The Week After

Good Morning!

I'm finally almost 100% recovered from a nasty double ear infection. I was down for four days. Literally DOWN! On the couch, in bed...it was awful. And now, one week later, I am getting everything back to normal. In a couple of days, it's amazing how behind you can get on every day things. I'm just about caught up though and today I am looking forward to a breakfast out with some wonderful people!

I've been burning these wonderful melts! I bought some at Jake's in Amish Country and I received some for Christmas. My house smells delightful! Have you heard of them? I can't wait to get other scents when I go back!

And speaking of Amish Country, I received this great gift too! Simple, plainly explained recipes that are easy to do! I already have a few marked down that I want to try.

It's been very cold here and yet we haven't had any accumulating snow. That's surprising. My son spent last weekend in Washington DC to see the Islanders vs Capitals hockey game and he also toured all over Washington DC going into what he could. He said the Capitol building is breathtaking!

Well, I wish you a great Friday! I just wanted to post quickly so you know I'm here! My plans for this weekend are to get busy on my new sewing machine! And make a couple things out of that Amish cookbook! 

Monday Morning!

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. My daughter had been ill but is now returning to school. My poor girl was sick for a week with a viral infection that affected her throat and ears but we are thanking God that she is now feeling fine albeit a few sniffles. We cancelled our weekend trip to PA and will reschedule, and we didn't get the snow they thought we might get...so all in all it was a weekend of changes. That's okay! Again they are watching for a substantial snowfall for next weekend. I know we will get one of those storms and I'm excited! I told my husband to load our pick up truck with firewood! If any of you have dogs or cats AND a fireplace, have you noticed how they tend to occupy the best spots in front of the fire? LOL We just got new carpet in our basement where our fireplace is and that makes it even more appealing to our cats. So funny! They sure know where to go for the comfort.

A few months back I got this suet holder from Tractor Supply and yesterday when I was refilling it, this woodpecker didn't even wait for me to completely walk away! He started eating and I could almost touch him!!! It was so exciting. He didn't even flitch when I reached up with my phone to snap a photo!

Monday is usually a day of cooking for me. I prepare all my Mom's meals and some items for my freezer, and I menu plan for my own family for the week as well. A few good things I made this past week: Escarole & White Beans, homemade Mac & Cheese, and Chicken Tortellini soup (which I didn't get to take a photo of)

Escarole & White Beans is even more of a comfort food to me than mac & cheese! Simple ingredients of cleaned escarole leaves sautéed in garlic and olive oil, chicken broth, a little salt & pepper, parmesan cheese and white beans...sooo good!

My hibiscus is about to bloom. At least it looks that way! I couldn't bear to say goodbye to it when the Summer was over and brought it in the house hoping she would live...and she is! I'll keep you posted! She'll have a beautiful orange bloom when she opens.

Have a great day!

Odds & Ends & Weekend Snow?

Perhaps those snow friends will be the real thing this weekend? We only had some snow right after Thanksgiving and that was more of an inconvenient messy snow/hail/rain event. Our first snow fall is predicted for this weekend and I can't wait! Unless the storm goes out to sea, which is common when you live on an Island, which Long Island is! Am I one of the few snow lovers out there? HAHA You don't hear of too many! 

At least the cold weather kills a lot of germs! I believe that soup is a good preventative and healer! Unfortunately, my daughter currently has a sore throat but had she just eaten some of my soup....  This is minestrone and normally she would have loved a bowl but the sore throat was already starting and she just didn't have much of an appetite. We eat a lot of soup in our family! I like to serve it before our main meal just like at a  restaurant! Plus it makes the house smell so good!

Simple, easy and delicious. 

I wish I was cooking my soup on a stove like this!:

I think it's time to start taking out the Valentine decorations! Who else decorates for Valentine's Day? I don't do a whole lot but I do decorate with hearts and a Valentine tree. It's a nice transition from Christmas! maybe I can make some prim style hearts on my new sewing machine. I used it yesterday and made some mini pillows. Nothing fancy. I'm getting used to it! Its also a challenge sewing when you have nosey cats too. 

Time to go out and feed my chickens! Its oatmeal and raisins for breakfast and they love it. I should be receiving the hatchery catalogs in the mail soon. I don't order from them because the minimum amount of chicks is too many for me to buy. I don't want twenty or thirty but prefer my small group. I currently have five but am open to adopt more in the Spring. Just not 15 or 20! Maybe two or three?But I still enjoy the catalogs and seeing all the available breeds of chickens. Here are mine~4 hens and 1 rooster. These chickens are very spoiled!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Rainy Saturday Fun

We had a rainy Saturday today; drenching rains. I wonder how much snow it would have amounted to had it not been rain? I'm waiting for our first big snow but not toooo big! 

Now that the Christmas decorations are packed away, I've been rearranging things but do you ever have certain things in your home that you will NOT change? Its almost like they can't be moved or the whole house would go into chaos! Silly, I know! but there are some things I will not move...I do love to move lots of other things around though and I feel like it gives them a new life. 

Look at this awesome Santa candy mold I received as gift! I don't want to put it away! I may leave it out! 

I didn't put my red truck away either! Instead I took out the sack that said "North Pole" and added some shreds and chickens! It goes perfect along side my another favorite gift I received of the flag:

Even though it was raining, my daughter and I went for brunch in town today with my son's girlfriend and her Mom. I love to be with them and we have a lot in common which makes it even better. What an awesome entrée I had! Nutella & Banana Stuffed Crepes! I'm not kidding. Nutella heaven!After our brunch, Caitlin and I went to Hobby Lobby. Christmas items were cleared out and I wasn't really looking for any of that now but was looking for and found some great homespun style material.

What  great selection. Above is what I came home with. I just got a new sewing machine and now I can get started on some projects. I got a few other things including some decorations for my chicken coop and artificial flowers for the front door basket and other spots. That store is a wonderland. Tobacco baskets of every size were there. I also saw those animal prints I see many people talking about:

I also bought this metal bird wreath. I bought it for my parlor room but so far I hung it in the kitchen. I need to find a place for it. At 40% off I couldn't pass it up.

Well, that's about it for me tonight! I hope you have a wonderful Sunday tomorrow!

Hello 2019

Good Morning! Here's what 2019 looks like outside my window this morning! Enjoying the glow of my lights and my coffee before everyone wakes up!

I read that we shouldn't make New Year's Resolutions; that the word just doesn't sit well with people and ultimately we fail. We should make New Year's commitments! The word commitment doesn't give us much wiggle room to fail. Well, resolution or commitment, whatever you want to call it, begins today! 

So do you have any? I have a few! One is to sew better! I just ordered a new sewing machine for simple projects and I am "committing" to using it as much as I can!

I am also "resolved" in keeping this blog! I didn't realize how much I missed writing it!

I am "determined" to get this little guy in to my house! This is Salem, and he eats and sleeps here all day and all night but panics when I bring him inside the house and won't stay! I'm an old pro at rescuing cats and this guy is a challenge but I will do it!! He is so affectionate and loves our family but its the fear of the indoors that is keeping him from staying in!

Another commitment is to learn more of the old style Italian recipes my Grandmothers made. I prepare all the meals for my Mom who will be 89 this year and I enjoy making some meals that I know are ones she enjoyed many, many years ago or ones that she made before she stopped being able to prepare her own. Some old school recipes! I've been doing really well with it but I can do even better!

Of course, there is more reading to be done. I still read quite a bit especially my Amish fiction books but even more would be better. 

I want to do a great job as table leader for Ladies Bible Study at Church. I hope I can meaningfully relay the word of God through our study to the amazing women at my table. I didn't expect to take on this task but God is leading me to accept and I said yes. My blessings are abundant.

Time to get this day started! Happy New Year!

The Curtain Falls on 2018

Are you ready for the new year? Are you ready to look upon 2019 as a clean slate and a new beginning? I try to do that every year and approach it with a refreshed attitude. New adventures, new friends, new things to learn, new things to look forward to. It's also a time of reflection upon those we lost, or things we had planned to accomplish and never quite got there. Or thinking one thing would happen and another did instead! Remember God has a plan for us all. Its actually every exciting if you think about it! Every year we have a fresh start. Tomorrow I will tell you some of my plans and wishes for the new year. 

My tree had to come down on Friday. Sadly. It was dead; "dead as a doornail" as Charles Dickens says. Not the needle dropping kind of dead but the "you could snap off a branch very easily" type of dry. The gingerbread tree in the foyer will be up for a few more days but as much as I love (and I DO LOVE) to decorate for Christmas, I also don't mind removing it after it's over and, like the "new year" having a fresh start in the house too. 

So with cup of coffee in hand, I begin. As my husband works repainting some of our rooms and reorganizing our basement now that there is new carpet, it's a team effort of starting 2019 off to a fresh start! I find that when he is working on a project in our house, it become all encompassing.

 We'll finish in time for an early dinner out tonight and I'll be counting my blessings as we are enjoying our quiet evening. I hope your night is wonderful and your new year is wonderful!

Happy Holidays! Remember me?

Is anyone out there? Hello...I know its been a long time...is anyone  there to reconnect through blogging with me? :)  I have spent so much time working on my Facebook pages about Country Decorating, Amish and all the seasons that I sadly abandoned my blogging. If you'll have me, I'm here again....Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

So much has changed and so much has not! Life is interesting and fun and when I thought as my kids got older that the special times would be fewer because they are now "older" I was wrong! Life is joyful; my kids are my best friends. We are a happy foursome--Billy, me, our son Billy and our Caitlin. And more than two years ago we added another love to our bunch and that would be my son's girlfriend Brianna. She fits right in as does her wonderful family. 

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays. I especially enjoyed them this year because I started earlier! I made it a point to get things accomplished and ENJOY accomplishing them instead of feeling rushed and stressed. It made all the difference. Shopping earlier was key! I started during the Summer for the many that we exchange with.

I decorated slowly. Some each day. Adding some, moving it around...I will tell you it was perfect and I will do the same next year. 

I'm just waiting for our first snowfall. I love snow! Usually we would have already had a storm but we haven't seen any snow since right after Thanksgiving. I'm crossing my fingers. 

For now I thank you for reading my post and I hope you will come back once again! We all have so much to share!