Summer Reading

I hope you are all enjoying

the summer!

I'm enjoying my "Blogging Break"

and getting things caught up 

around the farm

inside and out and I'm even 

getting time to do some reading.

 :)

Here's a book I just finished that I thought

some of you might enjoy...

it's called 

Heart To Heart / Hand In Paw

by 

Peggy Frezon 

This is a wonderful true story 

about an animal loving woman in her 40's

(Peggy's mother)

who moves to the woods of Vermont with her husband to build a log home and 

live off the land.

My kind of story!

However things don't always go

as planned and life isn't always easy.

 Peggy made me laugh and cry.

Through it all you come away with 

a deeper sense of how animals

are more than just our pets.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book

and it made me appreciate

how fortunate we are here

in our cozy little farmhouse

in the country.

Peggy

is also the author of

Dieting With My Dog.

 

 If you're looking for some

good summer reading I hope 

you'll consider this one.

Have a wonderful week!

Taking A Break

The hot weather is here

so I'm taking a 

"Blogging break" 

to catch up on things

around the farm & in

the old farmhouse.

I hope the weather is

cooler where you are.

 :)

Thinking 'Cool'!

Wouldn't you like this in your back yard?

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I'm trying to 'think cool' to make up 

for the temperatures outside.

It's 106 right now and will top out at 108

or so the weather man says.

Tomorrow is to reach 110...again. 

Our local weather station tells us that it will

stay in the triple digits for at least the next week.

This has been our weather pattern this summer

with little to no rain.

SO

since there is NOTHING to take pictures of

outside other than struggling flowers and

yellow grass...

I thought I'd share with you a few pictures

of gardens I'm drooling over. 

Oh to have a garden like one of these!

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What a beautiful spring display this 

would be above.

I ordered 50 daffodil bulbs today...

it's a start ;)

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Wouldn't it be wonderful to sit in the 

shade under these trees and watch the 

fish and maybe if you have the nerve

dip your toes in the water.

Sigh.  

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Love this bridge!

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Cool. Wet. Shade.

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Love this little bench.

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Wouldn't this be wonderful!

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One day I'll get my water fountains up 

and running again. 

Since moving to the farm two years ago

we've been busy just cleaning up

the land and putting up picket

fences to protect the 

gardens from the

'destroyer'.

The 'destroyer' Shep

GOOD NEWS...hubby just mentioned

the other day that if all goes well...

he's going to start on the screened in 

porch off the back of the house this fall.

We may just build that 

Swinging Bed 

this year.

Wish us luck!

I hope you are enjoying a beautiful summer 

where ever you call home.

Maura :)

Just Playing Around

It's been so hot (111'F in our area)

that I figured I'd spend my time 

inside

trying to learn something new.

So here is my first real try at textures.

I'm joining

Kim Klassen

over at the 

'cafe'

for

Texture Tuesday

Yes 

I realize that I'm a 

tad late but the link is still up

 so what the heck!

If you haven't tried doing textures

with your photo's you should give it a try

it's a lot of fun.

I hope you'll head over to Kim's

and check it out....you just

might become addicted!

Have a great day!

Maura :)

In My Dreams

Source

It's HOT here in Kansas.

The weather all over is a little nuts this year

and many of us are

suffering through a serious heatwave.

According to the computer

it's going to be 105' here today.

Again. 

As I was watering the garden

AGAIN

I started thinking how nice it would 

be to lay in a hammock 

in the SHADE 

by the WATER

with temperatures around 80

and a nice soft breeze.

Sigh

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A light bulb came on 

and I thought

why not do a post on it!

So I start looking up

images of

hammocks

and these strange looking things

came up!

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They are called a

NESTREST

They were designed by

Daniel Pouzet

and

Fred Frety

(who are from Paris)

for 

DEDON

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Strange looking aren't they.

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But imagine having one like the photo

above...

hanging from a tree

in the shade

HEAVEN

Wonder how that guy got in there

without getting wet?

But wouldn't that be wonderful

to be in something like this

BESIDE the water.

Oh my.

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These things are pretty big!

How much?

I have no idea

but I bet they're don't go cheap.

Seems they don't have a price out

on the internet...hmmm.

So I guess unless I win the lottery

I'll only have one

in my 

dreams. 

Would you buy one?

(if you could afford it)

Maura :)

Treasure Hunting!

Last month hubby and I attended the last

Flea Market of the season. 

There won't be another until September!

We're very lucky to have such a huge

Flea Market held every month

not far from us

and it's always a little sad to know

you'll have to miss a couple of months.

With temperatures in the triple

digits and no air conditioning 

in the building it's easy to 

understand why they shut it down for

the hottest months.

The first thing I spotted that made

my heart swoon was this sweet

cast iron barn.

It's HEAVY

I fell in love with it but I didn't buy it 

on the spot. I figured I'd come back

after we'd seen everything (and hope it

would still be there) as I had

something else that I was looking for that day.

Do you do that?

Go to Flea Markets or garage sales

looking for a specific thing?

I never found that 'thing' 

but this barn was still waiting for me

when we were done.

Woohoo!

I only paid $25 for it

because I 

bought the

wire basket below

along with it.

I also found this large basket

which is perfect for my knitting.

My day was going really well

and I was happy with the items that

I had found. 

I never did find the 'thing' I actually 

went there for (I can't even remember

what it was!) but then I spotted

this.

YES!....I had always wanted one

of these little red wagons

and this one was a real 'steal'. 

So we gathered up all my treasures

and packed them into my wagon and 

headed home.

I'll be looking forward to September.

:)

In the meantime 

I made up for not having the 

Flea Market  this month

by talking hubby into taking me

to the 

HUGE

Antique Mall 

just on the edge of the city.

He'd much rather have a 

ROOT CANAL

than spend a few hours there

but he grinned and bared it...

cause he loves me ;)

And look what I found...

This sweet little half pint milk bottle

will work perfect for a vase

or anything else I choose to put in it.

I also found this white bowl 

that I've been using every

morning for my 

porridge.

But my favorite 

treasure of the day 

was this old handmade

Whirligig!

Isn't he cute...

as the wind blows the

propeller

his arms move up and down

as he chops the wood.

It's not exactly what you'd see here

on the prairies. Maybe a girl milking

a cow or a rooster pecking a cob of 

corn would be more fitting.

BUT

it reminds me of all the years

my kids and I chopped wood

when I lived in the mountains

in British Columbia.

Perfect!

How has your 'treasure hunting' gone 

so far this summer?

Have a wonderful week!

Maura :)