Dream Porch, Well, and Dream House!!!

I had planned on something else today for my friends on my blog but while out blog hopping (I really need to stop doing this and get some serious art made), I found this AMAZING - did I say AMAZING - I mean AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS PORCH - this girl has some serious talent at decorating!  I usually try to keep myself under control and say what I have is nice and I should not be jealous of what others have but oh my... well, you tell me if I am wrong - go and visit her porch redo, and other pictures of her home, and see for yourself...ooops, sorry I can't stop drooling. She is a very lucky lady, which I am sure she knows. Go and enjoy and dream...or maybe take a nap on the porch. Hmmmm, I have to do some decorating planning now!

One of those early "Fall is in the Air" Late Summer Days

The sun is finally shining again so I thought you might enjoy taking a little walk around bits of my yard and we can chat while I snap a few pictures to remind me of summer. Hope you enjoy...

I didn't get much more gardening done this year
beyond the front of the house but a little lavendar
some tomatoes, cosmos, and lots of basil
at least it smells fantastic!

This plant was gorgeous with lovely orange flowers but
it didn't fair well this very hot and dry summer either *sigh*
It looked great at the beginning contrasting with the
beautiful deep orange Tiger Lilies and the dark purple plants
that for the life of me I can't think of the name right now LOL

And of course you cannot live in the country
without having wreaths - handmade of course-
for each season of the year!

My copper cat guarding my miniature pink rose
bush that is not fairing very well this summer

What would a country house-barn be without
a front door light fixture like this?

Another coveted item that I found in the farm
garbage dump at the back of the property - I still use
it for a light potted plant to sit on in early summer

One of my most prized posessions is this bell
that sound is the bouy in Bar Harbor, Maine -
my most favorite place on the planet

I have no idea what this old hook like apparatus
was once used for but I do like the look of the
rust against the white and the cedar shingles that
cover my barn/home

What would an old farm be without a rusting horseshoe or two?
I never used to think about it but I really have come to like
old rusty things that remind us of a time gone by

Only in the summer does the sun shine in through
the front door windows like this - I love the juxtaposition
 of shadow falling on the rugs

Musings of a Country Day

I can hardly believe it is already the last day of June. Even though this is just the beginning of summer somehow I have always used this as a benchmark from which the summer seems to fly by. Perhaps having to do with living on a different schedule now, no longer working because of fibromyalgia, I will see the change of seasons differently with them not flying by quite as quickly - before I have even had a chance to notice them. There has to be some upside of this miserable disease that leaves one too exhausted to do even the most basic of tasks - that rewards one with lots of pain if one dares to challenge that set protocol of, "no you cannot do that," much of the time... OK, enough whining, sorry but my diagnosis just became official two weeks ago after years and years of doctors and testing. On the bright side, at least I have an official name to call it when I have a tantrum, LOL.
Now where was I, oh yes, summer in New England - we wait and wait and wait for warmth and green and flowers to return only to have it feel like a magical little "poof" and it is fall again. "Note to self, must talk to the summer and flower fairies regarding length of stay".
For this summer I am writing, blogging and pressing lots of those precious wildflowers that pop up in my meadow. I figure this way when I am looking out at five or more feet of snow I can take them out and make beautiful art with them, dreaming the dreams of wildflowers. If anyone knows of a good but inexpensive laminating machine that would be good for working with attaching dried wildflowers to cards please let me know...or any tips on attaching dried flowers to one's artwork greatly appreciated.

Now for my story of the day, well actually yesterday. Some of you are familiar with my love, my brown tiger cat Raphael who is the details man in my studio and serves as my head art critic. The story begins with a quiet enough morning, trying to gently wake to the fresh new day with a fresh cup of coffee while reading some of my favorite blogs when all of a sudden I hear DH yelling, not a usual yell, rather the kind with the sense of urgency in it, and it has my beloved cat's name in it! I fly into the kitchen to see DH putting on sneakers talking almost incoherently about Raphael, porch, screen. I didn't wait for a clearer translation  running to the porch only to be met with a gaping opening where only moments ago a sliding screen door lived. I see the screen lying in the deep grass as a silent testament to what has just happened. I knew this would happen one day in my gut as these screen doors are very flimsy - with a mild push they pop out of their tracks - hence the horrifying opening. I jump out the opening landing, of course on what else - rocks - New Hampshire has no soil just rocks! DH is just coming around from the front of the house as I yell, "where is he, where is he, do you see him" - throwing the fallen screen out of my without a thought of its surprising heft. Our porch sits on pilings raising it off the ground by about 3ft but as I start to crawl under I hear this howl. I recognize my cats voice like a mother recognizes her child's own little smell I begin fighting the 4ft tall wildflowers and other self sown plants only to see Raphael just around the corner of the porch not even a foot away from me, howling  - "Mom, what happened and why am I all of a sudden outside?" My husband's voice is deep and combined with the panic in it he is scaring Raphael, (completely unintentionally), so I yell for him to shut up (I know, I know, I was just panicked and I apologized profusely later)! I am now playing a hide and seek with Raphael because he is so freaked he isn't sure what to do. I talk to him gently trying desperately to control the panic rippling through every fiber of my body and he finally starts to calm down...how do I know this - because the little bum decides to sniff this very interesting weed that has just come to his attention! My chance has come, I reach out and grab him behind his neck, mommy cat style and scoop him up simultaneously with my other arm - SUCCESS! OK, I can start breathing again as I cuddle him and begin to tell him why this was bad on so many levels. "Raphael, this is the forest and lots of critters that are not particularly inclined to be friendly to kitties live out here at night, not to mention ticks and all sorts of other dangers to kitties". All is well again and the adrenaline is subsiding as I hand Raphael to my DH and turn to the more mundane task of re-installing the screen... And Raphael, mommy,daddy and bunny all lived happily ever after in their converted barn in the woods...

Have a beautiful day!

Summer and the Dance of the Fireflies

Summer is less than two weeks away and the trees and flowers are boisterously in bloom here in Northern New England. It was a mild winter, especially for New Hampshire and everything wonderful about summer seems to have arrived extra early this year. Perhaps nature is trying to make up for the horrible horrible ice storm that destroyed so many trees and plants two winters ago. The wood thrush with their beautiful trilled song arrived at the end of April, very early indeed and the dragonflies and fireflies are all out dancing in the meadow. Dragonflies by day and fireflies by night, what a treat! I have made a little study of the fireflies, nothing scientific or documented other than in my head - they all appear to have their own little signature light dance. As they skip through the night blinking once or twice sequentially, there are others who exuberantly blink three, four or even five times in their eons old mating ritual saying, "look at me, surely you want to mate with me the most grand of them all"!  Nature is such a marvelous wonder...My DH has always said that June is his favorite time of the year, which I used to disagree - thinking fall was surely the most wonderful - but this year has made me rethink those feelings. I still love fall with the gorgeous scenery decorated with mother nature's paintbrush the myriad colors flaunted in the changing leaves and the crisp fall evenings requiring one of those lovely hand knit shawls that we all love to wrap ourselves and curl up in. Apple cobbler with those handpicked apples from the orchard down the road...but I digress. Summer is coming, YIPPEE!!! I will be spending my summer working in my studio (seems silly to call it work for it does not resemble any of my past experiences with WORK) - this is play, self-discovery, artistic growth and self-expression...and most importantly - FUN!
In Celebration to the Summer Goddess - let's all create art and have fun...
Ciao for now,
Beth