This has been an odd week, filled with several trips to the big city, and dreary weather inter-mingled with brilliant sunshine and beautifully happy moments.
Rain more rain and freezing rain, sleet and a little snow have silenced the machines this week.
The cottage men spread straw closest to the house in an effort to cut down on mud being tracked in.
The koi pond with a layer of ice and sleet.
Nature surprises with a dandelion blooming mid winter.
During a yummy breakfast this morning prepared by Mr. Cottage; he pointed out to me
a surprise visit to the bird bath by Cornelius – his first. He continues to venture closer and closer to the house.
I have several craft projects in the making all from repurposed scraps of fabric and ribbon.
During lunch with a friend this week, my heart smiled with joy has she relayed to me
that soon, she would be going into business for herself.
Ah dreams do come true!
What dreams are you chasing?
Red Dirt Farm and Studio 
Nature is full of surprises. It’s those little things in life that make us smile; thank you mother nature for the unexpected smiles you give us!
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Absolutely true, and you are lucky to feel it in your heart Sharon and it’s a good thing isn’t it? xo
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What type of business is your friend starting? Thanks.
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Hi Eleanor – thanks for asking – I think maybe I shouldn’t share that information just yet. I have to respect the process. 🙂 It is a creative business, just not in the manner that you and I are creative.
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I am chasing a New Year’s Resolution to get my house fixed up with repairs, tidied up and organized. How do fish get oxygen when the pond freezes over? I don’t know these cold country things.
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Oh Linda those fixed up repairs are never ending aren’t they? Organization – never heard of that! Good question about the pond. The pond is about five and a half feet deep – so it never freezes completely – thank goodness it doesn’t get that cold here. However, to keep the top layer open and moving oxygen we keep a floating de-icer plugged in for the winter months – it does a good job. The fish all huddle around it for warmth kinda like I do when we have a bon-fire. I’ll share a photo on another post.
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I love the looks of your fabric project! Can I ask if you’ve sewn the pieces down or is that some kind of iron-on binding material that you’ve arranged them on, then ironed to stay in place? I love working with fabric, but I’m not a machine sewer at all (I might be one if I knew how to thread the machine and use it) just do what little I can by hand. I’ve thought of doing something a bit like what you are doing, but knew it was way too much hand sewing.
Looks like progress continues on at the Cottage in spite of cold weather….great!
Always wishing you the best and Peace to your heart
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Hi Sarah – the fabric project is all hand and machine sewn. The base piece of fabric is an old scrap (actually it is all scraps) the next larger piece is an old kitchen towel – you know the kind with a calendar on the bottom I cut the top part off for another project. I have a large stash of fabric that belonged to mom. It is very therapeutic for me to have that connection to mom. The quiet rhythm of hand sewing makes my heart heal with each stitch. I bought myself a nice sewing machine a few years ago, I really don’t know how to sew but that never stops me from using it. It really self threads for the most part. I can’t read patterns – everything I do is all free form made up by me stuff – imagine that! Hugs to you.
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Thank you, Kim. I appreciate your response to my questions. I just love that you use fabric that belonged to your mother. My mom was not a seamstress at all (I do think she made curtains *once* but that was it) so I have no fabric of hers. I do have a few pieces of her jewelry that I will use to create something for myself. I did make a memory necklace about my dad after he died as part of my grieving process. I used one of his old watch faces, a ‘key’ from oral and maxillofacial surgery school, a heart charm he gave me one Valentine’s Day when I was little with ‘Sara’ on one side and ‘Dad’ on the other, then added a few charms representing our relationship/him. I’ll try to share a photo with you sometime. Anyway, I understand how wonderful it is to create with family items. Yes, I think I’ll do some hand sewing with my scraps. Thanks for the inspiration!
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So good to be back visiting here after too long. Look at that crazy-brave dandelion! And I’ll have to click to read about Cornelius. I love crows. And your fabric art is already gorgeous and you’re still working on it! Reminds me of Art Journals. I’ve recently discovered art journalling and now know why I kept and collected paper remnants. Lovely post. 🙂
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Welcome back Gina! I’ve had a soft spot for crows and ravens since I was a child – I don’t know why – just is. I save paper remnants also, they some how speak to me and I especially love old text from books and sheet music, which I’ve used for journaling and other collage works. Hugs
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