...recycks holiday...

ok...i promised myself i would sit down at blog this morning! so here i am....wool fibers have not gotten the best of me YET! recycks is in full swing for the holiday season...

this weekend i will be vending in beaverdale (iowa) at the beaverdale holiday boutique! me along with over 100 other vendors and from what i hear a very large shopping crowd! I CAN'T WAIT!!!

2 weeks ago i was set up at market day in des moines, a gal picked up one of my business cards and by the time i got home i had an email inviting me to come set up at her show that she coordinates in beaverdale! love it when that happens...the shows come to me! what a nice feeling...someone likes my work! a true compliment in my book! i accepted then realized i had 2 short weeks to get ready...and get ready i did....my inventory rocks!

i love doing these shows. you meet fantastically talented people and my girls go along and it turns into a really fun day! and they are extremely good help ~ they'll do anything for money these days.

so i'll hope to see you in beaverdale & around. black friday market day is quickly approaching so guess after this weekend i'll be sewing for that! life is grand...

...BOO...

Halloween 2010...the lambert's found themselves with a very colorful clown and a dark teenager! i guess when you hit 14 it's no fun anymore to 'dress up'...we should have made her a bag with a big $ on it and called her a bank robber! :) amanda's costume was great fun...she had a giant spider on her head and her face was covered in sparkly white eye shadow! they both looked great and had a fun night!










i remember being a kid
and dressing up. 'way back then' our small town would do 'trick or treat for unicef' - with a great party afterwards! what happened to that? we need to bring that back for todays youth! anyway, one year i went as pippy longstocking! i had long hair that mom braided wire into so we could turn them up! the outfit was great - and i won the big snickers candy bar that year! the coveted top prize! now, 42, and i still remember that night...making memories with your kids like these are important...kids these days are forced to grow up so much faster than their parents & grandparents were...it's good to remind them of the simple pleasures & how to just have fun...and be a KID!

iowa farm girl...

late september in iowa...

the boys of harvest start getting the 'itch'! this year the itch was irritated by the fact that they were one person shy of a 'team'. who was going to run the chase wagon? one night brad asked me if i would want to learn. i hesitated at first, then said, "sure, why not!" i can do it, and the challange would be good for me. so, free minutes i drove that tractor around the farm and just got comfortable! then the day came for me to head to the field! I THINK I COULD HAVE THROWN UP! i was so nervous, scared to death, afraid i would run over something or someone. i survived day one and i must admit day two was much easier!

we had a picture perfect fall...no rain...no 'major' break downs...2 1/2 weeks of long days and finally the crops were all hauled to town! what a great feeling of accomplishment! we did it! we worked together & succeeded! mom's great meals kept us nourished to keep going!

i have always had a high respect for my dad & husband and the work they do, but that respect is through the roof now. they are hard workers...working around the clock to provide for their families & the world! farm life can be 'romantisized' by many, it's a life most could not handle but it's a good life, a great way to raise children and the only life i want. i hope to be out there doing my part again next year! we'll see....

until then i have alot of 'catching up' to do! all those duties of mine that got put on the back burner for the past 2 weeks!

...42...

yesterday was my birthday...

i celebrated last week with my mom, figuring we would be doing field work by now! then the rains came. no field work. so....

woke up to the girls with a package! that was fun. amanda was so excited! got them off to school....then i enjoyed a 20 minute shower, did chores & then made homemade noodles! being grandpa joe's most favorite i phoned mom and invited her to meet me at the care center...we had chicken & noodles, garden tomoatoes & apple pie with grandpa. this was wonderful. followed by an afternoon of piddling around the farm - picking pumpkins, gathering eggs, my husband coming home with a beautiful card & delicious cake! i decided life at 42 is going to be nothing short of splendid! the kids came home from school and were still all giddy about mom's day - then mel was off to a powder puff football game...teenagers!!! ended my day with a wine cooler & just sitting alone...my life has been blessed with a storybook childhood, parents who still love eachother and me (despite all my shortcomings), an adoring husband, 2 beautiful daughters who continue to amaze me and make me proud, an immediate family that is beyond wonderful, a life on a farm that many dream about, chickens, a puppy named sophie, a kitty named lulu, cows, barn cats, the abilities to appreciate what God has given us, self-employment and the best friends a girl could wish for. i don't know how i did it, but i DID! i accomplished the life i dreamed of...happy birthday to me!

...fall's splendor...

some people pay 'big money' for the view of the bay, or the downtown sky-line or even a glimpse of the beach. me? i'd rather have this! this being the view from my west facing bedroom window...fall's spendor in all her glory. soybeans turning the vibrant golden hue saying 'we're ready,come & get us'! :)

this does not hold a candle to their multi-million dollar 'views'. at least that's how i feel. God's glory with the changing of the seasons is a miracle. living off the land, feeding america.

now i know, farm-life is certainly not for everyone. but everyone needs to experience it at least once in their life. we're not simple, we're not hicks, we're not under-educated...we know how to grow miracles that feed america in iowa's black dirt.

give the farmer's a break when their tractors are going slow down the road this fall...don't get upset - take the time to thank them!

and to think i was nervous!?!

well, it's monday morning! the kids are on the big yellow bus and here i sit - lots to do! most of my weekend chores didn't get done! saturday and sunday were filled to the brim ~ but it was ALL GOOD!


i taught my very first class at prairieland herbs in woodward on saturday afternoon...i was so nervous...BUT WHY? i knew the craft i was teaching - papermaking - and all the friends of maggie & donna's rock! so why was i nervous? well, i was! i woke up at 5 am and baked my danishes! i figured if they didn't like me they would like my food! :) they turned out perfectly! i topped them with my violet jelly and raspberries from a local farm - they were a bite of heaven!

but you know, us women are too hard on ourselves. i worried and worried and really did not need to! 8 lovely ladies arrived for my class. i was humbled that they would spend their hard earned money to listen to and spend the afternoon with me! **see there i go again, so hard on myself** i talked, and talked and talked some more. we made a sample run of paper....then i cut them loose! they were fantastic! some brought flowers, grasses, tree branches, fibers....all to add into their paper to make it their own! i learned more from them then they from me! i have 8 new friends that i cannot wait to see again! and i've heard they've requested a christmas ornament class & would love to learn how to bake those danishes!



so ladies, strap those belts on. angie's on a roll! let me get through fall harvest...and we'll try to get that recycled ornament class fit in! and you know i'll bring the treats! it'll be great....



thank you with my heart wide open....
it was one of the best afternoons this gal has had in a very long time!

...love at first sight...

MEET SOPHIE!

we made a new addition to our family! sophie is a 7 week old yellow lab. she is perfect, hysterical, sweet, calm, loving, attentive, sleepy....i could go on and on.

the girls love her and them being 10 & 14 they will be the perfect ages to take on the 'molding' of sophie's personality! i have a feeling she will become our dream doggie!

today she spent the afternoon with us on the pontoon!

she loved it!

she slept...

the girls were worried she was too warm so they gave her an ice pack from the cooler to lay upon...she loved that! she also enjoyed licking ice cubes!

we love her...

we don't know what we did without her...

and, my family is happy that i now have something new to photograph ...

other than the chickens!

which...by the way...left us 14 beautiful eggs today!!!

....life is sooooo good....