“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.” ~ Eleanora Duse
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggles, known loss, and found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” ~Elisabeth […]
I grew up in an environment of “old stuff”–old houses and barns, antique furniture, and heirloom quilts and china. My grandparents lived next door in the family’s ancestral home, and Grandma Rieley loved antiques. Almost every Saturday morning she was either at an estate sale, yard sale, or antiques store. All of this influenced my appreciation and love of antiques and “old stuff” in general. So, when I ran across this craft idea for making a bird feeder from a vintage teacup and saucer, I loved it! This would be a fun craft activity to do with older children (with adult supervision), a charming homemade gift for Mother’s Day, or even a hostess gift for a bird lover or gardener. It’s fairly straightforward, only requiring a few items. Gather: 1. Teacup and saucer–This can be anything you have on hand, mismatched or otherwise. I found a few individual vintage teacups and saucers at a local antiques store for $10.00 or less. 2. Sandpaper 3. Super adhesive glue–I used E6000. 4. Twine, string, or yarn 5. Birdseed–My birds seem to like a sunflower and safflower seed mix. Directions: 1. Thoroughly wash and dry teacup and saucer. 2. Use sandpaper to scratch teacup and saucer where the two surfaces meet. This helps them to adhere together once glued. 3. Squeeze a small amount of glue onto the surface of the saucer. Next, tip teacup onto its side and place on top of […]
Our neighbors recently started bee-keeping, and today, I noticed a very audible hum in one of our flowering shrubs. When I looked a little closer, there were bees everywhere—a hive full. It was wonderful to see so many honeybees in one place! Hopefully, our orchard and garden will thrive with all of these pollinators flying around the farm. Happy Weekend! […]
With a sweet, earthy flavor, juicy texture, and beautiful ruby-red hue, beets make a salad into something sensational. The key to making them the highlight of a simple yet elegant salad is roasting, making the beets juicy and tender with a concentrated sweetness. Peeling is easier when the beets are still warm. Also, tossing the sliced beets with the dressing […]
“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” ~Lord Byron Farmgirl and cousins Circa 1974–1978
“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.” ~Baba Ram Dass
“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” ~Samuel Johnson I first visited London when I was 21 years-old. I was on a study abroad program while an undergraduate at Hollins College (now Hollins University)—a four-year, private women’s college in Roanoke, Virginia. To this day, I believe that my time living and studying abroad had […]
Originally posted on The Off Key Of Life:
Nothing haunts us like the things we don’t say. Mitch Albom This is not an elephant in the room kind of thing where the problem we all acknowledge keeps getting pushed under the carpet. This is more about an unspoken hug. It’s about the things we don’t say because we don’t know if the person we care about wants to hear them or if the words are just inadequate. It’s about love, and pain. It’s about hurt, and loss. It’s about moments that stay with us forever but never get acknowledged once we’ve moved past them. It’s about remembering, and forgetting. It’s about understanding, and learning. It’s about wanting to put your arms around someone you care about and tell them you can’t begin to understand their hurt or loss but you think about them everyday. It’s about wanting to let them know that you see past the smile. This is about learning to live with the kind of loss that is not openly discussed. It’s about what if, and never was. It’s about what you can’t get back, and what you can’t let go. It’s about remembering. It’s always about remembering. So when I walked over and hugged you the other day for no apparent reason , it was my way of letting you know that I remember, too. That I wish things were different for you. For all of us.…
My name is Tonya, and I grew up on a 300-acre farm in rural Virginia that has been in my family for over 100 years. After graduating from college, receiving my master’s degree in speech and language pathology, and living and working in a small city for six years, I decided to return to the place of my childhood. Here, in this rural area, on this patch of green, where for four generations my family has farmed, gardened, and lived, I, too wanted to be a part of this continuity. As a fourth generation farmgirl, I have many interests that not only include, but also go beyond the basics of farming, gardening, sheep and chicken-keeping. It is all of this and more that I plan on sharing in this blog.
fourth generation farmgirl 