Willow Nest : Burton,TX

Each morning I receive a message in my e-mail from The Universe, today’s was especially powerful, and simple…..The reason for all challenges, Linda, is so that you can finally learn that none are bigger than you.

Those of you that follow my blog, or who know me personally know that we were about to have our grandboys, and my son live with us.That has changed.
My son has his own journey, and his own challenges.

My lesson has been not to become an enabler.

Our hope is that he will choose to live near us, that we will be a support for he and the boys.

My other lesson has been, that Tough Love, does not become less painful for anyone.

I also know first hand the importance of boundaries,because when life presents you with painful decisions to make, if you have taken the time and effort to define where your boundaries lie, that is what will get you through those first moments, hours, or days, of despair, that knowingness of what you can live with, what you cannot, and what the outcome will bring when you put the boundary in place.

Thank-you all for your sweet, dear messages of love, Facebook, was a comfort to me last week, who knew??

Ludmil and I are rich beyond measure in so very many ways, and we are grateful.

On a lighter note, you will find us at the Houston Urban Market, May 14/15…. hope again that we see your smiling faces.. Love Linda

The past few months have brought many changes in our life, and opened our hearts . You may remember from past conversations that one of the reasons we moved to Texas 3 yrs. ago was to be closer to our families, to be close to the Round Top experience and to be in a warmer part of the country. All this has come to pass. When people tell you to be careful what you wish for, listen! For us it is magical, we have had the most amazing shows here in Texas, we have spent more time with our family the past3 yrs, and as everyone knows , one is WARM, in Texas.

There are fine little details about this story,how it has all unfolded, in Dec. we had the good news/bad news, that our son’s family was splitting up, the details are not important,  they are personal,but you see I said good news/ bad news, and that is because this is a marriage that is not healthy in anyway, and while it is always sad to see a family break up, in this case it is what will serve all in a much more healthy way.

How did this news affect our life? For starters I will be living with FOUR MALE people, for such a girly , girl like me this will be a big change. I don’t do baseball, I don’t do fishing, I don’t do camping… I don’t do hiking…. and maybe that is O.K. for they will have their Dad.

Ludmil and I have never raised children together now we will be a part of raising a 7 & 10 year old, you have heard me say “it takes a village ” and now you see that is just what we will become, a village of sorts.

For many years Ludmil has really needed to have an assistant for his work, while Ludmil is  completing the design work, there are always details that can be finished by another person…. enter David, my son. He has many talents, and likes the work. So another wish granted.

For some time we have been discussing how to go forward with shows, as we age, now we will be bringing the young folks in, and while we do not want to break the “child labor” laws…. as time goes on hopefully this life will appeal to at least one member if not more , of this family and we will be able to continue with our Willow Nest journey for many years to come. Our grandson Jacob, is very creative , as a small boy always enjoyed coming to our shows in WA. many of our old friends will remember his presence at shows. Nicholas loves tools, and gardening, and likes to WORK…. and help…. right up Ludmils alley.

We are preparing their rooms, the lovely “romantic, pink, rooms ” you have seen on the pages of Romantic Country,(the summer issue, in case you want to take a peek.) will be de-pinked and made into , BOY , rooms, not quite sure how that will be, blue ticking comes to mind, but that is as far as I have come with that one.

All of this change, the move, the new shows, the new friends, the HEAT, have been embraced and welcome, but nothing compares to the excitement I feel to have my son, and his precious boys come live with us, work with us, travel down this road of life together. We are already planning a “Cousin Camp” at my daughters lake house, this will be year # 2… great fun, boating, swimming, all that camping and hiking stuff I mentioned… (you can find me on the porch swing, sipping cold iced coffee)

For all of you who have been a part of this amazing transformation, friends, family, customers, and some total strangers who have cheered us, encouraged us, helped us. You have been a part of all that we do , all that we are, and my heart thanks you. Love Linda

Look at this amazing aviary Ludmil and my son David have been working on. We are putting all the final touches on the pieces we have created for Marburger, Ludmil has been a very busy man these past weeks . Our sweet neighbor Heidi so graciously came and took these pictures and her little boy Sager planted watermelon seeds while his Mom took the photos. Perfect team we have here in our little village.look at all the detail, the top is from our friends Scotty and Camille. The aviary starts with the top, always and then is built down from there. This top is very heavy and needed steel reinforcement, notice all the small detail, the gate, the vintage stand inside for their food. It is important that the doves have a nesting box and plenty of flying room, and a place to roost. When you come to see us at Marburger, be sure to take  note of all these little details, they make the difference! My son worked with Ludmil on this piece and each day remarked that he had no idea that making one entailed such a labor of love. Wrapping each piece of wire and hand tying it off became his job… one he won’t forget! We know you will love this one, even if you have seen the others Ludmil has made, this is the granddaddy of them all… please stop by our booth and say hell-o. We are in tent A space 7aThis is our new design, a table top aviary, would be suitable for finches inside the house or in the garden…. love the whole open shape of this. I was lucky to be in on the design of this one…Ludmil has been making these elegant birdhouses since 1993, many of them have found their way to the pages of Country Home, and other shelter magazines over the years, you will see 8 new , each unique, using all old fragments, parts and pieces… for those of you who have them in your gardens, thanks we appreciate your support, many of you have come back for one, or even two more… we look forward to seeing all our old friends and making new ones.We feel especially blessed this year as life is unfolding in a wonderful magical way where dreams are realized, and new roads are embarked upon… it’s a really happy special time here at the Marcov’s, but that is a new story to be announced soon, don’t ya just hate when people put stuff like this on their blogs! But seriously it is not quite to time to let the cat out of the bag… I will tell you this though, you can see our home in the newest issue of Romantic Country, Anne from Fiona&Twig, was the talented photographer she and Fifi did a great job… should be out any day now. LOVE to all….. follow your bliss… I know we do and can tell you it creates a special kind of life.

Much is happening here at Willow Nest  in the month of March.   I would not wish one person to miss out on the fun. Here is the low down…. March 6th.. 10:00 till 4:00 a Spring preview here in Burton.Please come!

March 11/12 The Dolly Johnson show in FT. Worth celebrating Texas’s 175th. birthday, great fun for all, a preview on FRI. night with live music… the works!

March 29th. opening day of Marburger…

This week Ludmil and I worked in the store and for the first time in a long time .As we looked around at our handiwork we both said “it looks like a store rather than a store room.”… we want to it  show off..Things look  so pretty in this old building , so much nicer in a room rather than a tent, or a field, or on the dirt…. as we so often find ourselves. This is not a complaint by any means, as we love doing the shows, the crowds , buzz of the other vendors ,all that goes with the life of shows. but ,as  we gazed around the room , we both felt, to bad no one gets to see this, and in the next breath, we said, jointly, lets do something about that! So we are having a March sale here in Burton, before the big Antiques week. We will be open for one day, Sunday, from 10 till 4:00 and hope that you might just choose to come spend a day in the country and see for yourself all that we have been busy creating for the Marburger show, and for another show we are as excited about, The Dolly Johnson Show in FT. Worth on the 11/12 of March.

Thought you might like to see what I have been working on. I will have these  for sale at the Houston Urban Market, they are all made with vintage papers, ribbons, Victorian scrape from England, Judith gave me these a year ago, I think they look lovely on these tags, they are about 8″ tall and 3″ wide.I love making these,no two are alike.What do you think? I like to tie these on gift bags, with treats inside, sometimes something as simple as homemade cookies, it’s  a nice touch

This is a small mirror embraced by a garland of faded paper pink roses……………………….. a gift from a new friend Patty,
made me smile on this cold winter day in Texas.  I have been thinking today of my friends, the ones I get to see often and the ones scattered all over the country..Cold days bring about thoughts that warm your heart, and mine is very warm indeed. Now my toes… not so much!

A pink basket of findings I am attaching to another project. Hope you enjoy.

The following shots are of my FRIENDSHIP cabinet, this cabinet Ludmil made and it houses all the special little gifts I have been gifted over the years.

The little shoe is from Lulu, the beaded chair from Mary, the LOVE pillow from Julie, the little heart on the box from Kay, the crepe paper framed boy, again Lulu.. see what I mean how very blessed I am in friendship…. and the photo credits are not mine they belong to my sweet lovely friend Christie. Each time she visits we run out of time ,are unable to say all that we wish to say to one another. She is young, I am much older, she has small children , I have grown children and grandchildren her childrens ages….we share many things, we are both very passionate, we always shed tears together, we are real friends, the only kind to have.. I adore her.   I am so very very blessed to share times, thoughts, feelings, stories.. and dreams, with many good friends, for that I am ever grateful.

This is my inspiration board, Christie thought you should have a peak …..enjoy the cold, soon it will be very very warm and that is all we will be talking about.. Thanks for coming to take a peek at Willow Nest, see you soon. Love Linda