Wordless Wednesday

 

Time for Fall

I'm never the first person to put up Fall decorations, I try to hang on to Summer for a while!  But last week, I decided it was time.  I don't do a lot, but here's what I did around our house.

In the dining room, I changed out my pictures on the wall, added autumn berries to the vases and some pumpkins on the ledge.

There's a Fall centerpiece on the table.

The living room shelf has a thankful sign and a gourd on it.

Also in the living room are these little pumpkins made of Jenga blocks.  Ruby and I made them several years ago.

This little vignette is next to our tv.

Our back entry has this Fall wreath hanging up.

The porch is my favorite. We have mums and pumpkins of all sizes.  The black milk can is an old one from my Dad's farm and the little pumpkins are in an old egg basket, also from the farm.  I love seeing those little bits of family history.

That's it - this will stay until it's time to take it down for Christmas decor and I'm certainly not ready to think about that!

Photo Dump

I have no theme for today, just some pictures I wanted to share with you all.

This photo was taken about 10 years ago and is of Alaina pushing Ruby on the swing.  It's hung on our fridge ever since because we love seeing the joy in it.

Now, Connor is about the same age as Ruby was there, so we hung the baby swing up again and tried to get a similar picture.

Here's Cassie and Connor.  Now I can add this to the fridge!

Most of our flowers are fading this time of year, but some are still showing some color.  The bright purple ones you see here are called Fall Crocus.  They pop up with just some green leaves in the Spring, then die back, but in the fall they pop out again with this beautiful color.

I noticed this pretty scene while walking, a neighbors bird house with morning glories blooming around it.

Isn't this butterfly in our back yard pretty?

This is a pretty little spot in the woods that I like to walk in.  Despite the warm temperatures we've been having, it's starting to look like Fall.

That's all I have today, thanks for letting me catch up on my pics!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

I recently saw a recipe for bread that was so easy to make and I had to try it.  It was as easy as promised and turned out great!  This makes a dense bread, perfect for sandwiches and toasting.  Bob loved it too!  

Sandwich Bread

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 packet instant yeast

In a bowl mix the warm water, sugar and yeast. Let set for 5-10 minutes until foamy.
Add flour and salt and stir until combined.  Dough will be sticky - that's ok!
Cover and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in size.
Transfer to a greased loaf pan, smooth top and let rise for another 30 minutes.
Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 until golden brown.
Let cool before slicing.  Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

 

A Day Out

Bob and I have been trying to do some fun things occasionally as we so easily get into the rut of just being busy at home.  It doesn't have to be anything big, just getting out with the two of us is the goal.

So last week, we spent the day out.  We started by driving to Holland which is about 30 minutes from our house.  I had heard about a place called the Holland Bowl Mill that makes wooden bowls and utensils that are sold all over the country.  They offer free tours which Bob especially thought would be interesting because of the wood working he does.

 

 

 

 

Here you can see someone turning a bowl.

This shows how they get several bowls out of one chunk of wood.

After the bowls are done, they are set out to dry for 4 weeks.  Can you believe how many bowls are here?

They make other wooden things too - utensils, rolling pins, cutting boards, coasters, herb strippers...

They even have wooden light covers!

We came home with this small wooden bowl.  The design in it, is burned by putting an electric current through it.

After our stop at the Wooden Bowl Mill, we stopped and got a sub sandwich and took it to a nearby park where we ate and then did a little hiking.

This park is called the Grand Ravines because of the hills and deep ravines in it.  They have built places like this where you can look over the ravines.  We ate our lunch in this spot.

Here's another overlook

The trail you see here, is where we are walking to.  It winds along the hill and eventually we made it down to the river.

Here we are at the river.  It's such a pretty spot!

There's a covered bridge down there.  It isn't going over the river, but was moved there from another location where it couldn't be used anymore.  Now it's mainly used for photo shoots.

Another picture of the river.

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place to walk and enjoy God's creation!

It's done!

I told you Bob was working on a storage shed for the back of our yard and I'm happy to say it's all done! I'm going to show you pictures from the beginning to end.

August 13 - Bob has the frame complete and crushed concrete leveled into it

The shed kit was delivered. Laura and Aaron and family came over to help haul lumber from the driveway to the back yard.

August 18 - Bob starts building walls

August 25 - my brother came over and helped get all the walls up

August 27 - the roof trusses and dormer are all in place

Sept 1 - we put on 2 coats of paint.  In the evening my BIL Mark came over to help get the plywood up on the dormer.

Sept 2 - the shingles are done and the windows and vents are in place

Sept 7 - the doors are installed, shutters up and lots of small details completed.

Sept 8 - the shed itself is done!  All the trim is painted, caulking is done, nail holes filled and painted...

Sept 12 - shelves built inside for storage

and looking into the shed.  When it gets colder our porch and deck furniture will be stored in here.

The finished product!  Bob's been working on landscaping in the front of it.  It'll be fun to see this new flower bed grow in front of the shed.  Bob worked really hard on this and I think he did a great job on the whole thing!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

We had another potluck at church last week and today I'm sharing the salad I took to share.  It's a recipe I got from a friend who has since passed away. She was a great cook and I love remembering her when I make her recipes. This is an unusual salad because it has corn bread in it!  It's very tasty and looks pretty in a clear glass bowl or a trifle bowl.

Chili Corn Bread Salad

1 pkg (8.5 oz) corn bread/muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground oregano
Mix all of above and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool.

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 envelope ranch salad dressing
Mix to make dressing.

1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) corn, drained
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In a 9x13 glass pan or a large glass bowl, crumble half of the corn bread. Spread half of the dressing over bread. Layer with half the beans, corn, tomatoes, pepper, onion, cilantro and cheese. Repeat layer. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Some fun with my girlies

Alaina and Ruby came and spent the night this past weekend.  We did lots of fun things!

We took them out for supper and then took a walk down the road to give the horses some apple treats.

Walking back, Alaina took a picture of us walking behind them.

Later we picked up my brother and went to an ice cream place that was my Dad's favorite.  The girls were eating blue ice cream and look what it did to their mouths!

On Saturday morning, Bob was gone to help cut down a tree at my sisters house.  The girls occupied themselves with some doodling while I got some things done in the kitchen.

This is something Alaina was drawing and I thought it was pretty cute!  I don't know what she was going to say to Come to though!

Then we started on our craft for the day. We had 2 mini crates for each of them, which Bob had already glued together.  The girls got them painted.

While the paint dried, we drove to Mark and Cheri's house (they live just around the corner from us) to check on the tree cutting.  Things were going well, but there was a lot to be done yet.

When we got back home, we did more work on our painted crates. They were being turned into pumpkins!  A piece of a branch was cut for the stem, spanish moss, some leaves and acorns were glued to the top.  We also put battery operated fairy lights in through an opening and glued the battery pack under the moss.

Here they are - cute little light up pumpkins!

Later, we went for a walk in the woods near us.

It's so beautiful there this time of year.

We found this wood teepee someone had made with old logs.

Ruby crawled in and checked it out.

Alaina didn't want to go inside because "there might be spiders in there".

Ruby wanted to do a little climbing. She made it up the log and back without trouble.

The tree cutting didn't get done until about 5.  Laura and Aaron had been over there helping, so they came and picked up the girls when they were done. 
We had a fun day!