A little something to remember.

“Being happy doesn’t mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections.” – Unknown

 What happened to my husband's eternal optimist (me)?  Somewhere along the way she got lost in the stress and frustration of remodeling one house too many, or laying awake wishing for a finished house, or better yet a different house, or even better still a house with a view... of nobody else :)  At any rate I know something got lost in the exhaustion and wishing to the point of wishing away and no longer appreciating what I have, what I longed to have... a beautiful finished house.  No, not the location I would like, country vs. town, not the complete isolation I long for, but with everything there are trade offs and a whole new set of "problems" to every situation.  I think dreams are important...and I am not giving up on my dreams, however I think having dreams and being obsessed with them are two different things and can lead to misery and discontentment and start rubbing off on everybody else in the house and oh wait that sounds like what I have been doing!  Shame on me!  I am supposed to nurture and guide and help lead my daughters not whine and complain and be grumpy which I realized as of lately is almost a constant frame of mind for me.  That's when I realized it's time to lay it down.  I said a prayer of strength and forgiveness and if and when a dream is supposed to become our reality then the good Lord knows where I am at and he knows my heart.  Until then I have deleted the house search engines from my computer and next time we are having a blizzard outside or a huge snake is caught in our back yard by the neighbor boys I will be thankful that I am not trudging outside to a chicken house in the cold or dreading finding my dread of all dreads a snake while gathering eggs.  Easily remedied yes I know but remember everything has a trade off and this is mine :)  Instead if it is not too late, I will plant a beautiful garden and save what I can for this winter and share with our neighbors what we have been blessed with and get rid of this ridiculously embarrassing attitude of ungratefulness I have been wearing like a badge for the past year!  Yes, I know plenty long enough!!!  Blessing to all of you who also needed this saying today as well.  I certainly know I did!!!  Have a beautiful day.

It Arrived!!!

A bit overeager I admit... but I have been waiting for what seems like forever to order this... and not so long for it to arrive I must say I have a bit of built up anticipation and here it finally is!!!

I'm talking about the canning jar pump lid retrofit.  Yes I'm sure I somehow could have made this, but I spotted this some time ago in a Lehman's catalog and instantly knew that I would at some point order a set for this gorgeous canning jar to hold my dish soap.  The picture doesn't do the jar justice but it is full of beautiful air bubbles from being poured into a mold not pressure cast and the color is wonderful and the whole thing makes me smile when I enter the kitchen to open the blinds in the morning. :)

And on another bright and cheerful subject...

The beautiful little yellow blooms are called butter and eggs I believe, given to me by my lovely friend last fall and I am enjoying their blooming for the first time in my garden.  I was greeted by their surprise blooming the last day of school as I stood watching the girls walk down the lane.  Wishing you big joys from simple things and special people in your life.

Birthday Cake

We have made progress today getting ready for our sale this coming weekend.  I am so proud of my oldest daughter for the significant progress she made in her room!  We took breaks from working to bake a very special cake for my husbands birthday.  I taught her all my secrets for making her dad's favorite cake...

I always add fresh ground Nutmeg into the flour mixture....it gives it such a delicious taste!

I couldn't resist a picture!  Look at the beautiful color of the shredded carrots... this is going to be a fantastic carrot cake.

It turned out so wonderful and my husband loved it!  I think it was extra special because it was made with our daughters help!  Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful man.

My Sincere Thanks

Thank you so very much to those who have served our country and are currently serving now.  Remembering those soldiers who have given the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our freedom here in the United States this Memorial Day and all year through.  Thank you

On the line

Recently we have had several rains storms and it delayed when I would normally start hanging laundry out on the line for the season. Thursday however, was the day to start.  I went outside and wiped down my lines, tightened up the bolts, and I was ready to hang out comforters and bedding.  I came outside and put out my first item of the season a nice white background fluffy comforter.  My daughter arrived home shortly after and discovered that I had a very nice sized Blackberry stain left by the birds snacking on our blackberry bushes!

I had just ran out of liquid stain remover and remembered reading about how well Fels-Naptha worked on stains so I pulled a bar from my pantry and put it to work.  I scrubbed and rinsed and re-applied.  I repeated several times and left it on over the weekend while I was gone.  When I returned I was pleasantly surprised at how well it had removed the stain.

Yes, you can see a bit of discoloration to the right side of the leaf but I am very happy with the results.  I will definitely be using the bar soap to remove stains again and am hoping over time this will fade even more.  One more item I do not need to run to the store for that easily can be stocked in the pantry!

Tomorrow I will be starting on our home.  I am planning on having a sale at the end of the week and will be going through each room of our house one at a time and setting out everything we do not need or use.  I am hoping that these items find good homes and at the same time will make our home more spacious and comfortable.  At some point down the road if we decide to sell our home we will not have extra clutter and items to deal with before we list our home for sale.  If we never sell our home and list it for sale we will have that much more space to enjoy!  I feel it is a win win situation either way :)

Elusive House in the Country and a Big Dose of Patience

Excuse me as I bear my soul, my heartache of heartache but I walk around daily with my hopes dashed and my heart sagging as I wait not so patiently I must admit for that elusive house in the country to appear in our lives.  I have tried to avoid blogging about it but realized that I am not the only one with this dream and at times the only thing that has gotten me through being thoroughly heartbroken over not realizing this dream is reading about others that are putting one foot in front of the other and waiting it out... the same as I am.  I have such a variance of emotions over this topic.  Mostly I feel that I am going to loose my mind waiting...

Yes, at times the feeling of frustration is in part what has kept me from blogging, I lack the enthusiasm to try and share new ideas and that is simply not the way to go about life.  Somehow my domestic side feels less enthused about making soaps, growing a garden and all the mending and cooking that I normally enjoy, while we are still living in town.  It might have something to do with the romantic notion of feeling more like a pioneer and less like a cooped up city gal when living in the country.  I feel like I'm out of place and not fulfilling my calling in town, like a fish out of water, going through the motions and trying to breath until someone tosses me back into the pond and saves me.... until then, I'm trying to be enthusiastic about trying more things, and spending my time preparing and learning all the things that I have been waiting to try until I am where my heart and soul wants to be.  I feel so strongly that everything in life happens for a reason and my plate would honestly be so full of things that I want to learn all at once to live the lifestyle I wish to live once we move that I would be overwhelmed.  So this year is a learning year.  I will get through this last year of diligently paying off debts, sticking with the plan, and freeing up expenses for what is important and learning and exploring all that I can so that when the time is right I am ready.  Next spring I hope to be singing a different song!  I hope that as I work through this year in preparation for moving that I can be encouraging to those that feel their goal is as elusive as I feel.... the only other option is spending my time in a pity party wishing time to go by and that is not an option.  Life is precious and you will never get the moments wallowing in self pity back so I choose to use them to my advantage no matter how bummed out I feel!  I'm going to think of this time like a pregnancy...I spent that time in extreme anticipation but cherished each day that I was able to prepare and learn for the arrival of my sweet baby to arrive.  This time I will be preparing and learning new ways and methods in preparation of my dream home and lifestyle.  So if like I you are waiting...chin up, we have lots to learn and we can do this!!! :)

Surprise Gift of Nature

These gorgeous roses are growing along the roadside!  I drove past them last week and didn't have my camera to take a picture and was able to stop and snap a photo a few days ago.  There are a couple of places around that have wild roses growing but not in this abundance.  It is an absolutely breathtaking sight and I was so glad that they were left to grow and not sprayed or mowed down.  Everyone that drives down this road gets to enjoy them in all their glory!

These last few weeks have been extremely busy for our family as many things draw to a close with the end of school nearing.  My children will be out of school soon and I am very excited about summer arriving and all the adventures we will be having.  It is the week I have been waiting for all year long.  I love it when my children are home from school and the hectic mornings are behind us for the year and we can leisurely go about our days exploring life around us and enjoying each others company.

I am preparing for a community garage sale coming up which happens to coincide with a round of decluttering my home.  I will be going from room to room storage closet to pantry and assessing what if anything we need to keep and what can be sold.  I am so excited.  I love things to be simple and straightforward around here and it seems so quickly the house can become too cluttered.  With a busy family of four in a smallish house this happens very fast.  I like enough things of comfort to feel comfortable and homey here but not so much that it feels cluttered and crowded.  It's a balancing act.  When the decluttering is finished I look forward to some quilting time and will post pictures along the way.  Wishing everyone a wonderful week!

My Favorite Garden Spots

This antique wheel barrel if full of a Spanish Moss.  It started out as a little sprig from my mom's plant and over several years filled the wheel barrel to overflowing.  Later in the summer the Spanish Moss will be cascading almost to the ground and look so beautiful!  Please excuse the obvious trimming that needs to be done... we have had several days of steady downpours and the ground is so soggy.  In between our last two rains I was able to plant the Iris's that my friend generously gave to me.  I still have the Honeysuckle soaking preparing to plant along with the wildflowers and bamboo.  They wilted quite a bit and putting them right into the ground before giving them a chance to recuperate didn't seem like a good way to start them off.  The Iris's are the plants laying down in the foreground in the ditch.  In a short while they will be standing up and next spring will be blooming happily and thriving like the established ones in front of them.

This is another of my favorite spots, this is a small fountain surrounded by shade loving plants just as you go up our front steps.  It is so peaceful and calming and I really enjoy seeing this garden when I leave and return to our home.  I truly miss it's beauty in the winter time and was overjoyed to see my perennials returning this spring.  I hope you have enjoyed my mini garden tour!  There will be more as the summer progresses.

A Little Bit of This and That

In the midst of an especially busy week, today has been fairly calm.  I have been steadily working on laundry and cleaning.  I love spring cleaning and the process of sorting and donating unused items to others that will get use out of them thrills me!  The most thrilling part is reclaiming space that held the items donated.  Our home is not very large so we do not have unused space.  Every bit that is unused is appreciated.

I was looking forward to hanging clothes on the line today and working in the yard but a large rain storm halted my outdoor plans.  There are now small ponds in the yard and I would have to wade to get to the clothes line in soppy grass.  However, the laundry must go on so I have been busy at it all day.  Tomorrow I am looking forward to spending my time cleaning and baking.  I have cut back on the amount of goodies I bake now and I know my family will enjoy a treat.

This is a very unusual Canadian canning jar that my husband bought for me.  It is the first canning jar I have seen in the US from another country and I was so fascinated by it.  I think it is absolutely lovely!

Hard Days Work

Today my youngest daughter and I drove the beautiful countryside searching for rocks to make a new flowerbed for our house.  This massive bedrock was part of the road and we had to stop and look at it up close.  The view from the road through the old hedge fence row and into the meadow with the trees beyond was absolutely stunning.  Nature at her finest, and we enjoyed our outing today immensely.  We were hot and tired but we gathered many rocks, and enjoyed each others company.  I treasure the time I get to spend with my daughters.  I enjoy listening to them and hearing what they have to say and just enjoying what wonderful young ladies they are growing up to be.  I feel so truly blessed.   I did a few other things today around the yard but nothing compared to the beauty captured here and the wonderful time I had.

Sharing Bounty

My good friend blessed me with flowers today for our property.  She has blessed me with flowers before and I am always so appreciative.  She will be doing some work at their home and she called and offered me some Honeysuckle that needs relocated to a new home to allow for the work to be done.  I was of course delighted to go and dig this up.  While I was there she had several other goodies that needed homes as well, several Irises, wildflowers and bamboo shoots!  I returned home and spent the rest of the day planting the Irises with my youngest daughter.  She is such a delight to work with and was so helpful.  Tomorrow I will plant the Honeysuckle and remaining flowers.  I will post pictures in my next post.

My mother is an avid gardener and I have learned from watching her garden my entire life that gardens are a constantly evolving project.  I used to stress about making a decision about where I planted things because I never wanted to move them again.  On a tree you had probably consider carefully where planting, but most generally you can move things about if they are not working for you or if your plans and designs change.  We have not been in this house very long in terms of gardening  years.  I have had seven seasons and have changed and expanded my gardens every year.  However, this year is the first year that we have no remodeling projects going on in our home.  The construction is officially finished and now we can spend our time doing things that we want to for our home and family instead of the have to list.  What a delight that is!  So I am devoting a bit of time to the property around our home.  I am excited to watch as my gardens grow and evolve over the years!  For me this is the joy of gardening, that and sharing bounty from the garden whether it is food or flowers with others!

 This photo is of poor quality and I apologize,

I recently brought this little quilt home.  My husbands Grandmother passed away last fall.  There is nothing I can say to accurately put into words how wonderful Grandma was.  Once you met her she was your Grandma too.  I knew Grandma most of my entire life and loved her and still love her with all my heart.  When our oldest daughter was born I transitioned from sewing to quilting and this is one of the first quilts I made.  It is very humble and filled with flaws but to Grandma she saw it as perfect, just as she saw each and every one of us. 

Love and Loss

Greetings!  I am returning and focused.  I have to say it was quite a journey getting back.  I have tried several times to write and regroup my thoughts but admittedly felt a little aimless and misdirected or rather felt a sense of no direction momentarily as I contemplated so many things.  Sadly my very dear friend lost her husband, her high school sweetheart in a tragic accident at the end of February.  They are the same age as my husband and I and have very much the same loving kind compassionate relationship as we do.  They held many of the same views on parenting and life.  When my day is hard and I look at the clock in anticipation of my husbands arrival home and I think of my friend who is parenting on her own now and tell myself, no matter how hard your day is it will never be as hard as looking at the clock knowing your spouse should be coming home soon but never will. It goes without saying that this tragedy was difficult and anytime someone passes it is very delicate and there are many feelings and emotions.  The accident occurred two days before my birthday and for me added an entirely different dimension of feelings and really made me think and contemplate my life and life in general.  We all have so many goals and ambitions and have chosen and re-chosen our goals in life.  I took this time of healing and gathering of my feelings and focused on careful consideration of what was important to me in my life.  I carefully considered financial, personal and relationship goals I had and spent time thinking about and continue to fine tune what is so important.  In light of this precious loss of life suddenly things that seemed important to me fell away and though I knew keenly how important life is and how fleeting, it brought about a very real sense of how very real, fast, and unplanned it can be.  I have always envisioned being a very old healthy lady laying in my bed saying my goodbye's to my loved ones and being at peace just passing away from old age gracefully and content.  I really hope this is true.  I know full well that we have no expiration date stamped on us at birth and I feel very strongly that when it is your time to go you will go.  However, admittedly I never see myself as passing away at a young age.  I am accepting that this happens to other people but not me.  This time however, I have came to sadly accept as painful and shocking and tragic as it may be.  I truly do not know and I really could be living my last day each and every day.  I am no stranger to death.  I have lost many many friends and family in my life.  Some people live most of their lives before experiencing the loss of a friend or loved one but I was not one of them.  I experienced and grieved over friends and family since I was very young.  Until this most recent loss I secretly kept the hope tucked away that it wouldn't happen to me.  Call it a coping devise and a way to feel assurance and safety in an uncertain world.  Whatever it may be I have emerged from my cocoon seeing the world in a different light.  Determined to hold even tighter to that which only really truly matters.  I have renewed passion for these things and look forward to sharing those with you.  Wishing you all the best.  Enjoy your Friday!