Images from around our home.. tomatoes (beefsteak, heirloom and grape), grasshoppers, spiders, apples, corn, zucchini, and beans. Not in that order.

xoxo~

Abbie

When we cleared our land six years ago to build our home, all along the edge of our woods grew blackberry brambles. Everywhere.  

 They are just now starting to ripen.. and if you look (not too hard), you can find some sweet, juicy berries.

  We still have about a two week wait for the real windfall to happen.

The kids and I eat what we pick right away. The berries don't even make it inside!   

I'm always amazed at the variety of sizes.. we have jumbo goliaths (my name) and teeny weenies.

Nothing can quite match the sweetness of the itty bitty ones, but when you find one the size of your thumb, it's amazing! The large one is the biggest we could find the other day, but we have some almost twice that not quite ripe yet.

Blackberry facts:

 If there is even one red/pink tiny fruit on the berry, it's not quite ripe yet. Don't pick it unless you are looking for a tart, snappy taste.  It won't ripen after being picked. the softer and plump it is, the sweeter the berry.

Each tiny ball is a single, individual fruit with it's own seed. Hence all the seeds when you eat them. Think of them like teeny weenie grape clusters.

They are filled with anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants and are said to help prevent cancer.

You can use them in any recipe calling for berries, like muffins, jams, jellies, tarts, etc...

They make fun ammunition in Berry Wars.. yesterday my children fired them off at each other and smeared them everywhere!

Just thought you'd like to know...

xoxo~

Abbie

I have been quite lost in the everyday to-dos lately.

Three of these shots are from the Enfield Shaker Village in Enfield, NH. The collapsing barn is located in Rumney, NH.

I love stone. Stone that has been carved, formed, either by hand or foot. Especially cobble stone streets. I love wood.. inparticular melting buildings. The kind that are slowly falling back into the earth.

If you need me I'll be planting our veggies, off on field trips and sitting in my folding chair at baseball games.

xoxo~

Abbie

I went for a drive yesterday and came across an old magnolia tree. It is early for them to be bloom here.. but spring has come about 3 weeks early this year. It is a very welcomed thing, a small blessing for us in New Hampshire.

The image above I submitted to the Pioneer Woman's Photo Contest. You can see the tens of thousands of entries on here, on Flickr. Now, I am being practical when I say I know it won't get chosen, but it is amazing to see some the photos that are submitted! Damn, there is nothing like professional photographers to let you know that you are not a professional, just a novice :) Ree is so good at weeding through the junk and picking some amazing finalists. I would highly recommend you take a jaunt by and peek around. Just wonderful eye candy! Of course, by the number of entries and visitors, you have already been there!

xoxo~

Abbie

I went for a drive today and it looked like this. Wet, cold and blllaaahhhh.. I was looking for color, and special things. I found canoes.  All lined up waiting patiently for the summer residents and tourists to return and sweep them back into the lake.

I found a tree. A wee pine tree. I would assume that either this summer or next someone will find it to be too intrusive and it will get plucked out of the ground.

It won't be forgotten though, as I have gone and caught it with my lens. To see other drives I have gone on click the 'New Hampshire' tag below.

xoxo~

Abbie

Today is my 35th birthday. It really doesn't phase me too much. I don't feel any older, just a bit more in control. I do notice that time seems to go by faster now.  I also find myself suffering from the 'what am I going to be when I grow up' plague quite abit lately.

Aaahh.. well. I'm sure whatever is planned for me will pop up in time. Today was very nice. Spent the day cuddled on the couch with my girls (one of whom has quite the cough/fever) and watched Mary Poppins. I love Dick Van Dyke! Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is another favorite of mine.

For my birthday, once I can find one (they seem to be out of stock everywhere in NH right now) we are getting a Wii. I have heard great things about the Wii Fit Plus and want to try it out. Also, we played one at my brothers at Christmas and it was really fun!

Hope you are having a great weekend! Time to get back to doing nothing!

xoxo~

Abbie

I went for a drive today. 

And this is what I saw. A door. Locked. 

A sign. Perhaps warning that on this property security cameras were present. I'm pretty sure my camera was the only one there today.

A gas pump. Fill 'er up.

A pair of eyes. They were looking at me. I was looking at them. 

I went for a drive today and remembered to take my camera. I have to do that more often. Both, 'to remember' and 'to go'.

Thank you Amanda, for reminding me 'to go'.

xoxo~

Abbie

Well, 2010 is here. Is it ever. Let's see.. where have I been? Hhhmm.. Christmas night my 4 yr old daughter started to get sick, over the entire vacation break there was anywhere from one to four of us sick at any given time. Yesterday was my first day out of the house in 8 days. But really it's 11 days as last Sunday all I did was drive to pick my son from his dad.  And yesterday, oh, yesterday.. not the best of days either. My littlest one, 2 1/2, was diagnosed with a kidney infection. Needless to say it was a rather sleepless night, as most of vacation was. Uuuuggghhhh.... Yep. I'm uugghh-ing on my blog. I need to uggh somewhere.. so I'm twittering my concerns, fears, blogging them. facebooking them, emailing them.. and do you know what? I feel a bit better! It's almost like talking to a therapist. Say your problems enough times and the seriousness of them begins to fade.

Ridiculous? Naahhhh..  anyways, thanks for 'listening'.  On to brighter things.. the suitcase for the dolls clothes was a huge hit, Amanda's class, Bloom, is magnificent and The Happiness Project is also wonderful. (and trust me.. right now it is greatly NEEDED.)

So, I have lots of projects, before and afters, great gobs of gooey goodness and no gosh time to do anything. The only reason I can post this is because my wee one is still sleeping in a Tylenol induced stupor (after spending 2 hours up at 1 am). Hopefully the antiobitics are cranking away at her infection..

I'll see you on the otherside.. one positive thing, if 2010 comes 'in like a lion', it has to go out 'like a lamb' right?

xoxo~

Abbie

The photos have absolutely nothing to do with anything. They are from a day at the lake this fall. Just thought you might like something pretty to look at while I whined to you.. :)

The family piled into the van this morning and headed north to Lancaster, NH. It is fair weekend here in New Hampshire.. two large ones, one north and one south. We choose to go north as it usually means fewer crowds and that makes it much easier to keep track of three kids. We were right on the money and it was gorgeous! 70 degrees, cool breeze, lots of animals, rides, games and of course, fair food! The only thing that was lacking was my camera battery as it died about 5 photos into the day. Aahhh well.. sometimes it's better to see the world through my own eyes not just the lens of my camera. I did manage to get a few for you though..

Above is the view looking over the fairgrounds.. it is much better in person instead of through a windshield at 40 miles an hour.

I adore anything old, antique or vintage and these tools were screaming out to me.. "take our picture too!"

And this sweet fellow popped right through his fence to get his photo taken.. you just never realize how many stars there are out there until you start carrying a large camera around with you..

And that was it.. pop fizzle.. no more photos.. if you want to see pics from the Sandwich Fair last year you can see the animals HERE and the sites HERE.

xoxo~

Abbie

Oh, I almost forgot! I have a big surprise/move/update coming soon!! It's a surprise that I have been working on for soooo long! You'll just have to wait and see! :)