There's a Hippie Girl in Me Fighting to Get Out!

I just saw the movie, Taking Woodstock, tonight. I loved it! I loved how mellow everyone was, how cool and groovy everyone seemed, nothing phased them (okay, I admit the drugs did help!) I also liked knowing the real story behind Woodstock, especially how it transformed the family in the movie. I can definitely see myself as a hippie chick. Well, I was! I lived a portion of the 70's, the flared jeans, flared sleeves and my favorite, the long skirts. After seeing this movie it made me want to re-familiarize myself with the hippie fashion. I used to wear those long skirts with small white tees even in the 80's. Even made some of my own long skirts myself. My dad used to always say "Michelle, you have a strange style." I was totally fine with it. I loved being different. In any event, the other day I got one of those long cotton, spaghetti strap dresses (green with off-white squiggly design) with the elasticized bodice and long flowing skirt that goes all the way down to my ankles. I can see myself wearing it with a jean jacket and flip flops. In fact, I will! :)

Here are a few styles I love from the 70's.

And no matter what the style is...I always have to have that romantic touch. :)

Transforming those fresh picked blackberries....

...into blackberry pies. My creative side madly came out and wanted to make those darling little pies again! So, I did...with the sweet blackberries I picked yesterday. And let me tell you...they were so perfectly sweet with just the right amount of tartness.

The filling is simply 4 cups of fresh picked berries, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup flour then mix and pour in pie crust when your crust is ready to be filled!

Don't look too closely at my lattice work. I almost drove myself mad trying to get it right. This one below, that one above...no wait! This one above, that one below....no that's not right!

And the rest of the day was spent just laying around....

Quincy relaxing...

Relaxing even more...

Smelling the aroma of toasty baked crust and succulent tart blackberries baking in the oven and relaxing even MORE...

And that's how we spent our weekend. :)

Okay, so we'll pick blackberries then....

Well, Saturday morning started off fine. Loaded up the horses, drove to the trails, got the boys out to groom and saddle up and then BOOM! It happened. Poor Magic backed himself up into a rock and sliced his poor little leg. It was a moment of "freaking out" but just for a moment. We watched as the blood poured out of his leg...eek! We acted quickly and bandaged it up as fast as possible to stop the bleeding. He was very jumpy at that point so I kept him calm as Deb took care of his leg. Poor guy. So....we loaded them both back up and back home we went. Well, that was after sitting out there for awhile making sure Magic was okay. *sigh* The cut was actually small with a long scrape but we got it to stop bleeding and a bit later when we got home he seemed fine and wasn't favoring it.

So.....we picked blackberries for the rest of the afternoon. :)

The blackberry bushes lined Deb's long driveway so we had a lot of bushes to cover. And the boys even helped us out. :)

Ari did a great job in digging them out! Ari, really! You should clean up after yourself.

Magic was still a bit mad at us from working on his leg. If looks could kill!

And look at how many we harvested!

Blackberry cobbler, here we come!

Deb will watch Magic the rest of the weekend and tend to his poor little wound.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

It's a Rooster Party!!

Welcome to the Rooster Party hosted by Barb over at Bella Vista! For this party we're supposed to show off our rooster collection. Although mine is not a big collection YET...it's gettin' there. :) Thank you so much, Barb, for hosting this fun, fun, fun party! Click on the link above (Bella Vista) and you can see over two hundred other blogs joining in on this party. Gosh...you better not go to work because it might take you all day to go through them. Well it's a good excuse to me! :)

Okay gals, let's start! This is my most prized possession, Henrietta (yea, my rooster is a girl) :) She was in the adopt-a-rooster section at Home Goods and I just could not turn her down. :)

I mean look at her beautiful feet!

Next is my vintage rooster tin....it holds my ground coffee. I know it says flour on it but I already had a place for my flour so had to think of something else to put in it. Now when I open the tin, that distinctive, rich aroma of coffee fills the air!

I got this adorable little picture at an antique store in Silver Falls, Oregon. I really need to go back to that store. It had tons of roosters and chickens. And yep, that's real chicken wire in there. :)

Next my sweet rooster candle. I just haven't had the heart to light it yet.

And last, my rooster salt and pepper shakers. Cute aren't they?

Well that's it! That's my small and sweet rooster collection. I am reasonably sure this collection will grow just as fast as my apron collection. :)

Happy Friday all and thanks again Barb! I had tons of fun at this party!! Alright, where are the rooster margaritas?

Street of Dreams

So the last couple weekends my good friend Bryan and I attended the Street of Dreams. They have it here every year in Portland (not sure if they have it anywhere else) but it's a tour of new homes or in this case penthouses/lofts that are open to the public and some of them are over a million dollars. Yea, there's reason why it's called the Street of Dreams! Lol! Anyway, we had so much fun! Here are a few highlights of things that I saw that caught my eye. :) Enjoy!

Oh first, I caught this picture of Quincy laying around. I just love how he "regally" crosses his paws. :)

This was a sitting room in one of the penthouses. I LOVED this daybed. Yea, I looked up the maker/store that this bed came from. Uh huh, I only have to drop $7,000 for this puppy. I think I will stick to garage sales. ;) I am thinking of turning my guest bedroom into a "sitting" room but with a setup like this. And of course with LOTS of big, fluffy, dreamy pillows.

Love this! Sometimes I feel like him. Lol! But ya know...he kinda looks peaceful in there.

I just LOVE this artist. I didn't get the name...but I'm sure I can find out.

Especially love this one. It was in the entryway of this penthouse. What a welcome into this place, huh?

This sconce was, by far, my favorite piece! I mean have you ever seen anything like it? The pentouses all had different names. This penthouse was called The Sky Watch.

Love it!

And this one is so sweet. Reminds me of something that would be in a nursery and I believe this penthouse did have a nursery.

Isn't this elegant? Heck the frame alone is gorgeous!

Even MORE elegance...

Now this is one of a kind. I had to get a picture of this.

I LOVED this chandelier!

And this dining room! Love that huge painting back there.

I have so many more pictures but I will break them up in different posts. I don't want to overwhelm you all...you'll be like me, dreaming every night that I live in a place as elegant as these....with a crown of course...oh and my two Afghan hounds beside me....a butler....okay, time to go dream. :) *sigh*

Strawberries and Angels

As I sat here eating these beautiful, fresh strawberries this evening, something came to me. A memory. A cherished memory that has made its home in my soul because it's meant to be there...for a reason. And really, do you ever just go about your business and all of a sudden something pops in your head and you have no idea where it came from? Sometimes I wonder if it's God sending a little spark down from Heaven to remind us of what is most important in our lives. To remind us He is there to help us through the hard times. First of all you might be wondering why I'm a little more introspective on my blog than I have ever been before. I'm finding it very therapeutic to talk to you all about "stuff". I never see your faces, I have never heard your voices but I know you are there...sometimes everyday. :) And thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. The kitties thank you too. :) I also try not to go into detail because...well...you don't need all the drama. ;)

Anyway, back to this evening. I sat here eating my strawberries, typing on the computer, doing random searches for things and when this thing popped in my head I did a search on the Internet for this story I remember so well. It was a story I will never forget. It actually took place in Orange County, California, where I lived before trekking my way through the forests to Oregon. It was about the Moore family who experienced a terrible tragedy in their lives. They lost their daughter, Tara, in a car accident (not very far from their home). It was about their journey in healing after the loss of their daughter...and how angels played a prevalent part in their lives in healing their family.

Part of that healing process was opening a small gift/book store in San Juan Capistrano called Tara's Angels (it's no longer there, unfortunately). I remember reading this story and telling my mom I wanted to go to that store to buy an angel...as if buying an angel from Tara would make it all the more special. And I did. Mom, if you're reading this...remember that day? I still have that angel (and shame on me for not unpacking her, along with the rest of my angel collection I've had through the years). I think it's time for her to come out. Something told me to take her out tonight. So I will....I'll take them all out!

And I will show her to you when I've shined her wings. :)

The story is awesome and so healing. There's a copy of the story on Google Books. It really is amazing how angels play a role in our lives. I've always felt my angel there...protecting me throughout my life and when I'm unsure of a situation, I feel comforted in knowing God has angels watching over me.