Sneak Peak

This just may make the final cut for my Sweet Little Christmas Card Collection. Not overtly Christmas, but wintry all the same.

I would love to see a bird wearing a little stocking cap, wouldn't you? Honestly, any hat would be good. Top hat, backwards baseball cap, anything really.

Sometimes I wish I could pick my sweet littles up off the page, kiss their littles beaks and watch them strut around. Is that weird? Yeah, it probably is.

I'm also thinking of doing a collection that isn't Christmas cards, but more everyday cards that you can use as Christmas gifts for loved ones.

:)

Autumn Beauty Drive, part deux

 Remember in the Princess Bride when the movie would cut to Fred Savage sick in bed with his Grandpa reading to him? I feel like this is one of those moments. You are Fred Savage, I'm Grandpa.

So let me lick my old man finger and turn the yellowed page as my voice fades into picture...

I literally half ran half skipped through the cornfield. Drew Jones was behind me pulling a yellow wagon, and as much as I wanted to be polite and stay by his side. I couldn't help my run/skip reaction.

As promised the corn field opened up into the pumpkin field.

And we were there.

 

 

 

We stood and stared. The orange of the pumpkins hummed against the saturated green and there was no one but us in sight.
We soaked in it.

And then we picked out which ones would become Joneses.

 

beautiful green one.

smooch.

 

And we headed out.

 

I wanted to get some baby pumpkins and things too from under the tent. While I was meticulously picking out the cutest ones Drew Jones kept looking up at the man working in the barn and saying "I wonder what he's doing up there? I'm really interested in what he is working on"

 

So we trekked up the hill to find out.

We met Dave who was making Indian Corn bundles. His wife Nancy (the pretty smiling woman who greeted us earlier) and him own and run the farm. Her maiden is Sharp, and the farm had been started by Robert Lee Sharp in 1853 and passed down each generation.

They were salt of the earth people. Instantly warm and friendly. The type of people you would hope run such a beautiful farm. Dave told us they started farming pumpkins to send the kids to college. I love the hearts of parents, selflessness that flows effortlessly out of sheer love.

He let me pick out my favorite ears of corn and bundled them for me. He even gave me one for my squirrel babies at home. I couldn't get over the color in this corn. 

Blue corn! 

Orange corn! 

Purple corn! 

Stunning.

We enjoyed conversation for awhile and then Dave showed us around the place.

 

 

He showed us initials that had been carved into stone over 100 years ago by F.E. Sharp

We loved it.

We made our way to our car and it was time to say goodbye. We shook Dave's hand and thanked him. It was so nice to come across such lovely people. We felt like we got the royal treatment, but I have a feeling they treat everyone that pulls into the place like family. We decided that The Sharp Farms would be our pumpkin picking place from now on.

 

 

 

 If you want to visit check out their website, www.sharpfarms.com

You can learn more about the history of the farm and even read Robert Lee Sharp's journal from when he started the farm and had to take a wagon west for the gold rush in order to save the farm.

Next it was time to get some food in our bellies..

We didn't go here:

 

(Rax!? Drew Jones reminisced...)

Here:

 

Or here:

 

But we did find a warm dry place to land. Two hot Reuben sandwiches and a pumpkin shaped sugar cookie later we headed home.

Our bellies full and our hearts overflowing.

 

The End.

Autumn Beauty Drive, Part One.

"Do you still want to go?"

We had woken up late, it was raining and I could see the disappointment in Drew Jones' eyes.

I was more excited for this day than Christmas. I knew that we had slept in for a reason, that this was the time our day was to start, and that the rain was a gift. My spirit was stirring.

"Oh YES! Please, let's still go!"

And we did. Expectantly. Happily.

 

Choice fabric - flannel

Radio station - none (Drew Jones sang and made funny noises)

    quick stop at timmy ho's

 

No destination, no agenda. Let the beauty begin!

Have you ever noticed how saturated colors become against a gray and raining sky? We did, over and over and over. It never got old.

 

I was fumbling with my camera when I heard Drew Jones whisper, "We're driving through a cloud!" 
Phew, 
I 
almost 
missed 
it.

We found ourselves in Sugar Grove, Ohio. Population, 448. We decided to check out the local Grocery store.

As I perused the aisles I noticed a glass case with some books and binders piled on top tucked back in the corner of the store. And what-do-you-know, Hills Grocery Market houses the Sugar Grove Historical Museum.

We were tickled. 

Well,I was. 

I don't know if Drew Jones would like me describing him as tickled.

We left the store and set out towards a sign we saw for a U-Pick pumpkin farm just down the road a bit.

I had a good feeling as we pulled into the empty grass parking area. The rain had most people inside watching football instead of outside letting the drops curl their hair and tickle their nose. I was so glad to be at this beautiful farm with my husband. We had it all to ourselves.

A pretty smiling woman greeted us and told us we could pick our own pumpkins in the field behind the corn and that it was the honors system, "so just put your money in there when your ready to head out"

 

Tickled. Again.

I am so excited to show and tell you more...but it will have to wait until tomorrow. Right now it's late and I am sleepy. It's a chilly night and I'm sure Drew Jones would appreciate his warm wife sleeping beside him.

goodnight kisses,

me.

Guess who's getting a birdie?

We are.

Or maybe we just got an awesome antique cage.

Either way, awesome.

Hope you're enjoying this soggy Saturday, we sure have so far. We took our annual autumn beauty drive today and it was one to remember.

Get ready for part one of our adventure Monday. 

uphighdownlowtooslow,
 

laaaadylee.

easy peasy

Drew Jones is a very tidy guy. But since moving to The Jones Cottage we haven't really found a perfect spot to put our keys/cell phones/love notes etc. So they have just been messin' up the place and hanging out everywhere.

This drives me nuts.

So I asked God to provide an inexpensive solution and headed to the thrift store. And of course, found exactly what I needed.

There in the aisle with the broken precious moments and already melted candles sat two little baskets. They looked to be the perfect size for the shelves that greet us when we come in the side door.

I thanked God, bought them and brought those babies home.

I put them on the shelf (fit perfect), and they served the purpose...but they needed a little somethinsomethin'

I kept an eye out, and finally came upon these cute little felt varsity style letters on clearance for 1 stinkin' dollar. Yes maam.

All I did was peel those little guys off and stick em' to my Godsent baskets. Easy peasy.

 

note: Now just in case you try this at home...the stickers I used were pretty heavy duty...so they stuck really good without any extra glue. But if you find your own stickers and they aren't adhering as nicely just break out the glue gun and be careful not to burn yourself.

buh.

I'm sick. To move from the couch is exhausting.

 

facebook confessional.

When Drew Jones falls asleep before me I literally miss him. And this happens often because he is a sleepy man at night.

Last night my lungs hurt and I couldn't stop coughing. And sure enough Drew Jones was long gone in dream land...so I slipped out of bed and found myself on Facebook.

About 10 minutes in, my long time friend Joel pops up on the little chat feature and says..."How's Candisipity?" I was relieved to have a friend join me in my late night sleeplessness.

Conversation led to a confession
that when he was a kid:

he

collected

VACUUM CLEANERS.

He said to me:

"I would go through the Sears catalog - do you remember that? and select like 5 or 6 vacuums and my parents would be like 'whoa whoa whoa! um, perhaps 1 vacuum, Joel'. I had quite the collection... I had about 8 at my peak. They took up most of my closet, and the coat closet and some in the basement"

How

stinkin'

adorable

is

that.

Then he told me that these two:

remind him of Drew Jones and I. Which I took as a compliment because they look totally cool.

p.s. don't worry I asked him if I could tell his vacuum secret and he gave me permission!

p.p.s he only has 1 dyson now.

Country Living Fair!

I gussied myself up and got ready to go to the fair!

I made sure to take photos so Drew Jones could see how pretty I looked.

A perfect day to wear my green flower hat!

The weather couldn't be better and the place was hopping!

And thanks to my beautiful hat I met all kinds of people from all over the mid-west. That pretty green diddy got A LOT of attention.

There were lovely things EVERYWHERE.Antiques, jewelry, furniture, hand-made wonders. Such creativity, it was so inspiring.

Jeni's ice cream was there sporting her usual very long line.

After one pass around I decided a lemon shake-up and some shade were in order.

I loved the colors of these soy candles. And they smelled AMAZING. They are made right here in Ohio and the owners are sweet as can be. (find them here!)  

Here are a couple of the treasures I brought home...

Look at that bunny face. How adorable is she?

I eyed this pillow for about 5 minutes...walked away...then came back an hour later. The couple who makes them said "You were here before looking at that pillow and it's still here! It must be meant to be!" I had to agree. It is probably too small to read here but it says, "Home Sweet Home" and is made completely from vintage fabrics. mmmm. love.

The whole day would have been perfect except for the end when I bumped the back of a car with mine own on the way out of the parking lot. Yep. Just a completely accidental little tap. There was no damage to either of our cars and the passengers were completely fine, but the lady driving was very angered by the situation. She stayed in her car seething while her kind friend took my info and told me how cute my green flower hat was.

So that was my day at the Country Living Fair! Mostly great with a sad abrupt ending. I only wish Drew Jones were with me to see all the wonderful art and reassure me that everything was going to be okay.

But don't worry he called me later that night and did just that.