it's been a blogging kind of week for me.

it's an indication of my newly found unemployment.

i talked to my sister yesterday about the restlessness i'm feeling.

sister is 2 years retired. she said she felt the same way - in the beginning-

but it goes away after about a year.

haha

she admitted that now she has settled in and

tries to do one thing that matters everyday,

she then exaggerates it in her mind to seem very important.

(love her).

*we were raised by a strict grandmother who valued hard work

over most other things.

well anyhoo- cause i just felt like throwing you a little bone

to enjoy over the weekend, 

here's some pretties- i took some of these images 

and some of them are by others.

so many people love this song, especially to sing to children.

i have a very precious memory of my momma singing this song to us.

*yellow bird.  it was first recorded in 1957. (my mom sang it sweeter)  :  )

 please mother nature. if you're listening~ i'm ready for dinners on the deck!

i really love this soft, whimsical wall grouping for a child's room

if you've yet to discover this bottled juice from trader joes

you don't know what you're missing. drinking it makes

any small occasion feel like a   p a r t y  to me.

and speaking of trader joes....it's one of the best places to get yourself some

spring ranunculus.... really, go get yourself some- they are one of the most

beautiful of all the amazing flowers the good Lord gave us.

if you could, would you get yourself a few chickens? to have fresh eggs

everyday would be a real thrill. one of my favorite things about

small flocks of backyard chickens, is the names people choose for them.

names like henrietta and kaliope.

the grapevine budding out on our deck

we're looking forward to a family weekend at the lodge.

babies, puppies, grandsons, newly engaged lovebirds,

food, mud, fourwheelers, wellies, snoring, earplugs, laughter,

crowded tables, maybe even a stolen nap for some.

happy friday!

xo

way too much winter...

there's been robins in our yard, but seriously, that is about the only
sign that spring is indeed coming. until things thaw out and start to
green up around here, i just do what i can to make the
house cheery and myself happy.

one of those things recently was a little field trip to
alexandria to see all the marvelous things at friend leslie's
spring sale.

her house was a wonderland, filled with handmade goodies like
the big smiley sun-face she sculpted out of paper mache.

she also sculpted this rabbit. she is one talented artist.

vintage child's sweater with yellow chicks~

wheat grass jars

this was one of her masterpieces. she sculpted the sun out of clay
and then her hubs flattened old silver wear for the sun's rays-
she set him atop an antique cracker tin that said SUNSHINE
and it was a show stopper!

these tulips were a little surprise from my sweetie on st. patrick's day.

leslie's daughter christa makes these darling pennants. we did a photo shoot at my house
for her upcoming etsy shop.

one of the artworks i had ready to sell.
the little girl was my grandfather's sister, vera floy.

you know the saying
~always be yourself...
unless you can be a unicorn.
then always be a unicorn.
?

well ~ my take on it is
"skip wearing a hat...
unless it's a party hat.
then always wear the party hat.

another little something i've been making.
these are for your keys~

do you like them?
i got one from a bestie about a year ago
and i LOVE it.

christa made these too and they were part of the photo shoot
aren't they aDORAble???
so cottagey- summery- anthropology-
if and when she gets her shop open i'll let you know how to find it.

leslie dolled up "crash" to greet the shoppers on her front porch. his name comes
with a great story. one of her friends lost her dear husband and she was
struggling. to get out of the house and have some fun one day,
she and leslie went to a local garden center where fran spotted
this heavy cement dog. she'd always wanted one, so she bought him and they
loaded him up in the back of her car and started home.
on the way, the dog tipped over and broke out the back window of her car!!!!
i guess it was good comic relief for those two that day and he officially
had a name. crash.
when fran moved to florida a couple of years ago, crash came to live with leslie.

and speaking of dogs~

there will most likely be a whole bunch of news about our
dogs for a while.  it's almost like having a newborn in the house
and there is an opportunity for a cute photo about every
4.5 minutes.

duke did a lot of this today.
talk about sad eyes. i'm keeping the two dogs separated most of the time
to let koda get used to life here and i'm pretty sure this big dog
wishes that little dog would just go back to north dakota.

 i kept telling duke what a good dog he was today,
and trying to reassure him that i still think he's
the cat's meow, or the dog's ruff, but i don't
think he was buy'n it!

*if you just feel like you may stick your head in the gas oven if
you can't wear shorts soon, promise me you'll stop
and buy yourself some tulips or daffodils k.?
or a dog named crash.


have a really great day my dears!!!

beth

brown fur ball joins the family

so, that big furball in the picture with my hubbie over on the right side bar? -

he's been gone for a year and a half

and this weekend a new little puppy joined our family.

we named him koda.

he was born in north dakota-
that's not why, but hey i thought it was worth mentioning~
"yah you betcha"
he's from out of state.

duke, our son's dog is kind of excited and kind of sad
and kind of confused...he's suddenly not the top dog here.

so there was a whole lotta~ let dog in, let dog out~ all day.
but day 1 is done and it didn't go too bad.
i told my hubbie that i think i deserve anything i want out of the
sundance catalog for being home and running this
doggie daycare though.
he didn't even hesitate- just said
"sure honey".
(can you say brown noser?)

the little fella weighs 15 lbs.
every time i had to pick him up and carry him somewhere he didn't want to go today
i was critically aware that our last chesapeake topped out at 115 lbs.
so it'll probably only be about 3 more weeks before he'll be running this show.
i'd better lay the smack down NOW while i still can, don't you think???

i'll end with this picture that i had to text to the whole family at noon.
it pretty much wraps up how duke was feeling about
the whole "situation".

koda was in his kennel downstairs for a while and i looked down and saw this.
this is koda's bed.

duke has had beds here and at the cabin.
he's never had even one, tiny bit of interest in any of them.


lol
alpha male!


xo, the nanny


********************

p.s. first day's done~ check
and if we're keeping track, 3 accidents in the house today.

p.s.s. he's pretty darned cute huh?
*p.s.s.s. puppies are a lot of work!

some friday thoughts...

*do you shop at goodwill? if you are my age or older

did you know that on wednesdays you can get

25% OFF!!!

I FOUND THIS OUT THIS WEEK.

i am telling you this as a public service announcement.

i have wasted almost an entire year of shopping

there without knowing this or receiving my discount.

sheesh! 55 and older girls- we gotta stick together!

help each other out.

(what else am i missing folks?)

* while at the bridal fair a few weeks ago, i saw these amazing

photo books by a company called artifact uprising. i loved them. 

they use recycled papers and they are organic and beautiful

and i wasted no time in ordering one for myself.

here's a couple peeks at my book.

* are anyone else's finger nails super dry and brittle right now?

as fast as mine can grow out-they break off.

please tell me i'm not alone. what can i do about it?

* i may be a magazine hoarder. there are some i just cannot throw away.

i have every old home companion i ever bought and

la vie claire...did any of you ever get that one? the

photos in it were so beautiful, i cannot not throw mine

away. each one a treasure. it's so sad that they've both gone by the wayside.

i will take them to the nursing home with me. all the other little old ladies

are going to want to room with me.

i can throw away readers digests.

does that mean i'm o.k.?

* a new puppy is joining our family this weekend.

another chesapeake. i'm not nearly as excited as the rest of my family.

 i think you're either born a big animal lover or you're not.

guess who wasn't given the gene.

 darn it-  yep me.

pray for me. pray for patience, quick training,

less drooling than the last one, and big puppy dog eyes to win me over.

~name yet to be decided.

suggestions welcome!

(the preliminary pictures are pretty flipping cute)  :  )

* i am going to plant a whole, whole bunch of poppy seeds

in my garden this year and i hope that they grow and bloom and

nod their heads at me as i walk by. they are so fragile and beautiful and

short lived. that makes them all the sweeter.

*please help me get the word out that i am officially doing photography

 for hire. i love it. i love newborns and families. i will do second shooter

pics at weddings.  i'm no annie marie, but i think i've honed a pretty good eye.

 arlo's cd~ ready!

i planted wheat grass in this adorable little pot- in about 3 days there

will be spouting.

and i tried a new look with a table runner.

i'm slowly doing a bit of easter decorating.

it'll be here before we know it.

 (btw  -these are real robin's egg's i've found on the ground- 

they really are. sorry "would be" birdies. i didn't take you

from your nests)

well, there you have it. 

i rambled on so long, it's almost saturday.

oh and p.s. here's two more things you must know:

*rent the movie-   enough said     -just watched it- LOVED it, and remember

* you can get two filet of fish sandwiches and

a shamrock shake for about 5 bucks

at mcdonalds right now.

they go great with your redbox movie.

man i love lent and march, mint shakes!

xo, b

welcome to the world

a beautiful little boy was born on feb. 27th

and lucky me got to do a newborn photo shoot with him.

here he is~

*********************************

 arlo

he is as precious as precious can be....

*he is brother to henry.

 henry and arlo~ doesn't that sound like a

cute name for a childrens book?

when i walked in the bedroom and saw him laying on the bed like this~ i 

didn't know whether to disturb him and start taking 

pictures, or just lie down beside him and spend the day marveling

at this new little life.

as you can see, i did disturb the little honey and

woke him up in the process.

he didn't mind a whole lot- but we

had a hard time getting him back to sleep.

newborn pictures are usually better if

the papoose is sleeping~

his hair is so great, it's already "stylable".   :  )   (i like to make up words)

isn't he just so beautiful???

(momma looked really fabulous too).

it was such a pleasure to meet you 

little guy.

you have been born into a wonderful family

that already loves you beyond measure.

i hope life always treats you kind.

be blessed,

xox, beth