VANITY, VANITY...

This Farmgirl loves most things old...
dishes, furniture, pictures, Farmboy, jewelry, etc...
BUT...
When it comes to fragrance I am always on the lookout for something different.
Something that has staying power!
Here are some of my latest fragrance finds this past year.

My newest favorite is:

L'Heure Bleue, by Guerlain

At first it is overwhelming
Kind of grandma-ish
But after less than an hour there is this soft, subtle, lingering fragrance that I have fallen in love with.
Could it be that after all these years, I have finally found my "signature" fragrance?

Have you found yours?
If so, what is it?

CLIPBOARD ART!

Farmboy
age 10

Saw this idea in a magazine, so went to Hobby Lobby and bought the clipboard with the cool bookplate already in place at the bottom.
Took a page from an old nature book and stained it up a bit.
Laid Farmboy's photo over the top.
Glass over the top of the photo.
Slip the glass under the clip.
Use alphabet stamps to write his name.

Heard some song on the radio talkin' about a guy who can take his girl anywhere: the ghetto, the slums, the trops, paradise, etc.
Reminded me of where Farmboy and I both came from:
THE WESTSIDE GHETTO!
An older neighborhood, with lots of the old Polish Catholics still taking real good care of their yards, their parents, their church.
Kinda miss it.
I think I'm gonna go back and take some photos of the house I grew up in.
Farmboy's was just down the street and around the corner.
Our own little corner of the ghetto.

CRAFTY FARMGIRL/ALTERED BOOK

I got this idea from another blog (homespunliving.blogspot.com) a few months ago, and put it in the back of my mind to try this winter.
You take an old book, tear the pages out, so all you're left with is the shell. Farmboy drilled holes in the front and back to match the holes on the paper I bought.

I made a cardstock copy of an old French letter and cut it to fit the front and back of the inside covers.
Used spray adhesive.
I don't like spray adhesive.
Enough said.

Took the valance down from my back door and laid it on my copy machine and made a cardstock copy. Cut it to fit the cardboard back of the pad of paper I bought.
My bad.
I made two too many holes.
Bought those cute "notes" letters from Michaels in the Martha Stewart aisle.

Oh yeah.
Before I glued the front and back French letter on the inside covers, I glued down a piece of vintage ribbon so I could tie my book shut.

The title of my "altered" book was "THE POWER OF KINDNESS".
I think I like that.

DISCLAIMER
I have very few original ideas.
I look at it this way....
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Snow, snow, go away. Don't come back till Christmas Day!

THIS says it all.
Another 8" dumped on us overnight.
Thank God for the hyacinths blooming on the dining room table.
The promise of spring.
And all God's people said...
AMEN!

WHAT I DID ON "SNOW DAY # 6"

Lord have mercy! We had yet another snow day yesterday!
Sunday was horrific, with church services being cancelled all over West Michigan.
Then to add insult to injury: Monday was yet another snow day!
Austin got dressed up in his karate outfit (found at Goodwill last year!) and pretended he was a chef. His aunt made him a paper chefs hat and I drew on a mustache and goatee with washable brown markers.
(BTW: washable markers are GREAT! You can use them to create "tatoos", mustaches, sideburns, and even add brilliant yellow/pink/blue/purple/green stripes to your hair!)
Here he is twirling his mustache!
He then made fresh squeezed lemonade and his own lunch of peanut butter and jam sandwich.

I ventured out to get the mail and brought my camera along.
This is no trick of the camera.
Yes.
The day was really this dreary.
Nary a car in sight, as the wind chills were -25, and roads were still deemed hazardous.

The winter garden.
Waa.

Bless their hearts.
The hen house.
Where the 9 hens and the one rooster have been cooped up( pun intended) for days.
I tell Farmboy every morning as I go out to tend the chickens...
"If I'm not back in 10 minutes, send for reinforcements, I could be buried alive!"

Yesterday, a hawk came right up on our front porch and plucked a mourning dove(who was eating his own lunch) out for his lunch.
The circle of life.
AAGGHHH

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God.
Thank you Lord, that spring is on it's way!
By faith.

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!

The people have spoken, and Spartan has heard their cry of deliverance from hormone laden milk products.
I have not bought our local grocers store brand of milk in quite some time, as they were using cows treated with the growth hormones RBST/RBGH.
A couple of days ago, while hunting for the more expensive, name brand milk that advertises NO growth hormones, the dairy manager informed me that Spartan has made the switch and I could go back to buying the store brand. At nearly a dollar difference in price, I am happy to do it!

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

We CAN make a difference!

KITCHEN WINDOW STILL LIFE

It's pretty bad when all I have to "talk" about are some silly vignettes in my kitchen!
Regardless, here are some of the special things I have in my kitchen window.
I have always loved those glass cloches seen on the pages of Romantic Homes and Country Living, etc. But...have you ever priced them before?
So at Goodwill last week I spotted a round cheese board with the glass dome cover for like $2!
Snapped it up, put my wildly out of proportion birds nest/birds/egg on a pretty plate and...
VOILA!
Sittin' pretty on my kitchen windowsill.

Some white ironstone pitchers with various greens, sitting near an old wall lamp I use as a night light.

Some lemon thyme I brought in from the herb garden before the 1st frost.
Next year I will try that with some of the other herbs. It has been really nice to just snip a bit whenever I needed some.

You can't really see this little guy very well, as the glass really distorts his sweet face, but he is a teeny tiny snapping turtle we found in the garage this fall. Yes...THE GARAGE!
How the heck he (or she...how can you tell?) got in there is beyond us. I am thinking they are usually dormant or hibernating or whatever it is turtles do in the winter, as he is very lethargic. He perks right up when I clean out his bowl, tho! Put some fresh floating turtle yummies out for him, and he goes to town!

Hope you enjoyed a peek at my huge kitchen windowsill. There's more, but we'll save it for another time. That's enough stimulation for one day!

Hope you are all surviving the winter. We have another 6"-12" of snow coming our way through tomorrow. That's OK, tho. Just giving me that much more to look forward to come spring.
Have a most blessed week everyone!