Cha-Cha-Cha Changes

I'll be fiddling around with the blog the next few days ... Linking it to my NEW online shop! WooHoo!

I hope that it will allow shoppers a little easier experience from trying to find things and check out in the Artfire shop!

So, if you start looking around here and noticing that things are gone - come back in a week or so and it should be worked out - or leave me a comment and I will direct you over there!

I'll announce my new shop soon!!

DIY - A new Patio! Well ... maybe a mud pit!

Here's my new patio!

Ok ... well, it isn't a patio yet! I really wish I had taken a picture before we dug up the bushes, moved all the bulbs, and replanted the flowers! But ... I am not re-doing all of that work for the sake of my blog!

Anyway, we have no outdoor space for a table, chair or anything else! We have plenty of grass, but it is really a pain to move table and chairs all of the time to mow. Our front porch is tiny only about 4 feet x 8 feet and really not enough room for even a chair. So, my husband and I are putting in a small patio!

Now, I will say that pouring concrete is NOT for the faint of heart! It requires lots of digging, planning, tamping, prepping ... In the end it will probably cost less than if we were to build a deck the same size, but only because we are doing most of this work ourselves.

I'll try to be better about taking pictures so you can see this process ... in the mean time you can see a picture of the flower bed where I moved all of those flowers and bulbs. The bulbs are all buried though ... so it will be spring 2012 before you see those!

Gourds ... The gift that keeps on giving ...

Here is our string of gourds


We planted gourds in our garden last year - I thought it would be fun to grow some bird house gourds. This may be a decision that I regret! I think we might have too many! I am trying to bring them to cub scouts one night so that all of the cub scouts can make a bird house and take it home. Hopefully that can happen in the fall.

For now, we are enjoying listening to them rattle together in the wind ... and wondering how many will pop up in the garden ... the gourds are going to take over ... they are planning a gourd revolution ... watch out beans, corn, tomatoes ... the gourds are coming ...

MooreMagnets is going to California!

Recently I was contacted by Fox Parlor in Sierra City, CA and they wanted to feature MooreMagnets notebooks and journals in their shop!

Here's the goodies that are being sent to their shop tomorrow


So if you are visiting Sierra City, California stop in and have a look! It looks like a lovely place to visit!

Beyond the Magnets - Strawberries galore!

So, You may be wondering where I have been!

I've been updating my blog occasionally, but really not on a regular basis. The main reason is because I've been busy filling orders and working on home things.

So, I thought you might enjoy taking a look at some of the things that I have going on - Non-Magnet related projects!

Here is our little strawberry patch!

Excuse the weeds - it is actually much better than it was!

I started out with just 8 or 9 strawberry plants 4 years ago, and they have spread quite nicely!

So far I have picked about 10 quarts of strawberries from this little patch. Although we could have more if the birds and rabbits didn't like strawberries so much!

Most of them were eaten right away, but I have also frozen about 4 quarts.

Since my birthday is today!! I made pound cake over the weekend - Let me tell ya - Paula Deans Pound Cake is YUMMY, and really easy to make! Here's the recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/mamas-pound-cake-recipe/index.html

For the topping I used some of the strawberries from my strawberry patch. I took 1 quart of strawberries from the freezer, thawed them out in the fridge overnight, then put them in a sauce pan on the stove. I added about 1/4 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of sugar - you can add more depending on how tart you want your strawberries. I prefer mine tart since the pound cake is so sweet. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for 5-10 minutes. Then I put the mixture in back in the fridge until cool - although you can serve it warm if you like.

Next time I will let you know what we are doing in our front yard!!

180 CD's on One Flash Drive

I've still been cleaning and decluttering around here ... just not being very good about updating my blog! Between taxes, spring break, end-of-school-year-craziness ... and regular work ... The blog has been a wee bit neglected!

But, for the last month or so, I have vowed to FINALLY put all of our music cd's on the computer, and on a flash drive!

180+ CD's later ... here I am!

Can you believe that huge stack of CD's fit on this little 8G flash drive!