Celebrate Summer

Hi Everyone, I hope you are enjoying your summer !  

Even though I think it is too hot for 

outdoor weddings in July and August, 

we are quite busy around here.

We have two family birthdays in July
so I have still been  running and trying to get flowers and order cakes.

I have to admit,  I am not much of a summer girl 

at all, when it is this hot in the south. But it is a great time 

to get caught up on planning for the fall weddings. 

 Making appointments for   

meetings and portrait photo shoots ...

it is a good time to get a bit of wedding work done.

Buddy can be pretty tough when it comes to this heat, 

and he is out with our helpers cleaning up from a tree we lost to lighting.  

(Don't worry, the tree is still going to be put to good use, 

for he took it to the sawmill, and I will have a new 

wooden farm table after the wood seasons for a bit.)

I enjoyed sitting on the Arkansas River bank 

with a friend taking picts of a fireworks show that

Buddy (Mr. Pyrotech) was doing over the river and bridges

 of downtown Little Rock. 

Water, water,  water, even with a sprinkler system,

 there is much watering to do. 

Blue has to get new shoes quite often

 and especially in the summer time.

Somehow he manages to loose them quite often. 

  Blue is getting his hoofs trimmed....he  and Delilah both get a pedicure !

I did slip off for a few days with a bit of antiquing in mind. 

 The Vintage theme has never been bigger and this certainly serves up inspiration .

The floral bicycle display as you see from the moment you walk

 into Magnolia Market in Waco just made me drool. 

Buddy and I took a trip to Nashville ...the shop of the TV show,  

American Pickers with Mike Wolfe.  

A visit to his shop was a learning experience

 as it was in an old car factory.  

The shelves were filled with stuff & the oddities that catch our eye. 

Although filled with t-shirts and coffee cups,

 we walked away empty handed. 

It was nice to see he had a love for our Packard automobile too !

And I loved the vintage microphones.

You know how it feels when you have been gone for a few days, 

and it is just feels good to get back home....

I think this is a sign we have the hottest day of the year today...

There are always a few critters around here...Two large Loggerhead Turtles 

 enjoying the cool mud this morning

This time of summer, we are rather in a season

 where there is not much blooming my the garden, 

but there is at Whole Foods flower market !

Toward the end of summer, we are beginning 

to schedule a few photoshoots

 late in the summer evenings for our fall weddings. 

 The air seems to cool after the sun goes down behind the lake.

This week a load of gravel was delivered to smooth

 and top off our carriage road.  

Buddy and the John Deere tractor

 had their work cut out for them. 

I have heard a big frog 

this summer around the lake.

 The little fellow here is

 not scared one bit to hold him.

These yellow sunflowers are from Whole Foods,

 and I only can wish these beauties were from my garden.  

I added some leaves from a Gold Dust 

plant to fill in and a few of my hydrangeas.  

On the porch, A windowpane glass

 Mason Jar holds a few flowers freshly picked. 

 The jar was one of my mothers canning jars.

 Sentimental, her handkerchief is tied around the neck 

and her pearl clip earring  holds it in place. 

Summer for me brings a sense of renewal and excitement 

for the coming fall wedding season. 

Inspiration and energy is smiling 

as I plan and ready for exciting days ahead.

Keep flowers in your vases, 

and a glass of iced tea in your hand...Hope you are having a great summer ! 

Knee Deep in Summer

I am not sure where the saying "Knee deep in summer" came from

 but here is a favorite Knee-Deep moment for me...seeing Buddy teaching 

Grandson,  Avery how to fish. 

By July, summer is beginning to sizzle. It is too hot for an outdoor wedding  

but there is plenty of work to be done 

and yet celebrate the season's simple splendors.  

The rains are less frequent, and the days are hotter so that means 

watering drifts of hydrangeas and ferns by hand.  

Summer roses are in full bloom

The chickens like to scatter in the morning after they are let out of their coop. 

Early morning is a good time to water before the day gets to hot.

 Ferns are thriving and I am melting. 

After a few days of good dry weather it is hay cutting time, 

and time to gather hay in the summer 

for the winter. 

Tricky aspect to hay cutting is trying to time the weather. 

It’s best to cut hay after a few dry days, 

and preferably with warm temperatures.  

The hay is in neat rows to make it easy to bale.

Today was a great "hay day".  

Five John Deere tractors cutting, rolling, bailing, and stacking 

20 acres of hay in three hours .

  

    

      

Hay is loaded on the trailer and headed to the barn. 

Blue and Delilah will be well fed this winter !

A summer favorite is this century old magnolia tree that 

still thrives and blooms all summer. 

My kitchen smells like summer with  a daily magnolia bloom or two, in the kitchen.

Blue and Delilah enjoy summer green grass for breakfast, 

then it is back to the barn for a midmorning nap. 

Blue still has a bit of work to do with a late afternoon summer photoshoot. 

You can't buy happiness but you can buy a fishing pole...

and that's pretty much the same thing.

Happy summer, ya'll !

Enjoy the Fourth !

President Harry S. Truman was known for his down to earth style. He once said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."  Independence Day is the perfect time time to take his advice and move family gatherings out of the kitchen, to the porch and patio.  We celebrate our fourth with a family favorite Dallas Dip, hamburgers on the grill and peach tea....simple and delicious.

One of our summer favorites here at Magnolia Hill is Dallas Dip. If you like the flavors from the south of the border, you will love this easy recipe !  Make it ahead and let the flavors marry to taste even better and save time for enjoying your guests. 

 It is hard to get everyone together and I treasure the gatherings. 

Dallas Dip

6 Large ripe tomatoes, diced and chopped

12 green onions, thinly sliced

2 cans green chilies

2 large cucumbers, peeled, diced, and chopped

2 Tablespoons garlic salt

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tablespoons olive oil

Combine all ingredients and let chill in refrigerator overnight.  Serve

with tortilla chips. 

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

A Tribute to Mothers and Daughters

Love you more...

When Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the selfless nun was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?"  Mother Teresa replied, "Go home and love your family." This love is shown just before a wedding when we ask our Mother's of the Bride to give a sentimental "Last Kiss of my single daughter " on our southern front porch just before the ceremony.  

It seems that God has greater plans for us, than we could ever dream up on our own.  For it was several  years ago my heart was feeling moved to share a tribute to motherhood, that I was asked to write a book about my own mother.  I knew I was truly blessed with her and that God had given me one of the best mothers He ever created.. Little did I know that shortly after agreeing to write a book about mothers, I would lose mine.

My mother died on the evening of her fifty-ninth wedding anniversary. My father was by her side holding her hand as he had always been.  Earlier that evening, Mother had allowed all of us to say our tender good-byes and feel complete.  As I placed my head softly on her chest, as she lay in the hospital bed, I hugged her one last time for this world and she hugged me back.

And so it is with a saddened but joyful heart that I truly understand a mother's love.  For a mother's love is not something that lasts just for a lifetime, it is something that lasts even longer.  A mother's love is truly always and forever.  

"The most precious jewels you'll ever have around your neck are the arms of your children."

-author unknown

"I want my daughters to be beautiful, accomplished, and good; to be admired, loved, and respected; to have a happy youth, to be well and wisely married, and to lead useful, pleasant lives, with as little care and sorrow to try them as God sees fit to send.   To be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman; and I sincerely hope my girls may know this beautiful experience."  

                                                           - Mrs. March in "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

"A mother holds her children's hands for a while, their hearts forever."

-author unknown

"You are far more precious than jewels."   

Proverbs 31:10

"Who ran to help me when I fell, 

And who would some pretty story tell, 

Or kiss the place to make it well?

My mother."

                                    - Ann Taylor

"No one tells you that the hardest part of motherhood is when your kids grow up." 

- Linda Pringle

A Legacy of 3 Generations on Wedding Day

"I long to put the experience of fifty years at once into your young hands, to give you at once the key of that treasure chamber every gem of which has cost me tears and struggles and prayers, but you must work for these inward treasures yourselves. " 

                                           - Harriet Beecher Stowe to her twin daughters, 1861

Dear friends,  here is hoping you are blessed to celebrate mothers on this Sunday in May as we give our hearts to the people and places that nourish our souls.