Sunday, March 30, 2014

PRAIRIE STYLE Magazine!


PRAIRIE STYLE 
magazine
 is back by popular demand!

Do I hear a a chorus of "Woooot wooot!" out there?

Are you all doing the happy dance??

Yep. I thought so!





Due to hit the stands in May, 
this always-inspiring magazine boasts high quality paper and printing along with
144 pages of beautifully photographed stories and 9 fabulous homes from coast to coast and Canada.

Since I am your official tour guide,
want to take a peek inside....?




I want this blue door and green cabinet ~
and maybe the sofa.

Yes. Definitely the sofa.

just sayin'...




Sorry. Ok.  Back to our tour.

In this issue you will...


 fall under some prairie magic...





tag along on a spring time picnic...




meet some pioneer dreamers...



sigh over luscious blue...




 peek inside the pantry...



delight in sweet decor...




embark on a trip to the Louisana lowlands...




visit a ranch style home full of farmhouse charm...




take a walk through a vintage masterpiece...




get swept into a lovely New England home...




embrace some homespun Canadian sweetness...




and discover how Appalachia met California.




And there's even MORE prairie love to see inside!


So....here's the scoop.


Quantities are LIMITED,
 so order quickly!


The next issue be published based on the sales of THIS issue. 
That's right, ladies.
If there aren't enough copies ordered online or purchased in stores, 
there may not be another PRAIRIE STYLE magazine.

So, order more than one!
Order a few and gift your friends!
Let's support Fifi and PRAIRIE STYLE magazine in any way we can!

Here's the link to place your orders:
 
Single orders are $9.99.   

Bulk orders are 10 copies or more and are $4.99 each.  
  Samplermagazines.com under the bulk orders tab.


Ok.
Now, scoot!
 Go and order your copies right now! 


~  Eucharisteo  ~ 


Linking to the linky parties on the lower right of my sidebar!





 

Friday, March 21, 2014

Season of Grace


March.
Month three.
 Cold, snowy evenings

slowly

gradually

give way to sun filled mornings and dripping icicles.

A new season.

A season for her to count whispered blessings.

And it was in this attitude of gratitude that she could feel the grace of it:
Yesterday … was our Lord’s grace.
Tomorrow… is our Lord willing.
Today… is our Lord’s gift —
which is why everyone, everywhere, calls right now the present.
 ~ Ann Voskamp


♥ Watching the first robin hopping through melting snow under brilliant blue skies.




♥ Hearing the pond bubbling happily and free of ice.



♥ Feeling weak-kneed, joyous gratitude for a clear MRI.




♥ Loving her messy, sunny studio.




♥ Grateful for a very large dream catcher order
for a sweet shop in North Carolina.




♥ Fingering soft fabric and yarns between her fingers.
Thinking back over the past six months.




♥ Playing with colorfully happy beads
while embracing a happy heart.



Her creation of a new Boho-prairie girl dream catcher.


Buying fresh roses for vases around the house.
Feeling so blessed.




Accepting humbled grace to see her gardens featured in a magazine.



You breathe different in a room when you know it’s not about the good you can accomplish but about the grace you can accept.
You breathe different through a season when you begin it by breathing in grace — 
when you begin it in a place just to be real. 
Only then can we begin to be changed this season into the realest versions of Grace Himself.
~Ann Voskamp


She smiles.
Breathes deeply.
Inhales peace.
Exhales joy.
Feeling blessed.
Content.
Changed.
Real.
Loved.


"...God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.”
Psalm 72

~  Eucharisteo  ~


Linking to the linky parties on the lower right of my sidebar.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Red Barn Renovation

This harsh Michigan winter brought an over-abundance of snow.
Snowbanks that were five feet tall.
Sub-zero temperatures.
Howling winds.
Ice laden, breaking, crashing branches.
Winter weather advisories.
Storm after storm after storm.
After a couple months, there was no place left to push the drifts.

This old farmhouse was swallowed up in a world of cold, icy, white ~
week after week after week.




The Mister plowed paths for the deer and turkey that we fed every evening.




We reveled in stolen moments of feeble sunshine
that cast blue shadows on mountainous mounds.




Through it all,
our big red barn stood tall and proud
against the winter sky.
The wind roaring through the cracks and holes in her wood planked walls.
Snow sifting into piles on the worn, sturdy floor.

It was time for a make-over ~
to help strengthen her old bones so she could make it through the next 100 years.




We hired an Amish construction company to restore her beauty.
We asked them to wait until spring to start this huge project,
but they wanted to begin immediately.
Winter weather was not going to stop them.

The first thing they had to do was to push all the snow away from the foundation...
in single digit temps.



From the warmth of our kitchen,
we watched in constant awe as the crew, arriving at 7:30am sharp every morning,
worked diligently in frigid conditions.
Heads bent against blowing snow,
breath heaving white,
leaving beards white and cheeks red.
We offered them our heated workroom to take their breaks and lunch.
We fixed them homemade soup to warm them up.
We wanted to tell them to go home, escape this brutal weather,
and come back when it warmed up, or when it stopped snowing.
But they kept to their schedule without a complaint,
working long, cold days until 4:30pm,
when a friend would pick them up and take them back home to their families.





Their work ethics were amazing.
Their work....absolute perfection.




 They were kind.
They were professional.
They were hard working.
They were humble.




We watched as sturdy metal siding covered old, dilapidated wood.
We watched as the old gutter system fell away
and a new white soffit took its place.




We watched as they built three new sets of barn doors
and mounted them on new track systems.





We watched them confer about each stage in the project,
which would then be tackled with grace and efficiency.

They rented a lift to reach the second story,
and we held our breath as the snowy winds picked up ferociously on the day they installed the soffit under the high arch of the hip-roof,
along with new vented windows at the peaks on the north and south sides of the barn.




The Mister, Maizie, and I would take a walk every night after they left
to see the transformation that was taking place,
and stare incredulously at the perfection of their work.

We felt like they were blessing our barn with their beautiful talent.




After five days of laboring in frigid cold, blowing winds, snow squalls, and a smidgeon of sunshine,
we watched them add the finishing final touch.




The sign that used to be in my booth
now hangs front and center.




With smiles, handshakes, many thank-yous,
and grateful hearts,
they packed up and moved on to their next job.

We miss having those humble men working around our house.
There was something....comforting....about having them here each day.
We do plan on hiring them again to tackle some additional home improvements planned for this spring, with the widow's walk and railing being the first on our agenda.

Until then,
we look out our windows and love our beautifully renovated barn
which will now stand the test of time for years to come.

Our hearts are warm.



Thank you so much,
Raymond Kauffman Construction Company.
God bless you for your diligence
and for the beautiful restoration of our beloved barn.




This summer, we will be replacing the two windows in the foundation on the north and south side.

Back of barn.

South side.




We both look forward to seeing our new barn standing in a gentle prairie of green grass and rambling flowers soon...




...but to get us all through until then, you can see the gardens of Heaven's Walk in full bloom
in the premier edition of 
Country Style Gardening!
(published by Harris Publications, Inc. and on display until May 26) 
 
My six page feature was styled by Fifi O'Neill and photographed by Mark Lohman
last June when they were both here for a photo shoot. 
(The scoop on that incredible day later...I promise.)




Needless to say,
I am beyond thrilled ~
and feeling so blessed.

~  Eucharisteo ~



Linking to the linky parties on the lower right of my sidebar.

Thank you, Harris Publications!