Saturday, December 30, 2017

sometimes 5:00 a.m. is the best time



It is dark outside at the farm...the kind of night that feels like a blanket.
I am awake early, pretending my instant coffee is the real deal in my 
mug from the first Starbucks in Seattle.  The house is quiet, just the
ticking of the mantle clock.  As usual, my Lucy cat is at my side.  This 
quiet moment calls for reflection.  I will be anxious to say farewell to 
2017 in just a few days, hoping that bringing out a new calendar will truly
turn the page.  But, I suspect that it will not be quite so easy.  There will
be more 5 a.m. mornings, more reflection.  That will be my word & my
work in this new year.  

Friday, December 22, 2017

from our home to yours...




                                               ☃️Happy Holidays!☃️

Sunday, December 17, 2017

gifted...

                       ...at collecting, not baking!




Saturday, December 9, 2017

our sweet woods



Today we cut boughs from our sweet woods in Winter, Wisconsin.
We truly must be caretakers of a million trees on our property.
Today they were dressed in snow!  ❄️❄️❄️❄️🏠❄️❄️❄️❄️

Friday, December 8, 2017

Saturday, December 2, 2017

"more" is always more!

                     A peak into my craft room!




Sunday, November 26, 2017

holiday kitchen


          Christmas begins to arrive at the farm...


Friday, November 24, 2017

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Thankful...



                            May your cup runneth over!



Tuesday, November 21, 2017

behind our barn



Oil painting by Marian of Miss Mustard Seed as part of the 
100 Meadows Project.  From right behind our barn.  💙


Sunday, November 19, 2017

Benny & Joon




Baby goats have arrived at Meadowview Farm.  This is the first 
time these three month olds have been in a big grassy pasture.
They ran, jumped, hopped...and chased our big boy goats.  We 
are delighted to have them join our little farm family!


Monday, November 13, 2017

Celebrate...


Winter has arrived at my booth at the Hixton Schoolhouse Antique
Mall in Wisconsin.  I am enjoying a more subtle palette this year.



Saturday, November 11, 2017

Sunday, November 5, 2017

bits of Christmas...



quietly and in neat little batches, Christmas is beginning to arrive
in my booth & case at the Hixton Schoolhouse Antique Mall...



Saturday, November 4, 2017

turkey in the straw



No sooner do the black cats & jack o' lanterns depart, then one 
hears, "gobble gobble" at Meadowview Farm!

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Halloween magic...


I was recently with my sisters...part of our outing was at an antique mall.
We reminisced about the boxed costumes of our childhood, the ones with those
plastic masks held on by an elastic band.  We checked out the price on the 
plastic Halloween candy containers that decorated the picture window in
our Healy Lane home.  

I still decorate my home for Halloween...even though trick or treaters are
nonexistent in the country.  I still love the autumn orange and the pumpkin
faces.

And decorations from my childhood still make me smile...

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Amish autumn



         Our Amish neighbors ready the corn for harvest. 

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

blackbirds



                    Blackbird singing in the dead of night
                    Take these broken wings and learn to fly
                    All your life
                    You were only waiting for the moment to arise

Sunday, October 1, 2017

to happiness



I will never treat October as just any month.  This is the month when
Dave & I were married...and 4 years ago, it was the month of my final 
surgery in my breast cancer journey.  So, as October begins, I send out 
my reminder that 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.
And, early detection truly matters.

Sunday, September 24, 2017

our bowl runneth over


We planted baby jacks this year.  Gourds self seeded from last year.
This is what I will lovingly call my "2 minute harvest"!  Too hot to 
hang out in the pumpkin patch...so a quick in & out!



Thursday, September 14, 2017

there she is...



                         lovely Autumn 🍁🍂

Saturday, September 2, 2017

ever grateful



Thank you for you patronage & support of my little antique booth & 
case at the Hixton Schoolhouse Antique Mall in Hixton, Wisconsin.


Sunday, August 27, 2017

fall, lovely fall


Autumn arrived last night at my booth at the Hixton Schoolhouse 
Antique Mall.  The mix of orange, green, black with bits of red,
yellow & brown makes me swoon.


Added some farmhouse goodies, vintage cardboard farm animals,
a terrific Purina chick feeder and lots of tin.  There is even another 
single chicken nesting box...hard to find!  Also added some charming
canvas pouches, perfect for use or to fill with autumn foliage & hang up!




Sunday, August 20, 2017

Ralphie



                           That's all...just Ralphie!



Sunday, August 13, 2017

go big or go home



We have beat the annual rainfall record by 7 inches in Wisconsin.
And it shows!  Our Peegee Hydrangeas are flourishing!

                     Heaven for hundreds of bees!


    And our miniature pumpkins!  Will be a bounty...🎃



Saturday, August 12, 2017

living in history


I sit in the quiet of this home, built brick by brick...square nail by square nail in 1857.  I feel this abundant awe living in the midst of history and recognizing those who stood here before me.  Knowing that Augusta became a town in 1857 and that the Civil War was yet to be when this house was built is humbling.  Thank you Joseph Strader for coming here from New York to build this "magnificent brick house" 160 years ago.



The following excerpts are from "The History of Augusta" written in 1874.

Buildings, fruit trees, fences, improvements and everything, denote order, industry, and economy. ... Joseph Strader with his magnificent brick house, Fletcher Dighton, S. E. Cooledge, I. G. Bills, William Arries, James Surgeon, Lindsey Wright, F. A. and S. H. Denison. Peter O’Blair, and scores more, all model men, now well-to-do, though they were all poor but a few years ago when they came to the valley. Nothing short of good markets, health, good habits and rich soil can produce such results in so short a time. This is a truthful picture of this beautiful valley, and it is by such men that we are surrounded, as neighbors and friends; intelligence and true friendship are embodied in such a class of men.

Up to 1861, the local advantages were about all our citizens took any special interest in. but when the news came that Sumpter [Fort Sumter in the American Civil War] had been fired upon, the people of this valley, in common with those of the surrounding country, felt the insult as though it had been specially aimed at them and from the first three months until the final surrender the valley had its full show of representatives in the deadly strife [of the American Civil War]. During all those years of weeping and mourning, we had in the Union army a large list of our best citizens, many of who never returned to their families and friends. Some of them do not even share the honor of our decoration day, but are buried in the shade of the Rocky Mountains or in the sunny south, where their dearest friends may never find their graves. 


May their memories be for a blessing.  Happy Birthday Meadowview Farm! May you always be a home to compassion, hard work and the democratic spirit.



Tuesday, August 8, 2017

home, finally


Barn cats are necessary on a farm...and over the years, many have called Meadowview Farm home. Every now & again, an extra cat arrives at our farm, as was the case with Patches. An older boy, he would watch from the edge of the field when I called in the kittens at day's end. Slowly he followed the call. Slowly he let me pet him. Slowly this farm became his too. I am glad that he has a home, one he now protects with ferocity. He has taught me that you are never too old to find where you were meant to be. 





Sunday, July 30, 2017

barn painting



Our 100+ year old barn has been getting a new coat of paint this 
summer.  As much as we love weathered wood, painting is part of 
barn preservation.


It was a bit tricky getting to the peak.  An extension rod that 
extends three times was the ticket.  


My husband, Dave, has been the master painter!  This is rough 
work for shoulders...but Dave has been stoic.  He loves this barn!


Friday, July 21, 2017

even in Seattle



Found this urban garden complete with farm statuary on my recent
trip to Washington...right at the famous Pike Place Market!  Love these
secret places once you get a bit behind the main attraction.



Friday, July 7, 2017

take the long way home



           Traveling home from my office clears my head...


Saturday, July 1, 2017

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Saturday, June 17, 2017

right across the road


           I needn't go far to find my color palette....

                                       There it is.

           Literally right across the road from our farm...







Sunday, June 11, 2017

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Shhh...

There is this secret, back behind the barn...
                                                                  acres of wonder.

Sunday, May 28, 2017

my home, my heart



Dave has been in Seattle this past week with our Ian.  We both agree, 
Seattle fits Ian well.  This was my gift to Dave as he celebrates a 
milestone birthday.  They are both 1800 miles away as I type.  My heart 
resides in Mill Creek, WA...indeed.

In the midst of this week, a Maywood kindergarten friend asked where
we should go next year to celebrate our milestone birthdays that are a 
week apart.  I laughed a "seriously?"  She responded, "Hawaii, Europe?...
the flight is on me".  With her husband employed at a major airline, she is
indeed serious.  

Yesterday I traveled 270 miles round trip to a flea market in MN...I was delighted 
to go, and thankful to be home.  I actually relished the 2 hours on our riding
mower as much as the 2 hours traveling to Minnesota.

What I know is that I am a home body...and feel most content here.  I enjoy day trips,
but want to be home, in my own surrounds, at day's end.  Ian is pushing my 
boundaries, as home is now expanding to include a mountain community on the west coast.

My first answer to my friend was to travel to Norway or Sweden (and of course I would 
cover my flight)...but secretly, my heart says home.  I would need to pack my ruby
slippers.




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