Back to School!

This summer has been so busy and kind of crazy, and if you didn't notice, I haven't put up a post since the middle of July!  In addition to lots of out of town company, we moved two of our kids, took a couple of trips, spent a week at our county fair, some home improvement projects, and now it's back-to-school day!

Our son, Lukas, finished Grad School on June 1st, and was hired as a full-time English teacher on May 31st!  On August 1st we moved him from Pullman, WA, where he had been a student at Washington State University (Go Cougs!), to his new home in Asotin, WA.  Asotin is a tiny little Mayberry-type town in the southeast part of Washington State.  He really lucked out with the home that he found to rent!  It's on the Snake River, with fishing, hunting, and in the country, albeit, a dry part of the state.  He's very happy, and with school started last week for him, he said he can't believe he's getting paid to do this job!  We're so glad for him!

 

That's my boy!

 

His back patio

 

The Snake River is right there! I don't think your first home out of college is supposed to be quite this nice!!!

The next week we moved daughter, Ashley, (also a teacher) to her apartment in Camas, Washington. She lives in a refurbished apartment above Camas Antiques, which is the best antique store anywhere! She has a clawfoot tub, a built-in Kitchen Queen, hardwood floors, and best yet, they allowed her to take her kitty cat! I haven't taken photos of it decorated yet, she's still hanging up pictures, but here are some before move-in. The perfect place for my antique-loving oldest daughter!

 

For 17 years now our kids have shown animals at the Skamania County Fair.  (Prior to that, my husband and I did this fair years ago!) This year, one of our twins was the Round Robin Master Showman!  Kari won a big belt buckle, that she's hardly taken off! (You'll notice it below in her back-to-school photo today).  Kari was the beef grand champion, and the reserve champion for sheep, so she was eligible for the Round Robin, where she had to show her cow, her lamb, a horse, a meat goat, dairy goat, horse, and alpaca.  She did really well, and we were so excited for her!

Kari (left) and twin sister, Kaitlyn (right)

 Also at the fair this year, our son, Lukas, and his band "Train of Thought" were hired to be the fair entertainment!  Take a listen here.  It was a really good fair!

Once the fair was over, I decided it was time to move daughter Kaitlyn into Lukas' old bedroom.  The twins have shared a bedroom since day one, and they were ready to have their own bedrooms.  This dark green bedroom was painted (several coats!) of cream paint, and we just got it finished!  Kaitlyn made the patchwork quilt on the bed, and she won grand champion on it and a nice trophy!  She's proud of her work, and even more impressive is that this was her first quilt and she completed it in only 2 weeks!  

 

We made this "headboard" out of an old screen door I had been hanging onto. I took off the old torn, rusty screen (you can bet I saved that for another project!) and replaced it with chicken wire, after a fresh coat of white paint.

 

Just purchased this nice oak commode cabinet at my favorite antique store!

We re-purposed some old drawers into shelves after painting them and adding some paper liner.

 

We're in the process of painting the outside of our house now.  I also have plans to make a spare bedroom into a new craft room.  So excited!  I'll post pictures of the progress later.

Before school started, we made a trip to Deer Park, Washington to visit family and I got to see my 88 year old Grandma.  She's doing pretty good!  

Today was back-to-school day!  Kari and Kaitlyn are now seniors, and the last of our children.  Kind of sad, as it's been 21 years since I first sent one of my kids to school, and now it's almost over!  

So, there is my summer, in a nutshell, and a big reason why I haven't been getting any work done for my website!  Time to think about firing up the old sewing machine!  Happy September!

Primitive (early) fall blessings,

~Laurie

Tame the River CD for Sale!

Yes! Lukas has his Bluegrass/Acoustic Folk Songs CD for sale for $8.00 (and $2.00 shipping). (See post below if you missed this!) It is comprised of 10 original tunes, and Lukas plays all the instruments and sings all the parts. He recorded himself playing each instrument, and then combined them, so it sounds like a whole band!

Songs included are:

In Full Bloom
Tame the River
Home on that Mountain
Woman, Not a Girl
Train of Thought Blues
I Think You’re Thinking
Magpie
A Young Boy and his Pup
Beneath the Snow
Silver Thaw

I've made up a video of him playing as well as photos and video of Mr. Bird, and Lukas' song "Magpie" plays in the background. (See above).  Thanks for the kind words about my Mr. Bird story and Lukas' music! (Click here if you missed it). If you'd like to purchase a CD, please click the PayPal link below.

Here's a little about Lukas from his CD:
I grew up raising sheep, beef and chickens on a 50-acre farm on the west end of the Columbia River Gorge. I have always been involved with music, performing in wind ensembles and jazz bands on bari sax, tenor sax and bass clarinet. In the past four years, my interest in Bluegrass and Old-Time music has grown, and I’ve frequented festivals and jams in my area. I’ve been playing guitar for around 10 years, and mandolin for almost two years.

I am currently completing my Master in Teaching at the illustrious Washington State University. I plan to teach high school English and lead my secret double life as a Bluegrass and Jazz musician.

I can be seen playing in the Pullman/Moscow area with my Bluegrass band, Train of Thought. I also play mandolin and saxophone in the folk-rock band, New Mother Nature.

As you can guess, I'm pretty proud of our son! Have a great week!

Primitive blessings,

~Laurie

P.S. I didn't tell you about my favorite song on this CD...."A Young Boy and his Pup", which Lukas wrote about Molly; the sweet cocker spaniel we had all his growing up years.....but be prepared with a hanky for this one!  If you'd like to hear the tune, click here to hear "A Young Boy and his Pup"!