a rainy day...

Today is one of those rainy days...not a downpour, no lightning and thunder, simply a gentle, all-day rain.

too wet to garden...

   too wet to till...

too wet to weed...

      however...

         it's PERFECT for puddle jumping!

The kids will be home soon and I'm sure they'll agree...some puddle jumping, followed by a bowl of warm soup and homemade bread makes it a "perfect" day. After all, it's all about perspective; isn't it?

So put on your boots and jump in some puddles too...we're never too old for those simple joys.

And since it's Monday, don't miss all the farmhouse fun...I'm linking up to:



Homestead Barn Hop

from one home to another...

Several weeks ago, I passed this sad scene.



The newspaper reported that a truck had apparently lost control and crashed into this house. Luckily,
no one was living in it at the time, and there were no injuries. While driving by one day, I could see back into the kitchen of the home. That's when I spied this...



It immediately caught my eye. Now, our home isn't decorated in vintage/1950's style, but anytime I see an old porcelain over cast iron sink, it always makes me stop and think, "Ah, I would love to have that in our farmhouse kitchen."

And so I drove by the house several times with the sink on my mind. Finally, I did a little sleuthing, found the owners of the home, and worked up the courage to knock on their door. If the house was going to be torn down, would they be interested in selling the sink? They were gracious and friendly, they took my name and number, and then the weeks went by with no phone call.

Then, this past Monday, they called...if I would like the sink I could have it for $25! I was thrilled, and said yes, I definitely still wanted it! And so Saturday morning, we'll be picking up this 100-pound beauty before they level the home.

A little online snooping found this vintage sink, that looks like a pretty good match, selling for $125.
I'd say I scored the bargain of the day!

Our new sink will stay safely tucked away until we remodel our kitchen. Of course, it might be just right in our bathroom too...lots of room on the drainboard for a basket of hand towels and soaps, hmmm, this might be a hard decision!

And so, it's a happy Friday here...hoping it's a great day for you as well!

(And since it's Friday, take a minute to visit some new farms at Verde Farm ... it's terrific fun!)

kid-size gardens...

This year Sweet Girl and Little Man wanted to have their own little gardens. So we added a couple of 4x4 raised beds to our vegetable garden and let them plant whatever their hearts desired.

Sweet Girl chose zinnias in every shade of pink, orange, yellow, and purple...




while Little Man had bold, yellow sunflowers (some grew to 10 feet tall!)...


along with some yummy watermelon!

Sure, it was educational to have them read seed packets, then plant & tend their own little gardens, but what was the most exciting was to see them enjoy watching THEIR gardens grow! Picking flowers to give to Grandma and biting into that first slice of  juicy watermelon was the best!

Now as we enjoy the welcome coolness of sweet September, and are harvesting the bounty of our garden, the kids are already talking about what they want to plant next year. I can't wait to see what they dream up!

remembering 9/11...

From the Mountains,

to the Prairies,

to the Oceans white with foam;

God Bless America,

my Home sweet Home.

Emily Dickinson was right...

The morns are meeker than they were --

The nuts are getting brown --

The berry's cheek is plumper --

The Rose is out of town.

The Maple wears a gayer scarf --

The field a scarlet gown --

Lest I should be old fashioned

I'll put a trinket on.

Can you feel the change? A season is ending...we're teetering somewhere between summer and fall. Only six days ago we sweltered through a softball game where temperatures reached 99 degrees. However; the last few days, temperatures have been only in the 60's.

Yes...summer is ending and while we might be reluctant to accept this fact, something inside seems to tell us it's time to move on. The goldenrod is now in bloom and will provide the honeybees with their last bit of nectar to turn into honey for their winter food storage. Each day we can see them in our gardens working busily while time allows.

As for me, I feel the need to be busy as well...it's time to tidy, put the gardens to bed, double check the wood pile as well as our food storage. My mother-in-law and I are ordering Concord grapes, and soon the kitchen will be filled with the sweet scent of grapes waiting to be turned into jams & jellies. It's time to freeze green beans and dig potatoes...earnest nesting is how I heard this once described.

And so it's a time of change...but that's okay. It's comforting to know as the seasons come and go, each one brings along with it something wonderful...something perhaps we've forgotten in the past year. Here in the Midwest, the summer sun has taken on a coppery glow, the crickets are chirping, field corn is drying, and soybeans are yellowing.

And so it's good to remember, that to every ending, there is a new beginning.

the road not taken...

Running an errand last week had me traveling over the river and through the woods...
well, not really, but it certainly seemed like it. Once my errand was complete,
I chose a slower, 2-lane road for the journey home.

I'm so glad I did, or I would have missed this old school house
(you know how I love old buildings)...

Here she is at a different angle...

 then I came across a barn full of character...

Up the road a bit more, I spied a windmill spinning in the most beautiful blue sky. 

No touch-ups here, the sky was actually that vivid a color blue.

So glad that I stumbled upon this path home...

it certainly reminded me of this poem by Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both,

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;


Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.