Indiana Visit

Friend Susie has been searching for this walking trail for awhile now. She finally was able to track it down and we went for a long walk in the woods. Unlike my neck of the woods,  it was startling quiet with the exception of the birds singing their little spring hearts out and the water in the creek gurgling along..

Here are some of the things I spied

Susie is prepared to go all the time, like every day possible, to walk and relax in the woods. I’ll look forward to walking with her again on my next trip south.

She is also bound and determined to stay in the tiny house for a day. She would love to wake up in the quiet of the forest but I’m afraid that if they let her stay she may never want to leave!

Belgium Friends

I woke up to the horrendous  news of what had happened in Belgium. 

Between the tears I emailed friends there. 

I heard back from them that they are all alright but obviously shaken and of course so sad at what has happened in their country. 

       we stand with you today and forever my friends

Croque Monsiour

I was visiting friend Susie last weekend (one of those physical and mental R & R long weekends) and she thought it would be a nice idea to go to Indianapolis for lunch at Petite Chou. 

 Decision making, when presented with an array of food, isn’t my strong suit. 

So  many choices and I get to only pick one! 

After some deliberation and thanks to a very patient friend and waiter 

I ordered the Croque Monsiour.

Ham, gruyère, creamy béchamel, dijonnaise
Oh Yum!

I had chosen wisely.

After that you can stroll on Monon Trail to get rid of a few of the calories you just took in. 

The unfortunate part is that  as you are heading back  you pass Brics Ice Cream.  

Go ahead ..... indulge yourself.

I strongly recommend Chocolate Choo Choo.
Just sayin'

Pioneer Woman's Cookbook(s)

I am the proud owner of two more of The Pioneer Woman's Cookbooks. I have been pouring over each beautiful and hysterical page for over a week now. I'm excited to try so many of the recipes in her books..... I can cook and smile at the same time. So tomorrow is Skillet Lasagna and then later in the week Salisbury steak ala PW. (that's for dear husband who LOVES Salisbury steak. 
And after many, many, many years of marriage I have to say I have never made it.  Pretty bad right?
Anyway I'll make up for it this week and surprise him.
If you like to cook.....go get her cookbooks! They are wonderful and full of more than just recipes.

I tried to win a cookbook on her website so I could actually have a signed copy. 

How awesome would that have been?!?

She loves butter, cream, sugar, chocolate plus alot more 

and isn't afraid to use them in abundant quantities. 

She is a woman after my own heart. 

And us redheads need to stick together!

She is just not the cutest thing ever right?? 

My Saturn

I love my car.

 I could have easily done the "jumping in the air for joy" commercials they used to do. 

Now you may ask why would I be so crazy about my car. 

Here are my top requirements:

I do want a nice looking car, 

I want it to start. 

I want it to be warm in the winter 

and cool in the summer. 

I don't require all the bells and whistles tho heated seats are A HUGE plus. 

She just keeps chugging along so

I think I'll keep her for another 12 years.

Did I mention there is not one spot of rust on her either! 
Such a pretty girl.

Dear husband washed and detailed her for me today and she is a thing of beauty!

Saturday

It's Saturday. I slept until 8:30....can you believe it! It was pure heaven. I heard dear husband leave at 4:30 this morning to go to work...he really doesn't like working on Saturday and I sure don't blame him one little bit. It's 50 degrees, sunny & blue skies.

No one wants to work on such a glorious day I'm sure.

So here I sit with my feet up, my coffee and reading, actually rereading, "Somewhere Safe with Someone Good" by Jan Karon. 

I just love Fr. Tim and Cynthia and of course their pets Barnabas and Violet.

It's quiet, the coffee is delicious and the book is my escape for a little while. 

What a luxury instead of the 4:45 alarm I get up to for work.

It's time to get moving and accomplish what seems like a hundred things to do today tho.

Well.....maybe 1 more chapter and a little more coffee with an English Muffin on the side!

IKEA Love

So what to do on a day when you just need to get out of the house 

and the weather is not cooperating??

Hmmmm

Well of course I go to IKEA

The fact that dear husband likes to go as much as I do...

or almost as much, is quite a perk.

We love to look at everything whether it's something we would buy or not. I marvel at all the creative things they do to make products appealing and user friendly Dear husband is looking at how its constructed and how it works. It's a marketing masterpiece!
They tiny house was amazing! It was 742 sq ft of adorable. What a good use of space. Now don't get me wrong in reality it would take me about 10 seconds to know "tiny house" living isn't for me but I still loved seeing it and walking around in a mini home. It's incredible how they make such good use of space.
Despite my good intentions that I don't need anything and I'm only window shopping I have never walked out empty handed. 

~Kid size spray bottles for water fights in the heat of the summer....49 cents...how do you walk away from that in exchange for some Kodak moments!

~An orchid for Kindle DIL who has the knack for get her orchids to re-bloom

Cork trivets..I'm obsessed with them....I have no logical reason why 

fry pan, doormat, storage container, pillow form etc....

Yup....I didn't need a thing.

Potting Bench

This time of year I am forever thinking about what I want to do once I can get outside and actually enjoy it again. This is what gets me thru winter in Northern Illinois!
I think I want a potting bench. I have been hunting online for ideas and I think I have it narrowed down to what would work for me. Now I just have to get dear husband to agree to build it. 
Actually he will be excited to do it since he loves planning and building things.

~~~~~~~~

Below is a picture of what I had in mind  & with a few "tweaks" I think it might be perfect. 

This bench is from This Old House and they give directions and a supply list! 

How nice is that!

The link is listed below if you want to take a peek.

Potting Bench

I love the idea of the drawer

  This just might have to be the color I use

Ooooooo I really like so much about this one.

Snow Falling

One would think after decades of seeing snow fall you would think I'd be rather blase` about it. 

Nope~Never~Not at all. 

Every time, I am fascinated and humbled by it's beauty as it falls. 

There is a hushed silence in nature as it happens.

It's so hard to imagine that each flake is different and unique. 

How can you not be amazed by it? 

The Desk

I'm a fairly neat person. Now don't get me wrong....I can live quite nicely not having things 

exact, 

perfect, 

orderly

...well you get the picture.

But one thing that is always what I would consider a horrendous mess is my desk at home. 

Unlike my desk at work..... it is a disaster. 

I no sooner straighten things up and do my filing and shred the necessary paper when it's back to crazy cluttered again. I try, I really do, but have yet to figure out a good system so it doesn't happen again and again.

I would bank on the fact that the paperwork breeds when I'm not around.

I Love You bracelets

My Kindle DIL ran across a note recently from her mom 

who passed away at a very young age from cancer and is still greatly missed by her daughters.

She had it made into bracelets for her and her sisters. 

How beautiful is this story..........

Pureology Shampoo & Conditioner

Kindle DIL gave me Pureology shampoo & conditioner for Christmas 

along with other fun things.

I love my Redkin shampoo but she has been raving about Pureology 

for about a year now so I gave it a try today. 

I will concede that my hair is much softer but still has the body I need to hold a curl.

The best part tho is that you use such a small quantity of the product.

I'll let you know how it goes and if I'll convert from Redkin!

Christmas Ornaments

Today is the day to put the ornaments on our tree. When I finally settle things down & begin it’s something I truly enjoy. The opening of the boxes & the unwrapping of each precious one opens the floodgate of memories. I have some from my mom and I think how she put those on their tree year after year. 

How I love being the caretaker of them now.

Also the ornaments she personally gave me over the years that she knew would 

be meaningful to me like the glass horse! 

She gave it to me the year I threw caution to the wind and scraped some money together & took riding lessons.

( I was the girl who always asked for a pony all year.... all the time.)

Friend Libby gave me some extraordinarily unique ones as well and though I rarely see her how I love the times when we get together.

Here are just a few of the special ones I have.

Beautiful Angels from Germany

So fragile it's scary!

 

I finally got my horse!

Whimsical x 2

"Libby Ornaments"

The Great British Baking Show

I am addicted to The Great British Baking Show! 

I look forward to being able to sit down and watch all the charming people each week. 

AND

I love Mary Berry! 

Of course Paul Hollywood is pretty great too....tho Mel and Sue regularly steal the show!

I'm in awe of what the bakers produce in what seems to me a minuscule amount of time----and these are just people who love to bake....not professionals!

You don't have to be in love with English desserts to appreciate the knowledge and creativeness the bakers show.

So "Cheers" for giving us such an entertaining show!

English Muffins to Mini Victoria Sponges
Picnic Basket Pie to Opera Cake
Then of course we can't forget Fig Roly Poly Pudding.

It's the little things in life

Sometimes it's the little things in life that make you feel so good. I finally, finally bought a lunch tote and it's so dang cute I can hardly stand it. I put it off because at my previous job I really didn't need it that badly but now working in a large company with a refrigerator the size of a small state I thought it best to get one. 

So after some searching this is the one I decided on. 

Cute right??

It makes me feel like I'm back in school tho!