Malheur County Fair

Matthew and Peter each entered a steer in the Malheur County Fair this year. This was Matthew's third year in 4-H and Peter's first year. Both boys did an amazing job showing their animals all week. 

Our fair week began on Monday, as I offered to plan and oversee the barn decorating. The theme for the fair was Sew It! Grow It! Show It! We received many compliments regarding the barn decorations.

Matthew and Peter showed their steers on Wednesday evening in the Malheur County Commercial Market Steer Class sponsored by the Malheur County Cattleman's Association. They showed again on Thursday morning in the 4-H Market Steer Class. They participated in the Beef Showmanship competition on Friday morning. Matthew and Peter received blue ribbons for all of their showings, and Matthew even earned Champion Junior Showman! 

On Saturday morning, the boys sold their steers in the Malheur County Fat Stock Sale. I am always amazed by the outpouring of support by the community members and business owners in support of the sale. Matthew's steer was purchased by the Warner Maag Family and Jamieson Produce, Inc. His steer will be donated to the Pioneer Nursing Home for the residents to eat! Peter's steer was purchased by Beef Northwest, Producers Livestock, and Rick & Sheryl Johnson. We are so fortunate to live in such a supportive community.

Peter and Emmett

Peter's steer was very stubborn, but Peter never gave up.
The judge commended Peter for his determination!

Peter (84 pounds) showing Emmett (1,298 pounds) who is boss!

Matthew and Ace

Sadie Thomas, Matthew, and Clay Siddoway

Matthew leading Ace

Peter selling Emmett.

Matthew selling Ace.

Matthew and Ace

Peter and Emmett

Farmhouse Table

Completed Farmhouse Table

If you know me very well, you know that I have a long list of projects on my "to-do list" and it seems as if each time I visit Pinterest my list gets longer! One of the projects that has been on my list for a long time is a Farmhouse table. Upon completing our kitchen remodel this summer, building a Farmhouse table was moved to the top of my list, as the table we had was simply not large enough for our family of six. I knew that building a quality table from scratch would take quite some time, so I decided to dedicate the week after Christmas and before I returned to work in January on the project. 

Although I have completed numerous wood working projects, this was my first attempt at large furniture construction. To prepare for the project, I studied numerous Farmhouse table plans and could not find one plan with all of the design aspects I wanted. In addition, because our kitchen is unique in size, a traditional size table would not fit in our space. So, I decided to create my own plan that utilized my favorite aspects of the following plans: 

• Ana White Fancy X Farmhouse Table - I really liked the way the legs on this table were designed. I liked the X design and thought that it added a lot of character to the table.
• Ana White Triple Pedestal Farmhouse Table - With the exception of the curved pieces on the legs, I utilized this plan to construct the legs for our table. I also liked the 2 x 6 that ran through the middle of the legs and connected the two pedestals. I decided that our space was not large enough for three pedestals, so I opted to build two instead.
• Farmhouse Table - This table provided the inspiration for completing the top of the table. I liked the look of the long planks down the middle of the table and the planks on each end of the table. 

When Toby realized that I was serious about building a Farmhouse table over Christmas break, he suggested that I finish the top of the table with juniper boards. My dad has recently completed his game room with juniper, and it looks fantastic. Juniper has so much character and I knew it would give our table a very unique finish. Luckily, my dad had some boards remaining from his project and was nice enough to help me cut the boards into planks. Then, the fun began . . .

Cutting and arranging the juniper planks.

Because the juniper boards were slightly  warped, I attached
them to a piece of plywood to reinforce and straighten them.

I attached the planks to the plywood with wood glue then
reinforced them with screws from the bottom.

I added a 1 x 4 casing around the edge of the table to give it a more finished look.
Then, sanding, sanding, and more sanding!

This is the sanded table top sitting on top of our old table.

Plans from Ana White Triple Pedestal Farmhouse Table

My version of the table pedestals.

Assembled, unstained table.

I wanted the Farmhouse table to have a dark finish, so I stained the wood using Minwax Dark Walnut. I applied one coat to the pedestals and two coats to the table top. To protect the table, I applied five coats of Minwax Polycrylic in Clear Gloss. I was also extremely excited to complete the look with three Mason Dining Chairs from Pier 1 in Ivory. I love the contrast between the light chairs and dark table.

Below are some of my favorite knots and imperfections in the table top.

I am so happy with the way our Farmhouse table turned out. I can honestly say that I would not make any changes if I were to build the table again. Although Toby gives me a hard time about my "projects," I could not have completed this Farmhouse table without him. The table top is extremely heavy, and he did not complain each time I asked him to help me carry it outside for more sanding. There were some steps that I could simply not complete alone, such as assembling the pedestals. Again, Toby was so helpful in completing this process.

This was a huge project, and I am thrilled that it turned out as planned. I am also very happy that we have a table that all six of us can sit around without being crowded!

Happy Fall Front Porch Decor

I fell in love with this Huge Front Porch Welcome Sign I found on Pinterest recently, so I decided to create my own welcome sign and use it as the focal point for my fall front porch decor. I found the witch sign at JoAnn's and felt that it was quite appropriate for my house of monsters! I also created a Candy Corn Burlap Banner, stacked some straw bales, and placed the pumpkins along the straw bales to welcome our guests. I love the way the porch turned out, and the welcome sign was so popular that I received requests from my family to create signs for their front porches!

April the Pony

A few weeks ago, Matthew, Peter, Toby, Mary, and Steve went to Jordan Valley to help Uncle Tim brand his calves. While they were there, they bought a pony from Lauretta. Lauretta's grandchildren have grown to large for the pony, so they thought that William, and eventually Joseph, would enjoy riding April the pony! Matthew and Peter were so excited to show William his new pony. They saddled her, led her up to the house, and helped William ride her around the yard. As you can see from the photos, William loves April!

Fishing

Now that the weather has improved, we have been spending most of our time outside. One evening last week, we all went to a nearby pond and fished. This was William's first time fishing, and he absolutely loved it! We bought him a Spiderman fishing pole, and he is fairly certain he is an expert fisherman. Throughout the evening, William (and Toby) caught two fish! As William puts it, he has "two fishies in the bucket!" Matthew did not have much luck, as he did not catch a single fish. However, Peter did very well with a couple of catches. Peter also caught the largest fish of the evening! Joseph and I did not fish, but we had a lot of fun taking pictures and watching the boys fish! I am sure that there will be many more evenings spent by the pond (as soon as baseball season is over)!