Wanderlust temporarily fulfilled by Camping

I suffer a great wanderlust!  I must go! Into the woods, around the world, somewhere quiet, somewhere beautiful, somewhere under appreciated... I just want to GO!

I use these quiet times, far from home (or not so far, but well hidden) as a time to reflect on life and slow down a little.  These are the times I gain more inspiration for my pottery.  I wonder what Ill bring back in my head, after our little upcoming trip into the forest, that I will incorporate into my pottery... we shall see....

Im also hoping this little camping trip will help fulfill some of my strong wandering urges for a little while : )  Im so excited!  I can hardly wait to eat while we are out in the woods.  Its like everything just tastes better cooked over a fire in the middle of the woods.... ahhh, Im so there already! (in my mind anyway)

Here is a little Etsy Treasury that was inspired by our upcoming trip.

Stop and Smell the Roses

I am blessed to live in a beautiful area.  Sometimes we move too fast and dont always stop to appreciate things like we really should.

A few years before my daddy passed away he told me 'You need to stop and smell the roses'.  Ive heard that saying most of my life but even then when he told me that, I wasnt really sure just what it meant.  Its something you cant really describe. You can simplify it by saying 'you need to slow down and enjoy the little things' but still until you reach deep inside will you really understand its true meaning.

I wish he were here now, because finally, I really, truly understand what he meant.  Im sure he knew that one day I would.  During the time in my life he told me that I was in such a run to do things and go places and be successful in my career that I didnt 'hear' what he was saying.  But it stuck.  And a few years after I lost him, I started to reevaluate life and took time to reflect on a lot on things he had tried to teach me.

Ive always been a dreamer but somewhere along the way of being an adult, I lost something very precious and I forgot about the little things.  When I was a kid and stopped to investigate every little bug, snake, frog, moth, or whatever I could find.  I would stare at a butterflies wings for what seemed like 'ages' and become so fascinated with how beautiful and intricately patterned it was.  I realize now that what I was doing then was appreciating the little things.  I was stopping to smell the roses.

I finally got 'life' back and now I see everything more clearly.  I am more at peace and much happier.  My anxiety and depression dissipated. I became ME.

Days like today remind me to slow down a bit.

Here is a little place we stopped off at on our way through around the Ocoee River to check out our campsite - it is where we stopped to 'smell the roses'.

  

Longing to Live in the Past

My most recent Etsy Treasury.

Can I just have it all?

Clay in the Garden "Barn Owl"

I have little 'visitors' to my garden.  Sure, they are cute, but they are also thieves! We have adorable little bunnies (who will eat the fresh tender green tops out of anything), squirrels (who steal my tomatoes and head up a tree with them), a raccoon (who breaks young corn stalks with his weight), and surprisingly, although we live in town... deer tracks...

Now, I dont know about you, but where I come from, we didnt take too kindly to thieves.  I cant seem to catch them in the 'act' to run them off and am not sure it would work anyway.  We do have a pair of beautiful red tailed hawks who have been raising young in a tree just across the street for the past couple years - these guys are probably helping tremendously, but we still have issues.  I cant do much about a couple of the critters, but I can attempt to intimidate the smaller ones by sitting a predator at my gardens edge.  Im going to give it a try and am in the process of making....

The Barn Owl

He doesnt look just like the picture I used to go by, but once he is painted, he should appear pretty realistic.

Wish me luck in the garden this year!

If he doesnt do the job then he has a nice place in my dining room he can hang from ; )

Dreaming of the Cowbells and Living in the Country

I woke up wanting to make cow bells!  : )
We have gone to two rodeos the past two nights - maybe that is what kicked my urge off!

I LOVE rodeos!  I dont know exactly why, but Id go to every one of them I had a chance and the time to attend.  Some day Ill head out west to Oklahoma and Texas to watch the big boys.

There is just something so exciting about watching the 'wild side' of the animals. The year before last we had a very exciting moment that kicked in a fight or flight instinct when a bull charged toward the stands we were sitting in on the third row (totally ignoring the flimsy fence holding him in) luckily a talented horse and cowboy had him roped and pulled him just before he hit the fence a few feet from us.  I mean seriously, there is no way a mobile fence is stopping a 1500 lb raging bull if he wants to come through... you shouldve seen everyone running! We mustve been either brave or had a lot of confidence in the event staff when we just sat there totally frozen.  I felt my heart pounding and could hear nothing but my heartbeat... ahhh good times LOL

It is no secret that our dream and goal in life is to have some land in the country for a small farm. Nothing big, just something in the country where I can have my chickens, a big garden, an orchard, maybe a horse, maybe a few cows, a couple sheep, barn cats, some big round hay bales and... ok in my head it just keeps getting larger : )

My husband laughs and says Im going to have to make an awful lot of pottery to help pull this one off!  Some people have said 'wow you really want to work hard to get to a place in life where all you do is work hard' - hmmmm well maybe so... Im always doing something anyway.  It should be something I love doing, right?  

When we bought our house and moved to 'town', I remember telling my daddy that I was happy but that I really wanted to live in the country.  He said 'well then, live here for a while and then later in life you can sell it and move back to the country'. That was my plan that day and has been every day since.  That was 19 years ago.  Ive made the best of it though and have my little garden here and have had my 'backyard' chickens. But I know what I want in life and I know it cant happen where I am now.

Our hearts are already there on that little farm somewhere out there and just waiting on us to catch up!

Now, lets go get our house chores done so we can start on some cow bells!