Small Beginnings

Dreary days often come to Blueberry Barn.  Clouds full of rain, dark gloomy seas...it's no wonder on days like those I hide under my quilts and don't want to venture out of bed.  The other day was one such dreary scene when we awoke to the wind chimes outside making a clamoring noise from the wind and rain. On a day such as that one there was nothing to do but stay inside and busy...

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Mail & Breakfast

Mail is a wonderful thing. Yesterday I found some very beautiful mail in my mailbox from a dear new friend, Jaclyn. Decorated all over with roses and flowers, I almost didn't want to open it! (Indeed, I left it sitting out on the counter - unopened - for most of the morning because I loved looking at it.) So that morning I deemed it right to send out some pretty mail myself. Tasha Tudor had...

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A Birthday

I'm not sure quite when it happened, but sometime when I was in high school I realized my favorite dessert (which would forever appear on my birthday) was not cake, it was pumpkin pie. For years I had loved pumpkin pie at its proper time in the year, Autumn. But why on earth could you not have pumpkin pie at different times? After all, the orange cans of pumpkin that were in full force near Thanksgiving...

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Pretty Maids all in a Row

I am the sort of girl who saves all of her money and never spends it. Ever. It took a dear friend in college to tell me I needed to have fun once in a while. Of course all my stores of money flew out the window when I got married (marriage has this way of pushing you right out into adulthood, no matter if you think you're ready for it, and no matter if you think you really need a couch). Nowadays...

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A Pretended Spring

As I went about my early morning chores yesterday morning, I was filled with excitement for the day. The sun was shining, and I simply couldn't wait to go outdoors and plot around the sunny landscapes. As I took those first few steps outside (though, it wasn't to explore, it was to shake out the kitchen rugs) Greta followed behind me and we both agreed it was beautiful! So I guess it would stand...

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Impromptu Tea Parties

When I was very little my parents would often read to me from a book of children's poetry. I had most of the poems memorized, and my favorite was the following by Jessica Nelson North: I had a little tea party  this afternoon at three. Twas very small- three guests in all- just I, Myself, and Me. Myself ate up the sandwiches, while I drank up the tea; Twas also I who ate the pie and...

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