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........