After 26 Years...

Today is our special day - 26 years later.   

My Love surprised me with a Willow Tree figure 

this morning...

 It rests atop my inherited china cupboard among

 many other treasures that are special to us. 

 

It will be a precious reminder of the vow we made 

to 'love and cherish till death do us part'.  We've been

 thru some deep waters - in fact deep waters continue

 to this day.  But our love and commitment are

 anchored in Jesus and remain strong. 

Tonight it will be dinner out (which we do at least once a week)

  but tonight - it will be special, all over again!

Here's to us...

Linking to the Home Sweet Home party.

Garden Things...

I've been playing in my yard a bit -  just placing

 things here and there for the summer months.  

My favorite by far is this bistro set I added to my

 front yard.  An old sprinkling can filled with larkspur

 makes an instant bouquet.  Oh - and the bistro set -

 it was a free find from a few years ago! 

(yeah I know - I couldn't believe it either.)

 We have almost no road frontage - its right out front

 - next to our little Asian pear tree...

For lack of garden space - my tomatoes are riding 

in style in one of the few sunny locations on our

 property...

 ...which is also right by the road...I'm deciding it's

 OK to do what I gotta do.  More on this wagon later.

 It's in the midst of an overhaul - and is sorta an

 'oops' project - but I'm making the best of it...

A new purchase from our local KMart - the 'wicker'

 loveseat helps dress up our front porch.

 My Ikea pitcher continues to get new arrangements

 as I trim my flower beds.  Everything looks

good in this pitcher.

Oh - and I have some surprise plants that sprang up
 in my flower bed.  They look awful - but more free
 tomatoes and possible gourds work for me!

 Do you ever get unexpected free plants in your beds?
Linking to Home & Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life

My Weekend...

We didn't exactly do the normal BBQ or Memorial

 Day parade watching this weekend.   Instead - 

we heard wonderful bagpipe music while our

 neighbor practiced for his appearance in a parade.

   How fun was that?  

 

Right in the middle of the Mt. Gretna Porch Sales.

  This was the scene at my sale this year...

I call it a wonderful success.  Got rid of 'lots' -

met such nice people and made some money to boot. 

 

See that little black toile box on the floor?  I had just

 'rescued' it from a trash pile the week before - 

yes I did.

Quilted Nest Porch Sale - Saturday!...

For anyone in the nearby area - Mt. Gretna is having

 porch sales this coming Saturday morning - and your's truly is participating!

A scene from a previous porch sale

 

 This is our porch - at 303 7th Street - which will be

 full of personal and Quilted Nest BARGAINS come Saturday...

In case you're not familiar with just how lovely 

it is to stroll among the cottages of Mt. Gretna - 

let me whet your appetite...

 

  

Sales begin at 8:00 on the 26th.  Come say 'hi' 

and meet Mr. Quilted Nest too - (I've drafted his help).  

I'm tellin' ya - ya won't want to miss it!  

Twenty to 30 cottages are scheduled to be selling wares - and prices are always amazing!

Easy Ice Cream or Pancake Fruit Sauce...

As shared in this post - I have a fruit topping recipe

 that works great for ice cream or pancakes and
 French toast.   Today I made a cherry version...

That's a gluten free pancake folks - just sayin'

Fruit Sauce or Topping

1 can pie filling (cherry, blueberry, etc.)

1/2 stick margarine or butter

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. corn syrup

1/2 t. almond extract

Combine 1st 4 ingredients & heat till blended 

& bubbly.  Remove from heat and add extract.  

Mix well.

Couldn't be simpler!

I was out of corn syrup when I made this - so I used

 1/4 c.  honey and omitted the brown sugar.  

It was still good - but I prefer the original version.

To make this gluten free - just look for a 

modified 'corn' starch based pie filling.

One of these days I'll have to try this in peach!

Use What You Have Container Gardening...

Gorgeous containers can be had for buying the 'right'

 flowers at your local greenhouse.  But somehow - 

I rarely get that accomplished - too frugal I guess.  

So... I often make my own out of whatever is growing

 in my perennial beds.  This year - a little lamium,

 ribbon grass and vinca vine fill a container by the

 garage door...

Yes I know - the bench needs a cleaning...

 On my patio/concrete slab - (which I didn't take time

 to sweep from the recent rains) - more overflow

 perennials.  I'm liking my lamium in containers 

this year...

 

Not one to let good flowers go to waste - my trimmed

 lamb's ear landed in my Ikea pitcher on my 

back porch.  Simple and earthy...

Next up - I've got an old wagon to paint for a few

 more containers - veggies...

Spotted - Fun Store Display...

While at our family cabin this week - we stopped at

 the original Woolrich store.  I always enjoy the

 displays they have going on in their store.  This one

 caught my eye on this trip.  It's a great use of a

 wooden wheel barrow and folding drying rack for

 displaying a few clothing items...

 ...they even made 2 cute shelves on the rack with 

a wooden piece laying across the dowel rods...

Makes me excited to do something similar for a

 porch sale I have coming up!  Stay tuned...

House Church...

This darling church has been converted to a house -

 er... make that 'home'.  I am in love!  

What do you think - could you live here?

 Perfect red and white coloring...

We spent a few days at the family cabin this week.

  This was spotted when we did a little exploring.
  Gotta love rural America!

Beside Still Waters...

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want. 

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.   

He restores my soul;

Psalms 23:1-3a 

Taken in the college gardens where my daughter graduated yesterday.

This would be 'us'.

 

Favorite Find - Vintage Wallets...

This week - a favorite find for me was this grouping

 of coin purses.  Old and worn - aren't they charming?

Sold!  Thank you Christine.

  There are some unique features among the lot.

This little black one is a souvenir from 

Jackson Square in New Orleans...

...according to the note inside - it must have been a

 favorite and used -regularly.  Really?  

It's not even 4" long!

Oh - and the note inside is perfect for Mother's Day -

'My dear mother's pocket book.  I appreciate very much.

Her daughter - Anna C. Hess'

This little cutey not only has a sweet round shape -

 but inside is tucked another little hidden

 compartment.  Too clever for words...

I'm offering the whole lot of them in my Etsy shop!

What treasures did you find this week?
Joining the Show Us Friday Party

Linens & Paper Bag Albums....

Yep - I'm a linen lady.   My main 'job' at the 
Mt Joy Gift and Thrift Shop

is to price the antique linens.

 We get gobs of them - it's amazing. 

 It's a little linen heaven in my literal corner 

of the shop... 

 I even have my own kiosk!

Today - I met the The Paper Bag Lady.  She was

 shopping at 'my' kiosk.  She buys lots of 'my' linens

 to use as embellishments in her one of a kind paper

 bag photo albums that she creates.  

Check them out...

album photos from Paper Bag Lady website

  

 See the little doily flowers?  Yep - some of them 

hail straight from my linen corner...

 Don't miss her Facebook page.   I'm impressed!

  What do you think?

A Homemade Banner For Any Occasion...

My Love celebrated a birthday yesterday.  I made 

a simple fabric banner or bunting to give a bit 

charm to our little backyard party...

The flags were made from old clothing that has been

 taking up room in my fabric stash.  The purple linen

 came from a dress that I bought for 25 cents -

solely to one day use the fabric and buttons...

 ...an old shirt and a jean dress supplied the 

other flags...

 My Love is in the red shirt - (sorry about catching
 you with a weird expression honey)...

 The only food I offered was an ice cream sundae bar

 and potato chips...(keeping it simple people)...

 ...with lots of toppings including amazing homemade

 hot fudge sauce and blueberry topping.

I'll talk about our night time lighting and maybe

 share those topping recipes in later posts.