and in the week after Christmas....

Hope all had great holidays.  Our French son, Mat Albarel wrote this week and said he was having a good Christmas vacation.  He lives in Paris and just began a new career in Executive Recruiting with Michael Page.  Jim is also a "headhunter", so it was nice for them to talk about their experiences this past August at our son David's wedding to Amanda Sutton.  (Good Times, Good Times)
We had a wonderful day with visits from almost everybody, our newest grandson Kent was with his father that day, we missed him.  Matt and Jennae, they are deciding on a name for their daughter who is coming in May, Morgan and John with Zoe and Lily (they have decided on James Peter for their son who is coming in April), Kate and Sammy with Dominic and Xavi, David and Amanda and Betty, my mom.  We decided to not have a sit down dinner, just sandwiches and other spreads and lots of cookies and candies.  It was more relaxing, believe me.
The day after we took off to Guards for a couple of days.  Sammy and Kate and the boys came also.  We did some target practice with Sammy's guns and rifle.  The next day J,Sammy's brother and his wife Nicole, came up after hiking at Chimney Rock.  (Very cold and some trails are closed during the winter, very normal)  We had our 4 dogs and Charlie and Bailey and Gus.  So the dogs outnumbered the adults!  But everyone was very well behaved.  Bailey (tiny version of a pit mix) is not trained on the invisible fence and she did take off for about 45 minutes, she is very fast and ran up and down our little mountain and around the pond.  Charlie is well trained for a 8 monthe old Yellow Lab. (He reminds me of my old Dooley, very goofy and lovable) And Gus is a 1 yr old handsome German Shepherd.
After Bailey got snagged up by Nicole, Jim and I stayed up at the house with the boys and dogs while the others had a little obstacle practise (I am fighting with Kate about the spelling of this word) shooting at targets.  Lots of loud bangs.  Then Jim went down to shoot our old shotgun.  (You have to have one in the mountains, we have bears and bobcats,(Jennifer remembers) and of course snakes in the summer)
Then a great dinner of pulled pork fajitas and spanish rice.  Then a big corn hole tournament, Jim and I won the most games, imagine that?  And Jim went to play Jenga with Dominic and Xavi.  I played Scattergories with J, Nicole, Sammy and Kate.  Nicole won!  But it was great fun with lots of trash talking.  Back to Weddington for a day or so, and then back up to the farm.  Also we await our friends Jeffrey and Lea Anne passing through on their way to Sanibel Island.  As always, living the life of Riley......

night before night before...

Think we have everything done for Christmas.  Had a little Ladies Luncheon on Wednesday.  Spur of the moment.  I put invites out the week before and had 19 or 20 people show up for a few hours of chatting, catching up on things, etc.  It was fun.  Morgan and Katelyn helped me as I tend to not be able to focus on the important things at times.  They kept me on track. 
David's dog, bullmastiff Zeke had surgery this week, may be the same cancer as Riley.  Hopefully they took wide margins also.  We hope for the best.  Zeke is going to be 9 and he is immense, but very laid back. 
We found out that Matt and Jennae are having a little girl, so it's #6 a boy (Morgan and John) and #7 a girl.  It is fantastic to be welcoming in the newest generations.  We feel very blessed. 
We have had lots of rain up at the farm so cannot wait to see where it is on the dam.  And we will start looking at the process to renovate the old log house.  Got to do it in stages, and we will be asking alot of people for help and advice. 
And I guess we will start thinking about the next "Art in the Holler" event for the fall.  We have been kicking around a few new ideas.  With one under our belt, we feel we are on to bigger and better things.    All our best to any readers, please comment, I'd love to hear from whoever you-all are! 
Living the life of Riley.....

twas the week before Christmas...

Well, it is about 12 days before Christmas, and everyone seems to be doing ok.  Have had some dramas in the last few weeks but things have straightened out so Thank You God.  We are not a family who celebrates Christmas on a high commercial level.   I always made things for friends and relatives.  Different kinds of Santas, holiday trivets, clothing, birdhouses, etc.  Sometimes it seemed so expensive to send things up to New York for the family, would have been cheaper to purchase some small item, but that is how we have always done it.  Last year I found a way to make decals of pictures and put them on ornaments.  It was alot of fun, and they turned out pretty well.  This year I fear I have some sort of craft-block and have not even thought of what I can make.  And I need to send the gifts up by Thursday, so this tradition train looks like it is clearly off the track! 
But we do have our appointment at Portrait Innovations for our grands yearly photo shoot.  This year we have 5 grands, like herding cats, but I am sure it will go well.  I am not picky, don't need a thousand different poses, and they wear one set of clothes.  (Last year when we went there was a family who I swear had three different outfit choices, I swear they were at the studio for two hours!  not many happy faces on those kids)  That is part of our Christmas gift to our children, the outfits for the grands and pictures to send to all the families.  I like to think it takes some of the stress out the holidays for them. 
And I don't shop for our children-all eight of them.  There have been some incidents in the past where the girls did not care for my fashion sense....mock turtlenecks...So now we write a check, if it goes for a cell phone bill or electric bill, that is ok with me.  We just buy a few things for the grandkids.   We never want to outperform Santa! 
So the house is decorated and I thought I would have a little holiday luncheon for some women I know a little or know alot.  No big Martha Stewart kind of thing, just a little get together where you don't have to show up with a present to exchange or wear some fancy outfit.  I hand delivered (well, to the mailboxes, taped the invites to the boxes-ever fearful of breaking some federal law) about 28-30 invitations.  Some women are people who I say "Hi" to on my walks or stop and chat for awhile, and I might not even know their names.  We'll see how many rsvp.  I think maybe 10 will be here, and we'll just low key it, no fancy china or food.  My Christmas gift to myself.  (Jim does not like to entertain too much)
Riley is doing very well.  He seems to be back to his old self.  I am bound and determined to put this cancer stuff out of my mind.  Heck, it worked for me!  And two of my grand dogs had their snip snips this week.  Biscuit and Charlie are doing fine.  Scarey knowing that we are 16 large in people in this family, and 13 large in dogs.  We do our best in the rescue world, living the life of Riley....
PS Have safe and grace-full holidays!

New Pond

About a million years ago, (1993), my four children started digging a pond for me for Mother's Day.  It was on the side of the backyard at our home in Weddington.  Well, they dug and they dug and finally were able to make a hole about 6 ft by 8 ft.  Morgan was almost 15, David almost 13, Matt almost 11 and Katelyn almost 7.  They dug their hearts out in this hard clay.  Years before I had double dug my gardens.  It had looked like I was digging graves for the longest time, (1988). Neighbors laughed at me, but I come from the land of double dig. When the kids had done what they could with their muddy hole,   Jim stepped in and started the engineering phase of the pond.  We laid sand on the bottom, made a ledge for the liner to be held in with rocks and finished it up.  Added water and then some fish.  In 1994 we noticed a large fish, about 6"in the pond.  He was black, whereas my other fish were Walmart goldfish.  We figured a bird had dropped him in the pond, flying from the lake across the street from our house.  I love that pond, the kids and grandkids love that pond.  We spend alot of time feeding the fish, watching the birds and animals around it.  In 2008 the big black fish, who loved to jump up every once in awhile and splash around, jumped up and out of the pond.....  He couldn't shimmy his way back in and he died.  I was so unhappy, David came down to bury him.  We measured him and he was almost 20" long.  He was just a carp, but I saw him every day and fed him every day, so it was so hard for me to even walk out to the pond for a long time.  David had given me a couple of real koi around 2004, but they were still pretty small.  I guess the big guy ate most of the food.  They all started to grow larger and we had more and more babies. 
A week ago last Monday I came out of the back door and saw the Blue Heron around the pond.  I have chased him away before, and the 4 dogs usually keep him at bay.  The next day the pond started losing water, really losing water.  So I filled it up, checked the fountains.  (One time the squirrels chewed the hose to one of the water pipes and almost drained the pond)  Everything looked fine.  Except the pond kept losing water.  And the orange koi and the gray speckled one were gone.  Still have lot of black and orange babies, though.  But such is life, right? 
So we build a new pond, even bigger, maybe even build a waterfall?  John, Morgan's husband, came over Sunday and started ripping up the brick patio to build me a bigger pond.  We will finish that pond, move the fish over to it and then try to repair the original one.  Try to connect them in some way, I'll figure it out when the hole is dug.  So wish us luck, Jim said he is out of the pond business.( He does this Pontius Pilate thing with me all the time).  He has enough on his hands with the acre pond at Guards Farm in Shingle Hollow.  Talk about a leak....we have to have the entire dam rebuilt.  Talk about a money pit!
Riley is doing great, he gets his staples out on Thursday and he is back to running around and causing trouble.  We have great hope.  Living the life of Riley....

update on Riley

Riley is doing great.  He has taught himself to go down the stairs slowly, instead of galloping down as labs normally do. He has no problem going up the stairs, just going down and he is not supposed to use the stairs for 10 days. I thought I would sleep downstairs with him for the first few days but he made it clear that he wanted to be in his own bed, (our bed) and would not be happy unless he was there.  Well, it makes sense, doesn't it?  We all want to snuggle in our own beds when we are under the weather.  I should probably mention that we have a single mattress dog bed and 2 other dog beds up in the master bedroom and 3 dog beds, very large, down in the kitchen and family room.  At the farm we have 7 dog beds spread out over 3 floors.  In fact, on Sunday at the farm, my 84 year old mother tripped over the one in the kitchen, after saying all week she was going to do this.  She fell flat on her nose, did not even put her arms out to stop herself.  She fell with her head off the dog bed, and her body on the dog bed.  So no broken bones, just a big pain on her nose.  It is all better now.  She always hated that ball on the end of her "Petro" nose, but it sure came in handy....and of course angels were watching.  I will be checking the mail in the next few weeks to see if she is going to sue me.... Ha. 
Talking to my sister in law, Cathy Bennice, and she reports that she has friends who moved their bed downstairs for the duration after their lab had surgery.  I was a little shocked but no judging from me... Jim would never go for that.  Living the life of Riley...

Our Patient

Riley had his second surgery on Monday.  It went well, although the incision is quite a bit bigger than the older one.  I requested that they not send the sample out to pathology, don't really want to know whether there are more cells in this margin.  I am optimistic that we have given him a good chance for a few more years.  The recovery from this surgery is very hard on this active dog. 
When Jennifer Davis and I brought him home on Monday night, he was very whiney.  The vet techs had been a little bit slow in getting him into the back of the jeep.  He jumped up too fast and hurt himself.  So he was shocked at how much it hurt.  At home he just walked around the downstairs whining.  We had decided that we would block off the stairs so he could not go upstairs.  It is easy to go up, but a bitch to come down....  So I was going to sleep downstairs to keep him company.  He just walked around whining.  Until about 3:30 when Jim called from upstairs saying he had made his way past the barricades and up the stairs and now was whining upstairs.  I went up and went to bed, Jim yelling at Riley to stop whining.  And then Riley jumped on the bed and settled down to sleep.  He did not whine a bit after that.  In the morning Jim carried him downstairs and he seemed to be fine.  Yesterday though, he made his way upstairs at around 2 in the afternoon, just before Dominic and Xavi came to play.  Then Riley could not come down the stairs and stood at the top barking and barking.  I could not convince him to come down the stairs.  I made a trail of peanut butter bread bits down the stairs to entice him.  When I fed the other dogs, he finally, gingerly, made his way down the stairs.  So I will try again today to keep him downstairs......So much for the next 10 days of recovery....living the life of Riley....

After Thanksgiving

We are heading up to Guards Farm this morning.  We have always gone up the day after Thanksgiving to finish up our leftovers... and to put up the Christmas tree and put up the other holiday decorations.  Usually we will find some new ways to decorate the tree, I bring some craft supplies and we sit around the kitchen table making some interesting looking ones.  Last year Rosie Figueroa was with us and we had such fun.  This year Sammy and Kate took the boys up to the Bronx for Thanksgiving and so Dominic won't be helping.  We saw a cute clip of Dominic and Xavi seeing the SpongeBob balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. 
We had a small group this year, but it was alot of fun. Lily and Zoe got to play with Kent around the house and outside.  There was a little football throwing, dodging land mines in the backyard...(dog presents).  Everyone took off their shoes to come in except David who said, "I grew up here, I know how to step around them".  Lily had a close encounter and had to be washed up.  Zoe got a little angry about it and stood off to the side  to pout.  What can I say, there are 5 dogs out there. 
Charlie, Kate and Sammy's new yellow lab is here to visit, their beagle/pit mix is staying with J and Nicole.  Charlie has learned very fast the way of the invisible fence.  And Lily gave him a tutorial on the doggy doors.  Riley and Frank have been very patient but it is tiring to have a young pup around.  We'll see how he does at the farm.  Charlie has been sleeping with me in the guest bedroom, no room for an extra dog on our bed.  He settled in very well.  I do wonder if he will be confused, he has only been with Kate and Sammy's family for about 3 weeks.  He gets alot of action and attention here.  He has the attitude of our Dooley, goofy and adaptable.  Riley was a little more diva-like.  It is hard for a pup to be around old dogs.... (I am hoping I figure out how to put photos on this blog, I have just learned how to load photos onto facebook.) 
Expecting snow on Sunday night up in the mountains but we'll be home before that.  I will be getting out our Christmas decorations for Laurel Grove, Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent.  Hope I can find our little cedar log to light.....living the life of Riley.....

Before Thanksgiving

So today is the Monday evening before Thanksgiving.  Not the big crowd this year as in the past.  But Jim thinks it will be nice and restful.  Yea, right.  We are babysitting a grand dog,  Charlie a 7 month old yellow lab.  He is Kate and Sammy's newest addition.  He keeps Bailey company during the day when the kids and parents are out of the house.  What a sweetheart he is with his big paws and already a bit taller than our Riley.  They have met a few times and love love love each other already.  Frank is patient, Penny is tentative and Hannah just stays out of the way.  Riley loves playing with puppies, you need to take a look of a flip video from last year on our facebook page to see how he plays with them, Bailey has him jumping around with what I call the "round butt of excitement"  (they jump around like this).  Jim is a little put off that we number 16 people in our family and 13 in our dog family.... (us 4, Morgan and John-3; David and Amanda-2; Matt and Jennae-2; and Kate and Sammy-2. )  I am so proud of my children for their rescuing some of their pets. 
Kate will drop him off tomorrow before they start off to NYC for Thanksgiving with Rosie and Jorge.  I really hope they get a chance to see the big parade and go to Macy's and FAO Schwartz.  (Is that still a really great toy store?)  Dominic and Xavi will love it.  We got the boys Walmart catalogues the last time we were up at the farm and they pored over them, circling and marking what they might want Santa to bring them. 
So after all the hullaballoo on Thursday, we will head up to Guards Farm to put up the extremely large Christmas tree that Muriel and Bill Harris gave us a few years ago.  And decorate it with our little bits and baubles.  Morgan, Betty, Zoe and Lily will be coming up also.  I hope to get into Rutherfordton or Black Mountain to participate in the "support small businesses Saturday".  Maybe get to the Monogram shop in R'ton, (right past the CVS)  where I have purchased my "F" flag and doormat in the past few years. 
Then on Monday, we take our Riley back to the Vet for further surgery.  He had a grade 2 mast cell tumour removed and we are having larger margins taken.  Wanted him to be able to play and run all over with Charlie, Frank, Hannah, Penny before the surgery.  The last one was a little traumatic for him, it took him a long time to recover.  He was so shocked to have pain running and jumping.  So please wish him well, living the life of Riley.

aftermath and riley

Well, we did survive the festival.  Sent out the donation to Rutherford Humane Society, and Helen Jones sent me back a note saying that Facebook, who was donating $250,000 to area projects, had turned down their grant.  So they were very happy to get our $150 from the fundraising.  I have to have Jim check with Tiaa-cref to see if Rutherford Humane Society is on their list of approved donations to see if they might be able to match our donation, which again will go a long way for the animals.
And, once again, no good deed goes unpunished, as on Wednesday of last week, (Oct.26) Riley started to chew at a small cyst that was under his arm.  He never noticed it before, well he succeeded in making an unholy mess of it.  So I had to take him to the vet on Friday and they scheduled surgery for Halloween morning.  Was not happy at this vet office, another boutique so I will not mention their name.  It brings up all the rantings I have made before of what I believe has happened to pet care.  So here I go again.
Years ago veterinarians were a very respected bunch of people.  They seemed to really want to help animals and knew that they would not be millionaires.  They knew that their income would never hit the stratosphere of specialty doctors or stockbrokers but were happy with the way people thought of them as "relatives of Mother Teresa" in the animal kingdom.  But in recent years there has been a trend to have more services and more equipment to help get a bigger piece of the pie.  Especially when  there is a sizable demographic proportion of people who have perhaps opted out of the previous "norm" of  "family" and into a group of people who do not have human children, but have domestic animal children.  This group, and I support them fully, have more disposable income to bestow on their animal children.  So, as I see it, the veterinarian group smelled money and start making their practices into these animal care boutiques.  As an animal rescuer of many many years, this has become increasingly offensive to me.  I see that my own grown children are priced out of animal ownership.  Many people are.  And I see this as one of the reasons the domestic animal population is at a higher risk, especially non-specific breeds.  When the economy has stagnated to the degree that is now has, many have to choose whether to feed their families or get rid of their faithful companions.  And gone is the compassion to those families from the veterinarians who would work with you, help you find other solutions and empathize with your monetary restrictions.  There is almost a condescension that is palpable when you are in these "animal boutiques" formally known as the local veterinarian office. 
So let me get off my soap box and say, I commend any person or group who step in and help domestic animals stay alive.  And I do not judge those who are unable to fork over the $$$ for their pet's teeth to be cleaned......
Riley is fine, surgery went well.  They removed large margins, and as a woman who has had large margins removed and has been (C) free since 1999, I will try and be optimistic.  And I will look for a vet who does not look at Riley's situation as a way to make a lot of money. (By the way, this vet office had two kittens up for adoption, for a price of $150 each.  Only one was chosen, I said they should have made a better deal to keep the siblings together, it went over their heads)  Living the life of Riley....

The day after.....

What a super time! We had about 200-250 people come by during the day, at times there were almost 30 kids playing games, doing crafts, enjoying the animals at the petting zoo.  We were able to make a nice donation to the Humane Society and they were able to make some money on their raffles.  The vendors had a good time, everyone seemed to love the lasagna.  We had a shout out from Lissakeole, our Celtic band, about how good it was.  Thanks Grandma (Betty) for making it and John and Betty for getting it cooked and out to the vendors, Scott and his wife (from the petting zoo) and the band.  And anybody else who wanted some. The art contest had some wonderful pieces, you may not know this, but Rutherford County only has art  in 3rd and 5th grades.  Courtney Hudson was wonderful helping us arrange and pull out the art and she and Merry Wunderlich, (teacher of the year in Iredell County) were the judges.  We were able to give great participation gifts to children who came but did not place in the top 3 in their division. 
The games and prizes were a big success, everyone who played got something, it was such a treat to give out boxes of crayons and toys for all the kids who came.  Matt and Jennifer Davis (bff) helped them make bracelets, Merry and Amanda did facepainting, tattoing and hair spraying.  Kent and Dominic enjoyed their new roles as Staff and oversaw some of the games, Sammy and Mike did parking and security, David was with games and petting zoo.  Jim and John were rovers, going wherever they were needed. And some friends from Weddington, George and Kathy Garner drove up to support us.   I know the kids had a great day.  I know my kids and grands had a great day.  So we will be doing it again next year! 
So today we spend putting everything back together, we slept 16 on Friday night.  Last night after David, Amanda, Kent, Matt, Merry and Mike left, there was a large corn hole tourney.  I actually made 2 triples in 2 games.  (that is some feat for me!)  This morning Kate, Sammy, Xavi, Dominic, Morgan, John, Lily, Zoe and Grandma (Betty) left.  So I am organizing the inventory for next year.
Many many thanks to our vendors, Lynn Bradley and daughter, Jeff Higgenbotham, Deborah Harmon and her friend, Randy and Lorraine Lowery and their daughter and friend, Helen Jones and all her crew from Rutherford Humane Society. 
What a blast we had giving all the prizes away, we gave away tons of crayons and toys.  Mostly the kids didn't even if have to win the games.  And they enjoyed making bracelets and decorating their treat bags.  We had pumpkins delivered by Steve Harris from Painter's Gap Road.  The t shirts were awesome, made by Eric Moore and Chillybeat and thanks to Tammy Oxendell from the Tint Shack.

We take a break now from festival business for a few monthes.  But there will be lots to blog about once we start the renovating process on the old log house.  Living the life of Riley......

A quick update, "Art in the Holler" looms closer

Well, I came up to the farm yesterday afternoon, and it took forever to unpack the car.  I had it so stuffed it was incredible.  It can be hard trying to plan an event from another location.  I grabbed as much as I thought we might need in terms of craft supplies, food for the entire weekend, etc. We are feeding a large crew.  Thankfully Jim is driving up tonight with a few extra things I could not fit in the jeep.  (Remember I travel with 4 dogs)
I picked up the banner from Tammy at the Tint Shack this afternoon.  She did a great job.  We will put it up tomorrow.  Sammy is driving up with Jim so he can help with some of the heavy lifting.  I also was able to run to Spindale Elementary to pick up some of the art contest entries.  I met with Courtney Hudson, who has been so helpful in getting the contest information out to the children.  She is the Rutherford County art teacher for the elementary schools.  I think she might be the only one.  We have about 225 entries total, but to realistic, I know perhaps only 60 kids will actually be in attendance.  The rules are that they have to be here in order to win.  One little girl asked what happens if she could not be there and I told her I thought it was wonderful that people would be able to see her artwork and appreciate her effort.  
Tomorrow I am picking up the tshirts from Eric at chillybeat.com. and will head up to Pinnacle Elementary to pick up the rest of the entries.  We will have a registration at the festival so we will know what kids are there, so the committee can judge the work of the attendees.  I was able to drop off a few more event flyers to the Norris Library, the Carrier Bed and Breakfast, the Foothills Tourist Association and went and talked to the woman at the Sheriff's department. 
Our vendors,  Lynn from Retrobroad, Deborah from Deborah's Dichroic Designs, Jan from Jan's Rock and Wire, Randy and Lorraine from Randy's Wood Creations and Jeff from Higginbotham Design, will be setting up either tomorrow night or Saturday morning.  Between them, the petting zoo, Lissakeole (Celtic Band) and all the games, crafts and facepainting booth, all should have a great time.  Living the life of Riley.....

Mere days away from "Art in the Holler"

So we have a petting zoo coming from 11am til 1pm,  I think if  we have a lot of kids we may ask him to stay awhile longer.  And now Lissakeole is coming in from Greenville, SC.  They are a Celtic band and we know we will enjoy their music.  The banner will be finished by Tammy at the TintShack on Cove Rd, and Eric from Chillybeat.com is doing a great job on the t shirts.  I think you can see the design on either the facebook page or our website, www.GuardsFarm.com .  And now, Steve Harris will be bringing by the pumpkins and straw bales and corn husks for decoration.  We will sell what we can of his pumpkins, let the kids decorate them if they want.  We now have 225 entries for the art contest and that is a little overwhelming, but exciting.  It was such fun shopping for little prizes for the games.  Today I go to Costco with Jennifer Davis to buy some prepackaged stuff to sell.  We want to make this a great fundraiser for the Rutherford Humane Society!  It has been costly, and I hope we can recoup some of our losses. We have donated all the supplies for the crafts and games, (and don't tell Jim, the prizes...) Thank goodness Jim has been good-natured about it, but I gave up my Christmas Charleston trip, my birthday and Christmas presents, (probably for the next 10 years) but I think it's worth it, living the life of Riley...

3:30 am ramblings

ok ok, am up early again with the little hamster spinning on his wheel crazily, (my brain) working on the tentative sleeping arrangements for our large family.  Think I've got it figured out, but there will be squalling, I am sure.....  Also stamping our logo onto the treat bags that will be decorated during the children's crafts.  Matt is going to oversee the friendship bracelets.  And the very small children will be doing thumbprint spiders.  Have figured out a few more games to play.  Ring toss, (sheet with small prizes on it, they throw the rings over the prizes).  Lollipop grab ( bale of hay with lollipops in it,  a few are marked for prizes).  Football throw (throw the ball through the pumpkin cutouts).  And the corn hull/hole game.  The proceeds for the crafts and games go to the Rutherford Humane Society fund for a new animal shelter.  Gosh, I hope we can make some money for them.  Guards Farm is donating the cost of the crafts projects also. 
Now I am wondering if we will need walkie talkies....  There should be about 16 of us working as staff, Grandma will be watching the Zoe, Lily and Xavi on the deck.  (fenced in, of course)  But we all will be taking turns with child watch duties.  Dominic and Kent will be working as staff.  Hope they are excited to be "big shots". 
Favorite quote of the month "Questions are a danger to you and a burden to others..." (Thank you Spongebob)
Hope the petting zoo goes over well, I know our grands will love it! nuff said, living the life of Riley......
  

Busy Busy Busy, only 11 more days

Well,  we have 11 more days til our big (ok, we'll see) event.  Yesterday I ordered the porta potty.  And approved some of the artwork for the event t shirt.  Eric from Chillybeat.com probably was laughing up his sleeve when I showed him my little scratches of ideas.  But I think it will be a nice shirt for our vendors (artists/craftspeople) and our family (staff) to wear.  I will have a few extra to sell, but cannot afford to hold onto a large inventory.  Remember, small budget....

Last weekend we were very sorry to hear about a neighbor's untimely passing.  He was the nephew of the man who sold us the property.  He leaves a 12 yr old son, and an older daughter.  Very Sad.

Jim and I worked on putting a door on the old log house.  Since the front door was removed, along with the 2 front bedrooms when the house was being demolished, there was no door.  Luckily, I had had Jim save a few of the doors and windows before.  (You never know when you might need them, and I have bought several solid wood doors from properties being demolished before, and we have used them)  So Jim just had to shave 3-4 inches off.  Now with the new metal roof and all the doors secured we feel we can renovate at a more leisurely ($$$) pace.  Hopefully the family will be helping along the way.  My vision is for the house to be used as extra sleeping areas (we have already almost outgrown the new house, it sleeps 14 without getting the aero beds out)  and for large family dinners when we are up there.

So I have been busy painting my plywood pumpkins, (David cut them out for me) I will be painting chalkboard squares on them.  We will use them for the festival to let people know what time the children's crafts will take place and where the games are, etc.  And if somebody wants to buy them, they can.  Also finishing up the last of the signs from Staples.  Eric from Chillybeat.com is doing the event t shirts.  After giving them to family(staff) and vendors, there will be a few left to sell.  Thursday, Jennifer and I are going to start making soap to sell.  So we will have a few t shirts, hats and soap to sell at out booth.  I need to make back some of the money I have been spending on the event.  I just asked Helen from the Rutherford County Humane Society if they wanted to sell gas cards in a raffle.  With the proceeds from the children's crafts and games, that could bring a few extra dollars for their fund.

Morgan and I will be working on the public service announcements today.  We are listed on a few event websites.  And more postcards go out to the hotels and bed and breakfasts this week. (Thank you Matt)  We are crossing our fingers for a respectable turnout.  Certainly want our vendors to make some money and be able to bring attention and some more money to Animal Shelter fund.  Signing off now, living the life of Riley.....

 

Art Contest grows and grows

Update on our art contest:

Jessica Courtney Hudson, the art teacher for Rutherford County Schools has been so helpful in our 1st annual "Art in the Holler" art contest.  We have already 60 entries.  There are 3 contests: K and 1st grade; 2nd and 3rd; and 4th and 5th.  The prizes are for 1st: $25 Walmart giftcard, 2nd: $10 giftcard and 3rd: art supplies.  Our theme is Autumn in the Mountains and the contestants must enter by October 20th with the awarding of prizes on October 22, 2011 at 2:00pm at our festival "Art in the Holler" at Guards Farm of Shingle Hollow in Rutherfordton, North Carolina. 

Merry Wunderlich (Amanda's mother) will have a face-painting booth and has also offered to help with the judging of the contest.  ( She is an art teacher in the Charlotte Mecklenburg school system and has won many awards) 

We are hopeful that Jessica Courtney Hudson will also help, if she has the time.  However, she has been most helpful with getting the kids excited in making some applications.  We hope we can be of assistance to her in the future.

Art is very important to me, personally, even though I am not an artist.  I just believe that art comes in many forms and is so needed in every day life, even when financial times are bad....  In our family, we have enrolled our grandchildren in Noah's Art, a small art school for children located in the Blakeney area of Charlotte, North Carolina.  Each of them takes turns with sessions meeting weekly throughout the year.  Right now, it is Xavi's turn and he loves going and meeting new friends, painting and making fun projects.  When our 4 children were young, we were always doing art/craft projects.  From making diaper boxes into weaving looms to painting wisteria pods and hanging them as Christmas ornaments.  (They are so pretty, a velvet green pod.  We would dab them with gold and hang them with red ribbons.  And then they would "pop" in the house!!!)  Or doing embroidery projects.  In fact our son David won 1st prize at St. Gabriel elementary school in Charlotte for a trapunto project he had made.  I still have it and have promised it to his wife.  (Now he is a big bass fisherman, (contests) and a hunter, (bow hunting season is open right now). 

Well, time to sign off now, living the life of Riley........

OMG 23 days til "Art in the Holler"

Okay, here it is.... we are fast approaching our festival date of October 22, 2011.  We have 7 boothes as of now, and one of our deadlines for booth application is October 1.  We had a board meeting last Sunday with me, Morgan(Fahy Sarantopoulos), Amanda(Sutton and now Fahy), Matthew(Fahy), Sammy(Figueroa), Jennifer(Davis), Merry(Wunderlich), and last but never least Betty(Woodrow).  Do we count the kids running around (Kent, Dominic and Xavi)?
We discussed the children's crafts and made a decision to go with treat bag decorating, friendship/bead bracelets and thumbprint spiders.  We had additional discussions about the T shirt design, with great advice from Jennifer, Merry and Matthew.  Makes my life much easier to not make some decisions in a vacuum.  I showed the new flyer design and now have had it tweaked even better by Jennifer and her husband, John. (a professional in the photo/design/tech expertise)  And we discussed the various children's games to be set up.  I showed my concept of how the meadows were to be used for the children's art contest.  (Courtney Hudson, the local art teacher for the elementary schools in Rutherford County has just told me she has 21 classes that will participate in some manner with the contest.... woo hoo!!!)  I pointed out the area for the children's crafts and games.  I have an idea where the port a potty will go, but will bow to professional advice when I order it. 
So we are on track for the minute.  It is a huge undertaking, my past carrier as a soccer official assignor comes in handy.  (The tournaments could be a nightmare....)  So, up at 4 am with new ideas, concerns, etc.  But whatever happens we will have fun!!!!  And make the day fun for hopefully alot of kids!
On saturday when Jim and I are volunteering at the Rutherfordton Fall Festival (October 1) 5 k event, we hope we will be able to meet some of the food vendors and other people and get our little event "buzzed" up.
....... living the life of Riley

summer is over

It has been a long time since I have written for this blog.  Lots of things have happened in the family and at the farm.

First of all, the log house has probably turned into a more massive problem/experience than we had ever perceived. I was looking for someone to be interested in acquiring the wood, Jim decided we should keep and renovate it. ($$??$$) It took another two weeks to clean up the mess that was made when we stopped the demolition of the old rickety house.  And cost just about the same.  We were left with a big gaping hole in the roof of the main part of the structure and some damage to the kitchen wing.  I use that term laughingly as the entire structure cannot be more than 1000 square feet.  We looked and looked for a roofer to help and had no luck until we found a company to take on the project of redoing the roof.  It will be done early October with a cringeworthy bill.  Jim has taken out some flooring that was now exposed, it will be replaced with decking.  And we have tarped the next set to protect it from the elements.

Our son David married the woman of our dreams ( and his, of course) in late August, just in time for Irene.  But we only got a little wind out of that storm.  It was a great party and we even had our French son, Mathieu fly over from Paris to attend.  It was wonderful to have friends and family come together for this event.

And now we look forward, (only 6 weeks) to our "Art in the Holler" art/craft festival on October 22, 2011.  Have been busy looking for vendors, have had help from Cindy Adair from the Rutherford Town Revitalization committee.  Their festival is on October 1, and we have offered to volunteer to help.  We have had a plan of emailing and mailing our information to anyone we thought might be interested, and now we are big into the promotion part of it.  The Tint Shack on Cove Road is going to make our banner, we are designing the signs and cleaning up the front part of the property.  Bubba and Jerry next door have been very helpful in mowing but we are going to have to have them help more in the coming weeks.  I sent out postcards to all on Arrowood Road to let them know about our plans.  Maybe we will get some advice and help from more of our neighbors.  (We just don't need Haters, right Mo?)

The pumpkin experiment was a dismal failure and I have contacted a couple of pumpkin growers up on Painter's Gap and Conner Road to perhaps sell some of their leftovers at the festival, and we could use them in decorating....

Jennifer Davis came up with me last week to go to a few elementary schools, Rutherford and Pinnacle to create a buzz for the art contest we envision.  Courtney Hudson, the only art teacher for the area, has said she will help.  (Thank goodness)  Then my Matt came up last saturday to help weedwhack and trim and we ran over to Lake Lure to spread the word there. 

So the time crunch is on.  It will be crazy, and I don't know if it will work.  But I am hoping to have a modicum of success in that some artists/craftspeople will get a chance to show/sell their work.  (Bring some money up into that area)  Will sign off now,  living the life of Riley......

The old house is not what we thought it was......

Well, we made arrangements to have the old house taken down this week.  They started yesterday.  Funny thing is that there really was an old log cabin inside the walls of the old house.  We had been told that 6 years ago when we bought this property.  But we had had several people come over and look at it and each one told us it was highly improbable.  So when Brandon from Clean Cut started with his big claw of a machine yesterday, he thought he would be done in a few hours.  We had asked if he could save the front porch slab, which is cement, thinking we might be able to use it when we start building the "bunk house".  I was videoing the entire operation while sending pictures to Jim, Sammy, Morgan, David and Matt.  And then he stopped.  He jumped out of the cab and ran over to tell me that there was, indeed, a log cabin inside the house.  So he called Chivas Duncan to run over and see what we found.  Both Brandon and Chivas called a bunch of people they know from this area to get some advice.  A nice guy came by around 2:30 and said it was an interesting structure, but that he was not in the market for another log cabin.  Seems he has a lot of experience in renovating old log cabins.  He said he would see if he could find anybody interested in purchasing it.  The wood is in really good shape, handhewn old pine with dovetailed corners.  There are round rafters which are pretty interesting, and some of the timbers still have the bark on them.  This guy said it was definitely built before 1890.  Jim was in meetings in Charlotte all day and it was hard to contact him from up at the site.  So we have halted the demo. We are considering our options, whether to see if this is a historical site for the county of Rutherford, or look for potential collectors, salvage the wood to recycle it?  I guess this is another case of things not turning out exactly as you would have planned.......
Living the life of Riley up at Guards Farm

The old house

So, we have been in discussion with Chivas Duncan, our former project manager, to finally take down the old house.  The house had been in the King Hill family for along time.  He either built it from scratch or he used a former log house as the base.  We were considering having the fire department burn it down, but now that option looks like it is off the table.  Apparently there are way too many permits and governmental hoops to jump through.  Old Mr. Skunk has been living under the house for a very long time.  The house seems to be built on a very large rock.  In the last couple of spring storms the shed next to the house blew down, so it has become a big mess.  We want to use the area for "Art in the Holler" as either parking space or for more exhibition space.  Currently we have mapped out the field around the small barn/smoke house.  The pumpkin patch has been mowed down and the pumpkins are starting to grow, if we can get a little break from the rabbits and the neighborhood goats.  My mom and I are taking Zoe (3yrs) and Lily (2yrs) up to the farm tomorrow with the dogs.  Hope the pond is up, and the flowers are still pretty.  Living the Life of Riley...

starting work on the pumpkin patch

So Jim and I went up to the farm this past weekend and the Sarantopoulos family followed us. (John, Morgan and Zoe (3yrs) and Lily (2yrs))  We did see a lot of damage from the recent storms but we were very fortunate.  No tree damage, very surprising, just some chairs and stuff blown around.  John and Jim were able to clean up alot of tree branches that we had stacked around on the other side of the pond.  Jim drove my jeep over the dam, very scary for me, (apparently he had a near miss with the water on the way over) I video taped the first trip back to the fire pit. Check out our facebook page Guards Farm, not too exciting.  I missed the exciting trip..... and so did America's Funniest Video!
John and I marked off the flower meadow for the pumpkin patch but did not get finished.  We dug up some plum trees that had volunteered and brought them home to see if we can get some to grow here at Laurel Grove.  Was a really fun weekend.  Zoe and Lily loved wearing the boots, little big for them but it was very muddy up there. 
Came home and had our first Guards Farm board meeting.  In attendance was: Morgan Sarantopoulos, Betty Woodrow, Amanda Sutton (soon to be Fahy), David Fahy, Katelyn Figueroa and I.  Jim was "absent with the checkbook".  Had some good discussions about our October event "Art In The Holler".  Everyone is on "board".  "No haters allowed" 
Jim and I are off to Santa Fe and Taos with friends this week.  Morgan and Katelyn are housesitting/babysitting the dogs.  Living the Life of Riley, Sue Fahy

Working at the farm

This past weekend Jim and I ran up to the farm to check on the pond and start working on the meadow.  The wildflower meadow we put in 5 years ago was starting to look a little grown over with large bushes, wild brambles, etc.  Last year I could not get up there early enough in the year, by time I got around to doing any work it was too late.  So we were able to get through about half of it, and reseed with some new wildflowers. 
Then we were able to meet up with Bubba and Jerry about mowing the front part of the property.  Especially where we are planning to put the festival boothes.  And I made some decisions about the other meadow, Morgan and I want to put a pumpkin patch in with the very young fruit trees.  One of the fruit trees bit the dust, however, thanks to the marauding gang of goats that wander around up there!  They are so cute, but they stripped the bark right off this baby tree. 
Also got a very close look to our elderly neighborhood skunk.  He lives under the old house, keeps his distance from us and the dogs, thank goodness.  And a mother bird has made a nest on the top of one of the ceiling fans on the front porch of the cabin.  She gets very angry with the dogs and watches very carefully.  No babies yet, but probably by next visit they will be already gone.
Anyway, find myself up at all hours of the night trying to make decisions about "Art in the Holler".  Just want to make sure we can pull this off and make wonderful memories for all who attend.  Still having a little trouble putting the website out, vendor applications are just about done and work has begun on the advertising posters and flyers.  Wish us courage, luck and grace on this journey.

The Other Voice of Notes from Guards Farm

My mother and I are working on getting our first Art Festival together in October of 2011 "Art in the Holler", which we will host at my parents farm up in Rutherfordton NC.  As we do this we will be blogging our way through the process.  So if you follow us, which I hope a lot of people do, you will hear 2 voices.  Mine, the new stay-at-home mommy, who just left the stressful world of corporate America to take care of my 2 little girls, Zoe 3 and Lily 2.  And, my mother's voice, the matriarch of the Fahy Family, she raised 4 children on 1 income, and it wasn't always pretty, but I consider her a success, not only because of how great I turned out (haha), but also because none of us are serial killers.  Notice how low I have set the bar, if only to hope that I can reach that in my own parenting. 

Anyway, I am trying to figure out how put the website together, and learn how to plan this event, while making pb&js and getting the girls to swim lessons on time, and get my Yoga Instructor certification, and make enough money to get my hair cut once a month!  So I wish us good luck as we embark on this journey, I am sure hilarity will be on the plate! Until next time as my mom says we'll be "Living the Life of My Riley".

trying to get the website up and running

apparently intuit is not intuitive.....   been working on trying to bring Guards Farm website up and out there.  And trying to figure out how to do original artwork for "Art in the Holler".  I imagine a view of the mountains from Lost Horizon, cause I can only see the ring of mountains up at the top of our mountain and it is quite a hike from the house.  Now  how do I translate that onto a page?  And how do I sell my vision of an art festival open to the public, so artists don't have to pay an arm and a leg to show their artwork to interested buyers.  A festival with a separate art contest for elementary and middle school students. Bring some event information to the area hotels and resorts.  Not looking for any sponsors, just trying to do this on a shoestring budget. A nice family friendly event for the tourists and people in my section of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Bring some money up the mountain for my neighbors, if they want to sell some stuff on their properties, maybe get Shingle Hollow on the map.   I always wanted to run a consignment store for craftspeople and artists, but not interested in the 365 day a year schtick.  Am I crazy?