got to stop and I mean before New Years day. But boy, am I going to have fun before it is gone!

Sharon, if I don't comment on your posts it's not because I don't want to, It's because I CAN"T!!! I try and try but it just will not open. I have this problem a lot but it usually works eventually but , not today. I was wanting to say thanks for uploading the photos. I do really like the one of Sis and Grandpa. I think I might have taken that one. I did pick up your camera and snap a few. Terry said Grandpa needs a copy of that one to put up in his office. I have been enlarging some of the good photos and makeing at least 5 copies. I give them to Sarah and she is holding them for us until we can have a get together and add all these photos to the albums that I made a couple years ago. You might want to pick out a few good ones and have them made into 5x7s and we will put them in the books one of these days.

Christmas Cookies

Here is what we did yesterday. We try and do this every year, a nice tradition for us.

You will notice the standard equipment in use and I don't mean flour and cookie cutters, I mean the telephone to the ear. I always thought that the stories of teenagers and telephones was a bit exagerated but I am learning a lot.

I did ask her to put the phone down long enough so I could get this picture. It seems all her girlfriends were jealous of all the fun she was having.

She made the cookie dough herself, rolled it out cut out about half of them while I made the colored icing from powdered sugar and milk. Then she wanted to switch and decorate a while and I finished the baking.

We turned on the Christmas music and got down to business. Computers are great, I have about 3-4 hours of Christmas music on my computer and I don't have to stop and turn the tape over or change the cd's. All the music is hand picked, upbeat, toe tapping music so each and every on is one that I love and enjoy listening to, not like tapes where you have to listen to the good and the bad.

After about 2 dozon heart shaped cookies you run out of ideas on how to decorate them creatively so it starts getting a little silly.

Want a cookie?