This & That - June 2024
Spring and Summer have finally arrived at the Cottage. At least I THINK they have...
You see, Mother Nature has been off her meds and the weather has been, shall we say, challenging!
It all started in March with a bit of a snowstorm. Nothing too dramatic, but there were a few inches of the white stuff.
It melted and I got to visit with a dear friend, have a delicious lunch and do some shopping. I took a few pics for inspiration. Here's one of them:
The next week, we had a HUGE snowstorm. Upward of 2 FEET of snow! Here's a shot of one of our vehicles...and this was taken in the morning looooong before we reached the total amount of snow!
Fortunately, it all melted in about a week. That's the beauty of spring snowstorms.
Easter came along and I tried my hand at cookie decorating again.
A little bit better, but not great. For me, the hardest part is getting the consistency of the royal icing right. I'm not sure I'll ever master it.
Then I made a half cake. A half cake makes more sense for 2 people. I used buttercream and did some decorative icing on it.
That was March.
April makes its debut with an earthquake!
Sitting in my living room, I start to feel my chair shake. As I look next to me, the water in my glass is sloshing and my Tiffany style lampshade is rocking back and forth. I knew what it was right away since I've experienced an earthquake before, but I must say it was a bit unsettling.
A few days later, we had the eclipse. We had about 98% totality. I forgot to get glasses, so I went 'old-school' with a pinhole projector made from a box.
Nothing fancy, but it did the trick!
We have wonderful outlet shopping in my area, so I made my way into Vera Bradley. They were having a sale and I wanted a new purse. I walked out with all of this:
You see, I brought The Enabler...I mean, my husband, with me who kept finding more things I 'needed'. All four pieces were purchased for less than what the Grand Traveler bag would have cost. The large tote (back right) actually is large enough for my laptop and, silly me, thought it would be a great purse. It was a bit big...
When The Enabler heard that, he said, "We have to go back." We did and I walked out with a new purse, wallet (he wanted me to get two) and small cosmetic bag. Have I mentioned how much I love that man????
I finished reading The Women by Kristen Hannah, one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time. I highly recommend it!
May arrived and once again, I tried some cookie decorating...no one can call me a quitter!
I was going for a 'sunflower look'.
They are better than my first try back in February, but I still have a long way to go. I tried a new recipe - Alice's Cookie Icing - it has butter in it and I think it tastes better. I'm still working on getting the consistency right. In the meantime, my husband is very happy to eat the cookies, no matter what they look like!
Yard Sale Season has begun and I've acquired a few new treasures.
The nice man took $5 for both.
This Martha Washington sewing cabinet was priced at $30 in really good condition.
I wasn't going to get it because I really don't have the space for it. The Enabler looked at the woman and said, "Make her an offer she can't refuse." The woman said, "Twenty bucks, take it away!". He looked at me, took out his wallet and that was that! It has some 'smells' that I'm working on, so stay tuned for an update!
Our weather continues to be a rollercoaster. From snow, to rain, and temperatures close to 90 degrees and then back down to the 50s, we've had it all. Although, I'm grateful that we don't have tornadoes or hurricanes in this part of the world!
Since it's June 1st, I'm hoping Mother Nature has decided it's summer and gives us some good weather (this past week has been pretty nice). In my world that means temperatures in the 70s and 80s with sunshine...and more days to spend here:
I've shared a few projects. Most recently, the Doll Dresser Makeover (It's not a doll dresser anymore), and my Glam Girl Terracotta Planter.
I'm currently working on 3 different projects right now and I hope to get them finished very soon, so be sure to stop back again soon!
What have you been up to lately?
Wow! What an eventful few months, from an earthquake to an eclipse. I love your cookie decorating and your cake decorating, too. Very impressive! :) Thank you for sharing this post with us at the Will Blog for Comments #39 linkup. Hope to see you again at #40 with more posts to share, old or new. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteIt really has been eventful. Who knows what Summer will bring!
DeleteI have one of those Martha Washington sewing tables! I love it. We rescued it from the curb and used it in our first apartment. It's been with us ever since. It's a little worse for the wear now, it needs some cosmetic help, but it still functions so well and fits my space perfectly. PS...that cake looks amazing!!! I need a post on a half a cake...that's a new one to me!
ReplyDeleteAww, we have matching sewing cabinets now! The half cake? SO easy! I'll see what I can do for a post!
DeleteYour husband sounds a lot like mine! And I am loving all your new Vera Bradley bags... I've been trying to stay away from their store because I just can not seem to go in and not buy something new. We have had some really weird weather this spring too but it seems to be settling down now into some nice warm sunny days and I hope yours has too!
ReplyDeleteWell, aren't we the lucky ones! I agree, Vera Bradley IS hard to resist...as for the weather, it does seem to be settling down. I really would like a nice summer!
DeleteI love hearing about your "enabler"! I have one of those, and our home is bursting at the seams because of it. I had to tell him to stop looking at auctions last night because we have no more room for stuff. I think your cookies and cake look lovely. Our weather has been a lot like yours Ann, up, down, all around... who knows, maybe we will get some snow in July? Ha, just kidding! You've been so busy through it all, great finds yardsaling.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone should have an Enabler, Cara. We're the lucky ones!
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