Merry Christmas

Listen...



 

In the spirit of Christmas,

let broken hearts heal

and

happy hearts sing.

 

Merry Christmas!



100 Poinsettias

The is the first year I have attempted a "Florida Christmas".

I do miss the snow this time of year.

 

I feel that snow is just part of the Christmas equation

So...No snow,

No ideas

I don't want to have a cliche Florida Christmas.

 

Mermaids riding alligators just don't do it for me.

 

Palm trees are pretty with lights but...

 climbing all the way the palm trees sounds very scary

 even if I would have someone else do the climbing.

I'll leave the climbing to someone else.

SO what is a northern girl to do???

 

 

Palm trees are out

Alligators are out

Sorry Mermaids you are out too

 (but only at Christmas time)

So...Project Poinsettia!

YES,

 poinsettias "say" Christmas to me.

 

So I persuaded my son-in-law a

 native Floridian to help me with this project.

I simply asked him to go and get 100 Poinsettias.

Raised eyebrows would be an understatement.

Although he should be getting

used to my mild craziness after 3 years.

Off he went returning with the requested 100 poinsettias,

several flats of white inpatients and he found the most

beautiful purple bougainvilleas I have ever seen.

He planted everything

making for a thrilled mother-in-law.

(Thank you Chris)

I love my "green" Christmas decorations.

I even have solar lights along the

sidewalk to illuminate my Christmas Fun.

Making my decorations politically correct:)

 

I think I will be able to make it this year without snow,

although I think every other year in

 Florida might be my "cup of tea".

 

I have been absent from my blog

 too long for my liking but as you know

 life comes before blogging.

 

I know I promised you a continued

tour of our farm.  I will fulfill

that promise but I thought I would

sneak in a little Christmas

before it passes us by.

 

Thanks for your visit!

Enjoy the Season,

 

Kelley

Not Very Good at Multi-Tasking

I am trying that multi-tasking "thing".

Pssst... let me tell you a little secret...

that usually means doing what I like

rather than doing what I should be doing.

 

 

What I like...leaving for Florida soon.

What I don't like....having to pack for Florida.

 

What I like...is editing, reviewing photographs.

What I don't like...is figuring out how to build  

our new website for our farm with those photographs.

 

 

What I like...is blogging.

What I don't like is...packing for Florida

 

Okay you get the picture.

 

When I was editing I thought

I would share our farm with you.

I don't think I have ever posted about just the farm. 

 

We purchased the farm in 2000.

It's condition was worse than you can imagine

It was a family affair,

 my mother ,father, brother, his wife and my husband.

 

It consisted of 3 buildings.

 

An old barn in desperate need of repair, it was

 very "breezy" and swayed with the wind.

It was completely open to the ceiling

 with a large claw on a pulley at the top.

It was used for scooping up the hay

to feed the horses that were housed below.

This fact makes the estimated date of the

barn being built is around 1900.

An old shed. It is pictured in the background.

 

The third building was also an old shed.

 

I don't have any before pictures,

handy, but take my word,

they were a mess.

Initially we thought the buildings

were not worth saving. When we met with

 our architect he thought they could be saved.

Hmmmmmm.... really???

My mother made the decision to

 rehab the old buildings and add

on a new structure for the "working" barn.

 

It was a major undertaking.

The whole process took 3 years.

We added loafing sheds in each of the pastures,

with LOTS of white fence.

 

WHOA NELLIE!

 REALITY CHECK....I do have to pack for our trip.

Perhaps you can tell I am

very passionate about the farm.

If I were to go on today it might

look like a novel rather than a blog post.

 

Hopefully you will stop by again soon.

Next time I will take you inside the

 buildings and continue with the history

of Kel-Chris Farm.

 

Thanks for stopping and lending me your valuable time.

 

Okay I am off to finish packing...
the thing I don't like to do:)

 

Wishing you good health and lots of smiles.

 

Kelley

Back to the Business of Blogging

The reason I blog is to share fun,

 

 

happy projects

 

with a little bit of eye candy thrown in.

 

 

 

Earlier this year I returned after a long

absence and struggled with if I wanted

to continue blogging.

 

 

 I have happily returned with

the objective of blogging is posting

what makes my heart happy.

 

 

I have gotten over many hits

I get in a day, and the number of followers.

 

A delightful bonus of worry free blogging is

I have made many friends all over the world. 

 I enjoy visiting their blogs and in turn they visit me often.

 

 

So now with my health

issues in check.

 

 

Happy Blogging it is!

 

Let the Adventue Begin!

 

Thanks for visiting,

wishing you health, smiles

and a wonderful weekend.

 

Kelley

 

 

I'm Back

 

I am finally home after 17 days at the Cleveland Clinic.

 

 

Seven days in the hospital and ten days as an outpatient.

Needless to say everything seems like a blur.

Cleveland Clinic takes a "team" approach

 to diagnose a patient with a unusual symptoms.

I was very impressed with my treatment.

 

I am home with a diagnosis of Histoplasmosis, 

which is a result of a fungus, that is in the soil,

that becomes air borne and inhaled.

Many people are affected by it resulting

in flu like symptoms only for a week or so.

 

 

Well lucky me,

 the fungus stayed in my system

and started attacking my lymph nodes

 and esophagus which was very painful.

 



I have started an anti fungal medication

 that I will be on for 3 months to a year.

I am feeling a little better

 and have been told I will have

some up and some down days.

That is okay at least I know what I am dealing with.

Hopefully I will back full force soon.

Thanks to all of you that left lovely and caring thoughts.

Enough already!

I am ready to return to the blogging world.

It may not be what I am doing currentl.y

I plan to take this opportunity

to share many things that in

this crazy busy world I didn't

have time to post at the time.

 

Thanks for visiting.

Wishing you health and smiles!

 

Kelley

A Little Update

I Just Want to Create...

Yes I do!

 

Every year when I host my Creativ-i-TEA

I take great pleasure in "creating" the favors. 

 I want something unusual,

something you can't walk into a store and purchase,

something that I hope will bring on a smile.

AND

it has to be something that I ENJOY making.

This year I made hanging air plants.

It combined nature and  a little bit of bling.

 

I used 14 gauge aluminum wire,

beads and crystals.

 The wire is very flexible and won't rust.

 

I ordered the air plants on etsy.com

and then I spent a couple of days,

twisting, threading and assembling.
 

I enjoyed these little sparklers hanging on the kellio,

for most of the summer

and then they went to their new homes

after the creativ-i-tea.

 

I am still healing and frustrated

that so many autumn photo opts are

getting away from me. 

Although in the mean time I have been

reading more than I usually do.

 

I just finished:

a great read.

A true love story!

I definitely recommend it.

 

I hope you are enjoying the cooler

days and chilly sleeping weather.

I know I am.

 

Enjoy and Take Care!

 

Kelley

P.S. For those of you who are not familiar with air plants,
here's the scoop: they don't require soil, you simply mist
them with water once or twice a week.  They multiply a lot like
succulents and they have beautiful blooms.  The next time I
have one that blooms I will share it with you.

I find all different ways to use these little guys!
 

Thankful

 

This past week

I haven't been able to wander and play

in my own garden.

 

 

 

Yet flowers surround me.

These flowers are more than mere flowers

they are bouquets of  friendship

 

I have had a few health issues that

landed me in the hospital for 5 of the last 7 days.

After taking a large biopsy from my chest

I received the great news that cancer is not involved.

 

The cause of the mass and pain is still eluding us

but we have ruled out the most dreaded diagnosis.

 

 

I came home to lots of TLC.

Yummy dinners have shown up every evening

and

the taste of fond childhood memories.

Including a dinner that I have made so many times

but when my Mom makes it tastes so much better.

 

 

My dear daughter flew in from Florida

was there for me and her Dad.

I didn't think she needed to make the

trip but in true fashion she did what she

wanted  to anyway:)...it was a true gift

waking up in recovery and seeing her smiling face.

 

The last time I was in the hospital she saw my smiling

face first just moments after being born.

 

I can't tell you how blessed I was to have

them there. I almost felt guilty because my

hospital roommate who was recovering from

open heart surgery didn't have any visitors

other than when her husband came to take her home. 

 When she asked him to bring him her walker

he told her she didn't need it, all she had to

do was put one foot in front of the other.

 

 

 

 I am in no shape to be making creative messes.

But I was able to take all

 these pictures while perched in bed.

 I am pretty sure if  I tried walking and taking

pictures it would end up in disaster.

So Photoshop has been

my "go to" for any type of creativity.

 

So happy to be home,

so thankful to all my

family and friends

for all their prayers and cares.

 

As they say, hopefully I will

"back in the saddle again".

 

Enjoy the early days of autumn!

 

Kelley

 

 

 

The 5th Annual Creativ-i-TEA

The 5th Annual Creativ-i-TEA has come and gone. 

 

The table was set with teacups and whimsy.

Everyone on the farm was scurrying around
 to put the on the finishing touches.
 

 

 A basket of fresh picked
Michigan apples greeted everyone.

 

I welcomed everyone with one of my Mosaic Message Plates..

Around the rim Scrabble tiles spell out..

"Mama don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys"

(no one said anything about cowgirls).

 

The table was set with my
collection of mismatched vintage china.

 

The plates were topped with napkins I made.

Finished with a satin bow and butterfly.

 

A moss runner was placed on top of burlap to fit the table.

Highlighting Begonia blossoms from my garden.

(The runner was purchased from Amazon.)

 

A three tiered moss cake was the center of attention.

 It was adorned with hydrangeas I dried.

(I used the same material to cover the Styrofoam cake as the table runner)

The cake was topped off with a vintage teacup

filled to the brim with beauties from my garden.

 

I added fresh basil to all the arrangements,

it's scent always reminds me of summer time.

 

On each side of the cake were candelabras with teacups 

perched on the candle holders that were filled with my garden's bounty,

(I secured the teacups with Museum Wax)

Two of my favorite teapots were the crowning glory. 

(Years ago I attended a wedding where they had candelabras similar to these,

 my husband hunted them down and gave them to me for our anniversary the next year)

 

Each guest brought a "dish to pass" along with the recipe

to be included in my annual

Creativ-i-TEA Book.

 

 

 

Everyone filled up their plates.

I think all of our eyes were bigger than our stomachs.

 

 

Then is was time to enjoy

good food

and

great friends.

 

I have taken enough of your

time for one day.
 

Although I still want to share

 so much from the party,

projects, recipes, and favors.
 

Thank you for visiting

I hope you stop by again soon!



Today I am linking to Tablescape Thursday

at Between Naps on the Porch.

A blog where you can get lost

for hours exploring wonderful

ideas and tutorials.

 

Enjoy!

 

Kelley

You can visit previous Creativ-i-tea Parties
By clicking on the year

2008         2009      2010