Wise Words

Wise Words of Advice.....

My sweet husband sent this to me and I wanted to share. I highlighted a few that I especially liked. It is long but worth the time to read it......

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1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends & parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it. Then lean on him anyway.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't mess up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special

occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone for everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young. Rejoice!

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

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Do you have any in particular that you just love?

I hit some garage sales last weekend and picked up some the goodies you see here in my photos....a chicken feeder missing the top repurposed into a flower vase....there's those daisies again!

I will be switching them out for sunflowers for the fall!

I also found this old flour sifter....only cost a $1. Some black eyed susans from my garden popped into a small mason jar that fits perfectly inside, another flower holder.

I guess I just have a thing for flowers...I will share the other goodies I found in another post. You all have a great Thursday, I'm off to make some of the goodies for my merchantile I was supposed to post about on Tuesday!

Take Care,

Dee

Bakin with my Boy.

It was just my lil man and me, yesterday morning since my girls were out with friends. He told me he wanted cupcakes but it was still too early to make them. I knew that if I made cupcakes he would be having them for breakfast since this lil guy takes after me in the sweets dept.!

I found a chocolate chip muffin pouch from good ol' Betty Crocker in the pantry and

to work we went.

If you have a lil one in the house that likes to bake with you these are the perfect mix to use.
You only have to add water, mix it up, and then bake. Not to mention that they are great when you are in a pinch too. The only ingredient required is water, it is good to have on hand.
Most toddler's attention spans are pretty short, so in about 12-15 minutes they are ready to move onto something new!

I made this same muffin mix a few weeks ago and my lil guy wouldn't touch them, said they were no good (what?!) so I was hoping that he would eat these because we were out of his favorite blueberry muffin mix.

He is 2 and they can be sweet and sour at that age, need I say any more?


Our mother & son baking dialogue.......

Lil man: "I want to do it mommy...by myself."




Lil man: "Ummm, this doesn't look very yummy...ewww, what's that black stuff in there?"

Me: "Those are choc. chips. Did you make them yucky? Cause if you make them yummy,
they will be yummy.

You will have to blow some kisses in there
to make it yummy."



Lil man: (Blows some kisses inot the bowl) "I did make them yummy...."
Me: "Oh good, cause I only like to eat yummy muffins."


(I was surprised that he even tried the batter, once this guy says ewww to something, that usually means good luck, I'm not eatin it!)




Now they are yummy to him and I had to tell him to
save some of the batter, we need to fill our muffin cups!



Patiently waiting (well, as patiently as a two year old could be!)

Lil man: "Are they done yet? Mommmmmmmmy are they done yet? Okay, I will lick this spoon and bowl clean for you and you won't have to wash it, isn't that great?"

Me: LOL

Lil man: "Are they done yet (a whole 1 minute later)?
10 minutes is an eternity to my two year old!

Lil man: "What, wait a minute! But they are done...mmmmm, they look so good! I want one now, pleazzzzzzze."

Me: "You will have to wait until they are finished cooling or you can burn yourself"

This is the part were lil man decided he was going to help me cool them down. After they were put on the plate he proceeded to blow (lightly mist) on just about all of them. Another eternity for a 2 year old!

I was so relieved that my girls were not there to witness that.....they would never have eaten again!

Lil man: "Okay they are good now, I was like a fan!" "Mommy can we send Daddy a picture to work of my cupcakes (he still thinks they're cupcakes)?"

Picture for Daddy, Yummmmm....these are really good.

And 4 muffins later.....

I asked him why he didn't eat these the last time I made them and he told me they are better when he mixes them!

That is how you get a two year old to eat, you let him help make it!

~~Love you, my lil puddin' pie! ~~

Farm Fresh Corn

FARM FRESH

CORN

I hope you are enjoying the last of summer's fresh bounty!

The Farmers Market

had the

sweetest fresh corn!

I certainly am making the most of it, since it will all be over after this week.

Oh, the new, old, enamelware pot?

I picked it up at our Country Emporium...cute and useful.

Take Care now!

Hugz,

Dee

Family movie night at the Farmhouse with the Waltons...

The Waltons will be our feature presentation on Family Movie night each week here at the farmhouse over the next couple of months. I picked up seasons one and two the other day at the wholesale club and need I say anymore? The title should be enough. If you don't know anything about this program, you will have to catch a rerun on the hallmark channel..I think they still play them on there. It was a television series that ran during the mid 70's into the early 80's. The episodes are based on the author, Earle Hamner's, personal childhood memories of his boyhood growing up on Walton's Mountain in Virginia during the Great Depression.

I was so excited when I came across these videos, the complete series, seasons 1-8 all on DVD's! I hope to pick up the rest of them over the coming months each time I am shopping. I am not a big television person but I used to watch this show as a young girl with my grandpa each week. He just loved it since he could relate to it so well. He grew up one of eight children during the same time period in upstate NY. Throughout the show each week he would regularly comment

"yup, that's the way it was".

Oh how I miss my grandpa, and this show brings back fond memories of him.

Even as a young girl, I admired that white clapboard farmhouse the family lived in, I loved every detail of the kitchen and how the family all sat around the radio each evening for entertainment. I just knew that someday I wanted a farmhouse just like that one.....with a nice country kitchen, a long front porch, and lots of children to fill it.

It is so funny now watching the program as an adult I think about how many seeds this wholesome show planted in my brain so long ago. In addition to loving the set, the message each show sends is just wonderful. I wish there was a modern day equivalent running now. We watched The Yearling, episode one in the first season. My children loved it too, so we have decided this would be our regular show on Family night, I was so happy! We are going to have voting for our favorite episodes at the end of each season.....Anyone have a favorite they would like to share?

My latest project.....

On another topic, I wanted to share a project I recently finished. We needed a new entertainment center for our great room. Our old one had seen better days and it was time for something new. I have been searching for something that I liked throughout the furniture stores but couldn't seem to find anything that I liked or if I did like something, it didn't fit into my budget, so I ended up picking up an unfinished and simple stand at our local country emporium.



After a light sanding, I painted it a creamy white, glazed,
and distressed it until I liked what I saw. Distressing is great since it will naturally occur in my household with a two year old, I don't mind it at all!




Once I was happy with the finish,
I rubbed in a paste wax to seal it, let it dry then buffed it to a matte shine.

Ta Da! Here is our new television stand hard at work in our family room.

It cost me a fraction of the price of anything else in the furniture stores

and it is exactly what I wanted.

I love a good deal and the satisfaction of doing it myself!

I scream, YOU scream,

WE all scream for Ice Cream!

Getting back to our movie night, we decided to make some

homemade vanilla ice cream

to end the evening with.

.

If you are in the market for an ice cream maker, check out a Cuisinart, I love mine. I picked this up at the end of the summer last year for almost half the normal price.

It is so easy to use and no rock salt is required.

Fresh milk, heavy cream, sugar & vanilla.....

You simply pour the ingredients into the frozen bowl and let it do all the work...no hand cranking involved.

(I do still love the look of those old fashioned ice cream makers though....)

In about a half an hour you will have The best homemade vanilla ice cream

with caramel topping.....Yum!!

Don't forget to sign up for my Harvest sign giveaway if you haven't already,

it is the last week to do so!

Take care now,

Dee

The flower beds, need some tucking in.....

My girls in the garden

were a little jealous with my last post about all the veggies,

so I have to give them some attention too....

The daisies have been gossiping something about me loving the veggie garden a little more with all of the attention that I have been giving them lately. I am sure the black eyed Susan's know better though, I do love them so!

I did have to reassure them they would be next on my list for weeding though, I am certain that is what is causing all the discord lately. Those weeds have a way of bringing my girls down a bit, and making them look bad! I am sure it was those sneaky little dandelions that started all of those rumors in my flower beds......oh, they are so bad! I don't want them to spoil my girls so weeding is on the to do list for this week. Once it is finished, I will share some more photos when my girls can stand proud.

The Sedum is patiently awaiting the fall, getting ready to bloom at a moments notice.

A Creamer Bouquet......

The sugar bowl that went along with my favorite creamer is long gone now, but I just couldn't part with the creamer too. It's new purpose in life is to hold pretty little garden bouquets, not so bad afterall. I like to pick some flowers from the garden and keep them near my sink. A nice treat when doing the dishes, it livens up the task.


I use an old water bottle cut in half, with a little water, when cutting my garden flowers. It keeps them from wilting until I can arrange them once I get inside.



I also like to use the water bottle when picking little bouquets for friends...they transport nicely, wrap them in tissue paper, tie with a cute little ribbon and then slip them into your cars cupholder. You can bring it to someone to brighten their day and it doesn't cost a thing.

Have a great day and take care now!

Dee

Victory in my Victory Garden!

Sweet Victory in my Victory Garden!

Walking through our vegetable garden yesterday I snapped a few photos. I must say that I am rather pleased with how things have turned out in my little garden this year.

I didn't always feel that way over the past few months and there were many days that I didn't think I would see a single vegetable come from all of my hard work!

I started up a brand new garden this year and took a leap when I decided whole heartedly to leave out the chemicals and see where organic gardening would lead me. It has been an interesting journey. My tomatoes once grew long and stalky and squash and zuchini once flowers fell off of the plant if I brushed past it. I quickly realized that converting over would not be all too easy.

My pepper plants are still in a pitiful state, producing barely a thing and when it does it is too small to be worthy of eating! This is something I will have to work harder at for next year.

To my surprise though, mothernature eventually took the reins and led me in the right direction. By adding natural fertilizers and pestisides, regular watering and tender loving care, very slowly I began to see some results.

Success can truly be valued after a few failures. My new venture in organic gardening has taught me patience most of all! It seemed to take longer than usual and there were a few times I looked upon all of my hard work and thought it would never come to pass. There is a reason, after all, that Miracle Grow has the word miracle in it, and getting instant gratification from a few sprinkles every now and again was just all too easy!

Some things are definately worth waiting for!

But there is a true miracle in the slowly moving process of letting mothernature do her job, slowly coaxing it along naturally and patiently waiting for it to show you the satisfaction of hard work.

I cannot say that my organic garden has shown me the bounty thus far that my "miracle" gardens of the past could easily produce, however, I am sure that this is certainly another learning process and in time I plan to master this organic garden of mine. Perhaps next year the peppers will also show up for the garden party!

Sweet Success!

Now, what is a girl to do with all of these vegetables?

Well, we have been feeling a little under the weather this past week and had quite a few rainy days so I thought some soup could do us all some good. I made some vegetable soup and mini quiche for lunch. It was a nice combination and the kids really liked it.

I sauted an onion, one of our mini red peppers, and a little bit of minced garlic in a T. of butter. until transparent. Next, I chopped one of the smaller zuchinis and tossed it in too.

I opened up and drained a can of corn. I know what you are thinking! All this talk about my garden and I open up a can of corn! Corn is not growing in my garden and since I wasn't feeling so great and didn't want to hit the farmers market, I reached into the pantry, but you could def. use fresh corn. Roasted corn would be great too!

I added some chopped basil, oregano and parsley from my garden. Then I added a can of crushed tomatoes, about 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and brought it to a boil. Next, I added about 3/4 cup of whole milk and 1/4 cup of 1/2 and 1/2. Stirred it up and for extra creaminess I threw in a dollup of sour cream.....It was pretty good, and much better than a can of campbells.

I have so many more recipes that I want to try! I will be making zuchini cake tonight...if it is good I will share the recipe, so....stay tuned!

By the way, the giveaway for the harvest sign is still on until the end of August, so if you want to sign up, just click on the link to the right and leave a comment, I just love reading everyones descriptions of fall, I am getting excited for its arrival!

GIVEAWAY......

A Harvest Sign Giveway......

not to mention a few other surprise goodies too!

I am in no way finished with summer ladies! I fully intend to enjoy the last couple of weeks this summer has to offer. I still have homemade ice cream to make, the ocean to visit, crabbing to do, fireflies to catch, a couple of picnics to have, and a few more summertime posts. By no means am I trying to rush things along here because I'm still smelling the roses!

I did, however, want to post this giveaway now so I could run it throughout the month of August. Anyone who would like to enter the drawing has several weeks to do so. This way, who ever wins will have it in time for their fall decorating.

If you would like to enter the drawing for this Harvest sign, along with a few other suprise goodies, please leave a comment below regarding your favorite part of the autumn season. If you would like to post about this giveaway on your blog, I will double your entry in the drawing. Furthermore, if you put a picture and a link I will quadruple your chances.

Just let me know in your comment the name of your blog and how many entries you should receive. I will be drawing a name randomly on August 31st and announce the winner on September 1st. Good luck this sign looks cute on a shelf with acorns and mums or on a porch behind a pile of pumpkins, I think you will like it!

Take Care Now,
Dee