Oh Ye, of Little Faith

BEFORE.

AFTER.

A new friend who runs an estate sale business.

Patience to wait until the last sale day, even knowing amazing treasures would slip through my fingers.

A pitiful, sad, ready-for-the-fire-pile little settee for my very favorite price -- FREE!!! -- with just enough of a graceful curve to turn my head.

Another talented friend who inspired me with her lovely, creative uses of the humble dropcloth.

Multiple washes and bleaches to soften the painters' tarp to a linen-y vibe.

A hired seamstress.

Dear Universe.  I would like some karmic points here, please. For truthfulness. Despite coming from a long line of embellishers and storytellers. Talking mainly about you, Dad.

COULD I have sewn it myself?  Probably. But WOULD I have? Probably not. So let's please overlook the part where I did not sew it myself.

Just a sad little broken down dirty rotten crying shame of an abandoned piece of furniture. Completely reimagined.

Happy heart.

And a fun new prop for Flower Farm's signature conversation areas. Braxton, my wedding assistant (who has the actual audacity to leave me -- leave me! -- in order to become a big deal in college this year, before the two of us get rich and famous for our awesome wedding and event shenanigans), thinks it's hilarious that I call our conversation areas "vignettes." He mocks me with that word somewhat regularly.

Life Lesson Number One.  Things, and especially people, deserve second chances. There is always something beautiful left inside, just hoping for someone to notice and believe.

Life Lesson Number Two.  There is something powerful and rare about hard-working creative women supporting each other, cheering each other's successes, and holding out a hand of friendship just when your hand was feeling a little lonely and empty. Thank you, Sashin of Antiqueology and Barbara of Be at Home MT.  So glad to call you my new friends. Same to you, Autumn of Events by Autumn, Johanna from Johanna B Photography, and Karen of Vinyl Krazy Mama.  I am so grateful to have met each one of you.

Even though I know you will each say I was nuts to post this awful photo in the driveway without styling it first. You are right. As usual. But I couldn't wait.

Life Lesson Number Three.  A down-to-earth friend always needs a fancy friend to show her things.  Here is my old/new settee's fancier friend. Yes. Another new vignette in the making, Braxton.

Silk! Tufted! Swoon!

Life Lesson Number Four.  If you are 51 years old and have a dad who will laugh and shake his head but still drive you all over creation to pick up your junk and treasures and haul them home for you, and a mother who will help vacuum and clean your junk that has seen better days, then you are awfully, awfully lucky. Love you madly, Mom and Dad.

Farm Food: Not Fancy, but Friendly

Some special friends of ours live about a mile or so down the highway. I've known Ron since I was a little girl, and was delighted when he and his wife Jane relocated to Montana almost two years ago, and even more tickled when they found a beautiful home nearby.

Our friends Ron and Jane at Christmas.

Last week Ron gave us all a big scare: a very serious heart attack.

During stressful times, there are really only two choices. Either you stop eating, or you eat like a locust. At Flower Farm, we are card-carrying members of the latter camp. So we helped the best way we knew: food offerings.

While in the hospital, Ron the Patient was getting broth and Jello on a hospital tray. For his worried wife and daughters, though, the situation clearly called for comfort food. Crockpots and casseroles.

So we cooked up some BBQ pulled pork, rolls, cheesy creamy potato casserole (I'm not calling them funeral potatoes because he lived! Ron lived! But that's what they were), a veggie balsamic-herb medley of asparagus, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms and onions, and chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Ron is home now and doing a little better every day. We are grateful. Because this world needs more Ron.

He is a big kidder and likes to laugh. I've been teasing him about his new "heart healthy" diet, insisting that he will now need to subsist mainly on twigs, nuts, berries and pebbles. (I used to be a healthcare professional. I know things.)


Today I'm sending over another meal, and since this one will include Ron, the menu selection needed more restraint, fat and calorie-wise. So I made soup.

The roasted tomatillo verde soup base doesn't
 look very appetizing, I'll grant you.
But trust me: it's amazing.

Cooked up a big 'ole pot of Montana-Mex verde soup, using a roasted base of tomatillos, Hatch chile peppers, onions, garlic and tomatoes grown right here in the garden at Flower Farm last summer, scratch chicken stock, black beans, white corn, spinach, chicken, cilantro and mild(ish) seasonings. Spinach doesn't usually belong, but we'll say it's camouflaged it as "extra" cilantro for Ron, and his on-the-mend heart.

But toppings! This is where things got tricky.

Avacados are probably okay for our boy Ron. But Monterey Jack cheese, tortilla chips, and sour cream? Not so much.

Organic, non-GMO and no salt... it all sounded hopeful.
But on second thought, no. None for Ron.

So I made some special food labels to distinguish between Ron-approved and Ron-prohibited toppings.

Sour cream label: "Sorry, man."

Cheese label: "Absolutely not."

And so on and so forth.

Still, I didn't want him feeling left out. So as an extra thoughtful and caring gesture, I also sent some special toppings, just for Ron.

Ron Toppings:
pinecones, gravel, sunflower seeds, twigs

Farm food and friendship. Nothing fancy, but I sure hope it does their hearts good, and gives them a little chuckle.

PS.  I also sent the food with an extra special delivery guy -- the boonies version of Waiters on Wheels. Pretty sure Ron and Jane will like that.

My Daddy, friend to all,
and the world's greatest food deliverer.

Pinned a note on my Dad, just in case he forgot what he was doing. (While he was here waiting for me to finish packing up the food, he went to the bathroom but forgot to pee. Just sayin'.We had a good laugh about that.)