Springtime at the Herb Farm

Back in December, I posted about my daughter’s birthday lunch at the Fredericksburg Herb Farm.  It was lovely then, so I made sure to return a couple of weeks ago to enjoy the full beauty. Hopefully your not tired of seeing all these wonderful Texas flowers!

Laina and Blake and a scary little girl statue. Connor refused to sit by her.

Love the rusty letters on this herb sign.

This is Chocolate Mint. It smells heavenly!

Everything was in full bloom this trip.

Great little wheelbarrow planter.

Connor found a spot for a lunch break.

Aren’t the colors gorgeous?

I only noticed the worm on this artichoke when I edited the picture earlier!

Laina and me.

Stay tuned~I have several posts lined up~The Country Living Fair, Junk Salvation Show and my Spring Sale!

Just For Laughs

You never know what you’ll get from my blog.

Today, just a little picture from The Homeschool Corner that made me laugh.

Click on the picture to enlarge it for reading.

Enjoy your day!

A Few Random Pics

Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. Weather here has been beautiful. Here’s a few pictures for your enjoyment that I snapped while out on my morning walk.

The thistles are really big here in Texas.

Some beautiful poppies~not just found in California.

I spied this little guy trying to make a quick getaway through the grass. He was fast, but I was able to get a picture.

The flowers are still blooming abundantly here, although without more rain soon, I imagine they will fade. Another lovely thing we’re experiencing is the prolific butterfly population. They are everywhere and much quicker than Mr. Caterpillar, so I’ve not captured any in a photo.

Enjoy your week!

Something I’ve Been Wanting To Do

My posts lately have been few and far between. I’ve been busy as a little bee working on projects for my Spring Sale along with fighting some kind of cold/allergy/crud thingy.

But, last Saturday I go to do something I’ve been wanting to do for a couple of years now.

What? You might ask.

Not bungee jumping, not sky-diving, not zip-lining…..

I got to attend Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover Live in San Antonio!!!

Maybe not so exciting to some, but we’ve been following Dave’s principles for almost four years, have read his books, taken his Financial Peace University class and sat in on a simulcast by him. I wanted to experience the excitement and enthusiasm that comes from seeing him live.

I won’t go into details about his program; he has a great site that does all that. But it is the one financial program I’ve found that is easy to follow. I’m a box checker and he has seven baby steps to follow. Perfect! When we get one done, then we move on. And his zero based budgeting is so simple. You work backwards, taking the money you make for the month and designing your expenses around that. Most other budgeting tools have you figure out percentages and expenses first and then try to fit that into your salary. I’ve tried that, it’s stressful.

We’ve fallen off the wagon a couple of times and struggled to get back on, so Saturday’s event was just what I needed to kick it back into gear.

Here’s a few shots of the arena. Again, taken with my phone, so blurry is the theme.

Dave’s daughter Rachel shares what life was like growing up in the Ramsey household.

Dave speaks to a sold out coliseum.

This is Jessa. Her parents are starting her early.

Any other Dave followers out there?

2,000 Screaming Teenage Girls (a.k.a. The Revolve Tour)

In continuing to share what I’ve been up to the past few weeks, along with admiring the local wildflowers, several doctors and dentist checkups and completing the fundraising bazaar projects, I got to spend a whole. entire. day. amidst 2,000 screaming teenage girls.

But it was a good thing.

I took my daughter and her friend to Austin to attend the 2012 Revolve Tour hosted by Women of Faith. Just like a Women of Faith conference speaks to the hearts of women, the Revolve Tour speaks to the hearts of teenage girls. The speakers cover a range of topics that a “typical” teenager might have questions about. They also have musical guests, and a worship band. This is the third year we’ve attended and the girls had a blast.

As a mom, there were a few things that didn’t necessarily mesh with my views on things. Chad Eastham is an adorable young man who speaks every year on girls, boys, relationships and dating. He does have a great way of sharing things from a guy’s perspective, I just happen to disagree with him on dating. In our household, we believe in courtship, not dating, but after hearing him speak (again), it was just another opportunity to discuss the differences with my daughter.

Overall, it’s was a great day and we finished it off with a yummy Mexican food dinner before heading back home.

Please forgive the indoor photos~they were taken with my phone in a poorly lit building.

This is the front of the line when we arrived. We were in the middle. There literally were 2,000 sold out seats. Look at all those girls!

Alana and my daughter, Laina.

This is the stage and the countdown screen. It was held inside a church that had a very large sanctuary. We were able to get great seats.

This is a band named Stellar Kart. Never heard of them before. But that could be because I’m old. I am glad they also had a regular worship band, because these guys sang some remade Disney songs and a song by Bon Jovi. I know they are trying to appeal to everyone, but I don’t feel they need to mix so much of the world into it, if that makes sense. My daughter looked at me after they sang, Livin’ on a Prayer and said, “Mom, you don’t look impressed.”

I told her, “Honey, I’ve seen Bon Jovi. And Bon Jovi, they are not.”

Cute, lil’ Jamie Grace sang and shared her testimony of living with Tourette’s Syndrome.

Master illusionist Harris III and his wife performed some great tricks and demonstrated that faith does not come by sight, and how the world wants these young girls to believe so many things that are not true.

Jenna Lucado Bishop, who is Max Lucado’s daughter, probably had the best message about dreams. She questioned whether our dreams are God’s dreams for us, and are we listening to God or going our own direction. Did you know her dad pastor’s a church in San Antonio?

This is the view of the crowd inside the sanctuary. Amazing.

 

Here’s hoping that a lot of these teenage girls went home with new views on life and changed hearts.

 

 

Rusty and Redone Spring Open House Sale

If you are local, and even if you’re not and would like to take a drive to our lovely town of Fredericksburg, Texas, I invite you to my Spring Open House Sale.

When: Saturday, May 5, 2012, 9 am-3 pm

Where: Please email me for address and directions if you’re interested in attending

What: Vintage Home Goods and Garden Accents

Repurposed and Recycled Wares

Farmhouse, Cottage and Industrial Décor

rustyandredone@verizon.net

www.rustyandredone.etsy.com

Cash, Checks, Credit and Debit Cards Accepted

Here’s just a beginning peek at what will be available. I’ll post some larger scale pictures as I get more set up.

Jewelry made by my daughter.

Hope to see you there!

Remember

As you celebrate Easter this weekend, remember it’s not so much about this,

as it is this,

Happy Easter.

Linking to:

Rooted in Thyme Simple & Sweet Fridays

Stuff and Nonsense Fridays Unfolded

At the Picket Fence Inspiration Friday

Those Texas Wildflowers

Texas is known for her wildflowers. Especially the Texas Bluebonnet. According to my daughter, there are six species of Bluebonnets and they are all considered the state flower. If this is incorrect, please don’t bash me. I’m just the messenger.

This time last year there was a lack of flowers. Lack of rain=lack of flowers. I was slightly disappointed that I didn’t get to experience the blossoming beauty of them during my first Texas spring.

This year, however, is a whole different story.

Last week the kiddos and I took a drive on the Willow City Loop, which is a 13 mile private road that is lined with fields of wildflowers. It was a gorgeous day and my daughter acted as my photographer. We took along our Texas Wildflower Field Guide and some sketch pads. Laina was also in charge of identifying and marking the flowers in our book and Blake kept busy drawing them. We prefer this guide because it lists the plants by color and has a handy checklist in the back.

Our first stop was Harry’s on the Loop for a soda, but Harry wasn’t in. So we ate our picnic lunch outside on the tables. It’s an interesting place. I’ve yet to be inside, but the parking area is covered in bottle caps.

Blake started sketching. I love this picture of him.

Then we headed down the loop.

The views were amazing.

Yep, that is a skull.

There’s them Bluebonnets.

Nice and green.

We even came across a little creek.

This is someone’s driveway. Pretty, isn’t it?

Just a request.

As we came around a curve, this guy was just sitting in the middle of the flowers, posting for everyone that came by. He had quite a crowd of onlookers.

We came home a way I had not been before. It brought us right by Enchanted Rock. I was absolutely awestruck at this sight when I came upon it.

A bouquet just for you.

Linking to:

Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays