Old Fashioned Afternoon

Someone made me feel very happy yesterday! It was a Mom who thanked me for "an old fashioned afternoon." Sure made me smile when she told me that. I wonder how often most people have an old fashioned afternoon? We have a lot of them here! What she is referring to is my afternoon at my house with my Brownie troop. I had taught Caitlin how to do various stitches this Summer~~cross stitch, straight stitch, back stitch and she loved learning. She embroidered a couple of sayings on pieces of felt such as "Cats Are Sweet", "Best Dad Ever" and since she loved learning how to stitch I put it out there to the Moms of my Brownie troop that if any of the girls would like to learn, they could come to my house for a sewing circle. The response was overwhelming! What a fun time we had! They told me ahead of time what they wanted to  so I could write it out on felt squares. I told them to choose a three word saying (Most wanted "I LOVE (and the name of their dog)"  and it was great! They diligently sat and learned and stitched! And we chatted and stitched! AND the most unbelieveable thing of all (at least for this modern day and age) is the Moms opted to STAY! Yes, they didn't leave for nail appointments or mall visits. At first the intent was to drop off but when they stayed for a few minutes and saw the eagerness of these kids to learn, one by one they sat and stayed! It was the feeling in the room. The pleasantness of the peacefulness! They helped thread needles and clip stray threads...And everyone was happy, happy, happy.

This is actually a card I have saved; not a stitchery by the girls!

Later in the evening, I got an email from one of the Moms who thanked me for an old fashioned afternoon! How nice of her. Another emailed me and said her daughter enjoyed sewing so much that they stopped at Michaels Craft Store on the way home and bought their own supplies. What a compliment. AND proof that kids don't need all the bells and whistles of life all the time to have fun. These eight year old girls sat for 2 hours laughing, talking, snacking and stitching and were thrilled with the work their little hands produced. Oh and I think their Moms learned a thing or two as well!

Outside I bring you to my new apple orchard :)  I know; not quite but I am in LOVE with my apple trees. Cousin Johanna started me on these! We now have four! One is a granny smith, the other is a gala, and the other two are multi types. Each tree has four kinds of apples! Obviously fused together but apples nonetheless! When all is said and done and the apples (hopefully) bear fruit, we should have 8 different kinds! I want an almond tree next!

pumpkins!

The Halloween Garden is growing well! The Indian corn and the mini Indian corn are getting tall! If I don't get actual corn, at least I will have cornstalks for decorations! My birdhouse gourds are overtaking everything! Theyare growing wild! As are my pumpkins! We have made or enlarged a few other gardens too. My son's hard work!

roses and sunflowers!

newest garden of azaleas and a Japanese maple

 I bought his bridge on a recent trip to Lancaster County from the Countryside Roadstand. Next year I have plans for it! This year we just set her in the garden bed!

loving my bridge!

my son made this bigger and planted the new front row of shrubs

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Sunday Visit

 

 Sunday was a beautiful day! The weather was cool but with a warm breeze! Perfect for being outdoors and doing something special. We decided after Church to go to Old Westbury Gardens. This is such a nice way to spend an afternoon. It's about a half hour from my house and although Billy and I have been there many times, the kids were there several years ago and Caitlin has
no recollection of visiting at all. There is a mansion and gardens tour; all self guided.

 

 So pretty! Acres and acres of flowers and gardens. There was even a thatched cottage playhouse for the little girl who grew up here. Her name was Margaret Phipps. Her Dad built the home in 1906. Margaret (Peggy) Phipps turned the house and grounds over for all to enjoy to the County in 1958. The family was very successful in the steel industry. They were a very well known family here on Long Island along with the Hicks family. You've seen my posts where I visit Hicks Nursery for many events throughout the year.

The flowers are amazing. Billy and I buy some at the annual Old Westbury Garden Plant Sale in April.

We spent about two hours just enjoying all the paths and walks.

The mansion had a ballroom and separate sitting rooms for the parents. There was a grand foyer and a beautiful glass enclosed sun porch. Years ago I had gone to a high tea in that room for a special event of viewing "play costumes" that Peggy Phipps and her brother wore to put on little shows for their parents and their parents' friends at parties. They showcased all types of costumes from the Statue of Liberty to a Milk Maid. It was fun sitting in the room and viewing these incredible mementos from the early 1900's and hearing Peggy herself tell of the grand garden parties of the 1920's. A great day I'll never forget. Peggy died at the age of 99.

 

 Thanks for sharing your home with us!A great piece of Long Island history!

Feeling Like Fall!

What a chilly morning! I love it! Yesterday and today is putting me in the Autumn spirit~my favorite feeling!I think blogging in Autumn is my favorite time to blog!

 It sure has been a while since I have posted. I do want to get started again fairly regularly but I am determined to not let that interfere with my Summer with my kids! I have been staying away from the computer as it is such a time water. My Summer has been eventful and fun and an all round great June & July, and I have high hopes for August! We have had some great visits from friends and relatives we love and some great trips! We also got a lot done around the house with the garden.
Soooo.....when I last left off with you in June, my husband had been building our chicken coop for our chicks, Frankie & Carol. It turns out Carol is a rooster and Frankie is a hen. We aren't changing their names cause they know their names and that would just be confusing ;) .  Carol crows every morning around 7:00 am (he likes to sleep late).
The coop is also home to our three bunnies and they are LOVING it!  Except for a few touches such as the finsishing wood on the outside on that one side, it is basically done though Bill said he is thinking of adding another protected free space for them.

It is an L-shaped coop so it is pretty large in the back. We went to Lancaster to find some finishing touches to decorate it. I picked up the metal feed sign, the cjicken coop flag and a few other items to make it homey for them. I have the interior of the coop decorated as well with metal signs.

Wow, looking at these pictures I can see my mint has grown quite a bit and so has my black eyed susans!

 

My son has been helping out his busy Dad at work this Summer again, and he loves the same things we do--farms, plants, animals, construction, prims, Lancaster, etc. So it was no surprise after he got paid that he came home with this adorable bird feeder for me! It's a heavy one; very well made! He bought it at Wal Mart! :)   That's how my son is. He may be only 14 but he loves his home and everything we do for it!

 

 

I planted  what I call a Halloween garden this year. I was sure I would have no luck with seeds but decided to try it anyway and it has been growing so well! I have pumpkins, bird house gourds, mini pumpkins for drying, and both mini and full size indian corn. (pictures to come soon). Well the garden has grown but time will tell if everything actually produces what it is supposed to produce! We also planted fruit trees. We have three apple trees! Can I call it my own private orchard?   :)  Seeing my cousin's garden in Pennsylvania inspired me!

 

So it has been a good kind of Summer for us! Caitlin is enjoying our neighbor's pool with her best friend and did VBS for a week which was outstanding. I've been busy here doing what I do! It's all good!

 

Have a great day!

Chicken Coop

School is winding down! Hurray! Ready for Summer and my kids to be home! My son finished all his full days and now just has random tests on some days and my Caitlin has only full days up until next Tuesday! Did you get all that? I know that sentence was a little crazy :)   We had her field day which was so fun! Lots of games.

  We have been so busy outside --my husband is building our deluxe coop for Frankie and Carol and the bunnies too! It is looking amazing. My son and I were spreading mulch in the flower beds and that was Sunday! A great day.
I know it's hard to see with just photos but the coop is quite large. Billy just has to build the rear part of it which is the bunk house aka as the nesting boxes. Then when it is all done it will be painted a burgundy color.

 

What you see is the front and then it is "L" shaped in the rear.

 

 It would easily hold more than two chickens and three bunnies! Above it, is Caitlin's playhouse which is also being redone.

 

We have had so much rain! Tropical Storm Andrea's rains came our way and washed out our Brownies camping trip which was supposed to be Friday night into Saturday but we got 2" of rain. We rescheduled, obviously! I'm not sleeping in a puddle, thank you! At least some of the weekend was salvageable!

Before I go, I wanted to show you the amazing mouser made by Buttermilk Creek Farms! I love mine so much! Check my sidebar and you will see all her creations!

Have a great day!

Crafts & Gifts

The weather sure cooled off this morning! I woke up feeling quite chilly! That's okay; the weather is perfect for me! Not too cold and not too hot :) Hoping it stays nice for the weekend! My peonies are blooming and my lilacs are exploding with blooms! When you go out on my front porch, you can smell their delightful scent!

I thought you might like to see a simple craft I have been doing. I based it on a craft I picked up from another blog--Musings from Kim K--pretty little flowers!You save the leaves from old fake flowers, get some floral wire (I used floral stems), floral tape, and buttons! Check out her blog and look up the directions. When I had gone to Michaels, in the those $1 bins I had bought some mini doilies. I decided to use them as a base for under the button. I enjoyed making them so much that when my husband went with me to Michaels and was looking through the bins with me he found tiny paper flowers. I knew I would use them for something! I bought them and glued the paper flower to a button base....does that make sense? Believe me they were super easy to make! Another great craft idea from another great blogger! You ladies rock!

In April my cousin Johanna visited me from Pennsylvania with her family. We had a great day (as I knew we would!) and talked and laughed and shared for hours. Never long enough though! She came armed with gifts and she sure knows what we like! Look at these beautiful depression glass plates! Perfect for my collection! I never saw them before so it was so cool to receive them! She brought me an Amish-Menonite cookbook which I plan to go through shortly. Great reading for my porch! And guess what else? Knowing my love for Holly Hobbie--a cake pan! Pretty to display or use! I'll probably do both! She also brought my son a cool book called Country Skills, knowing how my son loves pioneer type skills---with all his yard work, log stacking, log splitting, etc.  Very grateful to her for all the goodies! Gee, I sure wish she would go back to blogging..hint, hint...When I see her this Summer I will have to bug her about that ;)

Before I go, I also wanted to show you how I repurposed two wreaths I had with some odds and ends. I'm starting to like repurposed more than new!

Have a terrifc day!

My Cottage Cherry Chair

It was so nice to be back blogging. I sure missed it and all of you! I'm happy to say that I've been busy with so many nice things, good people, and great times. I love all the times of year for blogging--planting time in Spring, lazy Summer days, ideas for holidays. I am like a sponge absorbing all your good ideas! The amount of things I have learned and experimented with because of so many of you is mind boggling! :)

I've been blessed that when my husband built our house he put three porches on it. Two rear and one big front one. I love them all for diffrent reasons though I think this year my favorite is the one that has my Amish double rocker. I just love that space. I planted some sunflower seeds  quite a while back and they are growing very well, and I think I will plant them in the gardens that surround that porch. We'll see. They are the tall sunflowers! The ones that are so happy and perky and peek at you over fences! Anyway, on my front porch I used to have a little children's rocking chair I bought from a garage sale about 4 years ago and even though my porch is covered, it got weathered. Now normally I like weathered! I'm the girl who loves rusty stuff :)   but this wooden rocker needed a redo so I decided to do her up cottage style.

 

 

 

Here she is ! With some discounted rub on transfers from AC Moore, I think she is a cottage cutey! The rabbit was also a garage sale find from years past.

I love mixing cottage in with my country prim home!

 

My husband and son have been hard at work on our chicken/rabbit coop condo! He was working on the front porch of it yesterday. It's coming a long nicely. I will post pictures soon.

 

Got me a pocket hose! Love it! We have a sprinkler system but whenever I just wanted or needed to use a hose I hated the dirt and winding it up. It was such a struggle! I mean I despised even being near it. POCKET HOSE gets a big thumbs up from me!

 

I can't wait to show you the amazing mouser I got from Buttermilk Creek Farms. You must check out her blog and selling site! She made a very special mouser for me that I adore! I have to photograph her and show you. Believe me you will want one for your own and she does custom orders too!

Here are two garage sale finds!  I collect depression glass especially in pink but I don't know if this hen is. I don't believe she is but I loved her anyway! My lovely cosuin brought me beautiful pink depression glass dessert dishes when she visited! Like I said, I have quite a few posts to catch up on. Can't wait to show you all my goodies!

 Before I close, just wanted to post some of my garden pics. I know you are all working hard to make your crafts, recipes, your home a special place--we are all kindred spirits! Bless you all!

 That's all folks!

Summer is here!

Good Sunday Morning My Friends! I hope you are well! During my brief break I have kept up with most of your blogs and now feel ready to continue mine! I hope you are still with me, ladies! It has been a very busy two months~filled with fun times and creative projects and so much more. I have a lot to tell you! It's gonna take a few posts for sure!

We had some long awaited work done in our house both in and out including the replacement of our cesspools which was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Now it's a matter of replanting the lawn on two sides of our house. We also had our stairs stained and painted and it looks amazing. Walnut stain on the top of the steps, bannister and landing and black paint for the bases. It matches the country furniture of my foyer. We are so pleased. We also got back to work on our master bedroom bathroom. It has been pretty busy here!

In between the interior work, we are planting and planting and planting! Besides flowers, I have a vegetable garden and also planted pumpkins, indian corn, gourds (for use in making gourd birdhouses) and mini pumpkins! (Autumn and Halloween are never far from my thoughts!) Veggies and herbs too!

Frankie & Carol at 10 days old

My husband is building our new chicken coop too! Deluxe accomodations!
And we sure need that as we have two chickens :)   We got them in early April! Frankie and Carol are their names and they are silkies! They were eight days old when we got them and they are growing fast! They are bantams. Sweet and loveable! We believe they are both girls and since the kids named them, we decided that if Frankie is a girl we would still keep her name as Frankie ...short for Francine Chicken, maybe? These are the first two; more chickies are on the way! They have fit in so nicely with our family and the way my husband has designed our coop with the nesting boxes, and the run, it also accomodates my bunnies! I've been talking to some many people to get the best plan and now he is finally building it. We have met some great chicken lovers like us who have shared their knowledge with us. I've taken my photos of their coops and Billy created his own plan for a nice walk-in structure surrounded by an herb garden.

I have so much more to tell you and show you! I have been making lots of crafts and I want to show you my recent garage sale finds, acquisitions and gifts from some friends and the great goodies my cousin brought me! Plus my gardens.

I hope you are all enjoying the nice weather and looking forward to the Summer! We have had a hot spell here and my kids spent most of yesterday in a pool! And the added bonus of a night swim was even better! I've been praying for all the tornado states. Our church had a special service for prayer for Oklahoma. Hurricane season is upon here in the northeast but this year we are ready! or as ready as we can be!

Frankie & Carol last week!

Like I said, it's been a busy two months! We had a trip to Lancaster, and another trip to Princeton and Columbia New Jersey to check out some Amish Farm markets, PLUS we had a great visit from my cousin Johanna and her family! We marched in the Memorial Day Parade with my Brownie troop....Whew! 
All I can say is LET THE SUMMER BEGIN! I love it that things are winding down for the year. No schedules, no school, just freedom!

Happy Sunday!