Monday, March 19, 2007

a girl after my own heart

our Emma Anne...
a girl after her grandma's heart...blue jeans and red boots....and her favorite pretty dress to top the ensemble off...
..makes sense to me...
I remember another little girl who wore pretty little dresses that her momma made for her to wear to school...so much time & love went into those dresses...full gathered skirts that twirled when you twirled, crinolines that had a delicious crackle & bounced when she ran...puffed sleeves and always... always a big sash with a huge bow tied in the back...sweet little ruffled stockings and patent leather mary janes...
the little girl loved the pretty dresses, but oh, she longed to run and play...hanging from the monkey bars and sliding down the slide...out doing any of those ol' boys...
but, try as she might to stay tidy, those pretty dresses were in shambles by the end of the school day.
I would ride the bus home...my knees scraped, my hem sagging & my sash stapled back on by my 1st grade teacher, Miss Little, who didn't know how to sew a stitch...they wouldn't have lasted anyway.
yes, a girl after my own heart...

Monday, March 12, 2007

little feet


My whole life has been made up of thoughts and feelings that are much too big for words.
Sights and sounds, the scent of the old cottonwoods along the river bank, the twittering of meadowlarks on an early spring morning, the pale pink of winter sunrise, our farm dressed in her best soft green gown of spring....feelings so immense that they fill my heart so full that I think that I cannot bear another one to be added...mine has been watching my grandchildren grow...
Going for a walk through the fields with my grandchildren is something that we do every visit. I see them walk hand in hand in front of me, they're chattering away between the 2 of them, Emma has her own language which we have decided is surely French & Ethan understands every word. They walk & talk together, he helps steady her if she has trouble navigating rocks and holes, understanding each other perfectly, exclaiming over & examining every rock, every bug, everything that catches their eye...and I see my sister and I at 2 and at 3 ...and my daughter and my son when they were but 2 & 4...and I am filled with this immense feeling that if I never accomplish anything else in this life, this is all that I need to know. I know that I am in them and they are in me...they'll grow up and teach their children the same wonderment and awe of this beautiful world that God has made.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

early spring at Deerfield Farm

It's early spring here on Deerfield Farm... little layde's in their best looks & on their best behavior... wearing sweet sprigg'd frocks, silke & straw bonnets bedecked with ruched silke ribbons & paper flowers, antique lace & rustling silkes brushing the toes of bonbon sweet slippers...tiny curls framing wide eyes & pink cheeked looks... soon there'll be baby chicks & the orchard in bloom, seedlings sprouting in the old greenhouse, meadlowlarks singing from the budded branches of the old lilac. I'll be sharing more of our farm as the days become warm and the comforting hills change from her dress of winter weary colors to the pale green softness of new grass. I must say a special Thank you to all my dear friends who made our Early Spring offering last evening such a wonderful event! You are all greatly appreciated and we could not do this without you all. Happy Spring!

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

meant to be

Handmade of hand woven paper covered wire,bits of gilt edged paper frills and Dresden decoration in shapes of fruit & -be still my farm girl heart-wheat sheaves, this dear little 1820's school girl basket has "come around the horn" on it's way to me...I first saw it on eBay last summer and was smitten! At the very end of the bidding we lost power as we were in the midst of a huge thunder,lightening and rain storm...my computer screen went black and truth be told...I was heartbroken. The dream of owning such a beautiful little part of history was lost forever....or so I thought. I emailed the winner the next morning asking if they might be so kind as to remember me should they ever tire of the basket. I never heard a word back, nor did I really expect or hope to. It was just a lovely thought, a pretty picture in my mind's eye. Then early last week, out the blue, I had an email from the basket owner, telling me that she had saved my email to her & was now ready to sell the basket! She asked if I might still be interested in it...oh my! I can't tell you how how my heart jumped! oh yes! I said...yes! So after a phone call and the arrangements made, my heart's desire arrived...and here it is ...even more precious in person than the photo's had lent. It was handmade in Providence,Rhode Island in the early 1820's by an accomplished young lady taught in a school run by Mr. & Mrs. Seaman. Mr & Mrs. Seaman's School for Young Ladies, to be exact. My grandmother's cousin's family were named Seaman and came from that area in the mid 1800's to Oregon... and so there is nothing more to say, I'll let the photo tell you what it speaks to me... it surely was meant to be.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

little blue slippers

She had asked - very politely, yet most decidedly, for pale robin's egg blue slippers and I had insisted on making a pair of lovely brown silke damask slippers for her...she looked me squarely in the eye and simply refused to warm up to them..... I've promised that today I am making her a lovely little pair of pale robin's egg blue wool challis slippers with tiny brown dots and brown wool silken puffs on the toes. She'll have real little shoes as soon as I stitch them up. We must listen to what our dollies have to say...I have found them to be the truest & best of friends.