In the kitchen today, freezing broccoli and collard greens from our garden. I used a row cover this year to keep out insects, and it really did make a difference - no eaten leaves or little green worms!

​It's been far to long since I have visited this space.  I thought I would post some photos from 2022 and some notes about the year.

January, the most exciting event was Mike retiring!

Our meadow in June, full of wildflowers.

Our raised beds were packed with vegetables and flowers.  Most did well.

July ~ Mike finished our bluestone patio, it's so good to have this wonderful space.

Rearranged the living room and it works so much better.

August time spent at the lake.

October garlic harvest.

A stay at the Glen Iris at Letchworth to celebrate 40 years of marriage!

The greenhouse Mike is building me, started last fall.  The windows and door are now being installed and we have high hopes it will be finished in time for some seed-starting.

Thank you for stopping by!!

Deb

Hello everyone, I hope this new year is off to a good start for you!  I am so happy to be sitting here writing to you with a hot cup of tea nearby.  This handcrafted cup and saucer was a Christmas present. Our 'green' Christmas was a very good one, and with three grandchildren aged 3 and under there was never a dull moment.  In those quiet days between Christmas and New Year's I was able to get a few pictures to share.

Before Christmas, was filled with the usual rush to bake, clean, buy and make presents and decorate, besides babysitting the grandchildren.  I sewed a leather tote bag and crocheted dishcloths to gift.  

My hopes for the new year, as always, are to complete many of the projects I have in progress...a sweater and scarf to finish knitting, my embroidered tablecloth to catch up on, a needlepoint project, a blouse and skirt to finish sewing, and several zipper pouches and tote bags I have all cut out and ready to sew.  There are actually more works in progress I am afraid to say....

As always, I am looking forward to a new year in the garden.  Last year I was able to can and freeze the most food yet, since we've been in our new home here.  We were able to harvest some peaches off one of our trees, and hope for apples and cherries to start producing soon. 
Last summer, we also put in a stone patio ~ my husband, I should say ~ and it was a lot of back breaking work for him.  It wasn't completed until late summer, so we look forward to using it more this year.  There are also steps from the house to be built and some trellis/arbors to be added. 
And, what I am most excited about is our plan to build a small greenhouse using recycled windows.  It will be so good to have a warm place to get plants off to an early start! 

Recently I have been overhauling the living room...some deep cleaning, moving furniture around and hanging pictures.  It seems that time of year to purge the excess and get organized.  In the kitchen I hung a small pot rail to hold my thrifted copper cookware.

In the background below, is a thrifted wicker bottle that I finally made into a lamp...

I hope you are all well, and thank you for stopping by to visit.  I would love to hear from you in the comments. 
Take care,

Deb

The glads and sunflowers bloom at the same time in the cutting garden, so this combination has become an annual tradition...

A daylily variety I added this summer and that I hope will multiply and completely fill in under this tree...

It was an unusually cool month of July for us, with one morning down to 48 degrees.  Plenty of rain has everything lush and green as if it were spring...

The garden harvest has included strawberries, tomatoes, basil, dill, cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, summer squash, lettuce, radishes, peppers and carrots.  Last week I made a batch of refrigerator pickles, and I have frozen up bags of strawberries, shredded zucchini, green beans, and carrots for the cold winter months...

The limelight hydrangeas are beginning to bloom and soon those bouquets will fill the rooms.  Below are a few of the oakleaf hydrangea flowers from the plant I bought at Monticello...

After working in the garden, you might find me on the back porch glider, looking out at the garden, with some iced tea in hand...

Hope your summer has been good, I would love to hear what you have been up to!

~ Deb

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Before the warm weather arrived, I did some work on the demi-lune table that I found at an antique shop.  It is now painted and holding plants in our entry.    The table's original wood finish and veneer were not in great shape, so I gave it a good sand and a couple coats of paint.  This area gets a lot of sunlight through the front door, so hopefully the plants will like it here.

It's so good to get outside on a warm spring day for a hike.  Long before anything else greens up, the moss and ferns and lichens are bright spots in the gray and brown woods.

It looked much neater here before the snow melted and revealed the mess.  Lots of weeding and winter clean up to do in our gardens.

It's so good to be able to hang the laundry out on the clothesline again.

I hope you had a wonderful Easter.  The night before, I was up until 10 catching up on the embroidery on this table cloth ~ why do I leave things until the last minute?!  We had a warm sunny day, some traditional Polish Easter foods, and an Easter egg hunt for the two-year old grandsons.  The joy on their faces was the highlight of my day.

Are you enjoying any signs of Spring yet?  Here the robins are back, the snow cover is disappearing, there is birdsong in the morning, and the days are getting noticeably longer.  We have had a handful of days warm enough to get outside and start a bit of garden work.  Which all means I better get some spring cleaning done, and the season of Lent seems the perfect time for that.  I spent the good part of a day recently cleaning and organizing the pantry and laundry room, so I took some photos to remind myself of how it looks when clean and organized and for anyone who might want a tour.

Above:  My $10 flea market shelves

Above:  laundry-folding table from a piece of Craigslist marble and a shelf with shaker pegs that Mike built

Above:  a salvaged old door for the coat closet

Above:  my great grandmother's rolling pin

Below:  an old salvaged chimney cupboard to hold laundry supplies

The large cabinet on the left, which was found at a local antique shop and is from Eastern Europe, holds all our pantry supplies.

Thank you for taking the time to visit! 

Of course, as soon as we down-sized our home, I am thrilled to say that our family has grown, and my husband is working from home.  Three grandchildren now, ages 2 and under, means a portable crib and toys have been added to our spare room/workroom, as well as extra desk space.  I have been doing my best to make the most of this small room. 
I found this antique secretary on Craigslist, and it has been perfect for storing all my books and paperwork while taking up very little floor space.   

Then, when I saw many adorable bibs pictured online, I decided to make one for her as well.  Some leftover linen and a bit of trim I modified, along with some braided cord and this is what I came up with:

Are you doing any knitting this winter?  Would love to hear what you are working on!

~Deb