Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you awoke to a sunny day! We did here! We missed the 1-4" of snow that was supposed to visit us last night and instead the sun is shining!I do hear we may be getting it again though on Friday night into Saturday....we'll see.

Before I go any further, I would like to say a big thank you to Felicia! She has introduced me to quite a few new friends, and I can't thank her enough! Howdy to all of you! I heart you Felicia! And I love all my new friends! Thank you for becoming followers. I hope I don't disappoint!

My husband surprised Caitlin and I with flowers, candy and stuffed animals! He sure is my Prince Charming in so many ways! I love that he is so thoughtful even though he knows I never expect anything. He loves us every day of the year not just Valentine's Day! He brought me beautiful white roses that have an outline of red around the edges. He brought Caitlin a red rose with baby's breath, a stuffed puppy and knowing her love for monkeys, he found a box of candy that had a little monkey on the lid!

How silly that today, Valentine's Day, I would be busy crafting for.....Easter! I know, I know it's only February but I like to get stuff ready so that when I decorate, I have it ready to display! Easter is coming up :)   Soooo I made these cute little clay pots with some chickies and eggs and decorated them with scraps and some adhesive trim I had gotten from Michaels. I was digging through my Easter cartons and decided to use some of my glass and wood eggs as well. Just some odds and ends!

 

So far I have made three and then I had enough stuff to decorate this little white basket I had in the closet.

 I hope the Easter Bunny likes them. I had so much making them and plan to make more :)  You would be surprised what you can do with scraps! Just like cooking! The best recipes come from odds and ends!

After my crafting, I did some dusting around...my shelf in the hallway seems to gather lots of it! This is my Americana goody shelf. I love the red ,white and blue! I made the SPEAK KINDNESS picture about a year ago with vintage buttons. I love prim things!

Then I was dusting my Charles Wysocki plates. I don't have the set; I just have a couple. I actually had three but one toppled and broke a long time ago, and I was so sad. They are NOT the most easy to display and I am not the most graceful! I was not blessed with a "gentle touch" :)   Every time I clean those dang plates, I fear I'll break another . There had to be a better way!  I took a plate rack that held mini plates and pulled off some prongs, then bent some others, etc  I MADE IT FIT! Voila! A holder for my Wysocki Plates that won't topple, and I can't knock over! I hung it on my back splash wall by the coffee pot! It'll look fine there until my husband gets 'round to putting the tile up for my back splash! It's funny how us Ladies can create what we need and it works just fine!

Have a wonderful, happy day!

Keeping Busy

We still have a great deal of snow but school did reopen today. We are expecting up to 4" more tomorrow night into Thursday so it may be a snowy Valentine's Day! Thank you so much for the comments you guys have left! Please become a follower :)  I love hearing what you have to say and appreciate the love! Welcome! and I hope I don't bore you to death!

My son went to work with my husband (you can almost call him an apprentice at this point, he learns so much) and Caitlin was home with me. Thank goodnes my kids were always good about keeping themselves busy; I never suffered the whining of having nothing to do. Billy lives for working with Dad so off he went at 6:00 am.
Caitlin was decorating her dollhouse for St Patrick's Day. Robin had to join her. He loves the kids so much that when they are playing something or having a friend over, he is there. He loves kids and loves being with kids. I truly believe that because we have him since he is born, he believes he is our child. We treat him like that too. He understands everything. When Caitlin said she was going into her room to play dollhouse, Robin followed her. He understood.

That's Robin! He loves playing dollhouse.

Caitlin and I also made some St. Patrick's Day crafts.

I don't know about you, but St. Patrick's Day and Easter decorations are coming out by this weekend :)   I know it's early but I like to have my stuff around for a while. PLUS since I am always moving and tweaking and adding, I won't be even done with it till the night before Easter, probably! Why have it if you can't display it for more than a week or two? It is so going up!!!!!!Besides, the bunnies and chicks and clover tell us Spring is coming!

Woo Hoo! Spring is coming!

It's A Marshmallow World

Happy Sunday to you! We are awaking to our very own marshmallow world today! Everywhere you look is white! Our snow total topped off at 29.1 inches. Personally, I cannot remember a storm that exceeded 22 inches so this one is new for me :)  The streets are still very filled with snow and this morning we heard on our local news that even our infamous Long Island Expressway is being closed until 5pm today for snow removal. That's a biggie. Oh well~~glad it's all getting done.

At home, the kids and I attempted our shovel out! My husband made it out to work by walking up to a main road and meeting one of his men who brought him to their job site. He's working today as well and my son is working with him which they love to so do together. Caitlin did her shoveling ;0 with her new snow shovel Santa brought her. Poor Red Cat , (who's really Orange--but the name Orange Cat just sounds dumb --hehehehe)  Red Cat is a house cat who once was stray. We have had him for almost 8 years. He loves to be in but still insists on going out too, much to my dismay. He is a tough guy! He was very annoyed that this blizzard was keeping him IN--but not for long. He went out on the rear porch and sat, pondering the situation. He waited and then suddenly he jumped into the snow, which completely engulfed him, and he forged his way through it till he got to the porch and disappeared into the bushes for about 20 minutes. He then made his way back to the house. No one tells Red Cat he has to use an indoor litter box. NO ONE!

The snow reaches all the way up to the sliders on my other rear porch in the family room with the sliding doors. It's a mountain and I can't get to my bird feeder to fill it. Thank goodness I had refilled it the night before so it was still good. I  decided to put a big flat pan on top of the snow mound that rests up against my sliders. That worked out great!

You can see how high up the snow is against the door. That's not a window in the picture above; it's a door.
The birds were coming and the cats were loving it. They could the birds up close!

Everyone was hungry! Then they retreated into the trees. I got as many photos as I could!

The only ones missing were my squirrel friends and  also my raccoon buddies never ventured out at night. I guess everyone wanted to stay in their own cozy home!

Before I go, I had to share this photo of my kitchen window. Doesn't the snow look like lace behind the hearts? Mother nature! So pretty. I just love it. 

Happy Sunday to you!

The Snow is Still Falling

Still falling lightly...Oh my, we have at least 25 inches I have heard from the tv weather report. Actually ABC news, our channel 7, was at Commack Corners this morning at 5:30 am with the snow totals. I was up and down all night peeking out the window and trying to figure out just how much was actually on the ground. The drifts are high and the roads are impassable. Our minivan is buried! My husband left the house at 5:45 and walked up to a main road to meet a vehicle that would bring him to his trucks. What a day! I think we will be buried for a few days! I'm just so happy we didn't lose power! When you open my front door here is what you see:

My backyard---there is a concrete patio table and benches under there somewhere...

The view of my block from my snowy porch...

The snow falling through my icicle lights....

Out the window of my son's bedroom; so peaceful :)

 
 Yesterday, I was in and out refilling my bird feeders and feeding my squirrel friends. I have four squirrels who visit me every day for peanuts and peanut butter bread. They are quite friendly and are very polite to wait for their food. If I am in the kitchen, they sit at the rear deck and stare into my big kitchen window to let me know they are there. If I am in the hallway near the bathroom, they sit on my other rear porch and look in the back door. They like to spy through my sliders in the family room or just sit on the front porch by the front door and WAIT. I love them so much! This little guy just wanted more and more. At one point it looked like he was begging or even praying I would come out again with more snacks. Of course I did ;)

He was so cute. The cardinals and juncos were out and I tied my Christmas tree to the horse chestnut near the feeder so the birds could wait deep in its branches and stay dry while they await their turn at the feeder.

My squirrels, birds and raccoons and possums are my backyard buddies.

They are the wildlife we have in the suburbs and they have adjusted to all of us as neighbors.

Here's a corner of my kitchen that I love. I was dusting it yesterday and changing a few things around!

 I can never understand when people complain they are bored. I don't have enough hours in the day to do everything I would like to accomplish, and I have a list of things I want to do a mile long! Life is what you make it, right? Have a smile and a grateful heart!

I hope you have a glorious day! I'll be home! Digging Out! 

 

Blizzard on the Way!

Oh my! It's gonna be a big one ! A blizzard visiting us on Long Island; burying my town of Commack deep, deep in the white stuff! 16-24 inches of the white stuff to clarify! That's a whole lot of snow. Like the storm we had in 2010. Here are some photos to refresh your memory :)

We were waist deep in it. And I know we will be this time too! More photos to take :)  I love the snow. I just don't like the inconvenience of it. I pray I don't lose power...memories of 17 days without power during Hurricane Sandy make me worried :(  but I think we will be okay! I will keep busy. I could sit by the stove and have a hot cocoa..or....

 

I could join some friends for an impromptu gathering in a  basket :)

 

you know, just to catch up on the gossip....or...I can chat with a buddy about all the shoveling ahead.

 

 

Whatever we do, we'll be indoors! It will be cozy. I have already started making some snacks: Rice Krispy treats and chocolate pudding pie (requests from Caitlin and Billy). I have a pot roast in the slow cooker, chilli and cornbread, old fashioned mac and cheese and I even whipped up a baked ziti! My husband is going to be a hungry man! Because even in this weather, he still works! His job site must be cleared, the structure he's building ( a small house) must be protected from the elements, and so much more. I'm just in it for the pie!

I'm gonna do those french knot lambs and sheep I showed you a few posts back. Remember those cute little guys done? SO prim and adorable. I may also work on some St. Paddy's Day crafts. I'm making crepe paper ruffles for my vintage look crafts. Thanks Kim K for showing us how. You will be helping make my St. Paddy's luncheon a success with little extras!

Time to refill the bird feeders before the snow starts falling! Hope to post tomorrow! Have a great day!

A Little Snowfall

It started snowing a little bit last night when we were settling down for the evening and this morning we awoke to a pretty dusting. Maybe 2" of fluffiness. Just enough to make the world pretty! Here is a shot of the shed in my backyard. It is very cold outside too!

Yesterday was a fun day. My son celebrated his 14th birthday, which is still hard for me to believe :0  He is such a good boy. He wanted to do what he loves most and that is go to work with his Dad, so that is how Billy spent his special day! At 14, he doesn't want parties anymore, but he is choosing a favorite restaurant to go to for his special birthday dinner. He usually chooses a steakhouse of some kind. He mentioned he may want to go to the Bonwit Inn which is a great seafood/steak restaurant right here in Commack so we'll see what he decides. He learned how to install windows yesterday on my husband's job site. He was thrilled. Oh, and here is a picture I took of Billy Friday night showing his themed pinball machine he made in Technology class.

It really works too! It looks so much better in person; he put a lot of detail in it. When you shoot the marble, it goes flying up and ricochets, and all that fun stuff. He got a 94!

I was invited to a wedding shower yesterday and it was spectacular! I had never been to a shower quite like this as it was a "Pairings" shower. That means, in restaurant lingo, that you have courses and each course is paired with a wine. There were 25 people and we sat at two tables and each course was introduced. It was so special but so unlike any shower I have ever been to. Now I am not a drinker by any means. I have a bit of anisette at Christmas cause it's an Italian tradition but throughout the year, I don't indulge. It's just me; I never developed a taste for wine or alcohol. But what a special event to be present at and experience. It was at a beautiful restaurant called the Jellyfish. The bride to be will be living with her new husband in England, where he is from. It was a nice day.

And here is Chestnut. He likes to sit in baskets, Is that coincidental? :)  ...bunnies/baskets....  I am working on some Easter crafts. Bandit and Lucky were more reluctant to participate. I can always count on Chestnut for inspiration :)  Have a happy Sunday!