If you can't afford a plastic surgeon...get photoshop!

My granddaughter Leigha posted this picture of me on facebook this morning.  It seems all family pictures of me are when I'm in the kitchen and this one is no exception...rhubarb pies for DH...  It's always a shock to see pictures of myself..  I never feel this old or this fat.

Obviously this one was taken early morning as I hadn't even brushed my hair...  So I popped this old girl into photoshop for a makeover..

Of course the first issue is that double chin..and then some radical cropping to trim me up a bit. Then just a bit of a tummy tuck...  Looking better!

Well since I've gone this far why not a boob job and more of a tummy tuck...  Then I can slim up the sagging arm...  Finally that hair.... a trim..even out the color and get it out of my eyes...

Oh well, in my dreams.... Love ya Leigha!!!!

My past called me and the best part is......

About a month ago the phone rang and a lady asked "Are you the Gerry Krueger whose garden benches were featured in Better Homes and Gardens in 2003?"  I assured her I was the very same Gerry Krueger... Well she said... her sister's 50th birthday was soon and she still had the article and  wanted to make her sister a bench like mine as a special surprise and did I have a plan she could use... I knew I had a copy of the plan on a floppy disc somewhere (remember floppy discs?) and I would look...  Well I found a copy and emailed it off to her.

Just a bit about the benches.... After the first season we were open to the public I discovered people stayed and shopped longer if they had somewhere to sit and rest in the garden... So I set out to build a dozen benches that winter...  Wood was no problem as we had torn down the old wood corral and all the milking and horse stalls in the barn.  What I needed was a plan that was SIMPLE and would be strong and forgiving with old lumber.  No fancy joinery and it was put together with heavy duty lag bolts and lag screws.

The key element to my plan was the end section.  It was simple and identical in every single bench.  The only difference between the benches was the back section which I varied from bench to bench.  I built twenty four end sections and twelve backs that winter and in the spring I added seats and just bolted them together.  I added 10-12 each year over the next couple winters.

In 2001 my rose garden was featured in Better Homes and Gardens and the photographer fell in love with all the benches and asked if they could come back and do another feature just on the benches....which they did in 2003.

So I was so touched that Connie G. had not only kept that article all those years, she had also taken the time to track me down nine years later.  And she did indeed build a bench for her sister's birthday and yesterday sent me a picture of her beautiful bench.  AND THE BEST PART??????  She built this bench with old lumber from her grandmother's chicken coop...  Now you know I was doing a happy dance all over the garden all day...  Thank you Connie for sending the picture and remembering the article...

And just in case any of you out there are thinking of a simple bench for your garden...here is my plan for the end pieces....then just send me a picture.  Remember... no wimpy nails... Lag screws and lag bolts.

The strawberry thief....

Where I'm at..... the vines are all stitched down and I am satin stitching the berries at the moment... I modified my larger leaves and cut them out of paper to test the positioning...

This is where I'm headed.  There will be lots of smaller leaves, stems, and curly things to fill in... The plan is to use gold glass leaves as I haven't used them yet on a single goldwork block... I will be lucky to get all the berries done before I leave so will work on the large leaves at the retreat to finish it...

Sneak Preview of Funky Fence Progress

I had my dandy, handy helper come two extra days so we could finish the hardest part of the fence before I leave for SLC next Monday.  I think we might make it... close anyway.  These are the fancy finials for the posts.

The object was to build this fence with things on hand and I certainly have...Of course the 4x4s were salvaged from all the things we disassembled this summer.   And the black base is my  "super tip" of the day" ..  One of the things I've always watched for in antique and thrift stores are mismatched orphan leaves from dining room tables.  There are often piles of them in old stores and they are real wood and dirt cheap...  Most often pine with a veneer of some sort but I have scored some really fine pieces of wood also..  But if you're going to paint it, who cares...  I have used these orphan table leaves to build all kinds of things... especially shelves.  Today they are the black bases for my finials..

I did buy the wood caps... one of the two purchases I've made.

The little rusty rabbits came from a lath deer fence on the NW corner of garden.  They were interspersed with extra tall pieces of lath to add some whimsy.  I still have some other rusty rabbit yard art left out there..

Through the years I have used metal bedsteads for gates everywhere.  This one was a wrapped with chicken wire and used as a gate in the small lamb pasture for about 10 years.  It is not real brass or even brass plated so I had no regrets about cutting it up to salvage the ceramic pieces.  I have always wanted to use them in something but the right project never appeared until now..  I was a couple short but I used plain ceramic knobs in their place...  I was amazed that this bedstead has been exposed to the elements all these years and the little decals are still so delightful.

I didn't have enough for the new gate posts but as luck is on my side with this project,  I found 5 more antique brass door knobs in the barn that will be perfect for the gate posts....  I will start on the gates Friday...

The "Before" picture of my funky front garden.

All summer I've had help on Thursday mornings and exceptional help at that..  Scott works hard, is intelligent and does what I want done...no matter what.  He only comes for 3 hours once a week but the list of what we've accomplished this summer is huge. We've put up new fence where needed, taken down unneeded fence, dismantled lambing pens and sheep shelters, sprayed, weeded, transplanted, pruned, raccoon proofed the chicken house, built the porch railing and dismantled the old lath rose area...and that just names  part of the list...

Now we begin something I never dreamt we'd get to this year... my front garden...which is a disaster.  When the main garden was in it's heyday and was open to the public, I had nothing planted here near the house for security reasons.. When I started this small bed by the door I surrounded it with a precious 2' picket fence... which the UPS and snow plows destroyed TWICE.  Then I surrounded it with a 2' wire fence to keep the rabbits out but it too has been mangled..

So the problem...  I need a fence to keep the rabbits out... but it also has to be tall enough for people (including the UPS truck) to see in their rear view mirrors when they turn around but not too tall or it would overwhelm this small garden. It has to be FREE because I can't spend any money on it.. And it has to be sturdy enough to withstand an occasional person backing into it.. which they will.

Luckily I have this pile of wood left from things we dismantled this summer..  Most of it I'll cut up for fire wood but there's plenty to choose from to build a fence.  We've already pulled all the 4x4s from the pile.

The little garden is already funky with odd treasures I've gathered in from the larger garden but there is still a lot out there....bedsteads, farm equipment, yard art, plus tons of other fun rusty junk... I'll gather in even more stuff.. I just love anything covered with rust, moss, or aged to a silvery grey.

I'm even hoping we can get to the rock wall at the back of it which needs to be redone.  We should have at least 4-5 more weeks of weather decent enough to work outside.  He even may be able to spare me a few more hours also...maybe

I should add I'm not the easiest woman for a man to work for... when I want something done it's not open for discussion.... Not only do I want it done..... I want it done my way...