Welcome Fall!

Oh my goodness! Today is the first day of Fall! I feel so excited and happy! I guess I feel somewhat dormant over the Summer cause we get a little laid back when school is out but once the Fall begins there are so many things to do! Crafts to make, parties to plan, apples and pumpkins to pick, and lots more! It can be as busy as you want it to be and we are busy right up to Thanksgiving! Then a  whole new fun begins the day after that!!!

I've been having so much fun working on my Facebook group too. It's going so well and I have met even more wonderful people.  Anyway, I've been in the mood for pumpkin everything. Coffee, muffins and I've also been addicted to carrot cake! I never made one from scratch but I think I would like to try. I do have a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bars I want to try and my husband brought home a 25 pound box of Hershey chocolate chips last night from a job he has been doing! So I'll have plenty of  chocolate chips.....Oh man....

Dollar Tree has had the best stuff lately and if you haven't been there lately, they have lovely burlap flowers and leaves...

I haven't gotten my first pumpkin of the season yet...very soon. We have our plans for apple and pumpkin picking.

We did visit the annual pickle festival last weekend. There is also a nice farms stand there. This is on the farm my husband renovated last year.

Of all the things at the pickle festival, everyone, including my daughter (in the green) and her buddy, seem to like the most are the pickles on a stick! Yummy Koshur or garlic pickles on a stick. Delicious!

A ride on the antique "lollipop" railroad. this may be Caitlin's last year on it :(  We'll see....

 

School is closed today for the Jewish holiday. I have some things to take care of around here and this weekend down comes the rest of he Halloween goodies! We are having a party again this year but it will be small, maybe about eight girls. I still do lots of prep for it though. I'm going to make these little boo cups as one of their party favors:

I try to do a new party favor each year plus I keep some of my old favorites. It just wouldn't be Halloween if I wasn't making some of the same things every year! And it's cute that some of the girls know this and would question me if I didn't make a certain something! A couple of these girls have attended our Halloween party since they were infants!

Enjoy your first day of Fall!

Some Favorite Things

Good Morning! Has anyone done any decorating yet? I've started. Within the next two weeks Halloween will be out all over the house and porch. I'm enjoying taking it out a little at a time instead of one day where it is ALL out. I think it helps me where I place things too. For some things, they must go in the same spot every year. It's like a tradition! These little pumpkin guys must be in my kitchen.

 

And I look forward to seeing my three lady friends in the foyer to greet our guests:

They are right up the stairs in a big closet waiting to descend the stairs and start the Halloween season! I think I hear them cackling!!!

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary! We haven't celebrated out yet (we usually go out for dinner) but we plan to this weekend. I'm married to a wonderful man :)

We are starting to make up our plans for our annual Halloween party. Are you doing anything different this year? Caitlin will be inviting her friends and my son and his girlfriend will be helping to host the party. It's so much fun having another helping hand! (meaning his girlfriend!)  Her family loves Halloween too! Hurray!

 

I love these lights on top of my hutch so much! I've since added some pip berries up there too but those tiny orange lights are my favorites! And I love that they are on a timer. Every day at 4:30 they pop on!

The newest craft project I'm working on right now is my crows...I bought black feathered crows and I'm dressing them...kind of like how I dress the pumpkin people. I saw them on Pinterest. Hats, collars, etc.! So cute. I'm trying...we'll see how they turn out. Mine won't looking as good as those:

I made pumpkin spice muffins last night and I am going to have one with my second cup of coffee right about now! I'm craving pumpkin anything! I made these Pepperidge Farm Pecan Caramel rolls the other day...So good! They are in the refrigerated section of the supermarket with the crescent and biscuit rolls. When I pick my apples, it'll be apple everything!

Don't forget! If you are on Facebook, join my country decorating group! go to the top part of this page and you'll see it!

Have a happy Friday!

A Beautiful Time of Year

I think by now everyone who reads my blog knows this is my favorite time of year. I love the Fall for so many reasons. I love the color, the activities and the nesting part of it I feel. The colors of Fall decorate my home year round. It's just magical to me.

School started September 8th and we are off to a good start. Caitlin likes her teacher and my son likes his schedule. We have some nice activities coming up and a weekend trip so there is a lot to look forward to.

I've been busy decorating and creating when I have the time. may I introduce you to my scarecrow people? Below is one seated next to one of my pumpkin people.

I have made several and love them. I get the head with the pick at Dollar Tree and then with some pipe cleaners, cupcake papers and decorations I have a new friend!

Here's some of the gang:

They're a happy bunch! And they became fast friends with the pumpkin people! Caitlin and her friends love to come over and create all these little people. They have some great ideas to dress them!

I had hoped to get some mums this weekend but we are getting lots of much needed rain. Maybe next weekend.

I hope you will join my Facebook group! It's called Country Home-Decorating & Creating Country, Prim & Amish style. You can click on the picture for it top right! I'm having so much fun and meeting so many new people. Recipes, crafts, decorating---come join us!

Anyway, back to the blog here...I'm planning the Halloween decorations but haven't started yet. Pinterest has so many great ideas. With school starting I had a lot of shopping to do so I made notes of all the things I want to go back to. Honestly I can be on there for hours!

Here is a photo of my son from a week ago. He hates when I ask to take his picture but I asked him if I could take one since I always post photos of Caitlin. He's so funny and it took me a few minutes to get him not to be a clown so that I could take the picture!

I had the best carrot cake the other day! I have to get a good recipe to make my own! So delicious! I think it's my new favorite cake!

Have a great evening!

Fall Decorating!

I'm so happy to take out the Fall decorations and begin! The silk leaves went up on all my windows in the kitchen and the sidelights of my front door on August 31st! Out came the leaves to outline my table in the family room. A few pumpkins...not doing Halloween just yet but shortly.....

My favorite time of year is upon us! Every day there is something to add or adjust to make it just right!

Hope you're having doing all your decorating too!

Bye Bye August!

Last weekend of August already. The kids have until September 8th to enjoy their vacation from school. Caitlin had some fun this week going mini golfing and to an indoor trampoline place called Sky Zone. I love her sweet group of friends. I started sneaking out some Fall stuff....a little at a time. My leaves will be on the windows by Monday. I have a million silk leaves that I put up on all the windows and the sidelights of my front door. This is from last year on one of my sliders.

 

It's just gonna be quiet Saturday today. Some cleaning and laundry.

 

 

Putting some stuff away and taking some stuff out...

We'll see how far I get. I want to make apple fritters one of these days this weekend. I made stuffed cabbage the other night and it was so good! Here they are before they went into the oven.

When I'm busy I love making one pot meals like stew or crock pot stuff. It leaves me time to go into the shed and pull out the Fall stuff! I found this flag I bought at Michaels last year on clearance.

It's a Debbie Mumm flag and I paid $2! A mini flag. I put it out yesterday. Fall is coming!

Please join my facebook group by clicking on the picture on the top right OR just send me a facebook request and I will add you. We have 21 members so far and everyone is so nice and interacting like a big friendship ring. Just how I had hoped it would be :)

Happy Saturday!

How Was Your Weekend?

Monday already! Summer is quickly wrapping up. For me, when Labor Day arrives it's over. Even though the kids are still wearing shorts to school and the days are warm, Fall (for me) begins on Labor Day. School starts September 8th so we still have some time to squeeze in a few more fun things. Then in September the fun really starts with so many activities to look forward to with apple picking, picnics, pumpkin picking, etc.

I've been enjoying updating my new page on Facebook. It's a group and I hope you will check it out and join. It's called Country Home-Creating& Decorating Country, Prim & Amish style.  It's so hard to get noticed but it's been very fun for me to add to it. If you join, I hope you will upload some of your photos of your home, your creations, things you'd like to sell, recipes, etc.

Over the weekend we visited two of my favorite places--Peconic Agway and the Modern Snack Bar! Most women are excited over Macys and malls. Me? When I go to Peconic to the big Agway for my chicken and rabbit supplies! I can stay there forever. I purchase the different feeds for the rabbits and chickens, alfalfa, straw, etc and then I was looking in the goat department at the goat supplies. I'm in heaven. I would love to have a goat but my property is only 1/4 acre and I already have the chicken/rabbit coop. I love them though. The Agway has large bins to scoop your own feed and all kinds of fun displays. It's the best.

We had lunch at the Modern Snack Bar in Aquebogue. It has been there since 1947 and it is amazing.

Here is the interior. It hasn't changed in all these years. The walls are filled with many paint by number landscapes from the 1950's plus other artwork much of which is ocean related since Long Island is an island (!) and Aquebogue is not far from the very tip of it! When we go to the end we can see Connecticut! I wave to my cousin Joanne in Brookfield, Connecticut from the very tip (just kidding).

We enjoyed a great lunch that started with their delicious lobster bisque. Yum. I was sad to hear that the owner passed away in May. She was a lovely, lovely woman who would greet all her guests and then sit at her own special table folding napkins and doing little things. She passed away at 91. the Modern Snack Bar lives on though.

I added these wonderful rice lights to the top of my hutch. They are on a timer! I love them. I may keep them up all year as the color goes nicely with all my warm earth tones. Oh how I love my little lights all over.

A few more items have been made for the craft fair but now I am working on Christmas items. I also got some small scarecrow heads and I am going to try working with these to make scarecrow people similar to my pumpkin people. Here are some of my pumpkin people from last year:

Have a wonderful day!

Simple Summer Days

August 13th already. I like the Summer but am longing for Fall! School doesn't start till September 8th so the kids still have a few weeks more to enjoy. Caitlin and I are going to my Girl Scout co-leader's house today for a pool party for our troop. We still have all of our 12 girls. All of them renewed for another year. Hurray! I've been doing little projects around the house. I stained this little stool I bought at Michaels. First I had adhered a wallpaper border piece left over from my son's old bedroom. I save all the unused rolls for further use in crafts. I had also used this one on a milk can.  I had painted the stool a cream color and once it was good and dry I applied stain and wiped it to give it the aged look.

Also at Michaels I had picked up on sale this adorable shower planter. It was originally $29.99, and I really didn't want to spend that. Then I saw a sign that said all the products made by that particular company were on sale so I snatched it up for $10.49!

Now it's in the bathroom looking adorable.   :) They also had a cute bath tub!

I  made that apple crisp last weekend that I told you I was going to make with some of the apples in my yard. It came out good but I had to add a lot of sugar to sweeten it; the apples are very tart. I hope the next batch we pick are sweeter so I can share some with my neighbor. These were a little too sour. The apple crisp was good though! It just needed some extra sweetening as I prepared it.

Here it is out of the oven. Brown sugar is so YUMMY!

 

The whole gang was free in our yard the other day running around. Below is Miss Frankie taking her walk through the grass. She's such a sweetie but when she's in a mood we call her "Frankie Frankenstein." She has her diva chicken moments for sure. I love my fluffy girl.

Here are the three bunnies-Bandit, Chestnut and Lucky and of course Carol and Frankie playing in the grass. Notice the leaves on the ground???Yep....Fall is coming!

Not for anything but usually the leaves don't fall off my chestnut tree this early. They usually start more towards the end of August. They have been falling off for at least two weeks now. Is Winter coming early this year? I think Nature is sending us a message!

This pretty pink plant below was a rescue! My son and I were in Home Depot and we saw it in a garbage pail by the exit. It was in bad shape but not dead. We took it home and planted it, this is back in early June when we planted her...and she was a blooming beauty all Summer!

 

Buds and buds of pink flowers! The picture doesn't do her justice.

Before I run, I just wanted to let you know if you missed my last post that I started a decorating and crafting group on Facebook. It's called Country Home-Decorating & Creating Country, Prim and Amish style. If you are on Facebook, please join our group! We'll have fun! I promise!

Thanks! Have a great day!