Farewell sweet 2014...

...you are ending as you began...cold and a skiff of snow.

But that is what winter is supposed to be all about, at least on the plains! This was the best Christmas ever.  Not about the gifts (well, if you were 8 years old, it WAS about the gifts!) but for the rest of us, just being together and enjoying one evening ~ 























...maybe...a little about the gifts, even for the adults, come now, it is a beautiful sacred holiday but it is also a celebration, isn't it?  We spend so much time crafting or selecting our gifts that we give in love, I do believe it is also about the gifts. 

Speaking of gifts, guess what I received from Holly?...a hand drawn picture of Pope John Paul II - drawn by Sister Helena from the Carmelite Nuns convent in Oklahoma City.  The convent was closing so they had a giant estate sale and Holly got this for me plus two music books.  The 'singers edition' and the music for the Kyriale - Missa pro Defunctis - Published with ecclesiastical permission in 1937 ~ all in Latin...very cool.  But isn't this drawing just lovely, especially the eyes...

I need to get it framed right away so the wood smoke from our stove doesn't destroy it.  

Next project for winter creative endeavors ~ a few new clothes!  

(Another Holly gift!) Not sure which one - I love the upper right full skirt - but know it is not stylish now!  But it was the style in the 1950's and my Grandmother Glass wore that look to work everyday.  She favored dark colors with small polka dots and contrasting white colors.  (Or at least that is what I remember!).  The lower right short sleeved version could be really cute for spring and the way my sewing progress moves that is about the right timing!

But ending on a note of what is even way more special to me:

...til next year!  

Dear Santa...

...

...from my desk to yours.  No snow yet - but I know your reindeer can make it through the fog if they have to...one of the multitude of miracles this special time of year.

I have tried to be good.  I don't know if I succeeded but my goal was for over 50% of the time to be good.  You be the judge.

Therefore, I will make my list modestly ~ including only the top 50% of wished for items, as follows:

#1 - Milk Cow Kitchen by MaryJane Butters ~ available on line @ shop.maryjanesfarm.org/Milk-Cow-Kitchen, $35 + shipping ~ (hint: top item on list!)

#2 - fuzzy socks ~ Dollar General store

#3 - a plant - Boston fern would be great to hang in the bathroom ~ (Note: no orchids.  I don't think they would do well in our house ~ too drafty.)

#4 - another clay garden pot (lemon trees are saying "help! we need separate pots" - can you believe they have grown this much since last Christmas?!)

That's about it ~ I might have to add a post script when something else comes to mind.

P.S.! #2.a. (>second in importance!) - a postal scale for my Etsy startup business ~ available at office supply stores (Office Max, etc.) or online at usps.com (probably the best buy) either 5 lb. digital or 10 lb. digital ($24.99 or $49.99, respectively) at the usps web site (usps.com > postal store > shipping supplies )

Thank you Santa.  I love you.  Kate

(I'm getting ready to bake you some cookies...promise.)

I think it is finally autumn in Oklahoma...

The native trees don't turn red - many oaks and not even sure what species this one is but as you turn into the driveway, there it is and when the lowering sun shines through all the other green trees, this one just sparkles.

Meanwhile, last Saturday Holly, I and the kids set up a booth at a local Country Fair held at the Busy Bee Nursery down the road.  We didn't make any money to speak of, but we did have a fun day.  

Our table first thing in the morning...we all wore aprons.  I thought it was pretty darned cute!

Holly had the jewelry - Christmas style.  I had the fabric items:  apples and pumpkin pincushions.  Ivy had salt dough tree ornaments and gift tags.  Then we also had some real mini pumpkins covered with glittering epsom salts.  (Only sold one of those so the rest are now home lined across my window sill.  They look so cute and preserve very well! - Can't believe no one else wanted one for $2!...oh well :) )

Late in the afternoon everyone had fun with this very large toad that decided to hop through the greenhouse!

Here he is peeking out between Ivy's hands...

Devlin was a doll all day.  Took a few short naps and jumped a lot!  He was amazed but also a little confused by another little one who decided he liked Devlin's jumper too!

I am going to post the instructions for the apple and the pumpkin as soon as I take some photos for uploading!  Will get to that soon...until then blessings sent via the air waves!...

Almost autumn...

...and I love it!  Moving into my favorite time of the year (I think, it's always hard for me to really define which season is my favorite.)  Whitey, my husband, and I are September babies, and his favorite time of the year is autumn, so maybe we have an affinity for the colors and cooler temperatures. 

I have yet to find out the name of this shrub.  The bush is big - maybe 8 feet or taller.  Every year I love it when these neat little 'berries' come on.  They make a very pretty background to a vase full of small wild sunflowers which are blooming this time of year, too.  (Reminder:  pick sunflowers and make a floral arrangement!)

Other autumn reminders...the containers of flowers on the deck are starting to fade significantly...the mums are starting to bud...oak leaves are starting to fall in more profusion...

the wild plums are dripping from the limbs (have you ever tasted one of these?...bitter!!...even the birds leave these alone!)...

the overall color of the woods is yellowing...the brilliant green of summer is gone and it won't return even if we get rain...

...time to enjoy this perfect time of year...catch you next time on the airwaves!

Two Months...Yikes...

...where does the time go?  Old adage but true.  For one, I went back to Oregon for a week.  There was a death in the family but the trip was not sad.  In fact, it was lovely.  I miss my home very much !  Here are few reasons why:

Foxglove along highway 38 - on the way to the coast.  Ferns, scotch bloom and firs in the background.

 

 

The Pacific Ocean, late afternoon, with the evening fog coming in at an overlook near Reedsport.  Perhaps this appears a little too gloomy but I love it...the mystery and majesty.

 

 

The Umpqua River at Elkton.  Lazy in the summer, crystal clear and serene.



 

 

Shore Acres State Park, Charleston.  This beautiful botanical garden is home to a glorius rose garden but the backdrop of the cedars and ferns attract me more.



 

 

These roses are for Uncle Rudy - the reason I was there and a wonderful man he was.

 

 

Now the reasons I am here...Ivy on her trick bike and baby Devlin learning to love his feet!  My doll babies.

 

Happy days til next time we meet on the airwaves!

A Tribute...

... to Ali.  Her big name was Lovealota Allison and that is fitting because I loved her a lota.  She was a May Day dunn filly born in 1987 and that made her 27 years old when she died two days ago on May 20.  She was my solice.  It is impossible to say how much I will miss her.  This is our profile picture and that, too, is a fitting word, 'profile' - she was part of me.  I will miss you with all my heart old girl.

My goodness how can this be...

...I wonder how many bloggers stop writing and then decide to go for it again?  I especially missed the photography.  I will see something out of the car window and think 'wow, that would make a great blog photo' and then keep driving.  I have decided to slow down again and stop the car once and awhile!

This is the perfect time to start things off...spring!...intense green!!  Greens off all shades but not the deeper greens of summer, these greens have lots of limes, yellows and tinges of reds.  Because we moved to the woods I now can sit outside and am literally surrounded with green.  Everything has decided to wake up and just live life large!  Bugs galore, birds galore, frogs galore...so ta-da! photo number one:  a gorgeous swallow tail butterfly that loves the blossoms on this bush. 

Unfortunately, I don't know the species of this lovely bush but it attacts everything...honeybees, butterflies, bumblebees...when I sit below its branches in the afternoons, it is actually noisey with the hum of insects. 

In our family we also have someone new...a new baby grandson!  Baby Devlin rounding out three weeks and thriving with all the sweetness of spring.

And while baby slept big sister headed for the pond and a little tiny frog catching...nothing like a little mud and sunshine to make a young girl happy!  (I know these days will quickly pass so must record this for posterity!)

 

Love you big sis!