Country Chicks Big Event ~ Rochester, WA

 A friend posted an announcement about the Country Chicks * event to be held on a farm in Rochester, WA last week. On the spur of the moment I packed up my sunglasses, sun hat, bottles of water, loaded up our dog Hawk, to discover what all the excitement was about. Rochester is about 45 minutes away from my home. It was a pleasant sunny day and I knew the drive would be scenic. I took my time on this sweet country drive using back roads going past small towns and farms. This is just a sample of the many, (and I do mean MANY ) booths presented by the Country Chicks , offering a variety of vintage and farm junk gone creative for sale. I will leave off commentary for you to peruse some of the pictures. Click to enlarge any pictures you might wish to further scrutinize.

 What did I buy? Well, since I discovered my whole place could qualify as a Country Chick booth, I realized I lacked nothing for pretty much any of the items that caught my fancy. I only bought this bird cage stuffed with bedding plants. Yes, I do have several old bird cages in my feed room, but the price of this bird cage was cheaper than it would cost me to buy all the plants stuffed into it to turn my own cages into centerpieces. Plus, now I have the tangible idea of this planting here for me to remember to plant up my own farm junk!

Some people's idea of junk is another's idea of treasure, and my day with the Country Chicks inspired me immensely. I decided if I cannot use the last of my farm junk by the end of this year by creating and crafting worthy projects I will really sell it or donate it to those desiring it. How about you ? Do you use your seemingly worthless farm & vintage items to create interesting items for your home, garden, or friends?  Do you sell it at bazaars or on-line? Is it fun ?!?

As I told my sister & husband about my day with the Country Chicks I also informed them that if I should drop dead anytime soon, they only needed to add price tags to most everything around the place to cash in on my "estate" ! All in all, the sunny day driving in the country, seeing the local farms, enjoying the fresh air, and strolling through booths that all reminded me of my home, also reminded me life is good, we are blessed, and anyone can take the bad things in life that might be considered trash or tragedy and turn them into treasure. It truly is in the eye of the beholder.

New Fishing Buddies For Father's Day

Father's Day we went fishing, my husband, myself, our daughter, her husband, their 4 children,and some friends.The weather was absolutely miserable, but it was one of the best Father's Day ever!

Our daughter & her husband's 4 children. When they posed for this picture the sun shone, for a few minutes anyway.

 Some of us took boats out in the lake to try to catch fish, here our daughter and her 2 oldest children are rowing out to the opposite shore.They would have had some success had they stayed on the humble dock...

 ..with us, my husband, myself, and the two youngest grandchildren.

 The FIRST fish of the day ( for our party) and the first fish he has ever caught. Look at that smile! The fish was a little bullhead and after taking it off the hook we threw it back, but Little J was so happy about his first fish.

 Then, he caught the second fish, a nice perch, and he is now hooked on fishing."If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles." Doug Larson

 These two are the perfect fishing buddies.They sat with us as long as we fished, hours!No complaining, lots of excitement, and our granddaughter & I shared coffee and small talk while waiting for the big fish to bite."The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope." John Buchan

By the end of our time fishing, no one who went out on a boat caught any fish, but those of us on the dock had a wonderful time reeling them in. My husband & I caught 4 Rainbow trout each, and one of my fish was quite large. ( not the fish shown above) I have always loved to fish and I especially love fishing with my husband, and our new fishing buddies, our grandchildren.My husband said this was a great Father's Day,and I agree.We went home cold, wet, tired, and very happy. Plus, the fish were delicious!

"I love fishing. You put that line in the water and you don't know what is on the other end. Your imagination is under there."   Robert Altman

 

Lavender & Sweet Music

Water wheel at Lost Mountain Lavender farm in Sequim, Washington.

The annual Lavender festival held in Sequim, Washington started the last day we were in Port Angeles. Besides TWILIGHT and vampires, the Port Angeles area is notable for the lavender festival. Port Angeles is basically next door to Sequim ( pronounced 'squim' ) and the hotels and trades benefit very well from the over 440, 000 people that attend this event. There is a big street fair along with tours of several lavender farms. I was excited to see the festival I have heard so much about , so on our way out of town we stopped in Sequim. The whole town is beautiful, flower baskets everywhere, and lavender is a mainstay in the town landscape. Lavender in bloom everywhere! We caught a shuttle from a mall to the street fair and checked out all the booths. There were so many , most packed with lavender influenced merchandise, lots of jewelry booths , lavender bundles, sachets, crafts, lavender infused honey, etc. The booth I loved the most had nothing to do with lavender. The booth of George and Anwyn Leverett caught my eye and ear.

This is George Leverett. He and his wife made this instrument. Isn't it beautifully crafted? Not only were the instruments he and his wife make beautiful, they also play the instruments and sing. This is a hurdy gurdy they made. I am in love with these instruments, and if I were younger I would have invested in one and learn to play it. I decided it was more practical for me to buy a CD of their music and spin and weave wool while I listen to their music.

This is Anwyn Leverett holding a 5 stringed hurdy gurdy they call the 'Aquitaine'. Click on the picture to enlarge and view the details of this instrument.

You have to click on this picture and check out the trees and detailing! Anyway, I love the type of music they make and my husband picked out a CD from them that has a some songs about spinning and weaving, just perfect for me to listen to as I weave my home and hand spun wool! The youtube video below is Anwyn and George Leverett singing 'SWEET BECKY AT THE LOOM', however the youtube quality of this video is nowhere near as lovely as the CD really sounds. To see their website click on Altarwind Music. The following song sings about sweet Becky at her loom. The words 'shuttle',' warp and weft',and 'sleigh' are words pertaining to weaving. Enjoy!