Happy Memorial Day

All we have of freedom, all we use or know -

This our fathers bought for us long and long ago.

~Rudyard Kipling, The Old Issue, 1899

This holiday was born of great sacrifice

for us

to celebrate our freedom 

in any way we choose

Hoping your Memorial Day Weekend is...

JUST DUCKY!

Enjoy!

Thinking in Blog Posts

Where is a girl to start...

absent from blogging for so long.

Blogging really hasn't pulled at my heart strings

in a very long time..

I sometimes ponder WHY?

I have announced to those close to me

that I am no longer a Blogger.

They just roll their eyes and smile.

They know me too well.

They know something will spark the blogger in me.

Well the spark has happened!!!

I am finding myself "thinking" in blog posts.

So much excitement to see if I can capture my thoughts via my camera

Where is my camera???

Panic...my old friend has been sitting on the shelf for months.

I am getting ready to return 
to northern Michigan for the summer

IT HAS BEEN A YEAR AND A HALF
 SINCE I HAVE BEEN HOME

While I do have a house and a life in Florida...

IN FACT a wonderful life filled with 
4 generations within 25 miles of one another, but...

I Miss My Michigan!

The place where new foals are born 

every spring on our family farm.

Born 2/26/14

Born 3/5/14

Born 3/24/14

The place where the meadow
 comes alive as days get warmer.

The place where I watch Lake Michigan 

take on a new personality each day.

The place where the Fourth of July
 is celebrated with great enthusiasm.

The place where there is only a stop sign in our little town.

IT IS A MAGICAL PLACE!

The place where I discover so much

 that it inspires me TO blog.

I guess my muse for blogging
 is the great white north.

While there is beauty in Florida
 it rarely inspires me to blog.

So as butterflies dance in my tummy

I hope you stop by occasionally to say "Hi"

and to share in my excitement.

Wishing you Health and Happiness!

Good-Bye, Hello!

Good-Bye 2013...

As I put away the pieces

 of a lovely tropical Christmas 

and we head into a New Year

I look forward to a colorful year

full of lights and surprises

Spending my time between

 two very different worlds

one of snowflakes 

and the other seashells.

My world last year was a struggle

but things are looking light and bright for 2014.

I plan to visit this little blog often 

and reconnecting with the
wonderful world of blog friends.

Happy New Year!

Wishing Health and Happiness in 2014!

Kelley

October First

Today is October 1

Really...???

This year the only way I know that it is 

Autumn is the calendar.

This is what usually tells me it is autumn

October first means changing leaves

chilly nights

sweater weather 

however this year...

The changing leaves have been replaced by 

swaying palms.

Raking and bagging leaves is replaced with 

netting mullet for bait.

Cozy sweaters replaced by 

Minnie Mouse bathing suits.

Playing and jumping in fallen leaves replaced by

building sand castles.

Walking through the crunchy fallen leaves replaced by 

walking on the beach with a lapping tide.

With all the differences 

the same sun is setting upon 

us,  just with a little different twist 

and an extra splash of lime.

Happy Autumn! 

Where ever your 

sun sets.

Wishing You Health and Happiness!

Kelley

An Autumn Table

 Autumn is upon us...

I set this fall harvest table this time last year 

but I did not get the chance to post it because 

I had surgery and the pleasures of blogging 

were put on "the shelf" for a while.

                                       

 An arrangement from the local Farmers Market.

The dinner menu was one of my favorite 

late summer meals. 

The table was set

with a Crate and Barrel pattern 

from years ago.

I was "smitten" with the pattern

from the minute I saw it. 

The cold gazpacho

served in ceramic autumn veggie bowls.

The napkins are a mix of 

my little collection of

"frayed by Kelley" napkins

The butter dish, a favorite

Fritz and Floyd piece.

This year I will not be setting tables 

adorned in autumn motif because I 

stayed in Florida this summer 

but I will be returning next spring

and will appreciate the four seasons 

more than EVER.

Until then you can find me here...

No complaints!!!

Wishing you Health and Happiness!

Kelley

This is ME

I always love taking a new class...

I just signed up for a Picture A Day class taught by:

Each week day for 8 weeks we will be given a photo "prompt".

I have taken classes from this group before and I have always enjoyed the class

AND

learned lots about photography 

AND

about myself.

My "homework" for the weekend is to

 "introduce" myself through photography.

Our homework is posted in a student gallery. 

I must admit I peeked at the other students "homework"

 I find it so interesting how each one of us 

expresses ourselves so differently.

Assignment completed!

Wishing You a Wonderful Weekend!

Kelley

Good for the Heart times two

The longer I am absent from "blogging" 

the harder it is to think of something to post.

I find that when I visit other blogs they are so:

beautiful...

(moon flower from my garden, 

one of the few plants that has survived the hot Florida summer)

glamorous...

cute...

a DIY showcase...

then I think of something to post and 

I feel that it can't possibly live up to such 

high expectations.

Ohhhhh the pressure:):):)

Then I remember a little promise I made

 to myself about a year ago

That I would only blog from the heart,

 not to try to measure up to other blogs.

I will post  happy, silly, sad, creative 

just because it makes me happy.

 Yep, good for the heart and straight from the heart.

Today I discovered something 

else that is good for the heart. 

this concoction...

Overnight Oatmeal

disclaimer...I "pinned" this from Pinterest a while ago,

 finally got around to making it last night and then...

(dramatic music please)

 the reality of eating it...simply put 

I was dreading it. 

OH GOOD NEWS...I loved it!

Bells and whistles please.

This post...

 is not witty,

it is not glamorous,

hardly talented 

perhaps a little informative 

but A Lot of YUMMY

 and good for you and your heart.

Wishing you Health and Happiness!

Kelley

A Picture...

As they say...."A Picture is worth a thousand words."

These palms tell a little bit. 

Yes, I am in Florida, it is evening and well that's about it.

But when I use my new fav app

 WITH a picture it tells so much more.

I must admit I am a bit obsessed with weather 

then pair that with photography. 

I AM ONE HAPPY GIRL

So I have started taking one picture a day with my Iphone

and applying the Instaweather iphone app.

The pictures are not great quality

but they tell a story, my story. 

The app makes you stay very honest 

 it applies the date, current weather and location

 information the EXACT moment you take the picture. 

At the end of the year all the pictures can be printed 

into a little booklet and I will have a

 "forever snapshot"

of a full year without much effort.  

I always intend to write in a journal

 before going to bed to remember the day

 and all that I am thankful for but...

I am usually so tired by the end 

of the day that I neglect to journal. 

This way the old saying 

"A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words"

my memories and so many of the things 

I am grateful for will be captured forever.

Just a little note:

I have removed the location info on all the pictures

which reduces the quality

but I am just a little funny about 

sharing my location with the world.

Let's just say I send Happy Greetings from Florida.

Thanks for the visit!

Sending you wishes of Health and Happiness.

Kelley