let's play catch-up...

I have really missed blogging, reading blogs, and all of the warm fuzzies that go along with it.

These days I am consumed with making soap, making more soap,

and then making some more.

Along with sewing dryer sachets, mixing up batches of linen & room spray and

our kitchen & bath cleanser.

and then bringing it here.

The Fulton St. Farmers Market in Grand Rapids through the week,

where you can find some of the best people selling

their honey, maple syrup and home grown,

non-sprayed, organic fruits and veggies.  

It's early in the season here but in a few weeks the place will be overflowing 

with everything the farmers work so hard to grow for us!

On Sundays this wonderful place becomes

The Fulton St. Artisans Market.

where you can find incredible pieces of work and have an amazing artist henna your hand.

(Hannah's favorite thing a couple of Sunday's ago when she came to help man the booth)

On our opening day we had 104 artists selling 

their work and it was fabulous!

Every Sunday through September... how amazing is that?

So you see, I don't have a great deal of new things to share on a regular basis,

I kinda figured 'how many times can I show a bag of soap, or the market booth'?

If you want the answer to that, just check my facebook page...

apparently, A LOT!

I have been so busy that I have gone to posting mostly on FB.  

It's quick, easy, and right now about all I have time for.

I do miss you though.

truly.

I haven't been able to read my favorite blogs in such a long time, that

 I probably need to put my picture on the side of a blogging milk carton.

Here are a few shots of some of the other things that have kept me busy...

Max started baseball in May, with Duane as his coach.

That's Max as #2!

As a side note, I hope to keep all parents from going through what we went through

as a result of Max playing ball...

One wrong bounce of the ball and Max lost a good portion of his front teeth!

He came running to me crying, "my permanent teeth, my permanent teeth!"

Oh my gosh, my heart sank!

He is now all back to new, thanks to our awesome dentist, 

... and he now wears a mouth guard when he plays ball.

Something that my other boys never did, and very few, if any

other boys in the league wear. 

mouth guards... they are a good thing.

I missed showing you these beauties...

and how they filled out the front of the house so beautifully.

Unfortunately, as you well know, they don't last long after a hard rain.

Even after staking and tying them up all of the buds you see here

took a beating and down they came.

I was happy to get this photo as the first of them bloomed!

I expanded our front garden with the help of Max...

this is the view from our bedroom window right after we finished.

...and here it is this morning!  

(just for you, I went out in my jammies to take these pics!)

The iris's are mostly gone, the peonies as you can see are all gone,

but some of the other plants that I dug up from around the house are doing really well,

thanks to all of the rain we've been getting!

This cost of this garden was a lot of hard work and the mulch.

I took all of the plants from other areas where they were overgrown.

It felt so good to be digging in the dirt with my sidekick, Max!

He was my dirt clod shaker-outer!

One last thing before I go.

I have finally hit the 'PUBLISH' button on my new website!

You can see all kinds of the goings on over at 

www.theoldwhitehouse.com

this has been the biggest project yet!

I have wanted to do this for a while now,

I will still have the blog, it is linked on the website,

and hopefully be able to tend to it more often, as well as visit all of you.

I also wanted to have a .com where you can purchase our products,

and not search through etsy.

For now, I will still have etsy too, and that is where the pendants and jewelry

are listed until I have time to list those on the site.

This was a huge undertaking, and quite taxing on my noggin!

I hope you will visit me there and I would love to hear your feedback!

Also, if you don't follow me on facebook,

please do!  I am there everyday, updating my whereabouts 

and adding photos of my happenings!

Like my new business cards and labels that I designed!

new pieces as I finish them...

this was taken at the Garden Gallery show last month.

and some family shots...

front yard frisbee for Fathers Day,

Cam still in his umpire pants and Max showing his skills,

throwing back to Dad!

... and this one

where you can find us at the end of a long day.

My brother had this fireplace stored under

a deck for a few years, and when we mentioned that we 

would like a little firepit back here he offered us this beauty!

How lucky am I?

pretty lucky!

(I really need to clean the siding though)

adding it to my ever growing tada list.

It was wonderful chatting with you all!

I will be taking my new little chrome book

(thanks to the generosity of my kids - my moms day present!) along with me to 

markets and when it's a bit slow, I will be playing catch-up at your place!

I hope all is fabulous in your little world

and that the sun is shining down on you today!

love,

t.xoxoxoxo