Come With Me For A Summer Sunday in Conn.

It's 10 am and I am headed to Fairfield Beach 30 minutes down the road. The funniest thing happen. By the shore ~ a woman was doing advanced yoga poses. She had her eyes closed and was clearly in her own little world. A toddler boy ran over, stood right by her side ~ and began imitating her. It was just the cutest site! The boys Mom ran up to take a picture and yoga lady finally realized she had a new friend!

This huge grasshopper was greeting me by my front gate when I arrived home! Isn't he beautiful!

Frank and I decided to take a ride to The Smithy in New Preston, Ct. Everything they carry is local. We bought peaches, herb cheese made at a farm down the road, vanilla tea cake and some AMAZING cranberry chutney!

Headed toward home ~ we stopped at Maple Bank Farm in Roxbury.

http://www.maplebankfarm.com/

Watermelon,cantaloupe, Buffalo mozzarella cheese and hot peppers all filled our bags as we left.

Look at this gorgeous oxen ~ ~ ~

and precious sheep.

Back home just in time for a dinner of watermelon! And for dessert ~ farm fresh tomatoes and local buffalo mozzarella cheese drizzled with olive oil and spices. And some cranberry chutney and organic vanilla tea cake. Yea ~ we basically walked in the door and pigged out on everything we bought!

I would rather spend a weeks worth of grocery money on this kind of food ~ and wing it on eggs and soup the rest of the week!

By the way ~ Look at the cute apron I made Sat. night using this tutorial ~
http://mybyrdhouse.blogspot.com/2008/04/jeans-half-apron-tutorial.html

It was a BLAST to make! I am going to make some shorter ones and add some machine embroidery .

My Byrdhouse is really a FUN blog to visit!

AND ONE MORE THING ~ ~ ~ ~

TEDDI AND JAKE ~ this means YOU!!!!

Guy Wolfe Pottery

Are you familiar with Guy Wolfe Pottery?
Martha Stewart seems to be the one to have discovered him many years ago in his Litchfield
County, Ct studio. When mom came to visit one year ~ we took a drive to his studio to see what all the fuss was about.
There he was ~ creating a piece as we watched in amazement.
He was friendly and transparent but had that edginess to him many artist possess mid -creation. As we I tried to drink in every morsel of his studio ~ there on his bench was a large order from her Her Honor Herself ~ Martha!
He later told us he had a huge order to fill from her as well as his thoughts on selling the rights to his name. He had so many orders from all over the world ~ he was struggling to keep up. (It appears many years later ~ he has indead sold the rights to his name and the new stuff you find is not made by his creative hands ~ sigh.)
He followed us out as we carried our BOXES of purchases to the car. As I turned to take one more look before we drove away ~ I watched him jump on an old wooden swing hanging in the front of his studio and start to swing as high as he could! I bet he was trying to touch the sky with his feet!
I've wanted my own swing ever since!



This is the real deal ~ a piece my Mom bought for me from Guy's studio many years ago.


This is the reproduction stuff your likely to find today.

Take A Stroll With Me Through My Garden

This Glorious Sunflower has finally bloomed! The bees are enjoying as much as me!

This is my side yard. We have been working on the retaining wall here all summer. Finally the grass is coming up!

Oh dear! My angel has just hung you a moon!

I wish you could hear the relaxing sound of my pond babbling. I feel blessed and loved by God when I sit here. This little pond feels like such a gift from Him.

I have less than a half an acre but have managed to cram lot's of Secret Gardens EVERYWHERE!

"Our Special Chairs"

One for Frank and one for me ~ these were our retreat when the kid's were younger. We'd come here with our coffee and tea and make big decisions out of earshot of our kids. He bought these for me one year with his Christmas bonus. It breaks my heart ~ they are rotted beyond repair and I fear this is the last year they will sit there.

I always think of Pat Winter when I sit on my wooden swing. I'm not sure why but they are nice thoughts! This is where I run when a new book comes in the mail I have ordered or where I rock Teddi if I can catch him. Being rocked is way to "girly girl" for him. Kinda the same way he feels when I put a pink t-shirt on him that says DIVA : )

That is my Jaci statue hiding under the hydrangea. Frank bought me a statue of each one of my kids many years ago. The heads of Franky and Cheri have fallen off ~ YIKES ~ and the angel that is supposed to be Ashley ~ well let's just say it may be a case of mistaken identity ~ he!he!

Lots of different layers and textures in a garden creates excitement around every corner!

If I was a Garden Fairy ~ the purple spikes would be my Home.

Everytime I see a Butterfly ~ it's like I 've seen one for the first time!

AWWWWW ~ a refreshing glass of home brewed Ice Tea in a frosted mug.

Thanks for joining me for a walk in my garden! Come back SOON!

Have You Been Sucked In To The Pandora Craze?

I Have! These are my 3 latest additions to my Pandora Bracelet ~ purchased this week with Christmas and Birthday $ I received from Grama (the green bead), Aunt Sally (the silver and green bead) and Brenda ( the pink butterfly). Thank you SO much!!!!!

I love the idea of being able to create my own special look and have mementos from my loved ones right on my wrist.

Check out the web site ~ http://www.pandora-jewelry.com/

Sea Glass From My Boy

Look at these wonderful treasures my son Franky has collected for me just this summer! I have always had a love affair with Sea Glass but had just a few pieces from a whole lifetime of searching. This summer my son has worked off and on at a home on a private beach in New York. He combs the beach when he arrives in the morning and during his lunch break. There seems to be an endless supply! My heart melts when I look at it ~ each piece carries his touch.

Sea Glass has become the "theme" of my summer!

Notice the red piece on top of the milk jar on my window ~ that is very rare. The lavender colors just blow me away!

If you are on the East Coast of the U.S. ~ there is a Sea Glass Festival in Lewes, Delaware October 11 & 12.

For more information on Sea Glass check out this cool site ~ http://seaglassassociation.org/

I MISS YOU!

I've missed YOU something awful!!!!!
This time in my life has kept me from doing some of the things I love the very most such as blogging, sewing, fussing over my home and spending mindless days in my garden. It has also carried with it many treasures that would have been left undiscovered otherwise.
In the midst of chaos ~ I feel such amazing Peace in the deepest parts of my heart ~ and such joy.
I wish this same Peace and Joy to you my Dear Friends ~ a free gift to all who ask.

"My own Peace I give to you."
John 14:27

"For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction."
Genesis 41:52

"As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing"
2 Corinthians 6:10

"He delivered me, because He delighted in me."
Psalm 18:19

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psalm 46:10

The Legenary DEAN'S

The Mayors Car Show

One of the fun things about working for the Mayor is you get to wear a STAFF shirt at our annual Car Show!

Look at the way my dogs Teddi and Jake are looking at me ~ they just crack me up! Daisy ~ my sons beagle ~ seems to be chuckling at how silly it is for Pappy to be taking a picture of his Nannies backside! (that's what Daisys "calls" us )

I didn't get too many pics as we were so busy with almost 200 cars and over 1000 people in attendance! A GREAT turn out for our small town.

The last photo is the winner of the trophy donated by "Franks Heating and AC" ~ my husbands business.

It is an AWESOME Javelin owned by Victor & Barbara Nave. CONGRATULATION'S!!!!

Making Progress on My Fabric Book

Seems like I have no more than a few stolen moments to work on this fabric memory book for stitchinfingers.ning.com. I'm calling it "My Grandfathers Wallet" as it is the contents of his wallet at the time of his death in 1965. I've included some of the pictures he had as well as mementos from his time in WW2 and some poems I have written for him through the years. It has been a very healing project so I am not rushing it. I have been using some of Pat Winters lovely hand dyed ribbon as well as Pam Kelloggs beautiful hand dyed vintage lace.