Visit with my Sister

This weekend my sister came home from CT for a visit.  Friday night I made dinner and we had a picnic with her family and my mother and my husband and I.   Lindy's oldest son has two boys who are both under 3 years of age, they are a lot of fun. 

Saturday my sister Lindy and her daughter Meg and I enjoyed an antique show.  The weather was perfect and the vendors had a lot of good stuff.  I'll show what I got later this week. 

Today we decided to go to the Snyder County Historic Museum.  It is a museum with local history and was rather enjoyable.  Lindy has to read everything so it takes her a lot longer than it takes me, but she did point out a lot of things I would have missed.  We did learn quite a few things that we didn't know about our local history. 

We finished off our day trip at the local winery and purchased a couple wines that we liked.

I had a very nice weekend but unfortunately I ate all weekend and didn't count one calorie!  I'll be back on the wagon tomorrow, for sure.

Todays photos are from the museum, Lindy and Meg looking at the Civil war display and the gallows that were used back in the early 1900's.

Cupcakes

My sister posted some of her recent craft projects and asked me what I am working on.  I haven't done anything creative in quite awhile, unless you count Thursday night's cupcakes!!!   I needed to make cupcakes for a church event and decided to try something somewhat creative with the cupcakes!  I divided the batter and colored it and  came up with these!   The kids liked them.

Evan's 1st Birthday

Today I spent a relaxing afternoon at a birthday party for my great nephew, Evan who happily turned 1.  The party was outside and the weather was great, not to hot or to cool.... My nephew and his wife have a group of friends who all have children....there were 15 lively kids who enjoyed all the water toys and "stuff" that two small children have.   Here is a sampling of some of the kids playing on the sliding board.

There was also a kiddie pool that squirted water, a big ball that was some kind of fountain, a water table, swing set, assorted balls and riding toys, something for everyone...  All these children were very entertaining and they got along great! 

Here is a photo of Evan enjoying the gift I gave him.

Happy Birthday Evan, I hope you have many, many more!!!

Creative Afternoon

On my list of things to do today was to do something creative.  I've been working a lot and not taking time to be creative, no stitching or scrapbooking or anything fun like that....  so today I put it on my list and decided to use some of the larkspur that I dried a couple weeks ago.  

Before I started my wreath I spent about an hour cleaning up my work space...I can create so much better when the clutter is put away, so spending the hour cleaning and putting away the accumulated junk in my work room was worth the effort.

First I poked around in the basement and found a wreath base

 step 2: I wove some larkspur into the base 

step 3: I hot glued some preserved hydrangea to the inside of the base to hide the ends of the larkspur and to  help to keep the larkspur anchored.    

step 4:  I went to the garden and picked some sea lavender and finished it off with a bit of that.

Finally added a ribbon.

Here's Whats Bloomin This Week

Here's what's bloomin in my garden this week.    I've been watering every day, it's hot and dry here in Central PA.   I'm posting this mosaic  as part of Mary's Mosaic Monday....check out her blog for more wonderful mosaics. 

Monarda

One of my favorite garden flowers this time of year is monarda (didyma) or as it is commonly called in Central Pennsylvania, Bee Balm. The plant is very fragrant, but not in a floral kind of way… it attracts hummingbirds. Another common name for this species is Oswego tea. The Oswego Indians introduced it to our colonists and was used as a tea following the scarcity of English tea after the Boston tea party in 1773.

My favorite way to use it is as a cut flower. It blooms from now till mid July…grouped with larkspur and baby’s breath it makes a great patriotic arrangement on your 4th of July picnic table!

It's Time for Tea

The spearmint that I use when making tea is out there multiplying in my garden as I write this. If you have any mints in your garden you will understand completely. The plants in the mint family spread by their roots and they can easily take over a bed if you are not careful. I liberally pull mint every summer.... chocolate mint, spearmint, peppermint, applemint and orange mint. My favorite to use in tea is spearmint. Sometimes I use the chocolate mint in fruit salad and the rest of it just grows and spreads. Mints tolerate shade... they make a lovely addition to a summer picnic as a centerpiece that can be added to your ice tea or lemonade as a garnish.

When I make garden tea I mix up a gallon container because it goes fast at our house. I use 3 family sized tea bags and a handfull of mint. I boil about 2 cups of water and then remove it from the stove and add the tea bags and the mint (wash it off first) I also add about a cup of sugar (we like it sweet) and let it steep for about 5 minutes then remove everything from the water and add the tea mixture to a gallon container along with ice and water till the pitcher is full. Refrigerate and serve.

What is your favorite mint and how do you use it?

All Packed and Ready to Go

Wow! What a month!!! In the last few weeks Molly graduated from college, I hosted a party for about 40 friends and relatives to congratulate her and say good bye as she has chosen to follow her heart to California. We moved all her stuff out of the apartment she has lived in for the past 2 years (I’m still trying to figure out where to go with it all) and yesterday I took her to the airport and said goodbye.

Although we raise our children to be capable, independent people and we want them to experience life and all that it has to offer….only a mother can feel the pain that I am feeling in my heart. I’m sure that I will get used to this and it will all work out in the end. And on the bright side, it’s not like I put her on a covered wagon and will never see her again. However, she is the first person I think of when I want to go shopping or to a movie, etc. so although she says “We’ll skype”, I’m going to be missing her a lot!

Love you and Miss you Molly….See you at Christmas!

My First Pedicure

Today was my first ever pedicure....these are not my feet, but mine look almost as pretty! I took the day off work to spend with Molly and one of the things she wanted to do before she went to California was get a manicure, so I signed up for my first-ever pedicure.

I have mixed emotions about the pedicure experience. The woman who did it barely spoke English so every time she spoke to me I had to have her repeat it.... I think she may have gotten a little carried away with the cheese grater thingy that they use to remove the dead skin. My left foot feels like she went down to the nerve endings! Also, my chair didn't vibrate which I think may have taken my mind off the cheese grater thing had it been vibrating... and one more thing... I think my feet may be more sensitive than the other ladies having theirs done at the same time as me because when she scrubbed the bottom of my foot I really had to fight my instinct to kick her..... everyone else seemed to be enjoying their pedicure.

On the bright side....my feet look great and I hope to remember to take much better care of them this summer season!

Graduation/Farewell Party

This weekend we had a graduation and farewell party for Molly. She graduated from college last week and two weeks from Monday she will hop on a plane and move to the Los Angeles area. She is excited and happy to be starting a new adventure in her life. I'm happy for her to be able to experience the city and all the advantages that it has to offer. She will be living with her boyfriend Matt, who we also like....and I think may even be able to handle her!

But it will be bittersweet.... I'll miss her alot and the fun that we have together. We both love to shop and go to the movies and I enjoy hanging out with her. How could you not love this face!

We entertained about forty family and friends Saturday night and the rain that was threatening most of the day more or less held off till most had left. Molly and I made about 8 varieties of cupcakes.

Some of her friends from school came to say their goodbyes.

We all had a good time!