How muchis that doggie in the window? So sings the song and it was especially apropos on this early fall snow day at our son and daughter-in-love’s home.
Our trip to South Dakota just a short time ago was plumb packed with apple picking,
Mall of America shopping and lots of photographic moments like this one.
Come along as we enjoy a little fall snow fun!…
Snow is enchanting when there is just a dusting of it on the ground ~ it is a bit magical with each tiny snowflake sparkling as the sun peaks through the clouds and sets it aglow.
Our son and daughter-in-law’s dogs were excited to go out and play in the snow as was I.
***
Snow is also fun to enjoy from a dog’s point of view.
;)’
Luna~ part Siberian Husky, collie and sheltie, if I remember right. She has the long nose and a collie’s face with those pale blue husky’s eyes! Striking!!!
Part of what I wanted to accomplish while I was visiting was to try and capture Luna and Bandit’s expressions.
Bandit~ like his name, he is hard to photograph. A bit shy and very quick, I had to focus on his body where I thought his face would be later and click-click to get him to turn. Love this of him!
I started taking pictures the first morning after we arrived.
This photo of Luna I had to sharpen ~ she moved ever so slightly as the shutter clicked. Also added a bit of blue to her eyes, backed off the whites and highlights. Decreased the blacks. 🙂
The lead photograph for this post says it all.
Luna and Bandit are best friends; attached
at the hip.
Where one goes so does the other.
🙂
Happy with these pics I then went on to shoot pics
of the October snow day outside.
According to the weatherman this day and snowfall tie the record for the earliest day since recorded snow in Sioux Falls history.
This was just a study of leaves and eaves.
Ha ha, pun not intended.
😉
I love how the snow highlights the rolled up
garden hose…
Pristine snow and leaden skies with just a
hint of blue…
“Home”
The doormat says it all…
A neighbor’s cute entryway.
How much is that doggie in our homes’ windows
waiting patiently for us to return each day ~ our best sparkling home decor ever??
Priceless!
;)’
Sharing with
Friday Features ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl!
Sweet Inspiration ~ The Boondock’s Blog
Thursday Favorite Things ~ Katherine’s Corner
If you missed Photography Lessons at the Falls of Sioux Falls or apple picking at Country Apple Orchard just click on these highlighted sections. 🙂
Apparentlythey were invented to keep critters from
wandering into Dutch homes and kitchens since screen doors
weren’t yet invented and though they were created in Holland
they were really a bit hit here in America.
Here’s a neat article on Dutch doors for you to check out.
Solvang is a great little town that after you’ve parked
you can pretty much walk everywhere to dine and shop.
Here Kathy is leading us on a quick tour around to see
a few other shops.
Oh, and there are a number bed’n’breakfast
places and hotels in Solvang to stay at, too.
From here we drove back to Kathy’s lovely home but
before we go here are a few last photos of Solvang and one
on the way driving through an ethereal allée of trees!!!
***
Our headline photograph from above, again ~ here you can see the lovely ethereal blouses and some of their beautiful white on white antiques and vintage goods displayed
The next day afters spending the late afternoon having
tea and cherry scones for a snack instead of dinner
{We were still full from lunch, really.} and then talking until
late in the evening about decorating and all the
things Kathy and her husband Ken have been updating
For me it was chandelier heaven!Each was unique and
other than this next really large one ($995 on sale) and
another really beautiful French chandelier
most were in the range of $120 – $350 or so.
Colorful candles, mugs, pretty jewelry, curated clothing and unique chandeliers all for sale along with spoon rings ~ Posies has something for everyone who comes through their doors for a visit.
Gardens are such special places and getting to see how
my friends Julie and Jim’s gardens were coming along was a
real treat on my recent visit to California…
Jim added the shade cover to their vegetable garden to protect the plants there from the harsh and intense California summer sunshine. Great idea to incorporate in our gardens!
Jim purchased the beautiful red barn {top lead photograph above} and then builtit towards the left-back part of their property
in the Wildomar/Lake Elsinore area of Southern California. *Update: Julie just FB me and said Jim built this lovely barn from scratch. I am not surprised as he is a terrific carpenter. 🙂
Being that their property is quite wide and is deep ~ nearing a half-acre with a covered porch set up against the eastern-facing back-yard, a large swimming pool to the immediate right and traveling back down along the fence line, bougainvillea along the chainlink fence separating their yard from their neighbors and many lovely rose bushes planted in-front of the bougainvillea, Jim and Julie were able to do a lot with their yard.
Their next big plans are to add a retaining wall running down the left side of the yard and to plant it with oleander bushes, which grow really big in California and will create a nice privacy screen with their left-side neighbors.
Don’t ask whyI didn’t take any photographs of the rest of the yard for you ~ I have no idea why except I was there just to visit initially and then Julie suggested we go on a tour.
That’s how we ended up upstairs seeing her home’s
gorgeous bathroom!
I’ve been to their home many times over the past decade for
teas that Julie has hosted and often just to visit or to pick her up
on our way as a group to go antique browsing or out to lunch.
So, at some point I can share more of their beautiful home
and gardens through other photographs I’ve taken back when we were all getting our photographs printed.
🙂
Two sweet chickens who are friendly and enjoy being picked up and cuddled ~ Rhoda (L), a Rhode Island red and Mr. Clara (R), in the apron, and who was originally thought to be a female. Lol! The Barred Rock chicken below is Maddie.
Today it’s all about the chickens
These girls are gorgeous in their black and white feathers
and their shiny red combs. I just looked them up and I think the black and white chickens are of the Barred Rock breed which are good egg layers and produce large white eggs. Here’s a link I found talking about types of chickens that I found useful in trying to identify these fluffy girls. Another friend in Northern California who also raises chickens and whom I went on a long hike back several years ago says that the way to sex a chicken is by their tails ~ roosters have curved tail feathers as compared to the straighter female’s feathers.
Julie was telling me a while back that she makes little
“aprons” for her chickens to keep them from getting
picked on by the other birds.
Unfortunately I guess chickens do this a lot as several of
her birds are in separate chicken pens due to having
been picked on.
🙁
Guess that’s where being hen-pecked comes from…
😉
*Here’s a link to pick up some chicken aprons of your own
if you need some:
I am an Amazon affiliate and if you purchase something from me I will earn a small commission on it ~ please see my full disclosure HERE. Thank you!
the one for this bathroom, two for their master bathroom
and one for their downstairs powder room. By buying four, they were able to get the cost down plus insurance picked up some of the costs with the renovations due to the damage.
There were actually two different water pipe breaks and the
bathroom I am sharing today was the first break several years ago
but this room wasn’t fully remodeled until the second waterline
break this past year.
The second break occurred in their master bathroom causing
damage there and also to their powder room directly
right below downstairs
so…
This is how they ended up with four of the same gorgeous
Here is one of their spare bedrooms and it is devoted to sharing Julie’s dolls which belonged to her mother and grandmother and also a sweet hexagonal paper pieced flower quilt hand-sewn
by her grandmother almost a century ago.
Bright and airy and turn of the last century this look is
I just loved her sweet face and personality ~ she is a very
gentle Maltese/toy poodle mix and was so photogenic
that I had to snap a quick photo of her.
Daisy looks adorable sharing the lovely tile flooring and
this sweet bathmat with you.
Sharing with Sweet Inspiration ~ The Boondock’s Blog Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage Thursday Favorite Things ~ Katherine’s Corner Over the Moon ~ Gwin Gal Adventures Wow Us Wednesday ~ Savvy Southern Style
My former home’s backyard garden in Murrieta, California the year before we sold our home.
Giving Thanks
We have much to be grateful for ~ the least of which
is that we weren’t homeless over the past two
years while Hubby was out of his normal work.
We made it through having to sell what I thought
was our “forever home” and instead took up
a slightly nomadic life
living in a 27′ Coleman travel trailer for about
1 1/2 years before we traded it in for our new 41′ fifth wheel which we love for its room!
Looking west over neighboring rv’s here in North Central Texas.
Just a few photos from earlier this fall of my
kitchen and dining areas.
The lemon poppy seed cake on the back counter
is one I often bake when having friends
over for tea.
The garden area in September just after putting in the little square stepping stones.
Our little prairie rv home
This is the garden area just outside our fifth-wheel.
We had no “pop-outs” on the previous trailer so we were
really cramped and constantly having to move a box
to sit down to eat, watch tv, to do anything.
In this beauty, we have the luxury of five slides which makes
the inside about 16′ wide throughout most of the trailer.
It is really a small apartment in many ways.
We are staying nomadic for just a little while longer as we
begin looking for land and a house.
🙂
My friend Peggy came for an impromptu tea one day recently.
“One is silver and the Other is gold”
I am thankful also for my “old friends” in California, whom I can visit with anytime via Facebook and Instagram, and I am thankful for the “new friends” I have made since moving here to Texas. I believe God has provided for this need for friendship with park owners who really care in every sense of the word for the people and animals who live here.
Little Skidboot at his first shearing. He is one of 13 alpacas here at Wagon Master RV Park and Alpaca Farm, Sanger, Texas.
It is a great blessing for everyone here, whether as short-term campers or as extended-stay residents, to be able to stay here. The owners really act as caretakers of the land and have a heart for people. 🙂
A tablesetting I did earlier this fall.
New beginnings We are grateful for a chance to start over and work on rebuilding our nest egg. We also are rebuilding our household ~ of which this “prairie home fifth-wheel” is a big part. Traveling to new places as I work on making my little blog into a real business is also an exciting part of the new here in Texas! I am grateful for the chance to do something I love full-time. 🙂
A recent Thanksgiving tablesetting with pumpkins and pansies.
Grateful for the little things Mostly I am grateful for all the little things which have “coincidentally happened” this past year… Our daughter moving to Texas before we did to move out and live with her friend then… my husband finding and getting his new position also here in Texas. Or like last Christmas time when I found a J Broadhurst Constable series set of china minus the lid for the teapot in an antique mall I just happened to visit for the first time. It had been in my heart for many years to have a set of pinkish-red china like this as it so beautiful to me. God knew it and led me to it! Of this, I have no doubt. Lastly, for meeting a new group of friends and a Bible study being offered here at the park and farm by a new wonderful friend.
Coincidence?
I don’t think these things are coincidences.
I believe they are gifts and blessings from our
Great Creator.
I hope you do, too.
😉
Our kitchen table set for a little Thanksgiving tea!
😀 Many blessings to you and your family this Thanksgiving… Please enjoy visiting with all of the lovely ladies who are linking up today. There are many wonderful and inspirational tablesettings and ideas out there for your holiday decorating…
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Just about a month ago now, my husband took a week’s vacation and we took advantage of the time to go on a mini vacation first catching a Texas Ranger’s ballgame. {They won!}
After the game, we drove just a half-hour away to Old Fort Worth just west of Dallas to the famous stockyards area where cattle were rounded up and shipped across country east and west.
Summer school students out on a field trip enjoyed watching the cattle drive.
The Stockyards
Famous as “The beginnings of the West” as the description on the
Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District website online says, the area boasts original cow pens, a railyard turnstile for turning engines around when heading a shipment of cattle east out to all points across country, wonderful old brick and limestone buildings with tall false fronts popular during the heyday of western expansion, and of course those famous Texas animals, the Texas longhorns, who walk the length of East Exchange Avenue two times a day to the delight of visitors.
Things to See and Do
The twice daily cattle drive at 11:00am and 4:00pm, the Stockyards have plenty to see and do. Everything centers around the history of the cattle drives and America’s western expansion.
Several museums cover the local history of Fort Worth and one of those is a large museum called The Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame devoted to modes of travel during the mid to late 1800’s and up until the 1920’s or so. This museum also houses booths sharing historical snippets and memorabilia of famous Texans from rodeo, stage and movie stars who have ties to the the Fort Worth and Dallas area.
As you come into this carriage museum, the first thing you see is
Roy Rogers’ beautiful palomino horse forever rearing as a living testimony to the raw awesome beauty and danger of the Old West.
Roy Rogers’ beloved Trigger ~ He lived a good life performing in 188 movies and living 33 years. Sorry some of these photos are blurry ~ all were taken with my iPhone as my Canon’s memory card was full…
Just like on Hollywood, California’s famous sidewalks, Fort Worth also has its stars!
Famous rodeo rider
These are just a few of the photographs I saw in the museum’s Famous Texans area in individual booths. I’ll share more of that next week when I share the museum itself.
Recognize this really famous fellow??? Give you a hint: Think “Men in Black” and “The Fugitive.”
In addition, cowboys roam the streets on horseback and will answer any questions visitors have about Texas and the heyday of cattle driving. These same cowhorns will bring Texas longhorns out throughout the day and park them under tree-shaded areas for visitors to come and sit on for photo opportunities.
Shopping and Restaurants
Stores are open for patrons to shop for everything Texas and to buy Texas mementos. This also includes vintage and new boots and gear. Some shops cater specifically to all new bootwear ~ some will even take custom orders as in days of old! I saw both new and used boot shops with vintage and new clothing as well. Hubby purchased a new pair of boots that fit like a glove! and I’ll share about that in an upcoming post on Shopping in Fort Worth.
Cool Texas wall art inside Cavender’s Boot City, Fort Worth.
There are burger places, bars and sit-down restaurants for every budget and we ate at several. This is the place we had lunch on the Friday we watched the cattle drive, a little sit-down burger joint of whose name I didn’t catch. It’s inside the stockyards covered shopping area, though! 🙂
Artwork up on the wall inside this burger place ~ pretty cool!
Well that’s it for now! Next week I’ll share
the museum and a really lovely spunky Texas
shopping mecca for Texas-style women’s clothing ~
the fun and funky
Sassy Pantz!
{hint: It’s where I picked up that really cute ruffly blouse cum tanktop!}
Sharing with
Share Your Style ~ The Red Painted Cottage
Friday Feature ~ Oh, My Heartsie Girl!
Friday at the Firehouse ~ A Fireman’s Wife
Sweet Inspiration ~ The Boondocks Blog
Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make Party ~ Blue Willow House
My friends Scott and Marian just sitting down to tea.
This past Tuesday I had some new friends over for
a real tea~ something that has been missing in my life
since we moved out of our former home…
🙂
I have had friends in individually just for a scone and tea
but I haven’t had a full-on tea with courses like I used to do a
couple of times a year for 17 or 18 years as part of the
Victorian Tea Society
when we were in our previous two homes.
Sorry this is a bit blurry! It was 11:45 or later and I was rushing to shoot a few photos before my friends arrived.
We had a wonderful time! Spirit radio played softly
from out in the living room
candlelight flickered from the vanilla candles unobtrusively set on the dining room table and the spicy scent of cinnamon~chip scones filled the sun-warmed air around us.
Zucchini quiche made with goat cheese replacing the usual mozzarella {why it’s so soft} and chicken salad sandwiches.
First Course
Our first course included cinnamon chip scones with mock Devonshire cream
made with goat cheese, almond milk and powdered sugar
{since Marian has allergies to cow’s milk}
whipped into to soft peaks.
Because of using the goat cheese, this type of
cream doesn’t stay whipped for long ~ just make a
small batch and use it up quickly.
*If I had my big Kitchen-Aide mixer here the clotted cream
may have stayed whipped together better.
We also had cherry jam and Ikea’s orange and elderflower marmalade.
If you’ve never had this jam, it is incredibly delicious!
;)’
After each having one scone, the basket was passed around
a second time whereby Marian and I split a second scone.
We decided to save room for what was coming next…
Main Course
Next we partook in goat cheese zucchini quiche
chicken salad sandwiches on cinnamon bread and
fruits including
raspberries, grapes, blueberries, and strawberries.
The fruit being the perfect complement
to the tanginess of the quiche and
the cinnamon spiciness of the sandwiches.
While we ate we talked about Texas… They had brought over a AAA book and a
couple of magazines with places to visit and
things to do here in this great state.
We also talked about where they are going
and what they will be doing next.
They will become camp hosts at their next camping spot
like we were in our last spot in California from
late summer 2015 – November 2016!
It’s a great way to see an area and work a little
to pay for a camp spot to park your RV.
Something to consider if you plan to travel
when you retire. {Since it costs so much to pay for campsites…}
🙂
Scott and Marian will be heading out of state
following their daughter and son-in-law with a change in jobs
{Fun! Always a good thing to get to see new places!}
but I realized that I will really miss them.
Having been neighbors here in the park for several months now
surviving a number of hail and lightening storms
and
this past winter hunkering down together through the real cold
strong winds and rains that happens in this part of North Texas,
we’ve built up a real friendship in a short amount of time.
Same with my friend Sondra and
her dog “Shelby”
who are also traveling cross-country moving back home
to Oregon where she can be closer to family.
{She missed the tea as this was her first day to travel, but I made sure she had scones to go. :)}
“Shelby” is a sweet chihuahua terrier mix
These two photos were taken with my iPhone ~ a mutual friend took this one of Sondra and myself and our pups.
Scott and Marian took me down to the
Fort Worth Botanical Gardens
last month and we had a lovely lunch down there that day.
Marian, her daughter and granddaughter enjoying the walk through the various garden rooms at Fort Worth Botanical Gardens.
The Last Course ~ Dessert
Dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting
dreamily drizzled with mashed raspberries
was the perfect end to a perfect meal.
The one flavor complemented the other…
We moved over to the living room for this final course
and my guests were treated to the picturesque views
of the property out the back window…
The alpacas lay quietly under now fully leafed trees
down in the pasture to the left
or were grazing nearby.
Birds hopped about in yard and on the meadow hill behind our prairie home picking up twigs and grasses and working industriously finding materials to build their springtime nests.
Meet Janet! She is super sweet, very professional when you call in for reservations. She was so excited to be moving into their new house! Just check out this gorgeous kitchen!
When we moved to Texas in November 2016
one of the first people we met were
Janet Woolston and her husband Ken
of Wagon Master RV Park and Alpaca Farm.
Come along inside and visit her
beautiful Texas home!
Wagon Master RV Park and Alpaca Farm (940) 458-0077
is located in the small town of
Sanger, Texas
off the I-35 north of Denton city,
exit 478.
The Woolstons have owned this property for
about 4 1/2 years now and
the site came with about 100 RV spots for
weekend camping and extended stays.
But enough about all that!
Let’s get to their beautiful home.
***You can read all about the camp itself
and the sweet alpacas
here and here.
🙂
The barn door separating the front office space from the house itself. Love that barn door look!
Inside the Office
We came to the park our first weekend
in North Texas in mid-November 2016
then after a
two week-plus stay down in Corinth at
Destiny RV Park
Janet had a long-term space come available
as of December 1st.
Hallelujah!!!
Turns out so many people are
moving to Texas there aren’t so many places
for people to stay and that includes RV parks ~
which are an economical way to live
for folks on a tight budget
or just for
folks wanting to get away from the
noise and expense often associated
with apartments.
Well, these first two photos are a little blah
in that there aren’t the cute decorations
up that there are now.
{I need to remember to get back over and shoot some new pics!}
But, this is the front office area where campers
register and can come and shop for
cute alpaca decor.
***
I did get over to snap a couple of newer
photos of the finished office!
However… My phone refuses to upload
these photos.
ugh!
🙁
***Please pop over to my Instagram page {Barbara Chapman/French Ethereal}
to see the photos.
I did get them posted over there yesterday. 🙂
Love the crystal chandy above the sink and the real hardwood flooring! I was soooo envious of her dishwasher at the time. I’m good now! 😉
Back inside the house
Janet had final inspections later that week
just before Thanksgiving
and
this is when I was invited inside!
A lot of her cabinets are stock cabinets you
can pick up at Ikea.
I always knew Ikea had cabinets
but it has been years since I really went shopping
inside their store.
It’s on my Design Bucket List…
😉
I love the farmhouse look
Throughout Janet’s home, she has farm-style faucets and
bronze knobs and pulls on all the cabinets
creating a cohesive look to each of her rooms.
The cabinets and furniture are mostly white ~
very soothing after a long day working ~
which also helps create that cohesiveness
I think all well-decorated homes
strive to have.
Janet worked as a receptionist until
she retired from a local school district and
her husband Ken retired as a principal.
So, now instead of teaching full-time
they are farming and on a smaller scale
teaching others about the joys of
raising alpacas.
The telephone bath wand is another luxury not to do without if you put in a raised tub. This is the master bathroom’s bathroom.
Hardwood runs throughout the home and
both the guest and master bathrooms
have lovely tubs… sigh!
I don’t know about you, but one of the nicest
things I ever got to do years ago was
to float in a bubble bath in a clawfoot tub.
They really hold the heat well
so taking a bath in one is
just a real treat!
Here in the guest bathroom
extra shelves were installed for storing linens
and a vintage-style mirror
was going over the sink area.
Here’s a close-up of that reused vintage mirror
ready to be hung.
In addition to the lovely bathrooms,
each bedroom has double hung windows
with incredible views of the park and pastures.
The living room has a gorgeous rock fireplace
which my photograph didn’t come out.
🙁
French doors lead from the dining/living room
out onto an enclosed sun porch ~ perfect for those
warm evenings cuddled under a light blanket
sipping on a mug of sweet iced tea
while watching the farm animals
graze and bed down for the night.
Then later on for watching the moon rise up
into the night sky.
What a wonderful way to finish out
the day!
Well,I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of Janet and Ken’s new home. I feel privileged and blessed to visit any day while we are here. If you are looking for a great place to come camping, do call and set up a reservation. ***The Woolstons also hope to have a second location {this RV park-to-be near Aubry, Texas, will be a “dog-themed park!”} opening in 2018. Escrow on the property closes in April and work will begin on the property prepping RV camping spots straight away.
I think this is Skidboot ~ he’s a black alpaca though his outside fleece looks brown with sun bleaching. He is just precious!
Saturday was shearing day
and this was this little beast{y}~guy’s first time
at a shearing.
Look at that face ~ isn’t he one of
the most adorable creatures
you’ve ever seen??
🙂
The older alpacas knew what to expect and some were a bit nervous. As a quick disclaimer, none of these sweet and gentle alpacas were injured though holding them down looks a little scary.
Neighboring alpaca owners and their alpacas or ones bred here at the farm but sold were also invited to the shearing.
