catching up

{My sweet boy serenading the passersby}

With the exception of my Easter post and my one last week, my posting has been, well pretty non-existant. And to tell you the truth, that is not the way I want this blog to exist. You know, to sink and sink and then come up gasping for air when I throw it a lifeline like once a month.

In the past few months I have been thinking about the blog and exactly what I want it to look like. I feel that my "taste" in blogs has changed and it has made me look differently at mine. I mean, my taste hasn't changed drastically, more like a smidge. Still, I want this blog to have more purpose or direction or something (as you can see, I am very clear on this mission).

Apparently, when I have all these thoughts going around in my head, instead of continuing to blog, I just freeze with panic. OK, maybe panic is a strong word. But I do freeze.

At times I have even wondered if people even read the blog. (It is kinda hard to read if I'm not posting. Hmm.) But then someone will say something about my blog that encourages me. And I realize people are reading even if they don't comment.

Anyway, I feel like I am about to start rambling. So, I will just cut to the chase. I am back. Hopefully, now that summer is upon us and school is out, I can really try to resuscitate this blog and give it purpose. I know you all aren't dying to read the words flowing from my head, but I still have a need to put them out there. I enjoy documenting life...capturing the simple everyday bits that make it so special.

In an effort to make up for lost time, I thought I would just give you photos that kinda document the past few months. And yes, they were all taken with my phone. The Instagram app is just too addictive and easy to use. But as I type, the battery for the real camera is charging.

{A little thumb war with Grandpa}

{Date night with the most amazing husband and father}

{Learning how to make salves and tinctures with my fellow farmgirls}

{A bit of resourcefulness}

{A whole lot of trips to the library}

{Blooming calendula (good for all sorts of things)}

{My little ballerina waiting her turn}

{Vintage girl wearing a dress that belonged to me}

{Some good ol' Rice Krispie treat making}

Oh, by the way, since I am trying to give the blog more direction, if you think of something you do like about it, feel free to tell me!

susie

Meet Susie. She is a milk cow. She has a large muzzle. We had our farmgirl chapter meeting last weekend and we all learned how to milk a cow! We also made cheese and ice cream from fresh milk. I must say, it was a lot of fun, but I am glad I don't have to milk a cow to have my bowl of cereal in the morning! It kinda takes a while.

And for those members of my family who need proof of this event, here I am milking Susie.

She later tried to bully me a bit when I was taking some more photos of her. She is not a fan of the paparazzi.

Oh, and remember a couple of weeks ago when I fell down the stairs? Apparently, I didn't want to stop at that. Two nights ago we went out to eat so I could get the best potato soup on the planet. Lucy and I ran across the street and jumped up on the curb. Well, our landing was less than stellar in that it involved me tripping over her and becoming air born before planting on the sidewalk. I now have a busted elbow and knee to go with my fading bruise. Someone help. I am not sure when I became so accident prone. For reals.

In happier news, today started our week of visiting with family and for that I am very thankful!

feed bag tote

I have seen a few feed bag totes floating around the interwebs recently and when it came time to find a project for one of our Farmgirl Chapter meetings, I thought this would be lots of fun for everyone. All you need is a feed bag and some creativity. I am not sure what the bag material is called but it is like a plastic-y/nylon woven bag that makes a lot of crinkling noise when you touch it. How's that? Anywho, I like the simplicity of the bag I found, it was just five dollars and I could actually use the feed.

Here is my completed bag. By the way, this is the first photo I took after the whole water-logged camera debacle. Each photo has gotten better so I think my dear is going to be fine. Whew.

I bought the navy gingham fabric and made the ruffle bit and the white ruffle on top is some trim I picked up at the store. I was going to buy some nylon mesh for the handles, but I decided to go with this navy linen-like fabric I had from one of my scrap boxes and just make my own handles.

I had some of the navy gingham left over so I made a flower out of it and covered a button for the center using some more fabric out of the same scrap box. I really should share a photo of that box sometime. It is a box from my grandma so it has scraps from clothes she made when I a child. Very fun. Anyway, here is the "flower."

Here is a shot of some of us farmgirls showing off our bags!