SUMMER DANCING

My sister and her husband are in town for the weekend. They came up last night along with Jeff’s   brother and wife, Elizabeth. We had a perfect night. The summer heat didn’t keep us from having a fire and making s’mores. We also had lemon cake topped with my homemade blueberry sauce. The soft music enticed Diane and Jeff to get up and dance on the courtyard. Of course, Sadie had to take a swim and show off her skills. It was a fabulous evening.
   The house was all cleaned for company.

And the table was set.

This morning we met at Grandma’s House, a local tea shop and then visited a few of Bradford’s local stores. It was fun spending time with my sister.

RED HATS IN RIDGEWAY

The Kinzua Kuties Red Hats of Bradford enjoyed a great time at South Street Botanicals in Ridgeway. After an hour of travel to the south, we arrived at this beautiful gift store with a large cobblestoned driveway.

The Messinger Home was built near 1894 on South Street in Ridgway, PA as a residence that was used for nearly 100 Years; at which time it was converted into a bed and breakfast until the present time. In early 1999, it was purchased by a local lumbering family with hopes of restoring the complete property; at which time it would become a fresh flower and gift shop...

After shopping for awhile, we enjoyed a lovely luncheon in the conservatory. There was chicken salad in a croissant, pasta salad, mousse or sherbet with cookie, and punch and various teas or a chicken salad. It was a beautiful setting.


The tables were set with Provencal cloths and napkins with yellow and blue teapots.

 

Shawna, our hostess, and the staff were extremely friendly and competent and made our stay at South Street Botanicals so pleasant. Shawna gave us a brief history of the house and told us about the events which are held there. Not only do they have teas, but the house is full of shopping and brands such as Vera Bradley can be found in the large rooms. They also have a floral decorating business.
After eating and shopping we stepped outside into the garden and were met with a large fountain, artfully done garden landscape, and a butterfly chair.

   

ME in the butterfly chair. Above, my friends Jeanette, Joan, and Lisa.

Just beat the rain

There is a gentle rain falling outside, just enough to give the garden a small drink. I actually love that it has cooled off a little…I think the seventies is the perfect temperature. The birds are even happy…

Don and I worked together to clean out the van. Periodically it needs swept out and the carpet shampooed. I love the freshness of a clean car, don’t you?

Tomorrow is our Red Hat outing at South Street Botanicals in Ridgeway. I hope the girls enjoy it.


I didn’t take any new pictures today so I’m showing this one of Sean at Dollywood.

A quiet weekend

It has been a rather quiet weekend here at the Karrasch’s. Don is in recovery mode and had some back pain yesterday. He can’t drive yet and really didn’t feel like going anywhere so we just layed low all day.
  Today we are invited to a picnic at Myra’s restaurant in Smethport. Don’s stepbrother Jim and his wife are in town and there will be a Lasher get together. It will be nice to have all the family together. We have been so lucky to have this side of our family in our lives.  Only one of Don’s sisters originally from Bradford keeps in touch with us. We are so thankful to have her in our lives. Family means a lot to us.

It’s all Good

Don’s surgery yesterday in Erie went perfectly. He has a graft that sits inside the walls of his aorta in his abdomen which allows the blood to freely flow and eliminates the aneurysm. The doctor was well respected in the hospital and it felt good to be in such competent hands. The surgery took less than 2 hours and we found everyone who cared for him pleasant and professional. Don didn’t even have any pain at all after the surgery until after the ride home on that bumpy route 86. He had to take a pain pill then. He will be allowed to resume normal activities in a day or two except for heavy lifting and driving. We see the dr again in a month and then he will have to have cat scans every 6 months for a few years. All went so well.

SAY A LITTLE PRAYER

Sometimes I feel like arms are wrapped around me. That’s how I feel now when I know all my family and friends are supporting Don in his upcoming surgery. It is wonderful to have such a large support system to send you love right when you need it the most…times of difficulty. It makes it easier to bear knowing that there are people out there who are genuinely concerned and willing to help. Thank you everyone. You make me feel so loved.

Poppies everywhere

The bright colors of these Pottery Barn poppy napkins were the inspiration for my table today.


I haven’t used my gold Fiesta plates in quite awhile but their color worked  well with the golds of the napkins.



The hammered chargers were a Goodwill find a few years ago and I found the jungle placemats at Walmart last year.



My older amber goblets and bamboo flatware completed the look.

 


How do you set a large table for only two? I usually end up placing the centerpiece at one end. In all the old movies you see the husband and wife at each end of the table. Doesn’t that seem funny now?


The gold vase is filled with poppies (faux…I’m afraid. Here is rural Western Pennsylvania we don’t have access to wonderful cut flowers as you all do)
 
Thank you for visiting my table. For more tablescapes be sure to visit Susan and Between naps on the Porch on Thursday.
   

THAT LOOKS BETTER

Yesterday Don and I spend quite a few hours redoing the landscape around the picket fence area. It was the first time I have used the “orange colored” mulch and I think I like it. It gives such a neat appearance to the area. It has cooled off considerable here in Bradford with highs just in the 80’s and nice cool sleeping weather.

THE MORNING POND

Take a deep breath. Can you feel the refreshing morning coolness and smell the fresh air after a rain? Early morning is the best time to gaze at the pond resplendent in all its summertime glory. Relax. It’s going to be a spectacular day.

 

Not before, not after….but during

What’s this you say? Yep, I know it’s a mess. I forgot to take a before picture but rain out between the raindrops to take this “during” shot. I’ve been wanting to do something with this ….ah-hem…usually nice looking area by my back door. This summer it got waaaaay overgrown and I couldn’t stand it one more day so I went out this morning in the heat to pull weeds. Don joined me with his electric trimmer and shaped up the bushes and trimmed the quick growing trumpet vine that threatened to bar my back door. We didn’t get it cleaned up right away because a quick moving, large droplet rain doused the area. My next task is to go and get some mulch while Don is cleaning up the droppings. He had already removed the old picket fence, bought a replacement and painted it. It is just waiting for us to finish.  I am more convinced by the minute that I need to hire a gardener soon!

  

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN IT’S HOT?

Whew! What do you do these hot days to cool off? We are experiencing a wave of heat, the likes we haven’t seen in quite a while. It’s into the nineties day after day. Luckily, we have one room that has a window air conditioner which keeps us cool. It doesn’t even cool down at night and I find if I keep the bedroom windows closed and let the ceiling fan blow on me at night that it is tolerable sleeping.
   Today I went to water aerobics and that water felt wonderful. I sometimes have to talk myself into going, since I am not the exercise type, but once I get there I love it. Since it’s so hot today I don’t plan on doing any more than catching up on my reading. Don is keeping busy painting the breezeway gate.
(with Sadie keeping a close watch)

SADIE AND LEANNE

Sadie loves company and she had a great time in the pond with Leanne.

I improvised a clothesline to take advantage of our HOT (93 degree) weather.




These peppermint phlox were so pretty I couldn’t resist. I’ll have to find a spot for them in my garden.



The cosmos are climbing right up the wire garden ornament.

GLASSES

Yesterday I took a trip to St. Mary’s to my eye doctor fully intending to get some new glasses, only to find out that because of the laser procedure that I had a few months ago prevented it. It takes 3 months for the swelling in the eye to go down and settle into your final prescription. So I picked out some frames and will get my glasses on July 15th when I have my next eye exam. Here are the Kate Spade designer glasses I picked out. There were people in the office and every one of the 5 people there assured me that these frames looked terrific on me. Hope they are right!