A wedding, flowers, and more cuteness!

Not much to share since my last blog...except photos, that is!  Last weekend, I photographed a wedding for a lovely sister-in-Christ from our church family.  When she asked, I warned her that I was an amateur and only about half of my photos come out nicely...truly, only about 70 out of the 200 that I snapped were worthy in my opinion - sadly a bunch of the indoor photos came out quite blurry due to lighting.  Some day, I want to take a photography class and learn how to get the most out this camera!  Maybe I'll find one after the Mary Poppins shows...

I HAVE been capturing images from the homestead, too. Blooming flowers and, of course, kittens!!

Enjoy scrolling through some...a few from the wedding, then some other precious images:

Next post - an update on this crazy adventure called life!

Dancing, Kittens and Hair, Oh My!

That's basically what my life consists of at the moment - three of my favorite things. Throw in regular motorcycle rides through this gorgeous PA countryside with my main squeeze, a glass of Old Vine Zin or Sauvignon blanc every now and again... and life ain't bad!  Indeed, it's pretty darn good!  Yes, I am a bit busier these days...fewer hikes and lazy afternoons with my daughters and my dogs...


I've moved into a different phase of life.  For almost two decades, my focus and attention were honed in on our children and the management of their education and our home.  Knowing myself and the limits of my energy level, this was intentional...this was necessary.

Now that my family consists of 4 young adults, I feel free to invest in some of my other interests.

Can't recall if I mentioned it - Rosie passed her driver's exam, so I officially survived teaching four teens to drive - Woohoo!  So, she is exploring her new independence lately, running errands for the family, job-hunting, and, of course, visiting her friends down in Lancaster County.  She is re-training her off-track thoroughbred, Bea, and getting Isaac in shape for his future career.

Grace began her three and a half-month program in Esthetics - all things skin care and cosmetics. She leaves at 8am and gets home about 5pm five days a week for the duration of her education. When she graduates, she will be a licensed esthetician, able to provide a variety of skin services in medical spas and dermatology offices.  I asked her if she can take ten years off of my appearance...

...She said, "Sure!  We better do it slowly, though, or no one will recognize you, Mom!

Much to my chagrin, my adorable orange kitty, adopted back in October, whom I was SURE was male (Just a "late bloomer"!), is in fact, female...

...Yes, I realize I should've had them both spayed back in April, but... well...life was a bit hectic at the time, sooo....

...Clearly that big orange tomcat that wanders about this area got to Mickey about three weeks after he got to Val......We now have TWO litters of kittens on our little homestead!

EIGHT kittens in all!  I'm a bit giddy about it.  Takes me back to my childhood when Mom would take me along to Tobi Hill Farm in Honeybrook, PA, owned by Bob and Betty Kirk, to pick up our order of meat.  Every summer I could find five or more kittens hidden in the barn or the huge bushes around the property.  PURE HEAVEN for an eleven-year-old animal-lovin' girl!

We actually had a touch of kitty drama this week...

Val decided to move her litter from the barn deep into a large pile of downed trees and brush that Don was intending to burn!  She had already moved the first two when we discovered her struggling to move this pudgy gray male.  He was just too big for her, so she left him at the base of the large pile, unable to get him inside the protected little den she had created.  So, for the last four days we've diligently cared for this little guy, who is intended to become Nate and Brook's pet.  Today, Rosie was able to coax the others into a reachable location and scooped them out.  Mama doesn't seem terribly interested in them any longer, sooooo....

Now, some of you may know this, but many do not - I LOVE to dance.  After many years of lessons and recitals, ballets, musicals, parades, and colorguard, I took a break.  Sure, I still helped out with various theater camps and choreographed worship dance routines for the churches we attended, but for nearly two decades, my kids and horses captivated my attention.





When the opportunity to choreograph several scenes of Mary Poppins for a local community theater presented itself, it awoke something in me that has been dormant for quite a while.  I am having so much fun!  I have a wide range of dance ability in our ensemble, so my goal has been to find a balance that is challenging, yet attainable for all participants.  The show is about 5 weeks away.  While it is going well, we still have our work cut out for us!

I think I may have to find a dance class for adults, preferably tap or ballet, near me when this production is over because I am so enjoying dancing again!



And, I feel like I am more fit now than I have been in a few years!




Lots of excavation and some landscaping goin' on around the property!

 And, those bedrooms will be completed in a few more weeks, so watch for pics of that.



In the meantime, I will photograph and share these adorable kittens.  The 5 little orange kitties need homes, yet, so let us know of any interested families! Just a couple of months until Grace's goats have their kids, too.

   A summer of cuteness, for sure!

A Quick Update....

Time is something I don't have much of lately between the extra hours I've been at the salon since returning from Guatemala in February and working on the choreography for Fleetwood Community Theater's Mary Poppins production, and wedding stuff.  Fortunately, an additional stylist has been hired at the salon, so I can return to a more comfortable 22-25 hours per week come June. 

This means blogging will have to be brief for the time being.


I wanted to take a quick moment to share an update! During the last couple of weeks:



We took a break from the indoor construction work during those nice, warm, dry days and created some flowerbeds and an herb garden.  Don has always wanted some apple trees and we have the perfect spot here, so he planted four, complementary varieties.  They are dwarf trees and don't look like much right now, but still - we're gonna have a TON of apples in a couple of years!

With the wedding only about 4 months away, we found an afternoon to go shopping for the girls' dresses.  The Bon-Ton store is going out of business, so we went there to check out the bargains and Brook chose these dresses for Grace and Rosie, her 2 attendants.  Then, she found her own dress while shopping with her mom a couple of days ago.  Keep moving forward!

Nate and Brook are keeping their wedding very simple.  Ceremony and reception at our church with only about 40 guests, between family and close friends.  It will be early afternoon.  Brook loves wildflowers and sunflowers, so the decor will be colorful, but simple.  Having inherited a number of lovely flowered serving platters and a huge stack of pretty little plates, we will serve finger foods and punch while we visit on the huge garden deck attached to our church building.


And, Val, our sweet little barn kitty had her kittens!  FOUR!  On May 15th.  All healthy and becoming more adorable by the day!

And, finally, Don moves forward on the indoor construction little by little.  Keeping my fingers crossed that Grace is in her own room by the time her esthetician (skin care and cosmetics specialists) training program begins in mid-June.  Rosie's may not be complete until July.  We aught to have a big party when they are both completed!  The girls are so excited to furnish and decorate in their own styles.

I hear we're gonna be blessed with some super weather this week, so enjoy, Friends!!!

Bloomin' Things!

Bedroom #1 on our second floor should be complete by Monday, Thank Goodness!  Then, we start on #2. 

The weather this week has been ideal for completing pasture fencing, so the bedrooms were set aside for a few days.

The locust posts, courtesy of my father-in-law, came from the family farm in Upstate PA!  They replace the temporary fence posts we've been using around the upper horse pasture.


We also created a new paddock that is nearly 3 times as big as the old, complete with a "rock mountain", for the goats!  All three of our does are bred for certain, so I'm sure, come late-August, I'll have much adorable-ness to post about right here.








Besides that, I just wanted to share some photos of Spring Beauty from around the farm...

It is so refreshing to have the warm sunshine, after the spring showers.  The plant life is really taking off now!

This next photo, dear to my heart, epitomizes our family's daily life for this last decade and a half, especially my precious, passionate, hard-working daughter's...

A home improvement update is coming, so keep watching for a new post!

It's "Git 'R Done!" Week

So, Don and I are both rather prone to distraction, I admit.  And, sometimes a bit of procrastination.
The biggest difference is that Don works best under pressure, and we discussed...no, agreed!...that much of the excavating, and both of the girls' bedrooms need to be completed by the first weekend in May.
That's only...8 or so days away! Yikes!

I am confident that Don and Nate can do it...IF...they can just stay focused!  This is definitely a challenge with all that's been going on around here, but not impossible.

In fact, here are some photos of the progress:

That's the excavation work so far.  It's going pretty well!  Won't be long before we can plant grass, thank goodness.  All of us are SO TIRED of the plethora of mud and dirt...that we and our pets track into our cars and house!

In this last photo, I am standing where the detached garage will eventually sit, looking towards where our deck will stand, hopefully by next summer!





And, inside....

Steadily, the second floor is taking shape.  Don overzealous in his promises, first told the girls their rooms would be ready by February 1st.

At the time he was still employed by a Coatesville, PA-based company and driving an hour each morning and evening, not leaving much time or energy for this home improvement project.

Then, it was "early-March"...and then "mid-April"...OYE!  

But, this week and next he purposely scheduled time to work at home in the afternoons, though he still has his own business appointments and whatnot nearly every morning.







In other news, I took engagement photos for Nate and Brook last weekend.


Only 5 months...20 weeks...to go!  Yikes!

Our fun photo shoot, at the pretty park less than two miles from us, where we often walk our dogs, went quite well for this amateur photographer.

We picked the right time of day, thus the lighting was fabulous.

Out of about 40 shots, 14, or so, produced splendid photos, ha, ha, ha!  Not terrible odds for an amateur, though.

Well, anyway, good enough that a friend of ours from church (who is also planning a wedding on the smaller, more practical side) asked me to photograph her wedding this June.  In exchange, she, an incredibly creative woman of many talents, offered to help in any way needed with Nate and Brook's wedding!  I'm definitely taking her up on that offer!  I took a page out of Don's book on that one, with the old "barter and trade" technique.



And, finally...

Remember that adorable, young female cat that took up residence in our barn on Rosie's
birthday?

Well, I guess we delayed a bit too long to have her spayed...because she's definitely been bred!  I can feel the kittens growing inside of her now.

We are thinking she has about two weeks to go.

Part of me is super-excited because I ADORE kittens.  The other part is stressing out about keeping mama and babies safe, as well as finding good homes for the sweet little ones.  Although a few acquaintances have already come forward...including my soon-to-be daughter-in-law and son, providing they find a rental that allows it.  We shall see...







Watch for my next blog post - the one that will feature those completed bedrooms, I hope.  A bit about my "Mary Poppins" choreography adventure.... And, maybe, a few more wedding details?