{ before the storm }

Saturday morning I woke up to find out that I was having company over for a World Cup party.

It was 10:30, I hadn't even had my first cup of coffee and Papa tells me we are having a group of friends 

over for a cookout at around 1:30.  Me "nuh uh.... are you serious?"   Papa " Yes "..."honest."   

Needless to say I didn't even have a first cup of coffee because I was immediately in clean mode.  

I madly cleaned the house...I vacuumed every floor, even the stairs which I despise doing.

I dusted, I picked up, I organized, I straightened,  I even went out to the gardens and cut flowers.

There they are, aren't they just gorgeous,  I do so love my hydrangeas.

About an hour before everyone is supposed to arrive we had a big change of plans.

Papa had to take our 16 year old daughter to the ER to begin her rabies vaccine series. 

She was exposed to a bat when it came into her friends house during a sleep over.

So... plans were immediately cancelled and Papa left with our oldest for the emergency room.

It felt so nice, the house was clean, and I had fresh flowers all over.  

So, since I was having no company to share them with I thought I would share them with you all.

I started taking pictures of my pretty flowers, then as I was taking photos I noticed my favorite 

crepe myrtle tree out the window and thought I would share it with you as well,  since it's in full bloom 

right now.   So I started snapping a few pictures, just then the sky darkened and the winds picked up,

and the blooms of my beautiful crepe myrtle tree were flying like freshly fallen snow.

Then I went outside onto the deck to snap some more pictures of the coming storm.

I love the moments before a storm comes when the sky darkens, the winds pick up, and the temperature 

drops.  There is nothing I love more than sitting on the front porch watching a storm roll in.

This is actually the view from my back deck out over my neighbors yards, see the trees bending.

I love how my pony tail grass blows in the wind.

I continued walking around the side of my house, 

and I spotted my poor little weeping willow.

As I rounded the corner to the front of my house I admired the rest of my lovely crepe myrtles

bending with the wind and showering the ground around with snow white petals.

I made it onto the front porch just in time.

I sat back on my whicker sofa to enjoy the cool breeze, 

a nice respite to the record breaking temperatures we are having.

I watched the plants and trees blow too and fro, while 

enjoying the slight electricity in the air,

and then it came.... the beautiful downpour.

The trees bent with the weight of the rain, 

and my mother and her children had a nice frolic in the rain as well.

I'm so thankful for summertime showers to cool down our extreme southern temps.

It has continued to be very hot this weekend, 

and today has also brought us beautiful afternoon showers.

Here's hoping you are all having a wonderfully cool weekend.

*peace & love*

Carrie

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{ peaceful heart alpacas }

Thanks to everyone for the sweet birthday wishes.

I had a great time on my 37th birthday,

though 37 did a little number on me like no other birthday has.

I was feeling a little like my best years were behind me there for a little while.

Thanks to a wonderful husband, the sweetest sister in the world, and some great friends

I was able to get over it and realize that no matter if I gain a few pounds, wrinkles and gray hairs,


there are still many great years ahead of me, and lots of new adventures to enjoy.

You guys be sure to remind me of those things when 38 rolls around,

because I'm not sure getting older will get any easier.

So on to another subject.

Over the Memorial Day weekend on our trip to the mountains

we made a quick visit to a little alpaca farm just around the corner from my parents cabin.

This was just a cute little mountain home where the owners and their daughter who is a 

fiber spinner decided they would raise their own alpacas for their amazingly soft fiber.

What started out as just a few alpacas grew into a group of 18 males & 18 females.


Here below, are the mother's and babies in a separate pasture.

Here are the alpaca boys coming down the hill to greet us visitors.


We just missed them with their full coats, as they had recently been sheared.


They were so cute with their furry legs and heads and skinny necks and bare bodies.


After visiting the resident fiber providers we went inside to see some of the finished products.


Inside was a small room where they sold imported items all made of alpaca.


There was also a spinning room where they teach classes and show off some of the items made on site.

I've always wanted to learn how to spin my own yarn,


so I may just have to go up another weekend and take one of their classes.


They also teach classes on rug making, dyeing, felting, and weaving on a triangle loom.


The family was super sweet, and I ended up walking away with a skein of yarn


that I'm working into a hat right now, and it's truly the most luxurious fiber I've ever worked with.


I can't wait to finish it, I know it will be a winter favorite, especially in the mountains.


You can check them out here at { Peaceful Heart Alpacas }





Hope you all are having a lovely week.


Tomorrow is my children's last day of school,


so I've been trying to cram as much { shopping }


as possible into my last free days.


Hence my absence from blogdom.



*peace & love*

Carrie

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{ a perfect getaway }

There is nothing better in the world to me than a weekend getaway.

A total break from everyday demands and responsibilities.

When we do get away, this is one of our favorite places to go.

This is my parents cabin in Meadows of Dan, Virginia.

Their own little slice of heaven on earth.

S I M P L I C I T Y at it's finest.

No electricity...

No running water ...

No cable...

No phone ...

NO WORRIES.

Just good ol' fashioned roughin' it.

Our first order of business...

a place to lay our heads.

Hence... tent setup.

This only took us two tries,

with minimal disagreements on how to get it up correctly...

Papa and I were very proud of ourselves.

See all those poles, this is where you can run into problems...

Which one goes where, is this it?  Ummm I don't think that's right.

OK, time to break out the instructions.

With that all done it was time to move in the gear.

Then it's time to relax with a good book,

and a big ol' basket of knitting.

Maybe even write a little note with a good ol' fashioned charcoal stick.

With lots of wood in the wood shed,

we are assured a great weekend to while away

in any way we see fit.

Ahhh.... relaxing.

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend,

and a huge THANK YOU

to all those who serve and have served our country so well.

* peace & love *

Carrie

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