Blogspot - Recipe Scratch Rusia

I've been in a pre-spring slump this past week.  We had an unexpected 6 days off due to snow - in a row.  While I usually love snow days, they've sort of sucked my momentum for completing any real projects.  When school's out we make plans with friends, are lazy and lounge around, we head out to the country to piddle... all fine, but I've got stuff to do!   I enjoyed being lazy post holidays, and some time in January, but now I'm itching to get moving on somethings and just can't seem to get any time to get them done.  I'm done hibernating.  I'm ready to work, darn it : ) Yesterday, Emma helped me check somethings off of my list.  It felt good to actually be productive on a snow day instead of just being its victim.  I might be being a little dramatic. Then after we cleaned and freshened, I told her to go watch a show and I took out my camera and had an entire 45 minutes of quiet, creative time.   I walked around the house and took pretty pic...

I love spring cleaning.  I'm sure that sounds nutty, but I do.  Remember when we moved out of our house for our new addition?  I said, "I love packing."  And again when we moved back in, I said, "I love moving and unpacking."  It is all in the same vein for me - that fresh start, new project feeling.  Cleaning up and cleaning out.  I just love the feeling I get of physically working and cleaning, not to mention the lightness it brings to our house. Our home works very hard for us - entertaining, family time, play dates, nightly dinners, big and little holidays - so keeping it in good order helps us to live fully.  We've all had those issues in our home that make us feel like "we can't have anyone over until..." or "we can't enjoy the backyard until..."  I never want any of those reasons to keep us from fully living and enjoying - having friends for dinner, family time in the backyard, relaxing on the porch with wine in the evening...

Last week, Mike and I stayed at  Blackberry Farm in Tennessee .  It's been on my list for a couple of years, but we've had a hard time finding the right time to go.  The weather in the midwest is the best in the Fall and the Spring, so I usually don't like to travel during those months.  In the summer, I really prefer going to locations that are cooler than home to get a relief from the heat.  I wasn't sure if winter was the ideal time to retreat to Tennessee, after all, the weather is pretty similar to what we have at home.  However, the more I looked at photos of the property and imagined us cozied up in a cottage with a wood fire roaring, putting our boots on and exploring the grounds in their dormant state and treating ourselves to special dinners each night, I decided that maybe the winter was just the perfect time for us to go. To our delight, the weather was a gorgeous 65 degrees for the three days and two nights we were there - a peak of spring. ...