I Created a Treasury: Encaustic Beauties.

I've fell in love with encaustics as of late. Here are a few neat ones.

I Created a Treasury: Freckles.

Joelee has a few freckles starting across her nose from playing outside so much. This treasury is for her.

I Created a Treasury: Old Trees.

I was inspired by a poem by Lydia Peirson. Here is the link.

My Work was Chosen in a Treasury: Another Roadside Attraction.

"How Are You" was chosen for this treasury by SonjaCaldwell.

Craigslist Cravings: Red Wattle Piglets!

I wish I was heading to Missouri. They are in Hermann, and will be weaned the second week of April. They are only asking $80 a piece which isn't too bad for Wattles. I'd like to try them as pastured pigs someday...hopefully I can find a buy this good then!

Chow Down: Tonight's Supper.

I dove into my meal tonight without the slightest thought to how pretty it was, or how ideal it would've been to put it on here for my "Chow Down" entry. Our supper was: Baked Rabbit Thighs, Roasted Red Potatoes, and Mushroom and Brown Rice Casserole. Very tasty and quite healthy.

The rabbit is doused with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a deep baking dish and placed in the oven at 375-degrees F. Then you chop up your potatoes and get your water going (2 cups) for your rice. Put the cut potatoes in a baking dish and douse them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder. Place them in the oven as well. Add a chicken bouillon cube to the water, and when it begins to boil add your rice (I use brown), cover and let it simmer until almost done. While you wait chop up half an onion and get it cooking in a couple tablespoons butter. Chop up 3-4 baby portobello mushrooms and 3-4 button mushrooms, and a clove of garlic. When the onion has went translucent add the mushrooms and allow them to brown. Remove from heat and scrape into casserole dish. Add 2 dollops of sour cream, 2 tbsp. of Parmesan cheese, and two slices of provolone cheese torn into tiny bits. Stir all of this together, then add the rice and stir again. Finally add a bit more Parmesan cheese to the top and place in the oven with the other dishes (the rabbit has been in at least a half an hour and the potatoes about twenty minutes). Let them cook another ten minutes and you've got yourself an amazing meal.

Next time I'll try to curb my appetite just long enough to snap a photo or two, I promise, or at least I'll do my best.

My Item was Featured in the Treasury: Slow Down.

"Clay County Barn No. 1" was chosen for this absolutely beautiful treasury by JellieBabies09.

My Item was Featured in a Treasury: "Hang in there Every cloud has a silver lining."

"Cheer Up" was chosen to be in this lovely treasury by crystaltan.

An Idea for Joe's Room...Someday.

Joe really likes the rabbits here on the farm. Especially all the babies we've got at the moment. They come right to her and they enjoy being loved on. When she actually gets a room (she's the midst of the house renovation too), then I think this little rabbit mobile would be rather cute. The rabbits are shaped from clay, so I imagine I could make something similar.

Via Odeedoh on Apartment Therapy.

Which is a great place for kid-room inspiration by the way.

Blog of Note: Design Seeds.

I'm a sucker for colorful images. Take those colorful images and pull potential paint colors and I'm hooked. Design Seeds does just that. I'm really digging the turquoises and minty greens these days. Here are a few of my favorite posts:

Shuttered {Color} Post Here.

{Color} Way Post Here.

{Mental} Vacation Post Here.

Spinach Pesto is my new favorite thing.

I've been extremely hesitant to try to get my husband to eat pesto. Green foods and he are not friendly. Well, a few nights ago I threw caution to the wind and whipped up a batch of Spinach Pesto, but I made it a bit creamier with Sour Cream. I added some shrimp and mixed it with linguine. Scrumptious. My husband ate it, willingly, and had a second helping, ate it the next night, AND took it to work for his lunch today. I think we have a winner. You know it's good when he will eat that much of it, all the while knowing it has 'green stuff' in it.

Here is the recipe I used:

Spinach Pesto (Adapted from Eating Well).

1/2 C. Toasted Walnuts

2 Slices Wheat Bread with crusts removed

1 tsp. Garlic Powder, or 1 Garlic Clove (I didn't have any fresh garlic, so I used powder)

1/2 Pkg. Frozen Chopped Spinach squeezed dry (I used the other half in soup the night before)

3 Large Spoonfuls of Sour Cream (About 1/2 Cup)

1/2 C. Romano Cheese (or Parmesan, I happened to have Romano)

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Precooked Frozen Shrimp (thawed, and de-tailed)

Linguine Pasta (cooked, and drained--do this last so that the pasta is very hot to meld with the pesto)

Using a food processor, pulse walnuts, bread, garlic powder, cheese, salt, and pepper until fine crumbs. Add spinach, and sour cream and pulse again until no large pieces are left. Drizzle in olive oil and pulse a few more times. If you want add shrimp and pulse just enough to chop them a bit. Mix with Pasta. This made two meals for us, plus leftovers. I'd say it'd feed six fairly easily.

Real Estate Hankerings: New Found Website Love: Sotheby's International Realty.

Image via Sotheby's International Realty.

Do you ever drool over real estate? I do. And usually I don't care if it's a run-down shack or a mansion I'll find merit in it somewhere. Well, I happened to see an ad on the side of the page of an article I was reading. It was for Sotheby's International Realty. Holy Cow--big price tags, but amazing architecture. Take, for example, this Belgium Beauty of a castle. You can have it for about 8.5 Million dollars. I'm in love with all the amazing houses I've looked at so far. It's neat to see what's available all over the world.

Artistic Moment of the Week: Life Magazine Photos.

Image via Life Magazine

I'm getting Muscovies again soon. I had a female just like the one above when I was younger. She'd set out at least twenty eggs at a time, and raise them all. I think it's just a lovely springtime picture.

Craigslist Cravings: Wood Cabinet with Drawer and Sliding Doors

This was in the Indianapolis Craigslist Furniture section for $50 bucks. I think it would look stunning refinished or even painted and used in a dining room as a mini-buffet or at a doorway as a place to dump your junk. I really like it.

Chow Down: Barley, Mushroom, and Chickpea Soup.

I made the most amazing soup last night. I knew I wanted to make something healthy, and soup and sandwiches sounded really great. I found two recipes that kind of sounded good, so I combined them, and the result was the best soup I ever had.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I was too busy eating to stop long enough to photograph a thing.

Barley, Mushrooms, and Chickpea Soup:

Adapted from Buff Chickpea's Chickpea, Tomato, & Barley Soup and Epicurious' Mushroom Barley Soup recipes.

Ingredients:

4 C. Beef Broth

2 C. Water (plus potentially more)

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 Small Onion, Chopped

2 Large Button Mushrooms, Sliced

2 Baby Portobello Mushrooms, Sliced

4 Carrots, Chopped

1/2 Package Frozen Spinach, Chopped

4 Garlic Cloves

1 Can Chickpeas, Drained, and rinsed

1 Can Diced Tomatoes, Undrained

1 C. Barley, Rinsed and soaked for about an hour

2 tsp. Paprika

1 tsp. Cumin

Salt and Peper

Directions:

In a large soup pot, add olive oil and allow to heat up. Add onion and stir with wooden spoon to coat. Simmer until translucent, stirring often. Add garlic and mushrooms and continue stirring another 3-5 minutes until mushrooms start to cook. Add carrots, spinach, chickpeas, tomatoes, barley (drained), paprika, cumin, salt and pepper, broth, and water. Allow to come to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Allow to simmer for at least an hour, or until your carrots are tender to your liking. Eat a giant bowl, maybe two if you're extra hungry. I put a tiny bit of Romano Cheese on mine, and dipped a Colby-Jack Grilled Cheese in it too.

Artistic Moment of the Week.

Schley County Dirt Road by Don Coker.

This image caught my eye when I was searching for dirt road paintings. I looked through the rest of his blog postings and he is a very talented fella. Very varied to say the least. From exaggerated caricatures to extremely realistic watercolors to this textured landscape. I really like the landscapes best.

I was featured in a Treasury: Springtime.

My print, "Grown Up," was selected for a Treasury by Chirpingbirdpress entitled Springtime.

Craigslist Cravings: Nightstands.

These nightstands were on Bloomington's Craigslist for $50 for the set. I think they could be really stunning refinished. Soon enough I'll be able to jump on these finds and put them in my freshly renovated home!

Chow Down: Almond Butter Maple Cookies.

I saw this recipe and immediately wrote it down. I love Almonds and Maple Syrup, so I'm guessing that this is going to be a giant win with me. Here is the recipe via Pinecone Camp.

I was featured in a Treasury: Rustique.

"On My Mind" was featured in this absolutely stunning treasury: "Rustique" by JellieBabies09.

I was featured in a Treasury: Country Style.

"The Rails" was chosen to be featured in the Treasury "Country Style" by MarshiaCy on Etsy.

I learned something today.

A Fall Pasture by Me.

I just learned how to make my images have rounded corners on Photoshop--yay! I love the internet. You just type whatever you want to know into a search engine and ta-dah there it is. I wasn't for sure how to go about rounding the corners (especially on a MacBook being that I'm new to all things Apple), so I looked it up and five minutes later here I am with proof that I can do it.

Pretty neat.

Compelling Composition: Screenplays.

Script Frenzy starts in just a few short weeks. Their website has resources for aspiring script writers, and one piece of advice they had was to read screenplays of movies and then watch those movies to see how everything comes together. I never got to see "Despicable Me" in the theaters, so that's one of the screenplays I chose to read before Script Frenzy starts. I also chose "Toy Story 3," "Cold Mountain," and "Annie Hall." Quite the menagerie huh? If you want to participate, and want to read up on some movies the scripts I found were via Script-O-Rama.

I was included in a Treasury: Spring and Other Matters.

Here.

Etsy Treasury: Lake Tahoe.

Joe is going to be one well-traveled kid. As soon as she gets just a wee-bit bigger we are exploring the whole country. Lake Tahoe looks spledid. This is the treasury I made.

I was included in a Treasury: Fields of Green.

Here is the Link.

Curated by inkwhimsy.

I was Included in a Treasury: Getting Down on the Farm.

Here is the link.

Curated by: CelesteLaurenDesigns.

Etsy Treasury: Captain.

Here.

Blog of Note: Leslie's Drawing a Day.

I came across Leslie Hawes' blog by accident a few days ago. She does something I never thought of doing, but it is really neat. She finds scenes on Google Maps Street View and uses them to inspire her art. Genius!

Below is a Brown Swiss cow along an Italian roadside that caught her eye.

Via Google Maps Street View.

And this is the artwork that was inspired by the image. Absolutely beautiful.

Image via Leslie's Drawing a Day.

It was very inspirational to look at the images she created and the scene that she worked off of. So that's why she's this week's Blog of Note. Have a great weekend everybody. I'm going to the auction barn tonight (which I've not gotten to do since around last October), so I'm a very happy girl!!

Etsy Treasury: Bluish Prints.

Printmaking pieces are some of my favorites on Etsy. This is a collection of blue ones.

Etsy Treasury: Uber Umber.

Lots of lovely browns in this treasury. Here is the link.

Etsy Treasury: More Rain, More Water.

I created this treasury today--yucky weather out, so we'll be inside most of today. Here's the link. Treasuries are so much fun. I like showcasing the incredibly talented artists that have such wonderful work on Etsy.

Real Estate Hankerings.

This property is in San Marcos, Texas. Yeah, a bit of a drive from my Indiana home, but it caught my eye right away. I love Texas. It's my favorite state I've been to so far. I could live there pretty easy. This house sits on 26 acres and it just so dang cute.

Image via realtor.com.

I love spring rain.

Spring Rain via fotigrafu on Flickr.

I went out to feed this morning, and immediately smiled. I love the way a spring rain makes me feel. I just breathe deep and it fills my senses with this clean, fresh scent. The earthy smell of wet ground, and the way the world looks when it rains is unlike any other time. There is just something about rain this time of year that is different than the rain the rest of the year. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just seems more important, more special than other rains. Who knows.

The rabbit kits eyes and ears are beginning to open up. When I peek in at them they can hear me when I talk and they perk up and try to see what on earth I am. It's pretty dang cute. I'll get some photos of them in the next few days. I'm working on the plans for some new grazing pens, and I plan on getting the materials this weekend, so I'll have plenty of pens to raise kits in this year.

I've been drooling over various Apartment Therapy posts lately. Right now my whole house is just bare studs or still waiting to be touched at all. Subfloor, no walls, no ceilings, quite the dreary decor. I'm looking forward to the chance to choose every design detail. Two guest bedrooms, Joe's room, our bedroom, the bath, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, the den. Lots of rooms to toy with for sure. I can't wait.

Yesterday, I looked around Etsy (which I do every day), and it never fails to amaze me how many incredible artists are on that site. Two in particular that caught my eye yesterday: Katie Daisy who has the beautiful shop The Wheatfield, and Irene Suchocki with the blissful shop ISPHOTOGRAPHY: Poetry for the Eyes. Both are such inspirations. Katie is so young at just twenty-three, but has already accomplished so much, and Irene has travelled a lot and has so many wonderful photographs documenting her travels. I don't want to give away too much because I want to feature both of them on here really soon. Until then be sure to check out their blogs and shops and get a big dose of inspiration.

Artistic Moment of the Week.

Lewis Farm, Edward Hopper via NBMAA on Flickr.

One of my all-time favorite artists, and I go and find a painting I've never seen of his. YAY. Thought it would be a perfect addition to the Artistic Moment of the Week postings.

Craigslist Cravings: Emerson Junior Fan

A vintage fan for twenty-eight bucks. Quite the decorative piece for a guest bedroom I'd think. Found in the Evansville, Indiana postings. Here.

Chow Down: Sweet Potato Falafels.

Image via Get Off Your Tush and Cook.

I wish my husband was more of an adventurous eater. He won't try anything unless it is "normal-looking" to him. This would never pass as something he'd even try. I, however, would like to try it. It is Sweet Potato Falafels and I think they look delicious. I've been having a bit of an affair with Sweet Potatoes lately. Since my husband won't eat them, I've been devouring them on my own. Mostly in the form of baked sweet potato fries with olive oil and seasonings. The falafels would be a nice change of pace. Here is the recipe via Get off your tush and cook.

Artistic Moment of the Week.

Farm in Drought by unknown found here.

It's an ominous photo, but so very beautiful. I love the lines of the furrows, and how they flow back to the forgotten farmhouse (which I would live in without hesitation).

Silly Rabbits.

Photo of the doe last fall ready to chew me up.

I was feeding this morning and behind my feed bins something was crawling up from under a board. It was too big to be a mouse, so I was beginning to worry it was a rat. Low and behold it was one of my rabbit kits. The poor dear's eyes aren't even open yet, and already he's went on quite the adventure. He somehow got up on the lip of the kindling box and then shimmied his way through the cage wire. Then he would've fallen about a foot to the tabletop, and then another two to three feet to the floor after that. He's just lucky that I happened to see him, and that the barn-cats didn't find him first. Unbelievable. So, now he's tucked back in with his eight other siblings safe and sound and I've rigged up some cardboard and a bungie strap to keep it from happening again. Never a dull moment.

My husband has taken the next few days off to work on our backporch. Joe is down for a nap, but you can tell she's been raised in a house that's under renovation. The kid can sleep through ANYTHING. My husband will be sawing, hammering, etc, and Joelee won't even stir. Crazily sound sleeper. Sometimes it sounds as if the whole house is coming down, but even still she doesn't seem to be phased. Glad I don't have to try and sleep through it because I know I wouldn't be as relaxed as she is.

I've been scanning more negatives while Joe sleeps. I've got lots of editing to do, and hopefully I'll have another nice batch of new Etsy listings to share.

Craigslist Cravings.

This post was for various colored wine bottles at six dollars a case. I'd like to try making pendant lighting out of a batch someday. Or perhaps some drinking glasses. I think those are pretty too.

Where I've Been.

Life is very busy. Motherhood takes up 99% of my time, and the other 1% is divided between work, the house, cooking, and farm chores. For instance on Friday we had another litter of kits born. Ten, but one didn't make it. We've got nine healthy beauties though. Their mother is one mean doe, but a very good mother. I'm hoping by the time their eyes open that there will be lots of fresh grass for them to graze on when they transfer to the outdoor moving-pen. Last year I raised two litters this way, and it worked out very well. It makes for healthy, happy rabbits.

One of last year's kits enjoying the fresh air.

Otherwise, we're just trying to keep Joe entertained until the weather improves. She's an outdoorsy girl for sure, and the fact that she can't go outside when the weather is bad is enough to make she and me both get a little stir-crazy. Spring can't get here fast enough. I'm looking forward to some auctions, garage sales, and some warmer weather for sure.

So anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm sorry I've been hiding the past few weeks, but I've got some excuses. I'll get back on the blogging track now.

Chow Down.

Photo via My Recipes with photo credits to Randy Mayor.

Very tasty looking supper idea that arrived in my inbox recently. I thought it was deserving of a blog post. Recipe here.

Real Estate Hankerings.

This week's real estate is in Bloomington, Indiana at 2412 E 4th Street. It's got 3 beds, 1 bath and no true 'walls.' It has really cute kitchen and living areas. I personally thought it looked a bit like a chicken house, which was why I was attracted to it. It's very cute, but alas, I'll never live in town. I wouldn't mind picking it up and putting it on about fifty acres though. Image via Realtor.com.

Amazing Etsy Artist: Sarah Storm.

Etsy, to me, is such an amazing place. Full of incredible artists, photographers, and creative people. It is an inspiration to look at all the wonderful shops that fill the site. One artist that has recently come to my attention (and actually has two shops--what an overachiever) is Sarah Storm. What a nifty name, no?

Her first shop that I'll tell you about is a fine art shop named "Created by Storm." Filled with wonderful watercolor paintings of nature. All sorts of lovely fauna and flora for your enjoyment. Here are a few that caught my eye:

Aspen Grove No. 1

Woodsy the Owl.

Cicada No. 1

Aren't they beautiful. But painting isn't all that she's capable of. Oh, no, she's also a very talented photographer. Her other etsy shop, which is full of her photographic accomplishments, is aptly named "Taken by Storm." She's so clever. Here are a few of my favorites:

Solace.

Salutations.

Quintessential.

I told you she was amazing, didn't I? She's quite the inspiration. The best part about it, there are even more talented artists to be found on Etsy. More and more join, and start their own shops everyday. I love showing their remarkable work on here, but I do believe you should go and check them out for yourself as well.

Craigslist Cravings.

Got the ceramics itch again. I'd really like to get myself a wheel, and kiln and get back into it. This one was on Craigslist in Bloomington for $600, but I think I can find a better deal someplace else.

Chow Down.

Image via Voodoo & Sauce.

I've been treating our rabbit meat like chicken when I cook it because it's a bit difficult to find any true rabbit recipes other than the usual roasted or fried varieties. Lucky for me it happens to be the year of the rabbit, so a lot of food blogs are writing about new rabbit recipes. This one sounds delicious. A braised rabbit ravioli that was on the Voodoo & Sauce blog. Looks very fancy doesn't it?

Here is the recipe.