Apple Orchard Time

It's always a simple, no-frills kind of afternoon, but there's something about an apple orchard that keeps me coming back every year.     

 

 Mmmm, maybe it's the apple pies, or the apple cider.  It could be the big giant cookies!  (No photos of the cookies, they were gone before I could get my camera out!) But maybe it's the simplicity of it all.

The timeless, uninterrupted way nature has to quietly continue on, year after beautiful year. 

 

And then the sun begins to set,

and the animals are fed,

 

and you find your way back home,

back to your doorstep, full of colorful fall leaves ready to welcome you and remind you it's a beautiful day and a beautiful season.  Happy Fall!

The County Fair

 

It just wouldn't be summer without the county fair.  Complete with that wonderful ferris wheel, 

 and colorful games (early in the day, before the crowds of course).

But when everyone else is watching the demolition derby and competing in the longest pigtail contest (not actually pig's tails, but girl's pig tails!), I like to sneak downstairs and see what all of the wonderful women (and men!) have been working on this past year. The quilts, paintings and crafts are always so awesome.

Especially this hand made, blue ribbon wearing, end table set made by a 12 year old.  Yep, a twelve year old.  Applause, please.

I don't know why, but I get such a kick out of visiting the chickens.  Maybe because we can get a good close look at them.  I mean, when else do we get a chance to get so close to these amazing, colorful creatures?  Especially this little guy (girl?).  Pink!  Who knew?

This one was awesome but I think he looked a little angry...probably doesn't like getting his picture taken.

 I couldn't resist him, I loved his colors...so Fall-like.

By this time people were beginning to look at me a little strange, wondering why I'm taking so many photos of chickens, I'm sure.  I would have too if I were them.  Because believe me, I took more than what you see here!

 Aww, don't you just want to take him home??

Cows...love it! 

Back From Florida

Ahhh, summer.  It's finally here!  We just returned from Florida a couple of weeks ago and I think I'm still in vacation mode.  It can be hard to get back to it, especially when we just saw scenes like this!

This was actually a Disney/Universal Studios vacation but we stopped on the way back home for a day at St. Augustine.  (Driving 16 hours each way with two kids!)  When we're driving that far to Florida, we wanted to  had to see the ocean, even if only for an afternoon. 

We were lucky it was a beautiful day. That's a little more surprising than you might think.  Tony and I have a history of bringing rain right along with us whenever we're on vacation! :) 

Little bit of an odd photo, I know, but I loved the patterns the water made in the sand that was left behind during low tide.  Diamonds in the sand.

 

We had a loooong walkway to get to the beach.  It was supposed to be 500 steps from the hotel.  But, well, it was a nice, new walkway anyway!

 

We passed by this scene on the way.  Kind of swampy looking, I searched for alligators.

If you go to St. Augustine you have to see the Castillo de San Marcos Spanish Fort.  It's always an impressive sight.

The old downtown.  We even found gourmet popsicles there.  Mine was banana/vanilla and it was, ahem, gone before I thought to take a picture.

Driving by (literally, not even getting out of the car) the Fountain of Youth.  I've driven by this entryway several times in my life.  Maybe one day I'll actually go in!

 

Ahh, the beautiful street in front of the Fountain of Youth.  The leaves on the trees meet up above and the moss always hangs.  Always.  Ever since I was 5 years old and saw this for the first time.

It's even hanging from the wires!

If you saw the movie 'Vacation', this goes without saying...

April Showers...and May Showers...

RAIN is the word of the day around here lately.  Last summer it was a drought, this spring we're swimming in the puddles of our backyards.  But how can I complain when we get results like these? 

These beautiful photos were taken at the Missouri Botanical Gardens last week.  I like to think of it as my home away from home.  I'm a member of the gardens now, so of course I feel like I'm part owner.  Which, I'm sure, makes me partly responsible for these lovely grounds.  Right?  (Don't you love how my logic works?) 

I still have these little rain boots my son wore years ago. I just can't get rid of them!  I'll do something crafty with them and show you when I'm finished.

If you can see the people sitting behind the tulips they are all artists.  That was so nice they came to visit my gardens on the same day I was there. 

 

Here's a closer look, they don't mind. 

 Back at home, I've been so excited to see my Amsterdam tulips blooming!  I brought these back last summer and planted them on Thanksgiving Day.  And 'poof!', like magic they explode into these beautiful bursts of color. 

 

 I brought a few in and they bloomed until the petals folded backwards!  They're finished blooming now, but only for awhile, they'll be back again next year.  And I'll be waiting.

I should add that I'll be on vacation soon.  I'll be back in business and ready to go (painting, of course!) on May27th.  For those that don't know, I have a 2nd Etsy shop...PremierPendants.etsy.com.  I create lovely pendants from images.  A few are my own design, such as this one...  

Perfect for the beginning of summer, wouldn't you say?  The hummingbird flying dreamingly (think 'summer afternoons') in the background is from one of my original paintings.  Each of these pendants are $14, but unfortunately while I'm on "vacation mode" on Etsy you won't be able to see them.  Be sure to come back on the 27th and until then, have a dreamy, summer-afternoon kind of May!

Signs of Spring

My little hand painted Easter Bunny pendant.  He's so sweet and leads us right into spring with his smile.  He knows warmer weather is coming, I can tell.

 

 

We did have snow the other day.  A LOT of snow, by our standards.  Ten to twelve inches.  I love the way it melted through the holes of our patio furniture.

We started feeding the birds on our patio this winter.  I have to admit, it was just as much for Lucy as it was for the birds.  She's an inside cat but the closer I throw the seed to the house, the happier she is.

 

My second sure sign of spring. These are the tulips I brought back from our trip last summer to Amsterdam. If I could only bring one thing home from Holland it would be a tulip bulb.  But luckily for me, I was able to bring back four bags :). I shared one bag but kept the rest for myself! I couldn't resist, I'm weak. Their colors remain a mystery. These should be either white or pink.  But as long as they bloom I'll be oh so happy.
 
Ducks!  These were our visitors today.  Or I should say, only two of many that roamed around our yard and neighborhood.  There's a pond down the street so spring usually brings the excitement of ducks into the yard.  I wonder if any will have a nest by our house?  I'll have to take photos of the turtles this year. They come every spring and I'm sure they'll be coming around again next month.  Last year we had four turtles lay eggs in our yard.  We still can't figure out why they like it here so much.  Did you notice our snow is pretty much gone?  Twelve inches on Sunday and by Friday it disappears!  Just in time for Easter and Easter egg hunting.  Happy Spring! 

St. Nicholas Day

 

Happy St. Nicholas Day to all!  This is a special request pendant I painted to celebrate this special day. 

It's been getting all Christmasy around here lately.We've been putting the fall decorations safely back in their boxes until next year, and slowly, one by one we bring out our Christmas items.  Happily remembering past years and looking forward to this year as our house transforms into a holiday home.



Enjoy your holiday baking, Christmas shopping and decorating as you prepare your homes for this beautiful season!