Weekend adventures and spiral staircase update

We had a very busy weekend!  I am torn which thing to post about first.......

I am attempting to get a few posts in here, pictures, life stories, my own personal achievements and probably a catchup post that covers a whole bunch of stuff that I never got to......  that will be interesting!

This weekend we had the pleasure of the company of Greg and Sarah- the newly engaged Mad children! And of course the puppies: Ruger and Toby!

Sunday afternoon we all went back to the littlecabininthewoods because as usual The Mad-Accountant and the Barber were going to "finish the cabin", which never fails to amuse.  They've been doing that for about 4 years now.  And as usual, they'll finish it next weekend.

So we all headed back there, most of them driving- I, of course, walked and took Ruger with me.  She is a great walker!  She runs around like a maniac, nose to the ground, but STOPS when she is about 30 ft away and waits for me!

Her is a good puppy!

Oh lookie, water!!

So, first things first- the spiral staircase is making good progress.  The railing is almost done, you can walk up to the loft with no problem.  Apparently the upstairs railing won't be worked on until next fall.... they need more straight pine branches I think, and there are other outside projects that need addressing.

view from the loft

Mad-Accountant working on the rail, you can see the hand of the Barber!

The Barber cutting down part of the railing

Ok, this was an interesting interlude.......  Um yeah, so apparently Middle son's lovely fiance's dad used to tie flies up with the hair of the unfortunate young lady who sat in front of him in school and then he had the fly on a hair leash....  hmmmm.  This speaks for itself, I think.

Tying up a fly-

In other news, I was somehow involved in target shooting.  I had never shot this particular implement before, and in fact it has been many years since I have shot any firearm at all!  I do not know what got into me!  And yes I hit the target!  However it did not explode like it was supposed to, um, yeah, never mind.

Toby and Ruger tucked away safely

So, while the kids were firing off the remainder of the ammo, (really for me the7 or 8 I shot off was more than plenty for quite a long time), I was told we have to go find a tree!  LOL, where are we going to find one of those?

It had to be a special tree- a straight tree!

A balsam.....

I of course got distracted and wandered off and found these...

May flowers!

 So apparently they were looking for a recently dead balsam- dry but not dry rotten!  Picky picky

The old homestead from the side of our field.  It was a pretty day!

Anyway, that was part of my weekend!  The elusive Mike did make an appearance, but I apparently didn't capture him this time....  :)

Until next time- Find your joy!

Stone house- alternate views

On my walk Saturday, I found myself thinking about the stone house.  I love the stone house, as everyone who reads this blog should know!  As I was thinking, I began imagining what pictures I could take that were different- alternative views.  

We get so used to seeing things a certain way.  It is hard to imagine what things look like from the other side.

The other side of the stone house

There are lots of things that prevent us from these new approaches.  Fear. Boredom. Lack of imagination.  But with the simple act of stepping close or  pulling your eye upwards, you can see new things in the old, the familiar, the ordinary.

Take a look around the corner, peek inside, be brave and walk down the hill...

Barn foundation down the hill from the stone house

There are unexpected things around every corner, you can find surprises in the most unexpected places.

The place you are at- in life, in the landscape, in your journey determines how you see things.  Determines the color of your picture.  Determines the amount of joy you are letting into your life.  Take a step off the beaten path, out of your own personal box.  Enjoy the view, from whatever angle you end up seeing it.  It can be hard to look at, it can make you sad, but you can learn from it.  Look from all sides, view points and angles.  Experience them for what they are.

And after the searching is over, find your joy!

Picture time

I MUST POST SOME PIX HERE!!!!

I hate not having the time to blog.  HATE IT!!!

Here are a bunch of pictures- flowers, sunrises, barns, water, people....  a big variety!  Enjoy!

My favorite flower- the daffodil

Walking pix

Gorgeous sunrise

Daffodils

For Jane!

Reminds me of my childhood...

Blacksmith shed

Spiral staircase in progress

Spiral staircase in the cabin

Until next time- take the TIME to find some joy!