This past weekend I took to cleaning up my vegetable garden as well as cut down most annuals that I had lost in last weeks frost. The weekend weather was absolutely gorgeous..yet another reason why I love Fall the way I do. Its warm but not overly so and the light..oh the gorgeous Autumn light..I could hope for Fall all year long except I think I’d rather miss the anticipation of it more so 😉
Normally I feel sadness when pulling out all my vegetables but, as you know, this year was definitely not normal. Slow growing, poor soil and mosquitoes..oh the friggin mosquitoes!! How they haven’t died yet with the frosts is beyond me but this week they are absolutely terrible! Bring on the frost again Mother Nature..those bugs have got to go! Anyways, I put my music on, wore my wellies and got to work! Pulling, cutting and tossing into the compost pile (I started composting this year, did I tell you that? I feel like an all star now..haha) and all I could feel was excitement. Excitement for my plans for this space. Excitement for the chicken coop that will be built in here this Winter to share the space with my vegetables (just typing that makes me excited. Nerdy, I know..but hey..I love it!) I could visualize while I pulled out the rows where my beds would be next year, what I would plant and how it would look in 5 years when I really get this place roaring 😉
  Still, I do not regret planting my garden this year (why would I?) Of course, I did it for the wrong intentions (who says I can’t do it all? Why can’t I be a new mom with a baby and take on a brand new 1 acre yard along with a 3,000 sq ft garden that has never grown a thing before?) But, it kept me on my toes, I learned its soil, I learned about its light and how things will grow in there, I learned about the weeds and how to control them, I sometimes just stood in there to get away from everything else going on, even for just 5 minutes and, let me tell you, it was all worth it. Growing your own food is always a good idea. Sure, you don’t need a huge garden like I have..just some dirt and a pot and you will never, ever regret planting a seed.
 One thing that made me laugh this year were my pumpkins. Normally by September my vines are full of yellow/orange globes of goodness..the good ‘ol jack o lanterns for our carving fun in October. But this year? I don’t even know what happened..they just kind of..snailed along! 2 weeks ago my vines were still covered in blooms!! I knew I wouldn’t get a single decent pumpkin out of my patch this year..as a matter of fact, this is the largest pumpkin I grew in 2014
Its so small and cute..makes me smile
All in all, I am glad the work is done now for another year. We still have lots to do in there this Fall with soil prep for next Spring (we want to level the ground, bring in new soil, possibly create raised beds and of course, prep the area where the chicken coop will be going in the West of the garden)
Not all was lost though, I grew plenty of beans, carrots, potatoes, onions and corn to supply us with numerous meals this coming Winter..
and I even grew a zucchini! You know you have poor soil when you grow just one of these guys
and I left most of my sunflowers for now because their cheery yellow faces just feel even more so in Autumn. Plus, I wanted to give these little guys as much pollen as they could get while the weather is still warm
Happy Wednesday everyone! Hope you are having a great week so far!!
We are already on the cusp of the middle of September. Most of the leaves are still green around here but everywhere you look, there are whispers of Autumn. Yellow leaves are spotted in every tree, our tree rows have a few gatherings of crispy leaves that crunch underfoot on our daily walks and the air is cool to the skin. I would like to say its a welcome reprieve from the heat of our Summer but honestly? It really isn’t. Spring was long and cold and wet, flowers and vegetables were slow to take off and only really began producing in August. So with Fall gushing in, its kind of a bittersweet time.
The other morning I awoke to find the first frost had taken most of my flowers. The dahlias now lay blackened the zinnias lost all their colour overnight and the cosmos lay heavy on the ground. My sunflowers are still showing their cheery faces to me, but I know its not for long. It feels so very bittersweet this year..
 If you have known me for some time now, you know that I absolutely adore Autumn. The orange/yellow leaves, the golden sunlight..its a photographers dream to live in such a place where seasons truly shine. This Summer, the weeds took off on me in the garden, snakes were in my flower beds and the lawn seemed like it constantly needed mowing..it was an exhausting job and I looked forward to Winter to have some more time for other things in my life. But now that its finally here, I shake my head at myself for, once again, wishing away the time. I was scrolling thru my camera roll on my IPhone and came across a photo I took of our backyard this last Winter. Everything looked so bare, so dark, so…cold. And I wondered if wishing this Summer away was the smartest thing I’ve done?!
The last few days here have been unseasonably cool & wet and has once again postponed our harvest. When will it get done you ask? We’re starting to wonder the same thing! Harvest should have been done by now. The men should be on to sloughs and machinery maintenance and farm chores outside the field. But here we are, humbled by mother nature again.
Then yesterday happened. It was a dark and dreary day..both outside our walls and within my soul. I questioned so many things in my life. Where I am & where I want to be. And then I came across a video from the keynote speech my mentor, Joy, had just given down in Salt Lake City for ClickAway. She spoke of her journey in life and as a photographer. She was raw and honest. She spoke some words that cut so deep I found myself watching her thru my own tears. It was like someone finally spoke to that hurt inside of me and made me truly feel it for the first time in a long time. And it was finally the truth. And that truth is, I’m going through a really hard time in my life right now. A really, really painful time. I’m feeling, I’m hurting, I’m learning and I am changing. Only my husband and one other true soul mate knows what I am currently going thru. But I won’t let it stop me from smiling every.single.day. Why? Because. Even though I’m going through a painful season in life, I still want to be that smile for someone else. I want to bring hope to every day. I want to inspire, in any small way I can. The truth is I never thought I’d speak these words outside of my own mind! But I realized that keeping it all in hasn’t done me much good these last few months so maybe writing them out will help. And if any of these words have started resonating with you, then I guess I’ve done my job!
Anyways..I walked away from that video feeling raw but hopeful. I bundled up my little man for our daily afternoon walk to the chickens and started contemplating the words I had just heard. And as I got to my coop, my flock looked smaller. I couldn’t figure out why until I got closer, but I knew something wasn’t right. My last remaining barred rock hen from 3 years ago was lying dead on the pen floor and a rooster from my new addition was laying dead in their pen. And I was still missing 4. I opened up the door to their coop and there they were..all 4…dead in a pile. All wheaton marans. I have waited for my marans for a year and a half before they were mine. I couldn’t wait to proudly show off my chocolate brown shelled eggs. And there were my hens…gone. We have no idea what happened. Possibly a weasel, possibly poisoned, possible disease. No idea. Every other chicken looks healthy though so we have checked disease off our list but the question still lingers.
And while I am now used to losing livestock (as my friend once told me, “if you have livestock, you have dead stock”) it still hurt me. Maybe more so because it was just another “thing” to add to the list of hurts this year..but man, I felt so..defeated.
So, to sum up my feelings right now? I am so over 2014. OVER IT! 2014 gave me my amazing son and I can’t imagine life without him, I love him so. But, otherwise? Yeah…it definitely hasn’t been “one for the books”. Its been an off year. A weird year. A painful year. Am I looking forward with hope and faith? You betcha! But I know that this season I am in right now is a journey and it’s not something I can just skip over and move on to happier, sunnier times. I have to put in the work. I have to feel, have to ponder, have to really work at it.
The truth is I hate change. And thats exactly what 2014 has been about. CHANGE. Everything has changed for me and I am most definitely not the same person I was 2 years ago. And instead of fighting it. I have to let that person go. I have to be real with myself and let myself go and be the person I am meant to be now. Life has changed me. People have changed me. And thats not necessarily a bad thing! My life, my views, my art are all progressing as they should and I am actually kind of excited to meet this new version of, well…me
I apologize if this post is just a bit too deep for some of you out there but, I needed to put this out in the world even if just for myself. But if this did resonate with you at all, know you aren’t alone. If you follow me on Pinterest, you may find some of my quotes on the board *words* may be just the ticket for you..as I know they definitely sit right with me 😉
I hope you are all staying warm this weekend and enjoying the company of those you love. Happy weekend!!
The last couple of days have been quite a startling change from the heat of Summer we had been experiencing. The rains came, once again, and with them brought wind and even a light dusting of snow! Snow is September isn’t exactly new to us Canadians but, it has been a while. I was so hoping for a long, warm Autumn for us..maybe things will turn around but right now, its hard to tell! We are only 1/2 way through our harvest (yikes!) and it keeps raining on us every week..silver lining of course is the moisture will be good for our 2015 crop. But first things first..lets get 2014’s over with 😉
Yesterday morning I woke up to this:
It quickly melted but of course I had to run out and snap a shot of it to add to this week’s Project Life spread 😉
Then this morning, we woke up to this:
Yup, all my beautiful flowers..all my vegetables that weren’t salvaged before the frost…gone
As excited as I am for Autumn, it pains me to see all this beauty fade so quickly and die. I haven’t loved my garden this year as much as I should have. finding garter snakes in your beds unexpectedly will do that to you. But, I did love going outside and being greeted by all the beautiful colours that nature provided me with. Every seed I planted, every bulb I dug..everything is gone again for another year.
And now all that is left to do is to pull everything up, compost what I can, store the bulbs, save some seeds and say goodbye to these beautiful sights til next year when they can all begin again. Even though it barely seemed like we had a Summer (late, wet Spring) I think the plants as well as ourselves are almost looking forward to a nice, relaxing Winter.
Hey guys!
I know it has been a very long time since I shared or discussed anything crafty on here but, to be honest, I haven’t made a single thing since I packed up my belongings last October for our move here to the farmhouse! Every box was placed in the basement, renovations began and then Hudson came along and before I knew it..crafting had gone by the wayside But now, I’m itching to set my studio back up and get into the swing of things, especially with the holidays around the corner!
Now, I don’t know about you but I am a huge sucker for holiday crafting supplies. I buy them up like candy and admire them year round..yes, I am that kind of person 😉 Anyways, I have been anxiously awaiting the new holiday stamp catalogues these last few weeks so imagine my delight when I realized today was the day for the new 2014 Stampin Up holiday booklet! I love this company and buy their holiday stamps every year and this year? Wow they created some AMAZING sets! I giddily flipped thru their book and my wish list just kept going, and going, and going. I thought I would share with you a few of my favourite things from Stampin Up today, I know its only August but, the holidays will be here before you know it!
I love this image so much. The beautiful papers and homemade tags just feel so cozy! I love this page from the catalogue so much that I created a 3×4 just for this weeks PL spread. Now, that might sound silly to you but for me, Project Life is about what goes on in our daily lives. Documenting the ordinary and the extraordinary. Holiday crafting is a big thing for me and remembering days like today are what its all about in my album!!
Okay, so on to a few of the gorgeous goodies that have my mind swirling with ideas!
Okay so probably one of the things that really excited me was the new Project Life Cards by Stampin Up, they feature Fall & Christmas themed cards to really help wrap up your albums these final months of 2014. Here is a closer look!
On the left is the Card Collection and on the right is the Accessory Pack full of printed transparencies, labels, enamel dots..you name it!! And they also have come out with a Project Life Holiday stamp set!! I absolutely love it! They also came out with the stamp set in digital brushes you can download..genius!
And finally, 2 more stamp sets that I am very excited to start using
The gratitude for days stamp set will be my weekly prompt to stop and think about what I am truly grateful for that week. Its a practice I have realized I need to begin doing to sometimes remind myself of how blessed I truly am.
And the seasonally scattered stamps? How gorgeous are they!?!
All in all, I found inspiration on every single page and LOVE what they came out with for this coming holiday season. If you want to check out the PDF for yourself, hop on over to there site here and take a gander!
Every year I take our holiday photo and order our Christmas cards to mail out to family and friends. This year, however, I am tackling the job myself! Creating homemade cards for friends and family will be a little labour of love that I am looking forward to starting! Hope I have inspired you today to get those crafting supplies out and create something today!!
I was so enamoured with Ali Edwards’ recent blog post that summarized their life as of late that I knew I wanted to take a moment and think about where my family and I am at, at this point in our year. Documenting our lives has fallen to the wayside as of late for me, what with packing up my craft supplies last October, moving house, renovating, having a baby..those boxes are still packed away in our basement and I have been so busy being a mom and a wife that I have left that part of me aside, until now. I finally feel ready to get back into those albums and truly document our lives the way they deserve to be.
I have already ordered prints to keep caught up with my Project Life album, pre-ordered albums for my 2014 December Daily as well as my 2015 One Little Word album. The future looks promising 😉
And with that, here is my little summary of our family at the end of Summer
[Adam] working so hard around the farm to play catch up with the million projects on the proverbial To Do list. It seems like work around the farm will never be fully caught up as new projects always pop up! What has always amazed me about my farmer though is how he takes it all in stride. He loves to be busy and rarely ever complains about the work ahead. He takes pride in his farm, his work and most of all, his family and that is something I admire deeply about him.
We just went thru 4 straight days of rain which is unheard of for this time of year & very frustrating as we desperately try to finish our harvest before the weather turns. At the moment, we have our peas off the ground and into the bins. Thats a mere 10% of our harvest. But, thats the name of the game when your office is your backyard and Mother Nature is your boss!
[Hudson] is growing like a weed in front of my very own eyes. It seems forever ago that he was just a tiny, fragile newborn and now I have this person in front of me! He is developing such a huge personality already and I fall more in love with him every day. Every morning I walk into his nursery and am greeted by the biggest grin you could imagine. We have a set routine in our days now that I craved so badly when we first brought him home. So thankful for such a quick & smooth transition into our new life this Summer.
Hudson is such a serious little boy, more interested in the mechanics of the world around him and loves to grasp everything in sight and discover the world around him for himself. His current favourites are playing on his musical mat, jolly jumping and sitting on someones’ shoulders to get the best view in the house. He loves his blankets as well as grasping mommy’s hair while sucking his thumb for comfort. Its so odd, its adorable!
Weighs: approx 15lbs Length: 24″ Teeth: 0
Loves: Baby Mumums, fruits & vegetables (esp butternut squash & prunes), bath time, swinging, being tickled under his ribs (gently)
Hates: facial hair, being spooked
[Dawn] this year has by far been the most challenging of my life. Not only did I become a mother but there have been so many changes in my life..some many changes in ME
This Summer I have been challenging myself as a mother & as a photographer. I have been nurturing myself as I finally allow myself to grieve the loss of my dad as well as the loss of other relationships I once held dear. Loss is such a huge process to go through, it leaves you raw and open and, unless you are ready for that, its a very painful experience. I am learning daily how to move forward and I don’t think I still know what I am doing but, I’m moving forward each day in a new way and thats all I can expect from myself at this point.
I feel I am at the cusp of some major growth and change in my life and I am so excited to see where this goes!
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My mom used stampin up a LOT (stil does) and a bunch of ladies back home are big into it. There was always stampin up parties! I miss having endless paper, stamps etc at my finger tips! I don’t have room (or money for that matter!) for the supplies in my house, at least in a large amount! I have the digital scrapbooking program..and LOVE it!