What a D-E-A-L!!!

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Hope you have a great weekend!

A Morning Glory crown and a morning crowned in glory!

What.A.Night...sigh, and not in a restful/relaxing kind of way. Nope, more like an oh-my-goodness-I-may-lose-my-mind kinda way.

My husband was away and I had both the little ones by myself...no big deal right? Well, foolishly that's what I thought too. Then one woke up...wide awake 2 a.m Then the other woke up...yep, you guessed it, wide awake 2:30 a.m.

I thought there was a good chance I was going to shrivel up in a big pile of tired on the floor, but amazingly that didn't happen. Eventually everyone went back to sleep...even me.

You can imagine the next morning. The first thing I saw when I opened my weary eyes was my invitation to a pity party...you better believe I R.S.V.P'd to that.

So I grumbled around the house for the next hour....honestly I was being a total grump.

My little ones were being as sweet as pie and so I decided we should all go outside. The conversation went a little something like this:
"Hey lets go outside." ('cause what else are we going to do?)
"Let's put your shorts on." ('cause it's 218 degrees outside, with 1000% humidity and the mosquitos are going to pick flesh from bone.)
"Come on sweetie, let's go." ('cause I'm already tired of standing up.)

......shameful, I know.

And then we went outside.

AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. No, not just pretty, not just nice....but absolutely beautiful!!

The sun was shining, a cool breeze was blowing, and the sky was a perfect shade of soft blue. Within 5 minutes everything was right with the world...amazing isn't it?

My tiredness never stood a chance.
That's what this place seems to do to me...set all things right :o)

My older little girl wanted me to make her a crown out of morning glories. So there we sat, out in the field, weaving a crown of morning glories on the most glorious of all mornings.

Sometimes life will surprise you.

Postcards from Paris

I received a wonderful treat in the mail today. My oldest friend in the world is in Paris for a month ( I know...tell me about it!). I'm sure they've been strolling the lovely Parisian streets, sipping chocolat chaud, and enjoying the culture...at least that's what I'd be doing!! Instead of just one little, lonely postcard waiting in my box there were TWO. How lovely is that?? J'adore mes amies!!

Get ready, cause here I come!

I know that I'm quite a novice at this whole blogging experience. I have to say though, I think I'm in love! I like the quiet time that I find to write, I like the ideas that have started flowing, and I like getting to meet wonderful, sweet people that might normally not cross my winding path. Since I want to stick around and blog for a while I started really thinking about what I wanted my blog to be about. Crafts? Nah, not really that crafty (although I love looking at other friends amazing creations!). My house? No. Don't get me wrong, I adore my home, but I don't know that I'd have that much to write about with it. It's awfully small so I'd probably be done blogging in about a month :o) So what to write about, WHAT to write about...

Well that was all I needed to get my creative juices flowing. I actually started giving myself time to (get this) think! Yep, just think, ponder, wonder, and dream. No laundry, no chores, no to-do lists allowed....just think. During this glorious free time a lot of questions came to mind. What do I like? What inspires me? What do I feel passionate about? What do I want to pass along to my girls? I mean I've thought about those things before but now, having a place to put it all down, made it a little more real, a little more right now.

So here's the idea...of course, you know I'm gonna ask for your feedback on this :)

My husband and I bought our home for several reasons. First, it is right in the middle of the small town we live in. We truly can walk everywhere. Second, it has almost a full acre of land. There a big open field in the back with lots of sunshine! Third, there is a charming one bedroom cottage on the land that I just loved the idea of. And finally, it just fit. It fit in every way...right price, right number of bedrooms, right feel, everything.
We want to have the best of both worlds....great restaurants down the street, great garden in the back yard, collecting ideas from the new art exhibit, collecting fresh eggs from the chickens. Uh oh, wait...the restaurants are there, and the art gallery is there, not so much the garden or the chickens.
I don't know much about gardening. I don't know much about a little farm life, but I do know that I have brains in my head and feet in my shoes (thanks Dr. Seuss). I can walk down to the library and search the internet like a champ! I can try to flesh out this idea of creating a world that's little healthier for my girls and a little better for the environment. You can peek in and cheer as I find what works, and laugh along with me as I (inevitably) fall on my face. Maybe I'll get started and love the process, or maybe I'll realize that the grocery store is my best friend. But maybe, just maybe you'd like to follow this girls journey to living a little greener, eating a little better, and finding the joy in the simple things.

Little Cottage Home..Little Farm Life: a place where downtown meets down on the farm.

TA DA!!!
...ok, honestly, without worrying about my tears on the keyboard (ha ha), what do you think?

If you haven't hit the delete button yet maybe you could pass this site along? I'd be much obliged for lots of feedback...thanks a bunch!!

The thrill of Goodwill!

I have a confession......I used to be a mall-aholic. Shocking I know :o) I loved going to the mall to "window shop". I would somehow always end up with a little something to take home. I am now proud to say that I've been off the wagon (or is it on? I never can remember) for 3 months. Yep, I haven't been to the mall the ENTIRE summer! I was able to stop cold turkey because I found something even better.....GOODWILL!!

I know some of yall are way ahead of me with this one, but it's a new find for moi! I can't believe the things I can get for such crazy low prices. Why didn't someone tell me about this before?!?! So since I have discovered this I have gone Goodwill crazy! I wanted to show you some of the amazing purchases I have gotten. Let me know what great things you've found there too! Also, is anyone else as beyond excited about this as I am??? I don't think my family get's it...but that's ok!


See those plates and bowls? (Not the green ones, but all the others). That was an entire set for $20! It incuded 6 dinner plates, 8 cups and saucers, cereal bowls, salad plates, serving bowls, sugar and creamer.....43 pieces in all! I looked it up online and it's a pattern that they use to sell at Sears...cute, huh?

See my cute litte cow painting...well, it has a small tear in the corner and it was $6.

This little cookie jar was $5...I love the cherries.
And this vintage painting was $4.99!!
Sorry about the quality of the photos...I'm going to work on taking better pictures I promise! Ok, so let me hear all about your deals! I'm already excited!!

And the winner is.....

......Amy R.!!!

I put all your names in my little jar and gave it a couple of really good shakes!!! Thanks for all the comments that were left...they are very appreciated :o) I had so much fun doing this giveaway and I will be doing another one very soon. Hope everyone has a good day!

P.S. Amy will you please email me your mailing address so I can send the goodies your way? Thanks!

A weekend mountain wedding...

Aren't those apples beautiful? ...too bad they have the flavor of cardboard! I was hoping to use these to make my apple butter this week, but I just didn't have the heart to do all the work with such tasteless apples!! We are all heading the the mountains this weekend for a wedding, and (fingers crossed) I'll find some really good tasting ones up there!

Thanks for the comments so far...they are so encouraging! Don't forget to check back Monday morning to see who won the giveaway....yah! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Girls night out!

I've got my favorite necklace, earrings, and cute little purse all ready to go! I'm going out with a couple of friends and I can't wait! We're quite a mild bunch...coffee, shopping, and then home by 11! I can promise there will be lots of silly things that we laugh about, and I'll come home replenished. What do you like to do when you get together with girlfriends? I'm a very curious person, so I'd love to hear :o)

"What is a friend? I will tell you...it is someone with whom you dare to be yourself."
~ Frank Crane

Goodnight, goodnight...

"The world is full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."
~Robert Louis Stevenson

Hope everyone has a happy night and productive day tomorrow!!

A summer of firsts...including my first GIVEAWAY!!

You can tell it's August in Georgia...my plants just aren't lookin' very perky anymore!

Oh where has the summer gone?? It always seems to fly by. I am fortunate enough to have had my sweet husband home all summer since he is a teacher...yah!! We did so many wonderful family things. I don't know if anyone loves summertime more than my mother though. I have great childhood memories of fun summer activities that she use to do with me and my sisters. She was always working in her garden, making jams, or canning something really yummy for us to enjoy during the winter. I decided I wanted to try and pass down some of those wonderful traditions to my girls. Since my children are so young a garden didn't seem practical this year. However, I do have access to a fantastic local farmers market and decided to buy some fresh berries and give jam making a try! I was so nervous about trying it...but it couldn't have been easier (thank you Sure Jell)! I made blueberry jam first. Since it turned out so deliciously I gave it a try with peach, fig, and a blackberry/peach mix...yum, yum!! Needless to say, I have been making more bisquits than usual this summer.

Don't they look so pretty in my new hutch?! The store bought jam is about to have to find a new home because this week I'm giving apple butter a try! If you have any tips to share I would be very grateful!!
Since no one became sick from the jam I decided to test the waters with pie making. It's crazy I know, but everytime I would think about making a pie it seemed on par with mastering French cooking....I know, I know calm down already it's just a pie. But truthfully it seemed just out of my cooking safety zone :o) Well, I guess with old age comes a little bit of bravery (I knew turing 30 would be a good thing!). So, one afternoon I put on my apron, gathered up my ingredients, said a little prayer, and lo and behold....I MADE A PIE! Yep, all by myself, well me and Pilsbury...because (let's not go crazy) I didn't make the crust.
There it is....in all it's peachy glory! Maybe next time I'll attempt the crust ;o)

I mentioned the new hutch in our kitchen. Here is a photo. I was in my favorite vintage store, Feathers and Twigs, and I fell in love with this!! My kitchen, like my entire house, is cozy and petite, so not just any piece will do...it has to be just the right fit, you know what I mean, right? Well, I saw it and knew it would be perfect...the only problem was that(as reasonably priced as it was) it wasn't in our budget for the month. What to do, what to DO? I had them put it on hold for me so I could have time to think about what to do. As I was giving my "hold" information to one of the sweet ladies that work there, I happened to mention that I had some items they might be interested in. She told me to bring by what I had the next day and we'd see about taking some money off the price of the hutch! Perfect! I was already on my way to owning this pretty, little piece. Bright and early the next day I pulled up in the parking lot and pulled out my wares..and do you know what?? She liked what I had so much that she GAVE me the hutch....that's right, for free!! I was one happy camper :o) Now my little breakfast room is almost complete (and more important, I'm not poor...woohoo!).

Finally, since it's been a summer of firsts...I'm doing a giveaway, and yep, it's my first one ever!! Here's a picture of the items that could be yours!


There's a cute little teacup, a couple of dish towels, a box of (my favorite) cupcake mix, a "bless our home" sign, and, you guessed it, a fresh jar of my jam!! Hope you'll take a moment to leave a comment and, if you don't mind, maybe send a friend my way? I'll announce the winner next Sunday night, and until then...hope you have a wonderful day!