Made up some more sachets using my stash of old photos, used dryer sheets, and fresh herbs. This time I dyed the fabric sheets with strong coffee, giving them an aged look. I also used lemon verbena in addition to the lavender.
I always know when Liam has been here.
Savanna and I spent some time at Border's last night and as I was paging through the premiere issue of Green Craft Magazine:( http://www.stampington.com/html/greencraft_volume1.html) my mind was a spinning about what I could use around the house to create with. I have been using coffee filters for crafts for years...they always made lovely skirts for papier mache dollies. I was inspired to sit down and make a few of these little blooms. Nothing needed for these except some scissors. The ones with the fabric centers can be wrapped at the stem with a rubber band. I cute the wavy portion of the top of the filter off in one long strip and crinkle the whole thing up in my hand. Then I start rolling and layering to create the bloom. I like to use the unbleached filters for that aged look. They are delicate and natural. So pretty. I like to use them on presents. 
Rags
"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."-Mignon McLaughlin
As I write this morning, I feel a sense of content and quiet that soothes me. Now that school is back in session...Stan and Savanna are both gone for the day. I love our summers together, but must admit that I don't accomplish much of anything. Not only that...I have no structure. We sleep in, we lie around, we eat too much junk. This is lovely for a time, but I am always happy to get back to a routine. In the days since Stan has gone back to teaching, and Savanna has started her first year of high school...I feel I have accomplished much. I have been able to tackle some much needed chores around the house...the laundry is caught up, but there is still painting to be finished in the attic space. I have successfully canned 10 pints of tomatoes with many more to come...30 quarts of pickles and peppers...and even dried some romas and packed them in olive oil and basil. I love summer, but am always happy that as it draws to a close, my favorite season will be here before we know it. This fall brings the second year of waiting in our quest to adopt. I am at a point where I feel it would be perfect. We have done house projects that we could not do had we had a baby sooner...we have our health insurance and other necessities in that area taken care of...and I am trying to make a go of my shop from home so that when a baby does come, there won't be any big surprises. The waiting has been hard, but I have to hope that the baby that needs us will come...sometime. Stan and I just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. I thought I'd share the pictures of the little trip we took to Nebraska City. Having time to sit back and think and reflect on our marriage and all it's twists and turns...it's true, it doesn't look exactly as we may have sketched it in our minds...but I wouldn't change it for anything. We have widened the scope of our vision...and like some of the pictures I take, it may be out of focus at times, yet still beautiful and treasured.
Here is where we stayed...The Lied Lodge in Nebraska City. It is a sprawling, rustic feeling place...beautiful woodwork, lovely touches of nature.
Julius Sterling Morton and his beloved Carrie.
Before you get to the mansion, there is a lovely little memorial monument to Julius. The statue is beautiful, but I loved the Whispering Bench. You sit on one end...your partner on the other...whisper something into the back of the bench and your partner can hear it on the other side. I can't promise that everything we whispered was kid approved.
On my end of the whispering bench.
Mr. Harper
I personally thing that this statue of J. looks rather mean...he wasn't that way at all. They were probably going for stoic.
Here is a view of the mansion as we walked up...it is just beautiful.
This is a view from the window of the 2nd floor. I love how it overlooks the garden and oh, the trees.
Love these old buggies in the nursery.
So, if you know me...you know I love bees and so I was in heaven when we walked into the carriage house and saw the bee colony on display. Stan had to drag me away.
Happy Anniversary Mr. Harper.
Adolescents are not monsters. They are just people trying to learn how to make it among the adults in the world, who are probably not so sure themselves. ~Virginia Satir, The New Peoplemaking, 1988
