Vacation & House Work!

Our family just returned from a beautiful vacation in Williamsburg, VA and Virginia Beach! 

We spent the week at Busch Gardens (3 days) and at a beautiful hotel on the beach in Virginia Beach (3 days). 

We packed alot into that week! Busch Gardens was wonderful! We had very little wait for the rides. We enjoyed the different countries they showcased. I especially was happy to see the show Celtic Fyre! I'm a huge Irish stepdance/Riverdance fan. So that was awesome! 

Went to Cracker Barrel where I bought the sunflower fountain below! 

We ate at amazing restaurants for Seafood! Catch 31 was great, a Beatles themed pub called Abbey Road but I'm a simple girl and my favorite was a breakfast place in Williamsburgh called Colonial Pancake! It reminded me of a place we loved to eat breakfast in when we visit Salem called Tammany Hall. Its been closed for many years but it was our favorite. 

A great family trip. We brought my son's girlfriend with us too. that is them below. Up above is my daughter Caitlin with Viera in the pool.

Before we left, we had started some work in our home. We had the the first floor repainted, new area rug and some new furniture for our family room. I had a pod to store everything and that made it easier for the painters. Now that I'm home, the work continues, and I will post photos once everything is done. Here's a sneak peek at one of my new pieces!

Saturday I got to Hobby Lobby just as the doors were opening. I'm completely over Summer!!! Bring on Autumn PLEASE! I bought a few things and will definitely be back but I wanted to wait to see what I have and what I need. Truth is I actually need nothing but we all know thats not gonna happen and I will be buying! 

I'm just excited for the new season! Its been great refreshing my house and although I originally dreaded loading up the pod, I needed to pack up everything in order to motivate me for the redo!And it surely did.  I'm glad it'll be done just in time for me to decorate for Fall. 

Have a great day!

Catching Up!

 Wow! Summer is just speeding by! It seems like I was just shopping for 4th of July. My flowers have done really well this year too. The ones you see along the front walkway are just exploding with color. I always have mixed emotions when I have to remove them in the Fall when we replace them with ornamental cabbages. My vegetable garden has also produced quite a bit. I don't know how I got lucky! 

Yesterday, I cleaned up my craft room in anticipation of Fall crafts. I need a clean workspace or I get distracted so while we have painters working on the first floor, I thought it would be a good time to do that task. I just finished this morning. I realize I am guilty of alot of" works in progress." Next year I need to make that one of my New Year's resolutions to finish what I start!

My husband built a grilling area for his smoker and our new bbq but we can't seem to get the countertop concrete yet It's been backordered for months but we still can use it.That was his Summer project. It worked out so well on the 4th of July as I could put all the food on the counter and everyone could serve themselves. He made grat storage behind it as well. 

I'm starting to see Fall decor in the stores. Makes my heart happy! My favorite time of year.  I love Fall recipes and have been looking through the internet but then I realized that I still love cookbooks and my old Taste of Home magazines and pulled all them out.There's some good stuff in them   The days before the internet! 

Some more flower pictures In September, we will dig up the bulbs of our cannas and elephant ears to save for next year. When we come back from our vacation, I will be pretty busy. the only thing I don't do that i wish I did was can. I don't have a garden thats big enough to produce enough to can  I did make stewed tomatoes in jars though. i add them to soups and when I make pot roast. It adds alot of flavor and texture to the gravy. I have done freezer jams too but I didn't this year. 

I hope you have a great day! Drop a comment if you like;   And if you blog as well!

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 I'm still here!Just been incredibly busy with family and other things. My sister-in-law moved to our area due to the death of her husband, someone I considered a brother and bff. Know him since I;m a teen, went to school with him, and loved him so much. His loss devastated us. Truly. Its been an adjustment. Losing my Mom last year and then him has just been alot. But my sister-in-law is settled now and making her new home a wonderful place. 

We've been super busy and also had a few events, etc happening. I hope you're still with me!

After a great trip, I have some new things for my yard and home. We devote alot of time to our gardens. It takes alot  of energy and we work hard to make it special. The only thing I have left to do is get a delivery of mulch. Hoping this summer isn't a wet one like we had last year.

I love Americana and much of my home is decorated with it all year but this time of year I try to step it up a notch! I'm also going through some of my decor and either using or donating. I also give things away to friends and family who decorate as I do. Its not that I'm scaling back; its just that I haven't used some in years. Making room for more and if you know me, you know...there's always MORE! I'm making some water and bird feeders using interior staircase railing poles (I think they;re called ballisters or something like that) as my pole and tin pans. Then I make wooden signs to decorate with. Just some odd little projects. My husband is building an outdoor cooking area to house our new smoker and grill. He's been anxious to start working with the smoker. He's making an outdoor cooking area with a counter. You know I will decorate that too!

Some other things that have happened since I last posted: a couple of trips to PA including this past weekend we had a family trip to Hershey. My son and his girlfriend, my daughter and her boyfriend, my husband and I , and my sister in law all had a great trip. My daughter's boyfriend is preparing to leave for the Marines in July so we have several dates planned with him including his senior prom. My daughter chose a beautiful gown and we are going for fittings. She also got a car! I'm so proud of her. She has been going through some health issues and had two procedures done at the hospital but we have our fingers crossed. We've been spending a good deal of time at doctor's offices. Seeing her happy and excited for the car and the prom has been extra important to me.  My son was promoted at his job and his girlfriend who graduated college last August also has a nice new job! My husband is very busy and business is good so I really have no complaints at this time. I feel blessed. But can we ever not worry about the world we live in? Every day the news is upsetting. I retreat to my own world to avoid it. Here's my Caitlin at her fitting:

Back to the garden! I expanded my vegetable garden yet again. So far so good. I'm not adding to the chicken flock this year as its nice and peaceful in the coop and everyone is getting along. I'm kind of afraid to upset the group in case they don't accept any new friends! We have a ton of bunnies in our yard and two of them live under one of my porches. They have no fear of us! I'm excited about that even though they are chewing on some of my flowers. Strange that they ignore the garden but prefer the flowers!

I hope you have a great day and I will be back much sooner I promise!

Christmas Wishes

Good Morning! Hard to believe that Christmas is so close! I am so happy I started my shopping months ago.I just finished all my decorating so I can concentrate on my baking! So here's what I've been working on:

Here is my retro Christmas tree in my dining area~ Rudolph and old world Santas...just fun old timey stuff! Hobby Lobby and stores in Lancaster were a huge help in adding to my retro collection of ornaments. 

My foyer always houses my gingerbread tree and most of my gingerbread decor but I have to admit it has now spilled into the kitchen and dining area! I try to add every year. This year I just added some more ornaments but I will be receiving more for gifts. 

My decorated breakfront has Christmas Mice! I collect them as well in all shapes and sizes!

And last but not least is my red truck tree! I love red trucks! I've collected so many ornaments and I even made some of my own. 

Thanksgiving seems like it was just here! We had a wonderful quiet day. I'm trying to savor the days until Christmas comes. I want to make the most of it. I've been baking and cleaning, decorating and also making sure I make time to read my Christmas Amish fiction books and even work on several Christmas puzzle books a wonderful friend sent me in the mail! 

My daughter has been an amazing help in the kitchen. She bakes too. She has her own special cookie recipes that have been her signature cookies! I'm so proud! 

Hopefully I will find time to post again near Christmas. I'm going to try! Looking forward to so many things and trying not to le the anniversary of my Mom's passing take me down too low. I have a new great niece being born next week and my great nephew Patrci, whom I ADORE, is soon to be !. Lots to look forward to. PLUS a very close family member just moved to my town! I'm so grateful for the people in my life. 
 

Amish Country

 

Good Morning friends, I just returned from another great time in Lancaster County. It was a wonderful trip as always. As soon as I leave, I start thinking of my next trip. On this one, I did alot of Christmas shopping and also shopping for my own home, of course! They always seem to have things I can't live without! 

Our Fall trip is always different from our Summer trip. In the Summer, I come home loaded with plants, fruits and vegetables. And of course, house stuff! I love that time so much and the plants I bought on our trip during the Summer, I just repotted so I could bring them in for the Winter. I got awesome black elephant ears and others. 

This trip besides the Christmas shopping, I needed some fresh mats, battery candles (now I only buy the timer ones), regular candles, pip berries and all that good stuff. 

I bought these cookies stamps and red and green sugars for my cookies! Aren't they sweet? I bought a tree stamp and a wreath stamp. 

Now I'm planning Thanksgiving. We are a small group (less than 10) but I still do a whole big dinner with a turkey over 20 pounds. I love leftover turkey and sides and I also like sending home a good amount with my gusts so they can enjoy the next day too. Its going to be a tough one though not having my Mom at the table. 

When do you start your Christmas decorating? or did you start already/ I start mine the day after Thanksgiving. But we can't put our real tree up until closer to Christmas because it's real. 

I just got the chicken coop all Winter ready. Also changed some nesting boxes and perches. My girls haven't been laying eggs because they're moulting. It's a weird thing for me to have to actually BUY eggs! They were laying 2 dozen per week during the Spring and Summer!

Here's some more photos I took from our trip! Have a great day!

Happy Halloween!

 

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone reading this is doing well and excited for this day! We've been really busy here as I meant to go on and post several times this month but never had an opportunity. I've been helping a family member move, planning my daughter's Halloween party with her and just busy. I think everyone is this time of year.

It makes me sad to take down the Halloween when it's over! The turkeys go up quickly after Halloween. I've been collecting turkeys and Thanksgiving items alot these past few years. I don't want Thanksgiving to be pushed aside. Even though I've already started Christmas shopping, I won't start decorating till the day after Thanksgiving for Christmas. But the Christmas music listening starts tomorrow! I have picked up some Christmas decorations from Walmart!You have to buy it when you can because then it is gone. I still have to get to Hobby Lobby for some shopping too. I spend two hours in there when I go! LOL

Halloween is such an awesome day. I love giving the candy bags to all the kids and meeting new people who come to the door with their little ones .It just takes me back to my happy days of trick or treating as a little girl. 

I have a tradition on Halloween where I make a Halloween themed buffet of fun foods for my family. I make cocktail weiners, wings, potato skins, dips and lots of desserts. When I finish this post I have to make my Oreo graveyard dessert!

Other things happening...I have a trip to PA coming up soon which I'm excited about. I'm looking for paint colors for my family room and my husband has started the construction on an outdoor cooking area/kitchen for his smoker/bbq. 

Looking forward to the shopping for my Thanksgiving dinner too! The displays in the stores make me excited when i se the baking items!

My daughter and her boyfriend carved the pumpkin above! My son and his girlfriend also did one as well but I didn't get to take a picture. 

I guess that's about it! Enjoy the feeling of Fall and Halloween! Have a wonderful Halloween!

October!

Good Morning! I hope everyone is doing well. I've been busy with a lot of family stuff and decorating! I have a family member moving to the area and I've been helping with cleaning and packing. I've also been decorating! I did a Fall outside tour of my home for my Country Home page and that will be followed up by an indoor house tour for Halloween! I will probably do that on Monday. Plans changed as my dishwasher died and we bought a new one but until my husband connects it, it has taken up residence in my foyer! That's okay!  I know he will be able to find time this weekend! Speaking of my husband, he was recently recognized in our town by one of the county's leading architects for his skill and beautification projects in the area. I'm very proud of him! Our today is many thousands of people so its quite an honor!

So today I plan to make an apple crisp, and also get the rest of my boxes put away. I'm glad that I'm on track since I have been distracted with other things. My decorating is done and now its just about fixing and tweaking. I've also been Christmas shopping like crazy! I usually start early as I have a lot of people to buy for but this year I started even earlier because of the issues with supply and shipping. 

 I am really loving that the heat and humidity are gone! I do not enjoy that! I feel so much more ALIVE in cool weather plus it makes me want to cook and bake! My chickens will get a load of new hay and straw for the cooler temps too. We winterize the coop in early November. If I get a chance today I want to collect all the pinecones my giant pine tree is dropping! There's always something to do with them as well as just using them for decorations. 

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by!