Deep Freeze Thursday

Hello Thursday!

Thankful my home is warm! Compared to other parts of the country I guess waking up to only 3 degrees is not so bad considering how everyone in the mid west is suffering with the cold. The wind chill makes it feel like minus 13 so says the news. I took the above photo yesterday after a snow squall. 

Looking forward to the weekend as it is my son's birthday. We have a family dinner planned for Friday night at the restaurant of his choice. Reservation was made. I'm happy that even though he is turning 20 (!!!) we still get to have a lot of family time together. I'm so grateful for that. 

I have plans to get my craft room cleaned up so I can start working up there again. My husband made me a beautiful work space but since Halloween crafting I haven't really spent enough time straightening it up to do more crafts! I have so many ideas and I'm not letting my self start any of these new projects until I get it just right. All I need is one full morning! But I get distracted and stop mid way! Or my daughter offers to assist and we end up doing a craft! or playing with our supplies! Take it from me, going to Michaels after a holiday pays in a  good way. I have a good amount of supplies. I just need to clean so I can create! My son gave me some flannel shirts he doesn't want anymore and I'm already thinking of making those cute flannel pumpkins I saw! or apples....see! I get distracted!

So I had some awesome finds at my favorite thrift shop the other day. I actually only go to one thrift shop and I always find good stuff. The other day it was exceptional. I came face to face with a numbered art work from one of my favorite artists, famous for her Amish drawings and paintings, P Buckley Moss! For $3 I came home with this:

When I entered the store, the two older ladies who always greet us said "today everything is 50% off!" Yahoo! Here's more of what I got!

An adorable retro receptacle of some kind. Is it a laundry hamper? a garbage pail? a storage bin? Who knows. Now it just looks cute in the corner of my laundry room! 

This scoop was originally from Pier One Imports and still had the sticker on it that said $19.99. It had a candle I didn't care for so I disposed of that and added my own battery candle and potpourri. I got this for a $1 or $2 ...I can't recall now.

Whenever I see this type of pottery, I have to buy it. And you would too if you saw each bowl was only .25!! They had two, I bought two!

I also got a nice basket for my bathroom, and two lamp shaded candle lamps...a few more things and my grand total was $14! 

It was a good day! Here's wishing you have an awesome Thursday and stay warm and cozy!

Monday! Monday!

Happy Monday! 

Well this weekend went by pretty quickly! We are still passing among us various colds and sniffles; not sure what else I can do as a Mom to prevent it! I clean all the surfaces, prepare good healthy meals, change the bed linen very frequently as I have heard it's a germ magnet...we wash our hands alot...Can't think of anything else. I think my daughter is the carrier from school where EVERYONE is sick all the time.

I hope you had a great weekend! After a visit with very creative friends on Friday, I was really excited to start sewing and made a few little things. I have to finish them but it has been so fun to work with fabric again. I've been doing mostly embroidery so this is a refreshing change. I made a few throw pillows with a stamped image of an Amish couple. I'm currently making a table runner for my livingroom. I just started that. Nothing too involved cause I really don't do the best job! I try though!

I want to make a few new things for my bedroom. My husband just repainted the walls from a light green to a light tan. Our comforter is black barn stars so I think I'd like to make a few things to match. On my next trip to PA I have to get my new window treatments to match the comforter. 

Waiting for our first big snow too! Surprisingly we haven't had a major snowfall! Usually my son's birthday is always under snow! His birthday is February 2nd (next weekend) and almost always when we go out for his birthday dinner, we have had to shovel the driveway! Well, we are going out Friday night and we'll see what happens! 

On the menu this week:  my Mom loves minestrone soup so I made her some. We have to be careful with what she eats so thank goodness she loves vegetables and I can make some good meals for her that she enjoys. 

That's about it for me! Every Monday I go on the website for Lakeside aka as LTD to see what new stuff they post! I love their products so much. I order quite a bit and I've never been disappointed. If you don't know about the site its www.lakeside.com   lots of fun stuff! 

Have a great day!

The Week After

Good Morning!

I'm finally almost 100% recovered from a nasty double ear infection. I was down for four days. Literally DOWN! On the couch, in bed...it was awful. And now, one week later, I am getting everything back to normal. In a couple of days, it's amazing how behind you can get on every day things. I'm just about caught up though and today I am looking forward to a breakfast out with some wonderful people!

I've been burning these wonderful melts! I bought some at Jake's in Amish Country and I received some for Christmas. My house smells delightful! Have you heard of them? I can't wait to get other scents when I go back!

And speaking of Amish Country, I received this great gift too! Simple, plainly explained recipes that are easy to do! I already have a few marked down that I want to try.

It's been very cold here and yet we haven't had any accumulating snow. That's surprising. My son spent last weekend in Washington DC to see the Islanders vs Capitals hockey game and he also toured all over Washington DC going into what he could. He said the Capitol building is breathtaking!

Well, I wish you a great Friday! I just wanted to post quickly so you know I'm here! My plans for this weekend are to get busy on my new sewing machine! And make a couple things out of that Amish cookbook! 

Monday Morning!

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. My daughter had been ill but is now returning to school. My poor girl was sick for a week with a viral infection that affected her throat and ears but we are thanking God that she is now feeling fine albeit a few sniffles. We cancelled our weekend trip to PA and will reschedule, and we didn't get the snow they thought we might get...so all in all it was a weekend of changes. That's okay! Again they are watching for a substantial snowfall for next weekend. I know we will get one of those storms and I'm excited! I told my husband to load our pick up truck with firewood! If any of you have dogs or cats AND a fireplace, have you noticed how they tend to occupy the best spots in front of the fire? LOL We just got new carpet in our basement where our fireplace is and that makes it even more appealing to our cats. So funny! They sure know where to go for the comfort.

A few months back I got this suet holder from Tractor Supply and yesterday when I was refilling it, this woodpecker didn't even wait for me to completely walk away! He started eating and I could almost touch him!!! It was so exciting. He didn't even flitch when I reached up with my phone to snap a photo!

Monday is usually a day of cooking for me. I prepare all my Mom's meals and some items for my freezer, and I menu plan for my own family for the week as well. A few good things I made this past week: Escarole & White Beans, homemade Mac & Cheese, and Chicken Tortellini soup (which I didn't get to take a photo of)

Escarole & White Beans is even more of a comfort food to me than mac & cheese! Simple ingredients of cleaned escarole leaves sautéed in garlic and olive oil, chicken broth, a little salt & pepper, parmesan cheese and white beans...sooo good!

My hibiscus is about to bloom. At least it looks that way! I couldn't bear to say goodbye to it when the Summer was over and brought it in the house hoping she would live...and she is! I'll keep you posted! She'll have a beautiful orange bloom when she opens.

Have a great day!

Odds & Ends & Weekend Snow?

Perhaps those snow friends will be the real thing this weekend? We only had some snow right after Thanksgiving and that was more of an inconvenient messy snow/hail/rain event. Our first snow fall is predicted for this weekend and I can't wait! Unless the storm goes out to sea, which is common when you live on an Island, which Long Island is! Am I one of the few snow lovers out there? HAHA You don't hear of too many! 

At least the cold weather kills a lot of germs! I believe that soup is a good preventative and healer! Unfortunately, my daughter currently has a sore throat but had she just eaten some of my soup....  This is minestrone and normally she would have loved a bowl but the sore throat was already starting and she just didn't have much of an appetite. We eat a lot of soup in our family! I like to serve it before our main meal just like at a  restaurant! Plus it makes the house smell so good!

Simple, easy and delicious. 

I wish I was cooking my soup on a stove like this!:

I think it's time to start taking out the Valentine decorations! Who else decorates for Valentine's Day? I don't do a whole lot but I do decorate with hearts and a Valentine tree. It's a nice transition from Christmas! maybe I can make some prim style hearts on my new sewing machine. I used it yesterday and made some mini pillows. Nothing fancy. I'm getting used to it! Its also a challenge sewing when you have nosey cats too. 

Time to go out and feed my chickens! Its oatmeal and raisins for breakfast and they love it. I should be receiving the hatchery catalogs in the mail soon. I don't order from them because the minimum amount of chicks is too many for me to buy. I don't want twenty or thirty but prefer my small group. I currently have five but am open to adopt more in the Spring. Just not 15 or 20! Maybe two or three?But I still enjoy the catalogs and seeing all the available breeds of chickens. Here are mine~4 hens and 1 rooster. These chickens are very spoiled!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Rainy Saturday Fun

We had a rainy Saturday today; drenching rains. I wonder how much snow it would have amounted to had it not been rain? I'm waiting for our first big snow but not toooo big! 

Now that the Christmas decorations are packed away, I've been rearranging things but do you ever have certain things in your home that you will NOT change? Its almost like they can't be moved or the whole house would go into chaos! Silly, I know! but there are some things I will not move...I do love to move lots of other things around though and I feel like it gives them a new life. 

Look at this awesome Santa candy mold I received as gift! I don't want to put it away! I may leave it out! 

I didn't put my red truck away either! Instead I took out the sack that said "North Pole" and added some shreds and chickens! It goes perfect along side my another favorite gift I received of the flag:

Even though it was raining, my daughter and I went for brunch in town today with my son's girlfriend and her Mom. I love to be with them and we have a lot in common which makes it even better. What an awesome entrée I had! Nutella & Banana Stuffed Crepes! I'm not kidding. Nutella heaven!After our brunch, Caitlin and I went to Hobby Lobby. Christmas items were cleared out and I wasn't really looking for any of that now but was looking for and found some great homespun style material.

What  great selection. Above is what I came home with. I just got a new sewing machine and now I can get started on some projects. I got a few other things including some decorations for my chicken coop and artificial flowers for the front door basket and other spots. That store is a wonderland. Tobacco baskets of every size were there. I also saw those animal prints I see many people talking about:

I also bought this metal bird wreath. I bought it for my parlor room but so far I hung it in the kitchen. I need to find a place for it. At 40% off I couldn't pass it up.

Well, that's about it for me tonight! I hope you have a wonderful Sunday tomorrow!

Hello 2019

Good Morning! Here's what 2019 looks like outside my window this morning! Enjoying the glow of my lights and my coffee before everyone wakes up!

I read that we shouldn't make New Year's Resolutions; that the word just doesn't sit well with people and ultimately we fail. We should make New Year's commitments! The word commitment doesn't give us much wiggle room to fail. Well, resolution or commitment, whatever you want to call it, begins today! 

So do you have any? I have a few! One is to sew better! I just ordered a new sewing machine for simple projects and I am "committing" to using it as much as I can!

I am also "resolved" in keeping this blog! I didn't realize how much I missed writing it!

I am "determined" to get this little guy in to my house! This is Salem, and he eats and sleeps here all day and all night but panics when I bring him inside the house and won't stay! I'm an old pro at rescuing cats and this guy is a challenge but I will do it!! He is so affectionate and loves our family but its the fear of the indoors that is keeping him from staying in!

Another commitment is to learn more of the old style Italian recipes my Grandmothers made. I prepare all the meals for my Mom who will be 89 this year and I enjoy making some meals that I know are ones she enjoyed many, many years ago or ones that she made before she stopped being able to prepare her own. Some old school recipes! I've been doing really well with it but I can do even better!

Of course, there is more reading to be done. I still read quite a bit especially my Amish fiction books but even more would be better. 

I want to do a great job as table leader for Ladies Bible Study at Church. I hope I can meaningfully relay the word of God through our study to the amazing women at my table. I didn't expect to take on this task but God is leading me to accept and I said yes. My blessings are abundant.

Time to get this day started! Happy New Year!