Lazy W Marie

Interim Autumn Decor

September 26, 2013

Hello there… Despite temperatures nearing ninety degrees today, Oklahoma is firmly in the grip of autumn. Football fans have their weekends planned far in advance. High schools are enjoying homecoming festivities. Scarecrows have sprouted on so many grassy, hay-bedecked rural corners. All of that, AND two thirds of everyone’s social media is full of pumpkin-spice latte updates.

Other than cleaning out the summer gardens (mostly) and changing out just a speck of artwork downstairs, I have so far done very little in the way of autumnal nesting. Life is not only full every single day; the seasons here in Oklahoma are in that wonderful transition time. Cool mornings. Warm afternoons. Often downright cold nights. Then hot again. And while many plants are slipping into the elegant beauty of dormancy, just as many are still going strong, Still washing the farm with color and glossiness, life abundant.

So to answer Mama Kat’s lively question about what we have done to celebrate the fist days of fall, I have only a few photos to share. For now. Next week may be a whole new story…

I love our cranberry red front door now even more than we first painted it.

Those dried corn stalks are cut from my garden.

I consider them a consolation prize, because we only yielded

three paltry ears of sweet corn from the entire bed this month.

That’s more than ever before, but still… Lots to learn.

I think this front door area could use more oomph,

maybe raise the corn stalks?

…but I still love the warm entry to our home.

This is our anniversary garden bench, the rusted metal treasure Handsome gave me over the summer.

It moves around the farm, but right now it is perched at our front door.

It’s cushioned on one end with fun pillows, including the one from this love story,

and loaded on the other end with some potted flowers, an old pitchfork, and two watermelons.

I haven’t purchased decorative pumpkins yet, y’all.

Free melons from the Lazy W garden with cool old stems and vines still attached suit me just fine.

And do you see what I mean about a blend of summer and fall plants?

I am crazy about sprinkling pansies in with everything else. Cabbages next.

Filled with sweet potato vine, vinca vine, some pansies, and a few old castoff junk items,

this weathered old clay pot is my favorite.

It has nothing to do with the fact that my youngest daughter painted

that blue “Welcome” sign years ago and my heart feels her bright smile every time I see it.

So there you have my slow beginnings. My interim autumn decor. Thanks for visiting! I wish you could come to the Lazy W and sit on this bench and drink coffee with me. Or play with the llamas. Or scruff the buffalo. Or collect eggs then cook something fabulous with them and discuss great books. Or watch the sun set behind the pond and wait for bats and screech owls.

Happy autumn, friends!

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
fluttering from the autumn tree.”
~Emily Bronte
XOXOXOXO

A Photo and a Story

August 23, 2013

One of Mama Kat’s brilliant writing prompts this week is perfect for me and my hectic but happy schedule. She suggests:

Open your picture folders, close your eyes

and pick a random photo to share and write about.

So what you see above is what I saw when I scanned to about the middle of 2013 and opened my eyes. What is your initial reaction?

This pretty darn priceless photo was taken a couple of months ago at Handsome’s twentieth high school reunion. Those four very very cool and stylish people are Handsome and me (in black) with our super good and FUN and beloved friends J and M.

I love this photo. Not surprisingly because I love these people. But seriously. Those heads!

The reunion venue was particularly unique, a weird and wonderful private residence in midtown Oklahoma City boasting more conversation starters than anyone has time in the day to fully enjoy. I mean, you guys, there was a mechanical horse there. The small, heavy, painted kind like what you once found at grocery store entrances. And yes, all the girls rode it. Gleefully.

There were paintings and sculptures galore. There was furniture like what had to have been collected from a thousand interesting sources, not all at once purchased in a gallery store. There were cars in the loft style home. Real cars. Beautiful collector cars. There were suits of armor and artfully crafted bathrooms with vintage silk neckties on display.

And then there were these huge, beautiful theater masks of the Snow White dwarves. They were mounted on this exposed brick wall with ***just enough*** space behind each for an adult to cram his or her adventure-seeking face up there and pose for photos. I mean. So much fun.

That is pretty much the story behind this photo. We have a hundred more from that evening. It was a great time and a wonderful memory maker. We almost didn’t attend the reunion, but I am so happy we did.

As for tonight’s writing prompt, I am just glad that this photo isn’t the one I randomly landed on:

Awkward…

Thanks for a fun prompt Mama Kat!

My Morning Commute

August 1, 2013

My morning commute is tough, friends. I mean, really tough.

Just as the sun is crawling over the front field, I have to weave my way downstairs to my favorite coffee shop. Luckily I am always the first customer. And luckily they always get my order just right.

Then, before I even realize what day it is, I have an early morning meeting with the CEO of our company. We almost always meet in the hot tub. Luckily he keeps a pretty loose dress code around here. And luckily he is really cute.

Then, once I am caffeinated and have a decent grip on the day ahead, I have to battle gridlock. Chaos ensues when the chicken coop doors open and the guineas mix with the hens and and roosters. Sometimes I try to sort out the conflict; other times I tell them it’s their problem. Yesterday someone filed a complaint in HR over abuse of the clear water in the wading pool. It’s never ending drama around here. Luckily, I have lots of garden hoses to refill that wading pool. And luckily we also have a pond.

Then we have the geese. They are the lobbyists around here: Noisy, overfed, and in my face when I could be doing so many other far more productive jobs. Luckily, four of them are afraid of me, And luckily, the fifth one loves me more than life itself.

I try to stay calm on my morning commute. I try to work through the obvious difficulties and focus on the tasks at hand while maintaining a healthy perspective. You know, see both the forest and the trees.