Keep Smiling

Keep Smiling

Friday, July 18, 2014

Super Visit ~ Wonderful Week


 We had a wonderful visit from our daughter and granddaughters
&
a long weekend filled with fun!

I would love to show you photos of my 
beautiful daughter and granddaughters, but respecting their privacy is important.
So, take my word for it . . . they are sweetie pies . . .
And darn cute ones, at that :) 

 They arrived Thursday evening 
and 
Friday morning we sat on the front porch 
&
watched this going on in our backyard.

There were three dead trees in our backyard.
Our neighbors came over and cut one down for us,
but these two required professional help.


Steve is planning on having a wood burning stove
 in his shop this winter, 
so this wood is going to come in very handy :)



 Another thing that we did was make jam.
From this . . .

To this . . .

To this :)
It was so much fun . . .
having my three girls in the kitchen
with me, 
working together making our jam.


What's better than the combo of . . .
apricot jam in the window . . .
and new mown hay, out the window?



Second cutting this year :)

Loving my new country life :)

We also went to Silver Wood Theme Park
on Monday.

This was the first time that I had ever gone to a park like this.

Silver Wood was a blast! 
I can not believe it . . . 
it took three hours to drive there, 
we spent over eight hours in the park, 
and then three hours driving home.  
We had such a good time.
I even rode several rides including the river raft.
Not bad for an old gal, right :)

 Some of you have been wanting to see more of our bungalow
So, here are a few kitchen photos.
Before I say goodbye . . .
a lot of you show the books that you are reading.
Well, this is what I am reading at the moment :)
This and . . .

This :)

Have a wonderful weekend
&
Keep Smiling.

Your blogging sister,
Connie :)

37 comments:

  1. Sweet blog today. Your canning, your kitchen niknaks, your sign,"I want to be filled with Christ" the firewood...Glad you all had fun at the park, sound's like a great day. Like your reading material...you sure can jam a lot in one day....have a good one.

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    1. Hi Louise, I really thought that the day at the park would absolutely kill me, but I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to make memories with my daughter and granddaughters. We never know how many days that we will have on this earth and I do want them to remember me and good time together :) The Lord knows our hearts and He really came through for me . . . not only did that long day (High 90's) not kill me, but I had a fantastic time. I love your visits and truly appreciate our blogging friendship :)

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  2. Connie,
    I am so happy for you, that you are loving your new country life!!!
    I love living in the country too!! A slower pace of life, is just perfect for me.

    Happy for you to have had your daughter, and Grands to visit. Heart warming memories were made, I'm sure.

    I LOVE canning!!! Great job on the jam, and I hope that you do a lot more canning this summer and fall.

    Cute pictures of your cottage. It seems very warm and welcoming....just as a cottage should be.

    K.

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    1. Hi Kerin, this is the perfect life for us. Steve and I are so happy that we made this move to the country. Our other place was very groomed and tailored to the neighborhood, but now that we live on a small country farm (farm to us, LOL) I feel like I want to keep it very simple. Mow to the edge and forget the weed eaters and the edgers :) I want more time to garden, can, sew, quilt and sit on the porch and watch the birds take a bath or the neighbor mow and bale his hay :)
      Thanks so much for stopping by to visit, it means so much . . . I love my blogging friendships :)

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  3. Hi Connie,

    The homemade jam looks wonderful! Yum. It definitely looks like country life is for you. Do you live somewhere near water where you can still take advantage of Gypsy Rose?

    I love the smell of fresh cut grass and hay!

    Hugs,
    Kay

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    1. Hi Kay, actually we live only about three miles from where we lived before. This year we are so busy with getting this place fixed up that we don't have time for sailing, but there is always another year . . . or we hope so :) You know, you are one of my very earliest followers and I feel like we are almost backdoor neighbors . . . it has been so nice getting to know you through these past years. Thank you for being a lovely and wonderful friend :)

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  4. Sounds like lots of fun! Your jam looked good. I also saw your craft room and it looks wonderful. Susan

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    1. Hello Susan, what a lovely visit. I've still got a lot to do to finish my Art Barn, but I am having so much fun.
      I made three batches of jam, so we should be more than set for winter . . . biscuits, pancakes and glazing chicken and pork.
      I am loving my new country life and having the room to grow a garden. I'm looking forward to learning to can and put up vegetables for winter :)
      Have a wonderful weekend :)

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  5. So wonderful to have your daughter and granddaughters to visit! And all of you working in the kitchen to make that beautiful jam! Your kitchen looks so bright and cheerful, I love it. A good thing you got those dead tree removed too!

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    1. Hi Rebecca, those trees were right between our well house and our neighbors RV garage. They could have none some pretty bad damage if they ever decided to fall. I'm delighted that you like my kitchen . . . I decided to go with the style of the old kitchen cupboards and go vintage. Besides . . . I love the 30's, 40's and 50's vintage look. Thanks for stopping in to visit, it is great fun getting to know you better :)

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  6. I know what you mean about privacy with our Grandkids. I also know you had a wonderful time with them and them with you. Now that jam looks good and what memories you and the kids made making them.

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    1. Hi Betty, we had a great time together making jam. The girls looked so cute in their aprons, one of which was their momma's when she was a little girl. When we were moving I found a box with a few clothes that I had saved of their momma's school clothes. So, one afternoon we had a fashion show. It was a surprise for their mamma and you should have seen her face when her daughters came prancing out wearing her old school dresses. There was a tear or two :)

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  7. Hi Connie, What a FUN filled blog you posted! I'm sooo happy you got to spend time with your daughter and grandchildren....is this their first visit to your new home? Your apricot jam looks delish....I am jealous! Of course, I know what it feels like to get rid of dead trees.....the yard always looks better when the dead is gone........ You sound so content and happy in your new place...I'm like you, I could just sit and watch the hay being mowed and listen to the birds and I enjoy watching cars go by (I know....I'm a little weird about the cars) Anyway, slow progress is being made at the cottage, WE WILL move in by late Aug! (Lord willing) But still have LOTS to do. Blessings~~~Roxie

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    1. Hi Roxie, I must be weird too, because I also enjoy watching the cars pass. So many of the people that pass are looking at the bungalow, too. Checking out the progress. We even had a couple slow down just to tell us how nice it looks. Then we found out that my great niece and her husband looked at it, and decided that it was just too much work for them. They were driving by one day just before visiting her mother and made this comment to her mom, "Whoever bought that house sure is fixing it up nice". She was surprised when her mom told her that we bought it :)
      One of my best compliments came from our daughter. Her and the girls walked through the property back in March (with the realtor) when we were still waiting to get the keys. She said that she was so afraid that we were taking on more work than we could handle. When she saw it on this visit she was amazed. Then she reminded me of when I first walked through her house and was telling her what I would do. I went there to help her get settled in. She told me that she didn't want to do anything until she had time to lived in it for a year and got a feel for the house . . . now she says that she wishes that she would have just turned me loose, LOL. My sister even called me yesterday to tell me how much Autumn was bragging on me and Steve and all that we had done, when she came to visit her. It's really nice when it comes from your kid :)
      Have a great weekend . . . I can not wait to see your next post, with your cottage kitchen photos :)

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  8. you've been very busy but it sounds like a fun busy

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    1. Hello Ann, it's been a lot of hard work, but the results are amazingly rewarding :) We absolutely love our new country life :)

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  9. It is always great when we can spend time with our daughter and grandkids. Sounds like you had a great time. We have some trees that are dying in our yard and will be having them taken down here soon.
    ~Cindy

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    1. HI Cindy, we had a great time together . . . are you saving the wood from your trees for your fireplace or home heat? When we were at Silverwood we saw this beuitful water feature in the park that was made from logs.

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    2. Yes...we have a fireplace on the lower level of our tri-level. So we will save the wood from the trees. We also have a corner fireplace in our living room, but it is electric.
      ~Cindy

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    3. It's great that you have a place to burn your wood. We converted the fireplace in this house to electric, too . . . there is so much less mess and we will still have the ambiance of a fireplace :) Your home sounds huge.

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  10. I would love an apricot tree, how lucky you are. Apricot jam is one of my favourites. One of my sons is a tree surgeon and we get a lot of our wood for the woodburner from him. We love our woodburner, so cosy on a winters night and it heats the whole boat. Time spent with grandchildren is so precious xxxx

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    1. Hi Fran, we had a marvelous time together. The house is super active when they are here and it keeps me on my toes. I'm like an old fat ballerina on my toes and twirling around everywhere . . . when I was a little girl I dreamed of being a ballerina . . . be careful what you dream, LOL. All kidding aside, I love their visits . . . they are so special, "my girl and her girls" what's better than that :)

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  11. Sounds like you guys are having hard work fun! Great post as always.
    I love the sign 'power in the blood'.

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    1. Hi Nancy, thanks for the visit. . . Wouldn't be great if all the mosquitoes were singing that song :)

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  12. Oh Connie, what a lovely post! How lovely for you to spend that time with those little girls - quite understand why you wouldn't put their photos on your blog. And you sound so settled and content in your new home, I'm looking forward to more glimpses of inside the bungalow! Lxxx

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    1. Good Morning Lynne, How nice to open my blog and find you here :) We are absolutely loving our little place in the country. It is a lot of work, but we still have some years of hard work left in us. We are already planning of turning up more of the land and having a bigger garden next year and this week I went to the used appliance store and bought a freezer for vegetables. We really want to be able to make our little lot feed us through the year :) No animals, because once the work is done we do want to have time to go camping, that's hard to do when you have animals to feed and milk. Listen to me . . . I can go on and on with the plans we have and the enjoyment we are experiencing.
      Our time with the girls was wonderful. We only see them about three or four times a year and it is amazing how fast they are growing. Going to the theme park was a blast . . . there are still and always will be years for fun left in me. I did ride some rides that surprised me, but having fun can come in many more packages than that. Most of which are a little easier going, LOL. Thank you for your blogging friendship, I have had so much fun getting to know you better through the years. You are a huge inspiration on getting out and enjoying life. I love reading your posts! You are incredibly talented as well as being a pure joy. Here's wishing you the best of everything life has to offer.

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  13. hello Connie what a lovely cottage you have..I have enjoyed looking at the photos, that zucchini looks delicious and I love the stampington magazines too

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    1. Good Morning Lorraine, and thank so much for stopping by to visit. We are enjoying our little bungalow . . . it is a fixer-upper, but we are plowing through the work with big smiles on our faces.

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  14. Hi Connie,

    What a fun time you had with your daughter and the grands, from wild rides to canning jam in your beautiful kitchen! LOVE your colours in this most creative room of the house!

    Happy weekend!

    Poppy

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    1. Hi Poppy, We purchased this bungalow back in May and have been working our buns off making it home . . . I'm trying to keep it true to it's vintage charm and go with a bit of a Betty Crocker look :) It is so nice to see you again . . . I love your charming blog and your flowers and garden are just lovely, not to mention your glorious views.

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  15. I just love looking at the photos of your new home. So many antique things.

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    1. Hi Becky, it is lovely to have you visit . . . thank you for always being so sweet :)

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  16. We have a wood stove in our house, and I have to say, it is work and a bit of a mess, but such wonderful, soak-right-through-you heat. I know what new-mown hay smells like, so I can relate. That sewing magazine is so full of creativity, you'll never be bored. Never heard of canning for dummies, that's what I need!

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    1. Hi Joy, this country life is something that I have only dreamed about until now . . . canning is something that I really want to learn to do :)

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  17. Hi, just found your blog and enjoyed your pictures, love your new mudroom curtains! I need to get back in my sewing room. I have been blogging for several months now, would love you to visit. susanzarzycki.blogspot.com. Hugs.

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting and for your very kind words of encouragement :)

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    ReplyDelete