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! :)

A neighborhood Robin decided that a nest with a view was the most desired home on the block. He chose one of our hanging baskets on the front porch. Oh, she couldn't resist! The yellow blooms were so pretty!

Hung safely out of the reach of predators, the only thing that annoyed them was the crazy lady with the camera!

Protected from the rains, and wow! have we had rain here in NH lately.. most nests would not have survived the storm..

But their sweet home is flourishing, except the yellow blossoms, they are not fairing so well.

It's just too difficult to water a hanging basket with such precious cargo!

I hope you are finding shelter from the storm!

xoxo~

Abbie

It is the simplest of tasks that are bringing the most joy to me.

Planting, weeding, and dead heading the pea-tunias.. it is in these tasks that I am finding ha-pea-ness.

There are pea-ctures and stories to share, perhaps with the coming of summer I'll find some pea-ce and quiet to post here more often.

Right now, family is visiting from a far, the sun is shining, and I have to pick up my son from summer camp.

I was outside with the kids the other day and despite my complete lack of creativity, I grabbed my camera on the way out the door. Above is a shot of the blackberry brambles that wrap around our backyard. They are nasty, but have supplied us with many blackberry treats and jellies.

This is a micro shot of the moss and tiny seedlings sprouting on our stonewall. It amazes me to no end how complex and precarious life is.

I spent a few days in Ottawa during the beginning of the month visiting my father. It was the Tulip Festival so I had to throw in a tulip photo.

Our apple trees are in blossom as well. This lovely sits outside my kitchen window.. the spring breeze carries it's fragrance all over our yard.

I had to drag the pots I had on the deck into the 3 season porch the other evening. It got down to 30 degrees and the frost would not have tread kindly on my tomatoes.

Last fall I made the tiny pillow sitting in the little chair. It makes me happy. We also have chickens now! They are so fabulous! They make me happy too.. I'll get some pics up for you when time allows..

Hope everyone is out, enjoying the world!

xoxo~

Abbie

We had a foot of snow fall on Friday and into Saturday.

Now, we are having another 12" to 18" fall today. We are precariously balancing our sanity with the thankfulness that we still have power. 25 thousand in NH have been without it for over a week now.

I'm thinking that perhaps I'll BBQ. Burgers on the grill anyone?

As I type, the wind and snow is swirling around the house so quickly that I can't see the grill on the deck anymore. Maybe I'll skip the burgers tonight.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. I went and hid there yesterday for a moment to get away from the two housebound, stir crazy, wild eyed monsters that were once my sweet little girls.

Hope everyone else is surviving!

Snow! Snow.. tonight it is suppose to snow! The photo background above is our garden. The cherry tomatoes have seen better days, yes? They were so good! The kids loved to go out and pick them, popping a few in their mouths at the same time. The leaves are from the fabulous Kathryn, the Collage Diva. You should take some time and browse through her blog.. inspiration and goodies are all over the place! The other images I used are available at The Vintage Moth.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic time getting ready for Halloween! It is right around the corner!

xoxo~

Abbie

I am considering creating custom blog banners and layouts for people. My first few will be offered free of charge, as long as I can use it as an example of my work. Anyone interested in a blog makeover? Just email me.

Thank you Kathryn for hosting such fun!!
Not far from where I live there melts a barn. It is slowly being reclaimed by the earth and, to me, it is more lovely now then it was in it's 'hay' day. So, for you, I have a simple journey of the barn. The power went out several times while I working on the second image. Let's just say, I was very spooked. I hope you enjoy...

I have so many more photos that I took, but alas, my time is tight and that is all I could work on. Below are some journal pages. I don't have many to share right now, as I am just starting my Soul Journal process. (on day 4) The photos of the girls above are from Lewis Carroll. Yes, the Alice and Wonderland author. He was a fantastic photographer as well. The dancing devils in the first barn image are also his work. They were drawn for the original Alice story.

The image below is one of my journal pages (center) imposed over a photo of one of the doors from the barn. The entire wall the door sits in is now resting at about a 45% angle to the ground. I will be posting the Lewis Carroll images to The Vintage Moth once time allows today.

Thank you for stopping by! I'll be over to visit this evening!

xoxo~

Abbie

$$$$... that is what you need to take to the Fair. Ouch. The cash flows fast when rides run $3-5 per person, per ride and when 'Soup in a Bread Bowl' is $7. Oh, let's not forget the lemonade at $5.00 a cup.

My son is on the Zero Gravity ride, he is in the top right hand corner. He loves scray rides! Me, not so much.

Even the carousel made me feel really woozy! But aren't the colors lovely? I love the rich pink and all the lights.. my daughter thought it was fabulous!


The bottom two images my son took from the top of the ferris wheel. Didn't he do a splendid job? It was overcast, but a very pleasant day. About 68 degrees with very little breeze. I carried my little one in a harness for three hours. (something I never do) Ooooy. I'm paying for it now! The colors are fading fast now. Soon everything will be brown and gray until the snow comes.

xoxo~

Abbie