Can I Have Your Attention Pretty Please?

Good Morning on this chilly August 8th! It feels like early Fall here! We are going to have a couple of days of these cooler temps and I am LOVING it!

So I wanted you to know, if you are on Facebook, that I have created a craft, cooking, decorating group and would appreciate anyone who would check it out. It's called:
Country Home-Decorating & Creating Country, Prim & Amish style. So go under groups and look me up :)    It's so hard to get noticed. Even with blogging I receive so many views but not that many comments and rarely do people become followers even though I hear from them for every post with emails. So if you wouldn't mind...thanks a bunch! If you can't find it, send me a friend request to Margaret Stone.

We picked a bunch of apples from our trees yesterday! We have several different kinds..

I think an apple crisp is going to be made in the kitchen today! I love crisps of any kind. It's all about the topping. Yummy crumb topping.

Working on the craft fair items, I made more sun bonnet girls for various crafts and look what's in the midst of those girls..a little witch! I still have to embellish them all with ribbons and trim, etc.

I finished a few more completely. Here is one I did adding a fence and lamb. It's hanging on a little chair that has a star so that black pointy part on the top is what it is hanging from...not to confuse you!

See it now? :)

Caitlin and I also did our salt dough lollipops and ornaments. They will be painted as prim snowmen. Don't mind the messy kitchen!

It's funny cause I'm all about Fall so I have a hard time doing the Christmas thing right now but I am getting some things made!

I think this week just flew by! How 'bout you? The kids have had a busy Summer. I really don't get post a lot about my son because he works with my husband and many times is with is girlfriend having fun at the beach and whatever. He's had a great Summer. Eight happy months with his gal pal.  So many posts show only my Caitlin but he is here and thank you Fran for asking about him :) He is feeling so much better but still does get painful episodes of his stomach disorder.He should be returning to school in September full time after 14 months of home instruction.  Caitlin has had fun going bowling, to the movies, and two nights ago went to a night time swim party with some of her friends at our neighbor's house. The kids love to night swim under the patio lights!

Yesterday Caitlin and I went out for lunch and shopping with my friend Mary and we also hit some sales. Here's what I came home with:

reproduction Quaker Oats can

 

wreath

Miss Chicken

country wagon

Great finds! Mary also brought me some wonderful things she had found when she was on her own and then she bought me this lovely pumpkin decoration:

And then we had lunch, more shopping and it was a real fun day!

earlier in The week I had gone to Christmas Tree Shop with two other ladies I love to be with and found this adorable tart burner! Goes perfect with my décor!

Time for me to get going here. I'm going on Pinterest for a bit and then off to peel some apples for that crisp! Happy Saturday!

Beautiful Things to See

Butterflies! Sharks! Sea Lions! and more!  We took Caitlin to the Long Island Aquarium on Sunday.

What a great day. We hadn't been there in a few years. It's in a town called Riverhead.

I don't know about you but I never get tired of viewing these amazing creatures.

The weather was hot and sunny and we had a fun time going through all the exhibits. It was a nice day to relax. The night before we were at my son's girlfriend's Sweet 16 party. And the night before that we finished our week at church for VBS topped off by the VBS Fair.

 The tomatoes in my garden are finally starting to ripen. I've picked some peppers too! I have two giant cucumbers growing! Woo Hoo! My first year with cucumbers.

Carol & Frankie enjoying the yard....

Today Caitlin and I are working on salt dough ornaments and salt dough snowman lollipops for our craft fair. Saw them on Pinterest. Stay tuned!

Summer Days

In this July heat, my roses need a lot of water. They are blooming abundantly!

I make sure to go outside every day and cut off the ones that have finished. In no time at all I have new buds.
Here are some photos of the rear of my house this Summer. We didn't get to mulch but we did plant some nice perennials. Below is one of two rear porches I have.

Here is the other:

More garden in the sun...

Everything is green and pretty. My mind is still on Autumn though! Look at this great idea from Pinterest:

 

Get one of those foam pumpkins and use that. Reminds me of the fairy gardens everyone is doing for the Summer. You can do this for the Fall!

 

Country Sampler magazine came out with an Autumn Decorating special issue. I got mine yesterday but haven't had a chance to check it out yet. Caitlin has had VBS this week . My church has so many great activities for us Moms too so I've been enjoying myself there as well.

 

Can't believe July is just about over. August is going to be a busy month for us. Have a great day and stay cool!

 

A Few Things I've Been Working On...

Good Sunday morning to you!  It's gonna be a hot one here today! We enjoyed cooler temps last week--in the 70's! Loved it. Now we are in for a spell of 80's. Oh well! Summer heat!  Anyway, here is what I've been working on for the upcoming craft fair.  I have  more but here are a few...Some Sun Bonnet Sue/Amish gals. Some Christmas ones too.

Some with mittens and hats.....I also did some that have a boy and a girl. I did some flower arrangements but I didn't get to photo them yet. I have also done some crafts with birds. Some mini Christmas bird houses. Thanksgiving stuff... I've been having so much fun!

Yesterday I was walking passed my front door in the foyer and I spotted one of the squirrels I feed taking a siesta on my porch rocker :)   

He stayed for a half hour just resting!!!! It was so adorable. I never saw a squirrel just relax on a porch rocker and take in the neighborhood! People watching! What cutie!

Friday I hit a couple of sales with a friend. I found this Autmn girl.  I need to spruce her up a bit but she is so pretty. Her smile has faded...I have to put one back on her pretty face and add some mini leaves to her wreath. Autumn :)

I got a great plate for cookies or just for decoration too. This brand of plate was sold at Kohls. St. Nicholas is the brand I believe. Not bad for $1. It's a good size. It'll hold lots of cookies!

AN oldie but a goodie. This looks like it's from the 1950's or 60's with the gold trim. Perfect for candies or little snacks when I have guests over. I love those special little dishes. $2.

Also for $2 I found this Halloween witch decoration. Originally from Home Goods the label said. $2. I'll be giving this to my Halloween buddy Mary.

What are you up to today? My husband has had a busy, busy week and wants to go somewhere fun. We may start off with brunch and just see where the day takes us!

So excited that Michaels and AC Moore are filling up on Fall stuff!!!!!! I'm an over the top excited!

Have a great day!

Have You Seen These Yet?

Oh my I can get lost in the world of Pinterest. Minutes pass by so quickly while I browse and save.

As my favorite season approaches, I am seeing so many cute ideas. Take a look at some of these:

The little witch hats I can use for my pumpkin people I make! What a great idea. I already use cupcake papers for the outfit...now I can use it for the hat if I need to.

Look at these darling utensils. I just love them!!!

These crows stole my heart. Think of the possibilities!

Spray paint some frames and insert images...easy! Lets do it!

Pinterest just gets the whole creativity thing going! I have made so many good recipes from it too.

I'm working on my craft fair items. I will post photos shortly of some of the items I have made. I have a mix of seasonal and home items. I really rather just give them away. Seriously. I make them for fun and when I think of putting a price on them, I feel like I just want to give them to the people.....I'd be a bad business woman.

 It's been a busy Summer but really nice so far. Caitlin has been enjoying her days doing crafts with me, visiting her friends, going to the movies, and participating in our library's summer reading club. We don't have a pool but many of her friends do so she is always swimming!

My son visits with his girlfriend and works with his Dad. Hardly get to see him!

I picked the first peppers from my garden! My strawberries have finished. Tomatoes are still green but they'll be ready shortly.

That's about it. Just checking in......We have some plans for the weekend so it should be a good one!

Summer Time!

Good morning on this beautiful July day! The flowers are blooming everywhere! It hasn't been too hot here yet it's warm enough to say "Ahhh Summertime!".

We had a great 4th of July full of food, family, friends and later on, fireworks! We didn't set them off but saw some great ones!

Yesterday we took a drive over to Old Westbury Gardens just to relax and walk around. We go there a lot :)    We just love the English style gardens. Below is the playhouse for their daughter . It's from roughly 1912.  I was lucky enough to meet the only surviving child (at the time) of the family many years ago at the mansion. Her name was Peggy. She had donated the estate and its gardens to New York for preservation in 1959 but still freely walked the grounds and the home she grew up in.

If you scroll back to my post about Ronald McDonald Walk in May, you can see the estate. Peggy was very nice. At first as I walked through the different gardens and met her I didn't know who she was. I thought she was just a friendly older lady who loved flowers and plants. She had a big sun hat on and a long dress. After a few minutes, she told me she was Peggy Phipps. She told me how she played for hours in her thatched cottage play house.  Peggy is  no longer with us, she passed away in 2006 at the age of 99,  but the beautiful home she grew up in will be with us forever and the memory of meeting her. I met her one more time after that first meeting. They had a special presentation of costumes that the children would wear when they put on plays for the adults of the family. Amazing costumes created in the early 1900's.

I'm also working on some crafts for a craft fair I'm doing. I've been busy!

About a week ago, we had some thunder and lightning rain storms. After they were over, there was a crazy light illuminating the house! The sky was bright coral!

It was beautiful. As if the heavens had opened!

 

Have a beautiful day!