Routine

I love fall. 

It ranks right up there with spring as one of my favorite seasons.  It just misses the title of favorite, though, due to the fact that it leads into winter {my very least favorite} and it is a bit more routine than spring. 

Sure, spring comes with the typical seeding, planting and a whole lot of hustle & bustle to get everything done that needs to be done, but inevitably never all gets done & somehow everything works out anyway.

  Fall has chores...normal chores...not so much of the excitement that comes with spring.  That's where were are right now...in the routine.  A lot of cleaning, tilling, composting, planting and preparing.  The preparing part is actually a bit more fun this year because I am preparing to go full-time beginning in 2012!  This will be an enormous help and alleviate a lot of the stress that comes with working a full-time job & then coming home to squeeze in as much work as possible for Seeded Earth.  I am crazy excited to dive into more farmers' markets and weddings!   

Olive loves to come help me in the field!

In the midst of routine, there is still much fall beauty to be found...

Kevin says 'hi'!...he's beginning to settle in and become *much* more of a puppy!  I see a portion of our yard being fenced sooner than later!  ;)

Oh, What Fun!

What a busy, busy fun-filled weekend! 

I began prepping for wedding floral on Wednesday night by getting wine bottles sorted & ready to use as vases...some full size & some cut in half.  Flower cutting began on Thursday afternoon with a stop by Miss Effie's to get a milk jug of snapdragons, a few salvia and strawflower.  It's always fun to talk flowers with her!  Then, I made my way home to the flower field to cut as many flowers as I could before darkness set in...earlier and earlier these days!  Friday afternoon was more flower & foliage cutting and then the fun part...design!! 

I always have this vision in my head of how I want things to look...thankfully, Mother Nature & the Flower Gods {they must exist!} were very kind and provided fabulous colors & textures! I really loved how everything for this wedding turned out!

The excitement doesn't stop there!  We had a chance to visit our friends in their new home right after the wedding floral delivery.  The plan was to help them move, but the 2 p.m. delivery and then a 45 min. drive made us a bit too late.  It was great having dinner & laughing with them, though!  

 THEN...on Sunday, we drove 3.5 hours to Niles, IL near Chicago.  Travis & I have talked about getting a large dog to be a friend to Olive & I.  He really likes Bernese Mountain dogs...I just wanted a nice, big dog...one that would be nice to Olive, too.  Out of the blue, I did a search on PetFinder for a dog.  Well...after two weeks of discussing & applying to adopt, we made the trip to Wright Way Rescue to get this little guy!  It was a rough ride.....he gets car sick....but he was happy as could be once we got him home & cleaned up!

His name is Kevin.  ha!  Yep, I know...Kevin.  Travis named him.  We came up with some good names the night before with our friends...Oscar, Tom Selleck (!!), Grover...nope...Travis liked Kevin.  Remember the bird from the Pixar move, 'Up'?  The name reminded me of that silly guy (er...girl) & I did really like that movie.  Kevin it is!  So far {we've only had him home for 19 hours}, he is a really nice, sweet, cuddly dog.  Olive isn't too happy about this new guy stepping on her turf, but I think she's going to be alright.



A new love...

We spent our weekend traveling to Wausau, Wisconsin for Travis' cousin's wedding.  We had a great time!...the weather was perfect and we were able to make a quick stop at the Madison Farmers' Market on the way!  I believe the farmers are severely undervaluing their product & shorting themselves!  $5.00 for a large bouquet of flowers?!...how can they make any sort of a profit for their hard work?!

Seriously?...there is no way that they can even be breaking even on these flowers.  I have to tell you, while the flowers were beautiful, I was pretty upset to see this...

A wedding shot with my crazy huge shades!  We had a great time dancing to the 50's & 60's music played by a brass band at the reception!...just my style!   

Guess what was waiting in our garage when we arrived home?!  Our new tractor!!  Travis is in love!

Olive would love to have chicken for dinner...

A few fall photos from the farm...

Lilies that were planted in July...just beginning to bloom!

Now that the tractor is here, I'll be hard at work getting perennials, shrubs, bulbs & peony roots in the ground!....very excited for 2012!   

In the air...

Last weekend, with the cooler weather and the smell of fall in the air, Olive & I took a walk back to the flower field to check on the flowers & count how many round bales of hay a local farmer was able to get from our land.  When he cut this past spring, he baled 15...it added up to an extra $200 for us!...for doing nothing!  This cutting.......an entirely different story!  Olive & I counted 3 bales...$45.  Eesh...that in itself tells you how dry this summer has been!   

 Olive wasn't too sure about these big creatures hanging out on her land.

I'm undecied on what this pretty piece of fluff is from.  At first glance, it looked like a bunny lost a tuft of fur, but the closer I looked, it looks like it could be something from a plant?  Not sure, but it sure is pretty & peaceful.

 The helenium that we planted as plugs over the 4th of July are just beginning to bloom!  They'll be beautiful next season when they're able to reach their full height!

Our best buddy, Olive...she *loves* being able to walk back to the flowers to run & sniff & play fetch!

Now, Labor Day Weekend is here!  We'll be doing rain dances, hopefully getting a lot of plants in the ground & finishing up the chicken coop! 

Have a great weekend, friends!