Antique Roses

A couple of years ago, I was blessed to find People With Dirty Hands in a thrift store. It was love at first sight because of the name. And then the introduction… good heavens! I also want to one day be an old lady in an untidy garden.

This book introduced me to the world of antique roses: tough old girls that thrive in the worst of conditions with little or no care. Admirable. I sent away for the Antique Rose Emporium’s catalog and started dreaming.

Then, on my wedding anniversary this year, Mr. Farmgirl treated me to a trip to our local nursery. I love to go there and wander around. This trip, I was looking for a Wisteria. I left with 2 grapevines, a honeysuckle, some Dinosaur Kale and Rainbow Swiss Chard, and 3 antique roses that I found on sale for $5 each! (The danger of wandering around this place.)

The ARE sells their roses for quite a bit more than that. I felt so spoiled! And excited. The names on the tags were indecisive- antique rose, unknown. OH BOY! It’s a Surprise! The kid in me exclaimed.

I brought them home and watered them well. Within a couple of days, they bloomed. One is a plain 5 petal pink flower with a spicy pepper smell. The next is a beautiful pink flower with a delicate spiced-rose scent. The third, and the one in this picture, is a creamy eloquent flower with a slight touch of pink in its center at full maturity. The scent is pure rose- like the roses from 80 years ago, and so pure and airy that you have to place your nose inside the flower and inhale it. Ahhhh. Bliss.

Technorati Tags: garden,dirty hands,antique rose,great value

Finally! A Series of Children’s Books That I Love

When Lyli was born in 2006, I shopped and searched for the perfect children’s books. I saw many that I loved and many that I didn’t. But none were exactly what I wanted. I dreamed about making my own, and I had all these ideas, but no artistic talent. I really can’t draw. My stick figures actually look like sticks.

Then I thought, but I can take pictures! I had taken a class on Photoshop in college. I made a couple of books and tried to sell them to publishers. No luck. I priced some printing shops. No way. So I printed them as 4 x 6 pictures and placed the “pages” in a small photo album flip book. Lyli loved her books. I gave a few away as gifts and then let it slide. Enter Kindle Fire. I have self-published a couple of children’s books on Kindle. They look amazing on my smart phone, so I imagine they look great on Kindle Fire, for which they are designed. And the kids LOVE them. Mission Accomplished.

Baby’s First Counting Book is free today on Kindle!

And my most favorite so far… (and also the first in the NikiBooks series)…

Old Junk Gets a New Life on My HomeStead

I love to find old junk and clean it up, spray paint it, and add it to my homestead garden.

Here’s the windmill that someone abandoned. A little scrub, a little paint (with help from the kids, of course), a little work from Mr Farmgirl, {Hehehe. He’s going to love that!} and we have a windmill befitting this eclectic homestead garden we’ve got going here.

The blue tail barely shows in these pictures. Sky blue. Gorgeous. And the stem is pistachio green.

Love!

What Does Your Home Say About You?

So I went to the $3 book store last week. <LOVE that place!> and got Moll Anderson ' s Change Your Home Change Your Life for FREE! Yay!

And she asks, "What does your home say about you?"

Mine says,

I live for my kids. 

And I let them decorate. 

And I love it!