May Days!

Good Afternoon! I hope this day finds you happy and content! I just returned home from the ladies' Bible study I have been attending weekly since October~~we are studying Daniel--what a chapter to learn about. We are certainly living in Daniel's Babylon today! What a great group of women at my table too! I come home feeling refreshed and renewed by them! The first Tuesday in June will be our last meeting for the year and at that point we will have concluded our study of Daniel with a brunch! Can't wait for that! So many of the ladies bring amazing food. We have a lot of good cooks in this group--and there are 70 of us! Any suggestions?

Billy and I started our planting. I have to go out in a bit to plant some more Johnny Jump Ups! Love them! We have a lot of landscaping to do not only because we lost so much during Hurricane Irene but also because when we built our home in 2008, we had moved or changed some of our bushes/trees. So the buying and planting has begun! My husband sure has a green thumb! He could seriously add landscape designe to his resume! Some of our choices so far are a pussy willow tree, a purple plum tree and clematis. I love clematis! My azalea are blooming like crazy --vivid white and some pink too! I want to plant large clumps of pansies around the whole front of the house. My husband drove me past a house that did that and it looked spectacular. Usually on Mother's Day we go out to the nurseries so I hope we get to do that on Sunday! My husband surprised me the lovely fountain of a boy and girl! Isn't it precious? I have it on the front porch so that when I sit out, I see and hear it! I love the sound of the running water. The little boy and girl are Billy and Caitlin :) to me.

I have so much to catch you up on since my last post at Easter time.....lets see...I hosted a small Cinco De Mayo dinner---any reason to cook Mexican food! We started off with seven -layer dip and a 4 cheese chilli dip. For the main course I made a taco bake casserole, my chicken enchiladas, chilli and vegetable quesadillas that everyone loved! And they were an afterthought! Did that ever happen to you? The item you add at the spur of the moment or the item you randomly throw together becomes the hands down favorite!  Well, I had some scallions and red and green pepper and I sauteed them and added mushrooms. Then I added some Mexican shredded cheese and scooped that all into a a tortilla which I then browned in a frying pan. What a big hit! It was a very nice evening with some great friends.

I've gotten to two good garage sales too! I got this adorable metal shelf for only $3! Right now I have it on one of my two rear porches but it could be brought inside as an interior shelf. What a steal! The funny thing is, I thought it was old and then when I got closer to it, I saw the price tag was still on it and it was actually new made to look old! Got some great baskets, a bowl that I actually used for my cindo de mayo party, as well as an enamel bucket and a galvanized wash basin! I put both of those in my bathroom! How do they look? :)  Got a couple of Christmas decorations including carolers that look like Byer's Choice carolers and a moveable girl holding a candle that reminded me of my Caitlin. What else......some baskets and two statues! Great stuff.

Check out my stacking chicken bowls! I love these. My husband's brother and his wife came down last weekend with their 4 sons for a lovely day and she gave me them! She knows my love for chickens/roosters and they fit right in! She had each dish arranged with a different fruit. We had a good time! he also bought me a gingerbread train to add to my gingerbread collection at Christmas--I do a gingerbread tree in my foyer. It was fun cooking for their family too. Four boys=lots of food! I made baked ziti and meatballs, two big roasted chickens with roasted potatoes, stuffed mushrooms and  baked corn. I sure love cooking for friends and family! Already thinking of what to bring to my niece's bbq on June 10th! We sat on my      front porch rocking in the chairs and chatting all afternoon. The kids played frisbee--a real fun/laid back dayand we all need that sometimes!

Anybody in the NY/CT area...on June 18th Stormville, NY (Putnam County) is holding it's one of two days of NYS Largest Garage Sales! We went last year and the treasures I picked up were incredible! We are planning on going! If you live in the area or don't mind driving, you must go! Scroll back tomy post of last June and see some of the goodies I picked up. Google:  Stormville Airport Flea Market for more info.

So it has been a little of this and alittle of that---with my Daisy troop we have seen Cinderella at the John W. Engemann theatre, painted pottery at Paint - A -Piece, and we are now preparing for our march in the Memorial Day  Parade. We are also having an ice cream party to wrap up the year. Next year my girls bridge from Daisy to Brownie!

As for crafting, I repainted a few items for outside but haven't had time for much else! Looking forward to Summer! More time and less schedules! I have several projects to work on and more ideas for new ones!

Hope you have a super day!