Homework






















Piddling about in my studio is all I ever want to do. This is what excites me - making up little products, snipping and gluing until it is all just so. Now, to make a living....feels like what my son must feel leaving the crayon crafty portion of elementary education and being asked to do real school work for hours and hours. ...(he's sitting right here trying to do his sick homework) not so much fun for a couple of right-brainers like us.




xo milady


Farm Animal Cards

i look at this sorta stuff and think the usual..."i am so lazy...look at all this talent and cute useful stuff!!! i should do that!" ....but alas, here i am inactive in the product development department.
I do think these little diddies are ingenious and the perfect thing for my kids to say Thank You to the generous supporters who bought their pigs at the 4-H auction this weekend.
check it all out here

The Curiosity Shoppe
xo milady

Let Them Eat Pie!









"PIE BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER....YOU CAN'T MAKE ONE WITHOUT SHARING"
Can't you see it? Rows and rows of golden crust crops baking under the sun's rays in an endless field of homemade goodness. Or better yet, rows filled with inner city kids who, suprised by their joy as they harvest real food from it's source, are actually doing schoolwork.
The kids work the land, the crops are delivered to the city, the crops are made into pies, the kids bake and run a cafe in the hood. This is the kind of connect- the-dot learning that makes a difference. I loooooove the concept , the elements and of course, PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Check out the story in this
READY MADE ARTICLE And while you're at it, sign up with Coverleaf to leaf through & clip digital magazines for free. :)
xo milady
ps anyone out there have any links or tips for creating digital collages for blogger? I would've liked to see the above pages rearranged to fill the space. thanks!

For the Love of Junk







God i love junk. what is wrong with me? my heart actually skips a beat when a i see something like this . I think it stirs up some old farmwife bits in me. Reminds me of who i REALLY am. Lets me know that i'm on track - to where? Don't know. IT just feels right so I go with it like a lifelong goose egg hunt leading me to where i've always been.
xo milady
p.s sorry for the big hiccup in posts...its been a long trying summer for milady. my back - to school goals are to become a better blogger! :) and prolific creator of ART>

Miss America


Im back friends...been on a techno diet. all my modern staples decided to die at the same time so i just went with it and enjoyed the peace for a change. got rid of the tv too. kids are actually reading and old cd's are finding their way into the airwaves.

Quietness begets time to dip deeper.

I've been swimming in the cool mountain run off alot - at home in the cold murkiness - cutting through it like a thirsty missile. The water feels healing and healing is what i need. Its been a strange and deepening summer so far.
Summer in rural west America means county fairs and rodeos. Rosie is fulfilling her princess duties at neighboring fairs.


all is well.


xo milady

Mrs Doolittle












Yesterday we went to our first "weigh in" for our 4-H pigs who are now 5 months old and WAY TOO BIG thank you very much. All the trucks and stock trailers line up, painful ear tags are shot into ears and distress is had by all breeds. The little goats being lead and yanked by their pint sized owners made me sad. My boys clung to my side and whipsered "they're being mean".
Back in april I mentioned about my struggle with this livestock venture. (just now getting a friendly nudge from miss Blossom :) I just can't seem to seperate the beast from the soul. Some experienced farm moms told me i'll get used to it.
I hope i never do.

Maybe in the dinosaur world i was a swamp thing that only ate plants or maybe i was a lamb or a cow who only ate grass. Maybe I wandered the Umbrian hills with the naked St Francis 800 years ago and talked to birds. Besides the whole vegetarian/carnivore discussion, i am most curious about the friends i see in animals. I LOVE ANIMALS. So, when i see a goat in distress or a pig in a panic i want to mother them into calmness, gain back the trust that makes us all friends. Its a pull i cannot deny.

A funny devout mom i know was giving me crap at the soccer field one day, saying how disgusting is it that i have a lamb. She now calls me Mrs. DOOLITTLE. I am flattered which was surely not the idea. The only thing i remember about being raised Catholic is the day we celebrated the animals. ( and my communion at which i secretly pretended to marry Adam as we walked down the aisle in our fancy wedding outfits) There was a big altar spilling with flowers and statues of little lambies and animals. It was the most glorious thing i had ever seen. Then, much later a friend told me of a cathedral in New York City she attended where she witnessed everything from a newt on a pillow to an elephant being lead down the aisle to the tune of harmonic angels in a grand procession of blessings. Oh how i would love to see that!!

Its pagan and christian, weird and wonderful but most importantly a ritual with pure intent - acknowledging that we all are blessed creatures - ALL OF US -from the slimey spotted to the coiffed, waxed and clothed. its the ALL ONE principle and it just feels right.

What do you think?? I'd love to hear.




xo milady

Poppies and Ponies











We have a sweet little Welsh Appaloosa mix whose name is Poppy. She was Rosie's English horse but really my big dog. No one rides her much these days since she has hoof issues which make her sore from time to time. She reminds me of Merry Legs from Black Beauty. She even opens gates and lets everybody out. I love her rounded Welsh head , long eyelashes and plucky spirit.
Feel like posting, but didn't know what...so here's a alittle tribute to Miss Poppy and the sale of some of my horsey knobs lastnight

xo milady