Fall Beauty in the Sugartree Gypsy Camp ~

Hello hello hello!

I hope this finds you well!

I am home and very happy to be here.

Thank you all so much for all of your sweet travel thoughts and wishes.

I'm so glad that I made the commitment to keep in closer touch this time. 

And being able to get a little internet in the gypsy camp helped a lot.

Though I try to keep that as a sort of sacred place for

music and special visits, sometimes it was

necessary for keeping in touch with the rest of the world.

It was a memorable trip!

So many good things happened.

The gatherings with family are always so special and 

it makes us all happy.

The beauty of the country walks are incredible. 

And I have many friends and neighbors that I enjoy

seeing. There is never enough time!

But taking the time to be with all of these people is

important to me.

It's very disruptive to my Arizona life though and I hope to be able

to figure out how to smooth out some of those rough

spots in the future so I can continue these lovely and

priceless visits.

Here are a few highlights..

*seeing my kids and new grandbaby in OK

*visiting my brother in the nursing home

*my nieces wedding

*seeing nieces and nephews

*being with siblings ALtogether

*watching movies with my other sister

*time crafting with my sister

*walks with my daughter

*filling the van and going for ice cream

*visiting friends

and then things like:

 *shopping

*beautiful walks

*listening to the geese fly over camp at night

*collecting a hornet's nest

(smiles)

 I've always wanted one to hang in my art room

strange... I know!

*********

And now, I invite you to enter my woodland sanctuary...

I am so thankful to be able to have these places where I can create my

outdoor sanctuaries. It seems to be a need for me to be outdoors.

I think I must have some true gypsy ancestry somewhere in my background! 

 It seems that my posts are not complete without some kind of critter! haha. 
And there's a little story here. 
I met this colorful creature while hanging my lights. I
 actually touched him, (eek) he moved, I screamed.
But it stayed.... and stayed.

That evening, he was hanging on the lace curtain.  

My daughter and I were happy to have him join our party.

 I hope he enjoyed the music!

He/she could've been singing along as we could hear
 many of the forest creature's singing in the night.

(He was probably a nice tenor ;)

I love those sounds~

The next morning, 
I went searching and our little friend

was in a different tree.

After that visit, it went on it's way.
Au revoir,  little friend.

I was glad to have seen this unique little frog. 
I thought it was quite pretty..
for a frog...  haha! And it actually looked more like a toad to me. 

I've never seen a tree frog like it. 

Golden hour glistening through the tulle..

One evening when some plans fell through,

I indulged myself with an entire evening out in the enchanted forest

 just playing music and listening to the crackle of the fire.

I rarely get an evening alone.

I made a s'more with dark chocolate and sipped some red wine.

It was lovely.. and the treat is a new favorite.

Do you enjoy time to yourself?

If so, what do you like to do?

There are so many wonderful things to choose from!

Thank you for joining me for my tour and adventure.
I do hope that you're having some wonderful and amazing adventures of your own!

Life is good and hard and rich
and sometimes circumstances are crushing and take our breath away...

In the midst of all it's goodness and harshness, we hold on
and create memories and grab the nuggets of beauty.

I have a prayer request for a blogging friend of mine.
We've never met in person but she is one of the sweetest, most sincere
ladies. She has just lost her daughter in an accident. 

Thank you so much and sweet blessings to you.

Hugs,
Tamara XO

Book Altering Fun...and Life Photos

Hello everyone..

What a lovely and festive autumn it's been so far!

I am still at our lovely Sugartree place and will be headed out on the road this Saturday and by Monday, if all goes well, we will

be back at our Arizona mountain home.

I'm at the laundromat and have only a few minutes to say hello

and then I will be going to visit my brother

in the nursing home. I'm so happy

that I'm able to see him several times while I'm here.

My time here has been most wonderful. I have photos to share when I return home. My editing and time is so limited.

The nights are cooling and the heat from the campfires in the gypsy

camp have felt very good and the draping twinkle lights

 warm my heart!

***************

I have altered and embellished

 some simple composition books and would like to share 

them with you!

They are the black and white, dollar type. 

This and the one below are mini comp books.

These pictures are from a walk that we took in the early fall. 

The wildflowers come late to the mountains.

There's a canyon that runs behind our house and we walk

there when we can..

It has beautiful rocks and cliffs and views of the

mountains that we're so blessed to live in!

I can just imagine how the water must rush through

this canyon when it rains! I've always wanted to watch it but 

never have ventured back that way. 

 And then there's Brutus..

being his charming, dramatic self! 

haha

This is the picture that I spoke of a few posts back.

What a ham!

And some of two-legged friends:)

And this ones on a mission!

I'm sorry if this seemed rushed.

I'm looking forward to having more time again soon.

In the meantime..

I remember the seasons and living in the present.

Embracing the moment and the special

things that it affords.

Such as visiting my brother

and a little less tech time.

Blessings to my friends.

Have a wonderful week and thank you

so much for coming by! 

I appreciate you so much.

Tamara XO

Harvested Herbs and An Herbal Wreathe~

Hello dear friends...

I'm just popping in at the library to 

make a few visits as time allows and to show you 

a little project that I made before leaving 

on our trip.

I've been having the most wonderful time

visiting family.

My time visiting our kids in Tulsa 

was much too short but my travel buddy

has limited time. But we are making the most of 

our time. 

The new grand baby stole my heart...

how is that we have one heart but that it

can be taken captive again and again

by these dreamy little people?

And of course her brother and sister

are as dear to me as ever.

The heart just stretches and grows

with each new addition to our family!

The autumn morning was cool and crisp.

Golden leaves floated to the ground and the red sumac leaves are

a brilliant scarlet. I keep hearing an owl across

the field at our cozy Sugartree cabin.

We listen to the rain hitting the roof while we sit all

snuggled in our blankets among the twinkle lights and

pumpkin scented candles..

(My daughter says she's never leaving.)

When the rain stops, I have some weed eating to do

so we can get into our mini-gypsy camp here,

share some hot drinks and

have some fire-side sing alongs. 

*********

Rinsing piles of herbal goodness 

to go on the wreathe~

About mid-summer, I decided to move my 

potting bench area.

This area is a under our front porch. 

It was closer to where I unload and water my new plants.

So I'm fixing it up a bit.

I have shared about my herbs before. 

I enjoy them so much. 

They add so much beauty to my garden.

They are a joy to cook with either fresh or dried and 

I also love to use them for wreaths and crafts.

Making a wreath is very simple.

I usually buy my grapevine wreaths

at thrift stores.

I cut the herbs that I want to use and leave a nice

long stem on them for wiring.

And then I rinse them and shake off the excess water.

A basketful of fresh Thyme...

Do you have a favorite herb?

Oooo... 

It would be hard for me to choose.

Rosemary...

Thyme..

Basil

But I think fresh Marjoram is 

my absolute favorite.

It's sweetness gets me every time.

Here is the finished wreathe.

All that green gorgeousness and scented deliciousness!

I hope you're enjoying these 

festive days of fall..

the colors 

the scents

the sights

festivals and

all the yummy things to eat!

I have run out of time to write.

We're meeting my niece and sister for

a snack at Theo's.

They have wonderful coney dogs

and the best Arnold Palmers there!

Thank you for coming by and I

hope your week is full of all

sorts of good things.

XO

Tamara