on taking care

A rainy Sunday with no "to do list" reminds me just how busy 

life has been.  I have made it through almost 7 months at my 

new job...taking only a handful of scattered sick/vacation hours in all those

months.  Dave & I continue to run our antique business...working 

two Saturdays each month at the mall we sell at.  Ian has 

moved from Milwaukee to Neenah in the past three months, and I 

have made the 6 hour round trip drive each month to help him set 

up his new place.  Add to that a farm that requires daily chores.

It is no wonder I am feeling a tad worn out.  I appreciate days like 

today when a kitty in my lap or a good movie or this rainy day makes

me slow down & take it easier.  

Do you ever feel like you are on this tread mill, working to meet 

expectation after expectation ~~ often expectations that we personally

have created for ourselves?

I am going to try to be better about this...re-adding time into my 

calendar for catching my breath, more time for things I enjoy.  Step one

was to cancel a work day at the antique mall in April for a day 

at a favorite first flea market.  Step two...adding this mantra,

"Be kind to myself"!  I will try to follow these words, how about you?

sweet kindness

After returning at almost midnight on Saturday from a visit

to my Ian in Neenah, I really wanted to just attach myself to

the couch today.  But I had a list of chores to be done, and after

sweeping the hayloft, I headed out to our mailbox at the road's edge 

for Saturday's mail.  Attached to our mailbox post, I have a vintage 

egg basket filled with Easter eggs...as I walked out, I noticed 

something else in the basket ~~ the Midori hydrangia pictured.

Left without a note...a gesture of kindness.  

My sincerest of thanks,

                     Kari

She is here!

With such glee, a warm welcome home is extended to Spring!

I do adore vintage postcards, and tuck them here & there.

Here they are found on an adorably charming green trellis I

found years ago in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  Mounted on a narrow

wall, it provides a perfect venue to welcome each season and 

holiday.  I am beyond happy to move all my winter stuff to storage,

and bring out spring!

And let me try to even articulate how our farm welcomes this

season...I am certain I have witnessed the goats "dancing" in 

their pasture and can almost hear the apple blossoms getting

ready to explode in our little orchard.

Welcome home Spring, how you have been awaited!

almost bunny time...

Even though St. Patty's Day is still here, my mind has turned to

spring...and bunnies...and, my beloved vintage Easter grass!

I have waxed poetic in the past over this green grass.  I have shared

dumpster diving for this wonderful holiday goodness!  And, no, 

the new stuff does not come close to replicating the charm.

I do not know what it is, but I tuck it in every little basket, bowl & cup.

Add an egg or two -- perfection!

bidding good bye to an old friend

Let me not get too melodramatic, but last week I wrote 

"Cancel" across my subscription to Country Living.  I have 

subscribed to this magazine for far longer than I can recall...

back to the time when country living was hanging dried flowers 

& baskets and stenciled borders. 

I had mourned the ending of Country Home and Home 

Companion...my two favorites ~ they had not weathered the 

Great Recession.  But Country Living had hung in there, 

getting thinner with time & becoming a sales catalogue more

than inspiration.  Add to the fact that their features are online...

just didn't seem a worthy investment anymore.

I will miss finding this old friend in my mailbox, but will visit with

her from time to time in the magazine section of the library.

My only current subscription is Midwest Living...and not quite

sure how long that relationship will last.

How about you, do you still get magazines in the mail?  

green is my color

If you know me well, you know that green is my color...

cannot be denied.  When we first moved to our farm in 2006,

I thought about a different color palette, one with less green in it.

But it did not take long for my beloved green to tap me on the 

shoulder and remind me that our relationship was strong.  And

so I bowed to her beauty, her calm, her reminder that if there is

so much green to be found outside, then surely it is the true 

course to letting nature in.

I found this depression green jar for a song at a thrift sale.

Green McCoy....why yes, of course!

A little green corner of my living room.  Dave & I stood for

a time to win this green dresser at an auction in Eau Claire.

The green ice cream maker was a recent $8 score at a 

thrift sale last fall...I was shocked it was still there when I arrived!

My green couch, walls...even little wooden bench.  My

living room is like sitting in a creme de menthe...with just

enough brown and white to keep it grounded.

What color do you keep coming home to?

waiting...

For green grass, warm nights, animals at play, long days.

Just waiting for spring.