Barnhouse Bonanza

If you didn't make it to Barnhouse yesterday for the flea market, then you missed out on the most amazing show. Really amazing.

I am so tired so only a few pictures today. I can't imagine how exhausted Joe & Jermonne are. They worked so hard & it showed. Everything was perfect & beautiful.

J&J are the warmest, most giving & considerate hosts. Thank you.

There's a new man at Barnhouse....

And his name is Dexter. A wonderful warm, loving, soft spoken, big gentle giant of a cow. Isn't he gorgeous?!! Jermonne & Joe have added a few more livestock to their collection. Dexter, 3 cuddley (sp?) kittens (my daughter & nieces thought they should be called Twitter, Myspace & Facebook ha) 2 llamas and a cutest can be goat named Olivia.

My sister, nieces, daughter & I ventured down to see the boys of Barnhouse & discuss the plans for Saturday's HUGE flea market. Egads, it's THIS Saturday!!! I am feeling the pressure!

Besides Dexter pictured, there is my baby girl Maddie holding one of the kittens and where our space will be. I cannot believe the transformation that happens. Sunday the boys were so hard at work. Moving, building, making time for us, etc. It is pure magic how it all transforms into a wonderland. We will be down this Friday to set things up and do some decorating. This is going to be a blast! I see something already I would like to call dibs on pictured on the BH website!

Barnhouse Flea Market & new project

Next week Saturday, July 18th, in Battleground is going to be a mini Woodstock of fleamarkets. The boys of Barnhouse is having a huge fleamarket with over 20 vendors. These are over 20 of the most gifted, talented vendors that you will ever see. They take decorating their booths to a level that you have never seen. There will be a booth competition as well as a bake off. It is going be CRAZY wonderful. Not to mention the unbelievable great finds these vendors have. My stomach literally aches because I can't buy everything!

My sister and I will be there serving food. We will be serving breakfast items, cupcakes, cakes & for lunch, marinated grilled skewered chicken breasts with salsa salad. I am debating on the salad. I am nervous, anxious & excited. I know we will serve great food, just worried about keeping up. I will just keep a Cosmo close by. Ha.

I also have been working on these peat pots. I may have them there to sell as well.
I haven't decided yet.

Rosenthal, Cameron & Taylor

Two of my favorite photographers, Ken Rosenthal, Julia Margaret Cameron & an amazing digital artist, Maggie Taylor.

Barnhouse May 2009

My sister and I visited the Barnhouse boys in May. They were so gracious to ask us to come the night before and have a sleep over along with Cindy (of Queen of Tarte fame). What a treat. Being around Jermonne, Joe & Cindy is always such a delight & inspiration. They are incredibly talented & so much FUN! We came well equipped with some fun in a bottle. We stayed up late preparing the barn for the next day.

The event was hectic, crazy and fun. I have met some fellow bloggers & Sally Jean Alexander who I shamelessly asked if I could be squeezed into one of her upcoming home/studio classes.

In a couple weeks, July 18th to be exact, BH is having a HUGE fleamarket with over 20 vendors. My sister, Carrie (aka Bertha ha) are going to have a food booth. A bit daunting as BH had attended Farm Chicks last month & have a massed even more fans so no doubt they will be venturing to BH on the 18th. I am excited & a bit nervous but most of all, looking forward to be part of the fun. Oh, and this event will be covered for the January 2010 issue of "Somerset Life"!! Cindy is in the current issue! I am bringing my issue on the 18th for an autograph!!

Madeleine and Malina

Maddie and Malina, taken last summer. They have played soccer & baseball together now for 3 going on 4 years.

Maddie has since gotten her hair cut. She wanted it cut short. Tried to talk her out of it but a few other of her soccer buds got their hair cut short so I gave in. She has a cut similar to Posh & Kate (Jon & Kate). Have to say, it is very cute although she went looking like an 11 year old to a 14 year old. :( Why couldn't there be another decade in between 10 & 20 so I could have her small for awhile longer.

I love memory

My computer was driving me nuts. Too slow & uploading images took too long. Purchased some more memory & what a difference!!

Some old photos & new. The new, was at Ruby Beach in May when my sister's boyfriend from England visited. Old one is of a shed at Brown's Point & a infrared picture I took of Maddie in the bath tub when she was about 5.

Hat

Queen of Tarte Grand Opening

These pictures do not do justice to the magic that I participated in on Saturday.

My sister Carrie and I began our trek down to Cindy's Queen of Tarte Grand Opening of her new space (a huge barn) at 4 AM. After 2 1/2+ hours of driving we arrived in Oregon City. Walking through the doors was like walking into Wonderland. It was breathtaking! Cindy's guest vendors were the Barnhouse men, Joe and Jermonne and their area was the icing to Cindy's cake. Their styles compliment each other. It was all simply beautiful.

I was to get there early to help before the hoards of folk began coming. I helped a little but I was to unfocused because of the beauty that surrounded us. I couldn't decide what I wanted. Every thing was a must have. I came home with some wonderful treasures.

"If you build it, they will come". They did and I will again. Please see her site for upcoming events.

I wish I could paint!

Laurie Meseroll

Spring fever

We have had some beautiful days up here in the NW. I am getting antsy to work in my yard. I have neglected my yard for over a year so it's going to be alot of work to get control of it again but I am looking forward to the hard work. The picture is part of my back yard. This was about a year + ago. It's a bit more overgrown now & I have to get in there with a machette. The small gold fish pond is barely noticeable but that is the way we like it. A small hidden surprise.

Sparrow Salvage
One of my very favorite blogs.

Grace Madel McAfee Parry

Here is a drawing that Mrs. Parry did in junior high school around 1927. I luckily inherited it this week. She was an amazing woman. She was a teacher in a one room school in Eastern Texas. She was an equistrian. She traveled. She was ALWAYS positive and never had a disparaging word to say about anyone. She would turn a negative into a positive and so patient. She watched my two youngest children when I worked. She would make the kids the priority every day. She would play games with them all day long. One day when I was picking up Dylan (he was about 4) she told me that she and Dylan counted to 690 while he was on the potty. She would sit for however long it took for them to do whatever they needed or wanted to do. Even if she watched them all week long she would always tell me she would be glad to watch them so that Ron and I could go out on the weekends. And she meant it.

I looked through my previous postings & surprised I hadn't posted a picture of her. Since I have Mr. Parry below it's only fitting that I have Mrs. Parry too.

Bathroom

A constant work in progress. Still not quite happy with the results but it's getting there. The bones are done but I need more interesting filler. I couldn't make last weekends flea market in Clark County where the Barn boys and Cindy participated. The good news is that the flea market season is gearing up soon! I also see on BH website that the "Glitter Queen" (the lovely Linda and her gorgeous husband Ludmil of Willow Nest ) will be gracing us in August from Texas!!!

The Greatest Generation

Elfed Haydn Parry. My father-in-law passed away, January 4th, 2 days shy of his 90th birthday. He was a Welsh immigrant and proudly served in WWII. He was a member of the "Greatest Generation". A generation that believed that through hard work anyone's dream can come true. A generation that was proud to be an American. A generation that believed in morales and manners. A generation that only blamed themeselves not the government for making misguided choices. A generation that took responsibility and was responsible. A generation that believed in families and strong faith.

He served his country, owned a jewelry store in the Proctor district in Tacoma. Was a Grand Mason (not sure if that is the correct title) and also ran for Tacoma City counsel back in the early 70's. He was extremely opinionated and not very tactful. He didn't win. That may have been a good thing. Ha. He also had his own radio program on NPR called "Yesterday's Sunshine". He loved the music of the 20s. He had amassed a record collection of over 70,000. These were 78's. When the Canadian government found out about his collection & that he had hundred's of Henry Burr's 78's they traveled from Quebec to acquire them for their museum. Many of the records he had were the only ones left that they knew of in existence. Henry Burr is a big deal up in Canada. He was the most prolific recording artist in the early 1900s. Mr. Parry was extremely happy to have these records in their museum/archives.

We grieve for him but we also are very happy that he is now finally back with his Gracie who passed 4 years earlier & not a single day that passed since then that he didn't speak of her with tears in his eyes. They were married 8 days after meeting each other. They were together until her death for over 60 years. They are together again.

OMG

I figured how to make a hyperlink below. Dang, life is good.

Ink and Peat

Last month on House Martin blog, home to "Ink and Peat" fab store in Portland, I had to have some of the lovely Christmas items pictured. I contacted Pam, the owner, and she was lovely and wonderful enough to send them to me! My present arrived today and I couldn't be happier.

These are pictures from her site. She does floral arranging as well as having a to die for shop. Please check her out at House Martin

My hopes...

These are my recent "hopes". The first is to finish one of the downstairs bathroom, the main one, or as Maddie had named it, "the broken bathroom". It has always been in some sort of disarray for a couple years. I keep changing my mind on wall color, wallpaper, etc. But I think I have finally made up my mind. I have purchased many years ago 2 very large vintage french dictionarys. Larousse Supplement I believe they are dated the late 1800's. It's beautifully illustrated (black & white and a few color plates) and yes, I am, using the pages as wallpaper. I struggled with this for awhile because I love these books but I love seeing it on the walls. It is perfect. Now I can shower, primp and learn french!

Now the second "hope", Laurie Meseroll is doing more paintings & I love the one posted here. Not sure yet how big & how much, if I can afford it, but it sure would work wonderfully on my very chic french dictionary walls! So I am working on attaining this picture. Check out her blog http://www.folkart.typepad.com There is a painting of some farm girls, this might look good on one of Joe & Jermonne's (of Barnhouse fame) walls. Hint hint. Ha. And of course you can find Laurie & others at http://earthangelstoys.com and tell Jen that Kathy in Tacoma sent you! Why aren't they hyperlinking??!!! Oh well, copy & paste away.

Tip Toe

A favorite picture I found of Maddie taken in 2001. I did a bit of enhancing and I think I like it better...maybe.