David Austin Roses

If someone tells you English Roses are not worth the money....I give you this......

Have a wonderful weekend

~*~

kelley

The Tale of the Five Buckets

Once upon a time there were 5 lonely farm Buckets.

Not the prettiest buckets or the most expensive buckets...but well loved and used for years and years.

  Many times, people had tried to seperate the 5 Buckets and give them away, one by one.
But the 5 Buckets eventually found their way back to one another. 

 They were, after all... a family

They sat together in a barn as the seasons moved on, wondering if they would ever be used again.

 The oldest Bucket started to rust from old age and lost most of its bottom.

But the other Buckets told it not to worry.... they would always be together...that's what a family is for.

On a rather dull and gloomy day in May, the Iowa farmer came into the barn with a camera.
 "Hurray...were going to get used again"... thought the 5 Buckets.

The farmer set the 5 Buckets side by side and took their picture.
  

He stomped away and said under his breath..."Won't some crazy fool pay me good money for these rusty old Buckets...just a bunch of junk to me"

He put the picture of the 5 Buckets on Ebay and listed them for $29 dollars and .90 cents.

The 5 Buckets huddled together on Ebay for 6 long days, not knowing where they would end up.  

The 5 Buckets were being SOLD!

  

Finally a lady placed a bid for the  5 Buckets. 

Just her and no one else.

  

She thought... "Well, I don't really want all 5 of them, but I guess they're a family"

The lady bought the 5 Buckets for $30 dollars and .70 cents and had the  5 Buckets shipped all the way from Iowa to California.

It was a long hot trip and the 5 Buckets could barely breath in the box.

The Lady unpacked the 5 buckets and put  them on the ground next to her trash cans.

She sighed...and said "What was I thinking...buying these buckets?"

Sad and scared and living with the trash cans, the 5 Buckets  were once again alone.

"How did we end up here"... thought the  5 Buckets.....not even sure that the Lady really wanted them. 

"Where are the animals and the soft sounds of the farm"...they thought.

  

The 5 Buckets felt afraid.  

The husband of the Lady took one look at the 5 Buckets and said:

"What did you buy those silly buckets for?!!"

"Well...I'm not sure yet"... said the Lady

But the Lady really liked the 5 Buckets...they were all very different, but they belonged together...

They were...after all, a family

The Lady took each of the 5 Buckets and gave them a long hot bath.

The 5 Buckets even got new names: Number 10..

P4

53

Number 2

and little (&) Ampersand

On Friday the Lady packed the buckets up and took them for a long ride in the trunk of her car.

The Buckets were scared but they liked their new names...especially little (&)Ampersand

After spending most of the day in the trunk of the Lady's car the 5 Buckets were moved to a warm sunny deck near the Lady's little garden.

The Buckets could smell the horse and the goat in the neighbors yard.

 The trees were really big and provided the  5 Buckets with shade and security.

The 5 Buckets were filled up with pink flowers with big green leaves.

It was a very long trip but the 5 Buckets felt happy and safe.

They were finally home!

 And they were all together.....
because they were...after all...a family

Good night Number 10....Good night P4....

Good night 53....Good night Number 2.....

Good night little Ampersand(&) 

The End

Pillow Giveaway: And the Winner Is

Yea Linda!!!!!

Please email me and I will give you the info so you can go shopping!!!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment to enter.

More fun stuff on the way

~*~

kelley

Friday Follow Up: Nautical

Just a quick little post to remind you to enter the giveaway.  Just leave a comment here.

In this months Veranda they featured a variety of beachy chic homes, including the Cape Cod home in these photos.  The blue pillows above are from none other than Thomas Paul.  

And here are the ones that I featured in my giveaway post!

I can't wait to announce the WINNER!

See you Monday

~*~

kelley

Blogger Profile: Andrea & Faded Plains

There are so many really talented and wonderful bloggers.

 But a few seem to really have a unique and wonderful approach to their life.

I was so pleased when I asked this amazing and talented and I mean really talented "blog friend" to share some thoughts with me and you and she so graciously said Yes!

Meet Andrea.

Yes she is gorgeous too! 

Her blog is called Faded Plains as is her online store.

  

She now lives in the Midwest, Nebraska to be exact and has a life in the country that most of us just read about.  

So here are some fun facts about how she got there and what her life is like:

K:  Tell me about your house, I think I read that you bought it without actually seeing it.  How did that happen!!!???

A:  When we decided to move from California to Nebraska it was in a moment...literally...we talked about it on Saturday and had our house on the market on Monday.  At the time, homes in California were selling like hotcakes so we had to find a home in Nebraska fast.  We searched online, with our priorities being good schools, small town, a little acreage and an old farmhouse.  After seeing a farmhouse online that seemed to meet our criteria we had my brother (who had recently moved to Omaha for a job) go look at the house and tell us what he thinks...after seeing it...he said, "Either you buy it, or I will"...so we made and offer via fax the next day.  Our first visit to the home...was after it was already ours...we pulled up in our U-haul and that was our first look at the town and house... and we love both

As you can tell Andrea has incredible personal style, uniquely her own. 

 I LOVE IT 

K:  That is an amazing story and can you imagine how fun to see your new home for the first time like that.  It must have been like having a new baby!!!  You seem to have a lot of farm animals.  Do you sell your products, like eggs or milk or is it just for your family?  Boy do I sound like a city girl or what.

A:  We have fainting goats, chickens (2 roosters) and geese...as well as 2 farm cats and 2 dogs..but I'm sure we'll be adding to the mix soon...we always do...and we also sell eggs to help pay for their feed.

I don't know about the goats but I'll take one or two of the rest of the group.  Oh MY are those little babies the cutest...
EVER

K:  I love your internet business/shop Faded Plains.  How did you start it and do you make most of the wonderful items?

A:  I started the online shop about 21/2 years ago after we moved here.  We decided I would be a stay-at-home mom...which was a dream come true...but I still needed some kind of creative outlet...thus the internet shop was born.. As for the items I carry...some are made by me (rosettes, french flags, grainsacks) and some are made by wonderful women artists.

Andrea made these little votive covers out of the sleeves of an old sweater.  

She has what I call "the Martha gene"  

So creative!!!!

K:  I know you sew, which I'm so jealous of, but what other things do you do that would surprise us?

A:  I'm the kinda girl who sees something and says...I can do that...I've always been that way.  When I see something in a catalog or magazine that's way out of my budget...I figure out a way to make it for  less...not surprising I know!

I want to add that Andrea is a great photographer too!  This is her workspace which to me is such a creative spot.  You can really see who Andrea is in these photos.

K:  Tell us about Stella, your beautiful vintage Truck!!

A:  Ahhh...Stella...now that's my girl!  For years, I had an old page from Country Living magazine ripped out and attached to the refrigerator...and it was of a girl driving her old farm truck down a country road with a bale of hay and dog in the back...I had written "Andrea"  with an arrow pointing to the girl and an arrow pointing to the dog named Tango (after our boxer)...never did I imagine the one day I would live in the country and have an old truck...dreams do come true.

When she did this post of "Stella"  I just smiled.  I knew exactly what she ment.  

True love for sure.

K:  I just love your blog...how long have you been blogging and what inspires you when you sit down to write a post?

A:  I've been blogging for about 2 years and have to say...it has been so good for me.  Being that I work from home and don't have neighbors too close... I can sometimes feel a little out of touch with the real world...but having this blog has made me feel like I have neighbors all around me...there is such a wonderful community of women (in blogland) who just embrace you ...and I love that they just get me.  As for what inspires me to post...life...just the day to day goings on the I love sharing with all my girls (that's you guys!)

Thanks so much Andrea....And you have lots of neighbors who love your work and enjoy what you do.  We love it that you share too!

~*~
as always
thanks for stopping by

kelley