Tuesday, June 29, 2010

~Old Porch Swing~

Another one of life's simplest but greatest pleasures is sitting on our porch swing. I think
Tamara Dicus Hillman explains it beautifully in her poem.   She writes:

----Old Porch Swing----
Some folks might say – about our swing,
"It’s just an old and rusting thing,"
but I remember all the ways
that old porch swing would fill our days
Upon that swing now hanging still,
moon rising o’er the distant hill,
Mama rested – sipping tea,
and sang sweet lullabies to me
With silent rocking, dreams were sough
on summer days when it was hot,
games we played while resting there,
chess and checkers moved on squares
Women gathered ‘round the swing'
to share the latest gossiping,
while sewing patches on our jeans,
or maybe popping garden beans
Men returning from the field
would wait there for the evening meal,
at end of day – their work complete,
old Rex, our dog, lay at their feet
Granny, sometimes shedding tears,
recalling friends lost through the years,
would pass the hours on our porch
swinging gently back and forth
We courted on that creaking swing,
first love softly blossoming,
sneaking kisses in the night
veiled in shadows of moonlight
Worn and weathered that old seat
has served us well – its use replete,
we now rock babes with curly hair,
soothing them with loving care
Remembering yet those days of old,
in summer heat or winter cold,
how we chanced to tarry there
making memories we could share.






Friday, June 25, 2010

Vermont Wildflower Farm ~ To You It's Just Another Flower

....but to me these pretties are glorious!  I'm in complete awe of their beauty.  We visited the Vermont Wildflower Farm a few years ago and I bought this wonderful seed.  You can be sure their seed hasn't any unwanted fillers.   Finally...this past April my dear husband dug out a bed for them.  We planted an abundance of seed and now this is the beginning of the fruit of our labor.  I hope you enjoy looking at them!  Have a lovely weekend!!  ~amy


















Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Piecing Together Our Adirondack Cabin

We've been working on a plan for the small cabin up on our land in the Adirondacks.  Here's a plan of the main level.  The part of this plan I'm excited about the most is....the oversized screened in porch on the front of the house.  From inside you'll be able to get onto the porch from the 2 french doors and those same doors will provide us with a lovely view of the mountains.  We plan on using that outdoor space/room a whole lot.   Do you notice inside there's a window to the left of the stair landing?  We're planning in the future to make that window into a door that will lead into a master bedroom on the main floor but that'll have to wait until retirement days.  If you have any suggestions or ideas I would love to hear them.  Nothing is set in stone yet.  That's the beauty of the planning phase.  Right now....we're working on the upstairs plan.  I'll show you that plan when we get it drawn up and then onto drawing the plan for the walk out basement.  It's a small structure but we're trying to make it functional but still roomy.  If you'd like to see all of the posts concerning the process of  making our dream cabin into a  reality...please click onto 'Cabin/Cottage' under labels on the sidebar. 


Wednesday, June 16, 2010

I thought it was just an ordinary day....

...until I saw this vibrant color combination in my kitchen.  Finding beauty in an ordinary day is there just for the pickin. 
Have an ordinary lovely day!  ~amy


Sunday, June 13, 2010

Piecing A Cabin Together

Well....it's that time of year again when I start talking to you about our cabin plans.  Just to recap a little.....we have some land up in the Adirondack's in Northern New York State.   That's where we want to build our small vacation home.

Here's the land

....and here is some wonderful and I mean wonderful vintage fabric I found at a yard sale last summer.  Look at those WOW graphics and vibrant colors!


I took a quilting class that my friend Pam taught at the new fabric shop in town called 'Stitches'.  I made this table runner to match my vintage fabric.  It was my first experience at quilting and it was a lot of fun!


I found a set of these adorable juice glasses to match

...and I found this painting of bird feathers.

Here's everything grouped together. 


Additionally...I'd like to have a farmers sink in the kitchen and use the vintage fabric as curtains below it. I'd like distressed stained red cabinets and some open shelving to put the red cherry and rooster juice glasses in. I'm hoping for a big chunky wooden kitchen table to put the table runner on.  Not quite sure where the painting will hang but one thing I know for sure is that it'll match.  I hope you'll find this journey of piecing together our dream cabin fun. I look forward to your input. ~amy




Saturday, June 12, 2010

Summer Strollin

While strollin on a sunny, sultry Saturday afternoon I came across a free concert.  How fun and what a treat for anyone that just happened to pass by this house.   What a great way for friends to play music together and it beats playing in the garage!  Have a lovely weekend.  ~amy

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Everything Is Coming Up Roses

I was sitting at the bus stop waiting for my daughter to come home from school this afternoon and I looked out of my cars sideview mirror.
I marveled at my neighbors pretty roses.



I'm proud of my pretties too!


My neighbors rose trellis is breathtaking don't you think?
It occured to me that everything is coming up roses today!
~amy

Tuesday, June 1, 2010


It couldn't have been a more perfect weekend. The sun was out. The sky was blue. The temps were warm. We pretty much relaxed, ate and hung out on the porch. Saturday we cooked corn on the cob for the first time this season and later that evening we went into town for some soft ice cream. On Sunday Kurt made his cucumber salad and on Memorial day we grilled marinated squash, peppers and onions. On these hot days it's nice to eat lighter.

My roses are in full bloom now. Their sweet scent makes sitting on the porch delightful.

The dogs were in heaven sniffing and roaming the yard. They love it when we're outside with them.  Sunday afternoon they even got to play a little bit of frisbee with us.
My daughter's and I wrapped up the weekend by watching the very first three episodes of 'LOST'.   
It's been a wonderful start to the summer season.  I hope you had a lovely weekend too!
~amy