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

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

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

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