A Heartfelt View From This Girl's Skyline

Driving home a few nights ago about an hour before dusk, the wheat fields were starting their  transformation  of colors going from green to gold.  I was on my way home after spending  a few glorious days in the San Juan Islands.  And while it was a wonderful escape from the heat, I can’t imagine life anywhere but here.  As I traveled the back-roads, the slower pace allowed for a bit of gazing at the crops  and catching whiffs of the pre-harvest scent, which I love but find hard to describe.  I guess it is sort of a mix of fresh hay with a sort of a dusty scent.  If only I could bottle that smell.   Pure bliss for this farm gal’s senses.

 During my ocean escape,  I was able to visit some spectacular ports  that ranged from small basic towns to picturesque touristy towns. 

At one particular port, it was a haven for the mega rich who could afford yachts, and let me tell you there were a lot of them.  A few were for sale and had open houses, so we toured a few just to satisfy our curiosity of how the other side lived.  The interiors were splendid with large open-air areas that featured crowd seating, bar/dining and just seemed to beckon a gathering of family and friends. The mega boats were stately, magnificent and imposing, almost like they were their own private island.   

Along side these mansion sized boats were normal sized boats that were capable of accommodating areas for sleeping, cooking and entertaining on a more modest scale.  And what I found the most interesting was that the docks were sort of like small towns, where people from the smaller sized boats were friendly and impromptu conversations started amongst strangers.  Often times chairs were set up on the docks and bursts of chatter and laughter were signs of fun times.  I loved seeing others gather on their own small boats where more intimate conversations, sans cell phone and computers, were taking place. The fascinating contrast was life was being lived and enjoyed from the smaller boat owners, which was a stark contrast to the huge boats which had been intentionally designed for entertaining  - but that they all sat quiet, usually were dark inside, or if there was life on board, I didn’t hear gaiety spilling out. I thought to myself, yup the saying that money doesn’t buy happiness was pretty apropos here.  It just seemed like life on the docks for us common folks was enjoying the beauty of the ocean, the beauty of being together and the beauty of enjoying life.    

A small port town

Off the boat and ready to check out a port town

Hiking to Turn Point Lighthouse. And my hat says it all..."Blessed"

Boat life is fun

An ocean sun set

And that impression and feeling kept staying with me all through the trip.  I guess to sum it up, regardless of your financial situation – you can make your life be your own island – remote – untouchable- if you choose. Which for me, I find that a sad way to live.   If you look just beyond your personal horizon, you can see the beauty of meeting new people, going to new places and finding the value of good life.  Personally, I see the gorgeousness of the Palouse and it’s fertile ground that produces amazing crops, and I see the beauty in the people who live here.  I am grateful that I seem to always be surrounded with kind and wonderful people.  Frankly, I don’t care if it sounds corny or not, it’s a heartfelt view from this girl’s skyline.

Sunset on the rolling hills of the Palouse. Equally beautiful

 

As always, thank you so much for stopping by.  Feel free to reach out and email me at swheatfarmlife@gmail.com or leave a comment on the blog.  I love to hear from you.  All my best, Gayle

Remember to Look Up

Greeting friends, I awoke to the sun shining in my bedroom, jumped out of bed, starting brewing some coffee and thought I'd show you what I awoke to.

This says it all

 Dropping into my friend, Sondra's shop the other day,  she commented that I haven't shared too many pictures of my new locale.... (sorry about that) - With summer emerging the place is in full bloom.

As Spring progresses, I love seeing all the new colors of flowers that emerge

 Best of all, my red vintage tractor was delivered from the old place to my new place.  I only brought  3 things from my old place with me.  My green glass chandelier, the red vintage tractor

My place is now complete... my red vintage tractor is now on my new place. Yahoo!

 And my old planter... sadly I don't think the iconic flatbed truck will get to come over.

Old farm equipment makes for great planters

This is where I like to take my morning coffee

 And me being my usual self of  doing  the "straight ahead focused view"  and snapping pictures of my surroundings to share.....well I looked up and saw the misty morning with the sun just peaking over the hills. It made me realize that sometimes I get too caught up in what is in front of me and I forget to look up and see the big picture.   A quick life lesson, step back and get a different view - you might just see something glorious.  

A stellar morning view

With that, just a quick update my friends.  As always, feel free to email me at swheatfarmlife@gmail.com or  leave a comment.  All my best, Gayle

Adirondack Chairs and Dating

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Roses from my garden

Tonight standing on the deck overlooking a spectacular view of the rolling hills from a friend’s getaway cabin,  I was memorized  by the site of two perfectly positioned Adirondack chairs. They were placed to enjoy the view  with that special someone.  Maybe it was because I was there to celebrate my dear friend’s happy addition to their family, a new daughter-in-law just fresh from eloping with their son.  And the chairs and the happy look of the cute little couple  made me realize that it’s time to start dating again. The world is made for two…. And I’m ready.  =)

Earlier today I had my beloved red vintage tractor delivered to my new place and it seems like my life has settled down and there is a feeling of pure and divine contentment.  I’ve planted myself in a new spot that makes me happy and now it is time to complete the final happy piece of the puzzle called love…. To be continued.   

My tractor is home now and all is well

Take care and wishing everyone a great week-end.  All my best, Gayle

The Rebuilding of a Life 101 and Hidden Gems

Holy cow!   I can’t believe it’s been one month and a day since I last posted on the blog.  Okay for starters, so far in the 8 weeks of living in my new little piece of paradise, I’ve painted one bedroom and have a good start on the other guest room, I’ve refinished 3 pieces of furniture… pictures to follow. 

 

Master bathroom vanity - Before

Same vanity - now AFTER.  Distressed in my personal farm-chick style

Guest bedroom armoire - before

Armoire AFTER

A yard sale desk that I wanted to use as my make-up vanity - BEFORE

My vanity AFTER (much needed as I seem to have lots of stuff)

On the outside, well oh my…. I took myself down to the local building supply store and bought a push mower, then a weed eater to accessorize the riding lawn mower for the large area that I mow and need to keep up.  I am in the beginning stages of a building project… a new 2 car garage.  I also had to buy another back pack sprayer for massive amounts of 2-4-D needed to tame the broad-leaf weeds…. So it’s safe to say that I’ve bonded quite well  and had lots of quality time with two backpack sprayers. It just occurred to me that maybe I should name them.  Any suggestions?

I bought myself something that looks like a park

I have this little area outside my home office window and it’s my private hidden gem.  It really isn’t much, a steep hillside that ends with a stone ledge and has a fruit tree at the bottom.  But  I like the view and can imagine myself sitting there, writing away.  From the looks of  the little area, it may have been well tended at one time, but it now sports an overgrown haphazard look. (it’s fair to say it probably looks like my morning hairdo.. yup that bad!  Lol)   I‘ve started to clean it up and sort of have a plan of what I want it to look like and have started planting all sorts of interesting plants that should grow and thrive.  Getting stuff in the ground has been a bit tricky since I have actually slid down the steep hill….  (promise I'll snap some pictures !)

Like almost everything in my life, I haven’t really had a master plan of what the overall picture of life should look like, I just make it up as I go.  Sometimes that is good and sometimes not.   I may have accomplished more in my life if I had actually had goals and plans, but it has just sort of evolved and the pathways that I walked down have been filled with many life lessons but lots of love and support.  I have two beautiful daughters where our relationships have gone from parent/child to being friends.  And family, both those who are actual family and those who are just like family, are my cherished bright spots.

Now as I start down a new chapter in this girl’s life I wonder what the overall picture will look like.  I sort of imagine my life is  like my little hidden gem outside my office window where there is a mix and match of interesting things growing. And that will one day have an array of colors that range from flowers to light up the soul  to a  good ground cover for stability.   This hidden gem that I compare to my life to will be the constant reminder that sometimes if there isn’t constant tending and taking care of yourself and your  life that it can fall in disrepair.  And now I’m paying attention to what I need to keep me balanced, which is not always an easy task but I give it a good try.  I’m enjoying the process of  growing in ways I never thought possible, meeting so many interesting people, learning to play and laugh, and giving myself permission to enjoy life.  Having the mystery of the unexpected and unplanned makes for an interesting life, or at least from my perspective and a fertile field to plan the next season of life.   

Capturing a storm rolling in... wild and beautiful

With that, please feel free to leave comments, thoughts, questions at swheatfarmlife@gmail.com as they always make my day.  All my best, Gayle