Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined. Henry David Thoreau

Monday, January 24, 2011

This is the Year

Dear sweet bloggie friends, I have been having so much fun sharing our house building experience with you all over the past year and a half! I appreciate that total strangers became followers and left such sweet comments   to encourage me along the way.
Fellow bloggers -  I feel like I have really " met" some awesome people, and have learned so much from you all!  Thanks for all of your fun, informative, crazy, and beautiful blogs!  You inspire me to read, write, learn and share. Someday I will buy a real camera and learn how to take pretty pictures like you!



A House Building Blog Gone Astray.


Here's where the madness all started...


A barren hill 
covered with trees, vines and cow dung.

Just waiting for some suckers to come along and try
to tame it.

fast forward here.


Ive been doing some thinking about this blog and why I started it, and how it has changed.  It freaks me out to look at all of the changes and progress and things I've learned on this journey.  I started writing and taking pictures mostly to keep our overseas and over Kansas kids in touch with our house building project. Now that the house is "finished" and we are living here, I feel like I need to close the door on that aspect of my life and move on.  I still have a lot to say and share, but can I just say right now that

I AM SO GLAD THIS CHAPTER OF MY LIFE IS OOOOOOVVVVVEEEEERRRRRR!!!!!!!



 Don't get me wrong, it was fun..wink wink. but building a house with your husband can be an all- life- consuming endeavor, that may or may not wreck your marraige, your relationship with all your friends and family, and kill your health. Don't do it.  At least don't do it twice! Let me also say that I LOVE MY HOUSE AND THANK GOD FOR IT AND FOR MY HUSBAND WHO WORKED HIS BUTT OFF BUILDING IT! Now, that said, I feel free now to embark on other things that I love to do and feel called to do, now that I'm FREE FROM THIS JOB!  Thank you Lord!



I've been thinking about what I would like to accomplish this year. This month, this day, this hour! 
I've been enjoying these cold winter days, doing more reading, more praying, and more thinking about what God has in mind for me to do. He has planted a few seeds in my heart and I am sorting those out, but in the meantime, I have thought of a few extra things I would like to see happen this year:


Visit Oklahoma Joe's again.
(Not in line in the rain though!)






Eat more of this.





Do more of this!






Do something with this fabric!
(and never look at paint chips again in this life!)






plant some of these...




and these...




and these...




Remember what the heck I had planned to do with these...
and then do it!






learn how to play this.
Look at how mean my teacher is...







get one of these and ride down the highway
on a regular basis...





visit more flea market /barn sales with 
these two babes!






stop sitting on - laying on-looking at this ...







finish this...





find help for these people...






buy my husband a smoker
whether he likes it or not!






get brave enough to do this...





find hardware for these girls...






visit this store again...


and maybe the Greek Islands and Turkey...


hold this baby again...






learn to shoot a gun...




maybe...

Until the weather changes I also want to:
learn how to: make homemade tortillas, homemade pizza crust, (sorry Jim for all the trials you have to eat)
and in general be a better cook. 
So you see, this blog could take any number of changes, go down many different roads, and be a whole new breed of time killer!  I just want to warn you in advance, in case you were expecting something predictable.

Stay tuned though, it's bound to be interesting! 





Thursday, January 6, 2011

Count Your Blessings...







Counting my blessings...
always starts with these 5.









Name them one by one...
Count your blessings,
see what God hath done...
Count your blessings,
Name them one 
by one.
count your many blessings,
see what God hath done





Today is Kevin's birthday.
Our youngest blessing is turning 23 today.
He makes us laugh
He makes us cry
He makes us ask ourselves
why.
The sad truth is,
I did not take as many pictures 
of Kevin as I did the others.
...but I have lots of pictures
of Kevin 
scattered here and there,
doing what he does best...

being Kevin.

























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Happy Birthday to a very special young man!

Monday, January 3, 2011

Moving On



This year:

I think I will buy myself an old bike, the kind with the big fat tires and a big fat seat and a basket, like the one I learned how to ride on, and sail down the road with my flaxen hair flowing in the breeze,with nary a care in the world. 

I will stop by the roadside and unfold my picnic basket under a weeping willow tree, and have myself a little bread and wine and sleep for a while. I will gather up my white gauzy dress and flit over the split rail fence, to gather white daisies and pet the wild horses in the meadow. I will make myself a necklace of clover blossoms, and pick flowers for my love. Then I will get on my cell phone and call my love to come get me, I have no idea where I am.









No I do not have Alzheimer's, but I just wanted to have that little moment. Since it is obvious noone is reading this blog, except for dear Rosemary over at The Summer Porch.( I love you Rosemary) I figured, what the heck, write whatever comes to mind! If you are reading this blog and do not leave me a little hello, SHAME ON YOU! That is all I have to say about that!

 Winter does funny things to me. I like snuggling in for a long winter's nap for about a week. Then I get restless. I start thinking about spring/summer (thus the wistful thoughts) and thinking about plants and dirt and digging in said dirt. And flowers...lots and lots of flowers.





Alas, I did not plant any tulip bulbs this fall.
Drat.

But I did plant some perennials last summer,
and look forward to seeing them again.

Reading Pioneer Woman's post this morning
has inspired me to think about my flower beds
and what I plan to put in them this year.


We are twin sisters, you know.

Even though she thinks in terms of vegetables
to feed the ranch hands and the punks, 
I am so over that.
If I can get one tomato plant and some herbs
to produce a harvest, 
I will be happy.

It's all about the flowers for me

I submit the following picture
to encourage those of you who do not
have flower beds already established...

This was the only dirt at our new homestead
that wasn't full of rocks, twigs, vines, tree roots 
and rocks.
I claimed it and began early
working in compost
( new favorite is cotton boll compost, which I found at Wally World last year)

I worked and worked that dang dirt
and filled it to brimming with
bedding plants.

And then the spring rains came and came and came
and nearly drowned every single plant.

I had to pull quite a few out
they just could not live any more.
I transplanted several and after a few sickly weeks
they took hold and I was able to enjoy them in their new home.

I killed almost every herb,
except for mint, pineapple sage, and basil.
I don't really cook with herbs much,
I just like picking them and smelling them.
I hope to do better this summer!
Back to the flower bed...

Is anybody out there?
Rosemary?



Newly planted bed:





a riot of color in late summer!




pretty zinnias, I love you~







 I think this purple lovely is called Angelonica...maybe it's Angelonia...
it comes in several shades of purple, white and pink.

It is HEARTY  here in the Kansas heat, humidity and wind!



Hunt this flower down and don't give up until you find it!







This silvery perennial doesn't flower,
but it did well too and I like the cooling effect
of the foliage.
Artemesia maybe?








Are you encouraged yet?

It's not the best bed I've ever planted, but it was very 
satisfying to see whilst we trudged along with  finishing the house.

There are so many beds to work on this spring...
along the retaining walls in the back,
in the driveway circle,
outside my office window
along both sides of the front walkway...
between the house and the pit...

it could get overwhelming,
but it's what we do.
Come up with overwhelming projects
that take years to complete.

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite (or bed) at a time!


my fantasy garden is full of these...

how about you?

Rosemary? You out there?
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." Ralph Waldo Emerson

About Me

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Welcome to my happy place. A place where I can share ideas, projects, and dreams. I am a nester, a crafter, a creator and a dreamer I hope you will find inspiration and encouragement for the journey you are on. I am a Jesus follower, wife, mother and nana. Blessed beyond measure, just trying to live my life gracefully and make a difference in my small world. Join me!