~ The Day After Christmas ~

Hello

friends & folk!

an early evening post for you today...

a quiet, peaceful posting

after the hustle-bustle has gone away for another year ~

our little family enjoyed Shepherd's Pie for a comfort-food dinner, 

 ~ then watched old movies and classic Christmas comedies too!

Our temps here in this part of Virginia are mild ...

...  really mild ~ 60's and bright sunshine today ~

I cleaned the bathrooms, hung the laundry in the fresh breeze outside to dry

and even began my yearly purge of my sewing room ~

all with these old wavy glass windows open to let in the clean air.

I even undecorated a bit,

packing away the more 'Christmas-y' things,

and leaving more of my 'Winter-y' things out...

Every year, I force a white hyacinth bulb on my kitchen windowsill ~

the promise of longer days with every morning's sunrise!  

this window overlooks out onto the back woods behind our beloved farmhouse ~

the woods are deep and the trickling of the creek can be heard after a heavy rain.

our deer and bird friends usually visit us here

and I love watching them while washing the supper dishes ~

 

Now that the house is quiet again, 

{seems too quiet now that the kids and our grand-pups have gone}

I'll take advantage of the stillness...

~ then I will make a simple supper and sit down to stitch.

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ Snow Day ~

a quiet, soft falling snow.... 

a snug farmhouse warmed only by hardwork & woodstove.

hands busy with chores and then needlework ~

a glimpse into my farmhouse snowday:

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori

~ A U T U M N ~

... And then it was.

and I am ready ~

 

I'll once again prepare my old farmhouse

~ for the coming cold months...

 

 

... and remember the important things. 

I'll savor the colors & scents of this season ~

 

and keep them in my heart

for another year...

~ another turn of the Wheel.

... trying to stop time to enjoy it's swift passing,

before my beloved Autumn is gone again.

 

and feed my soul with it's beauty and bounty,

and hold close the memories that will be made 

... with my needle & thread ~

and of friendships and family.

it's true.

{all photos courtesy of Pinterest}

Happy Autumn, 

and a Blessed Mabon to you!

 

~ Blessings from the Farm ~

 Lori

~ Seeing Stars… ~

Yes I'm seeing stars!

and stripes and flags 

and buntings…

and folky-folks showing their patriotic fever!

~ coming soon 

in pattern-form for you to create your own pride :)

stitch

applique

punch needle

and more!

enjoy that sunshine today while you can ~ word around these parts is:

more RAIN in the forecast!!

~ Blessings from the Farm ~ 

 Lori

Lighten Up!!!!

Hi Folks!!!!

Yeah, I know...
that BLACK-look on my blog here sure didn't last long, huh?
teehee!!!

I only did that so that the purples in my last post would really *POP* against the black background...I LOVE playing with my blog, with colors, headers fonts and backgrounds...
...as you all very-well know!

I love darker colors for my Folk Art, but not in my Farmhouse!

So, today I went shopping ~
I've had these braided oval rugs for at least a hundred years, and it shows...
don't get me wrong, I LOVE them..but they are true Make-Do's....
I have repaired them with needle & thread,
time & time again as they begin to un-braid (if that's a word)
~ and now I'm just tired of doing that...

I have two of them, one in the front living room, and one in the back, whcih we call the keeping room, just off the kitchen...

They were OLD when I bought them from my friend Donna Smith (www.picturetrail.com/southernstarantiques)

and showed wear when they came to live with me....

but today, I've decided they have to go....

Oh, HEY Iggy!...

hope I'm not disturbing you as I roll up these old rugs...

can ya lend a hand...um...paw perhaps?

(yeah, that's what I thought)

...in the shot below, you can 'kinda' see how open these two rooms are,...
...but can you see the new rug in that 'far' room?

{{{{{ Really Iggy???
can you ever get enough sleep?
don't bother, I've got the old rugs all rolled up...thanks so much for offering your help...
no, no....you just stay right there with your catnip mouse...
....I've got this....}}}}}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, here's how these rooms look now:

I bought 2 5' x 7' area rugs, in an oatmeal colored burber-ish material...

how light the rooms look now!!!!

I really like how fresh, yet still farmhouse-y they make the rooms look & feel...
somehow larger,...brighter, but more pulled-together...
and since they're neutral, my mind can now rest a bit.
(AND my needle and thread!!!)

see that little slipcovered chair below??...over to the left?
THAT is my li'l stitching chair...
...it is actually a blue/gold/red/green plaid from the 1980's...gifted to me from a family member.
it is SO comfy ~ but I hated to look at it....so I slipcovered it!
(ALONG with the sofa, too)....
now, everything matches better, feels cleaner to me and makes me happy...

me thinks Suzy and Iggy agree...they're very happy with the new slipcovers...
((thank goodness I can wash them!!)

oh look...Iggy has decided to lend a paw after all...

Blessings from the Farm!

Lori