Saturday, January 21, 2017

Adventures Of Little Farmgirl Freckles


Today I had a little creative fun making some vignettes with little things and miniatures. It was actually kinda fun going through my things and setting up little scenes. My favorites are the couple I made of my childhood memories. 


When I was a little girl I raised chickens...They were my joy and muse. I will always remember my little hen Dusty who would follow me everywhere, ride on the handlebars of my bicycle, ride our horse perched up on the saddle, and sleeping in my bed. I loved her so! 
This little vignette is my childhood memory. 

One more childhood memory vignette. When I was a young girl I witnessed my horses birth...She was a beautiful little Appaloosa Filly....When she was old enough and trained I had the joy of riding her once, then my dad sold her. It's a precious moment I will always remember. Sad I didn't get to enjoy her longer... But we were going through some hard times after my parents parted ways.
I think I will make more little scenes here and there...Hee Hee....Aren't they cute??

Happy Weekend friends!

Friday, January 20, 2017

Grabill, Indiana


I had a fun afternoon out all to myself. I dropped my daughter off at her rehearsals and headed over to Grabill...A little town with Amish roots. I spent a few hours going through the BIG Antique Mall and found a few little treasures. After treasure hunting I went to a little cafe/coffee house behind the Antique Mall. The little shop is quaint and cheerful...Their sweet tea was delish as was the egg salad on a sweet croissant....MMM MMMM! After my little lunch I headed over to H. Souder & Son's General Store. It was a treat. Though most everything in there was not old, it had a sweet country charm...The place was filled to the rim with home goods, candy, goodies and more!!
















I had fun just leisurely looking around at everything and standing in old buildings that are full of stories and history. If you ever get a chance to visit Grabill...You should go to these few places. There is also a local Amish Grocery Store in town. I noticed another street that may possibly have more little shops, but I didn't have time to stop...My day out came to an end and had to get back to my girl.


Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Chicken Scratch~ Dreaming Of Spring In The Dead Of Winter



Winter can get really dark! It's been cold, icy, wet & snowy off and on and the skies are gray. It can get a little depressing after a while when you don't see the sunshine much. Though I do enjoy a little bit of what each Season has to offer...I do like Winter as well...I love to get all bundled up with a nice hot cuppa something....I love the rain and snow to a certain degree...But I love Spring the most! I am filling up my mind with ideas for this coming Spring...Gathering inspiration, planning and dreaming.

We will be putting our garden in, a compost bin, Spring clean & purge, and making. Since it has been gloomy around here, I got out some of my fabrics...I love all the happy sunshiny colors...I can't wait to sit down and dig in and just make. But I am not going to wait for Spring to do that, I will start making goodies in a week and a half. Why a week and a half? Well...That is when I will have more time to create. It has been a hectic few months with the holidays, illness and my daughters schooling & upcoming play. The play has been a huge commitment of driving her back and forth to rehearsals which have taken up a majority of time. We are gone several times a week for hours. The remainder of the days we are burnt out or catching up on house chores. I am looking forward to having a little more down time however. Though I am so very happy and excited for my daughter... I will do anything for that girl...She is worth it!







I am so in love with these happy fabrics & colors...I hope to show you what I make soon...And will also start sharing some of the inspiration I have gathered for our garden! EEEP! 
So excited to get my hands dirty outside when the weather warms up and getting our homestead growing some of our own fresh food. It will be a fun adventure!




“Everyday I discover more and more beautiful things. It’s enough to drive one mad. I have such a desire to do everything, my head is bursting with it.” -Claude Monet

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Farm Fresh Eggs



Yay! I found a couple local farms to get my eggs! There is nothing like farm fresh, pasture raised eggs....They are proven to be wayyyyy better for you than conventional eggs you find in grocery stores. I also love getting eggs & supporting local farmers! If I am not buying local...I always look for pasture raised eggs...I don't even trust egg cartons that say cage free...That could mean they live in confined buildings w/o sunlight and land to forage in.




In comparison to a conventional egg, pasture-raised eggs contain:

1/3 less cholesterol
1/4 less saturated fat
2/3 more Vitamin A
2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
3 times more Vitamin E
7 times more beta carotene
The sunlight exposure a hen gets gives their eggs 4-6 more times Vitamin D
The grass they eat promotes higher levels of folic acid, and even measurable levels of Vitamin C

Happy Hens Lay Healthy Eggs!


And wouldn't you want the best for your family? 

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Take Root



I'm looking forward to this coming year being a year I take root. The past several years have been quite the storm, throwing my little family to and fro, just like little trees getting blown over in the wind. 2014-2015 was surely the year of Perseverance & 2016 was the year of Providence. The good Lord Providentially brought us out of  a lot turmoil and pain....We had the opportunity to heal and revive and get back on our feet with the help of  Our Lord & our wonderful Church family. Now that we have been here 6 months getting our rhythm down and it being a New Year...I am looking to 2017 being the year we Take Root and Grow. 
We weathered the storm and storms make trees take deeper roots.




I have thought and prayed long and hard with how I will spend my time healing, rooting and growing this year. I have started by getting my overall self checked thoroughly by the doctor. I have struggled with heart palpitations, migraines, chronic headaches, vertigo, insomnia, stress, depression, anxiety, lack of desire to do anything, tingling and electric shocks in my head and more. I wanted to make sure there was nothing going on or at least something I should know about. But with tests, scans and more tests, so far they don't see anything underlying. But, to me there is something going on that a test just can't tell you nor a band aid can fix....So the next step for me is to get more in tune with my own body, since I am the only one who really knows how I feel. I have several ideas to try to ease my symptoms as naturally as possible and heal my body with natural remedies. Like using essential oils, natural products, natural homemade things that can ease symptoms. I am also going to up my doses of vitamin D and Vitamin B12 in liquid forms..Which will help a lot , especially during these dark Wintry days. I will also begin daily routine and regimes using these natural remedies. This is the first and foremost thing I need to work on and that is getting myself well...We even joined the Y.... where we will get some exercise and where I plan to take classes doing yoga and relaxation. I also plan on drinking more WATER to flush out toxins from my body.



Another big thing this year will be eliminating even more processed foods and sugar from our diet. That doesn't mean we can't splurge here and there, but making things from whole foods and from scratch as much as possible. Will I fail????....Maybe sometimes...But If I keep in mind that I wish to grow this year...I am going to have to buck up and get rooted. Taking root also means to work on our spiritual growth as well. As a family we are going to begin our regular devotions, as we are also going through the whole Bible In A Year plan. I will also continue my Bible Journaling and Writing Scripture Verses to reflect on. We will also attend our Friday night Bible study, I hope to Pray more regularly for others too!!! A great book to go through, which prompts the order of prayers is called Face To Face....One more important thing we will continually work on is the people we engage with. I have learned so much over the years that weeding out unhealthy, toxic people from my life made my life drama free, less stressful and has made our lives so much more healthy and happy. This included weeding out toxic family members & friends...Nothing I am proud of but had to be done for our well being. So dear readers...This year I will take root, do more of what I love to do, sow seeds, grow...and work hard on keeping myself and my family happy, healthy and whole! How about you??