Yesterday as I was shuffling around the kitchen fixing up some mint tea for myself and my youngest, she asks me:

5 yo:  "What does 'losing your temper' mean?"

Me:  "It means getting really mad and angry and carrying on in ways we really don't want to be carrying on."

5 yo:  "Well, what does 'temper' mean?"

Me:  "It means getting really mad and angry and carrying on in ways we really don't want to be carrying on." (see how original I am??)

She pauses for a minute, then asks:  "So if you lose your temper, then you're more gooder... right? Because then you don't have a temper anymore."

How does one refute such brilliant 5 yo logic?

Me:  "Yes, I suppose if we all lost our tempers, then we wouldn't have them anymore, would we? And I guess that would make us all gooder, wouldn't it?"

Welcome!  

Bring some farm fun and rural romance to your life!

A warm welcome to you from my little farm shop! I've always hearkened to a taste of the rural romantic life...a sweet patchwork of the gracious, creative, genuine, and simple. Things that combine beautiful with useful draw me in while I'm forever smitten with the comfort and ambiance of the generous farmhouse or country cottage atmosphere. As I come across those types of products...or make them by hand...I'd love my little shop to bring an essence of that graceful homespun coziness to you! 
Thanks so much for stopping in and any shopping you do through my shop is greatly appreciated! So please click on the link below and go take a peek! : D


The Romantic Mom ShoP

Yesterday dawned sunny and gorgeous! In the afternoon we headed up to Ripley for a sledding party. Most of our snow is melted and I couldn't imagine that they would still have enough for the horse-sled. But as you can see, up on the mountain and protected by trees there was still plenty!

Harlow Post brought his team of horses up and took the kiddos round and round with the sled. They can't ever get enough of that!

Tied to one side of the tractor was Bud's large ox...

And tied to the other side of the tractor were these cute little oxen calves...

Roasting hotdogs and marshmallows over a BIG roaring bonfire. Even though the weather was fairly mild...especially for March...it was still nice to cozy up to the fire to warm chilly faces and hands.

Other than dodging the constant threat of snowballs flying through the air...from every direction...and one never knew when an unceremonious slush missile would find its mark...right down the back of your coat...

The best part, of course, was all the horse fun...

And more sledding behind the horse...

Too much fun...and our second year to join in on what's now becoming an annual party event. Nothing like horses, sledding, and lots of toasted marshmallows to make us a bit regretful at the thought of kissing good-bye to winter!




More finds for late winter fun!

Glorious sunshine day! Yay!! We haven't seen that good ol' sunshine in days...weeks! And such temps as these already in March for Maine is very unusual...to say the least! It's sweater weather already...and an early taste of Spring!

Even the snow tastes like 'Spring' snow!
Don't believe me?
Once you taste it...you'll know it!

So munch away my little one,
enjoy it while you can! : D

This has been my little project over the past several weeks...

I also tried out this new super-simple garter stitch hat pattern! It's actually a 14 in. knitted rectangle folded in half and stitched together along the side and top...then just pull the two top corners together and stitch in the center of the hat. Add a poof of a pom-pom and you're done!

This was for my friend Heather's new baby boy, Jacob, so I decided to embroider small red strawberries with pale white blooms in all four corners of the baby blanket...

This is how I wrapped it...and it was delivered. Sadly, the poor little guy has spent the last week or so in ICU from a quite serious respiratory infection. However, they're all happily back home again this week with the baby doing much, much better. And even happier still...she says the hat fits him perfectly!

And I'm so happy to have discovered more fun knitting ideas...and a darling little one to enjoy them! : D

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Bouquets we must have,
And much chocolate, too!

Have a delightful Valentine's Day! : D

A couple of weeks ago we decided to take a 'detour' to Mt. Desert Island. It's quiet and remote and essentially uninhabited this time of year. In other words, our kind of place!

We stopped at Sand Beach and climbed up a path that led to an overlook on the cliff in the background. The temp was around 8 degrees F ...no idea what the windchill was...but the view out over the ocean was worth every minute of frozen faces, feet, and hands!

My son and I decided to ford this stream by jumping it. He fared better than I did. The sand gave way just as I leaped and...well...you get the idea. My hip found the rocks...my foot found the water...but I'll take a giant purple bruise to a refreshing arctic bath any day!

Up the path to an overlook...

A woodpecker's hole in a hollowed out tree...

A gorgeous maze of granite rock...boulders...
weathered smooth on the beach

Young Andrew was thrilled to be following the map into all these new locations...and especially thrilled to find so many signs and roads dedicated to bikes. His dream is to make bike routes...just like roads...with exits, and exit ramps, and signage...the whole deal!

A lovely house we passed as we wandered the roads circling the island...I adore this pale green with red and white trim...

And the beautiful old Inn overlooking the ocean in Bar Harbor...
but our favorite part was wandering
the frozen icicle and snow encrusted
beauty of beach and cliffs.

We're off to a sledding party this afternoon. Our neighbors assure us that they have enough snow for it! We really don't at the moment...ever since the 'big melt' we got a couple of weeks ago...just after I took these photos of perfect snow conditions. So we're on hold. The snow shoes are parked...and the XC skis are resting on the rail....waiting...

waiting...for more of this...this white stuff! Those skis in their repose are way more patient than we are. We know our winter wonderland is only for a time. And now is the time!

I love...LOVE...the scrappiest of scrapbooking ideas....the scrappier, the better! How about this one...a Valentine coupon of LOVE that comes in its own little drawstring bag!

For more scrappy inspiration check out this Designer Garden on 2 Peas In a Bucket. Then let's go raid the scrap baskets...with new eyes, new treasures! : D

Babycakes says, "Hay....Neigh! Check out my new fence! I'm actually staying in this one!" So far, so good. It's a bit rustic...but that's how we like it! Andrew made this fence with cedar posts...he managed to get into the ground before it froze! And the rails are made from saplings pulled from our woods. Eventually he'll get the second railing up all the way around, but for now with 2 strands of electric wire strung along the railing, it's all working very well.  Now we just need a little more snow on this frozen tundra!