Happy Memorial Day!

Good Morning! Sad that it's raining on our Memorial Day but hoping it will clear a little later. We have some plans and they will go on come rain or shine but it's always better when the sun shines!

Decorating around the house a little for the Summer has been fun. Taking photos with my phone when the sun s out is not so good for the glare but I think you can see well enough. Caitlin  said it always feels like Summer is close when I take Betsy Ross and Ben Franklin out!

We've been working in our yard a lot. Trying to get stuff done before my husband heads to South Carolina again. He and my son have the beds looking nice. And my Lilacs are so full!

My girls are getting bigger! Here they are looking for bugs in the log pile. It's their favorite activity. My husband is designing how he is adding the nesting boxes and run onto the coop. I'm busy thinking how I'm going to decorate the little extension. I have some catalog orders for some new rooster stuff I'm waiting to receive and I want to make a few things.

Here's Caitlin at Adventureland, a little amusement park not far from our house. She went with her friends and as you can tell by the expression on her face was having a GREAT time!

Have a great day!

Welcome to Monday!

Happy almost Memorial Day! I love the display in this picture! the color red in the garden is so Summer to me! My flowers are starting to bloom but a little slower this year. We've had a lot of rain and it's been cold. This is the first week where we will be in the higher 70's so I'm expecting my peony plants to burst open with color! My clematis sure did!

The peony plants are ready!!!

Azalea and lilacs too!

I went to a sale this weekend and came home a few treasures:

A pretty divided dish for candy or other stuff

1950's (looks like Fire King) luncheon/dessert set of 6 cups and dishes

A brand new still in its original packaging electric wok!



A whopping $8 for everything!



Yesterday was a lazy day. My husband has been so busy and the weather wasn't great so I finally gave in to my desire to craft Halloween! I know I'm crazy but I thought if I JUST DO IT than maybe I will be free to concentrate on Spring and Summer!

Ornaments for the Halloween tree, a new pumpkin pal, and two new crows!

I was so happy!


Lastly, in South Carolina we picked up this fairy garden set in Home Depot as Caitlin is doing a fairy garden.
She's been loving scrolling the internet and Pinterest to see everyone's ideas. Check out Home Depot for these sets. they have all different styles.

oh, one more thing! Did I show you my wind chimes from Cracker Barrel?

now I'm done! Second cup of coffee and off to the bus stop with my Caitlin!

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!