Transformation

Back Yard transformation4 from Peg Karrasch on Vimeo.

Fall

I love this picture. It’s the way I feel about fall. There I was sitting in that comfortable chair reading when a sudden gust of cool fall air blew the curtains aside. The new season is blowing in.

Is it Tuesday already?

My friend, Joan, reminded me this morning that I hadn’t blogged since Saturday. How did that happen? Now I have some catching up to do. Saturday night hubby and I went out to celebrate my birthday. In a small nearby town there is a casino on an Indian reservation. It’s quite beautiful inside and they have two fine dining restaurants. We went to Patria which specializes in Italian cusine. Don and I both got steaks however. After a delicious dinner we played the slot machines for about an hour and then came home. It was a fun date!
  Sunday was “catch up” day, housework, etc. We watched the Bills play and Sunday night we watched the Pittsburgh Steelers miss what could have been a winning field goal.
   Monday Don finished putting gravel on the path out back.

Tatiana peeking in the window>
Me with my new dark hair. Can you say Uh-oh.
 

panorama of the back yard

How did my grandson get so hot?

Let the decorating begin!

It’s my favorite season. It’s here. It’s Autumn. I love the colors, the weather, the changing leaves. And I love to climb into the attic and bring out the fall treasures. I spent the day today decorating the sun room. I’m trying a new philosophy this year..  less is more.
   Now that’s new for me because I’m the type that overloads the pumpkins and gourds, the mums, the apples, if one is good seven are better. But this year (as I’m getting older and perhaps wiser) I am not putting out every single thing that I have. This will all stay up till after Halloween and almost until Christmas.
Do you like the pumpkins in the long wooden decoration? The picture just doesn’t do it justice. The pine cones are so sparkly, but they didn’t show in the picture. This one is a little better. 
I tried to use white pumpkins in the sun room and leave the bright orange for outside.

Happy beginning of Autumn to all of you. Will  you start to decorate soon? Which is your favorite season?

Want shiny floors?

Have your no wax floors lost some of their luster?



Try these two products to bring them back like new. It’s time consuming but well worth it.

Look what’s blooming

Do you see it over there? The pink flower on the right? Look closer.


I’ve never grown a hibiscus before but when I found these at Lowe’s with their promise of beautiful blooms and their promise of hardiness (-10 to –20 below zero) I figured they could survive in Bradford.   It was at the end of the season that I bought them but they still had buds which developed into these spectacular flowers.

I planted the other one over in front of the lamp post.
My next job is to make a map of all the plants and their names so that I can remember what and where I planted when Spring rolls around next year.

The Oleander

Last night my girlfriends treated me to dinner at the Oleander in Olean, NY for my birthday. Have you ever watched the tv show Restaurant Impossible? Turning around a failing restaurant is a daunting challenge under the best of circumstances. Attempting to do it in just two days with only $10,000 may be impossible. But Chef Robert Irvine is ready to take on the challenge. He'll channel MacGyver and use a lot of muscle to rescue these desperate places from complete collapse.  Recently he remodeled Breadstix and completely changed the decor and the food.
   And what a change it was.

The bar area was fresh and modern and so clean. The lime green on the far wall really gave it a classy look.

This little nook was decorated with black and white flower photos that someone took at the local nursery. How clever and sophisticated.

The wallpaper was very upscale. We ate out in the addition room. The food was delicious. I had the gorgonzola chicken which was two small chicken breasts with a gorgonzola sauce. I also had mashed potatoes. That was all that was on the plate but I had ordered some caramelized onions on my chicken which I thing added flavor and texture. There was no salad, vegetable, or roll included in the price of $14. Kay had the steak which was very tender and served with a delicious veal stock sauce. Linda had a Pittsburgh salad, which for those of you out of the area means that they put french fries right on the salad.  Yrsa also had the chicken. We ordered deep fried green beans as our appetizer and they were served with a spicy sauce. We all thought the atmosphere, food and company were outstanding.

What a party!

The party’s over. It’s time to call it a day. What a wonderful get-together we had yesterday to celebrate Rose’s 90th birthday. It was a fun filled weekend with family. It was so nice to see the out of towners again. We were over in Eldred Friday, Saturday, and again today when Charlotte invited us for lunch and to celebrate Sandy’s 60th birthday. Now this week my friends are taking me out to celebrate my birthday (shhh..I’m not telling my age. Oh, what the heck. I’ll be 68 on Saturday.) Let the fun begin!

Sunday ramblings

Gee, it’s quiet. After all the hubbub of this weekend with family the silence is deafening. Just the fan running quietly over my head in the office. This is thanks to my wonderful son who took it all apart and adjusted it’s off balance nature and made it run smoothly and silently. Isn’t it just the greatest to have sons. He also cleaned around the far side of the garage, moved a peony plan to a different spot for me and planted another bush in it’s place. God love him!
    He and Scott have left for home. Don is at the casino trying his luck and Sadie and I are just relaxing the rest of the day. I plan to get out my book and try to read. As you know the small print is a little challenging for my eyes but I’ll do my best to get some reading done this afternoon.

Hello, September

My favorite time of year is coming up. The fall season is full of beautiful weather and gorgeous colors. I guess I’ve always liked the excitement of going back to school. I did it for 12 years as a school student, 4 years as a college student and 35 1/2 years as a teacher. There was nothing like the first day of school. New things to learn, new people to meet, such excitement. Now that I’m retired for ten years I hardly notice when the school buses begin rolling down the street. 
  One thing I always liked was getting back in to a routine after a scattered summer schedule. It was time to organize, to set things right, to have a plan. It was like other people’s new year’s resolutions. It was a fresh start to the year for me. I’m taking advantage of the final warm days by trying to spend as much time as possible outdoors. All too soon those winter winds will have us huddled in our warm homes.
  Things will seem more peaceful in September. The landscaping is finally completed and Rose’s celebration is over. The hoopla is past and now I can look forward to fall activities. I love Literary Club and look forward to a year when I can sit back and just enjoy the meetings after being president for two years. I’m also planning to get back to an exercise routine after taking the summer off completely.
  What are your fall plans?

Happy…yes!

How happy do I look?  After a summer of frustration trying to get the landscape done everything is coming together today and the final touches are being put on. I am overjoyed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROSE!

Today we are celebrating Rose Lasher’s 90th birthday with a reception/party in Eldred. Most of you know the story of how Don reconnected with his father whom he had never met back in 2000. Since then we have inherited the most wonderful family and are blessed to be in their lives. Rose is a gentle, wonderful woman who gives us so much love. Happy Birthday, dear mother.

17 things

I found this and thought it was worth sharing. BY Darlene Schacht at timewarpwife.com. 

If you start to look around, you’ll probably see things that you would be better off taking care of now than leaving it for later. In fact you’d probably find several. Before you run off and start doing them–I’ll also offer you a list of my own. Here are 17 things that we can do today to make our lives easier tomorrow:

1. Pray. Women often waste time over-discussing our problems when going to prayer with them is far more effective.
2. Make a double portion of your meal and freeze half for another day.
3. Make school lunches for the next day while you’re cooking dinner. (An idea I got from a reader!)
4. Clean out your purse and organize it.
5. Clean out a junk drawer so you can find things easier.
6. Empty the dishwasher before going to bed.
7. Grab garbage every time you leave your car.
8. Pick up small containers to use for organizing and storage. How many times do you clean up loose items in the pantry like crackers or pasta? Storing them in small containers will save you time and keep them fresh.
9. Make amends where you can.
10. Take care of a difficult or annoying task that you normally put off. Get it over with today and you’ll feel a weight off your shoulder tomorrow.
11. Pay your bills before they are due.
12. Eat well so you’ll have energy tomorrow.
13. Never handle a piece of paper twice. Remember what I did this morning?  Paper work is a huge time-waster. Every single time that paper went through my hands I wasted time with it. Open your bills and pay them immediately. Have school notes? Grab a pen, sign them and put them in your child’s backpack.
14. Go to sleep early so you feel refreshed and productive the next day.
15. Cut veggies up and store them in the fridge so you have healthy snacks on hand. Wash fruit and keep it out on the counter.
16. Fill bottles of water so you can grab one on the run.
17. Take the time to train your children to do a task right. Even if it means standing beside them when they make their bed for the first several times. Having them learn to do it correctly will save you all time in the long run.

Do you like my new blog style?

It’s Friday! The start of a busy weekend for me.
  Today I worked on my blog. I found a new site called ribbet.com  If you want to have fun with your photos visit this free graphics site. Just upload your photo and use the many tricks to make your photos look professional.  Lots of fun!


Tonight Don and I are invited to my in-law’s home for a turkey dinner. The corn casserole that I’m bringing is in the oven. Also I made a dump cake because Chris and Scott will be home.
  If you’ve never made this easy dessert before here is what you do:  dump a can of fruit pie filling (I use cherry) and a can of crushed pineapple drained into a nine by thirteen pan. (Don’t forget to butter it well first). Then sprinkle on a yellow cake mix, a cup of chopped nuts, and pour over a stick of melted butter. That’s all.  Easy-peasy! Bake about 1/2 hr till done. Everyone loves it.
   Larry is here again today and putting down the landscape weed barrier out back. Then he will mulch and viola! My landscaping will be done for this year. I am so happy with it. This is the view out the sunroom window today.

Rock and Roll

In came the rocks! Larry brought three big rocks for my landscaping today. |

One went up by the birch tree and one is on the other side of Tatiana.
I love how the rocks give a look of permanence to the garden.
I will plant the day lilies behind the rock to fill in up to the fence.
The view is looking better on that side of the garden.

Larry also planted the holly bushes around the back of the house.

And he put a bigger rock out front that has more impact from the road.
All that is left is some mulching and planting just a few more plants and it will be done. Can you say HAPPY!!!!

You’ve got a friend

Sunday thoughts

More landscape news.

If you’re not totally bored hearing about the landscape, let me update you. Today Larry came and planted the boxwoods around the Tatiana statue. She isn’t up on the pedestal yet because Don had to cut a stone to fit on the top to make it absolutely lever. We wouldn’t want Tatiana to topple over now would we? He also planted a beautiful blue hydrangea beside the birch trees, an agapanthus by the wall, and a lilac tree around the back of the house. He also gave me three very large hostas that he planted behind the lilac tree. It looks so good. Sorry I didn’t get a picture for you today. I didn’t have the camera out.
but here’s a picture of my favorite spot in the world, the porch swing.

The view from the porch swing in the early morning.

It’s Birthday time!