Foto Friday

A Hummingbird Moth in my garden!!

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.

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

CH CH Changes

It has been several months since I last posted on this blog.  

It feels so good to actually have the time to sit before the screen of my laptop and get typing.

So much has been happening!

There have been many changes and more changes to come! 

Allow me to catch you up if I may…

Let’s back up to the month of May if we could…

In the beginning of May, we were able to take a lovely, and much needed vacation. I’ll share more about that in a future post.

Any guesses where we went on vacation??

By early June, my babysitting responsibilities for the grandkids were coming to an end.

 (Their mama is a teacher) 

 AND our garden was coming along nicely. 

But sometime in June, hubby completed his current construction project.  

(He’s a construction manager) 

He had been on this current project, a hospital, for nearly 10 years. 

  As soon as one phase would be completed, they would continue on to the next phase and the next……well you get the picture.

As this project was drawing to a close, he learned his next assignment would be iin Maryland, outside Washington D.C.  

                                                

                                                            And YES, the land of liberals!                                                                                                                                      

We live in Pennsylvania. 

Ahh, the serenity of our neck of the woods...

So while his new assignment is not that far away, it is too far to commute on a daily basis. 

So being the gypsies we are, we have packed up a few of our possessions, and headed to Maryland.                                                                                                                                                                        Talk about being a square peg in a round hole! 

   

                                                                                     

We have not sold our home.  In fact, we will probably be able to go home most weekends…..to mow grass, manage the garden 

 

and of course, love on our little ones.

Unfortunately, in this process, I had to re-home the girls.  L 

And my country dog has become a city dog. 

Josie, waiting patiently at the door of
 our tiny apartment to go for her next walk.

  I don’t think she’s minded though, because she gets walked often.  

  I’m sure as soon as she gets home, she will head to the field to do some ground hog hunting! 

 

So what does a simple country girl blog about when she is surrounded by city life?                                                         

Well, we shall see..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LOOKING AHEAD

As if we haven't had enough change...

There are more changes coming…

In September, we have a wedding to look forward to.  

My baby boy is getting married. 

Okay, so he’s not a baby, he’s 28.  

But nonetheless, he’s my baby and he’s gettin’ hitched.

  And we are looking forward to the addition of a new daughter as well as a bridal shower coming up soon.  More about that later!

AND can I get a drum roll please……

We are going to be grandparents again!   

That’s right.  Jack and Rhea will be getting another brother or sister for Christmas. 

  When asked if they wanted a girl or a boy,

 Jack said "a boy,"

 and of course Rhea said "a girl."

  So good ol’ Jack told his sister that he could have a brother and she could have a sister.  I’m afraid someone is going to be disappointed!  Kids say the funniest things don’t they?

So there you have it!

                                                                                                                                                                         Lots of Changes… Lots to look forward to..             

                                                                                                                                                         

And plenty of reasons to be grateful 

and to trust in

and lean on 

the goodness of our God!