Turn The Quiet Up

 ~ a quiet spot ~

Sometimes God uses painful lessons as a reminder for me to slow down. Although I seem to forget, He never does, I've got 60 in the headlights and this is one reason I can't do as much as I could do when we moved to the farm back in '95.

Well, do ya think?! Yeah, it constantly catches me off guard surprises me as well. -smile-

I'm taking an e-class called Blogging Your Way and it's been good for me, very good. At first, I thought it was light years away from how I live even though there are some similarities. Holly, at Decor8, is a Southern gal married to a nice German fellow and now living in Germany so we have the Southern and female thing in common. Her blog focuses on home decoration, has lush photographs and seems to have a lot of pink and frilly. I am so not pink and frilly -smile- nor do I focus on decorating our home although I'm beginning to use a lot of the antiquities, textiles, rugs, etc. we've picked up in our travels to display in our home; blog entry on those to come later.

Holly has given us lots of homework, which works for me, as I like to engage my mind as much as I enjoy working with my hands. I've been taking photos that are unusual out of the ordinary for me. There are close-ups, which I rarely do as the eye candy around this farm speaks volumes; I love the broad, sweeping vistas and find them soothing, comfortable and a balm in Gilead, so to speak.

~ roadside harvest ~

One of our assignments was to make a floral display. I do this with great regularity but, usually, find my flowers alongside the road. Dave, Abigail and I went on a forty minute Ranger ride so I could collect whatever I found. There's a bit of tickseed, flox, Queen Anne's lace, rag weed, poke berry, milk weed and other flowers whose names I don't know.

~ ragweed, Queen Anne's lace and candle ~

I'm sure most, if not all, of class participants bought flowers but I'm not traveling thirty plus miles, round trip, and across two mountains, one way, to buy flowers. Dave has taught me well and before starting the vehicle, I estimate how much the trip will cost me both in time, labor and vehicle cost. A ten dollar, US, bunch of flowers would, easily, cost three times that had I crossed the mountains. Very rarely do I make a trip with one errand in mind. Very rarely.

~ milk weed pod with insects ~

This photograph is interesting to me and one of my close-ups. I can see I need to work harder on my close-up photography -wry grin-. Around here, and probably most places, milk weed is considered a weed but I consider it food...food for monarch butterflies. The first autumn we lived here, I remember seeing, literally, thousands of monarch butterflies swarm the yard as they feasted on milk weed. Over the years, milk weed has been, systematically killed and I see fewer and fewer monarchs so I'm determined to plant a milk weed garden in the spring. I'm collecting seed pods, letting them dry and saving the seeds for spring. Go thou and do likewise, okay?

An old blue enamel coffee pitcher serves as the vessel and it was full to overflowing!

~ favorite close-up ~

This photograph is my favorite close-up. The milk weed pods, framed by the rag weed, with the hat, pillows and hammock in the background...nice! Can't you imagine taking a warm afternoon snooze here?

I am enjoying this class - learning, exploring, interacting and all associated with the class. It's stretched me because I've allowed myself to be stretched. At first, all I could see were the differences but when I slowed down and focused, I began to see how Holly's class can be applied to me at Thistle Cove Farm. Now, I doubt I'll do a lot of these styled type photo sessions! It took enormous time, effort and energy and my back was aching with the effort at day's end, but, I see how her class is helping me grow and expand my horizons.

Yesterday was another delightful day. A couple of weeks ago, Crystal came to the farm to interview me for a magazine article on knitting. We hit it off like old friends and the chin wagging commenced big time. Yesterday, we resumed chin wagging at lunch, in Bluefield, and I also did some shopping at Joann's Fabric, The Dollar Tree and Tuesday Morning. At Joann's Fabric, I found a yard and half of 100% wool shirting material which I've run through a few hot water cycles in the washer. It's now in the dryer and will soon be ready to be ironed and cut into felted slippers that I'll embellish. The Dollar Tree had some beautiful hand made paper and cards from Thailand and I found some quilting supplies for my quilting buddies over at Tuesday Morning. We're two days from being three months away from Christmas and I'm feeling the pinch to get things ready. Dave and I are hosting his company Christmas party, again, and we're both looking forward to having the house lit up with candles, carols playing in several rooms and lots of good times with good friends. Everyone who works for or is associated with the company will be invited so we're expecting forty or fifty people to come. WOW! Thank goodness this old farmhouse is able to handle even larger crowds, especially in the warmer months when we can spill out into the yard.

"Turn the quiet up", my post title, is from a song I heard yesterday. I'm  not even sure what the rest of the song was about but "turn the quiet up" sums up Thistle Cove Farm. We have quiet in abundance yet not the quiet one would think. At all hours we're hearing bird song, cattle lowing, sheep bleating, horses neighing, trees rustling, cicadas, frogs, dogs and cats. There's very little man made noise unless it's a tractor in the field or someone cutting corn; someone doing something so the rest of humanity eats.

When I stopped to check out the comfort of the hammock, I thought about turning the quiet up; rest for the soul, peace for the mind, a balm in Gilead. Does it get any better? Not on this side of the veil!


Blessings ~ road side harvest ~ milk weed ~ monarch butterflies ~ Holly ~ Blogging Your Way ~ quiet ~
 
Grace and Peace,
Sandra

Hurtling Toward Autumn

 ~ TCF Studio with Abbie and Sadie ~

We've been having fierce thunderstorms lately, last night was no exception and we have an 80% chance of more thunderstorms today. This morning, however, is beautiful and the dogs and I had a lovely walkabout. My studio looks lush with the cottage flowers, bird feeder, grape vine wreaths and little screen door. We're going to have the studio re-sided as this siding is "vintage", as in ancient, and been there for decades. The interior is new but the exterior is sadly in need of replacement. We bought rough cut poplar siding but will keep the hemlock trim as I like the look of the white clapboard with rough hewn natural trim. I'm in process of making things to sell out of the studio but with everything on my to-do list, I'm just about as slow as Moses. Check out the TCF Studio and let me know what you think of my beginning. Also, can someone recommend someone to make and add buttons on my blogs? I've got a watercolor of a thistle a friend did for me and would like to use that but need some instruction and direction.

Lately, I've been making time for the studio and have some delightful, to me at least, jewelery to show for my labor. Later, I'll take photos and show you.

Today I need to gather the last of the basil, make pesto and freeze it, wash a couple of fleeces and put them outside on the racks to rinse in the next rainstorm, send some things to Leslie so she can work on updating my website and I should workout but there's only so much time and winter's coming on. Time's a wasting and this winter is promising to be like last winter, perhaps a tad better, perhaps a tad worse, but it's still going to be winter and that promises snow, cold, etc. We've still got to square bale our alfalfa field and get that hay put in the barn too. Then, there are the quilts and fleece throws I need to make for Christmas and though Christmas is four months away, it seems much, much closer. Can you feel my panic? -smile-

~ looks dangerous to me spider ~

But this morning, the dogs and I took a leisurely walk around the farm. "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" So we did.

The above beauty, and I use the word advisedly, is hanging on his/her web attached to my studio. Although the "real" name is unknown to me, it's been renamed "looks dangerous to me big butt spider"; kinda fits, don't you think?

~ sheep, running for their lives ~

 All the dogs have to do is walk behind the sheep and the sheep beginning running as if for their lives. The dogs are sniffing around, minding their own business and when the sheep begin running, the dogs start running because they want to see where the sheep are going. I'm telling you, it's hilarious! No one knows what they're doing but they're doing it really, really well. Silly things...just like humans, eh?

~ farm bathroom ~

There's a metal farm building on the place and it's about 100 x 100 feet with a small bathroom and small office. We've been in process of remodeling both as well as cleaning up the entire building and, in days past, it was used by men and was as grody as all that implies. Stinky boys. They couldn't hit the pot unless they were sitting on it and why bother to wash their hands when all they're going to do is get grease on them again? There's a perverse kind of logic there but still and all, it did make for a grody space but not much longer! Instead of the "normal" kind of sink, I used this bushel metal tub and that means I can wash an entire fleece. The fleece water is captured and then used for flowers; great ideas, don't you think?

The thirty gallon water heater and the rest of this small storage space will be behind a curtain as a  conventional door wouldn't work because heat needs to circulate.

The vintage mirror in the first bathroom photo will hang on the wall above this heater.

The small office was painted a rich, deep, not quite sienna orange which is one of my favorite colors. Probably my favorite as there are three rooms in our house painted this color and we never tire of them. It's been outfitted with a small table, chairs and lights on either side where one can snug up and knit, crochet, weave, read or do nothing except think deep thoughts. There are cozy rugs on the floor so the dogs won't get cold, a small heater, refrigerator, microwave and cabinet.

This Hoosier cabinet came from my MIL's home and is filled with different teas, coffees and snacks. I still need to furnish plates and utensils bought at a thrift store...vintage, of course -smile-... but, essentially this space is ready to go. The heater is to the right and the rag rug loom waits to be dressed.

The white metal cabinet is filled with roving, fleeces, dye materials and other tools while the black refrigerator is filled with water and the book case with odds and ends. I need to straighten up a bit but the space is workable now and a nice respite when I'm on the upper pasture and need to get to a restroom or have a quiet moment to sit.

My outside washtubs may be filled by water hose from the bathroom and more fleeces washed.

The vintage blackboard is ready for the day's program to be written.

~ Sadie, thinking dark thoughts about kittens ~

~ headed back to the house ~

 So, that's been our morning; it's almost noon and dinner time so bye for now but before I go, one more thing. Do you have any idea how much your reading my blog means to me? The gift of your time is a precious gift, gratefully received and treasured. I so enjoy reading your blogs, getting to know you a bit, putting your names on the prayer list and, throughout the day, as God brings you to mind, you're tucked into prayer. Thank you for that privilege.

Dei Gratia,
Sandra