A LITTLE BIT OF THIS & A LITTLE BIT OF THAT!!!!!!!

Thought I do a little catching up today.  Still busy with the reno but trying to do some yard work too so today we went out to buy some Cedar Trees to "Spruce" up the yard.

Today is our sweet Daughter-In-Law Natasha's Birthday.  Happy Birthday Darling girl.

Remember we fostered some pups from up North in Ontario that were do to be shot?  This is our sweet Winnie.  She was adopted by a lovely family who adore her and they send and post pictures of her all the time.  Here she is last week with her opinion of Cesar Milan's training technique.

I am not one to just sit and watch television so I am always doing something.  Last week I worked on some more Organic Cotton Wrapped Bracelets for my Etsy Shop MY HIPPIE HEART JEWELLRY.  I love making these and they sold out so I had to make a new batch.  I took the pictures on the newly sanded floor in my soon to be closet/office.  Gorgeous original pine floors.

This is not the best picture but I have been working on a business card and a name for my husbands new business.  He decided to start making reproduced antique furniture again but just small pieces.  We are tossing around names.  I like THE RUSTIC RAVEN he likes IN THE ROUGH.  The picture on the card will be his workbench in his studio.  What do you think?

If I don't get time to post tomorrow I hope you all have a lovely sunny weekend.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!!!!

I wish you all the most wonderful, sun filled Easter Sunday.  I hope you put on your brightest Easter Bonnet and have a fabulous day.

WHO'S THAT AT MY DOOR?????

Easter crept up on me this year.  I have been so busy with the renovations and the Rescue Dogs Match MayDay Bazaar Fundraiser that I just realized on Monday that it was this weekend.

I love Easter  all of the pastals and chocolate colours.  I always bake some festive treats and here are some adorable ones I found on Pinterest.

These are some really cute simple ideas.  These M & M cookies are so easy, just use a simple butter cookie recipe, I would use a chocolate chip cookie recipe and eliminate the chips just poke in some Easter M & M's and there you go a delicious easy treat.

How cute are these chick cupcakes.  A vanilla iced cupcake dipped in yellow sanding sugar with a little icing wings, beak and eyes and they look amazing.

Love this bunny cake just lots of coloured coconut you use paper ears and he is so hoppingly cute.

I think these cupcakes and cake are just gorgeous!  All you need to decorate are oreo cookie crumbs that you buy like graham cracker crumbs in the box.  So sweet.  Go to THE CAKE BLOG for full instructions for this yummy cake.

I have always wanted to make this Martha Stewart Garden Cake, one day I will.  It takes a lot of patience working with the fondant to make all the veggies and the fence but what an absolutely marvelous cake.

I have made these cupcakes many times and they are really simple and the kids just love them.  Simply ice the cupcake add toasted coconut and pipe three blue blobs.  Add eyes and little beaks.....adorable.

Love these cupcakes too but there is an awful lot of icing, cute though.

I am the Cookie Queen of Jerseyville.  I become a little obsessed about how I decorate them.  I will spend hours with the details they are little pieces of art to me but they get gobbled up just as quickly as the plain ones, but aren't they just beautiful.

Easter is not Easter without CHOCOLATE.  Now this cake is a sugar rush waiting to happen.   Chocolate cake surrounded by KitKats and filled with Cadbury Eggs just lock the kids in a room for a few hours after they eat this.

A simple Chocolate Cupcake this sprinkles and Cadbury Eggs....lovely!

I saw this and although it is not exactly Easter I just thought it was adorable!  I think I will make this for one of my Grandbabies Birthdays one year.  For Easter you could actually put little duckies in there and add some eggs around the bottom.  Go to JUST A PINCH RECIPES for the complete instructions.

Every holiday season I find one recipe I just have to make and this is it for Easter.  When I saw these SPARKLY SURPRISE CARROT CUPCAKES I just had to make them.  When I looked at first I thought you would make the cake and freeze it and cut out the carrot shape.  When I checked out the website the simplicity of these is genius.  Check out  HOSTESS WITH THE MOSTEST you will want to make them too!

I hope I have made you mouth water and given you a little inspiration for a special Easter treat.  Have a lovely day I know I will the sun is shining on Jerseyville today.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!!!!!!!!

Last week Spring finally came to Jerseyville.  The sun beat down upon the farm with a glorious, snow melting warmth.

Atticus, Rufus and Daisy happily lounged on the porch with us while we cleaned away the winter and put out the summer furniture, a bit early I know but I really wanted to sit outside for Easter.

What a beautiful day it was, finally after such a horrendous winter, even for Canada, Spring had arrived.

I went to Josmar Acres and purchased some hearty Pansies, I know they can take the colder evenings.  After a long, satisfying morning of fixing the porch, I sat for a welcoming cup of tea and a good look at my country books for some ideas for summer decorating.

But alas, Spring can be a cruel mistress!  This is what we woke up to yesterday morning.  Not only this but it had poured rain on Monday and the basement flooded near the furnace which caused it to shut down.  While my husband was setting up the sump pump he broke a mirror ( I think this is why the furnace stopped, the first of 7 years of bad luck).

Today, the furnace is working, the basement is dry, I am doing Easter decorating and the snow is beginning to melt.  Brenda, from Rescue Dogs Match popped in with a lovely Easter pot of flowers.  Life goes on, Spring will come, and you would think by now I would be prepared for the unexpected weather, even in April, after all, I AM CANADIAN!

HELLO! I AM STILL HERE.....& IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW!!!!!!

I have been a bad blogger!  I cannot believe I have not posted since March 24.  I just don't know where the days have gone.  Last year I posted every day, like I had done almost for over 3 years.  I have just been so busy with another fundraiser for the Dog Rescue, a MayDay Bazaar to welcome Spring.  We have been working on the closet/office and finally we have had some nice weather so I have been working to make it look a little presentable outside.  The farm looks like a sink hole but at least the porches look nice.

A I said, tomorrow is my Birthday.  This year I am very happy to have my birthday.  I started TOPS September 25th. and as of the other day I have lost 40 lbs.  I feel great.  Lots of energy and I just feel lighter and like this is my year.  Onward and upward.  This is the first time I have fully commited myself to a regime of weight loss and exercise and I am not looking back and regretting starting earlier I am just looking ahead.

I saw this today and it says it all for me.

For my Birthday present this year I went to see someone I admire, Cher.  My daughter-in-laws mom, Donna, also a dear friend, went with me, that was her Christmas present.  I saw Cher years ago and I must say she is as beautiful, fit and strong voiced as she was then if not more so.  The woman is 68 years old, age is just a number.  Her show was a feast for the eyes with old songs, new songs and a wonderful video duet with Sonny singing I Got You Babe.    She did a Burlesque montage, a fabulous set with her Gypsy, Tramps and Thieves album and the finale took my breath away, she actually floated across the stadium while singing her beautiful last song.  Pat Benatar opened for her and boy can she belt it out.  She is 61 and a real firecracker.  I highly recommend seeing this show if you can.  It was a great Birthday present and as an extra bonus I fit into the dress I bought in November for the concert.  Funny story, I had to wear a slip underneath and I only have one half slip and it was a little big so I tucked it into the top of my tights.  Going up the escalator I said to Donna " Something doesn't feel right".  My slip had come untucked and was heading for my ankles.  Now that, although a good thing weight loss wise, it could have been very embarrassing.

So, tomorrow my lovely family will be here, I am going to have a very small sliver of my birthday cake, I did not care if I had one but my hubby looked like he was going to cry when I said no cake this year so I did pick up a little one.  I will do a nice big catch up post on Sunday, lots to catch up on.  So I hope you all have a nice, sunny weekend and if it is anyone elses Birthday this weekend, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!