Happy Birthday Caitlin!

Happy 6th birthday to my Caitlin! Caitlin is my little treasure who every day makes me laugh and smile. She's Daddy's girl and Mommy's helper and buddy. She adores and idolizes her big brother Billy. She arrived on March 28, 2005, ~~it was a difficult time as my Dad had passed away two months before. Caitlin was the little angel from heaven who forced us to carry on and get up each morning to face the world as we desperately missed my Dad. She helped to heal us and although she never met her Grandpa, I know he sees her and laughs and at times maybe even cringes in fear (she can be a little dare devil)! ;) Caitlin restored some joy into our family after Dad's passing and for that I am forever grateful.

Her favorite color is blue, she is crazy about icecream, loves Scooby Doo, flip flops, cats, crafts, coloring, swings, books and enjoys singing loudly. AND she loves her pink monkey named Maboo (pronounced MAH BOO; just in case you were wondering!)

Happy Birthday Caitlin!

Chilly Sunday!

The calendar says Spring but it certainly feels like January here. The pictures of my shed and my yard show the dusting of snow we got the other day; it has melted now but the cold temperatures remain. Poor Uncle Sam is out there holding his flag as steady as possible. When Bill took him out of hibernation, I'm sure he didn't think we'd be seeing any more snow! Well, that is not stopping me from feeling spring-like. I have been busy decorating for Spring and going through different things I have to add/change around the house. I filled this great pot-pourri star. I want to get more of those. Smells great and you can fill it with whatever scent you like.That one is filled with cafe' mocha. Also took out my Terry's Village bunny stacking boxes and put them with a wagon full of eggs. Eastery.

As I am dusting and re-doing, I thought you might like to see some of my favorite signs in the house. I love these little signs and always seek out new ones when I go to PA. The one that says "People that don't like cats..." was gift from Bill's sister Kathy. I had never nor have I since ever seen that one in a store, but she found it!I think there may be some truth to that; just saying. That one seems to get the biggest snicker~~oh, and "Cock & Bull stories told here..." Yeah, sometimes, I admit it! The "Grateful" one and the forever and always one is the absolute truth as is my personal favorite--no rain, no rainbows. To me that sums up my whole philosophy of life! You have to go through the hard times to appreciate the good. You have to take the good with the bad or you won't appreciate the reward!You have to be hopeful and optimistic or you'll just fall apart SO take the rain when it comes! It'll be sunny tomorrow! Lastly, the little cat one with the saying --- 'nuff said! I've sure had a few visitors where I sat and watched the clock....

On this Sunday, Bill is working. He has several large jobs going on and must keep them running like clockwork. He's re-doing a shopping center in a town nearby called Greenlawn which, btw, is where Mariah Carey grew up. (little trivia for ya) He's been working so hard but we are so grateful considering the economy is what it is. Our trip to Massachusetts on April 16-19 will be greatly appreciated :) Today, I will be preparing cupcakes for Caitlin's kindergarten class tomorrow. We are celebrating her 6th birthday and her teacher is graciously allowing not only me to come to the class but my Mom as well. My kids have only my Mom as a grandparent so we get Mom in as much as we can! Caitlin doesn't want to have a party yet though. She wants to wait till it's nicer out and have a "bouncer" party at home. Fine by me!

Also on my agenda: more straightening up and also organizing my craft supplies, making roast beef for dinner (my favorite Sunday dinner) with onion oven-roasted potatoes (my sister's favorite) and veggies. I finished two more stitcheries; I must photograph and post them.

Happy Sunday!

But the Calendar Says Spring (?)

Good afternoon! Well, it may be Spring but here on Long Island we have some snowflakes falling! Nothing is sticking except a little on the lawns but still it is snowing. Upstate New York and New Jersey got between 5-7 inches! They are calling for some more tonight too, but I'm not worried about accumulation.

I've been working on a few projects here and decorating for Spring/Easter. I set up my collection of egg cups. Hope you enjoy seeing those. I think they are precious. Displayed with pink depression glass they look very festive.

I completed another button stitchery. This is another in blue. I really enjoy doing these, and I flip through magazines like the Country House to find "short sayings" to put. Very simple, and I just have to frame them up. The little peg rack will probably be saved for my craft room. I am just drawn to the burgundy and black combo of colors. I find I am always painting in those colors! I also love mustard yellow and black combo.

Like alot you, I decorate my laundry room. There was an old issue of Country Sampler that really inspired me to do that about ten years ago and over the years I have changed it but I always have it decorated, and I just love it. The little clothesline I made a couple of years back, and I wanted to share it cause many of us have retro hankies and this is a cute way to display them. Just find the mini clothes pins at a craft store. You can create any type of wash line; even a small piece of twine hung against your laundry room wall would be suffice. Improvise! At least the little hankies aren't sitting in a drawer anymore!

My cats all have Spring fever~~Robin has been running around bunching up my foyer rug and then losing his footing and actually tripping (what a klutz). Good thing I don't have these cats as mousers because they would be a comedy of errors trying to catch any. I've been checking the internet to see the availability of roosters as we are seriously thinking of replacing little Jerry, our mini bantam rooster who passed away last September. As we were doing our Spring clean up outdoors, my husband and I both remarked how odd it was to be outside in the sun without Little Jerry following us. I can't even imagine sitting on our front porch at night this Summer without Jerry. We'll see. Craigslist Long Island has several people offering bantams and full size so we may check them out.

Waiting patiently to see what Gina bought at Jo-Ann's today....just saying :)

Busy Sunday!

Good Evening! I just finished cleaning up the dishes and thought I would post before I settle down for the night. We had a busy day and I took advantage of the sunshine cleaning up outside. Although my husband had a business appointment very early this morning out in Southold, he was back by 1:00, and we started cleaning up outside. I was happy to see the crocus sprouting in my backyard and even some hosta. Very little sprouts. The day had some sun (as you can see by the photo of my porch) so it was pleasant work raking and bagging up all the twigs. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We had a rough Winter so I was anticipating the worst, but we got it done and it looks clean! But~~~snow/sleet/rain mix tonight! Just when you thought it was all over! Oh Well! We then reorganized our shed and took out some of the decorative yard things I use. It's always fun seeing your "friends" again after they've been hibernating all Winter! When we were done, we fired up the grill! A good day =)

Yesterday I started my Easter decorating. I love the bunnies that are made of straw or other natural materials. I was happiest to see Mr. Easter Bunny painting the big egg with his palette of paints. The egg opens for candy or whatever but I don't let ANYONE touch him. I got him from a store we used to have in Commack called Maces several years ago. Maces has since closed and Mr. Easter Bunny can't be replaced. He's very fragile. Anyway, I used to go into Maces for odds and ends. It used to sell a variety of things and closeouts too. You never knew what they would have but you always found something. I used to get a ton of seasonal things there. I remember I paid $8.00 for Mr. Easter Bunny! What a steal! He's very retro if you seem him in person.

That's about it for me! Have a great night and Happy Spring!

Simple Fun, Great Candy, & Tweeking the Decor!

Sunday, before we left for the Flower & Garden Show, I was filling my bird feeders, and I gave Caitlin a water whistle to blow for the birds. If you haven't seen these, it's a plastic whistle and you fill it about 1/2 way with water and it makes bird sounds when you blow into it. She was so happy blowing that whistle and waiting to see if the birds answered her. It was cute to see her make the different sounds; adjusting her "blows" to make different calls. Anyone who has little ones should definitely get one. I always see them out at Easter, and she actuallygot it in her basket last year from Easter Bunny :) but had forgotten about it. I put it away and came across it recently. Am I glad I did! Check CVS or Walgreeens or whatever drug store chain you have. They're only $1.00 Simple Fun!
For a one-two-three candy recipe, you must try this one. (Recipe at the end of the post) I could easily eat this all by myself ( I almsot did !I went back & forth to the kitchen taking a little piece, then another little piece, etc.) You will not be disapointed.
One of my neighbors knows of my love for roosters (both real & fake), and I was thrilled when for my birthday she gave me a big tea cup planter with a rooster on it. I thought it was a tabletop planter when I saw it in the box but when I opened it, it was actually half of a tea cup and it hangs on the wall. I wasn't sure I wanted to hang it. Right now I'm pretty happy with what I have hanging already and didn't want to change it so arranged it with hydrangeas that I had dried from my backyard last Summer and put it on my corner shelf. What do you think? That corner piece has alot of sentimental value to me as it was the first piece of amish furniture I ever bought! I think the shelves "pop", as the expression goes!

Crack Up! Candy

2 sticks of butter
1 cup of brown sugar
1 sleeve of saltines
1 bag of chocolate chips
finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Lay out saltines on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Melt butter and sugar in a saucepan. Cook about 3 minutes (almost boiling)until mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Pour and smooth butter mixture over the saltines.
Bake @400 degrees for 7 minutes. Pour chocolate chips on top and smooth over saltines. They will melt! Sprinkle with nuts or not. Cool in freezer until hard and then CRACK 'EM UP! Enjoy! Go ahead and make 2 batches - 1 for you and 1 to send to me ;)

Have a great night! Love you all!

Flower & Garden Show

We had a great Sunday!We headed to Old Westbury for the annual Flower & Garden Show at Hicks Nursery. I've mentioned this nursery before. It is over a hundred years old and is still owned by one of the earliest families on Long Island, the Hicks family. It's such a tradition for us for all the seasons whether it be walking through their Halloween display and seeing Otto the Ghost or seeing Santa every year there (for free, too!). We visit for all the various events . The flower show is special because you can walk at your own pace and spend as much time as you want looking at the flowers, bushes, ponds, etc. It was so beautiful and really had me aching for flowers and planting. They had some beautiful Easter displays set up as well. I hope everyone enjoys the photos. We can't even think of planting here until Mother's Day. Even though the weather has warmed up a little, even on the days when it is 55 degrees, it still feels cold. We'll see how the end of the week feels when it is supposed to go up to almost 70.

Today I have a few errands to run, and I'm going to pick up the ingredients for a homemade, super SIMPLE candy recipe today. I tasted this last week and had to get the recipe. After I make it, I will post it. Something so easy tastes so incredible. I also plan to start a new Amish fiction book from a different author, Cindy Woodsmall. I've read several by other authors so lets see how Cindy's Amish books measure up :) Have a great day!

St. Paddy's Lunch, P.I.F, & Birdhouses!

Good Morning, I sure hope everyone remembered to set the clocks ahead! I ran around last night changing them before I went to bed. I was pooped last night. We had a full day. My good friend Johanna was coming over with her three daughters, the youngest only 4 months old, and we had a St. Patrick's themed lunch that was very fun. I know I was supposed to take a bunch of pictures, and I'm usually good at that, but unfortunately once she came, I never got to! I only took a photo of my table decorations! :( We had a nice time ~~Caitlin loves to play with her daughter Olivia who is 5, and Lilah who is 3 and seeing baby Ella was such a joy. I haven't held a new baby sine Caitlin was that size, and I was melting. The day went from food, to fun back to food (naturally) and that little Ella so I never got to photograph our day!

On to the luncheon, I made tea -sized corned beef sandwiches, potato salad, a big salad, a cheese platter and other goodies the kids love like mozzarella sticks, hash brown patties and chicken nuggets. We had Irish soda bread, shamrock cookies, cupcakes....and more. Caitlin was so happy to give her friend's our little favor. It was a leprechaun pipe filled with chocolate gold coins, a necklace and a green "glo" bracelet. We had a really nice time~Jo is one of those gals that you chat the whole afternoon away with and then wish she'd stay for dinner! Caitlin loved playing with her friends, and I also think she enjoyed being an "older" sister to Lilah. Next party up is our annual "Easter Egg Coloring Party" on Holy Thursday. That we do with our neighbors who live behind us and this year we''ll be including Johanna and her three girls.

So I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Cat Nap Primitives, and she posted about Pay It Forward. She saw this idea on another blog and I want to pass this on as well as I believe it's a truly great and fun thing to do. Now listen closely and hopefully you will participate as well:

When something good happens to you, turn around and pass the goodness on to another. But instead of paying it "back", pay it "forward" to the NEXT person. Like a kindness chain. Keep it going. Now I think all of us love getting surprises in the mail, I know I do, so this is the thing--The first five who comment on my blog, will receive a little gift. You must send me your address of course and I will send you a little gift. In return, you must write a blog post explaining "Pay It Forward" and send goodies to your first five posters. You are now "Paying it Forward". Now you don't have to send everything out immediately. There's no pressure here. Over the next couple of months, if you'd like. As Gina said, we want this to be a joyful experience.

I've been painting birdhouses for a display I would like to do on my porch for the Spring/Summer. I finished the barn the other night and have another drying. I had previously done the other two. One has black capped chickadees (a family favorite bird), and the other is sunflower themed---one of my favorite flowers. I painted them, then used rub on transfers. I love sunflowers so much. They always look like such happy flowers, and I love how they look in country decorating. I just have to spray sealant on them, and they are good to go on the porch. I'm waiting to go back to Lancaster to pick up this black wrought iron shelf that I plan to display my birdhouses on. It will be a perfect size cause it's kind of a "tower"shape and will fit nicely in the corner of my porch; not obstructing my chairs.

I guess that's it for me. Bill has two business appointments this Sunday morning to get to and then he'll be back before lunch, and we're heading to the Hicks Nursery Garden & Flower Show. I'll have some nice photos to post from that, I'm sure! Enjoy your day!