don't give up on us baby

Have you totally given up on me?

If you haven't, you probably should.


I have truly lost my blogging mojo, but once I'm through my busy senior photography season, I'm going to try my best to get my sorry self back on the blogging bandwagon.

But don't hold your breath.

These beauties are just a few of the darling girls I've had the privilege to photograph this year.


I've had an absolute blast with my girls this year.  Montana girls are the best.  They'll go anywhere and they're game for pretty much anything.

Sit in the river at sunrise?  Yes Ma'am!

(This one calls me Ma'am.)

(Not quite sure what I think about that.)

(This is her "I know the morning light is beautiful, but this water is cold and I can't feel my legs" look.)


If she seems a bit familiar, it's because you've seen her here.

And here.

And....here.

And now here!

It's been impossible to pick favorite sessions this year.  They've all been fun and very, very different.


Thanks for hanging in there with me through my slump/break/slacker fest.

Truly, you haven't missed much as the deer ate pretty much my entire garden this year, and for the last two months, all the local scenery has been hidden by thick wildfire smoke.  The skies are just now starting to clear, so hopefully they stay that way and we'll be able to enjoy a beautiful fall.

Remember Ceili?  We've already done two extremely fun sessions and have plans for more in the beautiful fall color.


Until we meet again........

Peace.


p.s. Bonus points to anyone who can name the artist who sang my post title song without looking it up on the internet!

hazy lazy days

Do you ever have days where you feel like this little guy?

Or girl?  It's kind of hard to tell, but he just kind of seems like a boy to me.


My sister claims this is how she looks before she has her morning coffee.

Scary.

Watching this little nest was definitely a highlight of my summer.

The weather has been gorgeous.

I've got the most outrageous farmer's tan ever.

I've made a point of choosing my porch swing over my computer screen, and that's been a good thing.
 

But, I can already feel a change in the air.

The nights are crisper.

The flowers are fading.

There's a 36 degree morning in the forecast.

I want to make sure to catch every last second of my very favorite time of year while I can.


How about you?

Has it been a good summer at your house?

Are you ready for fall with its cool, crisp days?

Or are you like me,  hanging on to these last hazy days with all your might?

Chime in with your favorite season and then go have yourself a great Thursday!

God Bless America

Happy Fourth of July!

summer bucket list

In the last seven weeks, I've....


.....blatantly ignored all feelings of blogging obligation.

Until today, that is.

The month is almost over, and as this has been an especially gorgeous June, I don't want to let it pass without giving the garden a pictorial shout out.


Also? In the last seven weeks I've turned into a total flake and have neglected to respond to emails and comments from some of y'all wondering if I'm still alive and well.

I am indeed alive and well and have been thoroughly enjoying a blogging vacay.

It's been fabulous.


Also, also? Until I noticed how the peonies were accosting my beloved aqua motel chair, my camera hasn't seen a whole lot of action lately.

Thankfully, I finally got my photography act together the very day before a freak windstorm turned my pretty peony flowers into pretty peony confetti.


This year, I made a summer bucket list and the more checks I can make on that list, the better.


My list includes.....

* Read the entire Harry Potter series whilst comfortably settled in my porch swing.

I'm a big Harry fan and I'm looking forward to summer afternoons with Neville, Luna and Snape.


* Go on a weekly hike with my hubby.


* Make a quilt for the guest room.

(Note to self... Don't let the fact that you've started several other quilts and massive quantities of other sewing projects that have never made it to completion stop you from spending lots and lots AND LOTS of money on fabric and totally deluding yourself into thinking that this time might actually be different and you might actually make the aforementioned guest room quilt.)

After all, summer is for dreaming, right?


* Go to as many outdoor vintage/antique shows as humanly possible.

I've got four on the schedule so far.


* Master a new photography skill. Backlighting is number one on my list.


* Visit Glacier National Park. I've lived in Montana for twelve years and it's about time I see what all the fuss is about.


* Face Pinterest addiction head on. Check into local support groups.


* Sit on the dock barefoot for five minutes each day in an attempt to mellow out my flip flop tan lines.


* Literally and figuratively stop and smell the roses.


So, that's my plan for the next couple months.

What's on your bucket list this summer?

forget me not

Aren't these little blue blossoms adorable?

Forget Me Nots are one of my favorite springtime flowers, as they make the garden look like it's floating in a pale blue mist.


Most years, we don't really seem to have much of a spring here in our part of Montana, but this year it's been downright glorious.

Big stretches of gorgeous, sunny days, and so far, no freak snowstorms.

But there's still plenty of time for that kind of nonsense.


My onions are planted, I'm desperately trying to get ahead of the flower beds, and the greenhouse is bursting at the seams.

I have great plans to be reasonable with the number of flowers I plant this year, so I only planted five hundred zinnias. I've also determined that I can do without one of my oak barrels, (it rotted and fell apart) and two medium sized clay pots, the contents of which did not survive the winter in the greenhouse.

Impressive, yes?

It feels so good to be cutting back.


I'm hitting the road today with my two younger boys. We're making a quick trip to see my parents. It will be so nice to be with my Mama for Mother's Day.

Have yourself a wonderful weekend!

i set fire to the rain

Howdy friends!

It's been a while!


Since we last chatted, my soldier came home.

Yay!

He actually lives three hours away from us, but came home to sleep off his travel hangover, eat lots of home cooked meals, and leave his ginormous duffel bag full of dirty laundry in the hallway for me to trip over in the dark three times until I finally got smart and moved it.

(Yes, I could have moved it after the first time, but I'm a slow learner.)


Over the last year, Junior had developed a pretty major aversion to sand, so it only seemed right to whisk him away to Hawaii in an attempt to create some new, happy sand related memories.


* Hawaii is wonderful.

*Kona Coffee Milkshakes are wonderful.

*Warm air on your skin after a Montana winter is wonderful.

*Visiting a place called Slaughterhouse Beach four different times and leaving Slaughterhouse Beach four different times with all of your friends and family still alive and relatively unharmed is wonderful.

*POG - passion, orange, guava juice is wonderful. Why don't they sell it in Montana?

*Sailing trips on very windy days are wonderful.

And wet.

*Not taking your laptop to Hawaii is wonderful.

*Hearing Adele sing "Set Fire to the Rain" one time on the radio whilst driving along the Maui coast five days ago and subsequently having the song playing constantly in your head every moment since is not wonderful.


Time is flying, folks. My youngest leaves for Army boot camp in two months and I'm feeling the need to grab and hold on to every minute that I can between now and then.

My nest will be empty for the first time in twenty four years.

Oh boy.


If I'm a bit scarce around the blog, just know that I'm spending my time soaking in the last little bit of my life as a full time mama.

If I'm still scarce after the next two months pass, just know I'm probably crumpled in a heap in a corner, humming "Sunrise, Sunset".

Have a wonderful Thursday!

because I love a good stereotype

When you know a darling redhead.

And you have a green dress.

Why would you even consider thinking outside the box when you've got a hankering for some St. Paddy's day pictures?


Our corned beef and cabbage dinner will have to wait though, because corned beef and cabbage is the first meal on a very long list of meals requested by this fella, and word has it he just might be boots on the ground right here on the farm by the end of this week.

Between his homecoming meals, and the meals my youngest has on his list before he goes to boot camp in June, I think I'll be in the kitchen for the next three months.


But for now, I'm off to search for a Blarney Stone to kiss.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!