Beautiful Day!

What a beautiful day it is! We've had so much rain this week, it's so nice to see a beautiful morning. Everyone is so eager to work outside and we are too. The neighbors are all cleaning up and getting their  flower beds ready! We got our mulch down and we should be ready for planting very shortly. We had a little set back with some work outside due to not only the weather but my son's stomach illness which has been hitting him hard lately. We had an afternoon stay at Huntington Hospital so he could receive meds intravenously that helped but he still isn't 100%. He has a new project outside to build an inground fire pit so I hope he'll feed good this week to work on it. And then there's these ladies:

The chickens are growing fast! They aren't outside full time yet as they are still young but they have great appetites and should be growing in all the rest of their feathers to keep them hearty and warm. They are full of life and happy as can be. The photo above shows them getting some exercise. I do put them out in a separate cage inside my big coop so they get acquainted with Carol & Frankie and the bunnies and so far so good!

I'm still so in love with my vacation to South Carolina, that I made the dish that our friends Dan & Sandy made for us when we visited them. The Shrimp Boil! It came out so good!

Kielbasa, shrimp, red potatoes, onions, and corn on the cob cooked in a big pot with seasonings and it was a big hit. Everyone loved it. A taste of my great vacation.

On Cinco de Mayo I made Caitlin her favorite:

She loves my chicken enchilladas! They are so yummy but very filling. When you eat one or two of those for dinner you don't look for any snacks afterwards!

I'm back into a crafty mood though I don't know where to start. I have a couple of projects done part way...I have an unfinished re-done milk can and a couple of other things I'm working on but that's it. I miss being in my craft room and getting that hot glue gun going. Believe it or not, I have Halloween on my brain...I know you think that's crazy! But I do! I think I need to wander through a few craft stores for supplies and make some patriotic decorations or people or something! Halloween in May???Maybe I'll make some patriotic people. I also want to work on a new sign for my chicken coop this way when my husband is done working on the extension he can just put it up!


That's about it for me! Enjoy your day!

Vacation!

It had been almost ten years since our family was on a vacation for more than three days. Over the ten years we built a house and my husband also became self employed. Those two things don't leave much time for vacations! So we were so happy to have the opportunity to go on a trip for a week to Hilton Head Island, SC and Savannah, GA!

We had a great time at a beautiful resort and we really cherished the family time we had together.

We took a trolley through Savannah which showed all the sections of this beautiful city and we were able to get off at the stops and walk around.

There were markets on River Street and we actually went back by ferry to visit them.

Caitlin loved the pools at the Westin and Hampton Lake and we spent time riding in the golf carts, mini golfing and eating lots of great food!

 We ate at some cool restaurants! One was called the Crazy Crab and Caitlin had a huge pot of crab legs. Her favorite!

It was a great trip but I think my favorite night was when we visited a friend who lives there and he and his wife made us a traditional South Carolina shrimp boil! YUMMY!!!

Our friend and Dan and his wife Sandy have a great home with a dock in their yard. Dan took us out on his boat. No gators though--it was salt water!

My son is like his Dad and really loved when they went kayaking. What a great trip.  My husband has traveled down to South Carolina several times now for business and he was right. It's beautiful!

Home now and ready to take on our front walkway project and distribute the 8 yards of mulch we bought for the property. Plus we have another chicken coop to build with a run. Flowers and veggie garden to plant.....Time to get back to our lives!

If It's Spring, Why is There Still Snow Coming?

My calendar says April...and I know we have had snow in April in years gone by but I am so surprised that we are still getting some considering we have had days in the high 60's and 70's!
Oh well! In a few weeks our family will be going on vacation and it will be warm there! Looking forward to it.

So allow me to introduce you to our three new girlies. Veronica, Francesca and Charlotte! We got them at 3 days old and they are growing fast! They are healthy and frisky and love attention! They are Plymouth Barred Rocks and will grow to be full size chickens as opposed to Carol and  Frankie who are silkies and those are bantams. Got that?  :)

So of course the chicken coop will be receiving an extension and a covered run. We have hawks and I can't let the chickens roam free. it's been so fun raising them. We really love our pets. They are good eaters and just love to chatter and play.

I've got all the Easter décor put away and now I am slowly taking out more Americana. I LOVE Americana! I keep some out all year but I really add more in these months since the next big holiday I decorate for is HALLOWEEN! I'm excited already. I have some ideas for Fall and Halloween crafts ...I'm a little crazy but I just love that time of year so much!

I saw my first garage sale sign the other day...a little early considering the weather has been so crazy but there it was. It won't be one I get to go to but the season is coming up. I thought I would have a great amount of items to dig through ....we just purchased our first house to flip and it belonged to a hoarder. I'm thinking lots and lots of good OLD stuff--Halloween, Christmas anything from the good ole days. Well, the house is packed to the rafters...literally--My husband had to climb through a window to get in to the house when we took it over but nothing is good. And what would have been good is ruined by all the yucky stuff that was on top of it. I was disappointed. Better luck next time!

Have a great Saturday!

Happy Day Before Easter!

Everyone is busy getting ready for tomorrow, I bet! We've been busy here with lots of things. Planning an extension for the chicken coop since we added to our flock! I got four Plymouth Barred Rock chickens~~these aren't bantams but full size chickens--for now they are babies. Sadly one passed away :(  which we weren't surprised about as she was a little weaker than the rest and we did our best to keep her going but we do have three thriving little girls! They are ten days old today. Got them one week ago. Francesca, Charlotte and Veronica will join Carol & Frankie in the coop along with the three bunnies when they are older. Dad is building on and making a run as well. Poor Dad doesn't know what he has to do first! A lot of projects happening but all happy stuff so it's all good!

Caitlin made these adorable Easter eggs for us, her Grandma and our friends who come for Easter Egg Coloring Party:

I was so happy that she found the instructions herself on a website and took the initiative to do them and surprise me! She's a crafty girl. We had fun at our egg coloring party with our neighbors and of course the food was yummy:

Banana Poke Cake

Plus chocolate chip pie, rainbow cookies and more!

I'm gonna miss my little bunnies and eggs when Easter is over.

Then I received this beautiful plant from another wonderful friend and she also made the kids adorable M&M treats.

It feels like Spring in here!!!!I hope you have a wonderful Easter!

Easter is on the way!

Good Morning! I feel like Spring but our weather says snow is coming..... hopefully it won't be much or it will melt fast if we do get it! I wish it wasn't coming! I'm all about Spring today!

Making my plans for what I'm preparing for our annual Easter Egg Coloring Party with our neighbor friends who live behind us. So far I'm making chocolate chip cookies bars, banana pudding poke cake (and I'm dying the cool whip light pink), egg shaped sprinkle cookies and we'll see what else....

We use all different dyes and decorations for our eggs. I'm going to also use the Kool Aid packets for coloring too. This was great. The eggs were vibrant in color.

Once Easter is over my decorating goes over to Americana. Although I have Americana all year 'round, I add more of my patriotic stuff to it. With Easter coming so early this year, I'll be decorated for Memorial Day and 4th of July from March!!!! Oh well!

I have a busy day ahead so off I go!

Beautiful Sunday!

I am so happy Spring is almost here! The weather has been so beautiful and I am so ready to get outside and get my hands dirty! We have a lot of work to do outside our house this year. We had to reroute our whole sprinkler system last year and the lawn and earth were just ruined. Plus we are putting in a walkway/path so we have a lot to do. Until then, we are having some fun. We went to the Flower Show at Hicks Nursery which is a tradition for our family and it really got us excited for the season coming! I love these egg topiaries. I have instructions on how to make them on my country decorating page on facebook. These are just amazing in person! The blue is like WOW!!!

My favorite was the prim one below:

They had lots of Easter displays and these bunnies were so cute. Lots of furry chicks and Easter planters.

It was just nice walking through the big greenhouse building and enjoying the color of all the flowers.

Caitlin planted a pea plant as one of the activities offered. She did that last year as well and that little pea plant lasted till Fall!

Here she is at one of the prop stations for the kids:

Beautiful combinations of color:

When we finished, we went out for a great lunch and then came home. I was still enjoying the sunny day and so were the chickens. Carol & Frankie enjoyed a nice stroll around the house--supervised of course, due to the threat of a hawk, whom I haven't seen so far this year yet, but I don't take any chances! We are also considering adding to the flock. Most likely silkies as well or another bantam style chicken.  Below is Carol.

Caitlin and I are working on our plans for our Easter Egg Coloring party and she made the most adorable favors. I will show them to you next post as she has them put away right now--she needs to make a few more.

Have a beautiful day!

A Warm Up Is On The Way!

Good Morning! How nice it will be when we can go outside and see our gardens growing and pick some beautiful flowers! I love Winter but enjoy the thought of Spring approaching. We have some light snow today but it won't amount to much; the weather is changing and it will be in the 60's next week. I'm in such a Spring mood and I'm hoping to get to the annual flower show at Hicks Nursery.

Yesterday was my birthday and I had a great day! I feel like all week I have been celebrating with family and friends. My cousin took me to lunch one day, then another day I went to brunch with my Mom and a friend at one of our favorite restaurants called Relish which was amazing! (Every time we go it just amazes me more!) and today I'm off with another friend for lunch! I'm very spoiled with lots of great people in my life!

We made a trip to the beach last weekend just to walk the boardwalk and go through one of the trails.

We have some beautiful beaches here on Long Island. We had a sea gull friend who accompanied us for a time:

Getting some ideas from Pinterest for a fairy garden. Caitlin is excited to do one. I think they're adorable! I love the idea of doing it in a wash basin as this one is:

I think Easter Bunny may add some pieces for it in her Easter basket! I just have an idea :)

Also busy planning our annual Easter Egg coloring party....

Have a great day! It's Friday!!!