Wild Violets

I'm basking in the glow of sunset among the cherry blossoms, but it's violets that I really want to talk about today because my yard and the woods surrounding are positively packed with these gorgeous vibrant purple wild flowers.

You can see why I chose this dress to go along with this post.  It is probably the most vivid color in my entire wardrobe, and while I do like it very much, this is not the color I was expecting at all. I did a little experimenting with Aliexpress imposter dresses just to see if they measured up and....well, this is what this particular dress was supposed to look like:

The Sara dress from Teuta Matoshi is on my wish list, but I was curious what an imposter might be like, so I decided to try one while I scrimp and save to afford the original.

As you can see the big difference is the color--the original is lavender, this one is violet--and the gaudy satin trim on the corset piece.  It's also worth noting that this dress arrived with a big pink stain on the fabric.  I contacted the seller and they refunded part of the cost of the dress.  You can watch the full review for this dress and the others here.

The bottom line is that with the stain, I can't sell it.  With the shipping costs, I can't return it.  And, I'm not enthralled with this dress.  It's ok and I think I'm learning that when it comes to these gorgeous gowns, you get what you pay for.  From now on, I'm fully committed to buying on from Teuta.  The knock-offs just aren't worth it.

Since I have the dress though, I may as well use it as much as possible, starting with a stroll among the cherry blossoms.  Since they're so high above the ground, I don't have to worry about snags like I do when I go violet picking.

A few years ago I met a woman at a craft festival with similar interests to mine.  She also had a blog and I read it with interest.  In the blog she mentioned making wild violet jam.  Since my yard is filled with violets each spring, and since last spring I was at home for the shutdown, I determined to make some wild violet jam.

Two things prevented my jam session from becoming a reality.  First, toilet paper wasn't the only thing to be in short supply last year.  Canning supplies, especially lids, were no where to be found and those who did have some available were price gouging like you wouldn't believe.  And, second, when I finally did find a few tiny jam jars, a frost came along and killed all the violets.  Undeterred, I immediately began planning for this spring.

All these beautiful violets dotting the woods, were calling my name.  I enlisted the help of my entire family to go on a violet picking romp through the woods and we came home with a large bag of blossoms- about 2C.

I picked off the stems and washed the blossoms to remove the bugs and soil.  Then placed them in a bowl and covered them in 2-1/4C. boiling water.  I covered the bowl and let it sit for 24 hours.  The water turned the most brilliant electric blue!  You can see it instantly turned a blue in this photos taken seconds after covering it in the hot water.

After 24hours, I lined a strainer with a cheesecloth and strained off the liquid from the flowers squeezing the bundle of lowers to extract as much liquid as possible.  I put it in a pot with 1/4C lemon juice, now the blue liquid turned to violet purple.  Next I added one packet of fruit pectin which turned the liquid red-violet as you see here.

Stirring occasionally, as soon as my mixture reached a boil I added 2C. of sugar, and let it reach a hard boil for one minute.  I skimmed off the foam and discarded it, then poured my jelly into my already prepared jars.  I opted to make jelly instead of my blogger acquaintance's jam.  I also opted not to can this jelly.  It will stay in the fridge until it's gone.  The taste is so delightful, I can't wait to put it on hot buttered biscuits and use it in thumbprint cookies!

You see now why this dress was the perfect choice for this post!  It's not perfect, but there are a few things I like about it.  Also I'm stuck with it, so might was well learn to love it and wear the hell out of it.

Shopping Info:  Verngo Elegant Lavender Dotted Tulle Dress, Bettie Page Heels, Slightly altered version of Violet Jelly Recipe from Tasty Kitchen

Spring Crafting

It's spring!  Are you tired of hearing me say that?  I'm not, so get ready to hear it for the next two months as I relish this season.  It was a particularly long cold winter and I'm so glad that it's over.  Regardless though, I think it's worth a little time and effort to properly celebrate spring.  So, I've put together a little tea party today.  

As much as I'd like to pretend this was all effortless, I actually put a lot of work into this backdrop--although the cake was accidental.  By the way, "Accidental Cake" will be the title of chapter four of my autobiography.   I don't mind saying that this cake is Uh-May-Zing.  I don't like cake and rarely eat it, but this cake was just too pretty to pass up, and unlike most cakes, it tastes as good or better than it looks....I've already ordered another because this one did not last long enough. 

 

I don't know why I make more work for myself other than I see something or have an idea and I just have to find out if I can make it.  Then it's weeks or months of effort and expense but I have learned the importance of taking the time to sit back and appreciate the results before I move on.  

This book wall represents 1/2 of a project I began in winter and then ran out of steam.  I have now finished the whole thing, but it was a little difficult to drag both pieces outside.  I did eventually get them both out here, but it took some help.  The entire process took me about 5 days.

For this project, I used two 6'x4' (182cm x 121cm) wood panels.  These are the panels used in homes to look like real wood, but....you know, they don't.  So, I flipped them to the smooth side and then began gluing pages from the same book in neat tidy rows.  I used a mixture of 1 part water to 2 parts craft glue and applied it with a sponge brush, smoothing the air bubbles out with a metal putty knife.  

I put down this basic first layer as a background so that I wouldn't have to worry about the wood showing through and also as a guide to help me keep everything fairly straight.  After this layer dried I began using my pretty papers.  It took some elbow grease, but I am really pleased with the end product.  I'll mainly use it as an accent piece and for photo props.  Or, maybe I'll just set it up for nice Sunday lunches with the family.  Who knows.

Shopping Info:  COLLECTIF MAINLINE DEMIRA DREAMY FLORAL SWING DRESS

Cottage View

I love pastels and I love this season of pastels too.  You know who else loves it besides me and Mother Nature?  Karina!

Karina Dresses new collection is totally bringing spring with all their prints and color palettes and I love it.  This Nora dress is in Cottage View print.  This minty hue with its white florals is like a breath of fresh spring air.  I couldn't resist styling it with a butter yellow cardi and some white accessories.

Look at this easy dress.  So comfortable, so simple.  Wrinkle free, hassle free, and it has style to spare.

I always style these dresses with heels, but truly, for my lifestyle, I much prefer how cute this dress is with some comfortable sneakers or flats.  Things are opening up around here and I love and appreciate walking around downtown, hitting the shops and restaurants like never before.

Hopefully things are returning to normal where you live too.  And hopefully, during this season of new life, you too are filled with a new appreciation for the simple things.  A quite walk, a nice meal in a restaurant with loved ones, a beautiful easy dress, and all the glorious colors of spring.  

Shopping Info:  Nora Dress in Cottage View from KarinaDresses.com

 

A Jolly Holiday

I am in love with all things spring.  I've been busier than the bees and the butterflies and outdoors almost as much as they.  I wish I could say it was all for leisure, but there are so many things to do here just now that I've been working, working, working and I can't wait to share some of the things I've been doing here on the farm.

On this particular day when I took these photos, however, it was Easter and I did nothing but chat with family, eat a delicious meal, and be thankful for this most holy of holy days signifies.  While we were on my parents' farm, we stopped by the crab apple tree to look at the blossoms and enjoy the sunset.  Last year this tree succumbed to the frost and had not a single blossom.  It has more than made up for it this year though, and it's added several feet in height since I saw it last as well.

No matter what's going on, I do think it's important to stop and smell the flowers so to speak.  This comfy old quilt has been in the family for years and I love the way it feels to curl up here and read a book.  A little picnic and a glass of champagne never hurt either, though I didn't indulge on this day since we'd already spent the afternoon feasting.

As you can tell, this gorgeous Teuta Matoshi gown is my latest acquisition from my new favorite designer.  It's gorgeous shade of blue, lovely layers, and loads of glittery hearts, I absolutely adore this dress.  Ugh, I just can't get enough of these gowns!  They're so gorgeous and after wearing one, I hate my regular clothes.

I wish I could wear a gorgeous gown at least every week if not everyday.  I know that's impractical for a farm girl, but that's never stopped me before. 

This particular Ocean Draped Hearty Dress was my Easter dress this year and while we didn't get to hunt eggs this year, I did feel quite festive and like I was looking my best.

This was truly a jolly holiday.  I love all the holidays where we're expected to dress up and look our best to celebrate.  In my humble opinion, there should be more of them.  Hmmmm, maybe I'll challenge myself to do one gorgeous gown per holiday this year.  Or maybe I'll let my bank account have a nice long holiday of its own.  Let's face it, it needs a break.

Shopping Info: Teuta Matoshi Ocean Draped Hearty Dream Dress

Measured Steps

With a title like this, it sounds like we're going to be talking about some serious emotional or philosophical issues, but it's a little less intense than that.

Here, here, here, spring is finally here.  Looking back at these winter photos still gives me little shivers, but I'm glad winter is behind us for the next eight months or so.  It's good to be out and about again, taking our afternoon walks to the mail box whenever possible, and just to generally be moving again.  I know this is the time of year by which most people have long ago given up on their New Year's fitness resolutions, but I'm just getting started.

I was reaching my wits' end with all the sedentariness of the past year.  Having the internet in my home has impacted my activity level far more than any quarantine or winter storm.  My contract will be up in a few short weeks and I'm debating on whether or not to keep it.  I'm just not sure I should.  In the meantime, I also bought a pedometer.  Remember those?  I had one years ago when they first came out to remind me to be active throughout my day and throughout two pregnancies and it worked pretty well.

Since I needed that little reminder to get up from the computer not just at work now, but more especially at home, I decided to get an inexpensive little pedometer to see if that would help me now the way it did back then.  Back in the beginnings of that movement, "experts" said one should aim for 10,000 steps per day.  Turns out that number was chosen arbitrarily because it sounded good, and it is extremely hard to reach that goal unless you regularly walk long distances as part of your day. 

My pedometer is very basic.  It cost less than $10 and took about 10 minutes to set up, the most time consuming part being measuring my steps and entering the info, but very little has changed in pedometer tech in the last decade or so, so I pretty much remembered how to do it all from the last time I set one up.  On a day of very high activity I get about 8,000 steps and that includes exercising.  But, most of the time I get 2,000 to 4,000.  So, while 10,000 is quite a lofty goal, I do love having that little reminder at my hip to get up, get moving, and get away from my screen for a bit in the hopes of making my favorite jeans fit the way they're supposed to again.  I think it's working and I'm feeling better for the reminders to be active again.

If you set some fitness goals this year, now is the time to get started and get moving. 

Purpose in Spring

And all at once the world is filled with colors again!  Gone are the grays of winter.  They give way to greens, pinks, yellows, purples, and whites and the earth breaks into blossom and song once more.  My year begins and ends with color.  All that winter business is just the pause between it all.

The woods are full of blossoms right now and all seems right in my tiny corner of the world.  There are baby bunnies and kittens everywhere.  The garden is putting forth green shoots, and I am very glad to be alive in the dear old world.

Easter is one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, holidays because of all the hope, the promise, and the new life.  Everything looks brighter.  This is why I still advocate for the New year beginning in March instead of bleak, dreary old January.

I'm positive more New Year's resolutions would be actually carried out if they were made in March.  That hum of all life waking up is almost palpable.  Look around, how can we not be full of energy and joie de vivre at a time like this.  

There is so much to do, so much to work toward.  I wake up with a sense of purpose in this season.  I've been busy in the kitchen trying to preserve as much or my spring harvest as possible.  Busy outdoors, creating all the little things I promised myself I would when I looked out the frosty window panes of winter.  Busy, thinking to myself of how to best accomplish this goal and how to work out the kinks of that project.

And like everything else in the world, I am waking up from my long winter stillness and drowsing to breathe the crisp air and get as much done as I possibly can.  I can't tell you how good it feels to fall into bed each evening and slipping right into sleep before my head and touch the pillow.

This is all I am really asking for from life:  simplicity, purposeful work, and the time to pause and enjoy the fruits of my labor.  So, welcome New Year, and new life.  And welcome, Spring, you were dearly missed.

Shopping Info:  Floral Dreams Dress from TeutaMatoshi.com  Use my link to save $50 off your next purchase.

Disney Princess Dreaming

Can I tell you how many years I've passed by this gorgeous spot and thought to myself, next year I'm going to stop and take some photos there.  It's been three years.  Three springs passed me by before I finally said, never mind my schedule, this is happening today!

In this dress with all these deep pink flowers, I feel like a Disney princess, ready to break into song and summon all the woodland creatures to me for a spontaneous symphony.

Except instead of a prince, my story would end with a large closet filled with every single Teuta Matoshi gown that has been made or ever will be made and then it would fade to black while I sing something along the lines of If you keep on believing the dream that you wish will come true with a wonderous sparkle surprise look on my face.

Sigh.  It's terribly unlikely, I suppose, but aren't all wishes.  If they were easy to get we wouldn't need to wish, we'd just go get them.  

Still, some wishes have to come true or people would stop wishing.  And my wish to stop here and take in this lovely tree in full bloom has finally come true after three years of wishing and waiting, so there is a chance, a small chance........one day.....maybe.........

Shopping Info:  Starry Cosmos Dress from Teuta Matoshi.

A Moment for Memow

Looks cute, doesn't she.  You'd like to pet her, wouldn't you.  Well, that's how you get your hand ripped to shreds!  Is that what you want?  Do you want a shredded hand?  Well, then don't underestimate this tiny ninja assassin cat again.

Look at her.  So vicious!  And now there are three more of her.  That's right, my favorite feline photo-bomber is now a proud mama to three little kittens and whoa Nellie, is she ever protective.

For now she's terribly occupied protecting her kittens and trying to scratch the crap out of anyone who gets too near, but I have no doubt that she'll be out and about and back to bombing all my photos again soon.  And also drinking my tea the second I walk away.