No Better Place

Water, woods, wildflowers, and cool mountain air. Cannot think of a better place to be.

My dog, my favorite chair, a quiet and beautiful spot for writing, and watching Shirley fish. Trees just beginning to turn, wild asters in full bloom along the stream bank, crunchy leaves covering the ground, magnificent trees towering overhead, dappled sunlight on the ground, and water splashing over rocks. We spent days and hours here. All of them good.

Little Dresses for Africa

When ordering sewing supplies recently, I ran across the charitable project named above. People all around the country are making pillowcase dresses and sending them either to Nancy's Notions or to the founding organization to be forwarded to orphanages where they are distributed to African girls in their care. Having way too much fabric stashed in way too many places, I thought it would be fun and productive to make some dresses and send them along. The complete directions are available at nancysnotions.com, and the dresses are simple to make using actual pillowcases or other fabric. Wide bias tape is used for the armhole binding/ties, and, not wanting to spend crazy amounts of money for that, I am making my own bias tape in coordinating colors, another way to use up leftover pieces from my own sewing. So, there is my latest project, multi-benefit, supporting my local thrift store, cleaning out my excess materials, making cute dresses for little girls, and having a great deal of fun in the process.

Favorite Local Field Trip

Welcome to Svinga Brothers Metal Salvage Yard here in Ocala. It is one of our favorite local places to go when we are looking for something and don't know what it is. These colored pipes bear no resemblance to what one can find at Svinga Brothers. They are but a representation of our fantasy and of a really good "edit" with PhotoStudio.
This is the actual inside and outside of the salvage yard. No matter what you might need in the scrap metal department, you can probably find it here. We have found old signs, metal curlicues, old metal measuring cups (more about these later), and various and sundry other items.
You will find interesting signs throughout, as well as many different young and old men milling about. Janet and I are usually the only women in there if you don't count the cashier behind the glass panel on your way out.
Once we decided on our purchases, the old metal measuring cups I mentioned earlier, they were weighed and priced so we could check out. This is a very exciting place to visit if you like junk metal. We now use these measuring cups out in the garden but may decide on another use if the mood strikes us.

It's the Little Things...

The delight of the day was the arrival of a package from Germany containing a frivolity purchased to go with our new tiny travel trailer which we have decided to name, escarGOt. Inside the usual postal packaging was the creatively wrapped treasure, but we had to take some time to take in the lovely and thoughtful package before opening it. So many etsy artists go to great lengths to make ones purchase a special experience, and this one from missusD was the best yet. As for the contents, we are doubly delighted. These two little snails will travel with us everywhere our little trailer goes. Silly? Sure! Fun? You bet! Mirroring the slower pace we aspire to, escarGOt will be our mascot, our mini home, and the sacred spiral of new creations.

Tahiti In the Florida Bean Patch

Ok, so here's the deal. We planted beans in the middle garden bed and purposely planted Bush Beans so we wouldn't have to stake them. As the beans are growing, we are noticing that the tendrils of the bean plants are getting longer and longer. "Hmmmm", we say, "these beans appear to need staking." And so we begin to problem-solve. Since I'm in the retirement mode and watching my expenses, Janet and I have developed a new mantra. "What do we need; what do we have; what is the next step?" This philosophy has saved us a lot of money.

So Janet looked around at her supply stash and found some boards that are on their way to "rotten". With those, she made the uprights. Then she took a yard tour and found some bamboo that needed to be thinned so she cut about twenty pieces of bamboo. We put these things together and "voila", a bean support structure!! I think it looks like something you would find in Tahiti. I hope we have a good crop.

Places To Visit On A Bright, Sunny Day

I am experimenting with my new camera as I meander through the garden on the second sunny day in a very long time. I found this old feeder while cleaning a flower bed that had been neglected way too long.
This bench lives in the Zen Garden in the back corner of the yard. I love the way the light plays and creates new angles.

Cleaning Up The Look

Just a peek at the new plantation shutters we just had installed on the kitchen window that looks out to the backyard. When we moved into the house eight years ago, we purchased cellular shades for this window but later found that the shades just didn't give us the look we wanted.
We think these shutters give a much cleaner, simpler look--exactly what we're going for these days. Don't you think they look wonderful juxtaposed to the baking center?

The New Pull Toy

Meet our new vacation companion---our new rPod Travel Trailer. This little gem is 18' long and will be pulled behind our Ford truck. We are so excited to resume the RV Lifestyle once again, especially since we won't have to worry about always finding a hotel that is pet friendly for our little Cocoa. The inside is outfitted beautifully and should be perfect for two sassy old women and a dog.

One Step on the Way

How reliably the universe works! This week marks a year since our blog post about seeking another place to live. This week the old golf cart that I use to carry tools and stuff about the yard as I tend to the "farm" has been declared morbidly ill if not terminal. It might be fixable, but the cost would far outweigh its worth and far exceed its purchase price eight years ago. So it has been returned whence it came to be refurbished by the person who sold it to us and then recycled for another's use. We no longer need it as we continue to pare down and simplify. Its duties will be assumed by the John Deere with a hefty wagon tagging along behind. Much slower than the golf cart and not nearly as much fun to fly around the yard in, but then we are slower also. All we need to carry on remains, and a large and open space is now available in the shed. We daily work toward more and more open, freeing space, shedding "stuff" and heading toward a simpler life.