HOMEMADE DOG TREATS FOR CHRISTMAS

 What do I get my sweet furry friends for Christmas.

They don't need new toys. They already have new beds.

The one thing that they both love are TREATS.

So I decided to make them some homemade treats with no preservatives.

Look at these sweet faces below.

Cocoa says MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Maggie sends her MERRY CHRISTMAS greetings also.

This is the recipe below. I've had it for quite sometime.

I don't remember where I found it.

But it works great.

 Mix up the ingredients as the recipe says.

Refrigerate. 

Then roll out the dough.

I decided to use a bone cookie cutter instead of a pizza cutter

since this was for a special occasion.

 Someone is peeking :)

What you doing mama?

Here's the first tray.

This cookie sheet looks awful, but it works really well :)

For Cocoa's treats I chose a small cutter

since she's a small dog.

Plus she doesn't have many teeth.

She's 13 1/2 years old.

Here's another pan to go in the oven.

Here they are, all cooked up.

I bagged each one up a small bag for their stocking.

And put the rest in the freezer for later.

Here's Cocoa's stocking. It hangs on a knob above her food bowls.

She sleeps with us so she didn't have a crate to hang it on.

Maggie hangs her stocking on her crate.

Well there you have it.

Maggie and Cocoa's stocking stuffer.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE.

But the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for
look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people: today a Savior,
who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in
the city of David. This will be the sign for you:
you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and
lying in a feeding trough. Suddenly there was a
multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to people He favors!
Luke 2:10-14

A NEW TOP FOR THE GECKO

Well, it seems like forever since I've posted anything. 

But I finally finished a project that I've had on my mind for some time.

I've had some old pallets laying around for quite a while. So I

decided on a project for them.  I'd do a new table top for the gecko.

I kept the original top and just constructed something to sit on top of it.

You can see the results below.

Let's go over the process of this project.

Here are some of the pallets.

They're pretty nasty looking aren't they.

I found it extremely hard to remove the boards.

I guess because the nails had rusted into the wood.

I had to use a tool to saw them from the edges then

work them back and forth to loosen up the center nails.

But I finally ended up with enough boards to do my project.

After I had the boards free from the pallets 

I had to remove the nails from the center.

That was pretty labor intensive also but finally I had them all removed.

Then I hand sanded over the boards to remove excess dirt.

I finally have a wheelbarrow full.

Time to go down to the shop.

My dad helped me run them through the planer to get them all the same thickness.

Then I had to run them on the jointer to get an even edge.

Didn't the wood turn out pretty.

I used a nail gun to secure the planks to a piece of plywood

cut to the dimensions that I wanted for the table top.

As you can notice I decided to make it a little bigger then the

original top.

I then laid out the boards to try to get an idea of how I wanted

the boards to look. I then took everything down to the shop and attached

them with a nail gun. Fitting them together was quite a project. I had to run 

some on the jointer to have them fit together properly and all of them were cut with the chop saw

to desired length. Then it was sanded with a belt sander to smooth everything out.

 It's not perfect but I think it turned out pretty good.

I decided to use only polyurethane to seal it.

This picture shows how the poly helps to bring out

the richness of the wood.

And here it is in place.

Just in time to load it up with all of our Thanksgiving dishes.

This picture shows what the original boards

looked like before with the after.

I decided to add a simple band of lattice

 around the edges to finish it off.

Another look at the different woods.

The dark spots are the old nail holes.

Finally another look at the finished project.

But stay tuned, because I have a hunch that the

green gecko will be changing color after the first of the year.

Check back to see how it will turn out.

Check me out on instagram

moonbeam276

There is no one holy like the Lord...

there is no Rock like our God.

1 Samuel 2:2

A LITTLE FALL FOR Y'ALL

Well, once again the fall season has almost arrived. 

Fall is my favorite season but at the same time I'm sad summer is going.

Seems to be much more freedom in summer. But moving on, that means

it's time to REDECORATE!

Even though I put out quite a lot of decorations for fall I just wanted

to show you a few of my favorites. Hope you enjoy.

The first is my big ole oak leaf. I love the brilliant color

and the old wood for the frame.

This next one is one of my favorites. It's really big and I got it at a 

thrift store for $3.00. There's a lot of stuff in there for three dollars.

I'm sure some will call it tacky, but I call it beautiful:)

The next is my pumpkin picture.

I thought it went well over my piano table.

This is a picture I painted for a church auction

and I loved it so much I bought it myself.

I found some glass pumpkins many years ago.

I love the color.

You don't always have to use orange pumpkins:)

Next up is my collection of orange pumpkins that I bought from Hobby Lobby

many years ago. The pheasants that are on my mantel were made by my dad

back in the 1960's. It's amazing they haven't been broken in all these years.

They are a treasure. My dads now 93.

Here's a close up of George and Doris:)

This is a little set up in the corner of my powder room.

The orange pumpkin in front of the green vase was made out of clay

 by my husband when he was in grade school.

So it's old.

As am I.

Here's a close up of this treasure.

I fixed this simple centerpiece on my dining table 

using a slab that was cut off of the stump I made into a 

side table. A few leaves and there you go.

Here are a few pics of the entire table.

We use this table a lot.

Each fall I tell myself that I'm not going to buy anymore

fall decorations. Then I see something unique and buy it.

I loved that this wreath was square.

Now a little peek of a fall setup in my bedroom.

I love it againt the shiplap walls.

And lastly a little decoration on my open porch.

Some flowers, a few pillows, a pumpkin 

and the cutest and most important Cocoa.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of some of my fall decorations.

Check me out on instagram.  moonbeam276

Honor the Lord with your possessions
and with the first produce of your entire harvest;
then your barns will be completely filled,
 and your vats will overflow with new wine.
Proverbs 3:9-10

PAINTING THE OLD COUCH

Well after I moved this comfortable couch onto my open porch in the back

I knew I wanted to paint it white. But with the busy summer I've had and

the extremely hot, hot temperatures we've had it took me a while to get it

marked off my list.  But finally I got her done.

Here's what she looked like before. Wood color was ok but I'd lived 

with the wood tone for over 35 years and wanted a change.

Well here she is. All pretty in white.

Here's a few more views.

I like her so much better in white.

Another side view. You can't see the couch but

I thought the elephant ears looked pretty.

Glad this project is off my list.

Hope you enjoyed seeing the change.

Check me out on Instagram.

moonbeam276

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved,

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,

humility, gentleness and patience.

Colossians 3:12