Barn Pegs and Chicken Cutlets

We were out in the workshop again yesterday supervising!
Mom and dad were making barn pegs (wooden nails) to hold the mortise and tenon timbers together. See those thick dark pieces of wood in the background? That's white oak and dad takes them to the radial arm saw and to the jointer and then to the bandsaw before he comes out with these clean-looking sticks that you see below.Mom and dad still have a couple more steps before this stick is an actual peg that they can use for the barn project!

Later on, we helped dad make chicken cutlets in his workshop!
You're probably wondering why dad is cooking in his workshop, right? Well, nine months before dad had his heart transplant he had a device implanted in his heart called a Jarvik heart. This device helped to keep dad alive!
It is surgically implanted right into your heart and a cord comes out of your stomach and connects to a battery that keeps the heart pump going 24/7!
Mom says that it was a VERY interesting experience and one that she would not want to repeat again and she wasn't even the patient - dad was!
So you can imagine that this cord that comes out of your stomach must be kept clean and sterile and all times because infection could have killed dad!
So dad and mom had a role reversal for many jobs around the house and one of dad's jobs when he was up to it was to cook dindin!
Dad loves to cook! He makes the best spaghetti sauce and delicious soups and one of his specialties is chicken cutlets! And he loves cooking in his workshop because he has a 10 foot long bench that serves as his work table and this equals tons of room!
We're ready and waiting dad, send them down!
So that was our day yesterday! Supervising peg making and helping dad cook chicken cutlets is hard work but very rewarding!

So until next time...................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

True Colors Thursday - Lapis Lazuli

It's true colors Thursday once again! If you want to play, let our hostess Blue know you're playing!This week's color is lapis lazuli, which is a bright blue!

The background in this print of me by our favorite artist, Miss Barbara, is lapis lazuli!
Mom's coffee comes in a bright blue container and when it's empty dad uses it for Mitch's personal water bowl when he travels in his truck with him!
The cover of one of mom's favorite quilt books is lapis lazuli!
This one needs no explanation!
Next Thursday is Thanksgiving day here in the USA and the color will be orange!

So until next time..................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - The Rocking Horse Collection

Hi everyone! It's me, Autumn!
A couple of months back, mom got a box from gram and it had her entire rocking horse collection in it! Gram has been collecting rocking horses for years and years!
We haven't counted all of the rocking horses but there are a least a zillion and they're all shapes and colors and sizes and from all different countries!

What I want to know is who is going to dust this thing? I sure hope it's not me!Mom made the one that's right in front of my nose! She made it a long time ago and it's hasn't fallen apart yet! He needs a rider, mom!
This is the whole thing without my fuzzhead in the way!
Well hello! Mind if I climb aboard and go rocking with you?!
Thank you so much for sending us your life-long collection, gram! It's sensational!

See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

An Update on the Crump Barn Project

Hi everyone! It's me, Mitchy reporting! I was the supervisor in charge yesterday on the on-going barn project! Mom and dad will be working on this project for another year till it's completed!
Naturally the outside work is done because the seasons have changed so we've moved indoors.

Dad uses all the fancy timberframe saw equipment and mom mostly works using the hand tools. She finds it less stressful and safer!
This mortise is all done and mom is ready to move onto another one. This is one of the posts in the barn.
Dad prepares it for her with the skill saws and timberframe saws like this
And mom uses her mallet and chisel to get everything nice and square and plumb so that this pattern storm brace fits and then she knows that she can move on to the next mortise.
I've got my eyes on you, mom - no goofing off!Dad made the mallet! This one happens to be white oak. He turned it on his lathe and he had the bronze head machined. It was an idea he had one year. Actually, he made a whole bunch of them for his timberframe students to use in class. The bronze was so pretty and shiny that mom didn't want to use the mallet at first and mark it up! Dad told her to go ahead - they were to use - not to display!

Maggie has the day off from supervising! She's busy with her stuffed bone.
Break time! It's time for me to enjoy that nice warm fire and my stuffed bone too!
Yesterday was rainy and yucky and the fire looked and felt so good!
The project is coming along nicely. Keep up the good work, mom and dad!

So until next time.................

Yer friend and supervisor,

Mitch

The Winners of the Christmas Stocking GiveAway

Mom has a blast making these stockings and we love giveaways so this works for us!
So now to reveal the numbers on the flip side of these pieces of paper!
We're not sure you can read them!
Geez, Mitch, I thought I told you to go over them with black crayon so they'd be more visible!
The numbers are one, six, twelve and twenty-one!
And the winners are:

#1 goes to Faya and Dyos
#6 goes to Mango and Dexter
#12 goes to Reilly
and #21 goes to Sue and her Portuguese Water dogs
and there's one more! Mom has finished one more stocking since Miss Autumn posted and we think that seeing as Deetz commented twice, the fifth stocking should go to him! So you win too, Deetz!

We wish we had stockings for everyone because we love each and every one of you! We'll keep mom knitting! *wink wink*

Could the winners please email mom their addresses and we'll get the Christmas stockings in the mail to you asap! Our email in on our sidebar. Thanks, guys!

Our pals Jake and Fergi have asked us to help spread this message
as quickly and as far as we can.

~~~~~~~~~
So as many dogs and cats and families
as possible can read it prior to 5:00 PM, Saturday, 14 Nov 09, Iowa Time
(11:00 PM, 14 Nov 09 GMT)
.
Just please help us get the message out.

As you may know
Miss Snickers is struggling
Mightily
Along with her family.




(The best place to keep up with updates
is her Gussie’s blog.)
Last night looked as if it might have been her last.
This morning she rebounded with improved symptoms.
She is far from out of the woods
But she and her family
Including her gentle and loving brother Butchy
Have been granted another day.
We can’t help but believe
that part of the improvement is because of
The support and love that have surrounded her
From all around the world
Thanks to the linked paws
Of her blogging friends.
The Power of the Paw
We are asking everyone to set your alarms
And at exactly 11:00 PM GMT on Saturday 14 Nov 09
(Go to this link to find what time that is for you)
5:00 PM Saturday evening in Iowa
as Snickers' family sits down to eat
Turn toward them (in the central USA)
And join together in a silent minute
Of prayer, meditation, contemplation, reflection
Whatever feels right to you.
Followed by whatever means of communication
You choose.
Arrooing
Barking
Howling
Yipping
Yapping
Wooing
Meowing
Mewing
Purring
To wish and send Miss Snickers and her family
whatever is in your hearts
That will help them feel the Love and Support
They need right now.
Personally, we’ll be praying for a Miracle.
Then
Blow a Kiss
and send your Love and Prayers and Best Wishes
to Miss Snickers and her Family
and they will feel their arrival
in the breeze.
OK?
We believe it will help.
And we'll do anything in our power right now
To help.

~~~~~~

So this afternoon while dad is picking up our weekly pizza on his way home from swimming, we will be pausing for Snickers and AireZenning as hard as we can for the miracle that she needs to beat this nasty cancer!
We believe in the power of the paw!

So until next time.................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

The Christmas Stocking GiveAway

Autumn blew our surprise! Well, okay, we forgive you, Autumn!

So as you already know, mom has been knitting mini-Christmas stocking ornaments at night while we all watch TV. She has 4 all finished!
Thanks for modeling them, Mitch!
To make it fair to everyone, we've written 4 numbers on the flip side of these 4 pieces of paper!
We'll be checking the comment section of this post and the doggies whose names match up to those numbers are the winners!
We'll be back tomorrow to let you know who the lucky winners are!
One, two, three - GO!

Do you guys realize that today is Friday the 13th?!
It's also our friend, Jaffa's 3rd birthday! Mitch and Jaffa are only days apart in age and we think that's pretty cool!
Happy birthday, Jaffa! We hope Sunshade is hard at work making you the most delicious cake ever and topped with lots of ice cream!
So until next time.............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

True Colors Thursday - Violet

Yeaaaaaaaaa, one of our favorite days has rolled around once again! We just love playing! If you are so inclined, let Blue know!
Today's color is violet!

These are Johnny Jump-ups that are still blooming in our garden! Mom just loves that face!
We were lucky enough to snag the picture of the violet Asters before they were history for this year!Our violet ice cream spoon!
Mom made this scarf a few years back! It has violet yarn in it!
My red hatter collar has violet in it too!
No, Mitch, this is my bed! Go sleep on the other one!
Next week's color is lapis lazuli, which is a bright blue!

So until next time...................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Airedale Christmas Tree

Hi everybody! It's me, Autumn!I just have to know - who else has their Christmas tree up? Am I the first one?

The Airedale Christmas tree is always the first tree to go up at our house and it's always the last one to come down! We just LOVE our Airedale tree and we wish it could stay up all year!
Mom has made so many of the ornaments on this tree! She's made this felt one with the Airedale face on it a couple of years ago! It's so easy to make ornies with felt because there are no raw edges on the felt to ravel. You just cut out your shape with sissors and use the buttonhole stitch to sew the face to the backing! And if you don't want to sew you can use glue! It's so simple and you have a handmade ornie for your tree!
Mom makes all of the wooden ornies too! It's been a couple of years since she's made a new one though and this year will be no different! The Crump timberframe project is keeping her and dad too busy to have fun in the workshop!The darker wooden Airedale is mahogany and the lighter one just above it is tiger maple. A lot of the ornaments are butternut. It's a very easy wood to work with and it's such a pretty light color!
Now I have to tell you all a secret! See the stocking ornie in this next picture?
Mom has been knitting away and she has 4 stockings similar to this one and Maggie and Mitch are going to be having a Christmas stocking give-away very, very soon so be on the lookout for that and shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell anyone that I blew the secret, okay?See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Chaos Before Dindin

Remember last month when we told you that this picture was most deceiving and that we're really not the little angels that we appear to be when mom is fixing our dindin bowls?

A couple of you asked to see a video of us in action and believe it or not, it's taken mom this long to get that video!
As soon as mom would start to record, Mitch would become a little angel and he wouldn't perform like he normally does and she'd have to stop recording and wait till the next day! It's only dindin time that it happens - not breakie!
HA! She finally wore the little bugger down!
Take a look~

So until next time.......................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Happy Transplant Anniversary, Dad

Today our dad has had his transplanted heart for 5 years! We can't thank his donor family enough for this precious gift and we can't thank dad's "Boston Girl" enough for saving his life! Dad has one strong heart and he never takes it for granted. He takes good care of himself with proper diet (well, there is that occasional pizza) and lots of exercise and he volunteers at the hospital helping and encouraging patients who are waiting for their miracles to happen!

The transplant community believes in celebrating your new heart with a new birth-day so this means that dad actually has 2 birthdays!
The first one happened a couple of weeks ago when he came home from Rhode Island for the night and the second one is today so that means BIGTIME celebrations!

We are grabbing Tinny, the TinMan and our special dindin bag that holds mom and dad's water bottles and our ice cream spoon and we're celebrating!We're heading to Glenwood for burgers and fries and then we'll be off to Wentworth's for celebration ice cream! whooooooooohooooooooo We can't wait!

Happy transplant anniversary and birth-day, dad! And thank you so much, Boston Girl for saving our dad's life! We are so very thankful! We love our dad!

So until next time..................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

True Colors Thursday - Canary Yellow

Welcome to true colors Thursday! Our hostess is Blue! If you'd like to join in the fun, stop by her blog and let her know!Today's color is canary yellow!
These pretty hankies are yellow!
This stained glass lemon in our laundry room window has yellow in it.
These yellow mums that Mitch is about to lift his leg and pee on are yellow!This box of golden raisins is yellow!

No, I didn't get to eat any! Bummer!The handle on this screwdriver is yellow!

The duckie inside this egg is yellow!
No, it's not yours, Mitch!
Next week's color is violet!

So until next time....................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - The Tart Melter

Hi everyone! It's me, Autumn!
We have this most awesome device at our house that mom calls the tart melter! She pretty much puts it away for the spring and summer but when autumn and winter come around and the windows are closed and the heat is on and she wants the house to smell good, the tart melter gets put back into use!

The hardest part is deciding which scent candle to melt on any given day! This one is Cinnamon Coffee Cake and it smells delicious and its fragrance is permeating our entire house!Mom takes a knife and chunks up a candle. She used to use tarts that were designed for the tart melter but it's more expensive that way. She adds a few chunks to the tin basket and turns on the switch and voila!The really nice thing about the tart melter is that there is no open flame so you don't have that worry and the electric light bulb and the melter actually put off a small amount of heat and who doesn't need extra heat when it's cold out! We sure love our tart melter and can't imagine life without one.
Does anyone else have one?

See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Blame It On Mitch

Guess what happened?
I poo'd in the kitchen Friday night after everyone went to bed! I left a real goody right in front of the back door and I went all over the kitchen rug and it wasn't a pretty sight! Mom wasn't too happy when she got up the next morning!

Later on morning walkies, mom thought about how this possibly could have happened and then it dawned on her - it wasn't my fault - it was clearly Mitch's fault!
When mom takes me out to poo after dindin, lots of times Mitch comes along with us. He almost never has to poo but he always pees and then because he hates being bored waiting for me to decide where the best spot is for me to go, he creates distractions to entertain himself!

A motorcycle went by just as I was about to assume the position and Mitch hates motorcycles so he took the opportunity at that moment to lunge forward and try to let the motorcyclist know that it was totally unacceptable to be riding on OUR street in front of OUR house! And naturally I had to forget about what was most important at that moment and back Mitch up, right?
I never got back on track so it's clearly Mitch's fault that I poo'd in the kitchen! Mom has let me off the hook completely and she even hugged and kissed me and apologized to me!
Wow - who would have thought!

I was thinking that if any of you ever need your moms to forgive and forget for any trouble that you might have gotten yourself into, I can mail Mitch to your house and he can take the blame for whatever you've done wrong and all will be forgiven and you'll be GOLD!
Does this sound like a plan?I think this box looks like the perfect fit for you, Mitch!
Get your hiney in there! We want to make sure that you have at least a little bit of breathing room!
The box even says FRAGILE on it, so you're all set! In you go!Is this a great idea, or what?
I'm sitting by the phone! My phone number is area code (BLA)-ME M-ITCH!
I hope to hear from someone soon!

So until next time...................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Happy Halloween

We want to wish everyone out there a happy Halloween! Luckily for us, our mom doesn't make us wear all of those nutty embarrassing costumes! We can get away with just bandanas!
Thanks, mom!

Autumn, Deirdre and Farley are all planning on going out trick or treating tonight together! Mom says that furkids need to go in groups to stay safe!
For us doggies - remember to JUST SAY NO to any candy, and especially chocolate!
Stay safe, everyone!

So until next time..................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch