The Flower Farm

Forget the chickens and the vegetable garden and the fledgling orchard, Gracious Acres will soon become a perennial farm. A good friend shared his amazing wealth of perennials with me recently and Saturday was "planting day." My mom and Uncle George came over in the morning and helped enlarge a bed . . . . . . planted more in the shade garden . . . . . . then neighbor Laurie came over in the afternoon and helped create this. . .. . . then I tore out old, overgrown perennials in the square bed and created this. . .
Fortunately, there was plenty to share with my awesome helpers.
We had a water line installed in the new building and this is what they left me with: DH says it will settle - - huh?!
Our solitary apple tree has produced the most gorgeous and tasty apples this year. They have a full, tart flavor (perfect for caramel apples!). I think their health is a result of having the chickens free range - - fertilizing the ground and eating the insects that normally devour the apples.

This calls for a federal holiday

The price of gas in Bondurant, Iowa yesterday at 4:45 pm. Yippee. Yes, I filled 'er up.

DH and DD are heading to the lake this weekend. DH's mom sold the cabin there and they're going up to help her close it up. I know it will be a sad time for them (so many wonderful memories were made there), but I pray that we can all find a new place to make many more memorable moments.

Add "record producer" to my credits. This project for work has really come a long way! I'm thrilled with the talent of the local performers we have on our holiday music sampler cd. So far, we have a rock band, a string quartet, a bluegrass band, Sweet Adelines, Men's Chorus, barbershop quartet, a guitar & violin duet, and the community band. It ROCKS! We will wrap up the recording on October 3rd and send it off to be mastered and then reproduced in Texas. It will be on the shelves by mid-November...whew!

Any day now

Any Day Now

The leaves will flash their brilliant inner beauty
Geese will fill the skies calling for all to follow them southward
The air will have a bite of cold against the warm ground
Frost will glisten on the tips of the black eyed susans

Nature will glorify God's earthly creations.

Fall is here!

And my allergies & "annual fall head cold" have settled in. Blech!

I absolutely love this time of year when the days are warm and the nights are cold, the leaves reveal their inner fire, and the fruit of the apple tree is irresistable to young & old alike.

Believe it or not, it's also time to think about Christmas card photos! I had a shoot today and here are a few "keepers" . . .

Lovin' this

The local community college bond referendum passed last night -- that means the downtown theater will be restored as a multi-use facility for performing arts and college classes. It also means that a new student activity center will be built on the campus and that a new welding lab/technology center will be built adjacent to DH's building!

DD's elementary open house was last night - - what a riot! Tons of kids and their parents (& grandparents) were there to tour the school, meet the teachers, and meet each other. DD was so proud to show us where she sits, the activity stations, her art & music rooms, and where she eats lunch. Wishing I would have brought my camera.

Kinda lost my mojo lately with taking pictures. I'll call it a "creative lull." Need to get it back by Friday, though . . . Craft Night at church!

Here are a few of the photos I took of the family a couple weeks ago: More will be posted here later today.

It's called "Labor Day" for a reason

As many of you know, there is rarely a time when there is nothing to be done on a farm (no matter how small it is). Especially during long weekends. Such was the case at Gracious Acres this weekend.

DH checked several things off his list this weekend by getting the new corn stove installed. We stoked it up last night and sweated just to enjoy the "first fire of the season." It will be so nice to have that going this winter!

He also accomplished a lot out at the workshop, getting trim on the windows and doors, "skinning" it with metal coil stock (never needs paint!), and getting a good start on the siding.

The lawn had to be mowed . . . again. I guess we're finally paying for not having to mow during the month of June! It would be so bad if the belt on the blades didn't break half way through the job. Thankfully, we have a "standby" riding mower.

Sent these to my friend (the mother of the twin boys) and I got a nice call from her on Sunday as she was walking through Central Park in NYC.

I figured the boys needed something "countrified" being in the big city & all. I made the monogram placards from paper scraps & tied them with ribbon so they can be hung on a hook, doorknob, or corner of the crib. Fun little project.