Monday, August 31, 2015









please excuse my French today,
but lots of people i really care about have been going through some
 really tough stuff in the
last couple of weeks.  i saw this
quote and it just made me think
"yes, yes~ when you've been through
some shit you become stronger."
like metal that's been welded with fire
you'll be different~ and in the beginning you 
won't even know who you are,
but the you you're going to become is going to
be remarkable.

i just know it~


xox, beth


Saturday, August 22, 2015




red barn farm~northfield, mn.



last wed. night i crossed another fun event off my summer bucket list.
i was in northfield mn. to be a part of a yard sale, and i went a day early just
to be able to experience a night at the red barn farm.
this farm south of town hosts a pizza night every wednesday in the summer,
and if you're ever in the area, you simply have to make it out there.
not far from town, surrounded by endless fields of corn,
 sits this majestic old red barn. 

i'm not sure how many years this pizza operation has been going, but man do
these people (the white's) have a good thing going.
we went early because my friends have been there several times and 
figured out that if you don't arrive shortly after they open at 4 p.m., you'll be waiting
a long time to eat. we pulled in about 4:30 and it already looked like we 
were parking at the county fair. 
: )

the kids got out and booked it towards the farm site, anxious to see the
critters that live there. there are some horses and a pen full of chickens 
that love the kids as much as the kids love them.










there is one indoor wood fired oven and one outside. it was humid and almost
90 degrees when we were there, so i felt sweaty compassion for
the hard workers cooking for all of us~










the kids discovered grapes growing by the chicken coop and wasted no
time plucking some to feed the happy chickens.










you know me, i totally enjoyed just watching (and photographing) all the groups of friends and
sweet families spread out on the lawn around the farm enjoying their evening.


the white's opened up a little store in the milk house this summer and they sell
more of their home made goods, like yummy looking desserts, jam, salsa and honey.
they sell farm fresh eggs too, but they have to give the credit for these to the hens.







so, if you go out for pizza, you bring your own plates and silverware, blankets, chairs, drinks 
etc... all the farm offers is the pizza and the desserts~ they even ask you to
take your pizza boxes home with you.
christa said one evening when they were there, there were over 500 
pizza's that had been served by the time they left. if you do the math
that's a small goldmine every week. (over $10,000)
unreal!



christa (with her littlest ben) ran into several friends from northfield.



there was live music in the barn and also a free yoga class going on.
umm hmm~ i told you, it was all just the best!



so, here's the farm's website if you are interested:
www.redbarnfarmofnorthfield.com
*really, it's worth the drive from mpls. some wednesday night*



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
now i'm switching it up to the yard sale.
christa has a farm share in one of the cool farms around the
nation that grow large amounts of produce and flowers and people can
buy a share and go once a week and get their portion, of whatever is in season.
maggie, christa and i went out and what we were most excited about
was the "unlimited flower picking" that day.
(be still my heart~ and get busy my hands!)

we were having our sale the next day, and when us girls do something 
together, we like to make it FUN...so we had a plan to put
flowers in anything we were selling that could be used as a vase.

out at the farm, onions were drying as far as the eye could see. i didn't have my
real camera along so i didn't get a good picture of the rows and rows of flowers,
 but trust me when i tell you that we filled the back end of the jeep
with cut flowers and then went home & got busy arranging them.





























i loved how christa made our signs and they worked great to
lure people to the sale. lot's of peeps commented that they could not
"not" come to a FUN YARD SALE!




we were up till midnight finishing the signs...and i took this pic of her mantle.



here's a couple shots of the sale set up



maggie used the fence to display some outfits...it worked like
a charm. anything that was up there sold...then we'd throw another
ensemble together and it would be gone.

it was over 90 degrees that day and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
we finally just put on some of the props from adria's wedding that i'd brought and soaked
our feet in totes full of cold water~

 i thought i may just melt into the lawn like the
wicked witch, from the wizard of oz...... but
my only causality is the cold sore on my lip.



i could write a whole blog post on the old cowpoke-he was about 80- who showed
up in cowboy boots and sporting this rather enormous belt buckle,
but i'll just tell you one of the many things he said that will have
 us laughing for the next 10 years.
he came to our checkout table with a bunch of stuff, including several
yoga books. maggie said cheerfully as she was bagging it, 
"so do you do yoga?"
he replied "i sure do girls, i am extreeeemely limber,
do any of you want to go dancing with me tonight?"
we (of course) laughed and said, no we're too tired, hot,
"unlimber",  (not even remotely interested) etc... and he said,
"well, what do you think is wrong with my pick up line?

it's: "would you like to dance, or would you rather just snuggle" and 
it isn't working".
i may or may not have said "maybe that's just too creepy"
(hey, i was just trying to help this poor guy.)

**********

we heard him exclaim as he walked out of sight,
"happy yard sale to all, and to all a hot night".




laughter is the best medicine~
xo, beth



Tuesday, August 11, 2015


i'm not sure if you've noticed, but it's mid august.
if you're a young mom you're probably thinking about
all the clothes, shoes and new boxes of color crayons
you need to buy.

well that ship sailed a long time ago for me.
: ) 
and i'm not sad about it.

fall is my favorite season of the year, but
this has been an amazing summer don't you think?
i of course have been taking pictures of some of
my favorite blooming flowers. every couple days i 
pick new bouquets and love how there's a never ending variety
of plants blooming so the bouquets are always changing.

there's nothing as great as my own garden bouquets, 
(that is, until spring when the ranunculous burst onto the
scene again).

yard sales are a favorite part of summer for me too and i'm going to 
show you a few favorite things i've found this year.
the chair below was $4 and it was bright blue when i bought it.
i loved the blue...
for about a day and then i scurried to ace hdw. and bought a can
of green spray paint and changed it up. it has sat by
the front door all summer










pretty bright colored zinnias are blurred out behind yellow cosmos
 about to burst into bloom.





i moved my vintage schwinn into the garden while lars mowed and
then decided it could stay right there for awhile.


















i'm a bit obsessed with poppies.
 the sad thing is i never have much luck growing them,
so when 3 pink ones bloomed a couple weeks ago i practically
set up a tent and camped out near them for the 2 days they lasted.






this green rocker was a yard sale find~















i spotted this one tall sunflower blooming by a front door last week. luckily i
had grabbed my camera on the way out.
i wonder if the owners planted it. it's so random and fabulous don't you think?







wait a minute!!!! vintage furniture sale you say? why yes i will turn around...






and although there were tons of wonderful goods there, this little table with
a wicker drawer was the one thing that came home with me.
(only $15) doesn't it look like it belongs by my wicker chair? i've come to the
conclusion that cottage style is "my style" & if i can't live in a cottage i
will cottage up my casa in small ways that make me happy.






and this pillow was from another sale for $1. i know~a buck! i think its down filled too.
i sit in this cozy corner of the garage to unwind at the end of the day.
(a glass of wine is usually involved).






and this typewriter was a real steal... i'm not going to say how 
much though, cause it's going to a friend.





while dusting recently i decided it was long past time to switch up
what was on top of the piano. i took down a sign that said "family"
and used the same nails to tie a really beautiful bleached antler to the wall.
i bought it for adria's wedding and now it's part of my decor.
win-win.
some of my old dogs and an old meyers lemon box are part
of the new look.




this morning while my coffee was brewing there were
goldfinches happily munching away on my fading purple coneflowers.



 i picked some of the fresher ones yesterday and put them in a basket on the front door.
 it's easy to put fresh flowers in a basket like this, by just putting a ziplock bag full of water down in it.


speaking of yard sales, i'm loading up the jeep and heading to 
northfield to be part of one this weekend. 
i've dug deep into my stash of stuff and am happily parting
with some of it.
northfield is such a wonderful town~ if you've
never been there- put it on your list of
towns to visit in MN.

~later guys, have a super week!
xo, beth





Monday, August 3, 2015

the family farm




chris (my new son in law) recently asked me if i would
take photos for their family at his grandparent's farm. his grandma
just moved into an apartment and now doesn't really have
room to display graduation photos of all 14 of
her grandkids. the fam decided it'd be fun to surprise her
with a new photo of all of them together at her old farm to hang on the wall. i guess the
last time there was a pic of them all, cousin patrick (in the white glasses)
was so little that some of the others held him.
we talked briefly about re-creating that look, and then
quickly moved on.
: )


it was such a humid night when we gathered out west of corcoran,
 that my lens fogged up again. weird summer that way huh?

this is the big old barn we used for our backdrop. this farm isn't owned
by family any longer, so it was a trip down memory lane for these kids
that grew up coming here to visit their grandparents.






the fabulous 14






there are two new baby great granddaughters~







the female cousins wanted a pic without the stinky boys.
(i made the stinky part up).
aren't cousins just the best? i think i heard somewhere that it's 
nat'l. cousins day so cheers to beloved cousins everywhere!!!








 great grandson eli in a big old tree


















sisters, dwarfed in the shadow of the barn.



regrouping time



proud new dads









ms. c climbed the grain bin



these two girls are really good buds. they asked if i would take some
pics of just them so we disappeared for a bit and had some silly fun.
*i don't know if i've ever seen corn this tall? wow












this is the whole family. grandchildren, great grandchildren, spouses
 and significant others. such a nice group of people.
i imagine your gram is going to be pleased as punch that you guys
took the time to do this for her.
family. 
it all begins and ends here.







have a good week guys and remember, laughter extends your life~



xo, beth