pretty + simple

hello ...spring!

One does wonder where I've been hiding for the past 2 months!  Lots has been happening behind the scenes over here. 

So.

Where do I begin?

For starters there's been a new job.  An opportunity presented itself sooner than expected so I jumped at the chance.  A friend of mine (& her husband) own a small handmade business.   They are such good, hardworking, talented, and appreciative people.  It's been a refreshing, good-for-the-soul change.  Sometimes it doesn't seem real yet.  It's been just a month now and I just feel so dang grateful for this opportunity. 

I also have been digging deep in the corners of the closets.  I feel like I say this every year but its true.  There's been a lot of sifting going on.  Donate, throw, give away, sell ...organize.  Of course that also means that there's a disaster zone.  Whoa.  Ever so slowly things are getting cleaned up.  Sometimes it's getting the motivation to start that holds me back but once I get going I feel so much better about it all and I wonder why I didn't do this sooner! 

There's been some wood cutting, splitting, and hauling going on as well.  This long, cold winter took quite the toll on the wood supply so it feels great to see the wood shed being refilled.  It's possible that I may be the only lady around that enjoys seeing a full wood shed. ;)

And speaking of ladies.  The chickens are enjoying the spring like weather as well these days.  Their evenings are spent exploring every square inch of earth they can find before the sun sets.  Those evenings where the wind is calm, the earth is starting to come back to life and the ladies are oh-so-busy doing "their work" - those are the evenings that I love so much.  Such a calmness that envelopes us and makes the world feel at peace - at least in this little corner.  

And last but certainly not least - I've met someone.  Some of you already know this :) but I feel like I should mention it here too.  It's been 3 years since Gordy passed away.  He was truly my best friend.  Sometimes I feel as though there are equal parts of sadness and happiness these days.  Feeling emotions of sadness for what was and feeling the happiness of a new relationship.  Learning to let go.  To move on.  Yet never forgetting all that we had, all that he taught me and taking that with me as a stepping stone in life.  Holding it in the corner pocket of my soul and knowing that...

everything will be ok.

{ xo xo }

<3

It's Friday.  Valentine's Day.  A full moon.  The weekend.

And a whole lot of...

From me to you!

 

Happy Valentine's Day Sweetie Pies!

 

today at the shoppe

Good morning sunshine!

Some fun things are being added to the shelves at the shoppe these days.  As I'm rummaging around the closets I've decided there's enough goods here to fill the shoppe for at least the next year.  Maybe more.  Awesome. 

So tell your friends.  Tell your family.  Heck, tell anyone that might be listening!  Come on over! 

And this is just the beginning.  Trust me!

Hope you're enjoying a wonderful, winter day.

 

fresh eggs + sprouts

 

It's time.  I couldn't take another day of popping over here and seeing that photo of fall leaves.  And I know that you were thinking the same thing too. 

Life is happening over here.  And it's been good.

I always feel guitly the longer I'm away from this space.  I suppose that's one of the benefits of having your own blog - updating whenever you feel like it.  And still feel guilty.  That's me. 

For now though... I just needed to dust off the pages, fluff the header and say ...hello there!

visitor

For the first time this season... Jack Frost stopped by last night.

It appears that he wants to stay for awhile.

I have been a bit quiet in this space for the past month.  Working on savoring fall and all the goodness that comes with it.  Trying to be here.  Right now.  Not dwelling on the past.  Not fretting about the future.  There's been a few celebrations and a handful of days at the apple orchard.  There was the perfect fall day spent at an estate auction and a few more days hiking and biking.  There's a garden that's slowly being tucked away for a long winter's nap and there's been pumpkin picking, chicken chats, roadside stops, wood stacking, apple crisp, apple pie and maybe even an autumn ale at the end of a good, long day.

So you see autumn's been happening and somehow swept me off my feet. :)

autumn

I found the sunlight, the sunflowers and the bees all in perfect unison early one morning.

How could I resist?

~~~~~~~~~

Welcome Autumn.

I'm ready for you.

such a great day

This morning there was a little gift waiting for me in the coop.  It was from Chicken Pot Pie.  This little white egg is her signature.  She will be the one and only white egg layer in the bunch.  It's the first egg in a very long time - so to celebrate we all did the chicken dance and it was amazing!

I bet you wish you could've been there with us. :)  All the cool chicks were there.

Of course a photo of the first egg is so important!  It deserved some sort of pedestal and flowers and a sunny spot and well... here is the golden egg:

This evening I went back out to the coop to check on the happy bunch and apparently the pep rally this morning went over really well because smack in the middle of the coop was ...

a beautiful brown egg! 

Now who laid this beauty remains a mystery but after much cackling it was decided that we do the chicken dance - one more time!  So that's what we did.

Who knew egg laying could be so much fun?!

 

Oh nine.

September.

You've been skipping right along.

Such good days we've had.

You and I.

Days at the lake.

Time on the trail.

In the garden, gathering the goods.

But summer's slowly slipping away from us.

You can feel it.

The change of seasons.

So I'm not going to rush you September.

There's still plenty of time.

For you and I.

To enjoy the rest of summer.

all good

There are a few things I want to remember about this August week:

It never fails.  Every single year when the acorns start to fall - I think ... "What's that noise?!  Is someone throwing something at the house?!  Ack!  The sky is falling!"  And then it sinks in for the upteenth year in a row I think... oh my gosh, I've done it again!  I let the acorns freak me out.  Ugh.

I really, really like zinnias.  Easy to grow.  Easy to love.  You make me happy.

Bunting is like frosting on a cake.

Sometimes in the late evening just before the sun sets I open the door to the coop and the girls come skipping out.  And I'm not kidding - they skip!  The younger group of 5 like to fly around and spread their wings dashing from spot to spot while the older 3 mosey around rolling their eyes at those young (inexperienced) chicks.  As you can imagine it's hilarious and such good therapy for all involved.

I biked all the way up my steep driveway.  I have NEVER done that before.  I thought for sure I'd run out of breath and that my heart was going to burst.  But I did it!  Me!  I did it.  Thank goodness there is no video of this amazing feat because it's possible that it may have mirrored a circus act.  But hey... I did it!

I get a bit anxious this time of the year.  Thinking about the change of seasons approaching.  Not wanting to let summer go.  As I sat outside last night and soaked up the perfect evening I took a deep breath and thought about being here - in the moment.  I spend so much time fretting over what's to come that I forget to enjoy what's right here.  Right now.  There's still plenty of summer left and I just have to remember that.  And just be in it.  Not beside it.

a small view

{  from my parent's farm  }

Oh and don't you just love those big brown eyes?!

Enjoy your weekend!