Sugar Bridge

Hey there Kindred Spirits!

I've opened a second etsy shop.

It's called Sugar Bridge, and is filled with photographs of simple country things.

Stop by and have a look if you like by clicking HERE.

I'm still picking and processing photos, but there's already quite a few on there.

I thought I might as well share the beauty that I am lucky enough to live with.

It's a crisp, sunny September day.

Birds started flocking to the feeder again.

I'm going to IKEA to order the kitchen for our new apartment today.

Let's just hope I measured out everything right!

It's still pretty unreal that we're moving, but I am so happy about it.

I can hardly wait to be in our new home.

How lovely that we will move there in mid-October, when our new place is surrounded with bright foliage!

Wishing you all a great start to your week,

xoxo country girl

Simple Things Of September

a hydrangea wreath in the colors of twilight

parsnips fresh from the soil

pears that look like the freckled belly of a trout

you simple things of september

xoxo country girl

 

trudging through high grass

Trudging through high grass yesterday afternoon, we spotted the first red and yellow leaves, and deer eating clover on the misty hillside. That smile I'm smiling is partly due to the fact that there was a chill in the air, and I was wearing boots and a knit wrap vest. At some point during our walk I realized I had been grinning since we left the house, so I took a photo to remember...this is how I feel when September arrives!


Today the sun is shining, but there's a cool wind blowing, and a dog barking in the distance, and I know somewhere there's a man stacking a neat woodpile. I know somewhere there's a tree heavy with ripening apples, and there's a pumpkin expanding in the last of the fleeting summer warmth.


Did you know that cinnamon-sugar is fairy dust? Sprinkle it on buttered toast and sprout wings.


xoxo country girl

"If you want to be happy....

....try only to please God, not people."
-Leo Tolstoy

 

Excerpt from my private journal, October 1, 2006

"I will never be the tallest, prettiest, or sexiest woman on the planet. It's all a matter of taste, I know, but to Ramon I am precious and beautiful. This is something that I cherish about the people I love and who love me back. It's also what can be intimidating about the city, and meeting new people. People don't meet you with an immediate opinion, and you are forced again and again to analyse yourself according to what others point out about you. Every time you meet someone and they have an impression of you, that impression or relationship makes you think about yourself and who you are and what you represent. When the man who stamps tickets on the train ordered me disapprovingly to remove my shoes from the opposite seat, I knew he left with a bad opinion of me. This is where Tolstoy's advice of only focusing on pleasing God comes into good use. God knows all about me, every nook and cranny of my soul, and doesn't judge me by the little mistakes but rather by the sum of my prayers, intentions, and actions. I believe this to be one of the most comforting aspects of having God be your friend.

It's funny to learn about people who have such strong opinions and demands of others, like men who only date skinny models or women who only date men with money. I know there have been times where I have allowed such people to make me feel inadequate, being that I am hardly over five feet tall and have freckles and a crooked bottom tooth. But when I read books by Gladys Taber, Susan Branch, or Rachel Peden, all these superficial worries drop away from my heart. Any insecurities seem as silly and useless as they truly are. Real human values shine forth again. Values like loyalty, hard work, perseverance, faith, community, generosity, and most of all, love. My thoughts don't revolve around my weight, my skin, my hair, my wardrobe. But rather, I question, have I told my Dad that I love him lately? Isn't there something I could bake for my inlaws? Do the birds have enough seeds in the feeder? Is there someone who needs help? Wouldn't Ramon like a warm breakfast before he heads off to work? Wouldn't it be good to write some encouraging words in a letter to my Mother? These are the little things that make up a lifetime of loving and giving."


Thinking loving thoughts, feeling quiet and creative this first day of September.

xoxo country girl

Welcome, September Of Gold!

"A whiff of woodsmoke on the wind, the first chill in the air, the woods just edged with gold...it is September. Time to air the quilts, pick bouquets of sunflowers; time to put the 'sweet' in 'Home Sweet Home." -Susan Branch, Autumn

These pictures are from Septembers passed, and my heart overflows with joy, knowing this is what awaits us.


I awoke this morning to rain on the windowpane and the warm, musty, comfortable smell of the heater. Ramon had turned it on for the first time this season, and it was the most delicously cozy feeling, snuggling deeper into the feather downs and listening to the rain. 


Dinner tonight is simple as I'm alone: thinly sliced pumpkin sauteed in butter with salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar, over basmati rice. Warm and fragrant. 


We'll be watching the leaves turn golden together, my friends. Aren't we lucky?

xoxo country girl

Lately....

This is what my life looks like lately. Isn't it a beautiful chaotic cuddly mess?

Boston grows every day, and the friendship between he and Kiki gets stronger. I hear them rough-housing in the other room while I type and my heart sighs with content.


There is alot of pee and poo, alot of dog hair and alot of vaccuuming up dog hair...trips to the vet, planning for the new apartment, visits from friends, a shower here and there to wash off bits of grass and puppy kisses, grocery shopping and cooking dinner, changing bedding, baking oatmeal cream pies, taking cautious walks watching out for big dogs and anything little pups might want to swallow, making cake bunting for Halloween and Christmas, hurrying to the post office to send off orders, trying to give equal attention to both dogs, and worrying that Boston will never stop using our home as a toilet.


Did I mention vaccuuming up dog hair? There's alot of that. Alot.


So many great things, stressful things, fun things, annoying things. Life!


I hope you are all doing well....enjoying the beauty and the chaos called 'living.'


Sending you all so much love....


xoxo country girl


P.s. Hop over to Lana Lou's lovely blog where she has featured my current Wish List!
I wonder what's on yours? 

spotted today...

As August's full Green Corn Moon approaches, trees are still, and dew covers clover fields in the mornings here. Soon there will be banks of mist on the hillside and splashes of scarlet on the vines...


xoxo country girl