our barn

  We spent Saturday afternoon cleaning out the hayloft of our 

  110 year old barn.  Rumor has it there will be a wedding here.

She said, "yes"! ❤️

On Friday, we headed to Madison for Emma's graduation from the 

UW School of Radiological Technology.  Our Ian was on a red eye,

also heading to Madison from Seattle to surprise Emma.  In his

suitcase was a ring box.  Magic & love are alive & well!  ❤️

sweet day

Have I told you just how much I adore ❤️ Day?  Truly. I. Do.

There is just something magical about a day we set aside to
celebrate love, friendship & kindness.  It is the sweetest day!

And at Meadowview Farm, no detail is left undone...enjoy!
💌xxoo

Celebrate...

Winter has arrived at my booth at the Hixton Schoolhouse Antique

Mall in Wisconsin.  I am enjoying a more subtle palette this year.

chicks & bunnies & eggs

golden

29 years ago, this boy stold my heart...he calls me mom.

           Happiest Golden Birthday to my Ian!

blue bird, blue bird...at my window

    They arrive home...our beloved blue birds begin to nest.

Hoppy Easter!

hearts on my mind

28 years ago I made these hearts as I awaited the birth of my Ian!

They remind me of that young Kari...with hearts on her mind!

for the love of Pinterest

I do adore organizing little scrapbooks of inspiration on Pinterest!

Lately I have been busy pinning to my "Celebrate Autumn" board!

Check my boards out in the right column......over there!~~~~~~>>

she arrives

Welcome 2015!

    Fresh like a new snow...

    Filled with the gift of promise.

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!

gobble, gobble, gobble

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!

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.

on letting go

I feel quite reflective...it was just about a year ago that

I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I will never

forget the haste my primary doctor used in scheduling

a mammogram & ultrasound at Mayo for the day after my

physical.  When they asked me to step in for a second 

ultrasound that day, I figured it was not a good sign.  I sat 

alone in a waiting room with a woman with a rich Russian accent.

I will always remember her saying, "don't cry".  Couldn't 

promise that, wasn't sure why I had chosen to go it alone

that day......the independent rebel in me I guess.  

Lesson one, letting go may require some support.

So there it is, this journey called "life".  I do believe one lesson we 

all face as part of our test is to let go.  As someone who likes a tad 

bit of control, letting go is a hard lesson to learn.  But I've done it...

we all do it.  Call it faith, hope or simply coping, we do it.

Through letting go as our children leave home.  Through letting go as our parents 

pass on.  Through letting go as age visits us and easy endeavors are 

less easy.  We learn this lesson over & over until we figure it out.....kind of.

As a teacher, I knew the importance of celebrating arrival & departure with my

kiddos.  We always had some routine that marked the start & end of 

our time together.   We needed to honor each "hello" and each "good bye". 

I would help them learn about making choices, doing it by themselves and 

how to move on to the next adventure.  I travel these same lessons to 

my parenting...and relish when my Ian still calls home for advice on starting

or ending an adventure.  

I always figure it takes a full year after a significant loss to begin to let go.  It

feels like we have to carry it through every season, introduce the change to

each ritual, to each holiday, to each month.  Testing how the change effects

us, similar to putting our toes in the water.  Once we get through the year, it

still remains with us, but perhaps in a new way...a life affirming way.  It can 

actually make us wiser, stronger, and ready for what awaits us next.

Letting go.  Living on a farm has also tested my resilience & calm fortitude.  When

you watch a storm build across the fields & head in your direction, you can only

"batten down so many hatches".  At some point you have to let go.  To know 

that this is bigger than you, out of your control and that you will get through it.

So, what are the lessons I feel have gotten me here, a year later....changed, but perhaps 

a bit stronger:

1.  Storms happen. 

2.  The only way through loss is  t h r o u g h  it.

3.  Letting go does not mean giving up control, just changing our perspective.

4.  Kindness matters.

5.  We make it.  We all will & do.  And it will change us.

6.  Finally, celebrate the journey, through each arrival & each departure.

happy day

Happy Mother's Day weekend!

May Day

Each year I think this will be the year!

I will make sweet paper cones full of flowers, hung on the back of chairs at work.

I will plant teacups with sweet pansies and surprise neighbors at their door.

Then May 1 arrives and ends.....and I make an oath that next year will be the year.

I still adore this first day of May. 

I adore the idea of May poles and May baskets!

So do picture this sweet little pitcher filled with daisies...

and take this wish for the happiest of May Days.

on a kitchen shelf in March

Spring has arrived at our farm!

Tiny Steiff chick & vintage seed pack.

         Ironstone & chicken carts.

German eggs & sweet floral tea cups.

Sweet spring, arrived ~ even before April!

What says "spring" at your home?

sweet littles for heart day

red & white, blue & black.....

charming little vignettes say,

Happy Valentine's Day!

Do you decorate for this sweet little day?