Great Book Find!

As many of my friends and relatives will attest, I love books . I have been known to browse through Amazon for hours on end. I especially love books about country decorating for the seasons. When I came across this book put out by Meredith Press and Country Home entitled Quick Country Decorating: Ideas For Every Season, I just had a feeling it was a good one. And for $4.00 and free shipping and no tax I was sold. Well I can honestly say now that I have received it, it is beyond good even beyond great . It  is just better than I ever would have imagined. It is hardcover,oversized and  divided into 4 chapters entitled Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. It is chock full of country decorating ideas and how tos for all rooms of the house, recipes, crafts, gardening tips and gorgeous pictures. I find myself picking this book up over and over again. Here are a few pictures from the book.

The cover

I love these aprons tied on the backs and seats of these chairs as seat covers.

I'm not sure if you can see the apple tablecloth weights on this autumn table in this pic

I love this idea of the Christmas tree placed in a container set in this upside down old stool

Beauty In A Jar

I am still working a few kinks out with my blog  but would like to say thank you for all the sweet comments and the help you all have given me . I hope you are enjoying things so far.

Back in April, I was shopping in BJ's when my eyes caught this beautiful glass dispenser. I decided I must have it when I spotted a $5.00 off coupon in their flyer. The total cost was less than $20! We have used it lots since we 've had it and it just adds that touch of elegance to a simple party. It looks especially nice with cut up lemons or other fruit in it. I just love it! Britt uses it at parties and get togethers with her friends and all the teenage girls love it too!  Here is a googled picture of the identical one I have (I have mine boxed right now).

Here are some other dispensers I found on google images that I found were beautiful and/or interesting.

Picture courtesy of P.O.S.H. Chicago

Ryan Phillips Photo

Can you say refreshing summer drinks???

Fresh Apple Cake

I happened upon this recipe entitled Fresh Apple Cake awhile back. After making it several times and getting rave reviews from friends, relatives and coworkers, I decided I needed to check out its source, Ivy Bake Shoppe Cookbook. Turns out The Ivy Bake Shoppe and Cafe is a popular cafe in downtown historic Fort Madison, Iowa run by two woman. Lucky for us they decided to share some of their wonderful recipes in the way of  a cookbook. Here is the recipe.


Fresh Apple Cake


1 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups peeled and chopped apples


Frosting


1 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temp.
1 stick butter, softened
4 1/3 cups (about 1 lb.) powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup toasted pecans


Combine oil and sugar together in a bowl; beat in eggs. Sift all dry ingredients together and then add to egg mixture. Fold in vanilla and apples. Pour into a greased 9X13- inch pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour; set aside to cool. For the frosting, combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl using mixer. Gradually add the powdered sugar; beat until smooth and then add vanilla. Frost the cooled cake and then sprinkle pecans over  top if desired. Makes 12 -15 servings.

Oh and the apron was made by a sweet Georgia girl we (GLU) all know and love. You can find other lovely items from this Georgia girl here http://www.etsy.com/shop/BoPeepandCo

Farm Chicks Christmas

I had to jump on real quick tonight as I just saw that the long anticipated Farm Chicks Christmas book is available for pre-order at Amazon. It will be released Sept. 7, 2010!! I'll bet this is a good one. I remember seeing pictures being taken  for this book on the blog awhile back.

Picture from Amazon.com

You can pre-order the book here
http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Chicks-Christmas-Merry-Holidays/dp/1588165213/ref=sr_1_18?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279935049&sr=1-18

Gooseberry Patch Calendars

When Gooseberry Patch announced that they were doing away with their retail catalog I became very worried that I would not be able to get my annual GBP wall calendar. I just love this calendar and look forward to it every year. Much to my delight they announced they would still be selling the calendars. But boy are they popular! I went to order mine at the beginning of July (for 2011) and their website said that their first printing had been sold out and they would be back in stock by the end of August. So needless to say I was very excited to see Amazon had the calendar in stock and of course I ordered it right away.

I also love their pocket calendar. It has nice space for appointments along with recipes and their beautiful graphics.

Photos from GBP

Hello and Welcome

Hello and welcome to my first attempt at blogging! I am so excited to finally be up and running. With wonderful encouragement from friends and family I am actually beginning a journal of my life and interests to share with you all. Mostly this blog will be a combination of everyday life, crafts, decorating, holidays, books and recipes. Please be patient as I am a newbie to all this. Thanks! I look forward to old friends and new friends alike coming to visit and sharing what I hope are things you will like seeing.

First let me start by introducing my family. My husband Dale who I have been married to for nearly 23 years now is a chief electric lineman for a local power company. He loves his job and is very proud of the work he does but it also means he is gone a lot too. I have learned to be very independent when needed. My kids Dale, Jr. 20, and Brittany, 17 both live at home . Dale, Jr. attended electric lineschool hoping to follow in his dad's footsteps but is still waiting for the right opportunity to come along and currently works for a major cable company. My daughter Brittany will be a senior in high school this fall and is currently searching for the perfect college to become a secondary English teacher. We all live comfortably and happy together in our small log cabin on the hill.

Dale Sr. and Dale, Jr.

And here is Britt