30 rocks

 

 

 

our little girl turned 30 this week.

 

 

how does life fly by so quickly?

how do you have a baby and then in a couple blinks

of an eye she is 30?

 

every year (yep all 30 of them) i have stood these

two side by side and taken their picture together on her

birthdays.

 

to see the whole lineup is amazing.

it's a trip down memory lane- a trip that

includes shockingly short shorts (and i'm talking about dale's not adria's),

knee high socks &

fuzzy perms.



what it also documents is their sweet relationship.

they quietly and playfully adore each other

 

 

 

 

the guys spent a rainy day at the lodge finishing

the inside of the shop so we can heat it.

 



i rather like these exposed beams and have to say that i will miss them-



 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

while they were all out in the shop working, i was inside whipping up

the birthday celebration.

 

we celebrated adria & chris's 30th birthdays (2 weeks apart)

and seth turning 14.

 

my brother in law david turned 60 last weekend too and

we wished we could have been two places at one time so

we wouldn't have had to miss his surprise party.

(love you uncle dave)!



 

the birthday girl requested lasagna for dinner and angel food cake.

this was my quick attempt to make them all feel equally celebrated.

(in case you don't speak hunter language- that's a deer silhouette

on the top.)  use your imagination- work with me here! lol

 

 

 

 

 



 things got a little out of hand at the table when seth wouldn't stop pestering his

dad and his dad wouldn't stop snapping him with a balloon to get him back.

adria kept telling them to cut it out and then her big brother turned and

snapped HER with the balloon.  she yelled "that HURT"- and 

then tried to stab him with her butter knife.

i had to holler "stop it---all of you!!! the nearest medical facility

is 40 minutes away"!!!!!!!!!

 

*quick smooch from my big sweetie as he cleared the table- we had
all been laughing hysterically after the afore mentioned commotion.

 

 

 

sunday morning the sky cleared and adria

and seth were practicing shooting their bows.

when i went out to take their picture and hang with them a

bit i got a lesson.

 



 can i just tell you how hard pulling back a bow is?

it took alllllllll the power i had in my arthritic old bod to do it~

and i have a bruise the size of an orange on my arm from the string.

people that don't hunt have no idea how much work and

dedication goes into the sport!

 

 

well that's a wrap of the family birthday weekend up north.

 

 

it got long--- so thanks for sticking with me!

xo, b

 

 



 

 

our new garden at the lodge has been my
happy place this summer.
it was a bit of a slow start- and some things didn't do so well.
some things met with an unfortunate demise
when lars -trying to be helpful-
sprayed roundup around the fence and it drifted over into
the garden. holy toledo though it ended up

being a really wonderful gardening spot.
 

last weekend i spent about an hour picking things and then

another hour taking pictures of the bounty.

 

the miracle of tossing some tiny black seeds in the

ground and ending up with all of THIS will

never cease to amaze me.

*of all God's gifts to us (they're

 too numerous to count) flowers

may just be my favorite.

 







this rather unsightly rope above the

fence was an experiment. IT WORKED!!!

there have been no critters in the garden

other than maybe some birds.



  love sweet peas. here is the one and only blossom for the year.

I thought it deserved it's own picture-own vase-

and a chance to be on my blog.

 

 

 

 

there were oodles of bees. i just left them

alone and they just minded their own business too.

along with trying to tap our maple trees to make

syrup, maybe we should build some bee hives~

 

 

 this huge mass is TWO cherry tomato plants.

seriously!

both the lettuce and the tomatoes for this salad were from the garden.

i also dug turnips with every intention of

cooking them- but i didn't end up doing it- so i left them

out for the critters to munch on.

 

deer like turnips-we like deer it's a win-win situation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

favorite photo

of the weekend.

 

want a bucket full of happiness?

 plant yourself some zinnias.



                       make the most of your weekend  dear ones~                                     

me and the bee signing off,

 

xo

mama's happy...

 

 

there's this teeny little town way out in the country

west of where i live called independence.

 

once a month several woman come together

in the old creamery there and blow me

away with their creativity, camaraderie and

imagination in re-purposing cool old things.

 

 

it's called:

 

and it does make me happy. every. single. time.

 

last friday they had their fall market, under the trees on the grounds

surrounding the store. it was a beautiful cool fall day and a girlfriend

and i took the scenic drive out there past bucolic horse farms and

rustic old barns. here's some of the fun from our day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

there was a dude playing guitar and singing and this pretty

woman (who was selling her decorated hoops) just quietly

and magically did her thing out there in the open~ it was beautiful

to watch -like ballet almost and she stopped long enough

to answer some of my questions about how to do more than

just hula with my hoop around my middle. she's just moved here

and teaches private lessons. girl could charm a snake, she was

that good. i admitted to being a closet hooper and she showed

me a few tips and techniques. i came right home and tried them.

ahhh- yeah- not easy, not even close. she made it look easy

and peaceful. it's a wonderful workout. i'll probably have to

stick to the old hip-sway hoola hoop around my waist for now.

 

 

 

loved the art work of a young guy named evan. i purchased a limited edition

print of the cow in the lower right. i grew up on a farm. we raised black

angus. this kind-cow face-spoke to me.

 

 

 

 

 



 

oh fall i love you! everything that was orange and gold and brown and

fallish just looked so welcoming after the hot humid summer here

in Minnesota.

 

 

someone very clever painted this botanical illustration of an

acorn on an old suitcase. I KNOW- who thinks up these

great ideas?

 

 

 

 

this funster walked by me and when i saw she was

carrying two rogue arms i asked her if i could take her

picture for my blog. she not only said "yes", she

totally got into it. she posed many different ways and i wasn't

the only one taking pictures by the time the hilarity was over. 

:  )

 

i wish i would have asked her what she planned to do with them.

*maybe just entertain at events?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cindy and i had what i like to call

our own 

"independence day"

 

and it was great. i arrived home with a few new treasures

and a smile of contentment on my face.

 

how was your weekend?

has the weather cooled off where you live? i actually

wore jeans for the first time in months and it felt wonderful

to sleep under a quilt at the lodge.

i drank hot tea and gathered arms full of

zinnias and sunflowers from the garden-knowing

full well that it could freeze anytime now.

 

we celebrated the 30th birthdays of my daughter and the

love of her life chris, plus our grandsons.

more about that in the next post-but till then

 

 have a great day and throw open your windows!

 

xo, beth

 

 

sunday two friends and I hosted a baby shower.

 

remember keely from the recent maternity photos

I showed you?

 

well baby is due in 3 weeks now and we had fun

throwing a party to welcome

him or her (i'm so sure it's a girl baby that I bought some

darling little felted barrettes as part of my gift).

 

 

here are some photos from the party~

 

 

 

 

 

this was what happened when i tried to make one of those cool

tissue paper pom-poms-  not. even. close.- better google it next time!

 

we served "pregnatinis"  in honor of the momma

who is off the sauce, of course.

they are made with sparkling cider, blood orange juice

and pink lemonade- delish~

 

 

friend cindy with her daughter, the guest of honor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it looks like we loaded people up with pure sugar, but there was a delicious

summer salad, black bean salsa and chips, deviled eggs and yummy hummus too.

 

the gifts were fabulous and below the hostesses paused for a minute

to take a picture with the momma to be.

(no-we did not coordinate our dresses- but don't you

kinda love all the bright colored knits?)

 

 

just a couple more weeks now keely-and we'll get to meet your baby

~you sure made pregnancy look easy! 

 

we're all wishing you the easiest delivery ever~

 

 

xo, beth

 

 

 

 



a holy experience

 

 

 

 

 

you don't become a parent by

bearing a child.

you become a parent by

bearing witness to his life.

                        

                                   ann voskamp

 

 

 

i would be so glad if you took the time

to look at ann's blog today

 

www.aholyexperience.com   (aug.6)

 

i don't know how to explain it, other than to say

that ann's writing is a gift from God .

she writes in such a profound way that

i often think, "who can i share this with? who's life

will be enriched by her words".

 

i seriously want to share her with every single person i care about.

it's that good- her words-so do yourself a favor and

read what she says today about being a parent

and bearing witness to all that life will hand your children.

 

being a parent will break your heart, over and over and over-

and i wouldn't have it any other way~

when you have children your heart will be fractured in a million tiny ways,
fractured mostly from joy-but some of the wounds will be from terror.
 

 

today i attended the funeral of a dear friends mother.

i listened to the wonderful things her family

had to say about this good italian mother who lived long and

loved well.

 

i left with a hunger for pasta
and a hunger to cherish all that life
throws my way.

another funeral is being planned for a beautiful young
mother, who left this earth on monday
in a very tragic way.
it left her 5 yr. old daughter to face the
first day of kindergarten and then the rest
of her life- without her mother.

we need our mothers our whole lives. whether
we are blessed enough to have that privilege
or not- does not stop the longing.

if you are a mother, you will be asked to
bear witness to the whole of your child's life.


and it will be your biggest blessing.
how lucky are we?


xo, beth

*the photo up top is of one of the coolest mothers that ever walked the planet. wini krueger. here she stands
looking at her beloved mountains in north carolina.

this mother bore witness to much- and did it with more grace and acceptance than anyone
i've ever known.



 

 

 



well labor day has come and gone, the kiddies are
back in school across the state...and

  driving to work today

there wasn't a single solitary garage sale sign out.

 

summer has bid us

adieu,

& all i can say is what? why? why not?

 

why aren't there garage sales going on?

come on mom's- the kids are in school, you most

likely cleaned out their closets to get them ready for the year 

and you should keep on going....

 

clean ladies-- organize, purge. simplify~  and put it all on a table with a sign that says:

 

"your choice 50 cents"

 

stick a sign on the corner 
and 

I will find you- with my handy little ever-ready yard sale purse

i will find you.

it's too early for yard sales to be OVER for the year.

it always makes me sad.

 

girlfriend loves the thrill of the hunt.

all my family members hunt.

i'm a hunter too.... i just have different prey in mind.

 

here's a few recent finds that i'm excited about.

they've been thrift store found or garage sale bound.

 

these blue and green plates are just perfect with some of my mugs

 

 

i had the mug, but found this cool enamel plate that has already been used at the lodge.

 

 

 

kind of in love with this collage art mirror. isn't it fabulous?

 

 

 

 then there's this drop leaf table. about two weeks ago i decided i wanted a small wooden
table that had "character" to take up to our cabin.
i wanted it to look lodge like and be small
enough for me to pick up and move, but large enough to do a project on
 or carry outside
for a quiet breakfast under the trees.


i found it at st. claires and it was only $35. and the best part?
i consign some things there and i had sold $33 worth~ so my
perfect table only cost me a cool 2 bucks.

 

and this last group of finds came from shop 501 in chaska.
i think the well loved puppy puppet is so darned cute and
this old tin box and velvet covered compact will make a
fun fall display.

the hint of fall in the air has me thinking of soup with fresh bread,
pumpkin pies and sweaters.

i'm not really ready to say goodbye to the summer yard sales
and my flowers
but if i must, i'll replace them with thrift shops and more time
to hunker down and start a knitting project or two.
maybe even work in my studio a bit.

happy september y'all,

xo beth