Christmas In August!

Don't you find that when something

wonderful and unexpected

comes in the mail 

 it feels like 

Christmas?

Well on Monday a parcel arrived.

I had been told something was coming

but I didn't know what it was.

Look at this SWEET wrapped bundle!

Notice the bee's?

Look at that bow with the buttons

and the striped string...

isn't that something!

This parcel was sent to me by my 

wonderful blogging friend

Beverly 

who's blog is called

Bee Haven Acres-Tails From The Farm

Bev not only lives on a BEE-UTIFUL

farm but she lives in a new log house

AND also has a 200+ year old log house

on their beautiful farm in 

central Pennsylvania.

They have horses, goats, cats, dogs,

mini horses, turkeys, chickens

and I can't remember what else.

You should see her veggie garden!

As if she isn't busy enough 

she also has another blog

Touch Of The Past Aprons

Where she makes the

sweetest aprons!

This is only the tip of the iceberg!

I hope you'll pop on over to Bev's...

you won't be disappointed

I promise.

:) 

Here's a closer look at the wrapping paper.

Perfect considering this is coming 

from the

Bee Haven Maven!

See the little bee's  

Bev stamped on the outside

of the package :)

THIS is what was in the package!

Yes Bev made this apron JUST for me.

Bev has an old apron that is

about 50 years old that I really liked

so she drew up a pattern from it

and made this.

For me!

Isn't this a beauty!

Look at the back...

it's PERFECT!

As most of you know 

it get's HOT here in Kansas

and when I'm working outside

in an apron that ties snug around my

waist it get uncomfortable.

This apron is perfect because 

I don't have to tie it tight 

because it goes over

my head

and the extra piece

keeps the ties

in place!

And here it is being

put to work.

THANK YOU 

BEV!

Maura :)

Just Things

I've been struggling for a while now

with my posts.

Usually this time of year I'm outside taking photo's around the farm but this year everything looks

terrible because of the drought 

and our rusty water has

my poor newly

planted

gardens 

looking terrible!

Inside the cottage things haven't changed much

so then I feel like I'm boring you 

with photo's of the same

thing!

But then I realized something...

I don't mind seeing 

other bloggers photo's again

so I thought...maybe you won't mind either.

So here goes!

I love my white enamel

and I'm always on the prowl 

for something new.

I still haven't stripped the old wall paper

on this one wall in the kitchen.

One day hubby wants to do some 

renovations in here so I may

just wait for that.

The wash stand below is perfect

in this spot.

Inside is all my excess and super 

long tin foil and plastic wrap

etc along with extra egg cartons.

I pile them underneath too!

See the cream and sugar below?

I bought them hanging 

just like this.

I liked the pattern on them.

This China set was given

to me by one of our 

neighbors

when we lived in the city.

They were really wonderful neighbors.

I miss them.

I love this 'dresser'

it's HUGE!

I bought it off 

Craigslist for $100

Another favorite Craigslist purchase

was this antique secretary.

We drove all the way to 

Arkansas to pick it up.

It has the most wonderful

wood grain

and the glass bulges slightly.

It's like they poured the glass 

over the wooden frame

and it cooled in that shape.

It also has beautiful claw feet...

sorry I didn't show them.

Just a few other favorite things.

The blue Willow lantern 

is special...my Dad bought it for

me when he and my Step mom 

came to visit when I lived in British Columbia.

Above the old pitcher on the right

belonged to my Gr. Grandmother.

The one on the left was given

to my by another neighbor

years ago.

The large platter above

came from my gift shop

I owned in a little ski village

in British Columbia Canada

The Blue Willow I bought from

Sears back in the early 80's.

I hope you enjoyed

seeing my 'things'

again and I hope you

won't hold back from showing

some of your favorite things too.

Have a great week!

Maura :)

Que Sera Sera

The Trumpet Vine that's climbing up the weather vane that's seen better days.

It rained!

Yes we actually had a storm hit us

last evening and we got 

3/4 of an inch of rain.

I'm so happy.

That means I don't have to water 

2 or 3 times today!

Yesterday morning I took my camera out

and took some pictures around

the farm.

It was hard trying to find something

that looked nice as everything has 

about dried up from the drought

but at least I got a few shots

for you. 

I'm afraid we haven't been enjoying our

porch since spring as it's just 

been way too hot. 

You can see the dead looking grass

through the trellis.

The only plants that are doing well

are the petunia's I planted.

The perennials are looking pretty sick

with this heat.

This is how our 

Lilac Lane 

looks during a normal

summer.

This is what it looked like yesterday.

This is how the field across 

the road normally looks

in the summer.

This is how it looks this year. 

The farmer harvested the winter wheat

around mid June

but because of the drought 

he has not planted a second crop.

Most of the corn planted in our area 

has dried up and will only be good

for silage. 

The farmers with irrigation 

are the only ones who will profit this year.

Our pastures and lawns 

are yellow and crunch

when you walk on them.

The picture below is how they 

normally look this time of year.

The only thing in the garden that's

holding it's own is the watermelon

and melon vines.

Below is the only watermelon 

that's growing and it should be

HUGE by now!

These are rare heritage Kansas Melons

below.

This one should be ripe soon.

At least the garden hasn't been a total

loss this year. 

The tomato plants are HUGE 

but we've only gotten

a few tomatoes from 

2 plants out of the 10 

we planted. 

Oh well....que sera sera.

(what ever will be will be)

Hopefully when the temperatures cool down

and we get more rain we'll be enjoying

BLT'S and fried green tomatoes soon.

I hope you're enjoying a beautiful summer.

Maura :)

Thinking 'Cool'!

Wouldn't you like this in your back yard?

Source

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!

Source

What a beautiful spring display this 

would be above.

I ordered 50 daffodil bulbs today...

it's a start ;)

Source

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.  

Source

Love this bridge!

Source

Cool. Wet. Shade.

Source

Love this little bench.

Source

Wouldn't this be wonderful!

Source

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 :)