Summer is gone..... : (

I apologize to my followers for disappearing this summer.  An unexpected personal/family issue happened and as I dealt with it, I was not in any condition to write anything.  I've gotten a better grip on things and I do see the light at the end of the tunnel now.  I still have my bad days, but, getting back to "normal" will help speed up the recovery process.  Thank you for your patience and loyalty.

I love Summer, but it slipped by me this year.  When you experience a traumatic event, you become numb to what's going on around you.  Life continues on while you suffer.  It's kind of disheartening, actually.  I had put a lot of effort into my flower and vegetable gardens this Spring.  As I suffered, my garden suffered, too.  Though we had plenty of rain early on, the over-abundance of water caused all of my squash plants to rot.  I was only able to enjoy one zucchini this year!  I planted giant sunflower seeds but they never germinated.  Even though the flowers are blooming, the weeds took over everywhere.  My tomatoes are the only plants that are doing well.  Next season, I hope to make up for this year.

As a follow up to my last post, here are some new photos of the puppy we adopted this Spring.  We named her Kiah.  She has a very cute personality, but we forgot how tough it is to raise a puppy!  She's keeping our older dogs on their toes!

The Ultimate Impulse "Buy"

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. 

The weather was beautiful.  You couldn't have asked for a better day.  My husband and I were invited by my brother to go to an Amish auction on Saturday, so we decided to take the 200 mile trip to Soldier's Grove, WI.  I have always been intrigued by the Amish and their lifestyle.  I have several Amish cookbooks and have discovered some excellent recipes.  My brother purchased Amish furniture from this particular auction last year, so I was excited to go check it out. 

Upon arriving in town, we immediately came upon a horse drawn buggy.  This is not something you see everyday when you live in the city.  This was my first time seeing it in person and squealed with delight!  My husband was surprised that it was my first time.  He's an over-the-road truck driver and has been all over the country, so it wasn't new to him.  We then found the Amish farm where the auction was being held.  As we pulled in with our Ford pick-up truck, there was a "parking lot" full of cars, trucks, buggies and horses!  What a sight that was! 

This auction is held each year to raise money for the local Amish school, so all the items are donated by the local Amish families.  There were several bedroom and dining room sets that sold for $2,500.00 and up!  There were probably a hundred quilts, many of them sold for over $300.00 each.  Other items sold were planters, doll furniture, cutting boards, tables, chairs, gliders, gun cabinets, hope chests, etc.  And what makes this extra special to me is that they are all handmade lovingly by the Amish.  The quality surpasses most store bought furniture!

An Amish breakfast was being held prior to the auction.  We walked into a tent full of Amish ladies cooking over propane stoves, using old fashioned egg beaters to mix the pancake batter.  It was delicious!  As you left the tent, there were large tables filled with homemade pies, breads, cinnamon rolls, cookies and noodles for sale.  On the outside of the tent, there was a booth set up to sell homemade ice cream!  Now remember, they don't use electricity.  And to make enough ice cream to sell to a large crowd, they had an industrial size ice cream churn.......attached to a small gas engine to churn it!  As the day went on, they switched to selling cups of homemade noodle soup, sandwiches and slices of pie.  Needless to say, my diet was shot that day! 

As we were sitting there watching the auction, a little Amish boy came up to us carrying a puppy.  He asked us if anyone wanted a puppy.  My brother picked up the puppy and held her.  She was adorable!  The little boy said she's for free.  My heart melted and my husband and brother gave me puppy dog eyes right along with the puppy.  I could not resist!  And I said yes!  I decided to still give him some money ($10.00), but he wouldn't take it until after my third attempt.  He walked off with a big grin on his face!  As we looked at her and did some on-line research on our phones, we decided she's probably a pure bred Blue Heeler aka an Australian Cattle Dog.  After a week of contemplating, we decided to name her Kiah (pronounced K-eye-ah).  It is an Australian Aboriginal word meaning "from the beautiful place".

I was being followed.......

As I was out gardening in my backyard yesterday, everywhere I looked, this little guy was there (sorry for the bad picture quality, all I had on me was my cell phone).  He landed here on my little gardening bench. 

My Favorite Finds #13 - 1st Holiday of the Summer

The official 1st holiday of the Summer is just a few weeks away......time to plant the tomatoes, dust off the picnic table and fire up the grill!  We grill and/or barbecue just about every weekend during the summer.  We love our hamburgers, brats, ribs, chicken and steaks.  We also love to grill fresh vegetables in our special grilling pan.  This is also the time for get-togethers, picnics and potlucks with family and friends.  My daughter tasted the following dish at an office potluck and told me how delicious it was.  I made it for a Christmas party (though it's a bit more expensive to make in the winter due to the price of the grapes) and it was a big hit!  My daughter made it for our Mother's Day Brunch yesterday, and again, everyone just loved it!  Try it for your next potluck and you, too, will get many compliments and requests for the recipe!

Grape Salad

Ingredients:
1 cup cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract (to taste)
4 lbs. of grapes (2 lbs green & 2 lbs red or your choice)
3 tablespoons pecans, chopped
3 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:
Mix together first 4 ingredients. Stir into grapes. Mix together pecans and brown sugar and sprinkle on top of grapes.  Chill. 

Mother's Day Gift Ideas - The Kind That Doesn't Collect Dust!

I asked for some ideas in the Etsy forums for Mother's Day gifts that could be given to those moms that don't need anymore "stuff".  I have a mom that has way too much "stuff" (actually, she could be on one of those hoarder shows, but that's something I will not talk about here).  There are also moms that live in small apartments, assisted living or nursing homes, retired and travelling in an RV, etc., that just don't need more "stuff".  One year, I purchased a shepherd's hook, birdfeeder and a bag of birdseed.  My husband and I went to her home without telling her and set it up in her front yard.  She got a big kick out of it and all she had to do was fill it back up with the birdseed.  And by setting it up for her, we knew it wouldn't get stored away and lost in her home full of  "stuff".

My fellow Estians came up with some great ideas!  Some of them are still "stuff", but they are the types of gifts that would get used and not sit around, collecting dust.  Here are some of them:


eggagogo suggested houseplants!  "Everyone gives flowers but they don't last for very long. A small plant in a nice pot is lovely. AND even if you live far away, a lot of florists have live-plant options, too.  Dinner out, or a fancy dessert or other food presented nicely" is another "non-stuff" idea!


tasteslikepurple stated "I made giant caramel & chocolate covered apples last year. Each apple had a different combo of chocolate and goodies like drizzled white chocolate, chopped almonds, mini chips, etc."  She has also given her mom ergonomic gardening tools. 


swanmountainsoaps suggests handmade soap..."soap is perfect for people who don't need more stuff. It gets used up and then it's gone. And, everybody needs soap!"


hearttohearts came up with this very nice idea....."what about like a gift card to a nice restaurant. Or to the movies."


Wrapt's short and sweet idea was "a bird bath to go with the bird feeder?"  Love it!


designedwithglass came up with this good idea "There are a lot of ***** of the month products like:
fruit, desert, flowers, wine....etc."  Stuff that gets used up is always a good gift idea!
 
sticktoyourknittin came up with some really good ideas!  "For one of my parents' wedding anniversaries, my siblings and I went in together and got them tickets for an outdoor concert and then put together a basket of goodies for them to take to the concert...wine, crackers and cheese, cookies, etc.  Another year, I think for Christmas, my brother and sister-in-law put in a tiled patio for my parents as a gift.  Offering to do something like yard work, cleaning the house, cooking dinner, is always good. My mom also likes it when I give her a day of time together, doing whatever she wants."

LonesomeRoadStudio  suggested this and it would be fun for everyone in the family!  "How about a gift certificate to take her out to a lunch at her choice of restaurant on her choice of date, with you and/or family?"

pinupchick's response:  "I second Lonesome's idea. She's probably lonely living on her own and would love a day out. Maybe take her to a movie too? Don't go shopping obviously (haha), but a walk around a park or something might be nice."

erasistible came up with these wonderful ideas:  "Restaurant gift certificates, movie rental. I used to give my mom phone cards with minutes to call long distance."

CamillaWall suggested this gift idea (we all could use this one!).....    http://www.etsy.com/listing/31887921/microwave-heat-cold-pack-corn-bag-neck

bottlehood recommended this one, which I really love, since I love gardening!  "my favorite gifts are always for the garden... so i'd offer wild flower seeds. i threw some poppy seeds around the property five years ago, and as i write today, there are 100s times more poppy plants blooming bright orange all over the place. it's breathtaking, along with the pride of madera purple blue spikes, varieties of lavender blooms, citrus and stone fruit trees flowering..."

Thanks to all my fellow Etsians for contributing these awesome gift ideas!  Take a few minutes and check out their shops!  I bet you will be able to find some great gift ideas there, too!

An Etsy Treasury

Over at Etsy, they have a feature where you can pick out your favorite finds and put them into a collection to share with others.  I came up with this collection that was inspired by our trip to Montana. 

Most of the artisans in my treasury are from Montana as well.  Enjoy!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bd075738dea8eef3bc077cf