About Us

Deanna and Daisy are old friends from grad school. They like to fool around with back-to-basics living in the burbs.

Daisy is a private gal; you’re never going to see her face. But, Deanna doesn’t have any shame. That’s Deanna up there feeding the goat.

A short list of Daisy facts:

  • Daisy taught Deanna everything she knows and writes for Birds and Blooms .
  • Daisy has 8 chicks, 4 children, 2 rabbits, and a very understanding husband.
  • Daisy can grow the best tomatoes you’ve ever eaten.
  • Everything BEAUTIFUL on the site is from Daisy.  Deanna doesn’t do beautiful.
  • Daisy is the diligent communicator. She answers every post and email. Not so much Deanna.

Deanna’s Life Story

I grew up in a rural town of 70% physicists in East TN.

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She wanted a farm and twelve kids. She also wanted to be a scientist, and possibly a ballerina.

She majored in Marine Biology, then Marine Chemistry, then Chemistry, then Chemistry/Math double major, then Inorganic Chemistry. One semester into that PhD, she realized she hated lab work. Oops.

She thought about trying law, medicine, teaching, or foreign missions.  But, somehow, she ended up in grad school for Marriage and Family Therapy. Random. (That’s where she met Daisy. 1998. Shhhhh.)

In the process of that degree, Deanna got married.

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In the last semester of her Masters, she realized that she didn’t like counseling people either.  But, it didn’t matter since she gave birth to her first child 8 weeks after graduation.

These days, she homeschools her five kids, writes books, and blogs.