Welcome! I'm happy and humbled you've stopped by.....Cozy up and follow along as I share my attempts at simple living with you.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Foto Friday-The fruits our labor

All purpose tomato sauce


Chocolate zucchini coconut cakes.  Froze these
mini bundt cakes so we always have something
quick if friends stop by, or for when my sweet tooth
starts screaming!
(click here for the recipe)


Ham, green beans, and new potatoes.
I like to steam the beans and potatoes first and
then brown everything.  




Plain ol' juice


My little apartment cupboard is now filled with the fruits of our labor!
RELISH, SAUCE, JUICE, SALSA...YUM!









Thursday, August 21, 2014

Savoring the last days of summer

Just wanted to share this photo of these beautiful flowers.  Now that I have all my veggies taken care of (see this post), I have been taking advantage of some free time and enjoying the last days of summer. I know it will be awhile until we reach the official end of summer, but days at the pool end Soon.
So for the next few days I'm going to soak in every last ray of sunshine!
Keeping it simple
Tammy

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Bridal Shower Craftiness!


So I hosted a bridal shower for our 
daughter in law to be.
  
While I may have been the hostess for this grand event, 
 I was not in charge of it. 
(Thankfully!)


Surprise!

But I did want to help to make Ashley's day memorable.
So I took on the crafty stuff, 
and let the food, games and other details up to the maid of honor and Ashley's mom.  

I have to say that I had fun ....
crafting....
creating....
and of course sneaking around!

I volunteered to make the invitations...
(card making is one of my favorite crafts)


       
                          
Since it was held at my house....
I did much (but not all) of the decorating. 
And because the bride and groom will be gettin' hitched in a barn and (the guys will be) wearing camo for the wedding...


decorating with burlap was a no brainer. 


Take a look.....



A good friend helped me make the ribbon flower pins that were used to secure the favors (wrapped in burlap) :) 
We also used these as part of the table decorations.






Painted Mason jars added a nice touch too...




                             
Ashley's mom brought some deee-licious 
(and cute)
cupcakes!





There sure was a lot of camo in the room...
(glad I'm not wearing that little diddy!!)

And a ton of fun!





And there's my favorite girl -she had a great time too!!
Love her!


I sure hope you enjoyed the pics. 
It's these little snippets in life
that somehow create fond memories 
for us to reflect on
and cherish as the days and the years pass us by.

Cherish your moments my friends
they go by so quickly...

and don't forget to live your life
Simply and Deliberately....

Tammy


Ashley with her Maid of honor.





Monday, August 11, 2014

Country Life/City Life

If you read my last post, you know that we have made the transition from the country to the city.  


Well kinda.....
actually we have one foot in the country and the other in the city. We have been living in two places. And I can tell you, it's been very challenging.  It definitely challenges my idea of 
Simple Living.

Just the other day I saw a Facebook post from Louise's Country Closet that really brought to light the reality of how different life is living in the city versus good old country living. 


 It was a photo of her soon-to-be wood shed that her hubby was building to ensure they could keep their wood dry. 

Hubby  storing some of his
goodies up in the wood shed with
some help from a very little Jack
(taken in 2011).

We too have a wood shed at our country house.  We use the downed trees on our 8 acres to heat our home.  But here in the city, no won't find any such thing. There are no wood sheds,
No wood stoves, 
no wood furnaces or fireplaces. 
In the city, you don't have any choices on home heating.  
You just get what you get! 



Another obvious difference is no one has a garden.  Sure, we see an occasional tomato plant on an apartment balcony.  And I'm happy to say there is a community garden nearby, but for most every city dweller, a garden is something that is out of their reach.  

We returned home the last 2 weekends to tend the garden.... 


host a bridal shower....

and celebrate some birthdays. 


(more on these events later)

When we returned to our little apartment yesterday
we brought along a huge haul from the garden.  I sure hope the neighbors weren't watching as we paraded back and forth from the apartment to the parking lot as we unloaded the pick up truck!






We had coolers, bins, boxes and this huge chest that housed some of my canning supplies.  
(Big enough to hide a body in)  :)



I'm certain I will be quite busy for the next few days as I transform all our veggies into something that we can enjoy this winter.  
I'll keep you posted on what all this produce becomes!!


Here's one of the differences of city living that I can't quite wrap my brain around..... 


 I would NEVER 
shove this stuff down my drain at home.  
It would either end up in the chicken yard as a treat for the girls, or in the compost bin to benefit next year's garden.

 It just seems wrong!

And on that note...
I'll say so long!!!....

But in the meantime, if you have any thoughts on the differences between living in the country or the city, I'd love to hear them!  

Still trying to keep it simple....
Tammy

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