Friday, March 23, 2012

Introductions

A new day, a new adventure. In this case, authoring a blog.  I hope to use this avenue as a "behind the scenes"  look at what I do, my methods, and motivations.  In this, my first post, I will introduce myself.

I am a forty-something (I reserve the right to ambiguity here) wife and mother who also dabbles rather heavily in the farming/gardening category, excessively in the creative market (read, "messy house"), and reluctantly in the field of accounting and bookkeeping.  I juggle (too) many plates, wear far too many hats, find I meet myself coming and going, and love pretty much every minute of it.  Hmm, except when I can't find my car keys, or that receipt my husband needs, or when the goats escape, again.  Times like these make me wonder what I did with that nice white jacket that has the extra long sleeves with buckles on the ends.  And my padded cell.  Calgon, take me away!  Seriously, my life is busy, but fun, wearying yet rewarding, and chock full of blessings that I am thankful for each and every day.




For as long as I can remember I have been making things, adding color and beauty to the world around me, and attaching myself to animals.  Growing vegetables, flowers, critters, and children has been an amazing learning process that has made me grow also. I can still remember my first garden.  A two square foot row of my mother's garden with a little trellis for sweet garden peas and carrots.  I think I dug those carrots out more than once to see if they were growing.  You really can't tell from the top! Those few little peas, picked, shelled and consumed on the spot were the best peas I have ever eaten and fueled my gardening passion that continues to this day.  Later, I saved my allowance to buy six strawberry plants, talked my dad into letting me tear up part of the back yard, and soon had fresh berries that I completely savored.  Most summer days found me up a tree in the backyard with a book or chasing and catching butterflies and skippers that populated the flower beds filled with zinnia, calendula, vinca, marigold and cosmos plants.

When I wasn't puttering in the yard, burying my nose in a book, or being tormented by my older brother , I was developing my coloring and drawing skills, learning to cross-stitch and beginning to make my own clothing.  In college, I learned to crochet and dabbled in knitting,  which didn't really take flight until my oldest daughter spread her own knitting wings. Now we three girls enjoy this craft together.  We have also begun to spin our own yarn and, for Christmas this last year, I  knitted a pair of socks for my long-suffering husband from home-spun, plied, and dyed yarn.

Our children have been involved in 4-H since they were old enough, and the oldest currently has Angora rabbits that she is showing, raising, and selling.  Their wool is heavenly to spin with the drop spindle and knitted items made from the yarn is so incredibly soft!  We love fluffy bunnies!

Here we have Drizzle, Cinnamon, and their mama, Tranquility.

In an effort to make room for more creative craftiness and, of course, more materials, I opened an Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrettiesNPracticals  Through this venue, I also hope to generate a little income to help out when my husband's somewhat seasonal work slows down.  Some additional items I hope to list in the future are: homemade soaps (including goat milk varieties), hand-painted note cards, photo note cards, framed and unframed original artwork and photographs, yarn, and needle-felting supplies.

I welcome your comments and suggestions. Thank you for visiting and come back again!

No comments:

Post a Comment