A Bag of Shells

My friend Joan and I were just discussing this week how we will decorate our homes now that the Easter decorations have come down. Today I picked up a “Cottage Style” magazine and noticed a lot of sea shells and beachy themes…. So at my next stop I bought a bag of really nice big sea shells. I have no idea what I’ll do with these but I have a lot to play with. I guess I’ll see what else I have that will go with a beach theme. I might even be able to find a jar of shells in my daughter’s room.

How does everyone else decorate between holidays? What are you using now?

Happy Easter!!!

Dinner for six this year. Lindy and Meg joined us as well as Molly’s boyfriend, Steven. I had the table set and ready to go Saturday night and decided that there wasn’t enough space for food so I took it apart and added a leaf to make it larger. Luckily the tablecloth still fit and I didn’t have to scurry around looking for another springy table cloth. I found a good deal on a cyclamen at the greenhouse on Friday and got one for my sister too. I’m using that for a centerpiece.

Here in Pennsylvania Dutch country we traditionally eat about the same thing every Easter: ham, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, pickled eggs and this year my sister requested my pasta salad. I made cupcakes and fruit salad for dessert. Steven had never eaten a pickled egg before and a few weeks ago he was here and we introduced him to Molly's favorite green bean casserole!

What are your traditional foods for Easter?

First Day of Spring!!!

Today was the first day of spring....and you know what that means!!!!! Rita's gives out free ice! For those of you who don't have a Rita's franchise near you, Rita's sells Italian Ices and they are wonderful... My daughter has been working at Rita's for 4 years and today she put on her shorts and winter coat and off she went to work with a smile on her face because it is "free ice" day! It has been really cold today, but sooner or later it is bound to warm up.

Did you do anything special for the first day of spring? I went to Selinsgrove and did some Easter basket shopping and stopped for a free ice. The new flavor they had today was "birthday cake". I tried a sample of it but they had my favorite, fudge brownie so that's what I got.

Place Cards

I had a dr. appointment today and was happy to have lost 7 pounds. In fact, I decided to do a bit of celebrating on my way home and stopped at the mall. I live in a small town, I have to drive 30 minutes to the mall and there is no Marshall’s, TJ Max, Target or any really fun stores within an hours drive so I am limited, but every now and then I can find something that gets me excited. Today I found some cute little photo frames that were on sale, they were sparklie and cheap! I thought they might work for place cards for my holiday meal! So when I got home I made name tags for my guests.

Domestic Godess

I didn’t even take a shower this morning I got right into the cleaning mode…. Ok, I did check my email and chat with my niece who is staying here but after that I put on my cleaning hat and shampooed the carpets and cleaned up the kitchen, emptied the trash and even managed to support the cancer society at a bake sale. Yeah, I sure didn’t need whoopee pies and cookies but that’s what I brought home.

The sun is shining here in Central Pennsylvania and my bulbs are finally emerging. I read other blogs where their flowers are blooming already so I know it’s coming, I just have to be more patient than many of you other ladies out there! Since the weather is warm today I started to clean up some flower beds. Here is some crocus blooming and bulbs that are brave enough to stick their heads up.

Powder Room Towel

Last week while browsing on Etsy, I seriously love that place....I found a hand towel that grabbed my attention but instead of purchasing it, I decided to make one myself with that one as inspiration.

I purchased a terry cloth towel and made a border to attach to the bottom of the towel. The towel I purchased was pretty long, so instead of making the towel any longer I just made and attached my strip to the bottom section of towel, just the ruffle extends below the original towel. It will hang in my powder room. I bought a couple extra towels to make some to sell on Etsy....but who knows if that will ever happen. I think I may be running out of cold weather...as soon as it gets nice outside my stitching will take a back seat to playing in the gardens, mowing and pulling weeds!

Anyone else change their hobbies with the weather?

Turn your clocks ahead!

As I am sitting here typing this, the wind is horrible and both Molly and Megan are out there and will be driving home very late tonight. Molly is at work and Meg is out with some friends. I’m really ready for nice weather…other than a couple robins there sure has not been much hope for spring…

I planted some narcissus a month ago and they are finally beginning to bloom so I’m calling that spring for now. Tonight we move our clocks ahead so I guess that is a good sign also that the days are getting longer and will soon be getting warmer. Of course once the weather turns warm I’ll have to be outside getting the gardens into shape….so maybe I should just enjoy the cold for another couple weeks. I’m working on some needlework projects that I hope to complete soon and post.

First Robin

We are having a break in the weather, it is 60 degrees and I saw my first robin of the season today. I keep track of my first robin spottings here in Central Pennsylvania and believe it or not, the robins are a few days early this year. There are still no signs of my bulbs emerging from the ground but it shouldn’t be long if the weather stays nice this week. I’m off to walk the dogs.. I just love this weather!!!!