So many of us have so much to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Gratitude
Home Stuff
Grateful for A Family Farm
One of the best things about living where I do is that there is a family farm just 2.5 miles from my house – Phillips Farms. They once were a small roadside stand, but expanded and built a much bigger store in a more accessible location.
They grow everything they sell, and it’s all fresh and delicious. They have over a dozen variety of apples, including my favorite macouns.
Plus every fruit or vegetable imaginable as the months roll by. We are often advised to eat foods that are in season, and Phillips Farms makes that easy. Plus they offer apple and pumpkin picking in the fall, berry picking in the spring and summer.
When they expanded, they built a kitchen on the premises. They bake pies, doughnuts, and fresh breads, and make their own jams and pasta sauces, all these items with their own produce
They offer fresh flowers in every season in pots or cut to make your own arrangements. This year they added eucalyptus.
New Jersey is known as the Garden State, and my county is the highest agricultural county within the state. Living here does mean some sacrifices in that a trip to go see art or other events in NYC or Philadelphia is a bit of a trek, but a good life with fresh and delicious food all year-round just 7 minutes away seems a pretty good counterbalance.
Summer Fruit
Summer is just about gone, and soon, with it will be the wonderful bounty that we love so much this time of year in New Jersey – peaches, corn and tomatoes.
I’ve been enjoying all three as soon as they hit my local farm market, but had yet to do anything special with them. Time flies! I really wanted to make something delicious with peaches before they’d no longer be available.
I perused a bunch of recipes I’ve yet to try, but instead settled for a fabulous favorite, German Plum Cake. It is usually made with Italian prune plums when they are in season, but works equally well with peaches or apples, and is so easy to make.
Lots of butter, lots of sugar, lots of peaches. One of my favorite recipes, especially because it takes almost no time at all. Yum!
Happy end of summer!
Seeing vs. Looking
Looking is what we do all the time. It’s how we negotiate our world. But seeing … that’s something special.
Sitting out on my back porch recently, I suddenly saw these incredible shadows made by the hydrangeas and porch railings. I saw a parrot, a rabbit, maybe a dragon, an acorn. Because instead of just looking with my eyes, I saw with my mind, my wider perception.
Not long ago, I’d taken a photo of my kitchen counter, because I became aware of the color of the shadow on the Thermos and the mug – so blue!
I love this photo of the hydrangeas because the shadows are so very soft and blue-grey, but also because it seemed to me that the leaf was in love with the hydrangea flower. Yes, my imagination, but when we really look at things, we see more deeply.
If we stop, we might see patterns all about us, lines and shapes that we casually pass by every day, until one day, we really see them.
I guess what I’m saying here is that our world is so much richer than we know or acknowledge. And all it takes to open that richness is to be in the present moment and see what’s around us.
Christmas in July
Trying something new with my Etsy shop – a Christmas in July sale to reach some French Bulldog lovers with my Christmas/holiday cards, and possibly some “everyday” ones as well.
I have some wonderful ideas for a whole new avenue for my art, maybe requiring a second shop due to shipping/mailing challenges. I’m envisioning prints! How about prints! But before anyone in business gets too crazy about expanding, they need to have a good/better understanding of how to attract customers.
And that’s what I’m doing now … research. How to more effectively use social media, Pinterest, Etsy itself, and Google. It seems so simple, but every avenue of promotion is a field of knowledge in itself.
So if you would like to contribute to my research (of course, I’m smiling!), please stop by my Christmas in July sale on Etsy, on the dates above, and take advantage of a 35% off storewide discount! Or send a friend. Or two. I am appreciative of all support!
Still A Dreamer 