Bats, Babies, Fun Things & More Roses!

Happy Friday the 13th! It's a stormy rainy day here. We are expecting thunderstorms throughout the day~~kinda fitting for Friday the 13th, right? With Father's Day on Sunday, the impending thunderstorms made me think of the many times I would sit with my Dad under our backyard patio during a thunderstorm as a child. We both loved them. We would sit, safely of course, quietly just listening to the rumbles and watch the lightning.  Listening to the rain. My Dad taught us how to appreciate Mother Nature's symphony of "drums" with thunder. I do the same with my kids; we sit on my big front porch and silently listen and enjoy and ponder. My Dad will be gone ten years this coming January and I miss him every day of my life--not just Father's Day. Speaking of families...I've been trying so hard to photograph all the action at our horse chestnut tree to get a glimpse of the babies. Can you see the baby in the hole..look closely! It sounds like there are at least three or four babies and they are always calling for their momma and daddy! These two parents are working so hard keeping this family fed. Hoping to get even more pictures where you can see the kids!

From birds to bats....yes, Halloween bats! I've mentioned in the past that my good friend who is a major Halloween lover, has been scaling down her tremendous Halloween collection. Last year she gave me so much wonderful stuff and just when I thought she was done weeding through everything, she leaves me two boxes on my porch of hard plastic bats to hang in the trees!

Total of six bats with wires for hanging already attached! She got them at one of our favorite stores in Amish Country, Almost Paradise. She remembers buying them in the 1990's. So glad to have them!

And just cause we are on the subject of Halloween, Friday the 13th---my husband was at the nursery and brought home a dozen of these plants called "BEWITCHED"! The color is so much like the colors of Salem, Massachusetts--of the House of Seven Gables, of the Witch house, etc. Dark, and deep beautiful! It reminded him of the House of Seven Gables (our favorite house) so he planted them all over!  Did I ever tell you our house was designed by my husband to incorporate the look of homes in Lancaster County, PA and the House of Seven Gables in Salem? Here is a picture of "bewitched"--it grows pretty larger and is perennial.

In the garden up front behind my mailbox, the tea cup roses are blooming in lovely apricot:

Oh and here's Carol and Frankie among the hostas.....

The garden is just bursting this year. It even overgrew my antique mailbox:

I don't want to cut any of these lovely plants back though. It looks very neat and orderly but in a natural kind of way! Lots of color!  Yesterday I went to the Dollar Tree to pick up some more patriotic decorations and what good stuff they had. I found these adorable LED lights.

Butterflies and dragonflies. They are battery operated and so adorable. There were flowers and leaves too. The decorating uses are endless! I love my light up stuff. The happy glow! I also got the decorations I went in for and then I spotted this empty box. Of course, the cow print on it drew me like a bee to honey so I asked if I could have it...Not sure what I can do with it but I think I might hang it in my craft room to hold stuff....I might put a new sign over the words...not sure.....It's actually an advertisement for a very good cream if you've never tried it! Just never know what you'll come home with! Cow print box--SCORE!

Before I go, just one more image for Friday the 13th...a not so scary black cat who LOVES to watch the birds outside!

Little Mr. Jinxie Boo who may only see out of one eye but can spot a fly or a spider faster than anyone!

Happy Friday!

Warm Weather Weekend

Our weather this past weekend was just lovely. The temps were warm in the low 80's~~just perfect with no humidity. Perfect for a birthday pool party at our neighbor's house.

Caitlin's best friend celebrated her 9th birthday and chooses each year to have a pool party which is super fun. Lots of swimming, pool games and sweets. Her two older sisters made her birthday cake. Oreo filling!

It's hard to get Caitlin out of the pool once she is in because she LOVES swimming so much. Below she is on the right with two of her buddies wearing a rainbow bathing suit. My sweetheart.

Over in my yard, we are thrilled that we have a downy woodpecker nest in our big horse chestnut tree!

At first I thought he was just crawling along our tree for ants and bugs. We have lots of woodpeckers, chickadees, blue jays, cardinals and nuthatches. But then I saw he kept working on a particular area. Within a couple of days he was in the hole! Before you knew it could hear lots of baby chirps and a Momma flying in and out too! The nest goes all the way down inside the branch! Lots of noisy activity as those babies cry and cry till they get fed~~then you hear them settle down. I'm feeling for the Mom and Dad! They are exhausted!

The woodpeckers do have a nice view from their nest though of my roses! This is just one section! They are blooming like crazy!

Lots and lots of roses! We bought these rosebushes last year from Costco for $10 a bush. I'd say we got our money's worth!

I've been in such a Halloween mood lately. I think of Halloween EVERY day 365 days a year. Is it too early to make some Halloween crafts?

                                                        Have a great day friends!

It's the Little Things That Make Me Happy!

That's for sure! I don't need lots of bells and whistles to put a smile on my face. Little things that people may think are dull and mundane--well, I can find the joy! We've been busy around here as I've said in my last post. Between school wrapping up shortly, Brownies coming to an end for the school year, exams, and gardening...oh, and a couple parties and bbqs..we've been on the go. But I love that it is a happy busy. The garden is almost in full bloom too!

I have picked a huge bowl of strawberries! Yummy! My peonys are opening:

The porch is bursting with color up front!

As soon as you open any of the three exits from my house, you smell LILACS!

I have lilacs in the front and rear. Beautiful and fluffy!

So, back to the title of this post,  as to one of those little things that make me happy..have you seen the square marshmallows for s'mores?????

Smoremallows they are called! :)  Love them! Why didn't they think of this before! 

We tried them out last weekend and they were just dandy. They fit perfectly on top of the graham cracker! S'mores Success! Smiles! Wish my son would let me photograph him :(  

My son and husband have decided their outdoor rec room will be in the shed....My son wants to decorate it with metal signs and oldie stuff. 

Dare I call it a man cave? 

Caitlin got a new bicycle last Saturday! It's a beauty. We bought it from our local bicycle store happily avoiding the big box store for the purchase. The bike store has been in business for 70 years selling thousands and thousands of bicycles to people in Northport and Commack. You just can't beat that old fashioned personal attention plus his old fashioned store. While I was bike shopping, it was 1955 in my mind! We had to order Caitlin's bike as she is too tall for the kid size bike but too small for a full size. My baby is growing but not too fast...Lets keep it that way. S-L-O-W... She's adjusting to her new ride. Her only demand was that the bike have a basket.

Field Day was Tuesday!

Caitlin competed in the frisbee relay, the 6x50 race, a jumping challenge and an egg on a spoon race. She did great! It was a beautiful day! 4th grade is just around the corner. 

Oh and here is Miss Molly Moo!

Doesn't she look like a cow? I mean that in the nicest of terms. When I adopted her  I named her Miss Molly Moo Moo because I think her markings are just like a cow. Here's the proof! Oh Miss Moo Moo! You are so cute. 

Last garden shot for today! ROSES! ROSES!ROSES! 

And my pretty hanging plant for the shed!

I hope you have a beautiful Saturday! It's picture perfect weather today here on Long Island! 

Go outside and have fun!

Good Things

I hope good things have been happening for all of you! I sure hate blogging with DAYS in between posts but I haven't had a moment to catch up and do a  post that I would be happy with. I had to have some time to gather my thoughts and match them with my photos too! Between enjoying Miss Molly and Jinxie boo and adjusting them to our house, Girl Scout plans, Memorial Day weekend, planting and a stomach virus (yuck) all rolled into the last two weeks it has been busy! This time of year is so fun though because as school winds down (it ends towards the end of June), there are a lot of fun things happening--some extra school trips, field day, end of year party and the same with Girl Scouts! My co-leader and I hosted a pizza party for our girls for our last "official" meeting of the school year but we still marched in the Memorial Day Parade and in June we are going to a frozen yogurt shop for an outing. Good stuff! Here are a few of my girls marching:

Caitlin, Ashley & Jackie (her two best friends)

Here are a few more of my troop of twelve girls marching. We made gift bags for our local VA Hospital filled with word search books, pens, snacks, and other goodies. We want the girls to know that Memorial Day is more than a bbq or beach trip. The weather has just been perfect. It was a great day for marching and also going places! We went to a nice bbq and also the Coney Island boardwalk!

I've mentioned that we live about an hour from NYC and though I rarely go, we did go to Brooklyn this weekend to Coney Island. My daughter has always heard my husband talk about riding the Cyclone roller coaster and she wanted to visit the park. Coney Island has been around forever and many of the historic structures are still there including some of the early bath houses/changing rooms. I couldn't help thinking of ladies and gents splashing around in 1910 in their " bathing clothes." Hurricane Sandy did a lot of damage but it has been restored and looking good. Very clean and orderly, I am happy to report. Caitlin was too short for the Cyclone but just the right size for the Wonder Wheel. My ,.husband and son enjoyed the Cyclone together. It was his first time on it. I wish he would let me take his picture :(

 She had so much fun riding the Wonder Wheel with Daddy. Several more rides and a nice walk on the beach made for a nice afternoon.

When you visit Coney Island you have to go to the original Nathans. We had hot dogs, clams on the half shell and french fries!

Then it was back to yard work! Billy and Billy power washed the patio, and our three porch decks! Love how sparkly clean they look! My husband put this white concrete bench by the chicken coop so that we can sit and enjoy our buddies. I have to say that Carol our rooster is the size of a (dare I say it) oven stuffer roaster! He likes to eat! The bunnies have also gotten very chunky! 

The garden is growing nicely around the coop too.

We also got our first strawberries! You can see one of them here:

Excitement! Never grew strawberries before!

And what would a post be without a garage sale /thrift store find? or a craft?

We stopped at a garage sale that I had actually missed! I don't know, I must've been looking down or drinking my coffee or whatever but my husband was driving along  when suddenly he pulled over to the side of the road to run into this garage sale and purchase this:

It's in perfect condition! $25! Here it is on my front porch before we moved her. Oh and a few more goodies came home with us too....

and

Caitlin picked up some beautiful Charles Wysocki puzzles and some books. A good sale. My son and husband have some ideas to turn the shed into a rustic game room  with couch, tv and games. They want to decorate the walls with metal signs and memorabilia. I'd say their garage sale find is a perfect addition! 

Three of us suffered a stomach virus in between all this fun stuff and that was not fun....emphasis on NOT FUN....Oh man...so not fun.....but then when I felt better I cheered myself up and made this:

It sits in my bathroom. Bears in bathtubs are just so darn cute. I think that about wraps up what has been happening here...The Christmas Tree Shoppe was another good stop... I picked up this cute banner to hang under my Americana shelf and an adorable lantern. I am lantern obsessed!

Love this little lantern! They also had it in navy blue.....

Now I'm really done. I covered it all! 

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend and have a really wonderful week!