writing prompt Her own history

THIS WEEK'S WORDS from sunday whirligig: apricots, hay, appear, beef, stone, carry, shoulders, piped, sensors, running, archaic, everything

 

                                         Her own history

The sun was warm on her shoulders as she walked through the hay fields. She remembered being here as a child, running through these fields with her friends, playing hide and seek.

What fun that was!
The thrill of getting caught by surprise... the slight excitement from the possibility of getting lost, wondering if a mouse would appear in her path.

The drying grass that would feed their animals that winter, smelled dusty, and scratched her arms as she wove through it. She knew these fields well, had helped plant them and rode on the harvester as they cut the hay each year.

This was her history.


Now she was grown, and carried the weight of big decisions on these warm shoulders. Now that she and her new husband owned these fields she had to know when it was time to cut and bale the hay, and get it into the barn for the winter months.

Her barn.

The old archaic stone barn was now hers to protect. It protected her hay, and livestock, and she protected it.


Life was a balancing act wasn't it?
She was the child being protected right?

But everything changed when her parents passed the farm onto her,  and her new husband. Now she would continue to build the history of the place. History was important to her, as was the smooth running of the farm. She wanted everything to continue as it had since it was a part of her history.


Already they had to make a few changes like adding sensors to the barn. A nod to the present. They now piped in water for the animals instead of fetching it by the bucket as her parents had done. Did this change the charm?

Should a person protect history by not changing the present or could they coexist?




Could they keep the traditions while living in the present? Would she be able to do all that was needed?




She sensed the sun going behind a cloud for a moment and looked up. Yes there may be rain later, she knew this from living a life here in this place. She learned daily the signs given by the earth when it was time to harvest the apricots, if the hay needed to come in, that the grapes were ready to pick.

 History. 

She knew the history of the place and loved it.




Yes she would carry on. She would protect the barn, the hay and the earth best she could.

( just to let you know, I've fallen in love with these characters and have now written an additional 8 chapters! Wonder what will become of these two?)

I Like Thursdays #99 shops, festivals, and more

Welcome to this week's list of likes! Today I have a mix of cute random stuff, so grab a cup of tea, maybe pet your flamingo, and let's get started!

I Liked these Enormous flamingo sculptures at a garden shop in  Ft. Collins this past weekend.

Around the house, I like the container store pull out shelves DH installed in the bottom of each kitchen cabinet

I liked finding this cow spinner in a box, from a trip to  Rehoboth Beach MD

He keeps getting blown down because we live in a dang wind tunnel.
I liked meeting Emma in the hood...

And Milo loves this little girl who is his age and we must set up a play date

They get along great and would be running partners if their peeps would get out of the way! On the way to Ft. Collins

we stopped in Loveland at Stitches and stuff Quilt  (find them here!) store

Great owner, great supplies and atmosphere! The owner especially likes English paper piecing and has everything to do a project, and ahem, I bought a cool kit to do something later. She welcomed Milo the good in while I shopped...

He likes a good scrap project too, and pulled a scrap out of the pile they were giving to a dog bed making group!

We headed to Ft. Collins next and found a charming mix of art and high end flea market booths, gourmet food, soaps, and people.I've been having trouble with my back, and this was a level place to walk around. We try to do something new each weekend.

I took time to chat to this artist about her work and process...

She developed her technique/style from a love of fabric! She always loved fabric but did not like to sew... hmmmm..... interesting isn't it?  To take a medium I use and do this with it...

She uses acrylic paint, and thick medium to crumple fabric onto canvas, creating rich texture.

I asked if she stayed to muslin, and she said nope! Prints, burlap, cheesecloth, etc.

Also rocks, beads, metal, and other mixed media are incorporated. Her studio is kind of a mess she said.

Rocks, paint, and more

 she has a youtube channel (HERE)  with 59 videos on how to do what she does!!! How generous!

After the festival we walked around the historic town and shopped. What fun we had and I'll show you some cool stuff I found.

I liked this book on America's immigrants (that means every one of us if you go back in time)

My birth mother was from Germany and my birth father was from Italy. My adoptive parents were from Georgia and Alabama so I didn't know my roots growing up.


I liked this mosaic floor and tin goats at a store front

beautiful curved quilt stand

ceramic treasures

salt and pepper shakers, and the flask "I used to drink, but that was 4 hours ago"

from all the flamingo booty, they must be "IN" right now!

This little cutie was on the clearance shelf, must have been too expensive for a broken, repaired item, or I would have bought it. And put it where I have no idea, but isn't it adorable??!

words to live by. Or, maybe be a flamingo amidst other flamingoes since they are fun and pink!

it's why people are coming here according to many

clever business name! 

Milo here... after we walked my poor poodle paws off, we had to finish the day at another quilt shop!
This time https://www.jukeboxquilts.com/
We went in and lookie who greeted me! Whee! Parker! A rescue shepherd who shepherded me upstairs for a romp. Boy he was a fun dude and we would have run all over that shop if the peeps hadn't gotten in the way (again)

Anyway, it was good to meet him, and we chatted while the peeps chatted.
After that we almost went to Wyoming! but stopped at this visitors center for info on future trips

Lee Anna: I liked the painted horse and view of the mountains in the distance.
I liked our sky view later that evening too

When I start painting on fabric again, when I can find my fabric and paints, I plan to use this as inspiration.

Milo's moments

 Hi y'all! Here I am surveying my domain. Yes, I'm King of the Poodles. The little Poodle Prince!
Mama told me a story about the olden days when she was a young pup. When she and her friends saw a VW bug they gave each other a little play punch on the arm, "punch buggy!"

I play a game like that and Mama hates it, heh heh.
I call it "punch bunny"
Every time I see a bunny, or, er, sometimes a rock I think is a bunny, I stop! I stalk it! I YANK the leash to chase it! Punch bunny mama!

she is not amused.
I can't help it, they are so darn cute and fun to chase so I do chase them in the back yard.
How do those things squeeze out of the little squares on our fence?

Anyway, I always like pretty much everything so there! Prince of Poodles! I like that title!

Stay and visit mama's friends keeping their own lists of likes this week. Make Mama happy and join us okay?

what the world needs now is love


.maryinpeoriahandmade.blogspot.com
.http://littlepenguinquilts
.https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/  
  .http://homesewnbyus
letting go the bay leaf 



musings of a menopausal melon 
http://imworkingonaproject.blogspot.com/
https://grammasquiltingroom.blogspot.com/
craftscaviescontras
  http://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/

http://sandysnowden.blogspot.com/
Minou's Minute 
https://quiltingreadersgarden.blogspot.com/
http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com/

linking to these parties:
https://comedy-plus.com/
Pink Saturday!
saturdays-critters-
 http://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/
http://sky watch Fridays
Thankful Thursdays pet parade

http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com
https://www.shabbyartboutique.

I Like # 98 (that rhymes!)

Welcome to this week's list of likes!  I love cut flowers in the house!

I found this little teapot and wondered why I didn't throw it away in MD, as it started life as a lotion dispenser but is missing it's pump. Well, I stuck all the tiny broken flowers in it after buying this at Trader Joes this weekend

Isn't this group charming??? The ones in the tiny teapot were broken and I couldn't bear throwing a blossom away.
Lucky for me, I'm a hoarder of colorful pretty things, and the teapot was perfect to cheer up the sink area!

I love seeing my old IKEA vases having a new place on the mantel at the moment. A splash of color in a neutral world

I loved finding two shows last week:

Food Flirts on PBS  about two older women who are hilarious as they go about their town exploring good food to share. I want to be their best friend! They call surfing the net, "kugel-ing"

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel on Amazon Prime
How did I miss this wonderful new show written by the writers of Gilmore Girls, one of the wittiest shows ever!  Well now that I discovered the kitschy 60's set show with great actors and dialogue, I'll watch them all!

 I like any cherries, but especially Rainier Cherries, and the way washed cherries all look in the wee  red colander!
This foot balm is helping a lot to heal my poor cracked heels. I think I got at at Amazon.

I like Pyrex bowls for use in the microwave.
We have one of those kitchen cabinets wedged into the corner, the ones with hard to reach triangle shaped shelves?

I found an enormouse turntable (18") at Bed bath and beyond, made by oxo, and put it in there to hold our pyrex bowls at eye level. Just spin the tray to find what you want. This one holds 5 big bowls with almost no wasted space.

I like seeing some pretty pottery and glass in the china cabinet again.

 While we are trying to figure out how to store our things in this house, we remember the MD house at a thousand SF less than this one, held it all. Of course, this china cabinet was full, chock-a-block stuffed with pottery and glass and martini glasses, candle holders, vases. It was hidden in the dining room which was also nearly unusable because it was full of stuff too.

After a lifetime of collecting, suddenly one has too much. Much was given away before the move, and now the martini glasses which are beautiful but go unused at the moment are put in a closed cabinet. I decided to only put the most interesting items in the china cabinet this time.

The top bowl and the fushia bowl are both hand-painted craft show purchases a long time ago. Now I can enjoy seeing them.
The blue flamingo vase is an antique given to me by a friend in MD. The teapot was gifted to me by my sister a long time ago, because I was poor and she knew I really loved it.

A couple jugs, cake plates, and bowls. The tall martini glass is for party table top, the pink flowered jug was painted by me as a teenager, the other jug is from a garage sale, the fish bowl is another craft show purchase from the Tampa Gasparilla art Festival a L O N G time ago.

the watermelon is new, a replacement from Trader Joe's.

We have not had a good melon all season. The TJ's guy said they buy them from Texas and the heat wave crossing the whole country has caused them to be bad.






Planes have been grounded from the heat.
Friends are losing homes to rising waterfronts.
Hothouse gasses are increasing to the levels that killed the dinosaurs.
What will life be like once we've ruined the environment?
 I like watermelon and cool weather. And mother Earth.

I Like the cloud/sky pictures Mother Earth provides here most nights

Milo's Moments

 Hi Y'all, see me way up there? Our new cave has a "cat walk" so I can watch my peeps from above. It's odd to me...

Sometimes I can't figure out how to get down there to nibble on them, just to remind them they have a responsibility to keep me entertained. I follow mama up there, stop for JUST A MINUTE to lick some part of my person, and she'll be gone!

I hear her downstairs, I can see her, but how do I get down there to remind her to feed me??? Sometimes I panic and bark and they wave their arms around and blah blah blah in human. As IF I understood all their gibberish. Oh, I know the word "down" and "walk" but down means lay down on my tummy long enough for mama to almost  get to me before darting away. Walk means going outside on the leash to drag mama while hunting bunnies.
Why are they talking about all that while I'm trapped on this cliff???

think, think, oh my dog they are pointing at me now, or pointing somewhere behind me. What? Speak! Speak Poodlish!!
By now I am getting upset, I don't like to leave the Mama and Daddy alone too long or they get into stuff. And how come they can tear up boxes and paper but I'm not supposed to???
Huh? Wha....
because I am an intrepid explorer, and ahem, I've been here before, I happen to turn around and the stairs had appeared behind me! 

 Holy Curly hair! 
Where were they? Crikey, I'd better hurry down 

 and see if there is ANY food left for me! 

That's it, now sit! Stay! visit mama's friends also doing I Like posts today: 
.maryinpeoriahandmade.blogspot.com
.http://littlepenguinquilts
.https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/  
  .http://homesewnbyus

http://imworkingonaproject.blogspot.com/
https://grammasquiltingroom.blogspot.com/
craftscaviescontras
  http://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/

http://sandysnowden.blogspot.com/
Minou's Minute 
https://quiltingreadersgarden.blogspot.com/
http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com/

linking to:
Pink Saturday!
saturdays-critters-
http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com
http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/ 
http://sky watch Fridays 
http://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/ 
shabbyartboutique. 

Writing prompt In the quiet of an evening

The writing prompt this week is from Sunday Whirlagig and I used 8 of the 12 words.

hologram, touch, lips, crown, tundra, stand, lifelong, garden, sings, anyone, parking, close

                                       In the quiet of an evening

She was walking through the park again, as she did at least once a day. Since moving to the big city she felt a strong need for nature to sooth her spirits. 

Funny about this move, she had a lifelong need for wandering and seeing the next thing. She had wanderlust, said her mother who also said,  "happiness is in your own back yard" 

 

Em thought, "I don't even have a back yard now" so where is happiness? 

She was feeling melancholy now, as dusk approached. Somehow the end of the day was at once peaceful and a little sad. Even noises seemed to dampen a bit, colors became a bit softer, edges a little blurry. Even as warm golden house lights began coming on, the world seemed quieter and more inward. It had always been a favorite time of day for her, an introspective moment. 

She approached the rose garden with it's statues and benches, with the big fountain in the center, ever gurgling like laughter. The roses were in full bloom now that the hottest part of summer was on them. She stood close to the statue of the mermaid, as close as she could, and softly touched her lips with fingertips that longed to connect with others. She was feeling lonely now. The statue was so real but not. 

One little bird was singing in the linden tree nearby. Must be seeking a mate. So was she. Wandering and seeing had fulfilled her needs to see and do, but not the one for connection. Would she ever feel that recognition one feels when  finding a love? Someone who looked into her eyes like they had always known her? The contrasting needs of feeling close while protecting one's heart? 

Yes, she had gone and seen, she had seen the world and done a million things. She could fill three books with adventures. She had love affairs that always came to an end when she needed to move on. She met many people, saying hello and goodbye to each as the time came to move on. 

Now in the quiet warmth of dusk, now when she was tired and surrounded by beauty,  she wondered if the real adventure was in the daily union of two people, if sharing life would replace her wanderlust, or if seeing life with another person would be her next adventure. 

The breeze picked up, moving one curl across her face. She felt a warm dog run up to her, and she reached down to pet the crown of a soft head as soft brown eyes looked at her with love. This dog loved her. A stranger sauntered up with a dangling leash, a man with equally soft brown eyes. 

 

linking to:

sundaywhirlagig
all-seasons-

I Like Thursdays #97 flamingos, art, shadows and a poodle

Welcome to this week's list of likes! I like flamingos (surprised? ) I am happily finding some flamingo treasures that have been packed away for 6 months plus. The lovely ceramic planter used to live on the back porch table in MD, now on my kitchen desk.
The tall one footed fluffy haired flamingo was a gift long ago from my sister Patty. She asked if it was too tacky... (can a flamingo item BE tacky??? I don't think so...) (It's a writing pen!!)

seriously the unpacking takes much longer than one might suspect, I wrote a story about that in this post (click here  )
I Like getting the kitchen boxes down to one level instead of teetering on the verge of avalanche.
I also have this crazy idea of finally organizing my stuff, hence piling it in categories on the table til it's all unpacked and I can see what I want to keep and what I no longer need.

It was a mess like this when I did the studio reorg back in MD, it's always darkest before the dawn.

Then there is the issue of trying to find a place in the kitchen for things, at arms reach. I feel like a hobbit the cabinets are so tall here. I didn't even try to take a pic. I love finding my flamingo hand towels, and finding new ones at Kohls

and finding this ceramic hot plate again...

I liked finding my plaster angel and pink quartz rock for the porch

along with the cow planter I think I got when DH and I met. It's a tiny bit rusty but so am I.

I love getting rid of the paper from a box, and finding out my neighbor will be moving so he wanted our boxes! Yea! We didn't want to recycle them, and selling them is just a nightmare. I love that the papers look like a bouquet by the door!!

Kale salad with chicken, and poodle

I liked eating outside at panera last Sunday. It was hot, Colorado is like a convection oven, but I did not like all the smoke from wildfires in neighboring states

It can be choking to me. I get sinus headaches. Poor people losing property from them. And still on the fourth of July, with a ban on fireworks, some eejit set off enormous ones in our neighborhood!

Stupid stupid.

We went to the Cherry Creek art festival in Denver on Friday. You know me, you know I love going to an event especially an art festival. It was hotter than you can imagine, (Milo stayed in the AC at home) but wonderful and deserves it's own post later.
I wanted many items but only got lunch, a really terrific Thai dish made in the worlds biggest wok

And I really wanted this etched glass bowl... more pics later

One artist did not allow me to take photos of his lovely sculptural baskets, but I looked up and saw this shadow of trees through his tent, so here is my artistic shot for shadow Sunday

I liked this post by Ann at     ( https://fretnotyourself)

It was an artistic discussion that really got my creative thoughts flowing. I can't find supplies at the moment but it was so interesting I wanted to go find them! I also loved this quilt, the way the two outside borders blended but also contrasted creating depth.

Milo's Moments 
Hi Y'all. I'm trying to get adjusted to the new cave, I even peed in the back yard. Finally one large enough to handle a poodle's pee. (I wouldn't go at the rental too small yard) This week I've been meeting dogs like 
Floyd the pug (hi Aunt Nancy) 

and Mooch

And the neighbor's son came over, and we played chase me and we played fetch the ball and I heard Mama laughing from the porch as I dragged him across the yard by a big stick! He was so funny running along while I tugged the stick! 

Please visit these friends also keeping track of likes this week, and consider joining us, just let me know in comments if you do an I Like post. One anything that made you happy this week. 
.maryinpeoriahandmade.blogspot.com
.http://littlepenguinquilts
.https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/  
  .http://homesewnbyus

http://imworkingonaproject.blogspot.com/
https://grammasquiltingroom.blogspot.com/
craftscaviescontras
  http://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/

http://www.daybyday
Minou's Minute 
https://quiltingreadersgarden.blogspot.com/
http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com/

Linking to:
Our World Tuesday
Travel_Tuesday 
https://comedy-plus.com/
sundays in the city
shadow shot sunday 
Pink Saturday!
saturdays-critters-
http://backroadstraveller.blogspot.com/
Thankful Thursdays pet parade
http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com
http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/