The Pastoral Dollmaker~Christine Crocker

snowy and wintery spring morning

2012-03-21T07:50:00.002-07:00

What a beautiful spring morning!

This is what we woke up to and it's coming down

in fat fluffy goose feather flakes...

beneath that snow are lots of little green buds of daffodil and crocus

just waiting for a kiss of sunshine.

Wishing you all a beautiful day!

( the flames in the trees are the reflection of the candle lights from my chandelier over the kitchen table)

the year's at the spring

2012-03-20T08:21:00.002-07:00

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven -
All's right with the world!

~Robert Browning~

Happy First Day of Spring!

home for christmas

2011-12-24T09:28:00.000-08:00

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport the traveler back to his own fireside and quiet home!

~ Charles Dickens ~

beginnings

2011-09-20T12:32:00.000-07:00

a little dream of mine is slowly but surely coming true...

It started with a "farmer's load" of old tongue and groove pine boards, carefully saved for several years until they could be used.

I would visit them in the back of the barn where they've been covered and stored.

I would pull back the canvas and smell the piney wood scent and rub my hands across the boards and dream of them as they would be someday.
At long last the day came when we were ready. We covered the walls in our downstairs and put in new old pine paneled doors, laid a wide board floor. It's as if I have walked into an entirely different house now.

Even before the last few boards were being laid, I brought in a make-do demilune table that I made from an old table that had only half it's top. I took off the old legs that had seen better days.

My dear daughter in law made legs for me in her wood shop for Christmas last year.

So here it is, all put together with a thin coat of milk paint like frosting on a cake.

Resting on it now, a large wooden bowl, old as the hills and perfectly out of round,

and a hand turned treen candlestick with one of my own beeswax candles.

There's a tin chandelier waiting to be hung and an old rope bed in it's original blue-green milk paint waiting for it's bed hangings to be sewn.
I look forward to the sun going down so that I can light the candles and visit another place in another time right at the bottom of the old stairs.

where my heart lives

2011-07-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

emma, elisabeth & ethan

three of the most beautiful spirits I know

summer sweetness~ lisbet & pleasante thinges

2011-07-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

a little summer sweetness for you~

little Lisbet & Pleasante Thinges

are now offered here~

Deerfield Farmhouse

enjoy your 4th of July holiday!

2011-05-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

The Back Porch & Company

Hi Everyone!

Just a reminder about our upcoming Porch Party on Saturday, May 21st when we will be welcoming

Christine Crocker!

Christine is an 18th & 19th century inspired doll maker who's beautiful creations have been in several publications such as Early American Life, Romantic Homes, Country Homes and Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion.

That's just naming few!

She has also been chosen as of the country's top 200 Traditional Early American Artisans for the past 7 years.

Come visit with Christine and see some of her wonderful dolls and maybe finding one that speaks to your heart.

We also will be having a store wide sale that day so come take advantage of that.

Refreshments and goodies will be served as well.

So bring a friend and enjoy the party on the porch !

May 21st, 12-4 pm

The Back Porch & Company

522 SW 6th Street

Redmond, Oregon

1.541.526.1161

early morning star light

2011-01-23T08:06:00.000-08:00

this is my wonderful old star light

shining from my little doll making house windows.

it always makes me smile...if I'm up letting Bella out or looking out at the moon,

I love to look out from our old farm house windows to the doll house and think

that the dolls are up to their usual late night frolics and dancing on the tables, trying on this and that, chattering away of new gowns and slippers.

Perhaps they carefully look through my piles of books and point out bonnets and pockets, little slippers and panniers to one another...

or maybe...just maybe they stay asleep snug in their little doll beds and wait til morning

while the star light shines from their windows...

I have, once in awhile, quietly crept out to the little doll house in the night and peeked into the windows...

...what do you think they might be doing?

listening to ladye humble~

2011-01-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

Ladye Humble is my mentor...in a manner of speaking...

she tells me what belongs in our old farmhouse and what doesn't belong anymore...

She tells me that if she can sit beside it comfortably and hear it speaking to her...

then it should stay...

Although I loved these things...I see her way of thinking...

they are lovely...and yes, I still like this look very much,

But, it's time for these lovelies to move on to grace a new home where they will be loved anew.

~~~

They both speak French....wonderful white enameled tin French canisters... one says "Cafe" ~coffee~slightly worn away and the other "Sucre"~sugar~ They are both in good condition, although there are a few small spots of enamel loss and a little rust. They are nice and will work perfectly for you. They are both 7 3/4" tall and 4 1/2" across. They have been in use in my old farmhouse kitchen for over 25 years.

please do let me know if they Speak French to you as well ~sold~ I thank you for your interest in my old lovelies~ Ladye Humble will be helping me sort through more of my old treasures here as I clean and open up Deerfield Farmhouse for Spring. We have a beautiful day here today...sun shining and kittens climbing trees and half heartedly chasing a bird or two...sleeping on the sunny porch steps.

ahhh.... Spring cannot be too far away!

quiet january

2011-01-04T16:53:00.000-08:00

fat little quail wading through drifts on their way to the feeder

the tip of mt jefferson through the fog above our fields

snug inside my little farm house ~

I have a lot that I want to do while chilly January days are slow and quiet here on our farm.

One thing is to play with my house and the little house where I make my dollies... both "she's" are asking for something different and I'm ready. I can't wait to see what's on their minds. ~~~ I hope that you are all keeping snug and letting love and laughter be just what the doctor ordered.

What are you doing this quiet January?

ring happy bells across the snow

2011-01-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

early morning fields

Ring out the old, ring in the new

Ring happy bells across the snow

The year is going, let him go

Ring out the false and ring in the new

Alfred, Lord Tennyson 1850

Wishing all a Very Merry Christmas~

2010-12-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

their old familiar carols play

and wild and sweet

the words repeat

Peace on Earth

Good-Will to men!

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~

dear little doll making fairie

2010-12-10T06:42:00.000-08:00

our littlest grand daughter, Elisabeth, helping me with my dollies~

~~~

at long last, the doll making fairies have blessed me with one of their

~Very Finest~

doll making apprentices to help me in the doll house!

I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have such

a cheerful little helper...

with such gifted little hands to assist me, especially at this time of year.

~~~

...she carefully chooses the right brush and the perfect colors

and with deft and delicate strokes,

she creates Magic!

She is indeed a tiny blue-eyed fairie with golden curls..

and I am quite sure that beneath her blue Hood River Eagles hoodie

is a very small pair of opal gossamer fairie wings!

~~~~

It is a well known fact that the littlest apprentice doll making fairies

are often apt to climbing down from their stool at the doll making table

at a moment's notice...

~ Nita & Elisabeth investigating an icy puddle~

and running out into the sunny day to investigate ice covered puddles

go for a nice long walk and visit the kitty....

a fairie after my own heart.

a blessed Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T06:25:00.000-08:00

For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

sending my wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving to you all.

autumn...

2010-11-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

arbor & fence around our garden

"The leaves fall, the wind blows,

and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons

into its winter wools."

Henry Beston

~Northern Farm~

Pumpkin Moonshine, my pretty "garden helper" kitty

Our early morning found mist coming up from the hollows and fog hanging low, wood smoke from our chimney ~ just the nicest of those dark kind of days.

One old cottonwood still holds her deep green leaves

and below her, the crab apple branches still have yellow leaves and crimson red apples hanging on~ quite pretty still.

Then as the day unfolded, a beautiful clear blue autumn sky

with yellow, red and orange leaves quietly falling like snowflakes.

Now the sun is low in the western sky, bathing everything in a deep golden light.

A fire is built in the big fireplace and candles are lit throughout the house.

Soon it'll be time to dip candles down in the orchard with my daughter and grand daughter

and help with our family cider pressing.

Autumn speaks to my soul of home and family, of contentment

as the fields are put to bed to rest

and we rest while sitting at the edge of it.

What brings you joy this time of year, my friend?

propper haints this evening

2010-10-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

My Dear Friends ~

~you are invited~

At last the farmer's wife has hung her sun bonnet back onto the peg rail and donned her doll maker's bonnet...

She has been snugged by the fire these past days of Autumn, stitching little "propper haints" in celebration of the upcoming season of All Hallow's Eve merry making... Please do join Mistress Crocker ~Doll maker of Deerfield Farmhouse~ as she begins offering her Propper Haints and other little ladyes of Winter celebration.

~~~ This evening,

Wednesday, October 20 at 5 pm pacific time

Deerfield Farmhouse

There you will find them on the DOLLS page ~~~

I look forward to visiting with you by our cozy fireside this evening

and share in a hot cup of cider with us,

yrs very kindly,

Christine

moon bright first day of autumn

2010-09-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

Our first day of autumn, moon bright with a beautiful Harvest moon

setting behind deep pink clouds

and the sunrise in glorious pinks, reds and gold coming up from behind the hills

overlooking our farm.

I hope you all have a beautiful day~

mint harvest under a waxing crescent

2010-09-12T12:15:00.001-07:00

Last evening I went out on the porch to see if I could find my farmer...

he's harvesting mint leaf for tea and is racing the weather...

he'll stay out in the field until the night air becomes too dewy and the mint stems too tough to go through the combine.

The night sky was so huge and deep indigo blue with a deep salmon streak behind all the mountains...breath taking!

and up above was a big and bright yellowy-white crescent moon

to light my farmer's way home again.

anniversaries of a farm girl's heart....

2010-09-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

this morning dawned bright and beautiful through my farm house windows...

and yet it was filled with a familiar chill,

an ache and longing and thankfully, a comforting promise.

outside, the air is scented with a curious mix of mint, garlic and autumn...

and deep yellow leaves are beginning to show high up in the poplars.

Looking up at them, I'm always struck with how sights and sounds and

scent will bring back a day as clear and bright as if it were

yesterday...

It is the scent and sound of yellow leaves gently falling and hitting the earth.

running barefoot through deep green wet grass,

the scent of juniper wood smoke and apples hanging from an old tree...

crossing over

a ditch with clear water running fast,

singing and dancing underfoot

as if it never heard anything else that was happening

but it's laughter.

I cradle this anniversary of my heart and hold it close...

the unfathomable loss of a loved one on a day just like this...

On days like these I can still see and hear and smell each event of that day as it unfolded.

And somehow I am grateful for them. For he will never be forgotten as long as I can remember with scents and sights and colors of all the happy days before

that chilly sunshine filled autumn morning.

~~~

another anniversary of my heart this day, is that of our country's heart...

For farmers and ranchers here, the flag flying at your gate post or atop the combine, bale wagon,

barn or tractor is an everyday celebration.

not just brought out and hung up for

a special occasions such as 4th of July or Memorial Day or Flag Day...

You'll Always find it proudly hanging here...

Not long after those terrible events took place in New York and Pennsylvania that chilly sunshine filled autumn morning

I happened to look up out my kitchen window while washing dishes to

see my Mt. Jefferson. Somehow just seeing him there each morning gives me solace

and peace to begin my day...

and I saw

this...

~on the left of the picture is a hay barn with the American Flag on it's side~

and my Mt. Jefferson watching over us all.

Our American Flag. Someone had made it of corrugated metal,

painted red, white and blue,

Someone, we still don't know who, and not the rancher who owns the barn,

put it up over night on the side of a huge hay barn

across our valley for all to see...the sight of it then clutched at our hearts and still does.

~~~

I hope you can see it there, on the left. If you were here you could see that it's very large...

and this morning as the sun came up and shone on this rancher's hay barn

it was filled with remembering, an ache

and a longing and somehow,

Thankfully,

a comforting promise...

Tasha Tudor Birthday Celebration & a Very Special Giveaway!

2010-08-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

Please do go & Enter your name

for a very Special Celebration Giveaway is going on until Midnight tonight August 30th at Rookery Ramblings !

Stop by and leave your Birthday and Celebration message~

~~~

Go Here to enter the Rookery Ramblings Giveaway in Celebration of Tasha's Birthday!

http://rookeryramblings.blogspot.com/2010/08/tasha-tudor-day-giveaway.html

Happy Birthday, dear Tasha

2010-08-28T06:18:00.000-07:00

A tinge of fragrant wood smoke is curling up from our chimney into the chilly air above our old farmhouse this early morning.

The sun has not come up over the hills just yet and I am here writing to you by candle light, with a proper cup of hot tea to drink and a sleepy kitten lying on my lap.

A perfect early morning to quietly reflect on how such an extraordinary woman,Tasha Tudor, touched my life completely.

Today would be her 95th birthday and in celebration of

the amazing life she led

I'll go about my day as I always do...enjoying each quiet moment and task.

Shortbread cookies will be baking for afternoon tea, hand sewing the hem of a small linen petticoat for a doll, reading a few pages of a treasured book of Tasha's extraordinary life...

and in keeping these little rituals we all feel the loss of her a little less and somehow,

we feel even more connected to her and to all those whose lives she touched.

Tonight as I cook over the fire and light our evening with hand made candles,

we go on.

Enjoying our family and each season as it comes, without rushing... it is the quiet celebrating of taking joy and the gentle side of life that she loved and bestowed on us all.

My gardens speak of her, with herbs and old roses and deep indigo lupine-late blooming this summer~the tangled potato & pumpkin patch and apples hanging from the trees down in the old orchard.

My attempt at knitting a shawl, slow going as I have so many irons in the fire, is snuggled in a basket by my chair. I hoped to have it ready by the time the first frost nipped my cheek on my early morning walks through the gardens.

As chilly as it is this morning, I know

I must knit a little more each evening now....

Each thing we do here as we live our lives close to the land, every dream we dream.

everything has it's roots growing deep in Tasha's garden.

The seeds that she planted in the hearts of those who loved her are

growing and stretching towards a deep blue summer sky today.

The garden that was planted in my heart the day I first read a story of her, first saw her gardens, stood by her barn door, amazed at how tiny she was, first hearing her voice and chuckled at her wry New England humor.

I was given a name for what I already loved...

but just didn't know...

a candle was lit...a garden planted...

and there, I found my kindred spirit.

What a gift she was to us.

and is still...

http://thepastoraldollmaker.blogspot.com/2008/07/road-to-tashas.html

~~~~~

Please Come & Enter for a very Special Celebration Giveaway is going on

until Midnight tonight August 30th

at Rookery Ramblings !

Go Here to enter the Rookery Ramblings Giveaway in Celebration of Tasha's Birthday!

http://rookeryramblings.blogspot.com/2010/08/tasha-tudor-day-giveaway.html

wheat harvest

2010-08-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

Just about 90 acres of wheat left to harvest now....

then our garlic...then another cutting of mint for tea...and then...

the coriander for seed...

~~~

Our grandchildren, Ethan and Emma, along with their Dad made a little time-lapse video of some of our wheat harvest which they all helped with this last weekend...

yep..we love it here....

(turn up your volume)...Enjoy!

oh, the comfort of sometimes being alone...

2010-07-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

I have a great deal of company in the house, especially in the morning when nobody calls.

~*~

~Henry David Thoreau~

summer afternoon

2010-07-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

It was a hot afternoon.

The air was still with an occasional bee slowly making his way through the drooping hollyhocks.

It was one of those hot summer afternoons when the grasshoppers stayed hanging from the tall grasses waving in the hot breeze.

Too hot to walk across the grass.

So here we rest, in the cool shade of the porch.

Wouldn't a dip in a nice cool blue pool be the most delicious thing?

...if only we could just get up enough energy to bring the hose over and let it trickle over our hot little furry feet...

ahhh...,now doesn't that sound so nice?

Maybe, when we wake up from our nap, we might get someone to bring the hose over here.

but for now, dreaming about swimming is the closest these three little kittens are going to get.

a beacon of hope

2010-07-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

Whenever I see our beautiful flag flying,

I get a catch in my throat.

I can't help but think how very blessed we all are.

That we are blessed to live beneath her colors.

To me, she is a beacon of Hope.

a safe place we call Home.

For wherever her colors are flying overhead,

we know that

some one's daughter and son are, at this moment, watching out for us.

They are far from home...

and looking up at that flag,too.

It's their beacon of hope and a safe place

they call Home.

While we celebrate, wherever our flag is flying,

it is a safe place called

Home.

Happy Independence Day!

early morning flags, new dollies and herb gardens

2010-06-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

~ early morning flags ~

Early morning sunlight crept up over the hills sending long finger like shadows across

the glistening mint fields first... then through my windows and shone bright on our flag early this morning.

a beautiful start for Flag Day don't you think?....

Today I spent working on new dollies and digging in the garden.

Sculpting new dollies is always an exciting thing for me...

the little drawings and sketches and ideas I've scratched away at onto a napkin or the page corners of the

little book I keep in my pocket

begin to come to life...

I'm always so anxious to have them all begin to come to life at once...

just as I have dreamed of them being....the tilt of the head, a delicate chin...

a new sprigged frock...

my dollye ladyes & poppets

~~ A quiet and peaceful morning was spent planting more herbs from the greenhouse

herbs such as self-heal, chamomile, borage and comfrey.

This winter I'll make tea with my own dried chamomile to drink

while we read in front of the fire.

but today I'm enjoying their sprightly little daisy like blossoms

waving gently in the warm breeze with the star shaped blue blossoms of the borage

tucked at their feet.

Most of my gardens have been planted just for the new bees & they're

loving every little thing I've planted for them.

They seem so grateful for flowers to explore and dig into with all their might...

and at this moment all the garden is content

with the happy humming of my bees covering every flowering plant.

it's been a pretty near perfect day...

a quiet & peaceful day.

wouldn't it be lovely if it were as peaceful and quiet, every day...

all around the world.

I hope it has been such a day for you, too, my friend.

remembrances

2010-05-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

such lovely days

2010-05-15T16:31:00.000-07:00

old rail fence along the new garden and orchard~

Our Creator would never have made such lovely days, and have given us the deep hearts to enjoy them, above and beyond all thought, unless we were meant to be immortal.

~ Nathaniel Hawthorne ~

heirloom Delaware chicks

heirloom tomato plants

with names like Mr Stripey, Pink Ox Heart,

Black Krim, Crimson Currant, red and yellow Brandywine

and

Cherokee Purple

it seems to me, at least in my experience,

that early breeds of chicks are much livelier,

bright eyed and bushy tailed...

or these little women were just so pleased

to be out of their mailing box.

It was all I could do to keep them in the basket to have

their likeness taken.

~We're ready for warm days in the gardens

and soft evenings on the porch ~

I hope this finds you all enjoying the same

if wishes were gardens....

2010-05-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

~Tasha's spring gardens~

"May I a small house and large garden have; and a few friends,

and many good books, both true, both wise, and both delightful too!

from "the Wish"

~ Abraham Cowley~

17 th century English poet

~~~

delightful May has arrived and yet she has not graced us with

her much anticipated gift of fragrant lilacs.

No budded peony or heady scented bridal veil spirea that for many years has arched

over the brick paths on sweet May evenings.

My favorite mock orange that climbs and kisses the chimney bricks and porch railings...

has just a few timid leaves peeking out here and there.

The seedlings in the greenhouse have sprouted sturdy and green,

looking through the glass out at

barren and windy garden plots...they seem to snuggle down into the warm

earth of their pots and trays, waiting for warmer days that surely must come...

but when ?

my gentleman farmer always says "patience, my love"....

Potted heirloom lavenders, rose and lemon scented geranium, citrus scented thyme,

all wait in sunny windows for late spring days when they'll be planted down

in the old rail fenced garden.

There are lupines, poppies, wildflowers and herbs of every kind

All waiting for spring to forget her fickle ways

and grace us with warm soft

days and gentle evenings.

I hope that this finds you having real spring outside your door way.

love to you all,

Christine

I have not forgotten that I promised to share my new old rail fence with you.

Soon as all the crab apples are in full bloom!

new doll story in the Deerfield Doll house

2010-04-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone~

Just wanted to let you know

that there's a new dolly story in the

Deerfield Doll house blog

with the little Deerfield Ladyes and of course,

Lydia. enjoy!

emma & elisabeth

2010-04-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

my beautiful little grand daughters,

Elisabeth and Emma, in their Easter dresses.

Little Elisabeth is walking and Emma is always vigilant

to keep her from falling...

best friends for life....

a fine April morning.....

2010-04-01T06:37:00.000-07:00

the sun is barely peeking over the hills here.

and I can already see that it holds alot of promise for a beautiful first day of April.

I'm here at my little table, candles lit and the house is quiet.

a small bouquet of tiny white daffodils scent the whole room.

From my window I can see the newly worked garden, the trees beginning to leaf out

and the old rail fence that has changed how everything looks and feels here.

It's beginning to feel like what my heart wants.

clean and new ~translate that to "old"

fresh and full of promise

Even the dollies have a tiny pansy bouquet in a wee cup.

Wishing you all a fine April morning

elisabeth & humble

2010-03-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

The long awaited pretty Prims arrived today~

~~~

~ and here are my pages ~

Here is Little Ladye Elisabeth Caroline and her dearest old friend, Humble.

These little dolls have been friends for all their lives.

They were loved and cuddled, taken for walks out in the spring sunshine,

dressed and undressed & dressed again and again.

They were fed delicious little pretend biscuits at tea with tiny cups and bowls,

out on a quilt under the old lilac in the late afternoon.

Carefully sat underneath an old willow while the girls ran off to play tag,

then put to bed after story time and then playing pretend began again the next day.

The best friends belonged to 2 little girls who were best friends long long ago....

~~~

Elisabeth & Humble

Elisabeth is dressed in wonderful old flowr'd hand quilted chintz

that was a small piece of an old bed curtain that was passed down through the family.

Everything Elisabeth is wearing was hand stitched from small fragments of precious bits that had been passed down through that family.

Peeking from underneath her little lace bonnet,Elisabeth's hair is

a lock of hair that belonged to the little girl.

Her white on white hand made pettiecoat was

a small piece of a great-grandmother's trousseau

Everything about her was a precious bit, saved and handed down.

~~~

Humble is just as she was named many many years ago.

Humble in her dress and in her manner, but still a spark of mischievousness in her eye.

The dollies were loved and played with every day until the little girls grew up and life took the two little friends to different corners of the country...

The little dolls were carefully put away into an old dome top box

and stored away in the attic of the old house

where the little girls had played and played so many years ago.

~~~

It's so nice that they can be shared with all of you now.

And as you can see, they are still the very best of friends.

Even though time has whisked the years by and the little girls

are now grown and long gone...

They have left the little dolls

for 2 little girls who love them dearly

and feed them tea biscuits,

dress them and redress them...

reading them bedtime stories

and napping out under the old lilac

that still grows in the garden.

what's cooking in the doll house

2010-03-22T09:58:00.000-07:00

Spring brings warmer days, sunshine and plenty of sweet green grass

for my little hens to nibble and they're loving it.

Each morning they thank me for letting them wander our farm with

more lovely eggs than we can possibly ever use ourselves.

I'd leave them on my neighbor's doorstep, but they all have the same

wonderful over abundance of lovely fresh eggs.

What to do?

Spring makes me think of daffodils and the scent of lemon thyme

and wonderfully buttery crusted and "bite-into-a-fresh-lemon"

Lemon Curd Tarts.

It uses plenty of eggs...

the first time I made it, I had to make another batch...it was so good that by the time

I was finished "tasting" it, it was all gone.

It's very easy to make, you just need eggs, butter,sugar & fresh lemons, lots of them.

I dare you not to eat most of your first batch!

~~~

another lovely thing that's cooking

is that my work table in the doll house is filled with piles of

old fabrics, thread and sweet spring trimmings~

getting these and other little dolly dumplings ready for spring

they'll be making their own Easter baskets and coloring eggs soon...

and I hope to keep them out of the Lemon Tarts.

They each seem to have their own little spoons tucked into their pockets

under their skirts.

s p r i n g

2010-03-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

white daffy down dillys in my favorite old ironstone mug

~~~

the first day of spring has come,

but only the birds seem to know it!

it's been chilly and frosty. Everything is in bud,but

We haven't one flower but for a few purple pansies blooming here...

but soon everything will burst into bloom all at once!

these tiny white daffodils are from my garden a few years back, but I love this

picture and it is so cheerful I thought you might like it,too.

~~~

Daffy-down-dilly came up in the cold,

Through the brown mould

Although the March breeze blew keen on her face,

Although the white snow lay in many a place.

Anna B. Warner ~ "Amy Lathrop"

a new life for an old rail fence

2010-03-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

isn't this a splendid old rail fence?

About this time last year we were looking everywhere for old split rails to make a fence around

the vegetable gardens and flower beds.

A few years earlier, we had seen them in stacks all over the countryside. Farmers and ranchers were taking them down and putting up taller and sturdier wire fences to keep the deer and elk out of their crops and hay fields.

I was thinking then how lovely they were stacked high, weathered and mossy.

Now that we had a good use for them, there were none to be found.

We thought of Craigslist!

Did you know that you can find anything on Craigslist?

I have gotten pallets of used brick, heritage chicks, turkies, heirloom herbs and plants.

Anything and everything, all for sale or barter.

One chilly winter evening by the fire, a look through building materials and antiques for sale

we came across a small ad by a rancher 140 miles to the east of us.

He was selling his split rail fences.

We emailed him and found that he had a few miles of fence...

at such a wonderful price we couldn't get the truck and trailer loaded quick enough.

The next morning, after driving for nearly 3 hours on snowy roads,

we at last arrived at the ranch.

Like many of the old cattle ranches that we passed along the way,

it was old old old.

Beautiful and weathered, we were sure it was the same as it had been for nearly 200 years.

Driving along muddy roads through gates and streams and cattle pastures

we arrived at the ranch house,the old fella was waiting for us.

He came out and introduced himself and his dogs and pointed to the hills beyond his place and said,

"the fence is along that creek past the scrub willows and oaks..".

sure enough, there it was, still standing.

He followed along behind in an old hay truck with the dogs holding on for dear life on the back.

When we reached the fence, I could see it stretched quite aways in both directions.

Beautiful country and a beautiful old fence. Mossy and weathered. Still standing.

I asked him about it, if he had built it...

He said, "nope", he didn't build it, but his great- great grandfather who had come from Scotland

to raise cattle here had built it himself.

I knew then that times must be very hard for this old fellow.

to be selling his great grandfather's

hand split rail fence...

I told him how I dearly loved old things.

That his great grandfathers fence would be loved and taken care of. He smiled and said, "good thing...that'ns an old one for sure."

So we carefully loaded each rail...and piled on as many as the truck and goose neck trailer

would hold.

We paid the old fellow in cash with a little extra besides.

I asked if he'd like to see a picture when we got it put up again and of course he said yes.

I wanted him to know for sure that it would be made useful again, loved and cared for.

So this week the old fence is going up again, along the east side of our garden

where it can be close to where it came from.

I've got 50 asparagus crowns coming that will be planted alongside it. It'll be a nice place for the heirloom pumpkins & herbs I've got started in the green house,too.

I know I'll be thinking of that old fellow and his Scottish great-great grandfather

while I plant and hoe and dream in my garden this summer.

a sweet & simple life

2010-03-02T17:52:00.000-08:00

~ Humble has her likeness taken~

When my "A Simple Life" magazine arrived this past week, I was dancing around the kitchen.

I only knew what the cover was going to look like and then, when I was able to hold it in my hands,

I was so taken with how it looked, the picture book look and feel of it.

It is simply a breath of fresh air.

Filled with wonderful early homes, a visit to The Museum of Appalachia,

log cabins, a closer look at linsey-woolsey and how to make your own wall paper boxes,

dreams visited and stories told...

and at last, seeing my story ~" His heart said, "Turn Left" ~ in print and in my hands,

I'm so very honored and proud to have been invited to be a part of Jill Peterson's new magazine.

... looking through it, reading every word,

you can see, it really is a window into her soul.

xo, C

~ ~ ~

Did you know?....

A Simple Life has been so well received that it completely sold out within the first week and is already in it's second printing!

If you'd like to subscribe go here:

http://www.asimplelifemagazine.com/Subscriptions.html

Jill's new magazine is featured in an article written in the NEW YORK TIMES.

Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/arts/design/26antiques.html?emc=eta1.

When you get to this web page, just scroll down past the article titled

‘Tile by Tile, a Mural Is Saved’

and you will see the actual article about "A Simple Life" magazine which is titled:"Rustic New Magazine".

~ Congratulations Jill! ~

~ ~ ~

love spoke....

2010-02-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

...last evening,

by the candle lit fireside

our Augusta had a gentleman caller....

they sat side by side and listened to the quiet crackling of the fire

he leaned in closer....and whispered into her crumpled little ear

"oh my dear"..."how lovely you look this evening"...

and then pressed a hand written letter,

sealed with crimson wax, into her hand.

and while bowing low

he kissed her mitted hand,

and bid her good night...and a wish to see her on the morrow.

Inside, he had written in beautiful spidery letters, all in sepia ink

"I love thee - I love thee,

'Tis all that I can say

It is my vision in the night,

My dreaming in the day."

~Thomas Hood~

she could not have been more surprised...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~three of my favorite things ~

an early paper Valentine

sawtooth edged & folded

tied with old garnet ribbon & tarnished silver threads

resting on a wool pin keep, all on a lovely pewter plate.

a pretty little what-not, all.

I hope that this day of sweethearts and Valentine's

have brought all that your hearts desire....

the honorable fine pigg schnuffles out a recipient...or two

2010-02-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

good morning dear Fine Pigg.

Waking up early was, at one time, for our old friend, The Honorable F. Pigg,

his very best and finest of attributes...

that and making sure

that not one crumb or scrap of anything remotely edible touched the floor too long...

and to keep watch over the little dolls from falling from the shelf where they played at night.

He is quite old now and sleeps in this nest in an old shoe most of his days.

You see, he came from Prussia many many years ago and came across

the Atlantic Ocean to New York City,

he then rumbled along in a nest of wool batting to

where he rested on a small shelf in an old farmhouse in upper New York.

After many years, he then traveled on to

another old farmhouse in Iowa and then on to his home,

a little dairy farm in Oregon...before he came to live with us, his faithful friends.

He is getting a little slower these days....and he was extremely pleased to be called upon to

"schnuffle out a recipient" for a lovely pair of hand made bees wax candles.

"my dear Mistress Crocker, there is not enough fan fare for such an occasion", he snorted!!!

and so, without further adieu, he poked his snout into the end of the tin candle snuffer,

tossed it into the air

where it flipped precariously end over end

and then,

as if by magic

it landed perfectly on his bristled old head.

Right in between his sweet floppy

& spotted ears

"There now", says he, with a smile..."perhaps we can make something special of this occasion"!

and so, with that old tin candle snuffer as his Master of Ceremonies hat

the Honorable Fine Pigg schnuffled out (you can almost hear his accent, can't you?)

the names of 2 fine ladyes,

Donna

and

Kim

These ladyes will each receive a lovely pair of hand dipped beeswax candles that my

little family and I made this past fall in the old orchard.

and now Fine Pigg can go back to his nest in the old shoe...oh...I see he's already left....

thank you Fine Pigg!

Thank you all for your lovely notes of what makes you feel happy this time of year,

in between late winter & early spring. I was particularly happy to see that what makes us all happy are the simplest of things and yet the most valuable to us.

To all of you that live where it is snowing so wildly, we all send our best thoughts and prayers that you're snug and safe.

The sun will soon be out and melt it away into spring flowers.

Christine

Deerfield Farm

~~~

I wanted to thank you all so much for your wonderful birthday wishes & greetings.

Some of you didn't have an email, so I thank you from here.

It was a lovely day out and dinner with family last evening.

~and oh yes, I did get my little tin nutmeg grater

and the lovely tin lantern for the barn is on order!

Won't that be a lovely light to carry out to the barn to make sure the hens are snugged for the night?!

traveling the countryside

2010-02-09T12:56:00.001-08:00

my farmer told me to put on my boots and get my hat this morning...

or in his real words "get yer girdle on, Hessie, we're headed to town".

So we left the old homestead and headed out for a ride around the countryside...

and maybe stop at the old mercantile and see what new shipments had come in...

maybe a new pair of satin slippers

or a length of robin's egg blue ribbon...

these store shelves in Old Sturbridge makes my heart just leap

I've had my eye on something special from the tinner...

a new tin nutmeg grater and a lantern for the barn.

I'll be back in the morning ~

I had totally forgotten it was my birthday this morning so will have the

Honorable Mr F. Pigg choose

a winner tomorrow morning!

have a wonderful day!

early February at home

2010-02-05T09:58:00.000-08:00

these quiet days of February are becoming filled with the promise of spring.

my little farmhouse sits in the midst of greening fields....

each morning the fields, hills and valley's are

covered with heavy mists in the early morning light.

and even before the sun begins to peek over the hills, the robins down in the

orchard begin their sing~song to greet the new day.

inside, candles are lit and my precious bits are illuminated.

a wonderful new-old silhouette that I've had for sometime and found

here and just love

an old cupboard in my kitchen, wearing a worn and much loved bees wax heart, hanging from an early old gilt and blackened wavy glass mirror. somehow, just looking at it makes everything right in the world.

and my favorite...

old pewter plate and spoon filled with an old cloth heart

that carries this verse...

"But he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast"

(Pro. 15:15)

I wish you all mists that lift, spring peeking over the hills

& a merry heart within.

yrs on this day,

Christine

I would love to hear what makes your heart merry this time of year~

please write

and the Honorable Fine Pigg will draw a name

on Tuesday next,

my birthday,

for a little handmade gift for someone.

home

2010-01-27T12:48:00.000-08:00

some of my favorite things here at home

Home is a name, a word,

it is a strong one;

stronger than magician ever spoke,

or spirit ever answered to,

in the strongest conjuration.

Charles Dickens

~*~

a note to my lovely friends~

While winter is keeping the fields quiet and my little farm sleepy,

I'm working on dollies here by the fire at Deerfield Farm.

I have several little ladyes that will be wanting new homes soon.

Please don't hesitate to email me anytime and ask me

whose little petticoat or bonnet

is being stitched

and what might be in the sewing basket by my chair~

Thank you my friends,

I hope you have a snug day there in your corner of the woods

Christine

early morning ladye

2010-01-22T08:47:00.001-08:00

before the snow started falling early this morning,

the sunrise

barely peeked over the hills

and

came through the old farmhouse windows

for just a few delicious fleeting moments

and this happened....

sunrise smiling through old glass...

wishing you all a happy winter weekend.

A Simple Life~Jill Peterson's new magazine

2010-01-16T06:45:00.000-08:00

A Simple Life

Many of you are familiar with the fabulous country books

"Homestead" and

"the Settlement"

by author Jill Peterson,

and know just how wonderful they are.

If you aren't familiar with these wonderful books

and have a love for early homes,

early things and the simple way of life

get ready for a wonderful treat.

Jill has a brand new Magazine coming out in February called

"A Simple Life".

We who love early have been "hungry" for such a publication~

In Jill's words~

"Our mission statement is,

"When your magazine arrives in the mail, it will be like getting a letter from an old friend."

Each Issue will feature 2 wonderful homes, one living history museum, historical essays,

short story fiction about early times,

educational features on various antiques, early projects to make, recipes, book reviews and lots MORE!

I know I'm looking forward to it with great anticipation.

It should be out by Valentine's Day!

I can't think of a better token of affection for yourself and

to give to your friends.

We're looking forward to it, Jill.

quiet days & the lonesome old homestead

2010-01-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

I hope that these lovely days of quiet January are just what your heart needs.

I love them, for the stillness and the slowness of them. The contentment in them.

I can dream and draw, make plans, move furniture and clean the

clutter away from my heart

and my old farmhouse,

No hurry or scurry.

My farmer and I like to go traveling the countryside of our high desert

on these cold quiet days of January.

Taking the big 4 wheel drive down winding & muddy roads out into old homestead country

we often come across old homestead houses and barns,

falling down fences, rock cribs marking the 4 corners of the places

and sometimes, if we're lucky,

we find a once beautiful old homestead house.

I like to think of the lady of this old house standing on her porch a 100 years or so ago,

shading her eyes and looking out into the vast openness, looking for a puff of dust.

Knowing that puff of dust

was her farmer with his plow and horses working up a new field.

She would have dinner cooking in the wood cook stove, maybe a venison roast

and few carrots and potatoes, some good biscuits,too.

The scent of burning juniper wood in the air,

a faint blue smoke rising from the skinny kitchen chimney.

The laundry flapping in the wind on a make-do clothesline out back of house.

A few chickens scurrying and scratching around the kitchen screen door.

This old homestead was a once grand place.

At one time it had fancy cut shingles,

glass windows, a wide porch, a parlor, a kitchen lean-to

a garden with herbs and wild yellow roses

and a lovely privy out at the end of a rock edged path

in the back.

It was indeed grand and full of hope.

like the dreams of these old homesteaders,

grand and hopeful.

Until then, we are off, traveling the country side

to find more treasures of our high desert to

share.

I hope that these quiet days are filled with what you need,

peace filled and hopeful

in this new year...

which I'm calling the "aughts"

"aught ten" feels good to me.

early christmas morning

2009-12-25T23:50:00.000-08:00

Christmas

that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia.

Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance -

a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved.

~Augusta E. Rundel

a merry day to all of you

filled with love and peace

Susannah & Dollye make Pressed Glass Shortbread cookies for Christmas

2009-12-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

pretty little gentlewomen

~ Susannah & Dollye ~

(see news of Susannah & Dollye below)

asked to have their likenesses taken

after they had taken off their aprons and brushed the flour from their noses

Our dear girls both have a new home for Christmas!

Thank you so much,

~~~

Cold and thick fog hangs heavy outside my windows this dark afternoon.

While inside my snug little farmhouse, the air is warm and filled with the scents of fir and cedar,

beeswax candles burning on the mantle and a good apple wood fire crackling

in the big fireplace.

With the last bits of thread and scraps of dolly making swept up

and everything put to rights, Susannah & Dollye have been helping me in the kitchen.

From from the kitchen, the delicious scent of wonderful Christmas cookies baking, comes

wafting through the old house.

We've been baking wonderfulPressed Glass Shortbread cookies

for our neighbors and friends.

~Pressed Glass Shortbread cookies on a lovely old pewter plate ~

aren't they pretty?

~gather your pretties ~ Susannah & Dollye climbed up into the old cupboard and got down some of our old pressed glass drinking glasses to press the designs into the shortbread dough. We used a small tarnished silver salt shaker lid for cutting out tiny cookies just right for dollies and little girls. A butter knife is perfect for lifting the cookies out of the dough after cutting them out. We rolled out the buttery & tender shortbread dough with the rolling pin. Then we lay the pretty pressed glass on it's side and rolled the design into the dough.

The stars and feather'd edge circles make the prettiest cookies. We used an etched glass goblet with a very thin edge to cut out the cookies. We even used an old wooden butter mold with a carved lamb for some very special cookies. We baked them for just a very few minutes on parchment paper'd cookie sheets.

A few of these wrapped in pretty parchment bundles and tied with heavy linen thread or red ribbons with a sprig of fir tucked in makes a wonderful and much appreciated gift.

~~~~ Buttery Shortbread recipe ~ ~~

1 lb. real butter

4 cups flour

1 cup fine sugar

Heat oven to 325 degrees

Sift the flour & sugar together. Work the butter into the flour & sugar with fingertips, then knead until blended and smooth. Break into 2 pieces and pat out onto flour'd table. Lightly flour your rolling pin and roll out from center to make a thin sheet of shortbread. Roll your pretty pressed glass over the dough to make swirls and stars, feather'd circles & vines. Cut with thin edged cookie cutters, carefully lift the cookies onto parchment Bake until set, with very pale light brown bottoms. cool on paper

~ share them with your friends, family and neighbors. Enjoy!

~Susannah & Dollye~ both now have Good Homes for Christmas

thank you & a very Blessed & Merrie Christmas to you all.

wonderful amazing Jolly Old Santa

2009-12-04T09:10:00.000-08:00

Isn't this jolly old Santa wonderful?!

He is just one of many many wonderful old Santa's that my dearest

and oldest friend, Norma DeCamp,

has been making for years.

Norma is world reknown for her

Amazing & Wonderful

Old Santa's and Victorian looking old dolls and toys.

This Jolly old Santa is being offered on eBay

along with more amazingly wonderful

Jolly old boys.

I have one of Norma's Santa's and an Old Woman in a Shoe pull toy

that is just unbelievably wonderful and so old looking.

They make me smile every time I look at them...

~I understand that Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfrey and many more

have Norma's Santa's in their collections~

Please have a look and enjoy him too!

Norma's wonderful Santa's and dolls will surely get you in the Christmas Spirit!

my december moon

2009-12-02T06:36:00.001-08:00

~ cold and frosted moon through the bare apple trees~

Last evening, I put on my coat to put the hens to bed

and then followed the moon down through the trees.

We have had such clouded days and tonight the clouds opened up for just a moment and

let the early December moon shine through.

It's such a beautiful peaceful moon, shining through the old apple tree's bare branches.

The grass beneath, crisp and crunching under my boots.

Looking up at it, in the quiet night, I can't help but feel so thankful for our warm little farmhouse

and the people I love inside snug by the fire and thinking how very blessed

we are with good and simple pleasures.

I pray that all of you have such a night.

sending love,

a time of magic

2009-11-28T14:21:00.000-08:00

" Christmas has always been my family's favorite celebration.

It is a time of magic, Is it not?

~Tasha Tudor ~

looking out the window from my kitchen table at the late afternoon light,

everything seems to look different.

It seems to have a joyful anticipation to it.

Father quail stands sentinel while the rest of the quail family hurry

to the shelter of the old crabapples trees.

They've gotten plump from eating the deep red crabapple drops.

The wood box is stack't high by the back door and something good is

baking in the oven.

For me and my family, as soon as Thanksgiving has past, Christmas is most surely in the air.

And as always, Tasha Tudor's love of Christmas is always a great part

of our family traditions and celebrations.

and this Christmas will be even more special for us.

Our family Christmas is here on Deerfield Farm this year and we have a new little one that

we will share all our joy & anticipation....

I can't wait to have all my babies under our roof for Christmas Eve and morning.

now, I must find my Gingerbread cookie recipe....

~*~

Christmas is coming to Deerfield Farmhouse

this week!

a pilgrim thanksgiving

2009-11-19T06:58:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a most blessed Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for you.

Every year we talked of visiting Plymouth Rock and having Thanksgiving dinner as the Pilgrims did that first Thanksgiving.

When both our married children had plans to spend the holiday with their in-laws,

we decided that it was time. Last November, my husband and I spent our first Thanksgiving away from family and home.

Most of all, we wanted to spend some time in Plymouth, Massachusetts exploring and doing some research into my husband's family history there. We wanted to have an authentic 1627 Harvest dinner, which we did and loved.

~~~ If you want to immerse yourself in a little bit of our country's rich history, this is the place to begin.

wonderful old ocean weathered timber framed buildings and fences in the re-created 1627 English farming village of the Plymouth Colony near Plimoth Plantation. The Pilgrim's first home in the New World.

But, along with the beauty of it were the stories of the people who once lived there. The harsh realities of the bitter cold, lack of food,the local "savages", dreary grey days, epidemics and the death of over half of the pilgrims who first set foot here on the rocky shores of Massachusetts. ~~~

I loved everything about it.

The simple practical beauty of it all.

Smoke crept out from the top most of the tule thatched roof tops.

The tall peaked thatched roofs.

Large and neatly edged or raised bed herb and vegetable gardens beside or behind every

house.

It was lovely.

a basket in a tiny window the community wood pile

the thatcher's coat

winter blue sky

repairs

a moments respite beside the fire

overseeing the thatcher

isn't her blue linen jacket and

pettiecoat lovely?

I had the chance to visit with this Goodwife.

She proudly allowed a close look at the linen hand stitching

I told her I had never seen such finer stitching.

How beautifully

it was made. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ While we were there we wanted to be able to see and learn firsthand a little more of what all the old family stories of being descendants of the "old Pilgrim" were about. To either dispel or hold on to the long told stories handed down through the family and

hopefully, at last, find out what really happened.

While there is much more than I can write here or bore you with, I will share this with you.

What we learned was that my husband's ancestor, Robert Cushman, came to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. He had arranged the leasing of the Mayflower for the Pilgrims, but didn't sail aboard the Mayflower to America , but came on the Speedwell instead. The Speedwell developed leaks and had to return to England. He then took passage on the Fortune to America. We learned that he was well loved and revered by the Pilgrims.

There is a wonderful *monument to him at the Old Burying Ground. see below~

It was Robert's son, Thomas, who married Mary Allerton who, of course, then became Mary Allerton Cushman.

My husbands mother, Mary Ann Cushman,(Crocker) was descended from Mary Allerton Cushman.

I will never forget seeing the exhibit for Mary Allerton Cushman at Plymoth Plantation the first time we went to Plimoth. There was her journal and sewing...some other things...

things like this give me chills....

If my memory serves me, there was a letter she had written to her oldest daughter who was pregnant with her first child and Mary was pregnant with what I believe was her last child.

Mary Allerton Cushman was the very last of the Mayflower passengers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~In search of the Old Pilgrim~

the Old Burying Ground after dark

After dinner one evening we pored over our brochures and maps.

From our map we found the Old Burial Hill Cemetery

We decided to go on an adventure. Right then.

I cannot tell you how the chills and shivers ran down my spine, standing there in the freezing cold, fog and dark (of course we went at night)

I took a few pictures out into the dark cold pitch black night...who knows what you might find.

I'm always looking for orbs and things of that sort.

It didn't take long before the dark and freezing cold cemetery, dripping in wet ocean fog,

soon began to lose it's charm.

We decided to come back the very next day.

It was a beautiful New England morning.

Perfect for a good brisk walk

to the Old Burying Ground.

and so, there, at long last, at the top of the long climb of stairs

in the center of this ancient and sacred place

my farmer met his ancestor,

Robert Cushman

well, it's actually a monument dedicated

by the descendants of Robert Cushman in honor of their

Pilgrim ancestors.

Robert is actually buried in England.

Seeing my husband standing there reading about this man we had come so far to learn

more about made me realize how very strong of spirit they had to have been.

I see that fierce spirit in my husband,

my farmer who came from such

hardy brave souls.

As you gather around your Thanksgiving table today

with your loved ones all around,

would you join me in a prayer of thanks for all

the American Farmers who are the stewards and guardians of the fields and earth

and thank them as they work hard

to feed our country.

Thank you my friends,

A very blessed Thanksgiving to you all,

Christine

~ Plymouth Rock~

it's actually a lovely white granite, not large.

which simply reads

~1620~

a pleasante afternoon

2009-11-07T04:06:00.001-08:00

melting bees wax over an apple wood fire

This is the best time of year...when the fields are finally at rest, the leaves turn deep reds and yellows, the crisp chill air calls for a sweater and boots and the scent of wood smoke curls down from the chimney.

a pleasant afternoon to dip candles down in the old orchard.

~~~

The candlewicks are measured out by eye, cut and then tied onto long sticks with a knot on the end,

then slowly dipped into the melted wax,

lifting them and straightening by gently pulling the knot

at the bottom while they're still warm and letting them cool.

new candles cooling in between each dip into the hot bees wax.

of course, there's my naughty kitten,Willow, underneath....

batting at the candles while they cooled.

~~~

Katie & I visit and dip the candles together.

The grandchildren climb the old apples trees and eat their lunch sitting on

the branches with the kittens.

We take turns dipping.

It becomes a rhythm, dipping, straightening and hanging them to cool.

The air is crisp on our cheeks, the hot fire smokes and crackles, we hang our sweaters and shawls on a branch and decide that we should tie more wicks, it being so pleasant out.

the nearly finished candles after cutting them from their dipping sticks.

I warm a large knife and cut their ends on a wooden cutting board.

I stack them on the pantry shelf and in old baskets to store.

They smell heavenly and make no smoke and do not drip.

~~~

By the end of the afternoon, the wind has come up and the sky begins to turn a deep indigo. Storm clouds hang over us so close we could reach up and touch them.

We gather everything up into baskets and let the fire die down.

We made nearly enough candles to last through the long winter evenings in just one afternoon.

An afternoon of family and togetherness.

and afternoon spent that won't be forgotten, carrying on our traditions

with the children under the old apple trees

down in the old orchard.

Our traditions are just simple things

but ones that the heart never forgets.

I hope this finds you all enjoying this lovely fall with those you love

and making some

wonderful memories.

love,

Christine

happy birthday my beautiful brown eyed bird

2009-09-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

loved loved loved.....

happy birthday Katie Bird...

love,

ma & pa

a holy place

2009-09-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

my husband's church has walls made of wind and sky and air

a holy place found in a field of wheat rippling in the evening breeze

while the sun set lays every hue of deep yellow and red golds

across the hills like stained glass where the meadowlark darting from the waving grasses, sinks into the cool water of the ditch to drink, then flutters to the fence post where she sings hymns of praise with the owl and hawk circling high overhead. deer raise their heads from foraging the cut wheat fields and we are witness to the clouds in the east, the moon hanging luminous overhead... and in the cool dampness, a field of fragrant mint tumbling and soothing to the eye and the heart. I see his shoulders broad and strong, relax now and his head raise up to the sky. here is where he goes to give thanks, to be immersed in reverie with this beautiful place and meet once again with his wise old friend.

elisabeth wearing an early bonnett & we are besotted

2009-08-07T08:50:00.001-07:00

elisabeth kindly allowed me to play

"try on bonnettes"

with her.

she is quite enamored with this one....

an early embroidered net bonnette

with tiny dangles...

perfect for her 6 week old little head.

oh, be still our hearts...

we are all in baby love here.

quite besotted.

resting up from mischief

2009-07-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

twin fawns eyeing my kitchen garden

a nibble here, a tiny footprint there...just opening rosebuds nipped clean...

the raspberry patch looking a little like a mouse had clumb up the stems and taken only the most succulent of the berries.

The telltale tiny bite from a yellow cherry tomato, still on the vine.

~~ I had nearly given up hope of seeing fawns down in the trees after this odd year of not many wild things coming into the fields and yard. There hasn't been the usual flurry of quail and pheasant, no large herds of deer coming down from the hills in the evenings to the cool green hay fields.

This morning I was so glad to see these 2 little ones playing in my garden.

Somehow it makes everything right with the world.

and here they are...the naughty twin fawns. they nibble my lettuce and paw out newly planted peas. and even so, it makes me happy to see them again.

elisabeth caroline

2009-07-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

safe in her daddy's hands

elisabeth caroline

our family grew this past week. in our hearts especially.

a little girl that we have all waited for

and loved from the moment we knew she was coming.

my son and his beautiful wife welcomed their first child,

a tiny pink rosebud of a wee girl

elisabeth caroline

bless you little family

perfectly imperfect

2009-06-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

georgianna . a tiny pair of shoes . transfer ware & pewter .

old ironstone . walnut table . old lamb & humble

while I polished and scrubbed my little old farmhouse, I realized that nearly everything here, each little cupboard and table, the bookcase filled with dog-eared books, the candle sticks and the old crackled ironstone plates and cups that we have used for many years

are all a little worse for wear.

Edges that were once fine and new, now worn smooth and some nearly gone.

All of these things are dearly loved.

They are "perfectly imperfect" and that just makes them more dear to me.

I am comfortable in my crooked little old farmhouse,which I'm quite sure was built without a square or a plumb bob. She is filled with worn and tatter'd, beautiful and perfectly faded.

pewter & old paper

The old wood floors have a definite tilt to them and so does my favorite "tippy tea table"....and if you turn the table just right, the beautiful old pewter teapot, properly dented,of course, with a visible half moon hollow in her side, rests comfortably on top.

Like the old gilt mirrors, their silver now clouded & tarnished, the kitchen cupboard with the make-do knobs filled with chipped transfer ware and ironstone, I fit in here.

old doll

We're like old friends all together. all of us have a story of survival made even more beautiful with our imperfections and beautiful fading colors showing.

My favorite ironstone cup has an elegant curved handle, cracked and carefully glued and put back together again.

Our walnut dining table from the early 1800's has a small patch of veneer missing along the top edge of a beautifully curving leg. It also survived a fire. There on the very center of the only leaf it came with is the distinct outline of a large book. It was left by the family Bible that also survived the fire. The table and chairs weren't burned, but they do have some wonderful crazing in the old varnish...and we had to buy them because they are all exactly like the table and chairs that my great grandparents had in their farmhouse kitchen when I was small.

When we learned that the old table & chairs, along with the old family Bible,

had survived a terrible fire,

I knew that it should live with me in my little old house now.

There's the old oriental rug with it's lovely colors faded and worn.

The silver and pewter, dented and mellowed with years of loving use.

An old chalk lamb leans gingerly on 3 legs against an old iron urn on the mantle.

Everything here has a story.

humble

and in the evenings, with the glow of candles being the only light, everything has a wonderful softness of the many years of being loved,

tenderly repaired and kept for many more years of use.

just like me, my things are a little worn around the edges.

Made graceful and more beautiful by candle light...

we all fit in here.

perfectly imperfect.

remembrance

2009-05-22T18:01:00.001-07:00

Pleasure is the flower that passes;

remembrance, the lasting perfume.

~ Jean de Boufflers ~

merrie maye

2009-05-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

~early ladye's pocket~

“Herbs do comfort the wearied braine

with fragrant smells which yield a certain kinde of nourishment.”

William Coles ~ 1656

Tonight on OPB's Oregon Art Beat~ Katie Estvold of Sparrow's Cottage ~

2009-04-16T14:01:00.000-07:00

Books Bound Angel by Katie Estvold

~~~

I'm very proud to be sharing this wonderful bit of news with all of you this afternoon.

My daughter, Katie Estvold, painter & paper artist

and lover of

~all Things 18th Century~

will be presented this evening on Oregon Public Broadcasting

"Oregon Art Beat" at 8 pm.

~~~

Katie will be talking about her art and her love of the 18th c.

from her home, Sparrow's Cottage, deep in the woods of Oregon.

~~~

If you live in Oregon, you can watch the show this evening on OPB at 8pm.

If you are not in Oregon, you can view the show on the internet~

it will be archived, so you can watch it at your leisure at any time on their website:

http://www.opb.org/programs/artbeat/episodes/view/1026

I hope that you will be able to see this segment.

I'm very proud of my Katie,

who as a little girl,

sat by me and her brother, playing with her paint box, paper & scissors

while I sewed and wrote nearly everyday.

~~~

I'm very proud that Katie has this wonderful opportunity

for her art to be acknowledged

and to be able to share her love of old paper

and her art with all of us.

to see more of Katie's work~

Sparrow's Cottage

a beautiful gift

2009-04-03T12:03:00.000-07:00

for me there's nothing more wonderful than putting clean crisp sheets on my bed.

freshly washed and dried on the line sheets.

they remind me of being a little girl, playing all day with my brothers and sister

in the bright spring sunshine and then

being coaxed into the house for dinner and a bath...

There's nothing like

putting on "fresh from the clothes line flannel jammies"

after a nice hot bath

stiff from being dried on the line

and so fresh and clean, that the scent stings your nose...

my daughter, Katie, presented me with the best gift ever.

She had made for me this wonderful brown homespun

~ and completely hand sewn ~clothes pin bag.

It's just wonderful.

Inside I found at least a whole dozen or more of clothes pins.

Katie hand carved ~actually, we like to say they are whittled ~each one for me.

and they

every bit as sturdy and useful

as they are beautiful.

Simply hand carved from our own poplar whips and tightly wired together.

what could be better than this...

a nice hot bath after a long day of working in the yard,

slipping into a stiff pair of flannel jammies

and snuggling down

and falling asleep between the first crisp sheets of spring.

Thank you, my Katie.

***

~here's a wonderful tutorial by Katie if you'd like to make your own wooden clothes pins! ~

2009-03-30T10:03:00.000-07:00

~thank you dear friends~

all is well.

xo,C

a lovely First Day of Spring & to thank you all so very much~a little drawing

2009-03-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

~little cotton tail bunny who lives under the old lilac~

Happy First Day of Spring

~~~

dearest friends,

I'm need a little bit of help, please.

as with all things modern and electronic, I have found that you just can't

depend upon a computer

like you can a trusty ledger and a pen to write with.

There has been a cafuffle with my laptop;

she deciding that she should stop working and leave me without any way of telling anyone

what is happening and in the meantime we have lost a great many emails from my lists.

If you have been a member and/or should like to added to my mailing list,

please do write to me HERE and you'll be reinstated and/or added immediately.

***

To thank you all for your kind help & emailing me~

All of this coming week, I'll be adding all of the names of those

who send their names & email addresses

into the old wall paper'd top hat.

In a week from today, I'll be drawing 3 names from the old hat

for a little thank you treasure.

I'll be sending one of my Deerfield Farmhouse doll patterns to

3 names that are drawn in one week from today.

Thank you all and I look forward to hearing from you.

~*~

I hope that this finds you enjoying a lovely

First Day of Spring.

~*~

Spring dollies are waiting and wanting to be shown!

~*~

I look forward to hearing from you~

thank you all so very much!

love, Christine

~*~

ps. This morning one of the little cottontails that live under the old lilac came out for a bit of sunshine and a nibble of sweet green grass.

Snow flakes have been falling off and on all this past week,

but now,warm sun is

shining through on this beautiful day.

I hope it's shining for all of you, too, wherever you may be.

keeping a merry heart

2009-02-14T11:38:00.000-08:00

he that is of merry heart

hath a continual feast.

proverbs 15:15

I have much more I want to share with you all today, but for now I'm off to

the city with my sweetheart to visit the lumber man, gather up paint swatches and

look for antique lighting fixtures.

Then off to the greenhouse & nursery to buy a thyme topiary for my kitchen.

....dinner at the old Pine Tavern down by the Deschutes River.

This is the most delicious way to spend the day that I can imagine for myself.

I hope this day finds you all doing something that you love, doing something delicious

and hopefully with your sweetheart and those you love.

keeping a merry heart...

and maybe a little chocolate in there somewhere,too.

a happy Valentines day to you all,

with love,

Christine

hyacinths for a winter weary soul

2009-02-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

If you have two loaves of bread, give one to the poor,

sell the other and

buy hyacinths to feed your soul.

~Mother Teresa~

every year at this time, after the holidays have been put away and the lack of anything

green outside my windows begins to feel tedious,

the old farm house seems to be just begging for fresh flowers to warm her chilly corners.

She doesn't really mind what they might be,

as long as they're fragrant and they must be white.

I found pots and pots of my very favorite white hyacinths at our little mercantile yesterday.

Stepping inside from the chill air, their heady scent greeted me before I saw them.

Immediately, I could feel the knot in my neck begin to relax

and myself just drinking it all in.

ahhh...fresh flowers.

I do believe its true, that we need hyacinths for our souls, whether it's a potted bloom, a bouquet of lemony daffodils, a tiny green trailing ivy or the sight of tight bundles of pink edged white roses.

The coolness and freshness of flowers, alive and blooming against the chill.

a balm for our winter weary souls.

So here they are in an old ironstone punch bowl, scenting the room while we read

by the fire. My husband with his book, me with mine~

a new book about 18th century houses & gardens.

those are balms for my winter weary soul.

wishing you all a bright and shiny first day of

February and hyacinths for your soul.

yrs,Christine

take your needle, my child...

2009-01-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

antique wool challis shawl & my dear leaping stag pin keep by sherry hunt

~~~

Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern...

it will come out a rose by and by.

Life is like that . . . one stitch at a time,

taken patiently.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

hearts a flutter

2009-01-21T10:47:00.000-08:00

a small watercolor painted for me by my daughter,Katie

~~~

she wrote her heart in sepia script

with small and delicate letters.

with written words that she longed kept

and did not dare to utter.

then safe she sealed it with crimson wax and sent

her heart

...a flutter

quiet new year

2009-01-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

our new year dawned onto glittering snow covered fields

and quiet iced landscapes.

Our breath hung in the thin pale pink light

and crunched beneath our feet

as we did our chores in the early morning

of the new year.

ethereal quiet and calm

not even one rustle of the last leaf was heard

just the tinkling of ice crystals

from our breath frozen in mid air.

it's as if this frozen sleepy place

was a stopping and a beginning all at once.

a jumping off place.

where we stand at the edge

and gather ourselves,

getting ready for

a new beginning

for positive changes

and wonderful things to come.

I hang my heart on the hope of it

and wish you all the very best~

peaceful and content at home for Christmas

2008-12-24T00:32:00.000-08:00

~the dearest place on earth to those that live there~

The old farmhouse is dressed in her best. A snowy white winter gown edged in glistening cedar and fir. She smiles knowing her rooms glow... with shining wooden floors and flowers bloom in old pots.

Candles are glowing in every window,

there's a good crackling fire in the hearth and wood smoke curls from her chimney.

The scent of cookies baking and

the fir tree shining with tarnished silver and gingerbread.

The music of laughter and love of old friends & dear family fills every corner. The old farmhouse wraps herself around us and sighs... peaceful and content. ~~ As we begin our family Christmas here on Deerfield, I wish for you the blessings of family and home, the Merriest of Christmases and a most joyous and peaceful New Year.

with love to you my Dear friends on this Christmas Eve,
Christine & family Deerfield Farm

peace & plenty

2008-11-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food,

for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

sending my wishes

for a blessed Thanksgiving to you all.

a gentle heart

2008-11-18T16:39:00.000-08:00

" Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics,

when women of high thought and accomplishment love to sew....

especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts

while so occupied....

~Nathaniel Hawthorne~

a little bit of Christmas for you in somerset and romantic homes

2008-11-14T13:40:00.001-08:00

Somerset Studio December 2008

there's a little story in the December issue of

Somerset Studio about my dollies and how they came to be.

I'm so very pleased with it, they made it so pretty,

I hope you enjoy it.

~~~

romantic homes~ December 2008

I've been making these old paper candy containers for a long time. During Christmas especially to hold special

gifts and treasures

and as sweet little gifts themselves. ~~~

I've hung them on the Christmas tree, and made them for the dolls to carry their own little chocolates. (see my Queen Anne in Somerset with her little candy container?) I bet you didn't know that Queen Anne dollies need lovely chocolates just as much as we do!

~~~

I've hung them with ribbons from the back of each dining room chair as a small favor for guests during holidays. ~very beautiful by candlelight when hung from the crystals on the chandeliers~

~~~

You could cover your boxes with beautiful old fabrics, color copies of beautiful old pictures or use treasured sepia photos.

I have used these beautiful little glass encased pretties made for me by my dear friend, Cathy, as the centers of the paper rosettes, as beautiful dangles hanging from silk ribbons ties and as gifts nestled inside the tiniest boxes.

the pattern is found in Romantic Homes for you to use. I hope you enjoy making lots of them for your loved ones.

~Merry Christmas!~

being the light

2008-11-11T10:40:00.001-08:00

"There are two ways of spreading light;

to be

The candle, or the mirror

that reflects it."

edith wharton

1862-1937

I've been thinking quite often about the kind of light I want to reflect ...

...that I hope I reflect

for myself, for my friends and for my family. I have two little grandchildren and a new little one is coming!

I want so much to give.

To be a light for them in all the ways I can.

When my grandchildren are all grown, I want to be remembered as

being full of life & light. That I shared what I love with all of them, that living simply and joyfully is important.

and most of all, To be Kind.

~ That our actions are important. To be happy, optimistic and full of light.

To be a gift to ourselves and to others.

In our family, the gifts we give are most always a gift of an experience. Spending time together doing something special. Not so much a wrapped present, but one that they can remember with a smile for the rest of their lives.

I spent part of this summer gathering things together from here & there.

My best find was a huge old cast iron kettle. I waited until our bee keeper friend could melt down our wax for us. The the proper candle wicks were found, cut saplings for our dipping sticks and drying racks & lots of dry apple wood for the fire. Finally, the day came when everything we might need to make this

a special time for our family was gathered and ready.

~ The fire under the old kettle was lit and had to be coaxed. The huge cakes of yellow beeswax were carefully slid into the hot water and began to melt.

It was working!

and so, we all dipped bees wax candles down in the old apple orchard. I could see the faces of all my family as we gathered around that smoky fire on a beautiful autumn afternoon, Smiling and laughing as they all took turns at dipping their wicks into the huge pot

of melted wax.

We weren't sure that we were doing it right, but it didn't matter. Seeing the rows of beautiful candles hanging up and cooling in the wooden racks, my grandson dangling precariously from a branch in the old cherry tree overhead, my little grand daughter hanging tight onto me, watching closely as I helped her dip her candles,too...

everyone was smiling and laughing, smoky and happy.

It was just right.

the best light of all.

an afternoon's worth of candle dipping

made from our own bees wax

on this cold, dark and rainy All Hallow's eve....

2008-10-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

wandering from room to room in the creaky old farmhouse,

Sukey makes sure that all

is well this dark, cold & rainy All Hallow's Eve.

The hour is late.

A good fire is crackling in the kitchen hearth & just one candle is lit.

The wind howls down the old chimney and blows billows of smoke out into the room.

a cold rain pounds against the old farmhouse & rattles the windows...

There came a knock at the old kitchen door.

It blew open with a great gust of wind and rain

sending a swirl of wet leaves into the warm & dark kitchen...

and with it came

visitors.....

please join Sukey at the old Deerfield Farmhouse

for a bit of All Hallow's Eve story telling

later today...

an almost sleepy hollow day

2008-10-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

It was almost a sleepy hollow day, but now the ghostly mist

that rose up

from the pond early this morning

has faded into the nearly bare trees.

Pale leaves swirl past my windows. I can't help but lay my sewing down and step outside.

The air is chill and the leaves are crisp underfoot.

I made a fire down in the orchard, burning some of the leaf piles

so I can plant bulbs in the orchard gardens.

It's very pleasant,even tho it's grey and dark...

my favorite kind of day.

an almost sleepy hollow day.

Days like these remind me of places and people I love.

I wonder what they might be doing this very minute

as I pile more leaves onto the smoky fire.

I send my thoughts to them as the smoke rises into the air

and swirls around the bare branches

of the old apple trees.

I wonder if my thoughts arrive in a swirl of smoke

to my loved ones...

do they know it's from me?

Wading ankle deep through yellow leaves, hands in my pockets, I feel

renewed and almost giddy.

I walk back

into the warm dark house,

to my chair by the fire.

I'm like a little child looking out of the school room window. I'm bent over my needle work and sew another seam...

I look out at the yellow leaves floating past my windows.

Just one more seam and another knot tied.

I have to lay my sewing down and go for a longer walk through the leaves...

while the air is crisp and chill.

While the light is just right

and the leaves swirl all around me

I love each season but none so much as when fall comes.

There's a peacefulness to it, a serene and quiet time

to enjoy things more slowly.

I hope that you are enjoying this lovely fall as much as possible.

yrs,

Christine

wooded path

2008-10-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

~walking into the past~

wooded path into Williamsburg

the autumn wood the aster knows,

the empty nest, the wind that grieves,

the sunlight breaking thro' the shade.

the squirrel chattering overhead,

the timid rabbits lighter tread

among the rustling leaves...

dora read goodall

~~~

from the very moment I step onto the broken shell path, the world behind me falls away.

no sounds but for breeze in the trees and sheep in the pasture below.

life moves slowly here

giving way to breathing free, my spirit opens,

hope gathers.

my feet want to fly down the path,

but then I stop and gather it all in ...

savoring

wood smoke trailing from a chimney,

the sound of birds chirping in the berry bushes...

this is where my soul lives.

October

2008-10-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

Smoke hangs like haze over harvested fields,

The gold of stubble, the brown of turned earth

And you walk under the red light of fall

The scent of fallen apples, the dust of threshed grain

There's the sharp, gentle chill of fall.

Here as we move into the shadows of autumn....

~a verse from the Autumn equinox~

~~~

This has been one of the longest summers I've spent since childhood.

the days were achingly beautiful under deep blue skies,

the sight of deer bringing their fawns to live in the fields.

15 pairs of ears and eyes

peeking up over the endless waves of wheat waving in the wind.

no sound but for the hum of crickets, the scent of hot sagebrush and juniper in the breeze

and meadowlarks darting from creek to nest.

the fields seemed to grow overnight, stretching towards the gold pink dawns

drinking up every bit of water we gave them, hot in the mid day sun

cool and wet at dusk.

every field of wheat, every leaf of fragrant tumbling mint and rows of

pungent garlic are harvested.

now safe and sound and under cover.

We sit and rest on the edge of the earth and watch the red sun going down over

mountains on fire.

The deer,now grown, walk gingerly through the stubbled wheat.

another season has passed.

and I am grateful that this summer has been as blue skied and never ending

as those summers we knew as children.

the road to Tasha's

2008-07-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

~the road to Tasha Tudor's home in the woods of Vermont~

~~~

it's been over a month now since our dear

Tasha Tudor went home. I still find myself feeling as though I have lost a dear friend.

What an extraordinary person she was, what a wonderful life she made. Living her dreams in every way following her heart.

If only we all were so brave.

~~~

I took this road with my dear friend, Gayle, one hot summer morning and found myself in another world, as though I had stepped back in time and was a part of it all. The woodsmoke in the air, no noise but for bird song and the slight rustle of leaves.

I was not ready for how loudly my heart sang that morning

~~~

may God bless you, dear Tasha.

you've made a beautiful and indelible mark on my life and the lives of all those who found you.

a warm light,

bright and shining in our hearts.

I hope that this finds that she is right where she wanted to be.

Gone back to her life in the 1830's,

enjoying her flowers by the kitchen doorway this beautiful morning, Canton tea cup in hand with corgi puppies at her feet.

let us then live in peace

2008-07-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

a wonderfully wise man,

our

Thomas Jefferson

born in Shadwell, Virginia

on Apr. 13, 1743

and died at his beloved home, Monticello

in Charlottesville, Virginia

July 4, 1826,

the 50th anniversary

of the Declaration of Independence

and then....sun

2008-06-07T05:49:00.000-07:00

after a long grey day

the sun slipped

below the clouds as she went to wake up the rest of the world

and gave us a smile before she went on her way.

it seemed a much longer sunset than usual,

it made the fields a honey gold and long shadows across the grass

and so

my Bella & I sat together

and let it soak in

~*~

the thankful heart

...will find, in every hour,

some heavenly blessings

Henry Ward Beecher

remembrance

2008-05-24T20:17:00.001-07:00

of those that live in our hearts.

mothers day

2008-05-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

I keep this picture in my purse.

it has lived in every purse I have had for 28 years.

the little people here are my children.

my son, 2 years old and my daughter is 5 years old,

and the way you see them here...their bright and shiny spirits...

is how they are today.

oh, yes, they may be a little taller...

still, the same bright shiny little faces.

they have so much love for each other

and for those around them.

when they were very small, it was just the 3 of us

for quite sometime.

they saved my life every day.

without them life would have been a vast open sea

without land in sight.

it has been a glorious garden with them in it.

our sunday

2008-05-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

warm sun,

soft and fragrant air,

royal anne cherry

clouds of spectacular bloom,

frogs content in the pond,

hens asleep under the old lilac,

a double white narcissus between them,

a tiny pansy

blooming by the old gate

balm for a winter weary soul

thank you

2008-05-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone who sent such lovely notes & emails telling me how

much you've enjoyed your time

while visiting me here at The Pastoral Doll maker this past year.

Thank you from my heart.

I have to say that many of your letters

put a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye.

I'm so glad to know that you have enjoyed

my writings, my stories and images about our life here

on Deerfield Farm .

I loved reading every one

of your letters.

thank you all so very much.

with love

on this day

and always,

Christine

~~~

the first of may

2008-05-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

from my humble garden to you

happy first day of May

my first year blog anniversarie celebration & news

2008-04-16T14:14:00.000-07:00

One evening, over a year ago now, I sat with my daughter on her bed playing

with her lap top...

"oh, I've got to get one of these!" I said, emphatically.

Speaking of her lap top, of course, and exclaiming over her then new blog

HomeKeeping Hearts all at once.

How luxurious,I thought to myself. To sit upon your bed and sail the world over!

To visit exciting places and wonderful people,

seeing such things that I had no idea even existed.

things that can only be dreamt of.

and so~~~~~

with Katie's help,

The Pastoral Doll Maker was born that very evening.

From my chair by the window I can see our farm unfolding hill upon hill, dressed in her best soft green gown of spring...

the twittering of the meadow lark, the sound of contented frogs

singing from the newly filled pond.

oh! there's the scent of crab apple blossoms catching me by surprise while I write.

and I can share it all first hand.

This has been a wonderful year of learning, of growth & discovery and I am grateful for all of you, my dear friends, new & old, who have come to Deerfield Farm

for a visit & peppermint tea on the porch or

for a walk through the fields with me.

I have visited & made new friends in countries all over the world from my old wing chair.

all while sitting here, snug, by the crackling fire on snowy winter evenings.

~*~

To celebrate my First year blog Anniversarie,

I invite you to write a sentence or two, a paragraph maybe and tell me what you have enjoyed most while visiting me here this year...

and what you would like to see & hear more of.

This is your entry into the First Anniversarie Celebration.

Mr Fine Pigg is away for a few weeks away to visit his family at the neighboring farm

and so I will be drawing the name of a lucky someone who leaves their kind thoughts.

There is a lovely Paper Trifle to be given away~

hand made especially for this occasion.

The winner will be chosen on Friday, May 2, 2008 shortly before my

Sweet Springe Celebration

beginning at 5 pm that First Friday of May.

I hope that when you do come for a visit,

that you'll feel comfortable and please leave a comment.

~please leave your name and a way for me to contact you~

I love to hear from everyone and will do my best to do the same for you.

I look forward to hearing from you~

with love

on this day,

Christine

~news from the Deerfield Doll House~

~*~

ps. I have heard from a little bird that the newest issue of Artful Blogging may contain

a little something about The Pastoral Doll Maker.

April 24***after traveling for hours and miles

and spending my children's inheritance for gas...

I have not yet found the newest issue of Artful Blogging.

We sat on the floor in front of the artist's & crafter's

magazine shelves

at Barnes & Noble

had wonderful mocha's.

We basked in the heady coffee aroma & delightful atmosphere

of a real live book sellers .

Spent some delicious time looking through

all the newest magazines,

but did not find the one issue

I was looking for.

it surely is coming ... and it is somewhere...

my little bit of being published is not in the Spring 2008 issue.

but rather the Summer 2008 issue

on the newsstands May 1.

I can be patient....being surrounded by rows upon rows

and piles of books

and other bookish people was heaven.

double mocha's and patience...do they mix?

ah yes, they do for me.

I have not yet seen this little bit of story about the dolls myself,

but I hope to very soon.

love,C

a blessed easter

2008-03-23T13:15:00.001-07:00

early spring garden in Colonial Williamsburg

~~~

Easter has come very early this year...

most times there are enough tiny blooms

to make my own bouquet for Easter brunch,

but this year,

just one tiny daffodil is bravely

blooming down in the orchard.

My treasures, the old black hens,

are fluffed and snug under the old budded lilac.

The promise of spring is evident,

just not yet here.

In my heart I visit a peaceful, green,

lovely and serene brick walk

in one of my most beloved places to visit.

From my home,

I'll share a fragrant and fresh bouquet of

white crabapple blossoms

from the old knarled crabapple tree

with you.

sending wishes to you all

for a beautiful

Easter with those you love all around you.

and hopefully -

a lovely chocolate bunny

who is most definitely hard of hearing.

with love to my friends,

on this blessed Easter day,

Christine

Deerfield Farm

more love letters of home

2008-03-13T08:35:00.001-07:00

I adore this early mirror. It belonged to a wonderful old friend

who spent her life collecting early things.

She lived her love of early.

Everything she did was connected to another time.

The first time I visited her, I was put to work washing lambs wool

in an old trough. She was busy making mead that day.

My chalk ware lamb is precious,

Netty made her for me a long time ago.

early morning light falling on my favorite

linen toile pillow.

I have had this lovely old brown linen toile

in my home since we first came to

Deerfield Farm...it's all in pastoral farming scenes.

I do love it.

Notice the young man ....

in every vignette

he is lazing about while the ladye works hard

at harvesting the wheat, tending her lambs,

turkies & hens and milking the cow.

I can't help but laugh at the look she gives

him.

I'm quite sure he's imagining the wonderful supper she's going to be

making for him .... just as soon as her

chores are all done, of course.

what was the old broom closet at the end of the hallway.

I took the door off

and fitted it with shelves

and painted it all a creamy white

to display some of my old white ironstone.

Perfect.

love letters of home

2008-02-14T08:11:00.001-08:00

late afternoon light dances

across the walls

glowing golden on

early quilted petticoats and bonnets.

I like to think of the quiet little corners of my home as love letters to myself and my family.

You know, when you put together a little place that feels just right, with your treasured things. and then, when the light comes through, it surprises you with just how pretty it is...

the feelings that come from experiencing it for the few brief moments that the light comes through and you know how much you love where live...

then looking forward to the next little moment when the light changes again.

these are my love letters of home.

every doll has a story

2008-02-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

Every doll has a story.

And for as long as I can remember my dolls have told me their stories, their dreams and secret wishes and thoughts. Long before they were dolls, they were stories in my thoughts, sketches on paper, most of the time they come to me in my sleep.

For me, the dolls have lives just as interesting and varied and as real as you and I.

and so, I would like to share these stories of the dolls with all of you.

All of you, my dear readers, who have written such wonderful letters to tell me how much you love & enjoy my dolls and their stories, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I have begun something special for all of you that you may continue to enjoy the dolls and their stories from Deerfield Farmhouse.

a window into the Deerfield Doll House the dolls & their stories

Here you will find all the adventures and goings on with the daily lives of

the Ladyes of Deerfield Farm;

Mr. Jefferson, the handsome gentleman farmer from Virginia

who, besides his great desire to experience farming on the western frontier,

has come to call on the Ladyes of Deerfield Farm

along with a wonderful and interesting cast of characters throughout.

*a small note*

~and this is all in good fun~

~not wishing to injure any Dear Reader with delicate sensibilities~

Life for the dolls is not unlike that of real folks, with the joys and trials of everyday life and perhaps,

a secret romance may be found.

So, my dears, if it is just a pretty doll story that you want to read,

you may wish to avert your eyes from the story and gaze upon the pretty pictures I have thoughtfully added just for that very reason.

again, this is all in good fun

I hope you enjoy!

sending love,

Christine

and

the Deerfield Dolls