Animal Babies!

Animal babies!

Need I say more?!

Everyone knows spring brings babies,

and we saw the proof of that here on our little country acres this spring and early summer.

I'm gonna make a confession right here and now...
these pictures....I kind of took them like...almost a month ago.
But I'm too lazy to go take new ones (AND it is reallllyyyy hot outside, so I know you'll forgive me).
Besides these are SO cute!
Just know, all the babies are growing up!

Say hello to this little cutie!!

This adorable pup was a a stray that some of our town friends

found wandering about.

After asking around and putting up posters that sat for a week without response,

we decided she was a drop off, so we got to keep her!!

We don't know what breed she is, her coloring looks similar to a German Shepherd, but she has small paws and a curly tail.

We *do* know this much... she is 100% adorableness!

Case in point.

She loves eating the garden plants and cooling off in the damp dirt.

I told her she really shouldn't be doing that....

...and this is the face I got.

Those eyes!!

*Melts*

Her name you ask?

After changing numerous times over the course of three weeks...

Pepper...Pipper...Princess...Paddy...and those were just the ones we tried out,

we finally stuck with Lucy.

What do you think?

Did we make a good choice?

Let's move on to some of our more furrier editions.

Our first batch of kittens were 'The Wild Ones', given the name

because their mom was the daughter of a stray wild cat that adopted us.

I give you Miss Fluffykins.

She is the only long haired fluffy kit in the bunch.

And as you can see, my sister's favorite.

The two boys we named (respectively) Milo and Otis.

Childhood memories anyone?

Yeah, yeah, I know Otis was a dog...and Milo should have been the orange cat.

Well...it was a cute idea, and my memory just slipped a little and I got the names mixed up.

Still stinkin' cute if you ask me. 

Otis, occasionally called Cheese Puff, is my little brother's buddy.

And the mild mannered, tummy rub lovin' Milo is my baby.

He will just lay in your hand, on his back, while you stroke his tummy.

So sweet!

Lucy wasn't quite sure what to think about the fur balls with legs.

She got used to them and would tease them mercilessly.

In sad honesty, just a couple days ago while we were gone for the weekend, 

she got a little too rough and friendly and we lost one of our little kitties from the later bunch. :(

No fun.

Now we are being extra careful to watch her and train her to leave them be.

The later batch here was from one of our favorite momma kitties, Buttons.

She birthed five kittens, one didn't make it, and was left with these four, now three.

Not long after, Wild Momma Cat up and left, so Buttons adopted

the three Wild Kids as her own, with a little help from the Kitten Relocation Services...aka,

concerned kids of the house.

The kittens from right to left we named Callie, Zeus, Daisy and Percy.

Zeus is my favorite from this batch.

I love them in this early, baby tiger, folded back ear stage!!

That should give you your cute fix for the day!

By the way...want a kitten?

Here is to the dog days of summer.

Smuggled Identity, Short Film

Some of you are familiar with my brother's YouTube channel,

and are aware that they make short skits and films.

If not, you can read this post as well as this one, to get in the know.

 

I remind you of them because today I am excited to announce the release 

of our latest project and short film,

Smuggled Identity

 

 

 

Filmed this past spring, I was excited to have my first major, speaking role in this project!

Not only that, but I was brought on board with script writing and editing.

I'm pretty proud of the little work, comparatively, that I was able to contribute.

It was a lot of fun, and helped me better understand the world of filming

that these boys have set their sites on.

 

To date, this is the biggest undertaking they have tackled!

In total, it took about six days of filming, only two of which I was part of,

and countless hours of editing!

 

All around, we really enjoyed making this film!

My brothers were able to work out the fight choreography with friends, 

throw each other around the house, and in general just enjoy playing heroes and villains.

For me, it was fun to explore the emotions of being a bad guy.

I tried to take it seriously, and really put some effort into my performance.

 

What do you think?

Would Loki be proud?!

 I hope you enjoy!

Summer & Ponderings

Hello my lovely, wonderful friends!

Things have been really too quiet around here,

and I knew I needed to peep my head in and check on all of you!

So... summer, right?!

It is here!

Welcome to the days of 100 degree temps, which has brought the rain, storms, hail and tornadoes.

Thankfully none of those last two have made their way to our immediate area.

Yep.

Summer is in full swing.

Happy late Fourth of the July by the way!

I'm sure there is a little curious question that has been pestering you lately....

"Where has she been?!"

I've been gone for about four months, you guys!

I wish I could tell you I was working on a book launch, a store opening, a line of my own designs, or at the least an Etsy shop...but sadly it is none of those things.

Here is the story.

 My heart and energy has been pretty wrapped up in 

mapping out and taking steps towards where I want to go with myself.

That includes searching for a consistent job to fund some classes I am 

wanting to take on the path to having a career or at least a focus for this stage of my life.

Pretty simple and straightforward.

There is also some praying and thinking going on about moving...

 I've made some progress in charting a course, laying down some goals, and getting a direction,

 but nothing has been decided in any certain manner about the move, where or when that would be.

So don't worry about that one yet friends!

Anyway...that is where I've been lately.

All this other stuff kind of zapped my sewing and creative mojo...

even though I have a stack of projects, many of which I have a vision for already!

It will all return in time, I know this for sure.

But I've just had some bigger things that were too concerning to allow me to give much 

(ok, any) thought or energy to being creative.

Aside from not blogging myself,

I haven't even been keeping up with my regular blog reads either!

Sorry about that ladies.

I hope you have all been having a great summer so far!

I do have some upcoming posts to share with you a little bit
of what has been keeping me occupied...sharing some fuzzy new arrivals,
a wedding and trip, and a recent foray into the wonderful world of cakes and cake decorating!
Be sure to check back!
Oh, and thanks so much for not up and leaving my little following of readers.
It means a lot. :)

Franklin Bound

You're back!

Ready for that stroll through Franklin, like I mentioned?

Then let's be off!

For the duration of about two hours, our party of six drove past scenes like this,

before arriving at our first stop...an antique shop, on the outskirts of Franklin.

There I found the most extraordinary doll house I've ever set eyes on!

The exterior was covered with tiny colorful, pebbles, and some of the windows

were made of green and red glass.

There were two stories, and a balcony!

Aspen stands next to it for scale...
she is about, oh 5.4 I would guess {Correct me if I'm wrong dear.},

and it is taller than her!

Shall we have a look inside?

This is the front door entrance...there is a room off to the left...

....which houses an lovely ceiling light and a sweet little 'hanging' painting.

The other door you saw front the entrance,

leads to a flight of stairs in the back... shall we see where they take us?

Look!

It is an adorable little stage with a painted backdrop and a chandelier!!

I mean, how cute!

This upper room was all open and very large...at least for dolls.

While the details were darling, and while most interesting, overall I found it slightly creepy.

So I didn't get it. 

Not to mention it would fit in my suitcase.

And not to mention it cost over $200.

Yeah...not worth mentioning.

BUT...

I did find a little souvenir!

I finally converted to a tea cup lover and collector last year,

and have slowly been building my collection.

I found this old, slightly stained, but still so pretty cup and saucer.

I know...they don't match.

But they are both blue, and they were together, so I went with it.


After a bit more driving we found ourselves in the heart of downtown Franklin!

Some pretty, old brick buildings.

One of our first stops was the amazing store, Anthropologie!

I've always loved the style and look of their merchandise, 

but this was the first time I had been in one of their stores...it was amazing!

Look at this scrumptious collection of vibrant dishware!!

I was completely in love.

These tea cups...I mean...*sigh*...they have little legs!

We went into many more shops...but it was so busy and full of people,

I forgot {or was too camera shy} to snap shots of each one.

I'm really not the type that feels comfortable carrying a camera around 

and taking pictures, but I always wish later that I had, so I'm working on changing that. 

 

We stopped for a sit down on the steps of an old church, I think it was,

which was home to this gorgeous blossoming Magnolia tree.

It was dripping with full, creamy blooms.

 

The bud pods were fuzzy, isn't that interesting?

Our final stop of the night was supper at Whole Foods Market.

Oh. My. Word.

I had never been in one of these stores before,

and I'm telling you, it was pretty amazing!

Any sort of healthy, natural, organic, gluten-free food can be found in this

Wal-Mart sized wonderland of edible goodness!

Oh, how I wish we had one near us.

If you live near one, please, count yourself supremely blessed.

Because you are.

Like I said,

I'm not used to carrying a camera around,

so this concludes my photographic documentation of my week-long stay in Tennessee.

Believe it or not, this was my grandest and best effort to date!

It is my dream someday to go on a trip with the understanding

that we can and will stop at any given moment for pictures...and I will

unabashedly tout my camera along with me everywhere.

Since that day has yet to come,

I hope you enjoyed my present efforts!

{If you want more pictures of our day in Franklin

you can see lots more pictures in this post at Aspen's blog!}

And guess what,
it just so happens that today is Atlanta and Jordan's 1st Year Anniversary!!
 Happy Anniversary you two! 

There and Back!

Hello all!

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately, haven't they?

Can you feel an absent-blogger explanation coming?

I dropped a little hint as to my recent where abouts in this short post,

but in case you didn't catch it...I am {somewhat} recently returned from a week long stay in Tennessee!

About one year ago,

my dear friend Atlanta was swept off her feet and consequently all the way to Tennessee

when she married.

I was blessed to attend the wedding,

but didn't get the chance to see their home.

However, upon the arrival of her baby girl in February

I had good reason and great excuse to make a trip to see them!

I tagged along with Atlanta's brother Cim and sister Aspen

who were also making the trip to meet their new niece.

Here is Auntie Aspen holding sweet, sweet baby Marian!

Honestly,

this little darling is one of the cutest babies I've ever seen!

So, ok, it is my friend's baby...I don't think that makes me prejudice...much.

A bed-full of ladies admiring the baby!

Marian will be a pro at this picture taking thing...

T O E S!!!

She was modelling a new dress, and doing a darling job of it, no?

Aside from the beautiful baby,

there was of course, some breathtakingly beautiful nature to explore.

Ahhh...wandering these lovely woods was utterly and truly refreshing...for this northern girl,

it was like being home. Trees and water bring life back into my soul.

Can you see the little trickle of a stream, just there, meandering its way through the forest floor?

I found this verdant, mossy growth to be most intriguing.

 

 Here is a close up....

it reminded me of tiny tropical trees or something of the sort.

And here we have a log specimen covered in fairy like stepping stones

made of paper thin, mushroom like growths.

This also warranted a closer look.

Ahhh...trees...I just love getting lost in a forest.

So, funny story.

Notice the spattering of trees here that still have their dried, dead leaves intact?

I inquired as to what type they were, but received no satisfactory answer.

Then, lo and behold while further indulging myself in Jane Austen-esque films

after returning home (a past time with Atlanta) I received the answer!

I learned from Mr. Plumbtree aka Tom Hiddleston, in Miss Austen Regrets 

that these must be Beech trees.
I had to marvel when I heard him spout off this little offhanded information
in an awkward scene of the movie. Funny how little things come together.
"Fascinating subject, botony."
{You can see clips from this movie here,
including the very last scene with the beech tree reference.}

Anyway, back to the greenery...

More adorable moss to document.

A nice walk by the creek, just at sunset, does a heart good.

Slightly infatuated with water...don't mind me.

I just love how this gnarly, moss riddled tree hangs over the bank.

Do you see this?!

Doesn't this look just like the flower from Horton Hears a Who?!

I'm not sure what these are, other than they are a type of seed pod-thingy that grows on trees,

they had all fallen off and there was a generous smattering of them everywhere.

Sadly,

 I had not my camera with me the day we saw the most beautiful scenery of all, I was quite heartbroken.

It was Sunday, see? And I thought, silly me, that, one needn't bring a camera along...it was only going to be church, then home again, right?

Big. fat. wrong.

We saw waterfalls...waterfalls you guys!!

Ohhh, it was thrilling...waterfalls are among my favorite things in the worlds,

and these particular falls were nestled deep in the craggy, wooded back roads.

There were steep, towering rock walls to one side, complete with tiny cave holes,

and an ever expanding forest on the other, with the river weaving its way in between.

There were wild daffodils, old abandoned houses, valleys and hills.

 I ran about like a school girl at Christmas, and kept muttering thanks and awe

to God for the beauty He created. 

It was one of those times when it almost hurts, the beauty and wonder of it all.

So, the moral of this story.

Always. Always. Bring your camera.

Did you enjoy this little walk through the countryside?

Well tomorrow,

I'll take you 'round on a little excursion of Franklin, Tennessee.

See you then!

{For LOTS more pictures of sweet Marian and Tennessee scenery,

you can see things through Aspen's point of view in this post!

Including a few pictures of the falls, 

courtesy of Atlanta, who had pictures from a previous visit.}

And the Winner Is...

Sorry this announcement is so late in coming!

Time flies when you are having fun, and the last two days were pretty busy,

mostly spent away from the house and computer. 

So, without further ado, it is time to announce the winner of 

my Vintage Pattern Give Away!

The winner,

chosen by random drawing,

is....

 Delvalina!

Congratulations!

I'll be contacting you soon to get your mailing address so I can

get this package on its way!