Wishing all a Very Merry Christmas~

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

their old familiar carols play

and wild and sweet

the words repeat

of

Peace on Earth

Good-Will to men!

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

dear little doll making fairie

our littlest grand daughter, Elisabeth, helping me with my dollies~

~~~

at long last, the doll making fairies have blessed me with one of their

~Very Finest~

doll making apprentices to help me in the doll house!

~~

I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have such

a cheerful little helper...

with such gifted little hands to assist me, especially at this time of year.

~~~

...she carefully chooses the right brush and the perfect colors

and with deft and delicate strokes,

she creates Magic!

~~

She is indeed a tiny blue-eyed fairie with golden curls..

and I am quite sure that beneath her blue Hood River Eagles hoodie

is a very small pair of opal gossamer fairie wings!

~~~~

It is a well known fact that the littlest apprentice doll making fairies

are often apt to climbing down from their stool at the doll making table

at a moment's notice...

~ Nita & Elisabeth investigating an icy puddle~

and running out into the sunny day to investigate ice covered puddles

go for a nice long walk and visit the kitty....

a fairie after my own heart.

a blessed Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

sending my wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving to you all.

autumn...

arbor & fence around our garden

"The leaves fall, the wind blows,

and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons

into its winter wools."

Henry Beston

~Northern Farm~

Pumpkin Moonshine, my pretty "garden helper" kitty

Our early morning found mist coming up from the hollows and fog hanging low, wood smoke from our chimney ~ just the nicest of those dark kind of days.

One old cottonwood still holds her deep green leaves

and below her, the crab apple branches still have yellow leaves and crimson red apples hanging on~ quite pretty still.

Then as the day unfolded, a beautiful clear blue autumn sky

with yellow, red and orange leaves quietly falling like snowflakes.

Now the sun is low in the western sky, bathing everything in a deep golden light.

A fire is built in the big fireplace and candles are lit throughout the house.

Soon it'll be time to dip candles down in the orchard with my daughter and grand daughter

and help with our family cider pressing.

Autumn speaks to my soul of home and family, of contentment

as the fields are put to bed to rest

and we rest while sitting at the edge of it.

~

What brings you joy this time of year, my friend?

propper haints this evening

My Dear Friends ~

~you are invited~

At last the farmer's wife has hung her sun bonnet back onto the peg rail and donned her doll maker's bonnet...

She has been snugged by the fire these past days of Autumn, stitching little "propper haints" in celebration of the upcoming season of All Hallow's Eve merry making... Please do join Mistress Crocker ~Doll maker of Deerfield Farmhouse~ as she begins offering her Propper Haints and other little ladyes of Winter celebration.

~~~ This evening,

Wednesday, October 20 at 5 pm pacific time

Deerfield Farmhouse

There you will find them on the DOLLS page ~~~

I look forward to visiting with you by our cozy fireside this evening

and share in a hot cup of cider with us,

yrs very kindly,

Christine

moon bright first day of autumn

Our first day of autumn, moon bright with a beautiful Harvest moon

setting behind deep pink clouds

and the sunrise in glorious pinks, reds and gold coming up from behind the hills

overlooking our farm.

I hope you all have a beautiful day~

mint harvest under a waxing crescent

Last evening I went out on the porch to see if I could find my farmer...

he's harvesting mint leaf for tea and is racing the weather...

he'll stay out in the field until the night air becomes too dewy and the mint stems too tough to go through the combine.

The night sky was so huge and deep indigo blue with a deep salmon streak behind all the mountains...breath taking!

and up above was a big and bright yellowy-white crescent moon

to light my farmer's way home again.

anniversaries of a farm girl's heart....

this morning dawned bright and beautiful through my farm house windows...

and yet it was filled with a familiar chill,

an ache and longing and thankfully, a comforting promise.

outside, the air is scented with a curious mix of mint, garlic and autumn...

and deep yellow leaves are beginning to show high up in the poplars.

Looking up at them, I'm always struck with how sights and sounds and

scent will bring back a day as clear and bright as if it were

yesterday...

It is the scent and sound of yellow leaves gently falling and hitting the earth.

running barefoot through deep green wet grass,

the scent of juniper wood smoke and apples hanging from an old tree...

crossing over

a ditch with clear water running fast,

singing and dancing underfoot

as if it never heard anything else that was happening

but it's laughter.

I cradle this anniversary of my heart and hold it close...

the unfathomable loss of a loved one on a day just like this...

On days like these I can still see and hear and smell each event of that day as it unfolded.

And somehow I am grateful for them. For he will never be forgotten as long as I can remember with scents and sights and colors of all the happy days before

that chilly sunshine filled autumn morning.

~~~

another anniversary of my heart this day, is that of our country's heart...

For farmers and ranchers here, the flag flying at your gate post or atop the combine, bale wagon,

barn or tractor is an everyday celebration.

not just brought out and hung up for

a special occasions such as 4th of July or Memorial Day or Flag Day...

You'll Always find it proudly hanging here...

~~

Not long after those terrible events took place in New York and Pennsylvania that chilly sunshine filled autumn morning

I happened to look up out my kitchen window while washing dishes to

see my Mt. Jefferson. Somehow just seeing him there each morning gives me solace

and peace to begin my day...

and I saw

this...

~on the left of the picture is a hay barn with the American Flag on it's side~

and my Mt. Jefferson watching over us all.

Our American Flag. Someone had made it of corrugated metal,

painted red, white and blue,

Someone, we still don't know who, and not the rancher who owns the barn,

put it up over night on the side of a huge hay barn

across our valley for all to see...the sight of it then clutched at our hearts and still does.

~~~

I hope you can see it there, on the left. If you were here you could see that it's very large...

and this morning as the sun came up and shone on this rancher's hay barn

it was filled with remembering, an ache

and a longing and somehow,

Thankfully,

a comforting promise...

Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebration & a Very Special Giveaway!

Please do go & Enter your name

for a very Special Celebration Giveaway is going on until Midnight tonight August 30th at Rookery Ramblings !

Stop by and leave your Birthday and Celebration message~

~~~

Go Here to enter the Rookery Ramblings Giveaway in Celebration of Tasha's Birthday!

http://rookeryramblings.blogspot.com/2010/08/tasha-tudor-day-giveaway.html

Happy Birthday, dear Tasha

A tinge of fragrant wood smoke is curling up from our chimney into the chilly air above our old farmhouse this early morning.

The sun has not come up over the hills just yet and I am here writing to you by candle light, with a proper cup of hot tea to drink and a sleepy kitten lying on my lap.

A perfect early morning to quietly reflect on how such an extraordinary woman,Tasha Tudor, touched my life completely.

Today would be her 95th birthday and in celebration of

the amazing life she led

I'll go about my day as I always do...enjoying each quiet moment and task.

Shortbread cookies will be baking for afternoon tea, hand sewing the hem of a small linen petticoat for a doll, reading a few pages of a treasured book of Tasha's extraordinary life...

and in keeping these little rituals we all feel the loss of her a little less and somehow,

we feel even more connected to her and to all those whose lives she touched.

~

Tonight as I cook over the fire and light our evening with hand made candles,

we go on.

Enjoying our family and each season as it comes, without rushing... it is the quiet celebrating of taking joy and the gentle side of life that she loved and bestowed on us all.

~

My gardens speak of her, with herbs and old roses and deep indigo lupine-late blooming this summer~the tangled potato & pumpkin patch and apples hanging from the trees down in the old orchard.

My attempt at knitting a shawl, slow going as I have so many irons in the fire, is snuggled in a basket by my chair. I hoped to have it ready by the time the first frost nipped my cheek on my early morning walks through the gardens.

As chilly as it is this morning, I know

I must knit a little more each evening now....

Each thing we do here as we live our lives close to the land, every dream we dream.

everything has it's roots growing deep in Tasha's garden.

The seeds that she planted in the hearts of those who loved her are

growing and stretching towards a deep blue summer sky today.

~

The garden that was planted in my heart the day I first read a story of her, first saw her gardens, stood by her barn door, amazed at how tiny she was, first hearing her voice and chuckled at her wry New England humor.

I was given a name for what I already loved...

but just didn't know...

a candle was lit...a garden planted...

and there, I found my kindred spirit.

What a gift she was to us.

and is still...

http://thepastoraldollmaker.blogspot.com/2008/07/road-to-tashas.html

~~~~~

Please Come & Enter for a very Special Celebration Giveaway is going on

until Midnight tonight August 30th

at Rookery Ramblings !

Go Here to enter the Rookery Ramblings Giveaway in Celebration of Tasha's Birthday!

http://rookeryramblings.blogspot.com/2010/08/tasha-tudor-day-giveaway.html

wheat harvest

Just about 90 acres of wheat left to harvest now....

then our garlic...then another cutting of mint for tea...and then...

the coriander for seed...

~~~

Our grandchildren, Ethan and Emma, along with their Dad made a little time-lapse video of some of our wheat harvest which they all helped with this last weekend...

yep..we love it here....

(turn up your volume)...Enjoy!

oh, the comfort of sometimes being alone...

I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls.

~*~

~Henry David Thoreau~

summer afternoon

It was a hot afternoon.

The air was still with an occasional bee slowly making his way through the drooping hollyhocks.

It was one of those hot summer afternoons when the grasshoppers stayed hanging from the tall grasses waving in the hot breeze.

Too hot to walk across the grass.

So here we rest, in the cool shade of the porch.

Wouldn't a dip in a nice cool blue pool be the most delicious thing?

...if only we could just get up enough energy to bring the hose over and let it trickle over our hot little furry feet...

ahhh...,now doesn't that sound so nice?

Maybe, when we wake up from our nap, we might get someone to bring the hose over here.

but for now, dreaming about swimming is the closest these three little kittens are going to get.

a beacon of hope

Whenever I see our beautiful flag flying,

I get a catch in my throat.

I can't help but think how very blessed we all are.

That we are blessed to live beneath her colors.

To me, she is a beacon of Hope.

a safe place we call Home.

For wherever her colors are flying overhead,

we know that

some one's daughter and son are, at this moment, watching out for us.

They are far from home...

and looking up at that flag,too.

It's their beacon of hope and a safe place

they call Home.

While we celebrate, wherever our flag is flying,

it is a safe place called

Home.

Happy Independence Day!

early morning flags, new dollies and herb gardens

~ early morning flags ~

~~

Early morning sunlight crept up over the hills sending long finger like shadows across

the glistening mint fields first... then through my windows and shone bright on our flag early this morning.

a beautiful start for Flag Day don't you think?....

~~

Today I spent working on new dollies and digging in the garden.

Sculpting new dollies is always an exciting thing for me...

the little drawings and sketches and ideas I've scratched away at onto a napkin or the page corners of the

little book I keep in my pocket

begin to come to life...

I'm always so anxious to have them all begin to come to life at once...

just as I have dreamed of them being....the tilt of the head, a delicate chin...

a new sprigged frock...

my dollye ladyes & poppets

~~ A quiet and peaceful morning was spent planting more herbs from the greenhouse

herbs such as self-heal, chamomile, borage and comfrey.

This winter I'll make tea with my own dried chamomile to drink

while we read in front of the fire.

but today I'm enjoying their sprightly little daisy like blossoms

waving gently in the warm breeze with the star shaped blue blossoms of the borage

tucked at their feet.

~~

Most of my gardens have been planted just for the new bees & they're

loving every little thing I've planted for them.

They seem so grateful for flowers to explore and dig into with all their might...

and at this moment all the garden is content

with the happy humming of my bees covering every flowering plant.

~~

it's been a pretty near perfect day...

a quiet & peaceful day.

wouldn't it be lovely if it were as peaceful and quiet, every day...

all around the world.

I hope it has been such a day for you, too, my friend.

remembrances

such lovely days

old rail fence along the new garden and orchard~

Our Creator would never have made such lovely days, and have given us the deep hearts to enjoy them, above and beyond all thought, unless we were meant to be immortal.

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne ~

heirloom Delaware chicks

heirloom tomato plants

with names like Mr Stripey, Pink Ox Heart,

Black Krim, Crimson Currant, red and yellow Brandywine

and

Cherokee Purple

it seems to me, at least in my experience,

that early breeds of chicks are much livelier,

bright eyed and bushy tailed...

or these little women were just so pleased

to be out of their mailing box.

It was all I could do to keep them in the basket to have

their likeness taken.

~We're ready for warm days in the gardens

and soft evenings on the porch ~

I hope this finds you all enjoying the same

if wishes were gardens....

~Tasha's spring gardens~

~~

"May I a small house and large garden have; and a few friends,

and many good books, both true, both wise, and both delightful too!

~~

from "the Wish"

~ Abraham Cowley~

17 th century English poet

~~~

delightful May has arrived and yet she has not graced us with

her much anticipated gift of fragrant lilacs.

No budded peony or heady scented bridal veil spirea that for many years has arched

over the brick paths on sweet May evenings.

My favorite mock orange that climbs and kisses the chimney bricks and porch railings...

has just a few timid leaves peeking out here and there.

The seedlings in the greenhouse have sprouted sturdy and green,

looking through the glass out at

barren and windy garden plots...they seem to snuggle down into the warm

earth of their pots and trays, waiting for warmer days that surely must come...

but when ?

my gentleman farmer always says "patience, my love"....

Potted heirloom lavenders, rose and lemon scented geranium, citrus scented thyme,

all wait in sunny windows for late spring days when they'll be planted down

in the old rail fenced garden.

There are lupines, poppies, wildflowers and herbs of every kind

All waiting for spring to forget her fickle ways

and grace us with warm soft

days and gentle evenings.

~

I hope that this finds you having real spring outside your door way.

love to you all,

Christine

I have not forgotten that I promised to share my new old rail fence with you.

Soon as all the crab apples are in full bloom!

new doll story in the Deerfield Doll house

Good morning everyone~

Just wanted to let you know

that there's a new dolly story in the

Deerfield Doll house blog

with the little Deerfield Ladyes and of course,

Lydia. enjoy!

emma & elisabeth

my beautiful little grand daughters,

Elisabeth and Emma, in their Easter dresses.

Little Elisabeth is walking and Emma is always vigilant

to keep her from falling...

best friends for life....

a fine April morning.....

the sun is barely peeking over the hills here.

and I can already see that it holds alot of promise for a beautiful first day of April.

I'm here at my little table, candles lit and the house is quiet.

a small bouquet of tiny white daffodils scent the whole room.

From my window I can see the newly worked garden, the trees beginning to leaf out

and the old rail fence that has changed how everything looks and feels here.

It's beginning to feel like what my heart wants.

clean and new ~translate that to "old"

fresh and full of promise

Even the dollies have a tiny pansy bouquet in a wee cup.

Wishing you all a fine April morning

what's cooking in the doll house

Spring brings warmer days, sunshine and plenty of sweet green grass

for my little hens to nibble and they're loving it.

Each morning they thank me for letting them wander our farm with

more lovely eggs than we can possibly ever use ourselves.

I'd leave them on my neighbor's doorstep, but they all have the same

wonderful over abundance of lovely fresh eggs.

~

What to do?

Spring makes me think of daffodils and the scent of lemon thyme

and wonderfully buttery crusted and "bite-into-a-fresh-lemon"

Lemon Curd Tarts.

It uses plenty of eggs...

the first time I made it, I had to make another batch...it was so good that by the time

I was finished "tasting" it, it was all gone.

It's very easy to make, you just need eggs, butter,sugar & fresh lemons, lots of them.

I dare you not to eat most of your first batch!

~~~

another lovely thing that's cooking

is that my work table in the doll house is filled with piles of

old fabrics, thread and sweet spring trimmings~

getting these and other little dolly dumplings ready for spring

they'll be making their own Easter baskets and coloring eggs soon...

and I hope to keep them out of the Lemon Tarts.

They each seem to have their own little spoons tucked into their pockets

under their skirts.

s p r i n g

white daffy down dillys in my favorite old ironstone mug

~~~

the first day of spring has come,

but only the birds seem to know it!

it's been chilly and frosty. Everything is in bud,but

We haven't one flower but for a few purple pansies blooming here...

but soon everything will burst into bloom all at once!

~~

these tiny white daffodils are from my garden a few years back, but I love this

picture and it is so cheerful I thought you might like it,too.

~~~

Daffy-down-dilly came up in the cold,

Through the brown mould

Although the March breeze blew keen on her face,

Although the white snow lay in many a place.

Anna B. Warner ~ "Amy Lathrop"

a new life for an old rail fence

isn't this a splendid old rail fence?

~

About this time last year we were looking everywhere for old split rails to make a fence around

the vegetable gardens and flower beds.

A few years earlier, we had seen them in stacks all over the countryside. Farmers and ranchers were taking them down and putting up taller and sturdier wire fences to keep the deer and elk out of their crops and hay fields.

I was thinking then how lovely they were stacked high, weathered and mossy.

Now that we had a good use for them, there were none to be found.

We thought of Craigslist!

Did you know that you can find anything on Craigslist?

I have gotten pallets of used brick, heritage chicks, turkies, heirloom herbs and plants.

Anything and everything, all for sale or barter.

One chilly winter evening by the fire, a look through building materials and antiques for sale

we came across a small ad by a rancher 140 miles to the east of us.

He was selling his split rail fences.

We emailed him and found that he had a few miles of fence...

at such a wonderful price we couldn't get the truck and trailer loaded quick enough.

The next morning, after driving for nearly 3 hours on snowy roads,

we at last arrived at the ranch.

Like many of the old cattle ranches that we passed along the way,

it was old old old.

Beautiful and weathered, we were sure it was the same as it had been for nearly 200 years.

Driving along muddy roads through gates and streams and cattle pastures

we arrived at the ranch house,the old fella was waiting for us.

He came out and introduced himself and his dogs and pointed to the hills beyond his place and said,

"the fence is along that creek past the scrub willows and oaks..".

sure enough, there it was, still standing.

He followed along behind in an old hay truck with the dogs holding on for dear life on the back.

When we reached the fence, I could see it stretched quite aways in both directions.

Beautiful country and a beautiful old fence. Mossy and weathered. Still standing.

I asked him about it, if he had built it...

He said, "nope", he didn't build it, but his great- great grandfather who had come from Scotland

to raise cattle here had built it himself.

I knew then that times must be very hard for this old fellow.

to be selling his great grandfather's

hand split rail fence...

I told him how I dearly loved old things.

That his great grandfathers fence would be loved and taken care of. He smiled and said, "good thing...that'ns an old one for sure."

So we carefully loaded each rail...and piled on as many as the truck and goose neck trailer

would hold.

We paid the old fellow in cash with a little extra besides.

I asked if he'd like to see a picture when we got it put up again and of course he said yes.

I wanted him to know for sure that it would be made useful again, loved and cared for.

~~

So this week the old fence is going up again, along the east side of our garden

where it can be close to where it came from.

I've got 50 asparagus crowns coming that will be planted alongside it. It'll be a nice place for the heirloom pumpkins & herbs I've got started in the green house,too.

I know I'll be thinking of that old fellow and his Scottish great-great grandfather

while I plant and hoe and dream in my garden this summer.

a sweet & simple life

~ Humble has her likeness taken~

When my "A Simple Life" magazine arrived this past week, I was dancing around the kitchen.

I only knew what the cover was going to look like and then, when I was able to hold it in my hands,

I was so taken with how it looked, the picture book look and feel of it.

It is simply a breath of fresh air.

Filled with wonderful early homes, a visit to The Museum of Appalachia,

log cabins, a closer look at linsey-woolsey and how to make your own wall paper boxes,

dreams visited and stories told...

and at last, seeing my story ~" His heart said, "Turn Left" ~ in print and in my hands,

I'm so very honored and proud to have been invited to be a part of Jill Peterson's new magazine.

... looking through it, reading every word,

you can see, it really is a window into her soul.

xo, C

~ ~ ~

Did you know?....

A Simple Life has been so well received that it completely sold out within the first week and is already in it's second printing!

If you'd like to subscribe go here:

http://www.asimplelifemagazine.com/Subscriptions.html

Jill's new magazine is featured in an article written in the NEW YORK TIMES.

Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/arts/design/26antiques.html?emc=eta1.

When you get to this web page, just scroll down past the article titled

‘Tile by Tile, a Mural Is Saved’

and you will see the actual article about "A Simple Life" magazine which is titled:"Rustic New Magazine".

~ Congratulations Jill! ~

~ ~ ~

love spoke....

...last evening,

by the candle lit fireside

our Augusta had a gentleman caller....

they sat side by side and listened to the quiet crackling of the fire

he leaned in closer....and whispered into her crumpled little ear

"oh my dear"..."how lovely you look this evening"...

and then pressed a hand written letter,

sealed with crimson wax, into her hand.

and while bowing low

he kissed her mitted hand,

and bid her good night...and a wish to see her on the morrow.

Inside, he had written in beautiful spidery letters, all in sepia ink

"I love thee - I love thee,

'Tis all that I can say

It is my vision in the night,

My dreaming in the day."

~Thomas Hood~

she could not have been more surprised...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~three of my favorite things ~

an early paper Valentine

sawtooth edged & folded

tied with old garnet ribbon & tarnished silver threads

resting on a wool pin keep, all on a lovely pewter plate.

a pretty little what-not, all.

I hope that this day of sweethearts and Valentine's

have brought all that your hearts desire....

the honorable fine pigg schnuffles out a recipient...or two

good morning dear Fine Pigg.

Waking up early was, at one time, for our old friend, The Honorable F. Pigg,

his very best and finest of attributes...

that and making sure

that not one crumb or scrap of anything remotely edible touched the floor too long...

and to keep watch over the little dolls from falling from the shelf where they played at night.

He is quite old now and sleeps in this nest in an old shoe most of his days.

You see, he came from Prussia many many years ago and came across

the Atlantic Ocean to New York City,

he then rumbled along in a nest of wool batting to

where he rested on a small shelf in an old farmhouse in upper New York.

After many years, he then traveled on to

another old farmhouse in Iowa and then on to his home,

a little dairy farm in Oregon...before he came to live with us, his faithful friends.

He is getting a little slower these days....and he was extremely pleased to be called upon to

"schnuffle out a recipient" for a lovely pair of hand made bees wax candles.

"my dear Mistress Crocker, there is not enough fan fare for such an occasion", he snorted!!!

and so, without further adieu, he poked his snout into the end of the tin candle snuffer,

tossed it into the air

where it flipped precariously end over end

and then,

as if by magic

it landed perfectly on his bristled old head.

Right in between his sweet floppy

& spotted ears

"There now", says he, with a smile..."perhaps we can make something special of this occasion"!

and so, with that old tin candle snuffer as his Master of Ceremonies hat

the Honorable Fine Pigg schnuffled out (you can almost hear his accent, can't you?)

the names of 2 fine ladyes,

Donna

and

Kim

These ladyes will each receive a lovely pair of hand dipped beeswax candles that my

little family and I made this past fall in the old orchard.

and now Fine Pigg can go back to his nest in the old shoe...oh...I see he's already left....

thank you Fine Pigg!

Thank you all for your lovely notes of what makes you feel happy this time of year,

in between late winter & early spring. I was particularly happy to see that what makes us all happy are the simplest of things and yet the most valuable to us.

To all of you that live where it is snowing so wildly, we all send our best thoughts and prayers that you're snug and safe.

The sun will soon be out and melt it away into spring flowers.

Christine

Deerfield Farm

~~~

I wanted to thank you all so much for your wonderful birthday wishes & greetings.

Some of you didn't have an email, so I thank you from here.

It was a lovely day out and dinner with family last evening.

~and oh yes, I did get my little tin nutmeg grater

and the lovely tin lantern for the barn is on order!

Won't that be a lovely light to carry out to the barn to make sure the hens are snugged for the night?!

traveling the countryside

my farmer told me to put on my boots and get my hat this morning...

or in his real words "get yer girdle on, Hessie, we're headed to town".

So we left the old homestead and headed out for a ride around the countryside...

and maybe stop at the old mercantile and see what new shipments had come in...

maybe a new pair of satin slippers

or a length of robin's egg blue ribbon...

these store shelves in Old Sturbridge makes my heart just leap

I've had my eye on something special from the tinner...

a new tin nutmeg grater and a lantern for the barn.

I'll be back in the morning ~

I had totally forgotten it was my birthday this morning so will have the

Honorable Mr F. Pigg choose

a winner tomorrow morning!

have a wonderful day!

early February at home

these quiet days of February are becoming filled with the promise of spring.

my little farmhouse sits in the midst of greening fields....

each morning the fields, hills and valley's are

covered with heavy mists in the early morning light.

and even before the sun begins to peek over the hills, the robins down in the

orchard begin their sing~song to greet the new day.

~

inside, candles are lit and my precious bits are illuminated.

a wonderful new-old silhouette that I've had for sometime and found

here and just love

~

an old cupboard in my kitchen, wearing a worn and much loved bees wax heart, hanging from an early old gilt and blackened wavy glass mirror. somehow, just looking at it makes everything right in the world.

and my favorite...

old pewter plate and spoon filled with an old cloth heart

that carries this verse...

"But he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast"

(Pro. 15:15)

I wish you all mists that lift, spring peeking over the hills

& a merry heart within.

~

yrs on this day,

Christine

~

I would love to hear what makes your heart merry this time of year~

please write

and the Honorable Fine Pigg will draw a name

on Tuesday next,

my birthday,

for a little handmade gift for someone.