Doin' the Farm Crawl!

Today Scott County hosted a "Farm Crawl"!!!  I was only able to attend my favorite farm, Miss Effies Country Flowers and Garden Stuff.  There were guest vendor's at each farm too!  It was a chance for the community to tour farms, see demonstrations, buy locally made products and talk to vendors.  Isn't this such a great idea?!  I hope to make to all of the farms next year!

Here are a few pics of our lovely day!

chicks and ducklings to love!






and you know I loved them up...



My favorite goat Chamille!





She needs me I think.

Goats are from Zen Goaties!

artisan lemonade was refreshing! From Slow Food USA

Spinning! I forgot to get this gal's name :(

My favorite mode of transportation - A hayrack ride to the farm from the gravel road.




Cathy's (Miss Effie) special touches are all over her farm!
Wouldn't you just love to nap under this willow tree?
In this bed?
Eye Candy everywhere




My daughter, Sophie, Rockin' her new hair color and lovin' up a fat cat!





Miss Effie's teacup tree!

 

More to come from this Wonderful Rural Route place! I've met many like minded women here and I hope to see much more of all of them. Hopefully, as my blogging skills grow, I will be able to link all of you, to all of them!

 


 










SWEET WAY TO CREATIVELY WRAP A WEDDING GIFT

 Weddings can be so much fun!!

Guess who caught the bouquet?!

That's right gentlemen!  I caught the bouquet!  Is my

farmer prince charming

out there?

Somewhere....

Anyhoo...on to the subject of this post!  I attended a wedding yesterday and thought I would share how I wrapped the gift.  The groom is a photographer, so I bought them a special frame for a picture of their special day.  I first wrapped with the plain tissue paper that the store wrapped it in to protect it.  Next, I affixed a pretty little floral piece of scrapbook paper.  Then I tied it up in a pretty little lace remnant. Topped it off with a glittery wired bow and a few floral stems and Presto! 

 An elegant gift wrapped like no other!

The new Spray Park in town!

Centennial Park in Davenport, Iowa is located on the banks of the Mississippi with beautiful views in every direction.  It includes a skate park, a dog park, gazebo and more!  This year they added Spray Park!  My daughter and her friend Abbey and I had a lovely afternoon there today!  I highly recommend a visit to the new Spray Park located in Centennial Park!

Me! Stephanie.

Splish!*****Splash!



My youngest daughter, Sophie

Sophie & good friend Abbey

                          


                               Drip!***Drop!



Beautiful views in every direction

Ahhh day well spent!
Kudos to Davenport for creating such a happy place!

Monica and daughter, Layla of Bieri Farms let us come and pick  some green beans today!

My daughters, Ellie and Sophie helped pick!

click on any picture to enlarge the view

Ellie's bean is a smile and my bean is a mustache!

                    

What a fun way to spend an afternoon  with my girls! 

Thanks again to my dear friend  Monica for her hospitality!

Looky what I found!

Just yesterday my 14 year old daughter, Sophie and I were out for a drive with her new permit. Look what someone in the neighborhood was throwing out! This gorgeous hand stitched, time worn quilt!  Even my daughter knew to pull over so mom could pick this treasure from the curb!

Our vehicle stops for good trash!

Felix gives this find a two paws up!

I just don't understand why some one would throw such a treasure away!  There are a few little stains and rips, the back is a pieced together crazy quilt and I wouldn't have chosen the binding they used. BUT, it's a handmade treasure none the less!

The crafter probably made do with what they had and I love it!  It may become pillows and other cute stuffed shapes eventually, but for now, I think I'll just enjoy it as is.

Garden Bounty in Iowa

Blessed are my gardening friends who share their bounty!  I guess I can cross zucchini and cukes off of my Farmer's Market shopping list!  Thank you my green thumbed friends! Time to get busy cooking!!

Master Bath Details

I just love the way my master bath turned out! Very vintage cottage I think.  This little vignette cost me pennies!  All garage sale and estate finds.  Pink roses just kind of evolved in this room.  I think the only thing bought new in this pic (although, I'm sure it was on sale, *giggle*)  is the  toothbrush holder turned hat pin display! I love to

"re purpose" things don't ya' know....



click on any pic for a close up!

To the right is another corner full of inexpensive finds.

I was tickled pink when I found the mirrored shelf at

 West Kimberly market!  I think I payed $10 bucks for it! 

*The peonies on top were from a dumpster dive I took at the mall (they were from Bath & Body Works and not a thing wrong with them).

 *I stitched the little chicken scratch pillow in High School sewing class.

 *The little Bailey's Irish Cream his and her cups are so charming aren't they?

*When I worked as fragrance manager at a department store a few years ago I started collecting the little mini fragrances, which were gratis at the time..cha-ching!

 *Add a few colored bottles, heart

shaped rocks  and millinery flowers to the mix and...Voila!

There are no windows in this room so I just had to add a faux one! The cross stitch was done by my children's

grandmother when she was pregnant with their father (very nostalgic and special).  I collect little purses, vintage and new, whatever catches my eye!  I just love the picture of the children playing ring around the rosy!  Yet another 25 cent garage sale find!

Tinted Wildflowers!

Hello friends! 

 Well, my tinted wildflowers didn't turn out quite the way I remembered them the first time I did them!  Here's some pics of my second attempt!  You'll notice the red is not pictured...it was kind of a flop....

TIPS TO ENSURE GREAT RESULTS:

*Use fresh flowers, not wilted

*Any white flower will work

TO AID ABSORPTION:

*Trim stems pretty short

(tint doesn't have to travel far)

*Slant cut stems under warm water

*1/2 cup warm water to 20-30 drops food color

mystery painting

Today I picked up this unframed painting on canvas!  I got it at one of my favorite places, Habitat for Humanity Restore.  It cost me a whopping $1!!!  I just painted the master bedroom and I love the way the painting blends!  I always ponder who the artist is and if they would be happy with my display of their work after I pick up such things... Anyway, I think my pooch, Felix likes it!

Iowa wildflower/weed update

Food coloring added? Check! Red? Check!
                                                        Blue? Check!
                                                                  Orange? Check!
Displayed in pretty little milk glass? Check!

Changing color yet? Nope. Not yet!

I did it! I created my blog! Yippee! I've been wanting to do this for so long!

These lovely little lacy ditch weeds are all over the place this time of year in Iowa.  I don't know what they are called, but I just love them!  When my children were little, we would pick these lil' lovelies on our walks.  Then we would place them in different glasses with a little food coloring added to the water.  It was magical to watch them suck up the color through their stems and change color over the next few days!  Now my children are grown and busy with their own lives, but when these wildflowers/ weeds appear It brings back sweet summer memories!  I will post pictures in the days to come to show you their magical transformation!