Re-purposing Bed Sheets {Week 1}

 I am not sure if I will be able to keep up with a series this month or not given that we will be moving and life is pretty hectic - but I decided to give it a try. Today we are going to keep if pretty simple however.

Bed sheets do wear out eventually then it is nice to find a new purpose for them. Here is a project that works especially great if you have worn out flannel sheets and this project is super simple too!

Make handkerchiefs.

I have found that sheets will wear out in the middle and even get holes in them but around the edges there is still a bunch of good fabric. To make handkerchiefs simply cut squares from the decent fabric (the size that you like best) and then hem it simply.

  We have decided that flannel handkerchiefs are our favorite and you can make a lot from an old sheet!

 What is your favorite way to re-purpose a sheet?

"Woman of Courage" by Wanda E. Brunstetter {A book review}

A while back Handlebar publishing asked me if I would like to review "Woman of Courage" by Wanda E. Brunstetter. Though I don't often read fiction anymore (I used to read a LOT of it!) I thought it sounded rather fun and decided to give it a try.

  I have enjoyed much good fiction over the years but have also been disappointed many times with Christian fiction that seems to have a very weak story line and to much unnatural romance. So often they are very predictable.

   Anyway, I did enjoy reading this book. I don't think it will ever become a classic but it did have a nice story line and wasn't terribly predictable and though there was some falling in love - that wasn't the total highlight of the story.

  In the book you follow Amanda (a Quaker) as she goes through a broken engagement and then decides to go west to help out some missionaries who were telling the Native Americans about Jesus. Along the way she goes through trial after trial which test her but through it all her focus continues to be on sharing Jesus with those that don't know Him. I really appreciate that about the book. It was a good reminder to me about what truly needs to be our focus in life no matter what else is going on. The book disappointingly does not share the whole message of the gospel - leaving out some critical steps in coming to know Christ but over all I did like the book.

  Disclaimer: I received this book free for purposes of reviewing but was not paid in any other way. The thoughts expressed are my own. 

The Making of a Garage

 This past month we spend a lot of every weekend out working on our garage.  This garage will eventually be the place we keep our bikes, canoes, a boat that we hope to get in the future and where I will have my honey extracting room but meanwhile it is going to be our temporary home. With a closing date at the end of this month we are feeling the pressure to get it done!

  Today I thought it would be fun to share some of my "expert" advice on how to make a garage. Actually I would guess any builder would find this either hilarious or painful to read as I don't know the right terms and and really quite a newby at most of this building stuff but I thought that it might make others realize that if we can do this than you could too.

Here is how we are making our garage......

First we cleared all the trees and brush from the area. Then we did hire an excavator to dig into the hillside and level out the building area. Next we also hired a man who was able to put in the cement pad. Ken designed the garage and it is 24 by 32 feet. When they poured the cement they put bolts sticking out of the cement and gave us nuts and washers to go on them.

 The next step is to put base boards around for the framing to go on. We made holes in them so they could slip over the bolts.

What the bolts look like sticking out of the cement.

 Then we put cocking on the bottom of the boards, put the holes over the bolts and put the boards in place using the nuts and bolts to hold them down tight. The base boards did not go in the places where we have doors.

A closer picture of the base boards.

 The next step was to frame up the walls.

 Because our garage is in the side of a hill we are using a lot of treated lumber and we also made the framing sturdier than we would have otherwise.We used 2 X 6's for the framing and they were 12 inches on center (that means that from the center of one board to the center of the next is one foot).

We framed up sections of the wall laying down on the floor. First we made the foot apart measurements on both a top and bottom board and then we place the 2 X 6 in between and screw (or you can nail) it in place. We generally put in 3 screws.

 Then there is a window you have to do things a little differently to make sure the it bears of the weight of the roof all right. You make a short framing underneath the window and then above we run some boards in vertical directions to help bear the weight.

 This is what one of the simple sections looks like before we lifted it up.

When we had several people to life them up (which we did when my brother was there and the kids were around) it went pretty easily but while the kids were gone to camp, Ken and I attempted some sections on our own and found it challenging. One evening that week my sister and her husband did come over to help lift some up which was very helpful!

 When you lift up a framed section you need to then of course fasten it into place after making sure that it is level. We screwed it into the bottom board and also attached it to any other sections that it was next to. We also braced it up with extra boards until all the framing and trusses were put together.

 There is a a couple of really big boards across the doorway for the garage door and getting up the area with that in it was quite a job for Ken and I but we did manage! :-)

   It was so fun to get all the framing done!

Then we put plywood on the walls. On the bottom row of sheathing we had it hang down over the bottom boards and even over the cement slap an inch of so just to help tie everything together. We got most of the sheathing on the walls before the next step.

Next came putting up the trusses. My brother Peter came over to help us that day which was super nice! The end trusses are a little smaller than the others so that they can have overhang framing on them.

 After lifting the first truss up we tried to anchor it on good with screws slanted in however we could manage.

 The guys also screwed in a few other boards to brace it until we could get more things up to connect it to.

 When putting a truss up we would carry it in and then slip it up so it was hanging upside down dangling from the top of the two walls. Then two people would climb up on the framed wall on either side and the third person would take a board with another little board screwed to it to make a Y shape and would then push the truss up with that and then the people on the edges would grab it, pull it into place and screw it in place. After we got the hang of it it could go pretty swiftly.

 At first it was a little scary to be working up on the rafters but we got used to it pretty quickly.

 The kids are super excited because we have a fair amount of space in the rafters so we are going to put boards up to make a loft area. Your will notice that we have boards running across the top and also on the bottom of the rafters. We screwed those in place to brace the rafters while we worked. As we put the sheeting up on top we took them down.

 After getting the trusses up we needed to put up an overhang. For this we made a ladder like structure which we then just had to slide up on the end truss, hanging it over the edge. That of course had to be carefully secured in place. There were two of these sections on each end - meeting together at the peak.

Now it was time for the plywood to go on the roof. We were so blessed to have much of my family come over to help with that. It made it go so fast!

 All the plywood was carefully nailed in place. There wasn't a whole lot of cutting required.

 While the guys did that we had a ladies group working to finish up putting the sheathing on the walls. Ladder holders were necessary as the ground was quite uneven.

 Some of the the guys working on the sheathing. This picture shows a little more how the overhang (which was on the front and back) worked.

After the plywood was on the roof we put a stapled on a layer of tar paper.

 Next we needed to put a metal edging all around the roof.

 I had the all important job of helping to hold it in place.

 Now the shingling could begin. We put the started shingles along the bottom and then started going up with the regular shingles following the instructions on the package.

The kids think nailing is pretty fun. We found out just how hot it can be (though I am sure it can get much hotter than our 80 + degrees!) up shingling a roof.

We still have to get the shingling finished but have made good progress.

 We did also put fascia around the garage door entrance and an electrician came and wire it with outlets and lights. Today the garage door company was supposed to go and put the overhead door in.

 We still need to put up the soffets (Which I don't know how I am supposed to spell), put in the entry door and the windows (we are having one window in the main part of the garage, one in the honey room and a couple of small ones in the attic area) and frame in the honey room. We are nearly there! We also need to wrap it with housewrap some places and black plastic in the areas where we are going to backfill. We will also be putting up some flooring in the attic area and either a ladder or a stairs. The siding and outdoor lights also need to be put on.

   There are a lot of steps for building a garage, but it is doable - even if you are a novice. Just study it carefully, ask for advice and do your best.

  Have your built things before? I would love to hear your stories!

I will be linking this to some parties.

Pictures of our Life

 If you are a blogger have you noticed how when things are quiet on your blog it is because life itself is far from quiet. That is the truth of our life lately. I have been wanting to blog but just haven't found the time. So this post is a little catch up one of some of the fun happenings in our life lately.

The picture above is one of Aaron playing the Ukulele and whistling. One night after church he was carrying his instrument and the bucket (with milk from my parents) out to the van and sat down a bit to rest and his aunts suggested he play for them and then they and others put some change in his case. He thought that was great fun.

The day that the kids got home from camp Ken's brother Daniel and his wife Julie came to visit us. They were moving from the West coast to the East coast and we were blessed to be a stop on their way. In honor of their visit we didn't work on the property the Sunday afternoon that they were here and instead Megan, Julie and I had naps and visited "Art in the Park" (where local vendors sold all sorts of art) while the rest went canoeing and swimming out at our property.

 Sunday evening Daniel and the kids and I had a fun little jam session.

 After many cool days this summer we had one that got us nice and hot. We were wanting to work over at the property that day so we decided to add in a little swimming too. That sure was nice for cooling us down. The neighbors that own a lot next door (that they are trying to sell) said that we were welcome to use the dock so we have enjoyed that for jumping off of.

 Through the Summer reading program at the library the kids were able to get free pizzas. We took them to eat on a picnic when we went to look for blueberries near our new property.

 We did find some blueberries and lots of ticks!

 Later that week my friend Christy and her 3 youngest (all boys) came up to visit us. We went blueberry picking for a little while in our tried and true spot. It was good picking and not so many ticks.

 They came out to the land with us and we made a push to get a lot more done. Here some of the boys had fun riding down the lane in the wagon.

 They went swimming and got cold so Megan and two of Christy's boys were all curled up and sunning themselves on the dock.They looked like the sea lions in San Fransisco. At least they weren't pushing each other off. :-)

 Mara and Christy (both of whom were just learning how to use drills) and I framed up the overhangs for the garage.

 Days at the land can sometimes get long. Here we girls wearily wait while Ken does some finishing up before we were able to leave for the night. Mara generally brings along her Ocarina, so we at least have music.

 Sunday afternoon we had a lot to get done as the electrician was coming on Monday and we needed to have all the sheeting on. It was such a blessing when my parents and brothers and a sister-in-law all showed up to help. We got a bunch done and realized we would have never managed to do all that on our own in one day.

My Dad, Megan and Mara

 All of our kids were up working on the roof. They thought it was fun to pound in nails. My Dad and brothers were up there working too while Ken was kept busy cutting and handing things up and I with my Mom and MollyBea worked on finishing putting up the wood on the sides. It wasn't until quite a bit later that Ken and I went up to lay out tar paper and realized how steep and slippery it was and were kicking ourselves a little for letting our kids go up there without checking it out ourselves.

Peter, Jonathan and Aaron

 It is so fun to see the progress!

 We went Berry picking again this week. Raspberries from my parents and blueberries from the state forest. We ended up with around 2 gallons of Raspberries and 1 of blueberries. Not bad for a little over an hour at each place. Jonathan wanted to make his blueberries into pie and Mara decided to make a 2 berry pie. It was Jonathan's first pie and it was fun to watch him receive big sisterly advice as he made it.

 This week it is the County Fair. We did not enter as much as normal since this summer has been busy (before we knew that we were going to move we set a goal to enter in every category but we had to postpone that goal for another year). We did still get quite a few things entered.

 Last night we used our family night to go to the fair. We were able to check out how we did and we were pretty please with the ribbons that we received.

 Aaron has been desperately wanting to ride a horse and though he would prefer one that wasn't all hooked up and went in a circle he still had fun with this pony ride.

Megan looked like she fit right in at the one room school house.

 That is a little piece of our life lately. What has been going on in your life. I would love to hear!

Creatively Re-purposing Salt Tubs {Week Four}

   You remember my big salt tub collection? The one that I wanted to use up? I figured out how to use up a bunch of them this Sunday. We made baskets in my Sunday School class - using, of course, salt tubs. Yea!

 We have been learning about the Fruit of the Spirit and we were talking about patience this week. I figured it would be good to have some craft or activity that required patience and I thought making a basket might do the trick.

I actually made the basket making very simple but it did indeed still require plenty of patience for 3-5 year olds to turn it into a basket.  To make them we cut the tops off and pulled off the paper. Then a used an exacto knife to cut out slits, big enough to make weaving pretty simple. We cut strips of wallpaper to weave through. Then we made handles by adding on some ribbon.

 They aren't fancy or truly works of art but they worked well for a craft and after we finished we made paper fruit labeled with the Fruits of the Spirit to go inside.

What are other ways that we can use up salt tubs?.....

• Use it as a form for making a basket.
• Make a butterfly magnet.
• Make a Barbie chair.
• Make a sink for a Barbie House.
• Use it for a Candle making mold.
• Nativity Scene Craft
• Pour spouts for canning jars.
• Tiny Baby Doll Cradle
• Decorate it to use for a pen container.

Being a Disciple

 Sometimes when we think about life as a christian and possibly often when we tell others about it we only think of the many, many benefits. And those benefits are true and cannot be denied but when we think about being a christian that is not all there is to it. These verses explain a little more.....

   "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:24-26

 When we choose to follow Jesus we have chosen to give up our own desires, or own plans and choose to seek His will instead. This is not easy. It takes work every day to say "no" to me and "yes" to Jesus. It is something I am still very much working on. But it is worth it!!!!

 Have you chosen to become a disciple of Jesus? It may not be easy but the rewards are not only now but also into eternity!