How I want these to find the perfect home...

I came across these Wakefield Windsor Ware Johnson Brothers (England) plates & I fell in love - I've kept some for myself, leaving four to find a special home! They are classic bread (or in my world dessert!) size.  The floral detail & coloration are exquisite. Each plate is delicately cupped in the center. Perfect condition, no chips or cracks. I'd be thrilled to share them with anyone here for what I paid (3.00 each) plus shipping (shipping would be only exact amt - I'd weigh out however many of the four available you care to adopt - then box and check fee at post office to let you know precise amt of shipping) Sales tax also if shipped to NYS. Click pic for better view. If they call to you, email me

It's Simply A Matter Of Priori~huh?

 I'm aware (and oft read) that it's a simple matter of prioritizing ones' way to efficiency.
Indeed?

In my world it's a bit more priori~huh? (as opposed to prioritize, lol)
It's not so much a question of setting task to list.
The problem is where in the list tasks belong, you see.
Apples and oranges confused comparison.

 There's the painting ~ ongoing & never-ending (lol) ~ of the old girls' exterior.

The numerous remaining beautiful old windows that need caulking still.

Barn lofts to finish clearing.

Attic corners yet to organize.

Porch repairing and 'spiffing' to be done (period fretwork found!)

Woodwork to be oiled.

Summer Kitchen porch floor (remember that post?) to be stenciled.

Bread to be made and baked (did you know there are stats confirming

 the cost - even with energy fees included -

 showing home-baked bread is half of the cost of commercial bread)?

Not to mention the aroma and 'yum' factor, lol

There are walks needed to ponder where the bees will beeeeeeee living/hiving

Where the chickens will eventually live/roost/lay/peck.

And this above is the 'short list' of to do's

Now I ask you, how do you prioritize such a list?
Ah yes, that's how I arrive at
"priori-HUH"?

Never Lonely

I'm always a bit surprised when people mention to me that living on a farm

must be isolating, lonely, worrisome.  I suspect a certain portion of

that reaction comes from the obvious ~ compared to the city or

suburbs the vastness of nearly 50 acres (tho very small by true farming standard)

is so unfamiliar that the pure distance and space around me strike them as significantly

'alone'

Then there is the very real connection of 'life to living' in that on a farm you are required to interact intensely with the reality of your day to day needs (and those of your crops and livestock if you have either). Tho wells and pests (aka varmints) and large broken equipment  are not unheard of in city or suburbia they are somewhat, or totally, dealt with by others. A phone call to landlord or repairman.

So to be certain, whatever degree of farming/equipment/livestock/water/building repair there is in a farm it is almost always something you deal with directly. Hiring someone is often impossible and if found the ongoing costs would break the bank.

So you learn, you read, you watch, you try and fail. Try and succeed.

You quickly learn the words 'budget' and 'save' and 're-use'.

The phrase let nothing go to waste from water to material to time becomes a mantra for survival.

But lonely? No not at all. 

The amazing thing about people who always have or eventually choose to live close to the land, to be close to the seasons, watchful of water from rainfall and rain barrel, winter melt to rain-shower embrace the concept and practice of commuity. The sharing of it all.

Neighbors are not the next people down the road. Neighbors are people who care. Who teach. Who ask how you are and then actually listen. Neighbors in farmland share news about fox sightings if you have chickens. We all show up to help each other with roof jobs. We loan equipment, we find (and leave to be found) things on each others' porches that are useful or needed or to give a bit of cheer in hard times. Yes, there sometimes is the bad person, bad event. Such is life anywhere.

But day in, day out, season after season, the mentoring, the laughter, the shared stories of hard work, big barns, talk of fox and bear, worries over rain and wells are the norm. Kitchens in Ag districts in the middle of nowhere sill fill with the aroma of handmade bread. Laundry still floats and drifts on clotheslines rather than in dryers with softener sheets.

Days pass quickly, nites pass quietly.

And when there's time to visit, to talk, to learn to compare notes while visiting it's heartfelt and wonderful. The people here have hearts as big as the acres that surround this farm. I am so far from lonely because I sit right in the middle of acres of caring kindness. Life here is good. Hard work with tremendous responsibility, but filled with good people.

Do Not Heed The "T"

A Saturday Morning Farm Joy

A warm cup of coffee
A moment of sun

Three Barn Swallows
Exploring the sky

This morning they were swooping

over the cornfield with precision and beauty.
And unfettered joy.
Watching them the farm again

whispers to me

"The world of man whines and clamors of disaster

but life moves forward, unaffected, based upon

the real, true, honest things"....

The farm is old, wise, sometimes tired.
She is gentle and she is harsh.
She is life and death.
She is sorrow and she is joy.

She is both fulfilling and exhausting.
The farm is a demanding dream.

But always she is a teacher

for

the

willing

student.

I'd Love To Build A Garden

In this pattern

The Spiral would be the pathway

of stone or brick or bark or paver

with flowers on either side

I have ever and always been drawn, felt connected

to the ancient symbol of the spiral

It is a visual representation of my heart & soul

whenever I was turned inward

traveling deeper into myself

to sort things out

to ponder

to understand

to hide

to heal

to catch my breath

to strategize
to dream

to relocate my core

my 'center'

It is equally accurate as a visual icon

for times when

I am moving outward

outside my core

to share

to teach

to adventure

to learn

to breathe deeply of the world around myself

to take chances

to dream

to dare

With a good strong invisible lanyard

to my center, to my lifes' core

There are no limits to the outward reach of a spiral

And center is always exactly where you left it

At the core
At the middle
Where you start from,

Where you return to
Always

Yes, indeed, I  think using

the simple, ancient, beloved spiral

I could create

 a remarkable and symbolic garden....

Now I need only decide what to place

at the center

at the point of alpha and omega

A flowering tree?

A bench?

A statue?

A fountain?

Nothing at all?

Hmmmmmm.....

I'll have to ponder that point a bit further

(Your thoughts and suggestions are warmly welcomed)!

You Never Know

What will stroll by at the farmhouse! lol

I was out weeding when I caught movement
on my little road from the corner of my eye.

Out came the camera to capture

and share with you my not-very-old

out for a stroll (and a bit of fresh grass munching)

visitor

He/she was not the least bit bothered by me
or my camera. I just missed a great shot of her

looking at my pile of weeds as tho she were

asking

"if you're not going to eat those my I have them"? lol

I think with a bit of a coax she would have come over

to much on the freshly pulled pile of weeds and deadheaded bits.
Tho truth be told I wouldn't want her to become
to human friendly. That would be bad for

him/her come hunt season and I suspect bad

for me and my flowers/garden all season roflmao

Alternatives To The Toxic

I'm far from 'uber-green' in lifestyle
Yet I strive towards better choices

No matter where you reside

city, suburb or farm

there's equal opportunity to ponder

the effects of endless layers of chemical(s)

upon the land, the sea and all living beings.

(click skull for image credit)

  Without fail each day upon the farm

amid bird and bee, drinking water that flows
directly from the land well & watching the crops rise

from the earth I am yearly more aware.

More aware of the close and abiding consequence

of each and every decision, choice, action taken
(or ignored).

That shared and said, I thought I'd pass on this link
While I can not vouch for the truth or safety of each suggestion
(and I was not asked to nor compensated in any way for sharing the link)
it strikes me as a good reference of alternative non-tox cleaning uses for
baking soda. A wide array of versatile enviro-friendly applications and

as an added bonus baking soda is much more cost effective

than commercial cleaners.

No doubt I won't immediately (if ever) employ all 51 suggestions :-)

Yet I am equally certain any I do employ will be for the better.
Better for the water in the well, the bees, the veggies, the birds

 for me and each of my neighbors.....

I'd Meant to tell you #2

The other day

(I beg you not to query which or what
day it was for I'm I'm 'oft found unable to pin
the proper 'day-name to a given moment in time)

It's my favorite way for time to be - full yet unconfined....

So, the other day while pulling and preening images of the farm

which comprise the pages to the book of my life here I found this shot.
Tucked amid the curious & heartwarming & harsh & comforting &

the immediate of my now within
the ever-long-reaching timeline of the farm herself
I found this image.

It's an oddly angled shot of the farms' coffin door and her main door
A picture I took in the very early days after my arrival.
Odd. Not the finest composition nor quality.
 This image has filtered past my vision more times that I could recall

It's a simple unassuming shot

The other day, for reasons I have learned not to question
it had something to say.

Something to tell me

as it appeared yet again

as it hovered dutifully before me

It struck me as somehow different.

What I knew instinctively is that the image was no different than ever it has been.

What I've come to understand (because farm taught and I listened ~ eventually)
is that I have changed & with that I am able to see, to connect, to understand,

to grasp the message within this image...

What I'd meant to tell you is

that this picture so long ago captured
reminded me there are almost always

two doors to choose from

One door you may desire ~ the other not a bit

One may call to you, yet you find it locked

It may be you enter one door
only to exit from the door opposite

You could go in one door and exit from neither....

And there's even the possibility of

hovering between
the two doors
lost in evaluation

or frozen in fear

considering options
and outcomes
looking for some guarantee

Options require choices
Choices are 'oft neither simple nor clear
Evaluation and Fear should  not
Be confused, one for the other

This pictures's been patiently waiting
to tell me or perhaps remind me
of all of these things

And I'd meant to tell, to share, with you...

Text and Image by FIDF Copyright 2012

Memorial

Ponder not the right
Nor the wrong

Of conflict

Ponder not
Wars Long Gone
Or wars still ravaging

Good Souls

And those who love them

Think, rather, of the belief

The dedication
The sacrifice
Made for years their lives
Or made for eternity

By those who fought

By those who fight

By those who in each generation
Attempt to protect us all
From those who would
Harm us all

Ponder not the politics

The "agree" or "disagree"

Think rather and gently

Of what one must muster

From the core of the soul

To place the service to others

Over self, over family, over friends

Ponder the day those in service will have today

A day unlike ours filled with family, frivolity

Food, friends, comfort, contentment.

Think of those who wait in danger
Wait to again have such happy days

Think of those who never will.

I don't believe you must agree with war
In order to honor the courage, dedication and sacrifice
Given by those who step forward

On the behalf of others

So on this Memorial day
Lift a glass, or a corner of your heart

And speak a toast or whisper a hope for safety
To those who have served and survived
Tho ever changed by the service
And for those who served
And sacrificed everything....

Text by FIDF copyright 2012