Odds & Ends

Good Morning! Just wanted to say happy Sunday to you all and get in a quick post before I head to church. We continue to freeze here in New York; got a little more snow yesterday and a little more coming this week. Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers for my son. I know we will have a treatment plan soon. They know it is a bowel disorder--just narrowing it down to which one it is. We have an appointment this week with his specialist and hopefully get results of all the biopsies by next week. Sure wish results came quicker! He's a trooper though. He never complains and always has his sense of humor...such as:     my little elves.....

I worked on them yesterday. I got these at the thrift store. These little guys were in a bag from copyrighted 1970. I used the little beads, sequins and pins and here they are ! I think adorable! My son thinks creepy. Maybe because they looked like this when I took them out of the bag:

Sure their faces had to be re glued...and the flocking is coming off......so my son decided that they looked like evil little trolls and teased me mercilessly telling me they looked as though they would attack me while I slept....Okay so maybe they looked a little weird. They kinda did in person....however I soon reminded him that I am the one who brought them to life, who freed them from their plastic bag prison where they resided since 1970 and gave them life among all the other happy Christmas items in my house and that he, Billy, is the one calling them evil trolls. Who does he think they would attack first, I ask?  :)   not me......watch your back Bill!

Speaking of Christmas, I have it all packed away since the first week of January but I had a hard time putting certain things away :(  I just love it all.  In going through my boxes, I decided to find the rest of my ceramic "background" mountains. I have 3...old ones from a store called Frank's Nursery--long since closed--and decided to keep my little snow village from CVS up all year long!

 This grandfather clock is in my parlor. Sorry for the items around it...I'm still putting other things away!

It looks right at home in the clock! I had three mountains and three shelves! Perfect!

These houses were 99 cents each at CVS about five years ago. Cute as a button.

My couch in the parlor has Raggedy Anne & Andy pillows.....See them peeking!
The back of the clock is mirrored hence the other parts of the room you see.

Well, I'm off to church! Have a great day. And stay warm friends!

The Calm Before the 14" Inches of Snow

My husband has been really busy and pretty much working seven days a week. That's a great thing when you are a contractor and it is the Winter time! No complaints here though we do miss him when he is not home. On Sunday after church, we decided to take a ride further out east on Long Island.    We live on the North Fork of Long Island in  Suffolk County so we rode further out on the North Fork . Now had we taken a turn we could go to the South Fork where all the famous people go to "hobknob" as the old expression says in the Hamptons but that's not for me. We ain't the rich and famous type mostly cause we aren't rich OR famous  :)  and I don't know the first thing about hobknobbing.

  I love the North Fork with all its farms, older homes, quaint neighborhoods, etc.  We do this multiple times during the year. I love the Agway farm store in Riverhead and the old True Value Hardware stores. They haven't changed a bit. We go to the farmstands and our favorite nurseries in the Spring and Summer and go for Fall activities in September and October.  It's just a great place to visit and it isn't far from us. The whole day refreshed our spirits! We knew what was ahead this week and fresh air and a change of scenery is the cure for most anything.

Winter makes the North Fork very silent. The water was calm and super blue! You feel very pensive when you stand at the edge. The seagulls were gathering in huge numbers.

Boats were wrapped tightly to protect them from the elements just waiting for the new season to start.

Pretty homes with gingerbread molding  stand along pretty tree lined streets.

We saw some deer in the brush along the quiet roads and some grazing in the weeds.

It was a great afternoon. The kids were off from school on Monday and then yesterday we had the snow falling!

We stayed  cozy in the house. This morning my husband left at 5:00am to plow his job sites and others.

More snow predicted Saturday and Monday.....

Snow is Coming!

Yes it sure is~~snow that is! 6-10" they are predicting. More on Saturday too. I'm glad Billy doesn't have any appointments this week; we're just waiting for results from his procedures last Friday. That'll be another week--the waiting is hard! I just want to get him on a good treatment plan once they pinpoint his issue. Good thing we have plenty to keep us busy. Shoveling, most likely! :) Some crafts and cooking too!

As I mentioned last post, here's my Holly Hobbie tree! I have shown it before in other blog posts so this maybe a repeat for ya. Sorry. I love it so much. Here she is lit.

I have some homespun and tiny seed lights on her. Some more barn stars. The tags are so cute. Glittered so they sparkle!

Holly Hobbie is so special to me. She was one of my favorites growing up in the 1970's. I still have my rag doll. Wish I still had her play sets.  A few years back I bought her stove and sewing machine. Those are my toys :)
I loved her simple, quiet demeanor. Plus everyone in the 70's loved Holly Hobbie, Little House on the Prairie and even the Waltons. Funny how our favorite things were plain and simple in dress and spirit (like Laura Ingalls and Holly Hobbie) and simple times (the depression era of the Waltons) at a time in the 70's when glitz and mirrored balls were the rage! Such a contrast. People loved to wear patch skirts (like Holly). I think it was the '60's spilling over into the 70's perhaps.

My favorite books were the Little House series and of course, Nancy Drew, whom I still love and admire. How smart and courageous she was. Did I ever tell you I have a big collection of Nancy Drew books? I have collected them forever. I also collect the Dana Girls, Kay Tracey and a couple of others.

Caitlin has been busy sewing too. That's her handiwork below. She is doing one of those iron on transfers I got recently from Walmart. I think she's doing a fine job :)  Holly Hobbie would be proud!

Thrifty Finds & My Kitchen Tree

Saturday is here again! What a great day of the week! I am guessing you all agree :)   We had what seemed like a very long week waiting for doctors, tests and finally(once again) our hospital visit yesterday. My son had a colonoscopy and endoscopy due to his never ending stomach issues. The diagnosis so far has been inflammatory bowel disease but the procedures yesterday will tell us more. To look at my soon to be 15 year old boy who is 5ft 7" tall and 175 lbs you would never think that he suffers so. Relief is on the way with our new doctors, I know it is true. I have faith in God first and pray that he gives the doctors the wisdom to help Billy. We have to wait two weeks for results.

I had moved my two year 'round trees before Christmas and now they are back front and center. The Holly Hobbie tree is back in the parlor and the kitchen tree is back in the kitchen!

She has white lights and some pretty kitchen essentials such as plates, cups, spoons...

rolling pins, graters, cake molds.....

some cookie cutters and homespun and even some barn stars (the theme of my house).

And of course there is pie!

Tomorrow I will show you my Holly Hobbie tree.

I was lucky to get to my new favorite thrift store the other day. I found a few good buys. Here's what came home with me:

This is actually a big paper towel holder but I am hot glueing the top and bottom together and keeping it as a decorative bird house! It's already on a stool in my kitchen. It may move to my porch in the Spring when the weather is nice :)

Ornament elves. This package was free.

A pretty little covered box. Perfect for jewelry. It's small; about the size of my palm.

Lastly this adorable mug. "Love is meant to be shared." tis the truth!

It's fun to visit this shop and see what they get in! Can't wait to take my cousin Jo there to see it when she visits from PA!

One last pic of the kitchen tree!

Have a great Saturday evening! We're expecting some snow.....

Hearts & Dances!

Can't believe a whole week has gone by without posting. It was such a busy one. My son has been pretty ill with his IBS; his new doctors are now thinking he may have Crohns disease or an issue with his intestines so we are aggressively pursuing new answers. He has another round of  tests this week at the hospital so hopefully we can get to the bottom of it.

Caitlin and my husband went to the Brownies Father/Daughter Snowball Dance on Friday night!

I made sleds filled with candy  for their party favors and for the Dads, my co-leader and I made snow globes with a photo inside of their daughter.

They had a great time but my husband said the girls do more running around than dancing :)  Eight year olds!

I have been loving all the Valentine posts from everyone. I am putting up my hearts today. I love to use package of heart doilies to fill my windows and the sidelights of my front door. Then I will decorate a Valentine tree using these cool tags with vintage images and other fun stuff. I just love the happiness around Valentine's day! And that there is an occasion to decorate after the sadness of taking down Christmas!

Time to get busy! Have a great day!

A Few More Thrifty Finds

Happy early Sunday morning! It is still frigid here on Long Island. Our temps dipped to single digits with wind chills making it feel like -8 degrees. We did not get any sleigh riding in even though we got 13 inches of snow....I just think it's too cold for the kids to be out in it. Billy helped his Dad shovel and plow but as far as Caitlin going out and playing, I did say not yet. Our Winters are snowy but our temperatures are usually down to only single or teen numbers or in the 20's. Rarely are they at 0 and it is such a biting cold. I shoveled the front porch and got a little frost bite on my cheeks. Painful!

Here is my snow covered Christmas tree on the front porch:

And my snowy front door. It's so pretty, isn't it?

Our chicken coop and the playhouse above it were buried even though my husband wrapped it in heavy plastic. No worries for the three rabbits. I brought them inside the night before and Carol & Frankie (my chicken and rooster) in indoor cages so that they wouldn't be chilly or feel the drafts. It may sound crazy but they are my pets not my livestock. I don't want them uncomfortable in any way and although Billy built a secure and warm coop for them all, these temps and this snow is just too much for my babies. They'll go back out when the temperatures get higher. For now they can languish inside eating and napping!  :)  Incidentally, Frankie (my hen) is now laying 2 eggs a week! That's great considering she is a silkie and they are not known for being big egg layers. We call them "Frankie Eggs."

Here's the coop and I took these pictures EARLY in the morning. It was buried deeper by day's end.

When I posted photos the other day of my finds from that thrift shop, I forgot to include two photos! I got this adorable prim snow lady!

She was only $2! I sat her in the rocker. I love her! Then I found this adorable frame with cut out figures. I scooped it up as I was paying and barely looked at it. I just thought it was unique and it was only fifty cents:

When I got into the car I realized that it is a tiny magnet board and the figures are magnets! How could I resist for only fifty cents? A unique little treasure. I can't wait to go back to this tiny store! Especially to get some of the craft magazines which were only a quarter.

Here are a few more photos of my snow! I've been so busy cooking too! I had bought a spiral ham and after we had it for dinner, I made some recipes to freeze. I found a great ham & noodle casserole recipe in an Amish cookbook, I made two ham & cheese quiches (one for now and one for the freezer). My slow cooker has been working over time too. This week I made a slow cooker chicken, beef stew and pork & kraut. The house has been smelling delicious!

Before I go, I wanted to welcome my new followers! It's so nice getting to know you and YOUR blogs! What a network of great people! If you do read my blog and you aren't a follower yet, please follow!

Have a great Sunday!

Preparing for a Blizzard Tonight

Happy New Year! What's better to start off a new year than a pure white cleansing of fluffy snow? It's already started and the worst is coming later today into tomorrow. I had planned to take down my Christmas decorations this coming weekend but instead took it all down yesterday--all except winter related decorations. So anything such as snowmen, sleds, mittens, etc all stayed! Just Santa stuff was packed away; my precious manger set carefully wrapped and put into boxes. The house still looks joyful, I must say. We wanted to get the live trees out the door and to the curb for pick up before the snowstorm hit. Besides,  my tree was quite dry even though it was thoroughly watered. Now the only trees out in my house are the year 'round ones--the Holly Hobbie and Kitchen Utensil tree. Soon there  will be the annual Valentine Tree! I'm sure many of you will start your Valentine crafts very soon. It kind of takes the edge off missing the Christmas crafts.

I had an idea for a new craft yesterday. I was going through some of my cookbooks, and I found this old version of a cookbook my Mom purchased from a restaurant in Lancaster back in 1969 called Plain & Fancy. This restaurant is still in business and very good, and I actually have a much newer version of this cookbook but when I was flipping through it I saw all the cute drawings and Amish sayings.

Here are a few:

 Since we love all things Amish in this house, I thought what a good idea it would be photocopy these little drawings and arrange them in a frame that has that special matte with pre-made cut outs. Or if I can't find a matte I like that has the right size cut outs, I could cut my own and frame these darling drawings.  Just an idea! One of my favorite Amish sayings is "The Hurrier I Go, the Behinder I Get!"

Well I think I will refill my cup of coffee and get back to work here getting the house back to normal. Then it's outside to make sure shovels and ice melt and bird seed are very handy! Since I'm going to be snowed in, I plan to be productive and have some crafty fun too! And I think some good beef stew will be on the menu.
Stay Warm!