heavy mind

sometimes it's all a girl can do to shake the heaviness when things..important things...are heading sideways.

giving and re-giving it back to God over and over is tiring

that's when I take photos or call up my mama and talk...

Maybe you are the same?
Just in case you need a little lift me up, here are some Peonies and Daisies to cheer ya!

hope you are having a great day!
xo Lori

today is brought to you by the letter R

:: my nod to Sesame Street ::

R is for remembering
my girls last birthday breakfast-in-bed in our home. She will be married before next June rolls around.

R is for robot making 
these girls are crafting machines...they are the best re-purposers!

 R is for ring
Engagement ring! On my girl's finger....sigh. Where did the time go? I will introduce Elijah soon. I want to make sure I will use a photo that Tessa absolutely loves for this special introduction. It shouldn't be hard because she has a zillion of them together <3

In this photo she is cutting his hair for the first time...now he will have a perfectly groomed head for the rest of his life from his love of his life.

 R is for radishes
the only produce that is ready in the garden! the neighbors are loving it though. My girls have so much fun growing things. I think though that reality of weeding is about ready to set in.
wink, wink

I hope you are having a lovely start to the new week!
xo Lori

two decades

two decades...

She has been with me that long.

pooh bear movies, snuggles, gardening bare foot, big eyes filled with wonder, mama's little helper

filled my days with wonderment and energy as a young girl

as a woman she fills them with friendship, memories of me at her age, her conversation, strength, compassion and laughter

to think of the years to come without her here brings tears,

they all said it would happen so quickly, but who where they to say?

they knew,

they....knew.

now as the seasons change for me and my girl

we see the fluttering of the wings to fly and i can transition with joy (and some tears) for my girl

twirling girl :: dancing woman

I love you so deeply my sweet Tessa and have spent your whole life making sure that you know that without a shadow of a doubt.

fly baby fly

the nest will always be here to visit wholeheartedly

to the moon and back,
Momma
xoxoxo

day dreaming

day dreaming can cause excessive work, dontcha know?
The photo above is from my inspiration photos for what I want to do with my picnic table area. I want to landscape it in partially with plantings like day lilies, peonies and hydrangeas.

there is a pit there already that we could build the sides up with stones. I think what keeps me going is the day dreaming. Isn't that true? The Bible says man perishes with lack of vision. I find that so true, if I have to trudge through a day to day without dreaming and making plans for the future it would be sad.

::

I washed up the Tahoe to sell it and armoralled it and everything. Then I did some research on the gas mileage of minivans that can tow a small utility trailor and found out that they essentially get the same amount of mileage. So, at this point I am keeping my Tahoe and driving it with my head held high because it is clean! ha

::

Hannah made ice cream out of greek yogurt, strawberries and some of my caramel macchiato creamer. she left it in a food saver in the freezer overnight and scooped some up for her and Sophie for a treat this morning. You know...its yogurt so it can be breakfast, right? ;o)

It tastes just like ice cream...just not as easy to scoop. its more like a scrapey.

::

In other news-the house loan still may be going through. If it does you will for sure know because you will hear my squealing all the way to your house!

::

We have two graduation parties this weekend. Two sisters earned their Masters Degrees and a young man earned his High School Diploma. Yay! Should be fun to sit and relax with friends after all of the house drama and the end of schooling the kids for the year and the end of my quarter too. Just sitting and chatting with good friends.....yes.

Hope your weekend is a good one too!
xo

tap...tap...tap

Hello, Is anyone there? I see that I have readers, but not talkers. Feeling like the speaker on stage that the light is in the eyes and hears silence. Nothing to talk about? Probably say it all over on Facebook eh? I know how that is. ;o)

Well, if ya get the inkling to say hi in the comments sometime I will say hi back. Just sayin, it's nice to know I am not conversatin' with the thin air.

I think Sophie swings better with the one-boot method

In the garden the cucumbers are peeking out of the ground. The green beans and tomatoes don't look so well though. After talking with my mom I think some doses of rabbit poo tea may do the trick.

It has been more rainy than sunny here too, I wouldn't think that would affect them that much though.

::

Been working more this week and getting on the kids about keeping it clean around here....ha! ha! ha! What a novel idea mom. Oh, we'll see who has the last laugh on that one. (insert evil laugh)

::

I sent in my final self-evaluation for the quarter and with only my evaluation conference next week to go I am done with college for this past year. I have been accepted into the Psychology program for the next year and am still looking for a supplemental course to go with it. I really wanted to take sculpture, drawing or woodworking to go toward the type of counseling I want to do, but they were all full.

If you have ever been to counseling as a kid you can understand the unnatural feeling of it-just sitting there telling intimate feelings to another person. I really want to counsel in a way that we are doing an activity. It's not Art Therapy. Art Therapy is when you "read" the child's art work to figure out what is going on in their mind. This form of counseling is just keeping the hands busy so the heart and mind dont feel so pressured. I can't wait.

::

Do you have a garden? What is working for you and what's not? Have any tips?

A friend of mine gave me a great tip the other day. Mix your carrot seeds in with flour or cornmeal to plant them. It guards against the wasting in having to thin and you can see where you planted too.

in progress

   sometimes I wonder if every good thing is followed by something bad

we have been battling through and jumping so many hurdles since this past august to buy this house through the usda rural development loan that i feel like chopped burger honestly. now to find out that the amount that they have approved funding for and $92 thousand of rehab (of which over half of is unnecessary) is more than what i can pay.

so now what? we have been so hard at work on that avenue that i dont know what else to do. we need down payment assistance. do you know how many results come up for that in a google search? impossible.

don't get me wrong, i have done my time on the google searches trying to find a down payment assistance program. this is our home. there has to be a way.

::

college ended this past weekend for me.

there was a barbecue afterward that i stayed for a short time at. i dont know why i didnt stay longer other than i think drawn out goodbyes are really hard for me and i would rather get it over with.

i will miss my classmates after traveling almost a year'sworth of class and getting to know them. they are an amazing group of people who have overcame so much and want to help others to do the same.

::

the garden is starting to show some progress.

i found out from mom that seeing the red bulb of a radish isn't necessarily a good thing. cute but not good. back down in the dirt the bulb goes from a little helpful push of my thumb.

::

hope your week is going well!

ps. the english garden picnic quilt is coming along nicely...so very pretty!
xo

I built a greenbean trellis

Since moving to the farm I have been soaking up all of the DIY shows on tv. Lately I have been blog surfing over to some A*M*A*Z*I*N*G women's blogs who build and refinish things....

ahhhhhhhh I love it! 

More knowledge :o) 

To see a need and do something about it...very empowering. I am hoping this next college year that I can take woodworking too and get to know my power tools better. My first project happened to be a trellis for the new garden. There were many stakes here from previous gardens so I used them and some 1x1's. I had picked up the Exterior black paint at the local Habitat for Humanity Store- $5 for around 2 gallons. So I figure my whole trellis cost me around TWO BUCKS.  Yay for me! and anyone else who will dine on the green beans.

 (my girl Tessa helping paint)

On days that just seem to flip flop every which way it gives me strength to look out to the garden and see something that I built. Seriously. I accomplished something that I can see with my own two eyes and isnt still in the stages of completion. Feels good!

Grow beans GROW! Mmmmmmm Mmmmmmm

Have you been building anything?
xo

flowers

 How did you like the stroll around my yard this rainy morning? Almost everything is in bloom. It's all so beautiful. What you can't see though is my very tall grass...the mower is back now and fixed thanks to Andy and as soon as the rains stop the yard will be mowed.

I have had some unexpected finances come up and decided that now is the perfect timing with school ending to start on those picnic quilts to bolster the ole checkbook to take care of those bills. I originally was going to make a bright patchwork with the greens, oranges and reds, but when I went into my stash and started seeing all of the gorgeous flowers I was inspired to make an English Garden inspired picnic quilt. Below is a photo of part of the pieces laid out on the pool table (much easier on the back) and the pinning has begun! :o)

The whole quilt top is made from repurposed/recycled furniture showroom pieces. I love that!

What do you think? I can't wait to finish it.
xo

around the farm :: out with the old

When we moved out to the farm we tore out several rooms worth of miserable stinkin carpet. It wasn't something that we wanted to revisit any time soon, and thankfully the remaining carpet wasn't as bad as the ones that we already tore out.
This time around it was a bit stinky, but manageable. BUT LOOK what's underneath! I have one more weekend of school and then it's game on with learning how to refinish these beautiful floors!

The girls were a GREAT help to me!

 rollerskating after hard work is a must :o)

I finally cleaned off my sewing desk after too many months to count of it being covered with everything anyone could lay on it.  I even finished up mending a pair of sweatpants that was promised three months ago...I know, I know amazing job for sure! So what does one do when they clear off the sewing table and haven't been able to be creative for far too long?

The start designing picnic quilts that's what! Of course!

I am going to make a few for my shop and one for my family. The greens and reds have me dreaming of strawberries and sunshine.

 The fabrics below remind me of an English Garden...I can't wait to see what it turns out like! 

xo