The Year In The Rearview Mirror 🍀

Hello my lovely friends 😍

So, we’re getting ready to wave goodbye to 2020. 👋🙋🏻‍♀️🥂

And I’m pretty sure that most, if not all of us, love to see it behind us. 🙃

There were a lot of ups and downs. But since I don’t have pictures of the ‘downs’, 😉 and I don’t wanna bring anyone ‘down’ (see what I did there 😋), I’m gonna share with you some pretty pictures of the past year. 💖

I hope you enjoy the show 😊

The Missouri River on a cold January morning…

In February I picked up my pencils again…

March brought the first signs of Spring …

In April we took a lot of long walks, and sometimes I even brought my camera 😄

Same in May 😎

In June I got out all my vintage cookbooks, and gave them the spotlight they deserve!

And went on more walks…

In July I started training my future Yoga partner 😍 and…well, you know 😅

In August we witnessed some baby birds getting ready to leave the nest and explore this strange, new world – right from our porch 😊

In September we painted the house…and I got my purple door 😌

In October I voted for the first time since becoming a citizen in 2019 🤓🇺🇸

In November I made this unique Advent wreath 🕯

December brought some beautiful days with sunshine and balmy temperatures – sprinkled among the icy, freezer-like temps. But we don’t wanna talk about those 😁

This was my year in pretty pictures. Thank you for stopping by and looking! 🥰 I hope you enjoyed them all (or at least most of them!) ☺️

All that’s left now is me wishing you a wonderful, healthy, pleasant 2021!

Be well! 🤗💕🥂

A Walk By The Lake On A Sunny Day 😎

Hello my lovely friends 💕

Today we got to enjoy a rare, gorgeous November day 😍

Too beautiful to spend all of it inside. So we explored the area a bit, and discovered a beautiful lake, not far from our house.

Who knew? 😅

Here are some impressions of the lovely scenery…

The geese were very cooperative!
Here I tried to get them in flight…but they were too fast. 😄
It kinda looks like they’re dancing for me, doesn’t it? 😊

I love Sycamore trees 😍

I do wish the trash cans weren’t so bright 😆

On the way home – the clouds were moving in

I hope you enjoyed this little view of Kansas 🙂

Until next time 💕

Will You Take A Walk With Me? 😎🍁🌳

Hello my lovely friends 💕

Lansing, KS is not your typical pretty ‘Small-Town-America’. But in the Fall it turns into a canvas for Mother Nature most beautiful work. 😍

It’s a sunny, crisp morning, so I took my camera with me on my daily walk.

Here are some pictures of the delightful sights I’m lucky enough to see every day 😊

Straight out the door stands this beauty

These pictures speak for themselves

There’s a little frost on the ground

As the sun went higher, more and more colors came to life

The little creek was really flowing after the rains two weeks ago. Now…not so much

Sunshine and a little green fairy 🧚🏼‍♀️

This one made me chuckle 😄

I hope you enjoyed our little stroll 🍁

Do you have a lot of Fall colors in your neck of the woods? Let me know…I’d love to hear/see what’s outside your door! 💕

Playing With Yarn & Colors ~ A Freeform Collage

Hello my lovely friends 💕

Are you enjoying the brilliant colors Mother Nature uses to paint the trees around us this time of year?

Every morning, while walking the dogs, I see more and more patches of reds and yellows pop up 😍

And some wonderful people have been sharing their Fall pictures on Facebook

Glorious…isn’t it?! I wanna jump right in! Don’t you? 😁

Seeing all these photos sparked an idea = Freeform Collage!

I’ve been trying my hand at Freeform Crochet Scrumbles, and am loving it!

So I got all my Fall-Color yarn out and went to town…no plan, just a picture in my mind.

Luckily I had the perfect yarn in my stash. 😃

Like this one here – Fall colors in a skein…

And this beautiful handspun wool

And of course many more, but these two really stand out. 🙂

And inch by inch it grew

Glorious Autumn – A Freeform Collage

It’s so much fun to play with the colors and different stitches.

Please watch for updates, and see the lake, sky, and more trees appear 😊💕🍁

Do you think Freeform is for you? You should try it sometime – once in a while it’s good to let the crazy child inside you create 🙃

Have fun! 💕

Fantastic ~ Bake ~ Along – Apples!

Hello my lovely friends  💕 It’s that time again…Time for the ‘Fantastic Bake Along’ hosted by our lovely friend Tracy over at It’s a T-Sweets Day Every month Tracy inspires a long list of friends to do some baking. Usually we all bake one thing….but this month she just gave us a theme: Apples   😃  ~ inspired by Connie’s @ Connie’s Creations Applesauce Cake. I decided to follow Connie’s recipe for the Applesauce cake…and I strongly advise you to do the same. That cake is absolutely fabulous! We had some for dessert last night, and right after hubby was already planning the size of the slice for breakfast! 😂

Doesn’t it look amazing?

Oh…btw…I didn’t put icing on…I was a little too generous with the flour when I prepared the pan. 😝

Throughout the weekend I saw a lot of mouthwatering Apple Recipes…Tracy’s Award winning Apple Pie, Apple Waffles, Apple Scones, Apple/Prosciutto/Parmesan Wraps…just to name a few.

Take a look…

Brenna’s Apple/Proscuitto/Parmesan Wraps Kathy’s Apple Waffles Kate’s Apple Scones AJ’s Gluten- and Dairy Free Applesauce Cake Abbey’s Apple Coffee Cake *There are more wonderful bakers – but thanks to the Shenanigans of either WordPress or my Laptop – or maybe it’s a combined effort –  the links show up as weird letter combos and hieroglyphs. Pfft…
y and Brenna have the full list posted if you wanna check out and enjoy the whole Apple deliciousness of this month.

Everything looks so delicious that I will definitely bake my way down the list. Meanwhile, this cake will definitely be a staple in this house, and once you make it (just follow the ‘Applesauce Cake’ link up there  ⬆️ ) you will feel the same. I promise!

Now I’m off to the kitchen…got some more baking to do. See – it’s Lorelai’s Birthday – and every year I spoil  her with her favorite peanutbuttery Doggy-licious cookies😍

Happy Birthday, Lorelai!

She keeps looking at me – I think she knows what’s coming! 😁

Thank you for stopping by today! 💕

I wish all of my US friends a happy, joyful, peaceful Thanksgiving Celebration! 😍

Sending Smiles 🙂 Hugs  🤗 and Love 💜 your way! 😘

Pine Cone Arrangements ~ Bringing Autumn Gatherings Into Your Home 🍁

Hello my lovely friends  💕 A big part of this might sound familiar to some of you – I did post this idea last year – but a lot of you weren’t here then 😊 and if you were, you might like a little reminder  😊 

How would you like to combine a Nature Walk 

with a crafty activity afterwards? 😍
Sound good? Well then…keep reading 🤓

But first – this 

    She’s just so cute…you’ll probably see her a lot here 😊

Alright…let’s get walking and crafting 

I start with collecting pine cones on my morning walk  – these beauties are along the way, and greet me every day with a lovely scent 

So if you see two women crawling around under the pine trees…with 3 dogs watching…that’s my friend Carole and me collecting pine cones 😁

Once home I clean them in a water/vinegar mixture – gotta get rid of the bugs 😖

    

After their ‘bath’ you wanna bake them in the oven at 200 degrees…for about an hour to get rid of the bugs that learned to breathe under water 😋

  
While they bake you can gather the rest of the necessary things. Here’s what you need …

~a glass vase

 ~Potpourri

 ~decorative glass gems 

~1. Start by filling the vase with the gems – about 2″ high.

~2. Then add the pine cones and the Potpourri in layers.

I started with some Potpourri, set a pine cone on top – against the side of the vase, added more Potpourri, a cone on the other side, and so on.

~3. When you work your layers, make sure you have 2 or 3 pine cones left over – sticking out at the top they’ll give your arrangement the pretty ‘fall-y’ touch.

There…isn’t that pretty 😍

I’ve used the glass cylinders for a few different arrangements 

For hubby’s man-cave 🎱

This one sits in the powder room 🙂

My ‘Mickey Mouse’ cactus watches me create new patterns 😀

This one here is my favorite 😍

And of course…one more for the studio 💜

I hope I triggered your creativity….let me know which arrangement is your favorite/ you decided on making for yourself ☺️

Sending Love ❤️ Smiles 🙂 and Hugs 🤗 your way! 

Done, Done, and Done! 😎

Hello and ‘Happy October’ my lovely friends! 😍

How is it October already? 😳 What happened to September? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

It seems like I blinked twice, and…poof….it was over. That can’t be good 🙃

Even though I had the feeling that I was really busy…it seems like not much got done. So many ideas are still bouncing around in my head, and not much going on here on this blog of mine either 😕

Oh well…new month, sleeves are rolled up – watch out world! 😁

I did finish a few projects though 🤓 Well, except the ends…those darn things still have to be taken care of. 😞

Here is – finally- 

1. The ‘Granny Square Cardigan’ 😁 

The new sleeves are longer, and have a ‘thumb hole’ – it’s a bit cozier that way 😁

2. Feronia & Persephone – the oversized Ponchos 

This ⬆️ is Persephone – named after the Goddess of Spring. She was forced to live in the Underworld, but allowed to visit her Mother Demeter once a year. During that time the trees were budding, flowers and crops started to grow. I thought the colors perfectly reflect her journey from the darkness to the light,  and the beauty of the world turning green again. 🌺

This is Feronia ⬇️  You already know all about her. 😊

I am going to write out the pattern for the Ponchos – as a matter of fact I’ll start right now. 😁

I hope to finish it tonight…if not you’ll see it first thing tomorrow morning! 

Here’s to a fabulous and productive October! 🍾🥂 Cheers! 

Thanks for visiting 💕 I hope you stop in again soon! 

A Few Random Things 😎🦄🌻 – and a WIP

Hello my lovely friends 💕 The Holiday week is coming to an end, and with it our ‘stay-cation’. Meh 😕 We really enjoyed the last few days…Yep – hubby had a few days off 😃 and we checked off a few things on my ‘gotta-wanna-see-this’ list! 😎

You already know about the beautiful park that took me only 10 years to discover 😜 I guess it’s safe to assume that I’m no descendant of Lewis & Clark 😬

On Monday we went to the KC Zoo. It was a very hot and humid day, so we didn’t visit ‘Africa’ – which makes up about half of the terrain – but it still took us almost three hours to walk through the other half. 

I know that you know what animals look like – so I won’t bore you with any pictures. 😉

Well maybe a few nifty ones… 

That’s how hot it was – the Dromedary seeking shelter in the shade 

I bet he thought we had some treats for him 😊

These two were playing Catch on the ropes 🙂

The ‘Poison Dart’ frogs are quite pretty, but awfully poisonous 😳 I just read that the poison of one frog can kill 20.000 mice….eeek 

Well….you know 😋

Then we went home, fired up the grill and enjoyed a fabulously delicious dinner with the kids 😍

The next day brought us wonderful chilly Fall-like temperatures….so we ventured out again. This time to a nearby Sunflower farm. 40 glorious acres of sunflowers 😍 It is truly spectacular! But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself…

Amazing, isn’t it?! 😃

Her smile ⬆️ is so much prettier than mine ⬇️

The bees and butterflies love it there 😎

Nothing special going on today…yet 😁 We just got back from walking our ‘Angel Falls Trail’

This is a picture I took in the spring….everything is much greener now of course 😊

So – maybe – I will have a little time for my WIPs today 😃 

I finished this poncho last week 

I used the ‘Lion Brand Mandala’* yarn. It comes in beautiful, inspiring color combinations ….I wanna try them all, right now 😜

Now I’m not a big fan of the green rectangle in the middle – so I made some flowers….

to cover up most of it. Like so 

I think that’ll work 😊 What are your thoughts on this? 

If you like the flowers, you might like the fact that I wrote a how-to for them a while back 😁 and you can find it here 😃

🌻🦋🐝🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🦋🐝🐘

So now we’re sitting on the patio with coffee and cake 🤗 enjoying the sunshine, the buzzing of the bees, and the lovely flowers 💜

Oh…look what I just spotted…the last of the summer roses

They’re so beautiful…and very fragrant 😍

They reminded me of a lovely thought written by 

George Eliot 

Roses

You love the roses – so do I. I wish

The sky would rain down roses, as they rain

From off the shaken bush. Why will it not?

Then all the valley would be pink and white

And soft to tread on. They would fall as light

As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be

Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!

Fun Fact: George Eliot is the pen name of Mary Anne Evans. She was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. Her novels are known for their realism and psychological insight. [wikipedia]
Thanks for visiting and reading aaaalll the way down to here 😁 I feel like I was a bit all over the place today….I hope you enjoyed it anyway. 🤗

*I am not affiliated with the ‘Lion Brand’ Yarn Company 

September ~ Morning 🍁🌞🍂

Hello my lovely friends 💕 Happy 1st day of September! 😃

The ~ber months are finally here 😃 and September is my favorite one. 💜 The summer heat with it’s humidity is finally behind us, some leaves have already changed color 😊, and the days of comfort food and warm (aka crocheted 😉) are close. 

While walking the dogs this morning we saw some fallen red leaves and acorns  🙂

I found this sweet poem that describes the autumn feeling perfectly 😊

September
Breathe in
the sweet crisp breeze

that laces the winds

and shakes the seasons

into sunkissed leaves 

that sweep the city 

like confetti celebrating the

arrival of the wedding of winter

before daylight exhales

and succumbs to bathe

under the beauty of moonlight.

Hush.
C Phillips Sep 2012

🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍄🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁

It really was a perfect day 😍 The morning was cool, the sun was out hubby was able to take the day off. 

So we visited a nearby lake. Until now I had only heard about it, saw the signs along the highway. And honestly, now that we finally made it there, I can’t believe we’ve been living here for almost 10 years and never went. It’s twenty (20!) minutes from our house! 😳

But see for yourself…

The entrance to the park ⬆️ It’s a bit of a mystery – but quite pretty 🙂

The marina is right by the parking lot 

  The pirates are already here ☠️

Water Lilies 😍 Yes, they really were that pink 💖

Here’s hubby and his white legs 😂 admiring the scenery 

This poor tree took quite a hit during a lightning storm 😕 

🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍄🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃🍁🍃

  

My legs aren’t quite as white, gotta work on that ‘photo smile’ though 😜

🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍄🍃🍁🍃🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂

More Water Lilies 

Beautiful scenery 😍

And some murky underwater life 

This marks the end of our tour 🤓 Thanks for coming along 🤗 I hope you enjoyed it.

Have a gorgeous and lovely Autumn 🍁

Dear (Decor) Diary….

….and all you lovely people out there 🤗

The pine cones are in the oven!

If you’re scratching your head wondering why I would do such a thing  😁 – it’s explained in yesterday’s post Home Decor DIY ~ Stage 1

While we’re waiting for them, I’d like to show you what I did last week- I finished my first oil painting 😊 The ‘HippieDippie Owl’ ☮️

I used a technique called ‘Impasto painting’ ~ which is the thick application of oil paint directly onto the canvas. I then took a thin brush, and swooped through the paint to give it an almost three-dimensional look.
I’m quite pleased ~ I hope you enjoy her too!

Now I’m thinking that the ‘Impasto’ technique is exactly what I need to spruce up some canvas prints 🤔 You know….to make them look more like original art!
I’ll give it a try, and let you know how that turned out!

Stay tuned for the ‘Pinecone’ Decor DIY, and a few other ideas!

See you in a bit! 💕

~Tina xoxo