Saturdays with Sweetie

Have you ever had a week go by so fast that you couldn’t imagine that seven days had already passed? It seems Spring days are filled with so much excitement and doing those days become endless time every day. We are so excited to see the sunshine and green of Spring in this cottage. It is our first Spring season and so many of our dreams and plans for the future involve using this season to prepare for future ones. Spring is one of my favorite times of the year, I love the cool mornings and chilly afternoons of early spring. I’m not a fan of hot weather, so this season allows me to be outside enjoying the sun before the onslaught of insufferable heat hits. Feller’s precise measurements and DoD ways show up in our garden sketches… You can take the government quality assurance guy out of the office but he sure shows up in the planning and evaluating at home.

We’re excited to be beginning an above-ground garden this week. Feller has been hard at it bringing in two tons of mushroom compost and building the above-ground boxes. We are on a high water table so the boxes allow for roots to have grown room without a swimming pool to grow in. We will fence in the garden for aesthetics as well as for dinner control, for the wildlife see our gardens as a variable feast laid out for them.  Actually, I DO plant a garden for the bunnies and deer, one that we delight in when they dine with us in a separate area of the garden. I love seeing them learn a new home, for the first year they seem to be nervous when no human runs them out of the garden we plant for them, but soon they know the diner is open and bring their friends.

We’ve had two little visitors so far, but they’re birdseed fans.

Mid-week I went to Fayetteville, Arkansas, the home of the University of Arkansas to work with one of our clients and to photograph writer and chef Crescent Dragonwagon. It is my first cover for a book and I’m delighted to have been asked. We gathered to create one of the two images that will be on her book coming out this fall. It seemed Felanie was also into the shoot, so we captured a few of her as well. Felanie has quite the story to tell about coming to live with Dragonwagon, she had been in foster care, we are glad that she’s found happier times and a wonderful home.

Doors went up at the cottage this week. The renovations have been beginning to show the fun parts to me…the polish work.  When you begin with a cottage that has termite damage, poor wiring, and needs just about everything you spend a good amount of investing of your time and income to do things that do not show. This week though, we’re seeing the investment as doors were installed, flooring in the bathroom is about to begin, and we’re beginning to feel like we live in a cottage not a campout.

Friday brought client work in the beautiful Eureka Springs, Arkansas. An artist community high in the Ozarks. I love the work of the Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow, a non profit organization that was founded by folks I truly adore and appreciate. The Writer’s Colony serves writers from all over the world who come to Eureka to write by providing a quiet environment, a picturesque room and amazing well done meals by a chef.  Heavenly!

It’s always so joyful to see the majestic old homes and the quirky fun things that Eureka has to offer. It reminds me of my love of old homes, after all I grew up in two of them! I had the most amazing gluten-free sandwich for a picnic lunch with a new acquaintance. The sandwich was gouda, cheddar, and apples with bacon on gluten free bread and the crispest french fries you’ve even known.  Oh.my.goodness. They had me at gouda!

A friend invited me to share in her irises and daffodils at her beautiful home in Arkansas. I came with anticipation of a few irises to add to an almost non existant cutting garden and instead she had rows and rows of them for me to help dig up and take home. I could.not.believe.the.blessing and her generosity. The irises are purple which is one of my favorite colors for the garden!  My friend Venessa and her grandchildren were there to help and it was just the most blessed time. Venessa’s mom and dad, and uncle were welcoming and they worked so hard to dig up things for our yard. They have adopted us as family and we’re delighted! We spent Palm Sunday Eve together for an Easter Egg hunt and it just made our Easter. Venessa’s mom taught me that in her community gardeners were taught not to say “thank you” for gift plants but to say “I appreciate it,” and to pass on the appreciation by growing them well and sharing again.

I surely love knowing that the flowers, strawberries and bulbs had their start in someone else’s garden, especially a home I know is full of love and family. We’ll pass on our bounty and divide it again. Isn’t that what love shared is? Multiplying love and dividing it to share again! The children are the most amazing heart you’ll ever meet. Their mom and dad, Grandmother and Great Grandmother have sure invested time in protecting their hearts and engaging their minds. It was delightful to be with them. I was shown where dinosaur eggs are in their garden, the hole that goes all the way to China, and the place where the wild things live near their home. That hand held energy that is so excited to show you is such a precious trust from a child to the adult they desire to share with. I was deeply honored to hear their stories…and see their treasures.

I came home to the new area for editing that Feller had upcycled in my office ready to go. I love focusing on one task at a time, writing by hand, writing at the computer, editing photos and video, and working with customer service calls. We have 3 areas defined.  The office is 12 x 11 and at times we need three of us working within its walls. This new area allows for one of us to be editing pictures and movies for clients without interrupting whoever is at the writing desk or whoever is fulfilling Mary Kay orders or putting together event goodies.  The triple french door windows make this possible.We have beautiful views all day long. We get so much done in that little office and it is a joyful place to be. So much more fun when we can work and talk in the same space now that Feller has brought in this new work area. Madison gifted me the beautiful plant to liven up the space inside to match the beautiful outside.

Feller had been working on getting Jay Telephone to come out and install fresh lines for our internet. We live rurally so uploads had been like at 1 mb per minute.  A hard thing when you’re working is internet. The boys came out and laid new lines though and doubled our capabilities! Wahoo!

Ladybird didn’t like those fellers not one bit but she sure enjoyed barking at them from Dad’s arms. Last Saturday we gathered a few friends for brunch and Miss Venessa’s flowers still are beautiful this morning. What a blessing friends are, and I am so very thankful for the ones in my life.

What will be happening at your house this weekend? Our day will be about visiting the Hanna Farm in Bentonville, going to Farmers Markets along the way, and getting our new plants in the ground later this evening. A full day that will bring a good night’s rest. Hope you’ve got some fun and down time in your schedule too!

Happy Saturday! We are off to live life out loud…and create and capture some stories worth telling.