There’s an adorable sterling silver turtle pendant here waiting for a look! The shell is covered with interesting detail and the shape is perfect on a pretty sterling silver chain. It has a wonderful hand sewn look, and if you are like me, you appreciate a piece of jewelry that doesn’t look like it came stamped out of some factory. In other words, this is a charming piece! Of course if you’re freaked out by reptiles, this wouldn’t be a good place to go, but I know a lot of people that seem to love turtle jewelry. Read the rest of this entry »

Every camper will enjoy this durable Temescal creek tent that provides you with an abundance of living space.  With this new design six people can comfortably sleep inside the tent and there is still room for storage gear. The awning adds for additional living space outside the tent which is perfect for a small table or some camping chairs. Read the rest of this entry »

Garden tools really need a special kind of storage solution.  Keeping everything organized can be a challenge if you don’t have the right tool for the job.  A garden shed can be just the thing to keep your sharp shovels and hoes, rakes and hand tools out of the way of other household storage, and keep the tools you need for outdoor work close at hand.  I know it has made a big difference at our house. Read the rest of this entry »

Who wouldn’t love the perfect combination of wine and chocolate? A perfect gift for any romantic occasion. The Chocolate Crush Gift Basket pairs the perfect combo of bold red wines and rich Ghirardelli chocolates including mint, caramel chocolate squares and bars, and dark chocolate. The lovely wooden basket completes the piece with a nice bow to top it off. This item is perfect for anybody looking to please their special someone or trying to make a good impression on their boss. No guarantees, but a promotion might just be a gift basket away. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine walking through a beautiful French garden everyday, right from the very comfort of your own home: a delightful courtyard, full of vivid colors, and lush greenery. With the Parterre de la Vierge tapestry from decor4u.com, you can let your mind wander off into this intricately detailed work of art anytime you please. This wall hanging is 100 % cotton, and weighted at the base so that it will stay flush against any wall in any room in your home. It is available in two sizes, the large being 53w x 40h, and extra large being 76w x 53h. A small sleeve in the top of the tapestry makes for easy hanging, and a completing rod for such is also available sold separately on the site. For a look of added sophistication, you can also purchase separately two gorgeous tassels that are sure to catch the eye of anyone who visits your home. Read the rest of this entry »

Want to be cool and green?  Get a  water filter and quit buying those plastic bottles, which are filling our landfills at an incredible rate of over 30 billion bottles a year. We started doing research on this and were amazed with the amount of plastic which were dumping every week. Plus, the cost of the convenience of picking up a bottle of water at 7-Elven is more expensive that buy gasoline for your car. Did you know that the EPA doesn’t control bottle water? It regulated by the FDA and has less stringent standards. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are wanting to look cool in your sunglasses then designer ones are for you.  Designer sunglasses come in so many different styles from plastic frames to metal framed.  It is very common for the high fashion designer sunglasses to come in a one piece lens, this gives them a very unique look.  Some of the hottest styles seem to be the bigger framed styles.  The celebrities really set the standard for sunglasses and we all seem to follow them.  Brand named designer sunglasses like Chanel can run into the hundreds of dollars.  I bought a pair for my wife she really liked them but you know I could have spent $10 on a pair and she would have worn them just the same.  It really depends on the individual. Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine a dog shampoo that is made with an all natural botanical blend of flowers, fruits and herbs that will leave your dog’s coat clean and shiny and smelling great.  Remember that we can usually gauge the health of our canine’s overall health and fitness by taking a glance at the coat and skin.  These two very important components of a dog are really a mirror for his health.  True Blue’s SuperFresh Shampoo is a stellar example of the company’s holistic approach to dog skin and coat beauty care for the dog.  And, dogs that have skin and coat problems need to be bathed with just a bit of extra attention. Read the rest of this entry »

My favorite dessert recipe is nothing fancy, just a family brownie recipe that will knock your socks off. ¾ cup flour, ½ tsp double acting baking powder, ½ tsp salt, 1 cup sugar, ½ cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 3 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, and 1 Tbs almond extract. Preheat oven to 350. Mix all dry ingredients, add all liquid ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into small square pan and bake for 20 minutes.

This is a simple recipe that everyone will love. Make sure you do not over-bake them though. They are so rich and moist that you will want to make these brownies weekly, and you will need to because they will get eaten up that fast! They go great with a side of ice cream.

In the matter of wedding flowers, contemporary brides go after the aged sayings, “fewer is more” and “make use of your mind’s eye”. Here are some recent trends in Wedding flowers that has emerged in the recent time. All of these show that the trend just says “the sky is only the limit”.

Bold Colors – Modern brides are selecting flashy and bold colors in their wedding flower arrangement and bouquets. They are not averting to combining flashy orange flowers with purple or yellow. The color sense has expanded and the current hot color is a little purple shade in everything in the marriage flower arrangement.

More than just Flowers – A recent trend in wedding flowers is the arrangement with fruits, and vegetables apart from leaves. Though kind of playful, the natural color of these go well with hot and flashy colors of the flowers and give a cool natural look to the whole arrangement. To get a warm feeling of summer some add green grasses too to the arrangement.

Dynamic Tables – Another trend is the dynamic tables. Instead of having the same arrangement in all the tables of the party now some brides prefer to have different designs, containers and varying height arrangements in each table. Adding variety to each table thus eliminates the monotonous beauty of the arrangement.

With many farmers around here growing corn for ethanol production, the cost of corn has gone up.  Now you might not think a lot about that but that means that the cost of feeding cattle (we have a few hundred head in our far pastures) is going way up also.  That means the price of beef will eventually go up.

But that’s not all.  A few farmers around here who grow popcorn varieties have turned over that crop to on for ethanol.   So when we go to the movies, we’ll see higher prices for popcorn soon too.

So much of the news has focused on oil prices going up but the economy is getting hit on several levels which will make times tough for the foreseeable future.

This year at Farm Haven, our son is graduating from high school.  This is such a monumental moment in his life as he really puts behind him his youth and moves forward into the adult world.  But like many of us, the full impact of this moment isn’t clear to him yet.  Sometimes it takes years to see that this was a ‘doorway’ moment where you move forward into a new chapter in your life.

Of course he’s focused on the presents he’s gotten from his high school graduation.  Now I must say that as we have a large family his aunts, uncles and grandparents have been very kind to him.  And he’s cleaned up.  One item he liked a lot was an engraved pen he got from one of his uncles.  If you are looking for some unique personalized gifts, check out EyeCandyGift.com.  They specialize in engraved and personalized gifts.

Here at Farm Haven, we’ve been getting ready for renting out the old farmstead to brides and grooms to use as a site for their wedding ceremony. This has required a lot of landscape renovation and the construction of several structures to make our lovely home more conducive to holding those events.

This spring we planted another 10 flowering crabapple trees in lovely shades of deep cherry pink. candy apple pink and white. We’ve put in an herb and rose garden (all very formal) ringed with boxwood. Last fall we constructed a large pavilion and this year we will add a concrete patio with roof for more seated areas.

We are very excited to move forward into this fun, fresh market. I’ll be posting more soon.

Farmhaven is a 228 acre cattle farm, 11 miles south of Steelville in the rolling Ozark hills. The spacious four bedroom farmhouse has two full baths and a country kitchen equipped with modern appliances and stocked with pots, pans, cooking utensils and tableware. The living room features a gas fireplace, perfect for cool country evenings.

Take a romantic hand held stroll along the creek, smell the fresh country air, roast marshmallows with the kids, talk to the cows, call the wild turkeys, listen to the wind through the trees, watch the sunset, and let the crickets serenade you as you fall asleep in a big fluffy bed.

Come and stay a while at Farmhaven for a little piece of country heaven!