Hurry Hurry Stop!

We pulled it off.
Everyone is happy.
I love spending holidays with family.. but sometimes it's a bit of a challenge to make sure that we don't play favorites.
Easter Sunday was fun, lots of family, food, chatting, driving...and it went off without a hitch.
But then I saw this field of tulips...take a right and pull over honey!
Hubby pulled over, he doesn't really get the whole photo thing...sweetie...I really need you to come to a full stop so I can get a good shot ;)
I really wanted to get out and take more photos, actually I just wanted to stand and stare at this glorious riot of color.


Isn't this just crazy beautiful?

Tile Time

Okay...that was fun!
Here's a shot of the back entry - we couldn't decide what to put on the floor, I was a little obsessed with the possibility of the washer leaking - been there done that...too many times. I stumbled upon this flooring at the local home improvement store, it was really inexpensive and I was hoping it would match the other flooring - the colors were perfect! This weekend I decided to see if I could put it down...what a breeze, it was so easy I could hardly believe it - sometimes this home improvement adventure is just plain fun...and sometimes it's not... but we won't go there right now.
I don't know how long this flooring will last, but for right now I don't care...it's in....I love it...it was super easy - - - I'm happy ;)


And now for something pretty outside.
Goodness.
The magnolia is ready to pop...this is always my favorite stage of bloom,
this amazing promise of beauty

Five Minutes, Five Bucks

Oh yikes...the front porch was looking nasty last weekend.
Even though I live in the boonies and trick or treaters are rare, I like to be prepared. I had a giant bowl of candy ready to go but...oh yikes, the porch.
Frightening.
The planters were filled with summer annuals that didn't have an ounce of lovely left in them.
Ta Daaaa....
Found these mums at the garden center for $4.99 and plunked the whole thing into the planter, garden center pot and all.
Why on earth do I wait so long to do this?
Presto...prettio!

Spring Bulb Reminder

Since I have kitchen remodeling stuff on the brain the garden is pretty much on the back burner. I hadn't even thought about buying tulip or daffodil bulbs this year...until I started looking at the pictures from the garden tours we went on this year.
Uh oh...I gotta go!
I neeeeeed some of these.
Allium giganteum...they make me crazy.
Now I just have to decide where to plant them.

Doesn't this make you want to plant some too?

My Little Party for One

My apologies.
I know I said I would post garden party recipes.
They're going to have to wait...how about some pretty flowers and a little update on this groovy thing called life.

Oh...it's been fun.
My little fairytale life here on the farm. For two lovely years I've been unemployed, happily. There hasn't been one day of boredom. So many things to do here on the farm, from gardening, to painting, to dreaming and planning my next project. I've spent time at the library, learned about solar power for the cabin, I've framed walls, hung drywall, built rock walls and even built a cocktail bar in the barn.

Fast forward to a lousy economy, dairy farming is in a world of hurt right now - we don't milk our own cows anymore but hubby is a herdsman for another farm and things are more than a little unpleasant in the dairy economy.
I haven't been blogging much, I've been getting things in order and oh yes...searching for a job.
I finally got the call...today...I start at 2, going to fill out the new employee paperwork.
Eeks.
Tomorrow it's eight to five.
Thanks to my fabulous friends and former employers for those glowing references.
Gotta get my game on so I don't make liars out of you guys.
Oh yeah... and a big thank you to my new employer, for taking a bit of a chance on an (almost) fifty year old woman with skills that are a little rusty.
Signing off now -
Gotta go find something to wear - don't think jeans and a tool belt are going to work for this one.

One more thing. Tami did a lovely post today on Saturday nights dinner here at this old farm, pop on over there and take a peek!

My Favorite Evening

I'm exhausted...but it was all worth it.
Last night was one of my favorite evenings of the whole year, it was our annual progressive dinner / garden party.
When I get overwhelmed with how much time and energy my yard and garden take...it's all worth it when I can go out with a clippers and a bucket of water and pull together an arrangement for a party. Yesterday I grabbed a couple of slips of scrap paper leftover from making my menus for the party...and ta daaa...the arrangement came together in no time flat - there is just so much to "pick from" here at the farm.
The really great part was that the arrangement perfectly picked up the colors of the drinks I served, sangria with slices of orange and lemons.
The funny thing is I was trying to pull out the colors of the menu and table settings, such a happy coincidence that I ended up with a drinkie matchy matchy, wish I could say I planned it that way ;)

Here is a little peek at the menus from each home...oh goodness gracious it was all so good - there are no words.

The menu for main course here at the farm.


Tami's menu for the appetizer course.


and Karen's menu for the dessert course.

I'm going to try to post recipes later on this week, Tami made a special request for a couple of them and I'm happy to share.

Good food, good friends...good times.

Orange Explosion

In a couple of days there will be an explosion of orange on my driveway...
Strangers will stop...slowwwwly drive in, pause for a few moments, and then leave.
It's OK...I can share - the poppies are only beautiful for a little while.
They don't like rain, they tend to drop their petals if they get too hot.
But it's worth it for the fabulous show they put on, even though it's brief.


It all started with one poppy transplanted from my moms.
They set seed, and multiplied,
over and over...
year after year...
and ta daaaaa...
it's a giant poppy party.

More Ladies

Thought I should offer a bit of floral loveliness and take a break from all of the bovine babble.
When I was a kid we called these "Lady in the Bathtub"...I've always liked that name a lot better than "Bleeding Hearts".

Good Morning Ladies

Spring has sprung at the cabin.
The balsam root plants are blooming.
The cows are out on our lower range before they
move up to the high country for a few months.
I feel like I'm on a speeding train headed straight
for summer.
I need to remember to take the time to look out the window and enjoy the ride.

Basal Cuts and Budget Cuts

My lovely corsican hellibore...last year.
It's nice to have a picture, since that's all I'm going to get this year.
There will be no blossoms on my corsicans this spring...the cold and the snow did them in, the whole plant was flattened by the snow, the freezing temps didn't help a whole lot - the poor thing is a big pile of mush.
So, today...I gave the little darlings a buzz cut, they're not a total loss...there is new growth, there just won't be any of those lovely flowers for me to admire out my kitchen window.
Sad blogger face.

There could be some big changes in the garden this year, lots of winter damage...a few things look like they're total gonners.
Prune heavy my friends, no sense forcing a plant to struggle to maintain dead or dying branches...take a deep breath and make the cut.

Sort of reminds you of the economy...doesn't it?

I Miss My Hairdresser

The beautiful highlights on this dahlia remind me of how much I miss my hairdresser.
I haven't seen him on over a year, I've spent seven dollars on "hair" since July '07....and I look like it. I bought one of those color touch-up kits at the grocery store about six months ago when I couldn't take the mousy gray/brown any more.
This whole no-visits-to-the-hairdresser thing is intentional...a part of budget cuts around here. We've been cutting back on non-essential expenses...to really make an effort to live more simply. There are other areas of our life where we've made changes but this is the one thing that I really miss. I like my hairdresser, he's smart, funny, hip, cool, a snappy dresser and just plain fun to be around...when I'm in that chair we talk about everything under the sun....I guess you could say I get a little bit of therapy with my cut & color.
The money that we save by giving up these non-essentials has been going to the local shelter for the homeless. The best thing about looking in the mirror at my stringy mousy gray/brown hair is that it's a constant reminder of how incredibly fortunate we are here at this old farm.
It's amazing how many meals you can buy at a shelter for the cost of a really great cut and color.

I think I can last a few more months, I'd like to buy Christmas dinner for a whole lot of folks.

I read about this challenge somewhere, I can't even remember where...but it's a pretty good one.
I saw Nancy Pelosi on the news tonight...she's talking about sending out another round of stimulus checks, I think it's ridiculous. I don't want to talk politics on this blog but what if....what if all of the people that weren't in desperate need of the next stimulus check...what if they all gave them to their local homeless shelter.
Imagine how many people we could all help.

The Morning After

Ohhhh...happy day! I figured out how to get my pictures out of my camera and onto my computer. I'm so tech challenged it's not even funny, I remembered I had a memory card reader stashed in my office and, ta daaa....even figured out how to get the thing to work.


This morning I was supposed to get on a ferry to go to a party on an island. But I just couldn't go, I've barely seen The Husband this past week. Last night we had a party in the barn (I think it went pretty good), there was a bit of cleaning up to do....but mostly I just needed to be home. The sun was shining, there were leftovers, there were yummy treats baked by a dear friend...I just couldn't get in the car and drive away. I needed to be home, I needed to wander around the farm and enjoy the sunshine


I wandered out to the barn in my jammies and slippers this morning, this little collection of flowers in their vases had been gathered up and was sitting on the bar. My friend Tami made all of the floral arrangements for the party, she has a couple of friends that let her raid their gardens, she picked buckets and buckets of dahlias....the flowers were so incredibly beautiful. The party was in our barn but there were a lot of other folks that worked really hard to make the whole thing happen. I made a big batch of pink cocktails and a couple of dishes, my mom made her famous stuffed mushrooms, Tami cooked up a storm, and Colleen made an artichoke dip that was so good I'll be begging for the recipe.

All the pretty vases gathered up and sitting on the bar...

Tami thought I wouldn't like this arrangement, she thought I would think it was too busy.
I loved it....
I think I took about ten pictures of it this morning.

I have more party pics that I'm hoping to post this week. I know Tami will be posting about the party as well...check out her blog on my sidebar, I think she's going to post a recipe or two, I'm tellin' ya - there was some yummy food. If you're looking for ideas for holiday parties you just might want to keep an eye on her blog this week.

Project Black, Take Two

Oh my goodness, I just love the center of this poppy out in my garden - the color, the contrast, the amazing geometry of it all.
I'm getting ready for a party so this post is really brief, I'm hoping to pop on over to check out the posts of all of you cool commenters this Saturday. I'll definitely be wanting to do some sittin' down and relaxing by then.
Poppy (he he) on over to Anna's blog to check out more groovy Project Black photos.

Happy Fourth of July!

A little bouquet of red, white and blue

From This Old Farm

to you.

Have a great holiday!

Farm Flowers

A have a deal with my friend Tami...when she has a party I do the flowers, and when I have a party she does them. The flowers come from my garden and we're not too picky about what goes in the vases. We both have the same style when it comes to arranging...anything goes! Stuff that vase as full as you can, make it big and blowsy or small and sweet.
I call them Farm Flowers, Tami calls me Shella-Flora. Our flowers don't look like they came from a shop but they make us happy...and that's what counts. Last week Sunday Tami had a graduation party for her sons Sam and Max, I had so much fun doing the flowers. Tam brought over the vases and I went pickin'...here's what I came up with.

We put this big one in her living room.

These little guys were on her coffee table.

These sweeties were in her kitchen window.

This one was on the dining room table.

These three are from the flowers I did for the bridal shower last weekend. I had to cheat and buy the lillies, mine aren't blooming yet and the bride is using stargazers in her wedding. I wanted to carry that theme through to the shower.

One of the greatest rewards of having a big garden is being able to share it.

Project Blue. Take Seven.

The lupine in my garden is looking lovely,

pretty soon that peony will open and steal

the show.

From the Ground Up, Project Blue

A shot of the Wisteria with the peak of the barn roof in the background. The Wisteria has been running rampant, I haven't pruned it in a couple of years but I sorta like how wild it is....and besides, it's not in the way. Okay...so it's a little more purple than blue....but it's just so pretty, I had to share it with blog land.

For more From the Ground Up participants check out JFargo at My World in Pictures and to see who is participating in Project Blue pop on over to Anna Carson's Blog.

Quiet Riot & From the Ground Up

The poppies are out.

I promised to post a picture of them when they
were full blast...so here they are.
This whole thing started out as one transplant from
moms garden, see what happens when nature is
allowed to do her thing?


This next shot sorta qualifies for a little project hosted by
JFargo at My World in Pictures
called "From the Ground Up".
I laid on the ground to take this shot, it was overcast
today so the sky looks like a white backdrop for the shot.

Z is for Zantedeschia

Or Calla Lillies as they are more commonly known. I'm crazy about these flowers, they were the flowers that I used for my wedding...don't say they're funeral flowers - flowers are flowers..and I looove these.

What makes me really crazy is that I can't grow an impressive grouping of them like you see here in the photo. My callas are puny....I have about five leaves and a couple of pathetic looking flowers, definitely not worthy of a photo. I had to get in the car and drive over to moms to take this shot, when I told her that I had two lousy blooms she had the nerve to stand there and count how many blooms were in this stand...she did it out loud.....do you think she was doing that to bug me? I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt and say it's because she is so proud of her green thumb.

Thanks for the Z photo mom!

A Huuuuge Thank You to Quilly for hosting the ABC Challenge. I'm so sad it's over ;(

It's been such fun to prowl the farm in search of the photo of the day. Some of my shots came from a building project I'm working on a few hours away from the farm....it kept me on my toes and mindful of having the camera handy. Thanks to all who commented, I can't deny that getting comments is a huge part of the joy of blogging...what a great community of kind hearted folks you all are.

See you at the next project!

Q is for Queen

Tulip, Queen of Night.

I went through a little phase where I was just plain crazy about black plants...or almost black plants. These tulips are a really dark purple and I'm still just as crazy about them as I was all those years ago when I first discovered them. There aren't too many of them left in my garden, but the ones that have survived are still incredibly lovely. I think I need to buy some more of these little dears this fall so I can have a few more to gaze at.

To see more ABC photo challenge participants check out Quilly's Pacific Paradise.