Little Red Bridge

I've moved my blog

It's a pain, I know but I've moved my personal blog over to Little Bones Woman. Come check it out!

I can hear the thunder, I can smell the rain

Medicine Garden partially snipped (I can see my stones!!)

I rolled up the proverbial sleeves and resolved today was the day. I needed to cut my backyard and give my Medicine Garden one final hurrah before we moved. I realize, my back yard has become somewhat of a reflection of my inner self; I avoid it at all costs, neglect it out of fits of despair, and let my dog do his business as he pleases (it's an analogy--c'mon!). I dragged out the whipper snipper (which is all I should technically ever need but I had let the grass grow into a field over the summer) got the extension cord and hauled my whining buns out back.

To the rather inspiring soundtrack of thunder rolling in the distance, it took me all afternoon to find my garden. I couldn't bear to leave it in its overgrown state a moment longer. I winced as I knelt on the stubs of hay left by my rather fierce assault and began to pull the weeds by hand. Remind me never to plant wormwood again unless I like the idea of it running rampant through hills and valleys. It's very impressive in the garden but excessively self-sows.

Pretty echinacea ladies & that darned wormwood in the bkgrnd

I had to take a break from weeding when the ground seemed awfully close to my face. Inside, with shaking hands I had a hysterical lunch of lobster and strawberries with whipped cream. Hysterical because in hindsight it's hilarious but at the time my body was on an instinctive drive for calories. It was literally grab and gulp.

I went out for one final push to get around the circular garden and made it! The thunder was still booming but the clouds had stayed off my hill while I worked. I had dirt everywhere. Except, ironically, between my toes.

 

Mallow against the thunder clouds

The reflection of my inner self now has a clear circular ring of smooth round beach stones, a patch of red beebalm, lavender, lady's mantle, chicory, one neat remaining stand of wormwood (the next owner can forge her battles with it as she may), white echinacea, wooly thyme, marsh mallow, a struggling st.johns wort, and comfrey. And two huge ant hills that I'm so not going near. What that says for my new frame of mind I'm only beginning to learn. That sucker's been under weeds for a long time. Now we just need a little blessing of rain . . .

Vanilla Skies

I decided to spend part of the afternoon at a local farm with my son. We went for a wagon ride which he yet again showed his penchant for sharing the cab with the driver. I especially loved how he gripped the reins and twisted around in the direction he wanted the horses to go. Kinda like me with a game controller.

Woah!

It was a perfect day just for enjoying the outdoors. Gigantic fluffy marshmallow clouds floated overhead, pumpkin vines curled everywhere on the path and the smell of warm old leather tickled the senses. I wish I wish...

 

 

 

The end of our visit was punctuated with a lovely sweet vanilla ice cream cone. Which, when we got to the car, my son up ended into my cup holder while he climbed into his seat. Good thing I save napkins in the dash! What a turkey!

I need some encouragement. Here's a picture of my in between my sewing project, project. *sheepish grin* It's an embroidery sampler. I have to say embroidery is not my favorite pass time. Give me cross stitch any ol' day but embroidery is just so . . . hard!

What do you think so far?

Tissue Paper Tenderhooks

I've been keeping busy! I redesigned my blog. Thanks in a big way to shabbyblogs.com! I'm on a steep learning curve in all sorts of media. I promise to try to take better pictures with my trusty digital camera. For example, my next project:

Can you guess what I'm up to my elbows in now?

Yup, sewing. I'm not going to give away what just yet.

But isn't it strange that I found myself utterly shaken at the simple activity of cutting out those tissue-thin patterns? My hands were shaking as I snipped close to the lines. My thought at first was that it was because the last time I had gone through these same motions I had been making my wedding dress. But no, I reminded myself that I had, actually, made a Jedi Halloween costume for my husband (now ex) a few years later.

Regardless of what the occasion, I realized, making anything with your own two hands starts with the intent.

If you make something with your own two hands, you cannot help but put a little of yourself in the work. Sometimes it's a little smidge of interest, sometimes it's with a truckload of heart. If I've been holding back in giving of myself out of fear (of getting hurt, of bleh feedback, or whatever) then the simple act of making something with meaning can be a challenge.

So if you're going to do it, I say it's best to start with scissors.  

Keep them sharp, ignore your shaking hands and let out a trembling laugh. If you make a mistake that's what tape is for. And who's to say the dog isn't going to come over and drool on the insipid tissue pattern and turn it into mush anyway.

Garden Blooms & Seaweed

Wouldn't you know it. Just as I'm in the home stretch, pardon the pun, my garden decides decides despite my marked absence it's going to show off with a final explosion of bloom. Y'know. Just to make sure that I miss it when I leave. I have Shasta daisies and Brown-eyed Susans blooming in the side garden. I snipped a few to enjoy while I'm at the computer . . .

And didn't my Chickory decide that this was the year it was finally going to make it's long awaited appearance! It was playing peekaboo with me, only blooming in the morning so when I went back later in the day to check it was gone as if I had hallucinated it. Well I waited till this morning and cut off a stem to catalogue for prosperity.

My kitchen is still a bit messy but at least when I go past/through it ('cause heaven forbid I should actually cook something in there!Whoever designed the kitchen was not a feng shui practitioner. At. All.) I get the lovely scent of drying lavender and chamomile. 

Of my list of things to do I now have 'how many flowers can I smuggle to my new place?'

Something else might interest you. Something you suspected but could never quite collect enough evidence. 

I'm a mermaid!!

The beach was lovely today. Had a bitty picnic with a friend after a long soak in the seaweed--I mean water. The crowds weren't quite as bad as they were earlier in the month. We could actually stretch without invading someones personal space. Afterwards my friend and I went to Lola's, a lovely little local shop with all sorts of treasures. I can see myself going there often.

All in all it was a loverly day!

Over a cup of joe

I'm sitting here enjoying my morning coffee, listening to the light rain outside. Koda, my Shiloh Shepherd is resting behind me. I can just hear his plush falling out. Midsummer is when he goes through a major shed, as my house can firmly attest to. I can evoke the spirit of the Midwest whenever I feel like it, with all the hair tumbleweeds floating around. I can't keep up with their production. Oh well. No one can compare me to Martha Stewart. :)

Koda from last summer--we haven't had any grand photo ops yet this year

I finished embroidering my first badge last night (yipee!!) It was completed in backstitch since the pattern was a sketch and I couldn't for the life of me think of another stitch that would compliment it. I'm happy with the turnout though. I hope the transfer media washes off. It was not meant for stitching through and cracked in several places. The perfectionist in me wants a nice soft rubbable badge.

don't ask me why this came out sideways...

Plans for today? Get off my tush and go find some more boxes for packing up. Ugh. I hate asking around for boxes. Someone tell me to suck it up. I have one month left, give or take, before I move into my country rental where I'll have a few acres to spread my wings. It will be worth it to have the forest on one side and a field on the other (and the beach just down the road--joy!). Oh the wandering this farm girl

soul will have!

Green Blessings!