Here are some shots of Clementine Kitty breaking in our new braided rug. She’s demonstrating more of a slide than a strut, but you get the picture. I think she may have worn herself out in the end. At least, she did a thorough job of leaving her scent…EVERYWHERE. Oh well, the joys of cat parenthood! 😉 Happy Tuesday! […]
Photograph courtesy of Farmguy “For every item that carries the darkness of humanity there’s one that holds the light. And that light is worth believing in. Not just in others, but in yourself as well.” ~C.M. Rayne, The Forbidden Land of Andara “How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.” ~William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr. “I am the light of the world.” ~John 8:12
Different Kinds of Happy “It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” ~Laura Ingalls Wilder
Nineteen years ago, Farmguy and I were married near a town in Virginia called…wait for it—Farmville, at a charming bed and breakfast surrounded by friends and family. Today’s Tuesday Tune is the song we danced to on our special day. Love you, Farmguy! xoxo
Bermuda “Invictus” Victorian poem by English poet, William Ernest Henley 1849-1903 Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul. Because….. sometimes, life is a little like a difficult relationship. “Knock me down it’s all in vain, I get right back on my feet again.” ~Pat Benetar
“You have to believe in yourself. That’s the secret.” ~Charlie Chaplin
A sunny, but breezy, afternoon on the mountain seemed like the perfect time to investigate an old, forsaken orchard by the cottage. As I walked toward the grove, I noticed heirloom apple as well as pear, peach, and chestnut trees standing in a structured fashion. The weathered beauties welcomed me into a kind of garden room filled with the […]
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, completed by Franco Alfano, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances….” ~Victor Frankl “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.” ~Ferdinand Foch “Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” ~Rabbi Abraham Herschel
Last month, Farmguy and I visited Paris for a few days. We signed up for a foodie tour through the city, visiting fruit and vegetable markets, chocolatiers, wine shops, fromageries, and pastry shops. Here’s a preview of what we saw. Happy Tuesday! 🙂
Photographs taken from Broadway Tower Worcestershire, England “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” ~Viktor E. Frankl
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 