here's to hope

                    Wishing you the magic of this season...

                    and that hope will remain as we enter the new year.

vintage holiday memories

Each year, when I unpack my Christmas bins, these two

almost always bring the most joy to me.  They are from my

childhood...and I think of them through the eyes of a much

younger Kari.  

What will we pass on as Holiday memories, to be some

day unpacked & cherished?  I wonder...

holiday finds

Dave & I went on a little local antiquing jaunt yesterday.

With snow on the way, we stayed close to home.

After years of collecting, my choices to keep are now select.

I base my choice on patina, sweet detail, color & how the item touches my heart.

These were some of my Saturday finds...

A dala horse tin cutter.

Little bunches of mushroom picks.

An ironstone pitcher with green detail.

When I make a connection to something I know I will keep,

it usually is with no thought of how the item will fit or where it will go.

I just know it will.  

I know I will smile to see them become part of my home.

jingle all the way

heading into the holidays with hope to not get lost in the "busy"...

sun up

to hibernate

There are four distinct seasons in Wisconsin...
we now prepare for one of the hardest.

But, there is a part of me ready to hunker down, to be forced inside...
to hibernate.

dusk

                     There is still beauty all around us!  

my dear hearts

I sit here typing, kitten in my lap...my dear Lucy.

I have learned that our farm would be empty if there

were not dear sweet furry souls that shared it with us.

We buried one of our dearest hearts on Friday...our 

Taffy goat.  She called Meadowview Farm home for 

almost 10 years (a long life for a goat).  When we 

brought her home, we promised to make her life a 

happy life.  We promised to care for her.  In turn, we 

received such love back.  So, tears for a soft white 

sweet girl goat.  May her memory be for a blessing.

Squirrel Away Savings

   Stop over to my booth at the Hixton Schoolhouse Antique

      Mall for a 30% off sale (includes items marked firm)!

   The sale ends at the close of business on Friday, Nov. 4th!
      Sale extended through 
       Friday, November 11!

Midnight

I take pet ownership seriously.  We care for & love our

animals...investing in their well being.  So when an older stray

black cat started appearing in the barn, I was not too pleased.

Would he fight with my cats?  Would he bring illness?  

Dave called him "Midnight" - it stuck.  And over time, he stuck too.

Midnight found the stairs to our hayloft a safe place to watch from, 

and eventually join in the evening meal from...with his own dish on

the upper most step.  Over time, I coaxed him down to a lower step

to pet him.  He was an older boy...rough around the edges, wide at

the face, scarred.  After a meal, he would lay on his back, just barely on the

stair and reach out with his paw.  I learned to not worry about him

biting or scratching.  But he was a fighter, no doubt...just not in the solace 

of the barn that had slowly become home to him.

For over a year, Midnight joined our cat family in the barn...often running

across the soy bean field when my blue car turned into the driveway.
Eventually he joined the other barn cats, rubbing against my legs as a form of

socialization, and maybe a gentle thanks.  

Midnight now takes his own place in the chapters of this farm, and in the 

memory of this old heart.  He taught me not to judge too quickly.  

I still watch for him across the soy...and suspect I always will.

Sale!

           Sale through November 4th in my booth at the

                    Hixton Schoolhouse Antique Mall!

lessons learned on a farm

So, here are some things I've learned at our farm:

• A good pair of boots are essential
• Hay is not the same as straw
• Walking out to the barn can ease your mind
• Pigeons love silos
• The sky just seems larger
• And the life of a barn cat is measured in months, not years....

Farewell Sweetie -- we will miss your dear purr.

a bittersweet season

            little bits of orange...

             greens to browns to russet tones

           and a jack-o-lantern here & there

Oh...and I also vote!

she rises

I have learned that courage can be found in the quietest of places.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  

I will wear my pink with pride too.