Migration.

The beautiful autumn foliage has passed. The trees are now dormant. The corn fields have been harvested. The chill of winter has arrived. And the birds are flying south...

And as I watch these birds take flight for their new (though temporary) homes in the sunny south, I think of our family's own upcoming migration... to the city. And I am filled with both joyful and fearful anticipation.

Surely, Bangor is not Boston or Detroit or even Nashua, NH. Yet, it comes with the same pluses and minuses of any city. There are wonderful museums and there is horrible traffic. There are sweet downtown bookshops and there are loads of "big box" stores. There are friendly faces and their are house break-ins.

But most importantly ... Bangor has family, Bangor has friends, Bangor has culture, and it is a wonderful compromise. We will still live on rural land ... where my Mom feeds the bears from her back porch (I am very serious). Yet we can travel 3 miles down the road to see the latest independent film.

But there are things I will miss about my country home of 10 years. And I will need some space for a little bit of mourning. But I won't miss the loneliness! And I am certainly ready for our "migration". I know it will be full of new adventures and blessings.

I can't wait to show you all some pictures :) Soon.

Love,

Jodi

And the Winner is ...

... well, before we get to the winner, let me first say that I HATE drawing names for raffles. I always wonder whether I did it right ... though I am not real sure how to do it wrong either. Anyway, I tried to get one of my favorite chickens, Nashua (a New Hampshire Red), to pick one of your names out of a dish ... but she sort of refused...

So, Isaac did the picking for me. And he picked SARAH!

Congratulations Sarah. I am going to mail you a goody out as soon as I get your home address (and as soon as I figure out which handmade item I think you would like best).

Thank you to all for participating. This was fun :) I am sure that I will do it again soon.

Love,

Jodi

Stay Tuned...

Tomorrow night, I will announce the winner of the "I Won Something & You Can Too" raffle.

So far, raffle participants are as follows:

Sarah
Cellobella
Kait
Missy
Amanda
Gail
Mandy
KB
Jodi
Paula
Nicole
Angela

Perhaps you would like to take the time to look at one another's sites. Thank you all for participating & especially for sharing my world. Good Luck Ladies!

And for those who haven't signed up for the raffle, IT IS NOT TOO LATE! Just leave a comment on this post. Thank you.

Love,
Jodi

Homemade Christmas :: Memory Game

I am still working on crafting all of my Christmas presents for this year. I just finished making this Memory Game for Isaac and thought I would share it with you all. I plan to make a few more for Etsy.

So, that is one more gift done and LOTS more to go :)



Love,
Jodi

A Walk to Remember.

Because we will not be living here for much longer, because our neighborhood is gorgeous in the fall, because we all needed a break from our house, because we wanted to say farewell to the migrating birds, and because we love one another and needed some quality time together .... we took a wonderful walk that we will always remember ...

For more great photos of our walk, please see our Flickr site.

I hope you are enjoying the outdoors where you are :)

Love,

Jodi