Nothing Like Line Dried Laundry

If you grew up on a farm.......your mom's clothes line was a major fixture in the landscape around the house.  Oh did I hate hauling clothes from the laundry room in the basement clear out to the clothes line to dry.  Couldn't we simply put them in the dryer located right next to the washer???  One would think so.

Everyone loves the smell of line dried clothes, sheets, and towels.... except Farmer Johnson.  One of the first things I did at our place when we got married was put in a clothes line.  It was a necessity to my way of life.  Farmer Johnson complains that the sheets are scratchy and the towels are crunchy.  Not nice and fluffy like they are coming out of the dryer.  Really???  I love it, especially really stiff jeans....it is kind of like starching your jeans, but mother nature does it for you.  Starching jeans???? Yes, people really do that!!  My brother is one of them. 

But anyways, enough of my ranting about my laundry.........I have a project I want to do in my laundry room which involves pictures of my clothes line, laundry, and the kiddos.  Yesterday was super warm here for the 1st of April.  It broke records....literally I am sure it was over 90 degrees.  I wanted to pack up and move to Canada.  Seriously, I hate hot weather. So, I got a wild hair to wash some sheets since it was so warm and windy......and then got out my camera.

My grandmother's laundry basket, which has been used as a bassinet for all three of my babies.

My babies......well I guess they aren't all babies anymore, but will always be in my heart.

Hello Sun!

Oh Silly Girls!

Love her!!

Do you think they are getting tired????

I guess not!! She is so silly sometimes.

This just makes me laugh so hard!!! Look at those faces!

Love this one....

They just never stop....

Please Mom can we get out of this sun yet??? I'm hot!  But oh so cute!


So I need to narrow down my favorites for my project in my laundry room.  If and when I get it finished, I will post pictures.  At least I can say I have some pictures taken for it though! 

Update....A New Window from a Very Old House

So it was my mother's birthday this last week......so we packed the whole house and five people into the car and headed to Nebraska for a visit.  Really, I don't know how we get all that stuff in that car...it truly is a miracle. 

Here is the link to my post that showed my refinishing process.....

Farmer Johnson and Ella bringing Grammy her new window...

I think she new it was coming.......

Farmer Johnson was so kind to hang it for Grammy.  We put vinyl lettering on the center piece of glass.  I think it turned out well.  What do you think???

Spring Has Sprung on the Johnson Farm!

Here are a few pictures from some recent happenings on the Johnson Farm.........

The winter wheat is up......................

The crocus are up in the pasture......................

The first calf of the season.....

The second calf of the season.....

What do you think they are talking about??????

The drill is ready to plant spring wheat.........

A Simple Sewing Project

I love making blankets and/or burp rags as baby presents.  There is nothing more special than a homemade gift.  Really nothing.  My mother has made my kiddos plenty of homemade quilts, and blankies.  And, yes those are the ones they tote everywhere.  They make forts out of them, they go on trips with us in the car...literally everywhere!


So, here is a glimpse of a simple cotton receiving blanket I made for a friend.  She just had their third child, and it was a girl.  They are more the ranching type, than the farming type of operation (yes, there is a difference!), so I opted for some "cowgirl" material by Michael Miller paired with a pretty green.  It is just adorable! 

I love to sew, but I hated it as a child.  I was pretty sure my mother's Singer was going to bite my arm off and chew it up for supper.  Oh man, was I scared of that thing!  Of course, I was in 4-H....and on top of showing cattle, I also had to do sewing projects.  I mostly did quilts, and a little applique work.  There were alot of girls that did alot better job at sewing than I did. 

However, alot of time has passed  since then.  ALOT!  But now, there is nothing like the humming (or klunking if it is my cheap machine) of a sewing machine to drown out the sounds of my screaming and fighting kids.  Everything else just seems to fade away. 

A New Window From a Very Old House!

A couple years ago the house my great-grandparents lived in was torn down.  A very sad day indeed.  At one time my mother and her family lived in that house.  Mom was very sad about it. 

This is a picture of that house being moved in by a CAT....Can you see the window??? It is on the top of the window on the left. 

My little brother, the heartbreaker that he is......took that window out before the house was torn down, and gave it to Mom for Christmas

She in turn gave it to me to do something with......Really??? What to do??  This is a picture of it before I started working on it.  I am sure there is 10 coats of leaded paint on both sides of this thing!!!

After 4 coats of stripper.  (No....I am not lying, it really took that much!) I sanded it down, and it was ready for some stain.  It really could have used more attention, but my arms were tired from sanding.  As you can see.....I was so anxious to get started staining, I just got started right away before I took my pictures!

This is a picture of all of the glass taken out of the window.  It was all covered with layers of paint and caulk too.  So, I put some stripper on it too, and washed it up, and..............

Look how nice they turned out!  Only cut my finger once!  Back to the frame....

All stained, and ready for some varnish!

How nice!

Time to put the glass back in!  Flip it over.......Yes, I know I didn't refinish the back side of the window for a reason.  I wanted to keep the back original just for the history behind it. 

It is a good idea to make a "map" of what colors go where.  Then we (Farmer Johnson helped at this point) pushed those silver glass holders into the frame to hold the glass into place.

Here is a close up view.

Next came the caulk, we decided to use clear.  Orginally it has white, but we thought the clear would look nicer from the front.

Close up of the caulk! Then we let it dry over night.

All finished!  We did make a "hanger" on the back with two eyelet screws and wire.  Of course, I didn't take a picture of that part of the process, but I am sure you can use your imagination to figure out what it looks like.

 So there you have it... A new window from a very old house! 

It will be making the trip to Mom's for her birthday in a couple days....I am so excited to see her reaction.  She doesn't know that I have it refinished.  I will post pictures of the birthday excitement!

Happy Ag Week - Thank a Farmer

So......it is National Ag Week.   Farmer Johnson and I are members of the Spink/Faulk County Young Farmers & Ranchers Group, and for the last few years we have been going to elementary schools in the county to try and improve ag literacy in our youngsters.  It is hard to believe even HERE in the heart of agriculture...SOUTH DAKOTA......that A LOT of our youngsters have a huge disconnect with where their food comes from. 

So very sad. Very very sad! :(

So, off we went to Doland Elementary to read to the Kindergarten, Grades 1-2, & Grades 3-4.  Our good friend Becky took Grades 1&2; Farmer Johnson took Kindergarten (we didn't want to work him too hard ;), and I took Grades 3&4.

So, Farmer Johnson walked into his classroom armed with his "The Hungry Caterpillar" book, his crafts, and snacks.  According to him, it went WELL......Let's hope so. ;)

Here's the "caterpillar" for snack time...just some apples sliced up!  They thought it was pretty cool though!  Oh simple minds, how nice they are sometimes.

So, I hauled baby Leo with me, and we read "The Cat in the Hat" to the 3rd & 4th graders.  Of course they knew the book, very well.  But, what we did was relate how the cat balances all of that stuff...on top of standing on that ball.......to how farmers & ranchers balance lots of different responsibilities. 

For example: they are accountants, vets, mechanics, weathermen, construction workers, etc.......see not just FARMING right?  RIGHT 

Here is the snack I made for the 3rd & 4th graders........"Cat in the Hat" HATS...

sliced green apples for the brim of the hat, strawberries and bananas for the hat.  CUTE huh?  They were a HIT!!

SO HAPPY AG WEEK!!! 

 CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO LEARN WHERE YOUR FOOD COMES FROM. 

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY.....THANK FARMERS AND RANCHERS FOR PROVIDING SAFE AND NUTRITIOUS FOOD FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!

Thanks Farmer Johnson!

A Little Craving

I crave sweets.  Let me re-phrase that.  I CRAVE sweets! I mostly love chocolate and carmel.   Either together or seperate.  But mostly TOGETHER!!  But, anyways.....here is a quick snack that is just carmel....but you will love it anyways!  Trust me this carmel corn is ADDICTIVE!  

Pop - 3-4 quarts of popcorn in an air-popper, and put in a large brown paper bag from the grocery bag.

Next, in a microwave-safe bowl, put 1c. brown sugar, 1/2c. butter, 1/4 c. white corn syrup.  Put in microwave and cook until boiling.  I stir it up before it starts to boil, just so it is all combined.  Then boil for 1 minute. 

Take it out of the microwave, and quickly add 1/2 tsp. baking soda. 

Stir with a whisk the syrup will become thicker and frothy. 

Quickly pour over the popcorn in the bag.

Stir quickly......use a LONG spoon.  Or you will have sticky hands and arms!  Make sure you stir it up so that your popcorn is evenly coated. 

Next fold down your bag, so that it will fit in your microwave.   Cook 1 minute.  Take out and stir.  Fold your bag down again, and cook 1 minute longer.   

Take out of the microwave and stir once more.....then pour onto a large sheet pan. 

 Now.... you can let it cool..... or dig straight into it!

Farmer Johnson and I can eat a whole batch in one sitting.   I wouldn't recommend it,  but it just proves how addictive this stuff is.  I don't know how many people I have given this recipe to.  And, now it is yours.  Enjoy!!