Beautiful pictures- Looks as though you and your mom had a good time. My daughter loves tulips. I might see if there is one near us.

Look at the fun you and your Mom had. I love, love tulips! And I am so lucky for I live very close to Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm. My sister has been a vendor at the Tulip Festival for several years so I spend 7 weeks helping her and no 7 weeks in the tulip fields is still not enough! Sunrise is my favorite time, wait – Sunset is my favorite time in the fields. Oh goodness, all times are my favorite time in any flower garden.

How wonderful! Thanks for sharing such a special day. Love your blog!!! Mari

So wonderful to have such a community of people who are all passionate about the same thing. An absolute treasure. Sounds a blessed event.
Love what your daughter said about you, I’m sure I would’ve had a teary moment then too.
Whisking you many blessings
Denise
Australia

Awwww Deb…. I love this post!!! You always have such an awesome way of writing! 🙂 I try so hard not to be a chicken in life… but taking the plunge on things is super hard for me sometimes. Thanks for the awesome encouragement to be a Fearless Farmgirl!

xoxo

Dori, your Ranch Farmgirl friend! 🙂

Super great message!!! Love the ‘gardens’, I’m into doing them too. Your courage to step out is inspiring but think I will stay in my comfort zone this year. No nothing going on here, outside except a blizzard, so inside doing and planning for outside will happen for a few days. Again, love your messages! God bless.

Deb, thanks for a wonderful post. You have quite a list and I did a couple of yours too. As for me I always think I will get something new done every year but it always doesn’t get done. So this year we are working on our DW getting it ready to be livable, so that is new and scary since we have never done any remodeling before. This was a smoke-damaged home that we bought and we gutted the kitchen and living room that were the worst. SO it has taken us many months to do very little. We also had financial problems which stopped the work altogether. But anyway, plans are underway for more. I have collected many new ideas for things to do that I haven’t done before and some are a little scary if I worry about what they will look like when done. My first thing is I want to make a quilt and sew it on a Singer treadle sewing machine – never used one before but I bought one. Scary! Next I want to make two dolls to sit on a very small bench, a boy and a girl that will look like my best friends. SCARY!! I also want to try re-purposing a piece of furniture. Will it end up in the dump?? Who knows. Scary!! I have found new ideas for my DW for my closet and my bathroom and my laundry room that I want to incorporate. SCARY! by all means. Anyway, I see you have a chicken called Blonde. Is she a Golden Comet? I have Golden Comets and one I call Blondie. She is always the last one to enter the coop at night so have to wait on her. She always has to run back to get one more bite or drink. Reminds me of my children when they were little. On my list of scary things that I went through with – went back to school and earned an Associates Degree in Accounting at age 40. Also gave a speech on the CONS of Abortion for a class with a classmate giving the PROS of Abortion. Terrified! I also learned to drive a stick-shift and didn’t get my drivers license till I was 21; and I went on a blind date which wasn’t fun at all. So I hope the things I plan on doing this year will turn out to be at least passable. Keep on having fun.

No i didnt do much new, but become singke again, and everything changes after the death of a loved one. I had to change everything almost alone. Thd fun thing was buying a new car and choose what i wanted, and got most of what i wanted. Now im focusing on getting my house in order, for one person, you downsize a lot. But the hardest thing is downsizing my garden. I know what i like but cutting everything down for one person. ..,im not sure, because i alway give my excess to my neighbors. I realized last year i planted too much, because it was hard harvesting it alone. I was too tired by the end of the day.if anyone has any ideas im opened to them.i think i may have to pay someone to help with rototilling the soil, because its getting where i just want to stick the seed in and let it grow that way, but you and i know the soil needs to be work
So,gardening has its foils when you get older than the dirt you till… and my husband told me….you have to downsize sooner or later. But i don’t want to be like some of those who just stopped gardening altogether , because i love seeing things grow. Was thinking of maybe start beekeeping or raising chicken, but i have to check with the legality of it for my area. Otherthan that, i. Just keeping busy. I want to get back to sewing but my sewing machine has issues. But am planning my garden for this year. I saw a mini greenhouse and may even purchse it. But just in the thinking phases now for my garden. Its still too cold here. Temperature has been weird here in New York. One day super cold, then a few days of spring then rain, then back to winter cold. But i do know spring is near. I saw my first robin march 6th. And the lilac bush and roses are sprouting their buds..,so it gives me hope things will get green shortly. So time will tell what will become our garden, but I wish my sweetheart was here to see it.

I didn’t used to be scared of doing things. I just plunged right in and did them! Moved across the country from Georgia to Colorado while pregnant with my first child. Gave birth twice. Moved back across the country. Got divorced. Went to college a bunch of times. Worked a bunch of times. Gave birth once more. The first time I can remember being scared of anything was getting out of an abusive relationship 11 years ago. That’s when it all started. But, fear is a friend now. Fear is my brain trying to take care of me. I give it a hug and thank it for taking care of me and try again and again until I can do whatever it is I’m scared to do.

Oh WOW this gives me a great idea for our garden club. These are all so inspiring. Thanks for sharing. God bless

What wonderful inspiration! Today it is 32 degrees and snowing in the Midwest…yesterday it was 60 degrees! While I love the snow, we’ve all been bitten by the spring fever bug!

Deb, your picture turned out beautiful! Your mom is a fantastic teacher. I really like how the app helps change a picture into a painting. I would need this sort of help when I first start painting and I would need a teacher as well. When I was in college I always wanted to take the beginner art class but could never get in. Now I may have to look around and see if there are any classes I could sign up for. I can’t wait to see the rest of your paintings! Congratulations on finishing your Make It Pretty Merit Badge!

Wow! Wonderful. Mom is a good teacher.

Lovely paintings.
Marilyn

Your painting looks like it was done by a seasoned artist. Great work! Your simple instructions give artists of all stages some really good pointers. I have painted for a while but there was something so encouraging in your words that made me feel less stressed, and more into enjoying the process. Thank you.

Hi Deb! I had to laugh when I read your post because this year my new favorite thing is my battery operated candles. I have them with a timer, so they come on 5ish and go off around 10pm. I just love them !! And since last year, I also have my faux fireplace that I also love, it makes the room warm and cozy. When I was younger, I would have judged these gems as ‘fake and phony’ but now, I just think they are great ! And safe too :)))
Thanks for sharing!

Minnesota can be really cold too. I love wild rice soup. Yum…just the sound of it warms me up. Of course putting on a quilt and sitting down to sew helps too. Happy winter!

I love to stay in bed and read my magazines and books. It is a good way to catch up on my reading. Preparing for the holidays can be time consuming and reading tends to get neglected. Tea and ht cocoa are the best remedies to stay warm and cozy. Wishing you and yours a blessed ,healthy and happy 2017.
Marilyn and family

Deb, Thank you for sharing your wintry faves. I think mine are walking out on our property here in TN after the first snow (if we get a real snowfall!!) and just taking it all in — the clean smell to the air, the sight of a fresh layer of untouched whiteness, watching Maggie, our dog, make doggie footprint lines all over that fresh layer, seeing her smiling and happy. Then I love to come inside, put on some water to enjoy a cup of instant hot chocolate (I get lazy sometimes!), find my book of Dickens’ Christmas stories (he wrote several), and enjoy the peacefulness of the season of Winter.

Today my answer to your question about my favorite part of Fall is COOL weather. It finally came today and it makes me happy!

The air is filled with magic. The Harvest moon rising in the Nevada sky.

I love the gorgeous colors of the mums in my Fall garden!

Iam such a coastal farmgirl……now to dream my own home, near the big waters, with lots of trees around my house……garden growing abundant. Love the tip on the Montauk Daisies!!!!

Apple Cider Puckers!!!
~Cat

Hello Deb! Your seaside pics are wonderful and I agree, living at the beach in Autumn is magical (mostly due to the crowds gone!) I love the Montauk Daisies! I wonder if other parts of the country have them? This season is so special to me as I was born under the glory of fall and am drawn to all the colors of the season and the low lights of campfires, indoor fires and candles. It truly marks the beginning of the season of lights. My home is full of the smell of ‘Sweet Annie’ one of my very favorite seasonal plants. Do you grow it? Until the next visit….happy fall y’all!

Oh, the magic of cooler temps, the smells of fall, the changing colors . . .it’s my favorite season.
I need some of the white and blue pumpkins to go with my beach-y decorations! I have lots of shells, sand samples from different beaches I’ve been on and lots of framed photographs of beach scenes that I’ve taken. I live in southwest Colorado and no seaside retreats here!
Thanks for sharing!
CJ

I love the Fall season. The air is crisp, and cool,good curling up with a good book weather. Thank you or this giveaway.
Joan

I love the view of the mountain from my front porch while sitting with a cup of coffee and wrapped up in a quilt. You can watch the leaves change into such vibrant colors that reflect in the sunlight!! It is amazing!!

Leaves turning and hand knit scarves with soft flannel.

The best part about fall is the smells. We don’t get much of the weather and leaves and other indicators in Florida, but in my mind and in my home, I can bring in the smells of fall. The pine needles, leaves, spices, camp fires all create a sense of “aaahh.”

Hay there,

I suppose the most magical thing about fall is the amazing colors, and the subtle nip in the air. Its like a cool crisp quilt that our Creator has tossed on to the landscape. The aroma of each season is so different and autumn is unique and earthy and yet robust and light. I, too, feel the need to nest at the slightest hint of fall. Love your writing….keep ’em coming!

Hugs and prayers,
Daizy #1093
Poor House Farm Girl

Everything looks so cozy! Thanks for helping us get in the Fall spirit!

My favorite day of autumn is always the day that our family including the dog goes apple picking to an orchard in Indiana. It is the one day of the year when I feel like a real farm girl as I climb trees, pick fruit and sit on a hay bale on a horse drawn wagon. I have a scrapbook of photos of apple picking over the years showing the kids getting older and the dog getting fatter. The promise of a bubbly home baked apple pie (mine) and sweet stove top simmered apple sauce (my husband’s) makes the ride home as ripe with excitement as the ripe apples we are toting home. We have gone apple picking on sunny seventy degree days when we wear tee shirts and in freezing forty degree days when we are in parkas. No matter what the weather I am farm girl happy that magical day in autumn.

Autumn has a feel to it like warm apple cider or logs burning invitingly.
Just a walk down the path tells you
Autumn also has a feel to it- the crunch of leaves underfoot. Memories of Shay once was green and soft underfoot.
Then there is the Autumn moon that
brings scents to our centers- blackberries ripe for picking and burning leaf piled that invite us to folllow them with our sticks and marshmallows.
Autumn is ours for the feeling.

Your flowers are beautiful! I can only imagine how heartwarming it is to grow your flowers into such beauties and see them used, enjoyed, and loved in a wedding! There is nothing better than fresh flowers from the garden. I wish I lived closer and could have some of those flowers for my kitchen table! I love your post, it’s such an inspiration for small businesses!

How wonderful! My blooms this time of year are many different colors of summer phlox. My oldest daughter just got married a couple of weeks ago at the Justice of Peace so her Australian could stay here in the states. New will be having a wedding in our yard next year end of August. Will Dalias grow in sandy soil? Because it sounds like a later bloomer that would help our boarder when so much of my blooms are starting to fade. Your bouquets were beautiful!

The news and social media are completely filled with negative and overwhelming things right now. It’s wonderful to walk away and be selfish and enjoy the many summer blessing rather than dwell on what’s going on around us. My summer joys so far have been: going swimming with my family, pushing my son in his swing in the late late afternoons, collecting vegetables from my garden, spending time with a really good friend having play dates, and going on vacations! Thank you for the tasty citrus water recipes and reminding me to continue my selfish summer joys.