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

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 

riding home with me.

  Link to my new Dala Horse Pinterest Board!

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!

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!

let it snow!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

from 

Meadowview Farm!

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"!

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.  

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!

bits of Christmas

Some little views of Christmas at Meadowview Farm...

bathroom stop first - because the light was just so sweet!