May Day, May Day!

Why has it been taking me so long to update my blog?

We have been super busy lately.  We are transitioning over to a farmstead website and blog, but I wanted to let my readers know I have not fallen off the face of the earth.

It is chilly and rainy here, nowhere near what the first of May should be, in my mind.  But that's OK.  Our new trees and plants are getting plenty of water and the temperatures have remained above freezing, knock on wood.  Here are some pictures of the last several weeks on our Spotted Dog Farmstead.

Yes, this is a picture of bark!

I could post 50,000 more photos, but I think I'll stop here.  Just looking at that last photo of my daughter makes me want to go hug her!

Thanks for reading.

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PEACE.

                                              LOVE.

                                                                                      FARMSTEADING.

Another year older...

...another year wiser?  That certainly remains to be seen, but I hope I'm getting wiser as the years move on.

Along with my own birthday this week, my first baby turned 17 the day me.  I am just astonished by how someone as seemingly young as I could be his mother.  Eh bien, je l'aime.

He'll clobber me for posting these pics, but he loves cookie cakes.  Unfortunately, the kind they had at the store were covered in frosting, which he detests.  So he ended up scraping off the macaroni colored icing on this beauty.  Believe it or not, this was the best cookie cake we could find.  It put me in a sugar coma for hours.

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I can't believe March is just around the corner and this is my first blog post since New Year's.  Oh la la.  I am just too dang busy.

Here are a few things that have been happening in my life:

• work
• more work
• being swamped at work
• being overwhelmed at work

                  {NO PHOTOS AVAILABLE}

• my baby girl turning 13

• driving 7 hours to Chicago to see EXO with said 13-year-old daughter

• climbing to the top of the Willis Tower in Chicago with son and daughter

• turning 21

• crocheting many things and finishing basically nothing

• having Mark McKinney like my Tweet!
• I'm crushing your head!  :)

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I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but maybe I'll get around to blogging about it in June.

Thank you for reading.  I must go to bed now before my eyelids drag my body to the ground.

Love,

--J

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PEACE.

                                   LOVE.

                                                                        EXO.

Happy 2016!

Hello, dear readers!

Sitting here looking out at my snow-covered lavender field and happy to be on winter vacation, I am in a reflective mood.  2015 was a year of ups and downs for me, as I'm sure it was for lots of people, but I am very much looking forward to what 2016 has to offer.

One creative project I am looking forward to making is a Temperature Blanket.  This is an unfortunate name, in my opinion, so I will likely end up calling it something else.  The basic concept is every day, I will crochet a row according to what the high temperature of the day is.  I may end up adding a color or two, but here is a quick chart I made:

So, for the next 10 days, the high temperature here will be in the 30's.  That means my first 10 rows of 2016 will be Lavender Blue.  I have joined a Facebook group to crochet along with others, and many people are using lots more colors.  I think I will stick with just these.  I intentionally chose more purples and greens because those are my favorite hues. I hope to not have too many rows of red, but I guess we will see next summer what will happen.

One problem is going to be making sure this baby doesn't get too big, but with 366 rows,  how can it not?  Perhaps I will make two afghans, one from January 1-June 30 and the other from July 1-December 31.  This might be a good way to tell just how quickly climate change is taking place.  ;)

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I'd like to wish health, happiness, good fortune, and joy to you and your family!  Happy 2016!

Ozzie wants you to have an excellent 2016!

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PEACE.

                    LOVE.

                                        KINDNESS.

                                                                     COMPASSION.

                                                                                                       CREATIVITY.
                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                        COLOR.


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Kitty rolling around in the grass

This is completely senseless and silly, but my kitty cat Storm was pretty adorable today.  :)

#SmallBizSaturday

Greetings!

#SmallBusinessSaturday was started a few years ago in response to the insanity of Black Friday here in the States.  The day after Thanksgiving is a huge shopping day with great deals, but some people want to support small businesses more than the big box stores.

Well, I can think of one small business that would appreciate your patronage:  Prairie Sunshine Soaps!

Prairie Sunshine Soaps was started by my husband and me in 2012 in our kitchen.  Although Chris supports me in my endeavors, I'm the one who runs it now.  I currently have 79 items in my Etsy shop:  45 different soaps and 34 different crocheted washcloths/soap savers.

Making soap came as a response to my Aunt Sara's question about all the lavender we were harvesting in our front yard flower bed:  "What are you going to do with all that lavender?"  Chris had seen an article on The Art of Manliness about making your own cold process soap and so we decided to give it a shot.

We have five types of lavender soap and so many more, such as Pink Lemonade, Sandalwood, Orange Clove & Cinnamon, White Tea & Ginger, Crisp Anjou Pear, and Lime Mint, just to name a few.  It is always wonderful to mix colors and fragrances and see what the soap will look like when it's taken out of the mold.

And here are some of my crocheted items:

Right now, I am running a special for #SmallBizSaturday:  Spend $15 or more and get 15% off if you use coupon code SMALLBIZ2015.  This offer is good through Monday, November 30.

#shopsmall  #smallbusinesssaturday

Thank you so much!

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PEACE.

                                             LOVE.

                                                                                 SMALL BIZ SATURDAY.


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Je pleure avec vous, Paris.

I was saddened to hear about the deadly attacks on Paris yesterday.  Deadly attacks anywhere are clearly horrible, but I have a special connection to the country of France.  I am a French teacher and I have been to France several times, my most recent visit being just this past summer.  I have only ever encountered friendliness and wonder in my travels to this beautiful land.

My heart is with the victims and their families, as well as all my French friends.

I am crying with you, mes amis.   Paris, je t'aime!

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PAIX.

                                      AMOUR.

                                                                             PARIS.



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Oui, je l'aime.

Oui, c'est vrai.  Je l'aime.  Apres tout ce temps, je l'aime toujours.  Et la chose la plus incoyable, c'est qu'il m'aime aussi!  :)

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PEACE.

                                                   LOVE.

                                                                                              AMOUR.




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