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and the livin' is easy.

what a great week.

well, okay, work has been a little silly. but by NOW i should be used to that!

the rest of things are seriously the way they should be...lunch with friends. grilling out. quick breaks on the patio (or maybe not-so-quick breaks). no meetings. sunshine EVERY day. weed-free (almost) flower beds. road trip coming up.

how about for you guys?

small measures

as this monday ticks away pretty quickly, i'm reminded that life is lived in the small measures.

things like a sunny day after a stormy night.

birthday cake enjoyed for the 67th time.

a dear friend joining me for sunday church.

two little girls holding hands, proclaiming Jesus together with a water baptism.

a curbside treasure, quickly scooped up in the hopes of restoring past beauty.

plans for a small 'time out' in almost no time coming up.






i am blessed. today, and always :)
happy monday.

finally friday

ah. sunshine and friday. they go together really nicely ;) happy weekend-to-come, everyone!

j-e-l-l-o

i just downloaded a screen saver of vintage jello creations.


mmm. i hope jello makes a big comeback soon.

i feel like the weather.

isn't it funny how the weather affects? i swear, on this 2nd 'blah' day, siesta and i feel exactly the same. the minute that big ole yella sun comes out though, it's another story. we'll be heading outdoors to kick some butt and do some gardening any minute, i just know it.


in other news, i get to have lunch with carey today, disguised as a business meeting that she is doing for one of our clients. last week i told her "i'm doing something cute for this one or i'm not doing anything at all!" and apparently the words from the client's mouth when he saw it were "that's cute."

sometimes, it's nice to get your way.


:) happy wednesday!

thunderstorms and pasta

i had a nice night last night over at my friend anne's house. although a wicked storm was predicted, we prevailed and spent a nice, albeit rather windy, evening in her back yard haven. the storms did show up, just as i was drifting off to sleep.

the food was good, the company was good, and the weather was about as good as you can expect when you live in southland. it's crazy here, weatherwise, folks.




i made this:


okay. that is not the real picture, but it looked somewhat like that. it was pretty yummy! i love to cook and bake for others, i really do. i'm kind of thankful i don't have to do it every day, though. but it's fun to not just cook for myself always.



today promises to be more rain and who knows what else. it keeps me here at the computer, plugging away, i guess. and, i do have some leftovers calling my name for lunch :)

did you all have a good weekend? mine was glorious, a good combination of solitary confinement and people activities ;)) ha.

i spent yesterday with my dad. it's hard to see him having a hard time getting around. but, we spent most of the day sitting in the gazebo chatting. man, i love that guy! 'tis good to go home now and again, i guess ;)


saturday was a lazy day. i thrifted this little tin on saturday morning for 25 cents. i think i could admire it for the next 25 years :)



oh. and somebody got a new outfit this weekend. not me.




not quite ready to face another monday, but here we go anyway....! wheeeeeeeeeeee!

toes and stuff

i woke up at 8 am this morning. not sure why i overslept. i have a big list to finish checking off today. websites, and proposals, and a lunch date with a sweet friend.

instead of the list, i have been thinking almost non-stop about getting a pedicure. pretty toes seem like the most important thing right now. it's best for everyone if i at least do SOMEthing.

you know how some people clean their house before the housekeeper comes over? i'm sort of like that with my toes. see, i am a gardener. i am also a girl who is happiest when barefoot.

these two facts do not jive well with pedicures and beautiful toes.

last night, after about 5 hours of gardening, i came in the house and could not believe what a mess my feet were. luckily, i had an at-home manicure kit that i bought last year at a party at loretta's house (hi loretta!). i am not really a manicure person, but i figured it would probably help the garden feet somewhat.

it did. i would say my feet are at about 40% capacity right now. i am wondering if i am brave enough to book a pedicure, and let the small asian people wonder what the heck i DO with my feet, to get them in that kind of condition? or do i just decide that 40% is good enough, and hope people never ever look down? what if i like to look down?

sigh. i bet i chicken out. carey, why don't we go together and get our toes looked at sometime? i'm sure you are thinking about that pesky second toe at this stage of the summer, too....


he he.
i love blogging. happy friday!

where are you james?

on a day like today, i would just like to sit in a chair with some iced tea and have jt play me a song.

spent.

yesterday, i spent the afternoon with a girl. that's her. she's a cutie.

she learned to sew, with the help of two older 'aunties' who hopefully mentored her well. it took her about 5 minutes to master the skill. she tells us this is usually the case with her, when it comes to crafting ;)


next time, we are going to make books. i've been waiting for a long time to learn to do THAT.









oh ps. here is my air plant. right now, he's not in the air, he is getting his once-a-week 'bottom soak.'

isn't he wonderful?



:) happy day.

hello sunshine.

it's good to see you on this lovely day.

5 year birfday

it's my birthday today....5 years in this place! i had no idea when i decided to try the whole 'blogging thing' that it would become a comfortable routine in my life, and for at least a few of my friends, who have visited almost 50,000 times in the last five years!

blogging is wonderful in so many ways. i love that so many of us are journaling our lives in unique ways. for me, the idea of blogging was always connected with my love of gardening. the original inspiration was to capture the beauty of my garden(s) in some way for more than just a fleeting moment.

'the back forty' has actually become more than that to me. although i have mostly tried to keep a light-hearted touch to my writing. i have discovered a whole little water-cooler community, those who we share the smallest of things with on a daily basis. sometimes, i venture into deeper waters, but for the most part i have wanted to show simplicity in an increasingly complex world, beauty, and the joy in living with Jesus as my guiding force. i hope that i have done that! i hope that i have honored my parents and grandparents, who taught me to love and respect growing things and living things and simple things. i hope that i have honored Jesus, who has given me the life that i have, and the voice to share how truly amazing He is.

thanks for meandering down the path with me! now, i think i might actually bake some strawberry muffins in celebration :)) happy tuesday!

schwew

monday? really? it feels like friday to me. this cannot be good news.

after two weeks of non-stop activity, this hermit is craving her homeland :)

ha.

i have a few meetings this week, but hopefully none will take me out of the back forty for too long. i miss my yard. and my cat. and my weeds that need pulling :) it's also probably a good thing that my 'boss' is back at work this week, so that i get a few work things done! (hi carey).



i did thrift for a sec on saturday morning. found a FAB weird lamp! if you know anything about lighting, you know drum shades are the only 'in' style right now. check this out! the proportions are kind of insane. i look at this lamp every day from my comfy couch spot, so my eyes are happy.


siesta also got a new pillow for her bed. she is test-driving the whole deal right now.

i hope to get some photos of VBS this week to post. my 'once a year' experience with vbs tells me that you should hug your daycare provider today. ha. i salute all of you moms, i seriously cannot imagine the level of tired i would be if i had children. i'm tired just thinking about it :)

anyway, another rainy, 'stay in' kind of day. i expect summer will be along any time now! happy week!

he he he he

last day of silly week

yay! after being patiently impatient, it finally came. now i SO need a new driveway. sigh...



guess what? silly week was not so silly at all. yes, it was busy. yes, it was worth it. tonite we'll have an altar call, and hopefully at least one little kid who has not accepted Jesus yet will do so! i love how open kids are to hearing the Gospel. they soak it in. already, our wonderful children's director has plans for next year...a completely from-scratch, genuine mercy church concept for vbs. i love her, and i love that i have a creative church family. who knew? :)

tonite we'll paint 'rocks' - paving stones - with glitter paint, because God is our rock :) except for the fact that rocks are pretty non-convenient to transport around, the craft should be easy and good. whew. it's SO different to get off the computer, and go out into the world to make art stuff. i really should do it more often :))





ps. i am kind of bummed that i have the furnace on {again} - even though it was 99 degrees out on tuesday. i'm not sure what is up with the weather, but it sure is keeping us flexible this year!


pss. no new garage door yet. sigh. i wish contractors kept their word, but unfortunately, they are so busy most of the time, they have no reason to. i hope that he comes over today :)

day whatever: silly week

whew. i see the end of vbs in sight, just as i am getting more comfortable. i guess by now i have about 2/3 of the kids' names memorized. i hope to get them all, but i am challenged in that area...pray for me! i also forgot to take photos, which bums me out. so far, i think that the craft choices have been good for the kids - one thing i have learned is that all kids like beautiful things. one little boy last night said to me concerning his creation 'mine is the WAY prettiest!'

ha. that is how i want them all to feel :)





in other exciting news - i am supposed to get a garage door today! one does not realize the importance of that event until one goes a month without a garage door!

sigh. everything in its time. i hope that you enjoy today for what it brings - God bless!

day three: silly week

amount of rest: adequate
amount of work to be accomplished: doable
amount of crafts to prepare for: minimal


amount of purple on back forty: don't even ask


happy day!

day two: silly week

so, yesterday was all that i imagined it would be and more. i was seriously pooped when i fell into bed! have you ever noticed that when you are seriously spent, you feel more alive? that is kind of what i am experiencing. being 'out of my comfort zone' is usually uncomfortable, but at the end, i feel more alive. i guess that is the way God planned it.

vbs was good. we have about 30 kids or so, which seems like not very many. however, they keep us hopping! i do think most of the children really enjoy the night. i will try to remember to take pics of our butterflies, they looked really cute and the kids had fun 'squirting' them! ha.



this week, i have been thinking a bunch about my former pastor, Ron Traub. pastor traub is one of my first christian mentors, i learned many things from him about God, and how God works. i also learned how loving and wonderful christian people can be, which was the exact opposite from what i had thought christians were like before. he accepted me, and where i was. he was excited for me that i was opening the page to THE book of my life, my relationship with Christ. he prayed for me. he hugged me. he encouraged me. and every sunday, he preached in a way that helped shape my new life.

i love him.


this coming weekend, he will have a retirement party. i'm sure there will be lots of laughter and lots of crying. he has impacted our community in a BIG way for over 30 years. when he and margo (wife) moved here, he was a fish outta water, a city kid from detroit who probably wondered what the heck God was up to, moving him to the middle of nowhere.

i'm sure he understands a little more now. but i cannot help but feeling he needs my prayers as he transitions into whatever God has for him next! it will be fun to 'send him off' into new, and hopefully a little slower-paced, adventures. and to give him one more hug.



on a side note, i really cannot help but think of my favorite animated character every time i see his pic, either ;)))

silly busy

this week is going to be silly busy. i know this by the fact that i woke up at 3:30, that it's now 8am and i need a nap. i know this by my calendar, by 'the list' and by the fact that vbs will happen every afternoon, whether my list is checked off or not.

still, i am happy. so glad that summer is here, that the warm temps did not leave us forever. thinking about the people who are being displaced by the water. it's strange that i can live so close, yet it seems really far away. i am praying for deann that this week will not be her worst, but that the worst is over by not knowing what will happen.



i am enjoying the small things. like purchasing a 6-pack of beer this weekend, for the first time in over 2 years (i'm guessing here). and making a tomato beer, which tasted really yummy as the temps hit almost 90 this weekend. i hope to drink a few more this summer, in the heat of the day.


i am enjoying my grandma's iris, which mom gave me a piece of this spring (finally). Lord, i need an intervention from the purple, though. what's up with that, when orange is my favorite color?


i am kind of freaking out about VBS, but i did have fun trying out the first night's craft, making butterflies out of coffee filters. we'll have to move fast, but they are pretty fun. did you know there are over 20,000 species of butterflies in the world? now you do :)


otherwise, i am enjoying life a day at a time. that is the only way, really.

Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. Deuteronomy 5:33

happy week, everyone!

friday noggin

i have a really sore spot on the top of my head, from a headache i have had since last night. i hate when that happens. it could be from my tooth, which kind of hurts, or from anxiety, which is kind of lurking.

i wish it would go away. because otherwise, today is a good day ;)



there is a purple explosion happening on the back forty (again). i bet i have more purple plants than you do ;)

i did get to do something fun yesterday, helped my friend anne (who is even BETTER than emily henderson!) decorate our friends' bedroom for a surprise when they come home from their honeymoon.


they got the coolest gift, a 'tree' that all of the wedding guests decorated with their fingerprints and signatures! i loved this idea. i wish i knew some others getting married and i would steal it :)


the room turned OUT. i even think my paper cut turned out looking cute in the room.

check out the fun lamp my friend elise made! you can only see the words when the lamp is turned on. he he ;)


ok. going to buy a bottle of drugs. wish me luck getting rid of this pounding. happy weekend!

reunion

it's been about 14 months since i saw him. and to be honest, i really sincerely did not think it could actually be him.

but remember the little snake that was in my basement last spring, the one that single-handedly scared the 'crap' out of my plumber?

i think i saw him last week. in fact, i've seen him every single day THIS week. i layed some cocoa chip mulch down over the weekend in his fave spot, and WOW. i have a huge snake family that loves cocoa chips. apparently we all love chocolate over here on the back forty. the whole family also loves winding themselves into my bushes and hanging from the branches in the sun. talk about a surprise when you're trimming the hedge! (that is what he's doing in the pic above, he is a foot or so off the ground, just a hangin').

anyway, i recognize him by the fact that the end of his tail was chopped off, probably from the trauma of being in the basement (or maybe from the crazed plumber). this guy is seriously a BIG snake, probably a couple feet long, and over an inch in diameter.

he also has a well-healed walloped off tail :))

hi buddy! i missed you!
but seriously, you need to stay over THERE.


:)