Family Time...

As summer winds down and school nears, our family found time to have one more summer adventure together in Northern Michigan.
I am so in love with the state that we live in! I am lucky enough to have been raised here and I love the history and folklore that is Michigan's story.

Woodlands, lighthouses, canoeing adventures, fishing, beach-combing, and swimming...this made up our adventure this year. Oh! And wild blackberries right beside our campsite.

Wandering Thoughts of Summer...

I have long been absent from blogland. It was not without want to be here. I have had so many things going on in my life... who doesn't these days? Summer is such a busy time of year!
I must admit that I really, really dislike summer.
I was made for cooler weather.

Autumn is sheer perfection, in my book, and I cannot wait for it to be here!

In the summer I come to a halt. It is far too hot and humid for me!
My garden suffers horribly because of my distaste for humidity.
Although I did manage to grow some beauties this year...


I wondered why my son always had a yellow nose until I saw him sniffing my lilies.

Aren't my Hollyhocks gorgeous?! They look like crepe paper flowers!


I found a collection of hands on one of my treasure hunts. This one is an antique mold from a rubber glove factory.
You can see here how well some of them fit into my show displays.
I think they look very gypsy-ish.

Riding life's roller coaster is amazing and exhausting, isn't it?
There are so many things that have happened lately that really make me appreciate my life and the wonderful people in it.
In the midst of all the government and economical hardships, I have come to realize that my job is to not only care for the people that I love, but to do it in the most self sufficient way that I can.
We need to get back to our roots.
We need to make things from scratch and get our hands dirty.
Bake our own bread and mend our clothes.

I have always been very frugal. It is almost a game with me to see how little I can spend on things. I have been putting that to good use lately.
I have lots of experiments going on around the house right now.
Making my own wine and building an outdoor adobe oven are on my to do list.
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I am in the midst of art show season. I have a small break until September and then I have 2 weekends in a row with shows.
I have revamped my booth a little this year and am happy with the results.


This was my great-grandmother's dress. It is amazing!
I have lots of new goodies in my shop.

Here are a few new goodies...




I have many new things to list and a whole heap of new ideas swimming around in my head.
I have big plans coming up and will be sure to check in more often.

See ya again real soon!!