Aren't you ready yet?

Oh please sunflower! Please open and show us your happy face! Point yourself to the sun and bask in all your sunny glory!

Guess you aren't ready yet....see you same time tomorrow morning when once again, my first cup of coffee in hand, I go out to the back porch and check; eagerly with anticipation that today may be the day. After all, I've been waiting! I planted you from a packet of seeds. The unbelievable news? YOU GREW!  Actually everything that I grew from seed this year DID GROW!!! My anemones, morning glorys, sunflowers, and the whole Halloween garden. It's nothing short of a miracle as in the past everything I tried from seed met an untimely demise.  Now I just need to see that smiley sunflower face! 

Pretty Summer garden! How I love to rock on this glider and see my roses growing.

And for every rose that has finished blooming that I snip off, I get three more! We are blooming like crazy! Not bad for roses that we purchased in bulk from Costco! Ten or 15 bushes I don't remember plus my husband kept going back for more. He LOVES roses! They have sure done well! 

Yesterday I started cutting my hydrangea for drying. I snipped off some good full ones and sprayed them with clear coat, They look great! Vases,wreaths, craft projects--we are ready!

And the can of clear coat was used quite a bit yesterday! I had found a slate that we used many years ago and it had faded from the weather. Almost no color left at all! Caitlin took out her crayons! She colored it in and outlined, etc. And look at it now!  I clear coated it and it lives again! Thanks to my crafty Caitlin! I think we'll hang this in the pumpkin patch! Beautiful job my angel baby!

Out came some of the Fall boxes from the shed yesterday. I am dying to put up my artificial leaves on all my windows....my husband who enjoys teasing me asked why the boxes were out so early..."It's August!" he said. To which I replied  "You know how I like to decorate for Fall early." (I mean after almost 25 years of marriage it isn't like he just met me!)  So he said "I DON'T WANT TO SEE ONE LEAF HANGING ON THE WINDOWS TILL LABOR DAY!"  and I said "not one leaf? on the windows?" and he said "NOT ONE!" ......okay!  Well bring on the scarecrows, the pumpkins, the Fall flower arrangements,the indian corn and the corn stalks!  but NOT ONE LEAF ON THE WINDOWS TILL LABOR DAY  ;0   !!!!!!!   hahahhahaha  Oh Bill, after all these years you should know better! Oh, and you didn't say anything about leaves on the front door!

Happy Friday! and Kim K. I will be coming from NY to  MI to steal that haunted dollhouse cause I LOVE it....just giving you a heads up on that one. 

Fix Ups, Projects & Finding the Right Place!

Hurray! Woke up to another COOL Fall-like morning! Those artificial leaves I affix to all my windows for Fall will be coming out sooner than expected! I don't think I can wait till Labor Day! I've already started taking out some of the boxes. Wow that just makes me smile seeing all my stuff. I actually think my Fall stuff is up the longest than all the seasons.  I start late August and take it down the day after Thanksgiving...and that's good cause we can enjoy our decorations and fixin's for a substantial period of time. With the amount of stuff we all have accumulated between Fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving it would be a shame to only view it and enjoy it for two weeks :(   Not me...the leaves are coming out, and probably a few other things too. I am working on another Halloween birdhouse--I did this one a couple months back. I picked up some great little items and decorations from AC Moore to do another. If anyone does these little houses, look for the sparkle felt like material that has an adhesive back. I cut shingles for mine out of it! And it sparkles so pretty.

Last night Caitlin had some of her little girlfriends over for a backyard Summer party. We wanted to do something fun and in my mind it would also make transition back to school September 9th a little easier when the girls all see each other! Although she has played with a number of friends over the Summer months, there are some she hasn't seen since school ended so it's party time! I wanted to keep it simple so we had music and a fire pit where the girls made jiffy pop and smores. We had lots of great desserts and they had a blast. Our decorations included streamers of purple tulle throughout the trees and the tree house and we had a dance floor of balloons! We chose blue and green (her two favorite colors) so we had blew up 100 balloons and put them in the backyard under the horsechestnut tree and the girls had a super fun time dancing through them and playing with them! Here they are as we were blowing them up in the family room! Just picture three times as much! It was an inexpensive way to have a big bang!** Note to self: don't pack balloon pump away with Halloween party decorations.**    :)

While at Walmart picking up my supplies, I saw these:

I was excited. I mean just the packaging was exciting to me! It looks like I purchased it at the 5 & Dime in in 1956 so I was thrilled! But what's inside was so cool and the graphics were perfect! SO I also got this one:

It is hard to see (sorry) but it is a country one "Life on the Farm". They are transfers to iron on for pillows, towels, blankets made by "Aunt Martha" .  Love you Aunt Martha, whoever you are! When I go back I want to get the ones they have that have the days of the week and a vintage kitty doing all the "chores"  like "Wash Day" etc. These were only .97!!!!! I rarely find things like this. It just made my day! And to find sunbonnet girls on top of it! Woo Hoo!!! I am going to embroider it or even do those tube paints; did you ever see when a table cloth is done with the special paint...My Mom used to make them. I don't know if people do those anymore...You go over the lines with a special paint....

Anyway...my new dollhouse has found a home in the corner of the parlor . She will stay there but I need to get a better table. It is a HEAVY dollhouse and I don't want her to fall! Please let me say it again  "HOW CAN SOMEONE PUT THIS OUT ON THE CURB FOR TRASH??????" Thanks, I feel better now.  I am  in the process of planning the rooms and stealing incredibly great dollhouse ideas from Kim K.  :)   check out her blog in my sidebar.  

My estate sale bunny girl with her crisp white apron has made herself quite comfortable on my redone cherry chair! Her apron pattern matches nicely too! She was made for it! 

And lastly I cleaned up the little school desk and touched it up with black paint. It joins the dollhouse in the parlor. See! It's back to school for Raggedy Anne & Andy too! They are reading from the Mary Engelbreit book "Autumn" with the their sleeping ceramic cat I found a while back from Walgreens nearby. Like I ALWAYS SAY "NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE STUFF YOU FIND IN DRUGSTORES!!!" 

I hope your Thursday is full of fun!

Owls & Other Goodies

The temperature is 59 degrees here this morning! Splendid! I woke up and felt the chill and the breeze;  my curtains blowing softly from the window. Downstairs I went to Billy's and Caitlin's room and opened their windows. They were still asleep but you could feel  the cool air from the morning flowing into their rooms. So delightful to sleep when a gentle breeze is upon you! I closed their doors so they continue their peaceful rest!  As much as I am eager for Fall to come, I am glad the kids still have several weeks before school starts. Each of the kids start a new school~Billy will be in 9th grade (High School) and Caitlin will begin 3rd grade (Intermediate). Both of the schools are very close by. I can walk to Caitlin's but she will still get the bus.Her bus stop is in my driveway :)   At least I can walk her to and from on some days. That's a blessing when you are a non driver like me!

I wanted to show you a few more of my purchases from Lancaster County. I really purchased some wonderful things--some I had seen previously and did not end up picking up and others I just discovered. Our car was packed to the roof!
 I have wanted to buy a gourd for some time now. I always looked atthem and admired them and intended to get one but for one reason or another, didn't. I am IN LOVE with them! That's it! I'm hooked! I need more! This is my very first one. I bought it at a an Amish farm called Riehls. A great place to visit and great stuff for sale in their barn.   Riehls has several barns and one housed all  the family buggies all parked and ready for use so I loved seeing them up close and personal! Plus in another barn was a german shepherd who had just had a litter of puppies a couple of weeks before we we visited. The puppies were mixed in with the cows and calfs! We loved watching them scamper around and the Mom shepherding them to safety! Another barn was the horse barn!

Love how they painted the gourd! These are "birdhouse gourds" and I am actually growing them in my Halloween garden as I plan to attempt and I do mean ATTEMPT to try to craft one of my own. Now that I bought one, I want another. I also saw a nice double hook for them! For now I have it suspended from my front porch.  Also on the front porch hanging is a little bird dish. When I see these in any shape, form or material (resin, metal, plastic) I always buy them! I have them in various trees around the house and even a couple hanging from curtain rods in the house!

Oh, this is a shot of the main barn at Riehls and also their barn of buggies. 

The farm was beautifully manicured! I could move right in!

I went back for this "welcome" at Almost Paradise, a great store on the border of Paradise, PA. Such a great store but every time I visit Lancaster I fear it will be closed as the owner told me he is turning 80 this Summer and although business is good he doesn't know if he wants to keep going! His sons live out of state and have no interest in it :(   So every visit to PA I wonder if he will still be there! A really unique store also located in a huge barn....PLEASE STAY OPEN! Another good stop is Jake's Trading Post where I bought this flag. I know it's kitschy but so am I :)    I LOVE my prims but I also love kitsch! But not over the top kitsch!

I added to my ever growing owl collection too! 

Added it to the collection! Went to Ac Moore the other day and saw this one:

Oh, and a while back I went to Rite Aid (yes, Rite Aid has great little gifts!!!!) and got this one which is resin but looks like it was carved out of wood! And it's heavy!

It was on clearance too! Even better! 

Well, thank you for sticking with me through this photo heavy post! Today I am working on cleaning up some of my garage sale finds and some finishing touches for a little backyard Summer party Caitlin is having. It isn't her birthday but she wanted some friends over for music, a fire pit, smores, jiffy pop....Have a super day!

August

 

 Reflecting on yesterday:  my son and I working in the garden pulling weeds and discussing the possibility of extending the chicken coop; him mowing the lawn and staking our granny smith apple tree. Caitlin looking for worms for the chickens (!) and watering some pots. So special to be outside with my kids and know that they love it out there as much as my husband and I do. The above photo is of my sunflowers. Theyare now as tall as me! About to bloom!
As we worked, Carol and Frankie roamed under our watchful eye. I fear the hawks so they are close to the children and I. Carol, the gray one, is my lovable rooster. Remember the names are reversed because we didn't know if we had boys or girls and the kids had already named them, and now they know their names....Carol likes to take control but is a mushy boy when it comes to sitting on my lap and cuddling. He loves to be embraced.

Little Miss Frankie. No eggs yet but I hope for some soon. She enjoys being a pretty Miss and when it comes to eating well even Carol can't keep up! She's feisty and fast! Caitlin catches worms for her. Carol is not a big worm lover. Carol loves white shoepeg corn and shredded cheese best! Frankie loves kale too.

One of my largest hydrangea bushes has all cream colored flowers but then if you look to the right you will see one pink one! It's good to stand out from the crowd sometimes!

The leaves from the horse chestnut tree are starting to fall. I save a bunch of the leaves in a brown bag for the Winter for the bunnies. They love the leaves! They like them brown and crunchy! Almost like potato chips for bunnies? :)

And in  my Halloween Garden, the pumpkin plants have sprouted huge yellow flowers. More than 10!

The mini and full size indian corn is growing tall but I have yet to see "corn". If I get none, at least I have the stalks for decorating!

More shots of the pumpkin and gourd plants.

And one last shot of my chickadees!

Saturday Treasures and A Surprise!

Woo Hoo! Yesterday was a fun day! The kids and I got up early and my super sister-in-law Linda came over for a day of visiting garage sales! We hit a bunch heading to the next town over, Northport. There are always tons of sales there and yesterday was no different! It seems like I have one really lucky day a Summer for a garage sale. One lucky day where I will get GREAT stuff. Usually I just pick up something here and there but yesterday was a great one :)   Linda and I love the same things like garage sales, Lancaster, cooking, decorating etc so we have a fun day no matter what ! Only difference is:  she's a tea drinker and I'm a coffee gal!
Anyway, on to the finds! The first couple of stops didn't have much or were too expensive..it is a garage sale folks! I want to bring home goodies for a bargain not retail.....Then the finds got good! How about a little child's school desk?

I'm seeing my Raggedy Anne & Andy's enjoying that...I paid $3 and it does need a good cleaning. Love it! From the same sale I got for $1 two yellow ware pyrex bowls from the 50's . BIG ones. Couldn't photograph them cause I have them soaking in suds!
 Onto the next sale! Linda got two washboards which she is going to clean up and then display in her laundry room. SHe took them home before I could photograph them. The graphics on them are light but still a great find!
I got this great big basket! It's very large! Almost coffee table sized! I can't pass up a good basket. Now to keep the cats out of it....

AND I got this beautiful hand crocheted bed cover! Not damaged one bit, clean and Queen sized!  The picture doesn't do it justice! My grandmother used to crochet doilies and scarves and runners with this delicate thread and she also did a bed cover that I have. I couldn't pass this up for $10. I felt sad that someone could sell it but happy for me :) 

Last sale -----I got two heavy metal Americana planters!  These guys are very solid! The people I bought them from were very funny. Cracking jokes the whole garage sale...they were truly enjoying themselves. Linda got two Christmas candleholders and a frame. I also got a wooden cat and a wooden sign that said "APPLES" for our apple orchard (it may have only 4 trees but it is an orchard to me!)

And that was the garage sale day......and then it happened!  We were headed home. Went to Dunkin Donuts for a treat. Back in the car and back in Commack. We are not more than two blocks from my house and we are driving home with our treasures and suddenly I see something curbside out for the trash.....can it be? is it what I think it is? and it is OUT FOR TRASH??????"LINDA STOP THE CAR! I SEE A BIG DOLLHOUSE!" Poor Linda jammed on her brakes a few houses past,......the dollhouse had been kind of hidden by garbage pails...I get out of the car and run over to where it stands!

 

 Isn't she lovely?????

What a beauty! In perfect condition except for the hinge on one of the doors!

 

 Wallpapered! No chips, no dirt, and even curtains on mini brass curtain rods....

It weighs a ton. I couldn't carry it and the car was packed already so  I ran up to the front door where I was greeted by woman about my age  (30) hahahaha  no really, she was about my age and I asked her about it all the while wondering to myself "how can you put this out for the garbage truck? HOW?HOW? HOW?"  I then asked if I could move it up further in her driveway as I had to go home first, empty the car and then come back for it and I know it would be gone. She said sure, and her husband moved it. He even offered to drop it off at my house. That's okay, I'll be back in 5 minutes I said. We rushed home, emptied the car and went back and it took Linda and I BOTH to load it in the trunk. My husband could not believe his eyes when he came home and saw it! He knew I had been wanting one!
 Linda said I reminded her of the movie "Miracle on 34th Street" at the end when the little girl Susan is riding home from the Christmas party daydreaming in the car and sees the house she asked Santa for and she yells "STOP THE CAR UNCLE FRED! STOP THE CAR!" and she busts out of the car and runs up to the house and bursts in. .....hahahha Well, I did yell STOP THE CAR and burst out and ran tot he driveway..... incidentally, if you know that movie, the house they see and the town lawyer Fred mentions where he wants to settle one day is Great Neck, which is a town here on Long Island! Just had to throw that in....and you would have to be a lawyer to afford it there too.

Okay, now I'm just rambling! Happy Sunday! and happy GARAGE SALE-ING!

Sarah

In the morning when the sun rises, there are beautiful streaks of sunlight that drift in through the sidelights of my front door. I see them every morning because I am an early riser by habit seven days of the week. I rarely sleep past 5:30, and if I do I feel I have wasted precious hours of the day! The peacefulness of the early morning~it's a time to take in the beauty around you. Go out into the garden and observe the magic that happens over night and dawn --the dew, the growth, the sound of the birds waking up  to start another day. I do a daily morning stroll around my outside. It's refreshing and rejuvenating. Life is happening when you are sleeping! Those streaks of sunlight I mentioned that come through the sidelights of my front door play on the walls of my foyer and dance upon our new acquisition from Lancaster County--the print we purchased of a little Amish girl named Sarah who is holding her white kitty. For several years we have loved that painting by Nancy Noel. We would see it on our our many trips to PA but never got around to purchasing it. The place to hang it did not present itself because this picture was so special it needed a proper home on a certain wall. We didn't buy her but we never forgot her! Then suddenly we stopped seeing Sarah. It had been about three years since we last saw her. She was gone; perhaps we lost our chance and would have to buying her on the internet but that wan't the same. We wanted her purchased WHERE she represented: the Amish community of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It justmade it more authentic....am I just a little nuts?  And isn't it amazing that she reappeared at Peaceful Valley Furniture just when she knew we finally had a place for her? This time Sarah would be coming home with us! She now greets you when you enter the front door; above my Amish bench. She stands out proudly. Truly the focal point of the large foyer. Yet she is never overwhelming; she is peaceful and calming. The feeling I want people to have when they enter my home. I hope you love her too.

 

Sarah found her home in ours above our black bench.

 

Another purchase for the foyer was this adorable black chair I bought At Kings Kountry Crafts on Rte 772. One of my favorite stores. It stands across the street from a bigger Kings store but Kings Kountry Crafts is my preferrred Kings! Oh, and if you have been to Lancaster County you know there is another great Kings store on Rte 30! LOVE' EM ALL! SHOP 'EM ALL! This chair was a great buy at only $21! I think I need another --in burgundy. You can never have enough little chairs I always say! :)

 

 

On the chair I placed a handmade doily and a little crock that I bought. Love the beige and brown combination in crockery and jugs. My favorite! Inside the crock I have a battery tea light. I also hung one of new pip berry rings.

 

Loving this parchment:

My chair sits in front of the parlor french doors which are also in my foyer. On my french door is hanging a lovely painted parchment that my cosuin Johanna gave me. She gave me another one several years ago with an Autumn scene painted on it and I always hang it on those doors too. For now until I bring out the Fall boxes, BLESS OUR HOME will stay! Love it so much Jo! I believe she got it at a mud sale.

 

 

It's Saturday! Go have fun!

Old Fashioned Afternoon

Someone made me feel very happy yesterday! It was a Mom who thanked me for "an old fashioned afternoon." Sure made me smile when she told me that. I wonder how often most people have an old fashioned afternoon? We have a lot of them here! What she is referring to is my afternoon at my house with my Brownie troop. I had taught Caitlin how to do various stitches this Summer~~cross stitch, straight stitch, back stitch and she loved learning. She embroidered a couple of sayings on pieces of felt such as "Cats Are Sweet", "Best Dad Ever" and since she loved learning how to stitch I put it out there to the Moms of my Brownie troop that if any of the girls would like to learn, they could come to my house for a sewing circle. The response was overwhelming! What a fun time we had! They told me ahead of time what they wanted to  so I could write it out on felt squares. I told them to choose a three word saying (Most wanted "I LOVE (and the name of their dog)"  and it was great! They diligently sat and learned and stitched! And we chatted and stitched! AND the most unbelieveable thing of all (at least for this modern day and age) is the Moms opted to STAY! Yes, they didn't leave for nail appointments or mall visits. At first the intent was to drop off but when they stayed for a few minutes and saw the eagerness of these kids to learn, one by one they sat and stayed! It was the feeling in the room. The pleasantness of the peacefulness! They helped thread needles and clip stray threads...And everyone was happy, happy, happy.

This is actually a card I have saved; not a stitchery by the girls!

Later in the evening, I got an email from one of the Moms who thanked me for an old fashioned afternoon! How nice of her. Another emailed me and said her daughter enjoyed sewing so much that they stopped at Michaels Craft Store on the way home and bought their own supplies. What a compliment. AND proof that kids don't need all the bells and whistles of life all the time to have fun. These eight year old girls sat for 2 hours laughing, talking, snacking and stitching and were thrilled with the work their little hands produced. Oh and I think their Moms learned a thing or two as well!

Outside I bring you to my new apple orchard :)  I know; not quite but I am in LOVE with my apple trees. Cousin Johanna started me on these! We now have four! One is a granny smith, the other is a gala, and the other two are multi types. Each tree has four kinds of apples! Obviously fused together but apples nonetheless! When all is said and done and the apples (hopefully) bear fruit, we should have 8 different kinds! I want an almond tree next!

pumpkins!

The Halloween Garden is growing well! The Indian corn and the mini Indian corn are getting tall! If I don't get actual corn, at least I will have cornstalks for decorations! My birdhouse gourds are overtaking everything! Theyare growing wild! As are my pumpkins! We have made or enlarged a few other gardens too. My son's hard work!

roses and sunflowers!

newest garden of azaleas and a Japanese maple

 I bought his bridge on a recent trip to Lancaster County from the Countryside Roadstand. Next year I have plans for it! This year we just set her in the garden bed!

loving my bridge!

my son made this bigger and planted the new front row of shrubs

Hope you have a beautiful day!