Wednesday, December 31, 2014

hope, please


Like many, I end the year in reflection.
What lessons has 2014 taught me?
What is my take away?
And, as always ~ I turn to this farm in my thoughts.  As I know the intricacies of her 1857 walls, the stories found behind barn doors....with some certainty, I know the answers are not too very far away.

2014 taught me this:
1.  We all see the world through our own lens...for better or worse, this is a fact.
2.  Support can be found in many places, even in the quiet of a purr.
3.  Integrity matters...period, exclamation mark.!
4.  Kindness matters too ~ a lot.
5.  No one is a door mat to injustice.  When it knocks on your door, do not welcome it.
6.  Solace replenishes my very being (as does a good antique mall).

My oldest cat, Shawnee, has lost most of his sight in the past month.  He still finds his way around this big old farmhouse...up & down the stairs, into the best napping spots.  He has also lost his brother of almost 16 years.  I attempt to think of how this must feel for this boy of mine.  I wonder if he truly knows McCoy is gone....or if he travels this house, thinking he just can't see him or find him. I am not certain.  What I am certain about is that he goes on, finding his way to our voice...living by his memory.  In many ways, his little kitty life is built on Hope.

The final addition to my list :
7.  Hope, please.

Happy New Year!
Kari






Sunday, December 28, 2014

Dala Horses...my new obsession

I am finding myself drawn to Scandinavian interiors.
In particular, I am a tad in love with many Swedish styles.

So it was not long before I would become madly deeply in
love with Swedish Dala horses.  The antique horses are 
works of art, but beyond my budget.  I recently oodled over
several older horses at an Antique Mall in Stillwater, MN.  But
the multiple hundred dollar price tags prevented any from 

So enter in the more colorful newer Dala Horses...found in orange, 
red, blue, black & white.  After much thought, I settled my 
hunt on white horses, yellowed just a bit by age.  Many are 
tagged by the artist, Nils Olsson.  The vintage horses still fetch
$35 to $85 in this style.  They range in size from itty bitty to large.

Here is my first addition....vintage white, 4 inches tall.  After
examining every horse I have recently found, I ended up 
purchasing my first from a sweet dealer on EBay.  The 
$28 with postage felt just right!  As it arrived just
in time to be a Christmas gift to myself, I call her:
       "Fa la la la la"


How sweet she looks with my holiday decorations.


I am certain I will some day have a small herd ~ it will be fun 
to search them out.  Each will have a story.

A collection is born!


Friday, December 26, 2014

and we glittered!

Deer, old Xmas light bulbs...Ian & his girlfriend, Emma,
enjoy glittering before a game of Scrabble.  The ever present
teacher in me cannot resist setting up activities.  Ian has 
learned to be a good sport about it ~~ and dives right in!





                   Christmas at Meadowview Farm!


Sunday, December 21, 2014

let it snow!



Wishing you a very Merry Christmas
from 
Meadowview Farm!



Saturday, December 13, 2014

Hixton Holiday

This is about as festive as it gets in my booth at the
Hixton Schoolhouse Antique Mall.

                    Candy cane red and white.



        Green, green, green....with winter white.



                           Pinecone brown...



         Put it all together, farmhouse Christmas!

For all the details about Hixton...head to the right, under "Chapters"!




Tuesday, December 9, 2014

some stories find us



There. Right at the edge of the trees. Five sheep - in the snow, close to this abandoned barn. I slow and watch for them along HH in Otter Creek, mulling over their story...checking on them. They make me ponder & wonder.  Purposely, I do not disturb their quiet grazing, nor does the farmer that leaves them water.

I am not sure what story pulls at my heart more.  This barn without a house, left in the woods, orphaned.  Alone.  It looks to have once been part of something grand, a busy place where kids & animals were raised.  Now it stands bewildered by time, lost.  

And this small flock of sheep that have found their own farm on their own journey, homeward.   Twice sold, trailered several miles away to a new pasture.  Twice they broke the fence, traveling back to what they knew.  Now they are not accepted at their old home or welcomed back to their new one.  They have found a fenceless pasture, a lone barn.  They have made their own home somewhere in between. 

A flock became a family.  A barn became a home.  Lost became found.  
These are the stories that find me along these country roads.  


Sunday, December 7, 2014

Christmas farmhouse kitchen

Holiday magic, to me, is all about the details....here are
but a few from our Meadowview Farm holiday kitchen.

And yes, Dave sneaks in a fishing lure or two!








Hope you are getting that holiday spirit too!






Wednesday, December 3, 2014

bits of Christmas

Some little views of Christmas at Meadowview Farm...
bathroom stop first - because the light was just so sweet!











Sunday, November 30, 2014

favorite things

Some of my very favorite vintage finds:
   Majolica creamers
   Sheep
   Pastoral pictures
   Clocks
   Mirrors


More favorites:
   Anything green!
   Rabbits
   Cloches
   Sketches
   Pottery
   Clock faces


And more:
   Ironstone
   Jars of goodies
   Whisk brooms with velvet tops
   Old lace
   Vintage holiday


What are your favorite things?




Friday, November 28, 2014

warmth on a snowy morn

This morning I awoke early, snug robe, furnace
kicked up just a notch, coffee.
I lit the house with the fewest of lights...
would watch morning arrive.

And August Rose watched too.  


I feel so so blessed by all the sweetness of this farm.

My heart is very thankful.


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Thursday, November 20, 2014

homeward




I am a home body....no questions asked, no doubt in my mind.
Home centers me.
I have been away from home since early Sunday.

Started my week with an exceptional adventure with Jani, Nan & Sarah
(you may know them here as the Barn Sale "Barn Cats") at the Columbus Antique Mall!
We shopped & shopped and laughed & laughed.
Good for the soul!

Then I traveled on for a week of training in Milwaukee.
My Ian and his Emma live here.  I was blessed to have supper with
them both on Monday night....with Ian tonight.

But, now my home sickness has arrived...one more night away.
As I peak at pictures on my blog, I discover just how much I miss home. 
I miss Dave, my kittens, my goats and the warm embrace of our farm.

Ian & I talked about city life and country life last night.
He loves the energy of Milwaukee.  
He is comfortable in this urban setting, with so much to do.
I am so proud of his ability to fit in here.
Me, not so much.
It feels like too much, too many cars, too many unknowns.
I like a slower pace.
I like the comfort of home.

So two more days of training (a great training I might add)--and
then I will point my little blue car toward the NW.
HOME calls to me.

Monday, November 17, 2014

turkey days


Several years ago, Dave & I were antiquing in Appleton, Wisconsin.
We have several favorite antique malls in that area, and are always thrilled to be there!
I was walking the mall in the opposite direction that I usually go, like to mix things up.  I 
rounded a corner, quickly scanning a booth I usually skip because there generally seems to be the same stuff in it every time I have been there.  And this turkey caught my eye.  
Could it be...a 1950's German Steiff mohair turkey with a $9.99 price tag?  
I believe I leaped into the booth, grabbing (with care) this prize!  
I wouldn't even risk leaving it at the front counter while I finished my shopping.  
I am always on the look out for vintage Steiff.....and have never seen a turkey.  
Easily the price should have been 10 times what I paid.  
It is now one of my favorite antiquing stories & finds -- a keeper!

How about you, what is your best find?





Wednesday, November 12, 2014

never late for the dance...


                          Earlier arrival then usual.



Certainly snow looks lovely on her first visit, however...would not
have hurt feelings if she decided to come later, just provide a dance
in December with maybe one encore performance in January.

Oh winter, seems we just finished that dance!


Friday, November 7, 2014

so long sweet boy


As this blog has become my journal...I end this day, this week, with a farewell.
My dear McCoy passed on today.  

He was born on January 23, 1999.
His brother, Shawnee, calls for him as I type...a kitty song of good bye.

May his sweet memory be for a blessing.
He certainly was my blessing.

Farewell dear bear.




Beside me...
With that heart on your nose.
Beside me...
Loyalty was what you knew.
Beside me...
Always first on my right, first up the stairs.
Beside me...
True friendship, truer still, love.
Beside me...
now empty.



Wednesday, November 5, 2014

feed the kittens







A very wise friend of mine once sent me a card that had asked 
the following question of a 4 year old:
  How do you find happiness?

The little girl replied, "Feed the kittens.  Feed the kittens."


Today I am feeling just a bit sad, dismayed & maybe even dejected.
Thank goodness 13 cats live on this farm...I will be seeking me some happiness.


Saturday, November 1, 2014

I know you will remember to...



I live in Wisconsin, some hefty voting will take place on Tuesday!

I suspect that I will be one of the first voters at our Otter Creek Town Hall.
It is always a very emotional experience for me!

My Ian, on the other hand, will vote at the Bayview Library in urban Milwaukee.
I hope there is a line out the door there!

Wherever you are from, I know you will remember & remind others that our vote matters!





Sunday, October 26, 2014

vintage Halloween

       Beloved by many collectors - including me!

There is something magical about Halloween - and
I quite enjoy unpacking & setting out all my goodies...
kind of like when we would sort thru all our candies 
after trick or treating!



I still have 4 plastic Halloween candy containers from childhood.
We used to set these along the picture window in our home in Monona.
Now they live on a window sill at our farm.  The wonderful box of 
Halloween invitations were gifted to me from dear Sarah Dill.  Found at
a garage sale - now a part of my collection....truly adore them!

About 5 years ago, we were given permission to enter an old farmhouse 
that was vacant, but still full of possessions.  The owners allowed us to take
what we would like before the weather & animals got to everything.  Strewn
across an upstair's bedroom were vintage Halloween napkins...somehow 
undamaged despite the rain & raccoons that had gotten in.  I gathered them
and am glad to add some to my collection and have many move on to 
other collections (several still available in my case at the Hixton Antique Mall).


          Vintage Halloween - charmingly perfect!

Sunday, October 19, 2014

it just takes a bit of sunshine


I traveled Friday, a day off, some things on my mind.  I found
myself sitting at a little auction in Independence, Wisconsin.
Maybe thirty chairs set up in tidy rows in the front yard of a home 
that would itself be auctioned off at 12:30.  Most of many years of
collecting packed in boxes, unloaded and sold one by one.  The
collector now living in a nursing home.  We gathered as this small
community, bidding on one after another lot.  On the surface, a very
solemn event...dispersing a lifetime of a home, carried off, collections 
divided many times.  My number 36 was raised, very select choices...
one of her cow creamers, several of her hen on a nest, two of her milk
bottles~~ one from Augusta meant to add to my own collection.  One
bid after another, I spent a morning as part of this group of bidders,
dispersing a lifetime.  But I know I will love the milk bottle I won -- as will
the person who eventually picks up the little cow creamer & takes her home.
Sure, this is all stuff....but stuff certain to hold stories & maybe a memory or two.

I will remember that chilly morning on October 17 ~~ sitting on a folding 
chair, raising my number, adding ever so selectively to my own story,
my own memories.

It only takes a bit of sunshine reflected just right to make a rainbow.  


As I carefully packed my treasures, folding them into my raincoat,
I knew I carried off with me pieces of someone's life.  Little shimmers,
little fragments of color, little stories.  

Sunday, October 12, 2014

"Made it!"


"Made it!", she stated with a grin.  That will be me - 
as I wander through a number of anniversaries over 
the next two weeks.  

Today I mark my first 'second weekend of October' without
my usual Barn Sale.  I won't say I didn't miss the festivity of
it all, setting up vignettes & waiting to see if anyone arrives.
However, I appreciate feeling rested as I enter this mad dash
into winter readiness.  It has been good to catch my breath this 
year.


This coming Thursday Dave & I will mark 33 years of marriage.
Friday I will mark reaching my one year mark Cancer free.

"Made it!"....I will repeat over & over through October.


Addendum....just watched my neighbor's cows run across their pasture in a line...
heading in to be milked.  Each one seemed to moo, "made it"!  

Friday, October 10, 2014

one last reminder



Just so that no one shows up at our farm this weekend...
there will not be a Meadowview Farm Barn Sale this year.

This event has taken place on the second weekend of October ~
this year, for many reasons, we are taking the year "off".  We 
will certainly miss seeing so many now familiar faces!

Have a wonderful Autumn weekend!  Miss you!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Holy Buckets!

Please accept this post as a full on apology!  I have been a tad busy.
And I miss stopping by all my favorite blogs and posting a note or "hi".
Just about 3 weeks into my new job has me realizing why most folks do
not raise young babies or take over nonprofit organizations after a certain
age!  

Well wow!  I am feeling a bit like that deer in the headlights....or this wide 
eyed fellow below these days!  Lots to learn, lots to wrap my mind about.


But, truth be told, I am loving every minute of it.  I am best in
positions where that "buck stops with me".  I have learned to be 
patient, to listen, to ask lots of questions, to learn.  There are also
plenty of big things that will not wait for me to learn this new role...
funders need to fund, public hearings need my testimony, was on 
T.V. my first day on the job responding to issues in our community.

So, please pardon my absence from the blogosphere.  All my comments 
are in my heart.  I will be back soon!  Promise!








Wednesday, October 1, 2014

pink it is

Today marks the start of October, certainly one of the sweetest months I know.

And today marks the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness month.  With some
authority I share the importance of early detection...one out of eight women will be 
diagnosed with breast cancer ~ that is the reality.  But the reality is that the prognosis 
can be very good.  I placed my faith in my medical team and let them do what they needed.
A lumpectomy followed by 35 rounds of radiation ~ "sure".  No clear margins, so a second
lumpectomy ~ "do it".  Still no clear margins, so a mastectomy with lymph node removal
 ~ "let's get this done".  It wasn't bravery or courage....for me it was survival.  Period.
I had things to do.
And I was fortunate, my lymph nodes were clear, it had not traveled...
so no radiation needed, no chemo required.

On October 17th I will mark one year cancer free.


Now please do not get me wrong....there are realities that come with any medical
procedure.  I wish I would have known some of those things.  Regaining arm motion
after a mastectomy is work.  When your lymph nodes are removed, funky stuff
happens to nerves, and forever more that arm is off limits for any pokes.  Fatigue 
rocks you to the core.  Deciding to go through reconstruction, wear a prosthesis, or
just be ~ are all decisions that impact every day.  Practical things are not so easy.
And no one told me the implications this would have on something like life insurance...
I am now a risk to any underwriter ~ they won't bet on my life.  Thank goodness for
safeguarded health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.  No matter your political
persuasion, everyone should have enough heart to agree that denial of health insurance
based upon a preexisting condition is inhumane.  

I have learned more than I ever thought I would along this pink winding road.
My admiration to those women who bear a double mastectomy runs deep.  I cannot even
begin to imagine how so many women travel from surgery to recovery to chemotherapy.  
How they walk through that valley ~~ heroic!  But we all do what we need to, that is life.
And no one really wins or loses any battle in breast cancer....we all survive, moment by moment.

Today marks the start of October, certainly one of the sweetest months I know.



Sunday, September 28, 2014

morning has broken

The song is best song by Cat...
He said he sang it remembering how his mom "lullabied him".
Night to morning...morning to night.

Today I waited for her to arrive.  Sitting on my deck with a coffee in hand.
Warm robe & patience that comes with time.  I waited.
She is loyal.


Saturday, September 20, 2014

reminder

Just a little reminder...there will not be a
Meadowview Farm Barn Sale this year.  We will miss setting up &
then seeing so many folks we now consider friends arrive and
fill our driveway & hayloft.

For the why, click HERE


          We thank everyone for their continued support!




Sunday, September 14, 2014

blackbird singing



My newest collection....vintage Pie Birds ~ black crows
to be specific!  These guys usually "nest" in my laundry room,
but for autumn they will be found in my kitchen!


I truly love everything about them!  Raised head in song!


            "Blackbird singing in the dead of night

            Take these broken wings and learn to fly
                                 All your life
         You were only waiting for this moment to arise."




Saturday, September 13, 2014

there be apples



Our small orchard has provided plenty of apples this year.
Our goats get their share, and we certainly enjoy at least 
an apple a day!  Dave even made one of his pies last night!




And there is plenty to share!  We take several wheelbarrows full to the 
road edge almost daily.  Folks stop by with empty bags & bins.
Off our apples go to be appreciated by others.

Apple time has indeed arrived at Meadowview Farm!  


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