Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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Some Photos from the Wedding

   Perhaps you heard the unfortunate rumor that both Handsome and I failed to charge our cameras before the much anticipated Saturday afternoon wedding. Is that the saddest thing you have heard all day? Sorry. But it’s true. All I took is a couple of Instagram shots, and so far only two other candids have surfaced from our friends. Surely more are out there, right, you guys??? Umm, guys?

   Anyway, it’s not all bad news. On Saturday we had our hands full anyway and probably would not have been very effective photographers. More importantly, our friend and a truly talented fine art photographer Luis Saenz came to the rescue. Here is a link to his incredible slideshow of Rebecca and Brian’s wedding so you can browse the beauty yourself.

   If you’re interested, you can also look at some of our Pinterest boards and see how the finished products measure up against the inspiration… Here is mine. Here is Rebecca’s. And here is Susan’s. Over the past few weeks we all used Pinterest to brainstorm, collect feedback on images and ideas, and delegate jobs. It’s not just eye candy, you nay-sayers! Pinterest actually helped us plan this wedding. LOL

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   You know how I hate to tear down a party? How I hate for it to be over and prefer to take my time letting the memories soak in nice and deep before clearing out and scrubbing up? Well this gorgeous, happy wedding has been no exception. In fact, there really are elements of it I’d kinda like to see made permanent here at the Lazy W. We’ll see how that rodeo goes. In the mean time, I’d like to share a few aftermath glimpses of what the wedding team created for our new friends…

   
   This is a view of the ceremony area around 6:45 Saturday morning. The arbor was built on a traditional brass frame borrowed form Handsome’s Mom. It has been used in countless weddings and vow renewals over the decades, so it feels pretty special. Lots of memories are wrapped up in those skinny bars, folks. On the Thursday preceding the wedding, Handsome and I walked to the Pine Forest next door and brought home several dry, naturally curved pear tree limbs and twigs to fatten up the brass frame. Then on Friday morning Debbie, Susan, and I added one strand of greenery after another, then some white flowers, then burlap ribbon, and then some hanging glass lanterns. And maybe more tulle and greenery whenever someone walked past… It was a fun canvas. 
   That scrappy “I do, We did” sign is my favorite. Thanks to Mysti for stenciling the letters, and thanks to Susan for finishing it with white paint but not dripping any on the piano!
   Back to Saturday morning… In the chaotic hours that followed this above Instagram shot, we added to the ceremony area a pair Debbie’s blue hydrangeas, right there at the entrance of the aisle. It looked so soft and bridal. And those mismatched chairs were filled with almost three dozen smiling people, all shaking hands, hugging, and celebrating a new beginning. The grass, blessedly soft, was tracked back and forth with happy, running children and one tulle-wrapped dog named Buster, but no geese. The geese skeedaddled as the crowd grew. This is good. 
   Around 8:30 Saturday morning my sweet Momma drove all the way to the farm with my two be-YOO-tiful nieces to lend us some of her larkspur. We plumped up the arbor area with two five gallon buckets filled with these wild, happy, voluptuous blooms. They were the perfect dressing for the base of the arbor. I just slipped each water-filled bucket inside a burlap coffee bean sack and called it gorgeous. Big thanks to Heather over at New House, New Home, New Life for the burlap gift certificate! 
   At the last minute, Juliana carefully placed paper fans on each chair. They had been glittered with the names of the bride and groom, and she told me she had made sure they alternated: Rebecca, then Brian, then Rebecca, then Brian… 
   I personally think these rustic flower arrangements look incredible against the distressed white obelisks we borrowed form Tyrene, Handsome’s uber talented designer sister. Isn’t that pretty? By the way, there were enough larkspur blooms to cut for both the bridal bouquet and the flower girl’s bouquet without even making a dent. Thank you Momma! I can’t wait to plant the seed heads and have my own wild meadow. The fresh flowers we collected from Mom, Debbie, and Marci the day of the wedding were my favorite element.

   
   This is a big grapevine wreath that hung outdoors the day of the wedding. We had to bring it inside early Sunday because of some pretty heavy thunderstorms. The cool-beans memory for me here is that I glued it together Friday night while watching an OKC Thunder basketball game with a room full of my favorite laughing people and a belly full of good, greasy pizza.
   Here is a glimpse of the sweets buffet. There were so many delish treats available for sampling, you guys, so very many. Having only sweets made it feel like a secret paradise. Adults and children alike filled and refilled their mismatched plates and saucers with chocolate-dipped fruits, cupcakes, pastel meringue bites, monogrammed cookies, and of course wedding cake. This Instagram shot reveals only the tail end of a fruit and marshmallow selection that sat adjacent to the chocolate fountain. See the curvy, elegant chocolate letters? Marci made these on a whim, and they added such a cool effect. We had a team of really talented, really out-pouring people working on this wedding. I know I am not the only one who feels like we were all part of some extra special memory making.
   Again, no luck on snapping shots of the cake on display… Though I do believe Luis has some in his slideshow. Here is a photo of the bride’s cake in the cake-maker’s fridge. It is wrapped in scripture, you guys. So beautiful and so perfect for this couple. The groom’s cake was a half sheet, chocolate in every way, and frosted to look like a tuxedo. 
   More of the sweet leftovers and the flowers that we brought in out of first the rain and then the steamy heat. As I sit here typing out my memories, a plate of cupcakes is whispering terrible things to me. Or, as Charles Barkley would say, turrbull things.
   Brian and Rebecca chose a special song for their special day… “All Your Life” by the Band Perry.
   To incorporate their memory and amp up the rustic feel of the wedding, we made this chalkboard. Handsome found a long sheet of scrap plywood in our barn loft and cut it to about six feet long. Then over the course of a work day I sprayed it with layer after layer of chalkboard paint. Long after sunset on Friday night, Marci’s kiddos primed it with colored chalk. Enthusiastically. On the day of the wedding Susan very sweetly filled it with the song lyrics. Then we just propped the chalkboard up between some trees at the wedding reception and walked around humming the tune…
I just wanna be the only girl you love all your li-iii-iii-iiife…
   This was one of the prettiest details in my opinion. Another nod to the Band Perry song, Rebecca wanted sand in very old mason jars, some clear and some that wonderful antique aqua blue color, all topped with candles. We borrowed most of these jars from Maribeth. And yes, we did burn the candles, even though it was a morning wedding. And the effect was quietly dazzling. Thanks for remembering to light them, Marci!
   Wait, maybe this is my favorite part. I deeply regret not photographing the original wild exuberance of our reception trees all dressed in their white and blue finery, but here is a two-days-later shot. It’s still pretty fun looking if you ask me, but seeing those trees freshly draped with paper streamers blowing in the Oklahoma wind was enough to make me laugh out loud! What was even more fun than the finished product was watching our volunteer kiddos throw and wrap the stuff everywhere! Awesome. Just plain fantastic.
   Do this at your house at your next party. No, wait, do it now. As soon as possible. Yes, I am suggesting that you tipi your own property. With great, exaggerated, overhanded arm movements. You can’t not be cheeered up when your very old, very serious trees look this great! And it erased any doubt as to where the reception was being held. These streamers and the sheet music pennants constructed by Susan, Debbie, and Rebecca’s nephew made the shady smokehouse grove extra special. Thank you, Carolyn, for providing all of that lovely sheet music! And thank you Debbie and Rebecca for all the ironing of mismatched linens for the reception tables!
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   Well, so much more happened that day. We danced the chicken dance. We ate and giggled. We posed inside empty wooden frames. We admired the bride and got to know a few new faces. We threw seeds at the happy couple as they left for their honeymoon. The stories and details abound, but I am fresh out of wedding photos. I hope you took a few minutes to go look at Luis’ slideshow, and I hope you have enjoyed this. We sure have. More important than the creativity and friendship, though, has been that we are all witness to the start of a new love story. We are all fortunate to be embedded in this family’s beginning, and they in turn are embedded in us.
   Sincerest congratulations, Brian and Rebecca! We wish you thousands of happy, special days ahead. We wish you captured sand for wishes fulfilled and millions of fireflies to brighten the dark corners. Thank you so much for letting all of us be part of your wedding. The Lazy W is a richer place now because of it.
Believe in Lightning Bolts
xoxoxo

This Past Week

   Life is brimming these days you guys, with activity and love, with work and play, with little time to sit down for reading and writing. As this coming week progresses, I hope to share with you guys both photos and stories, but for now… while a pot of water boils for some midday pasta… a quick run down:

  • Josh, our couch surfer, visited. He brought this little dog Ben. We made him work and play outdated video games and then we all watched funny crash clips and I made some saltine toffee with chocolate.
  • The okra, tomatoes, soy beans, squash, flowers, sweet corn, green beans, cucumbers, peppers, and herbs are all growing like bananas. But there are no bananas growing. But I am considering some grape vines.
  • My two beautiful daughters and their adorable stepbrother spent a day at the farm last week. We made smoothies, played with the animals, and talked. We talked so much. They are growing and changing faster than ever but still remaining the same. My heart is full.
  • We’ve been watching lots of excellent NBA basketball, allowing our Thunder fever to build to a rolling boil. They playoffs have been hot from the beginning, and the fun continues tonight with another game against the Lakers here in OKC. 
  • We’ve been doing lots of gardening, cleaning, rearranging, crafting, and decorating all over this crazy place. It has been a blast and worth every second.
  • Handsome has lit and tended a few blazing bonfires this week. I love the lingering fragrance out there the next morning.
  • The past week has borne us some ridiculous egg collecting. Ridiculous. 
  • Because of our unusual schedule, Handsome and I have had a little less home cooking than we’re used to and more eating out, but that is getting fixed today. To. Day.
  • Late nights of laughing our faces off, both alone and with great friends.
  • A small group of bees has been spotted drinking en force at the edge of the pond. This is cool, you guys. They are finding their way around the farm and are thriving. 
  • I shipped some  Green Goose products to California to see if my lil’ sis can peddle textiles as hard as she skates and breaks.
  • Wedding. Did I ever tell you we were hosting a wedding? It was this past Saturday. It was so beautiful and happy…xoxo
  • We scooted off to a car show this Saturday too but forgot our wallets. It was post wedding and sans any real meal that day, and we were so very hungry. My stomach growls now when I think about it.
  • Saturday night we slipped into short but intense comas then spontaneously woke up at midnight to watch a recorded basketball game. I ate a weirdly satisfying dinner of excessively sweet watermelon (seven and a half slices) and excessively salty almonds and cashews (three handsful).
  • At church on Sunday we barreled through the book of Jude. Do you have any idea how interesting that stuff is?
  • I ran out of deodorant and bobby pins. Oh well.
  • We hosted and thoroughly enjoyed our nephew’s vow renewal on Sunday afternoon.
  • I attended Oklahoma Blogger’s Ball #2 at  Red Dirt Kelly’s  house and came home further inspired and further motivated! I also brought with me a branch of fresh oregano from Katie and a sample jar of decorator paint from Allison.
  • Some excessive but much needed sleep has graced both our bed and our couch.
  • I keep forgetting to go pick up a prescription.
  • Missed the flippin solar eclipse, yo.
  • And I really, really want to leave some of the wedding decorations up around the farm. They are so happy and beautiful, it just feels so good.
   I am going to go take another nap, okay? I hope all of you have had a magical week and are all set for a great new series of adventures and accomplishments!  
High Five, Yo. I’ll be in Touch.
xoxoxo

Quick Farm Update

   How grows your garden so far? Is your corner of the universe lending you regular sky showers and plenty of warm, windless days to sow your seeds? Our new raised beds have been like a playground for me this month. Clean, level, and packed with compost and black soil, they draw me out every morning and seduce me into slipping just one more herb or just one more packet of seeds into an empty space. At last count I had nestled almost twenty squash plants in the dirt out there and almost that many peppers and tomatoes. It’s a numbers game, you guys.

   We also now have a bed jam packed with what will become edamame, thanks to a gift from our neighbor Robby, and we are celebrating the rise of the green bean tipi. But you know what? Some of what I have been doing in the garden this past week is sort of against regulation. Oklahoma is smack in the middle of a waning moon, which means I should have been focusing more on weed removal and soil cultivation than the installation of above ground crops. The thing is, I lack willpower.

      Things are growing steadily and with few obstacles, and more importantly Rebecca’s wedding is just a few days from now; so the temptation to plant new stuff is just too strong to resist! The photo above, though, is actually an old clematis vine. One which I believed to have perished in last year’s heat wave. But look! Just like the abandoned, rusty blue bike from the Pine Forest, she made a comeback! When I look at this pairing I see three months into the future, when that misshapen front wheel is draped lavishly with green vines and heavy blossoms. And then I go plant some more seeds.

   Before we all go scoot to our Tuesday chores and appointments, will you be kind as to cast a vote? Yesterday I collected lots of normal chicken eggs… and then the behemoth egg you see on the right in this photo. It is heavy, folks. And I have yet to crack it open to see its contents, but it could be a goose egg. Before you vote, here are some facts:

  • This giant egg was found in the same nesting box as six average sized hen eggs.
  • That nesting box is about three feet off the ground, inside the chicken coop.
  • The geese have in fact been sleeping in the coop lately, but…
  • Momma Goose is, well, she’s just not athletic.
  • But seriously, that is a big egg. And it is as heavy as a brick, no kidding.
   
   We have a predatory snake robbing eggs this past month (more on that soon), and I kind of imagine him catching a glimpse of that beasty egg and suffering a phantom gagging-choking event then slithering away, empty bellied.
   So far I have two votes for this being a double-yolker chicken egg and one vote for it being a goose egg. Once I hear from a few more of you adventurous souls I’ll crack it open and see what’s going on inside that pretty shell.
   Is it a goose egg or just a huge chicken egg, maybe a double yolker?
   Have an amazing day, friends! I am headed outside with my last cup of coffee. The bees need to discuss something important, and the horses have asked to play in the pond. 
   Waning Moon reminder: Pull those weeds this week! The moon is full again this Sunday.
But Then Again,
Gardening Rules are Made to Be Broken, Right?
xoxoxo  

Hive Painting Day

   This past Sunday afternoon a dozen or so talented people from different corners of our life descended on the farm for some art and fellowship. And of course there were snacks. It was a two-fold event, intended on one hand to decorate my two unfinished wooden bee hives and then on the other hand to start some wedding preparations. (The wedding is in exactly eleven days, folks. The air is thick with anticipation!)
   I had sort of planned to participate in the painting of the wooden-ware, but as the artists moved around and manifested their ideas, I wanted nothing more than to watch the magic happen.
   Haley and Lauren came prepared! They had ahead of time sketched four or five possible hive illustrations and did a wonderful job bringing them to life! 

 

   


   This is Juliana giving me a slightly skeptical look and Mysti focusing intently on her first wall. Mysti, freshly twenty one, is our youngest book clubber. She is also on the brink of graduation form hair design academy. Congrats, Mysti!!

   This is Mysti’s first beautiful creation of the day, the painting on which she was concentrating so hard in the photo above. I groove this so much, you guys! The lettering is almost old fashioned, which is perfect.


   Mother and daughter, Marci & Juliana, starting their purple wall. This is a custom-blended color, which later they coated with blue glitter! I am flat out crazy about these ladies. And not just because Marci is a phenomenal cook. But that does not hurt one bit. 

   Marci is never very far from a Diet Coke. That is a cold, hard fact.

   Here is Haley concentrating on her beautifully detailed bee mural. It doesn’t show in this photo, but one of the bees on this wall has arms extended, cradling a huge golden chunk of nectar! Or it could be honey, the girls informed me. Love it. I would never have thought to paint that.

   You might remember that Tracy accompanied me to that first bee class back in March. She is always up for a new experience! Here she is again, cheerfully painting this field of flowers, which I immediately loved to pieces. To my eye, her abstract blooms resemble Coreopsis, poppies, and gladiolus. Wouldn’t it would make a great stationery set?


   I did not realize the day of our painting fun that Tracy’s birthday was right around the corner! Happy Birthday, sweet woman! You are setting such an incredible example for your kids, feeding that happy appetite for life.

   Can you even believe how sweet and bright these girls are? By the way, Lauren is Tracy’s youngest and Haley is Lauren’s friend. They are sheer joy to be around! Well mannered, protective of the little kids, and just plain happy. When all the bee art was complete and they had each made a tie-dye shirt, these girls dove right in and helped with wedding prep! Thank you ladies.

   Our Lazy W ranch brand!! Thank you Mysti, this is so darn cool as beans. Now if we could only figure out how to get the brand of each of our tiny little bees…

   Everyone was in awe of the glittered side of this hive! 
   Here is Tracy adding some cheerful polka dots!

   
Can you see those painted little paw prints on the concrete? 

   They came from this dog. His name is Buster, and he is a natural-born goose herder. He can swim in muddy ponds. He can paint sidewalks like nobody’s business. He can beg and jump three feet in the air. But he is terrified of running horses. Everyone has a kryptonite.
   The sun began to sink behind the pond as the hives were relieved of every last speck of bare wood. The visiting artists started looking around the farm for more blank canvases and found them in cotton tee shirts and old worn out fence pickets.




      Can you see the lettering? This is a carving, not a painting. It says, “BEE’S HOUSE!” That should clear things up around here.


   Priceless. I can’t help but think this needs to go to the girls’ mothers. So sweet.

  As I mentioned, we did more than paint hives on Sunday. We circled the wagons for some brass tacks wedding crafting, too. But those photos and stories will come later…
   
  That is all I have time to write, you guys! Any second now I am off to Noble, Oklahoma to adopt my two fuzzy little colonies! Wish me luck. I’ll check in tomorrow.

Pollinate Your Friendships
xoxoxo

A Senses Tour, May 2nd

   I went outside early this morning in flip flops instead of rubber boots and zipped through a handful of chores, eager to get to the good stuff. I took with me a giant mug of hot, perfectly delicious coffee and thought about how much opportunity is at our feet.

   The sky was golden-blue and already very warm, the breeze was mild compared to yesterday’s gustiness, and the animals were all bright eyed and affectionate. I felt life pulsing happily all around me and had love seeping out of my skin. These are the perfect conditions for flip flops.

   Do you know what I found when I walked downhill and into the veggie garden?

   The green beans had sprouted overnight! In just five days, ladies and gentlemen. And the sprouts are thick, strong, and numerous. 
   I sank all twenty-nine of yesterday’s leafy purchases into the third raised bed while chatting with my wonderful sister in law Halee. This is a hidden benefit of planting in raised beds, by the way: you can cultivate one handed. 
   Something about the angle of the morning sun and the effervescence of the butterflies in my tummy made it possible to envision the fruits and vegetables in full growth, three or four months from now, maybe sooner at this rate. And that blurry little glimpse into the garden’s future made it possible for me to think of how the rest of life might look in the future. How might all of our prayers be answered? What will our goals be down the road? How will our friendships have changed?
   Maybe it’s better to keep my head in the present moment.
   It’s mid-morning now and I need to move on to some other jobs. But first, to sort of time-stamp this particularly vivid Wednesday, a quick Senses Tour…
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See:  I see the geese and guineas skittering all over the south lawn, and I see the wild foresty hill where Rebecca and Brian will be saying their wedding vows in less than three weeks. I see manure-coated gardening gloves sitting on my clean tablecloth (whoops!), a flash light that needs to be recharged, and an empty coffee mug. I see two books: one that I am forcing myself to finish and one that I can’t wait to start.
Hear: I hear Pacino outside, flirting with the hens. I hear the refrigerator humming and the roosters crowing. I hear my stomach growl because its almost lunchtime. I hear my heart beating with romance.
Touch: My hands feel a little beaten up this morning, but my hair is clean. That’s a plus. I am eager to finish some work indoors so I can get back outside and feel the sun again. Today and tomorrow are tank top and flip flop days, you guys. We are soaking up an early summertime in Oklahoma, and I love it!
Smell: I can smell the bleachy freshness of dish-washing soap, a patchouli-infused candle, and the citrusy sweetness of a bowl of oranges in front of me.
Taste: Lipgloss. Just plain lipgloss. The coffee, fresh egg, and cinnamon raisin toast from earlier are long gone now.
Think: Yesterday I spent some much needed and incredibly nourishing time with my girls, just the three of us. I am thinking of them from head to toe, inside and out, wondering about some of the things they said, celebrating the laughter we shared, just loving them invisibly and from a distance. I am also thinking of the aprons that need to be delivered and of the wedding we’re all planning. How lucky am I that these beautiful things are the stuff of daily life?
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   What’s going on in your neck of the woods? How are your senses affecting you?

Be on the Lookout for Miracles.
xoxoxoxo