Bunny Love

Soooo, I'm not really sure what to say, other than that I FREAKING LOVE rabbits and this dress I picked up second hand. (Though I spent more than I usual spend at thrift or consignment stores, $15 still isn't too bad considering what it is and the quality of it. Sheer perfection.)

That's it, nothing earth shattering, just a quick peek at one of the bunnies in my life. It's name is Wicket...or Jawa, hard to say. When we got our two little bundles of fluff we could tell them apart, but now, they are indiscernible and the poor Buns are always in a huff at us for mixing their names up. They are a little uppity and proper for rabbits that aren't in the habit of wearing waistcoats and cravats. But then, some people like to put on airs...even bunny people. 

Side note, did you know that in the wild, rabbits tend to stay in packs according to family  (though I don't see how that's possible at the rate they multiply) but apparently they prefer to stay with their siblings, I'm so glad we got two. I originally planned on one, then realized in a moment of sheer genius, if there's only one, then how will anyone else ever get to hold one because I'll have my mitts full. So, out of sheet selflessness, I got two so others could have something to hold whilst I was snuggling the bebe I bought for....The Kidlet. Ha! Only later did I find out about the staying together as a family thing. Whew. So many disasters averted. 

Lovies and Fuzzies,

-K

Ruby Rose Dreams Come True

If you slog your way back through my blog you will find THIS post. It is about a lovely little shop that I found when we first moved to the Central Coast and I was completely smitten by it's charm. 3 years later finds me STILL smitten, that hasn't changed...but what has changed is that this month I am celebrating my one year anniversary as part of the little family that works together to make Ruby Rose what it is. Personally I don't feel qualified to say I make Ruby Rose what it is but my "Boss Mom" seems to think I am and one should never argue with "Boss Mom".

I'm still a busy stay at home mom, that is my first priority and I love it. I am so blessed to not only be able to have such an opportunity in my home but then to be given the chance to take part in helping out at Ruby Rose AROUND my family's needs. I've had wonderful bosses (and some not so wonderful) but I've never had a boss quite like Stephanie Hendry, the Mastermind behind Ruby Rose. She is too good to me! 

It all started when she was looking for someone to help with various creative aspects of the store, displays, clothing, social media, etc. and a mutual friend said, "What about K?" (I'd become quite the regular snooper at her shop.) Stephanie said, "Let's give it a month and see how we fit". It is a year later and I am still enamored every time I walk in that door. 

Well, I just completed my first blog post for Ruby Rose (she has some other lovelies running it on the regular) if you'd like to check it out HERE. It's my little story about how I ended up with an opportunity to be ever so slightly involved in this video and Ezine below. 

Flowers In Her Hair from Plum Jam on Vimeo.

I also help run the shop's Instagram account so feel free to follow that if you'd like (@rubyrose805) to see all the goodies the shop brings in every week. If you don't live in the area, don't worry! Wipe your tears and look HERE for our Etsy store! I know it sounds like shameless self-promotion but it's really more the fact that I STILL fangirl over the place. It never gets old or stale or burdensome. Every week I go in and I still gasp at the things collected, the trinkets found, the books discovered. It's a dream. And I'm so thankful for it.

Lovies and low lights,

-K

PS. I just realized that the chai tea I drank this evening was caffeinated.... I'm in trouble. (O_O) Uh oh.

Good, gathered, and given gifts.

As I continue my assignment to be aware and thus grateful for the many gifts in life that we take for granted, I come to Day 4's challenge of being mindful of gifts that are gathered, given, and good. 

This is a lovely reminder to give thanks and praise for the the beautiful providence of our Creator. 

In the time that has passed since I was a regular blogger we found ourselves moved from our little one bedroom, second story apartment into a four bedroom house with 2 roommates. Is it a challenge to be a family with other people living with us? Yes. But there are the blessings that accompany the challenges...

We have a yard!!!! A glorious, sandy-soiled (which takes a lot of work to supplement and make into growable dirt) crab-grassed covered (which makes it really tough to weed and cultivate and compartmentalize) back yard with room for The Kidlet to run, along with 3 chickens and 2 rabbits and a plethora of plants I've acquired here and there. 

Honestly, being able to now afford a house with a yard would be enough of a trade off for sharing our home with two college-aged friends but there has been other perks too...those being, the two college aged friends living with us. In the year we have lived in this home, we've actually had a total of 5 different people living with us at different times. They didn't all live with us at the same time, though, at one point, there were 3, 18-20 year old boys living with us at the same time...which was pretty much like having a house full of teenagers and it was smelly...and hilarious...and stinky...but fun...and exasperating but ultimately a blessing in the good and the hard stuff.

Anyway, the two friends living with us now are dear to my heart, though, boys being boys, there are moments my face figuratively implodes with just how boyish boys are.  But there has also been incredibly edifying conversations, prayers, dinners, beach days, camping trips, hiking, road trips, etc. We have our differences but we also have our uniting factor...our Father, our Savior, our Helper. To be able to serve one another is an honor. I'm not always grateful for it. Sometimes it's challenging and uncomfortable and exasperating. But the fact remains, serving others is a privilege. 

So here I am...finally getting around to the actual purpose of this post.

Because of our yard, I can grow things. Because of where we live (i.e.: not in a place of 100 degree summers) I have found that I can actually GROW THINGS!!! Not, "plant things and watch them die"....GROW THINGS, GOOD THINGS!

And some of these good things I have gathered and I will be giving them away so they can grow elsewhere. Pictured here is Nasturtium and Plantain. Nasturtium is one of my favorite flowers and can be eaten (though I tried it and was not a fan of the spicy sweetness) if you're in a bind and need some food. Plantain is one of those darling little weeds you see around and don't give much thought to...unless you know of the invaluable treasure it is. Folk lore tells of it's cure for snake bites....INCLUDING COBRA AND RATTLESNAKE!!! It is helpful for asthma and stings and dog bites and cuts and is also an internal insecticide making the skin odorless and tasteless to insects. How beautiful is that??? Precious little plant. I love it so! As a child I had a little book about plants that Cicely Mary Barker did and THIS darling chap was on the cover. He's been a favorite of mine ever since. 

So, life is hard. Love is beautiful. And while I am in the middle of hardness I am still so thankful for good gifts...like the little helper, Plantain. 

Life and longing,

-K

(Below is a disclaimer sparked by a large portion of this blog where I wrote about some personal struggles dealing with feelings of isolation and desertion in a lot of friendships...I deleted it, it was too personal and I wasn't comfortable with being that vulnerable the more that I thought about what I'd written. That being said, the below post now has no context...except that it is still true and so I'm going to leave it. So I guess this was my predisclaimer disclaimer. Ha!)
~~~~~~~~~~~

(DISCLAIMER: The Mr. is the best and dearest friend I could ever ask for, his faithfulness in love and friendship is the most beautiful work of God's love that I have ever encountered. And my dear, best friend, Allie, she is a beautiful gem. A sparkling, bright thing that cheers me in my sorrow, that encourages me in Christ, that reminds me of the promise and hope that is to come...I am so grateful for her. She is a gift that keeps on giving...I just wish she didn't live so far away!!!!!!) 

Almost Two Years Absent...

I can't believe it's been that long. On one hand I feel like I need to write something significant and explain my absence...on the other hand, I don't now if there are many people that care, aside from the few loved ones that followed me in the past and encouraged me to take it up again. I have no idea where this is going, which is part of the reason I haven't bothered with all this nonsense and reindeer games for so long. 

I'm going to not over think it. 

So here's the deal, Joy Prouty mentioned doing the 30 Day Challenge of 1000 Gifts for the month of November and I figured, maybe now's the time to dust off the ol' blog and give it a go. 

Yesterday was about taking time to notice the gift of things eaten.

The Kidlet was working on a drawing of a snowy owl nest on the Arctic Tundra and I grabbed some of our chicken eggs to help show him the difference of perspective. ("See, this way, it's an oval, this way it's a circle. If one is in front of the other then it is BLOCKING part of it, so the circle around the edge of the other one is cut off") At which point I realized how much I LOVE our eggs, our lovely little chickens, and the care that goes into producing beautiful, nurtured food. 

Welp, todays challenge is "the gift of things worn". 

(Mind you, most of the challenges are asking for 3's. 3 things eaten. 3 things worn...but I don't do well with quotas, they take me back to days worked in a cubicle and I get really sweaty and filled with panic. So, I'm making it a singular challenge for me, not because I can't find 3 things, I find more, actually, but I'm not going to worry about documenting each thing for social media.)

But back to the "challenge". Gifts worn was going to be an outfit post but then I started working in the kitchen, peeling roots for a nice autumnal soup and I started getting giddy about the colors. Purple/blood beets, goldenrod butternut squash, creamy celery root, orangy carrots, and I started thinking, "Oooo, I have socks the color of these beets! I have a dress that reminds me of a combo of butternut squash and carrots, etc."

So here you have it. I am grateful for things worn, things like COLOR!!! Isn't it a blessing? The world could have been created in black and white and we never would have known the difference. BUT, instead our kind Father made it filled with purple/blood beets that stain my hands and show how chewed up my hands are, goldenrod and orange and green celery stalks and inspired us to make cranberry-colored thigh-high socks and mustard-yellow velvet heels.

(For the record, if we are going to talk about clothes....Long socks are one of my very favoritest pieces of clothing. As a dress-loving-tights-hating-girl they are a treasure to me in the winter months.)

The word is so full of color, I am grateful we can eat it, we can wear it, we can see it...

He gives good gifts. 

-K
PS. The kidlet took these pictures. I'm really rather shocked at the results. I set the ISO and f-stop and such and had to keep reminding him, "don't forget to hold the button down halfway first to focus"....AND the focal point is screwy on our camera too. For some reason it won't budge, it is stuck on middle/bottom (when set horizontally). All that PLUS tired little 5 year old arms and yet he STILL got these shots. My baby boy is definitely not a baby anymore. Freaks me out a bit.