~ Reasons to smile ~

Spring crocus.

Sweet flowers gently remind me of warmer days on the way.

A fresh wreath is a cheerful welcome.

Shiny and clean windows.

The windows on this side of our home had some serious hard water on them! I saw a thing about professional window cleaners using acid~ as in a toilet bowl cleaner, and 0000 steel wool. 

Previously, I had tried vinegar, window cleaner, magic erasers, and even a polishing compound (which actually worked okay, it was just very labor-intensive, and didn't completely eliminate the hard water spots).

I poured some dollar store bowl cleaner into a little spray bottle, misted the window, and working in a  circular motion cleaned the windows. Then I sprayed clear water on the window to wash off the cleaner and finished up with a clean cloth. 

Very, very impressed with the results! 

I used the same method, without the toilet bowl cleaner for the inside glass surface on the oven door; it looks amazing!

We took another day trip to St. George.

We live in the southern part of central Utah, so a quick trip to St. George is a nice day trip and we enjoy the ride there and back, shopping and going out to lunch. 

As always, my sweet husband loves to see palm trees.

 He loves palm trees....for they make him think of warm weather, summer, and beaches.

He lived in Hawaii for a time as a teenager.

Lovely rides in the car.

 There is so much beauty where we live, and I never tire of going for a ride in the car with my sweet husband.

This evening a storm was just beginning to clear. 

We received around six inches of snow with this storm.

We're working on our food storage. We have a packing place where we can purchase meat in bulk. 

Currently, we are paying $5.00 per lb. for steak, roasts, etc., and $3.00 per lb for extra, extra, lean ground beef.

On this order we bought a case of ribeye steaks, and a case of ground beef.

A 'thrifted' phonograph. 

Actually, a friend in town has an Airbnb, and she and her husband are giving it a refresh.

She offered us this old phonograph, and I was happy to accept.

The nice thing about being a person that appreciates old things, antiques, unique finds etc., is that anytime someone is wanting to re~home an item, I get a text or call. If I can't use the item, I am happy to try to help find a new home for the item. 

It's nice when things that have lots of love and life left in them can be re~homed, and not discarded in the landfill.

 

I have a Victrola that is a reproduction, and therefore I have a nice collection of vintage vinyl and a few new records.

I've not tested this out yet, but will soon.

Her husband told us that it works great, and he also is looking through his record collection to find some oldies for me that he told us a patient of his gave him (he's a retired doctor).

I love the music from the 40' especially..... Bing Crosby, Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, and of course the great Ella Fitzgerald too, just to name a few.

As promised, this is a picture of the pioneer-era stone cottage that was mentioned in my last post.

You will notice a doe on the left side of the picture.

It is a lovely cottage.

~ It's the country life for me....

Hello friends ~

Spring fever is alive and well around here. 

I worked outside all day yesterday, as the weather was so nice and mild. I believe our high temperatures for the day were in the mid-60-degree range. 

We cleaned windows, and we've begun cutting back the ornamental grasses. 

I leave them for winter interest and cut them right back in the spring.

Some splits have been promised to neighbors, so after they are all cut back then in May, perhaps April, I will split them.

The girls have been laying beautiful eggs for us.

We have 6 fluffy butt hens, and an average of 4 eggs a day. 

When it's especially cold and windy, we can collect as few as 2 a day.

That's when the girls get 'the talk'. 

My husband reminds them to earn their keep, and not become soup pot chickens. It's all in jest of course, but of the two times that they've been given 'the talk', sure enough, the next day we have more eggs to collect ***smile**.

Noah's Ark.  

The above ark, with the red roof, I found at our local D.I. (close to us, but not in our town)!

 Let me just say, it was meant to be! We had stopped by the D.I on the way to get our taxes prepared and they were having computer issues, so they couldn't complete a sale. As D.I. is a non~profit thrift store, I offered to pay the manager the asking price in cash, and then they could complete the sale later on in the day, once the computer system was up and running. 

I paid $8.00 for the ark and about 5 wooden animals inside.

Later, once I had a chance to get a good look at the ark, I started cleaning it and noticed that it had a business card tacked to the underside of the ark, and it was signed and dated.

Would you believe that the crafts~woman that made the ark was from our town?! And, she is actually the second counselor in our bishopric's wife?!! 

What are the odds?

It was made in 2015.

My husband called her to see if she happened to have any extra animals and would she be interested in seeing our ark and painting some animals for our ark? 

We met and she let us pick out the animals that we wanted; we wanted to pick out animals that our four yr. old grandson can relate to.

She sells the ark and nearly 80 animals, plus Noah and 'Mrs. Noah' for $400.00.

Considering the cost, it quite caught her off guard that someone would donate the ark to the thrift store.

A week later and approx. eighty dollars later, we picked up our ark and newly painted animals. We didn't get too many more animals, but just the right amount for our Grands.

This was the first request that she has ever had to paint additional animals, and she also did some minor repairs and repainting of our ark.

Her cousin is a doctor and has one of her arks in his office and he called her to replace some of the animals that had been 'poached' from his ark, but other than that, we are the first people that have ever requested new animals for our ark.

We will be keeping our Noah's ark here for all of our Grands to play with.

The lady that makes the arks is busy with orders for 6 more arks. She never advertises..... just by word of mouth she receives orders. 

We often go for rides. We have a quiet life; a country lifestyle all the way!

Old houses, wildlife, country vistas,putter~butting,  etc. it's all perfect for me!

In a neighboring small town, there is this beautiful pioneer-era house made with cut blocks of lava rock. 

The house is nestled against the hills, and deer are often seen sleeping and grazing on the property. I will try to remember to get a full picture of the house and post it soon.

On a separate ride, we realized that we live super close to this most beautiful canyon.

Pioneer era cabin evokes a feeling of days gone by. 

The canyon is full of beautiful outcroppings of rocks and cliffs, and a clear creek runs through the canyon.

I am looking forward to enjoy the canyon's beauty in the springtime. 

We'll be able to ride out side by side to the canyon and have a picnic, or hobo dinner.

 Not too much exciting .... just living a quiet country life~style and loving every minute of it!!

~ Old and New ~

 It's hard to believe that this picture is about five years old. I took this picture of our front porch the first spring that we moved here to Mill Hill Meadow.

 The picture of the kitchen is new. I took this picture of the kitchen just the other day for our house listing pictures.
We have just listed our home for sale. 
 Our dream is to sell this house and buy a new house in St. George for when we retire.

 It was so much fun and so satisfying to add decor and personal touches to this home. 
I will miss the galvanized wainscot that we put in the laundry room. 
Every time I pass by this space, it puts a smile in my heart and on my lips.
That tin was OLD tin that we recycled from our youngest son's garage roof.
We used some old wood from an old bedstead and made a new wainscot wall in the laundry room.

 Before we listed our house for sale, we took a trip to California to see our eldest son, his wife and our Grand. 
We had such a wonderful time. 
Our sweet little Grand is our heartbeat! All of you grandparents know exactly how that works :)

 Golden Gate Bridge.
It was our first time to visit San Fransisco, the Golden Gate Bridge...

 Ghirardelli Square, and San Carlos.

The city of San Fransisco has some absolutely crazy steep and winding roads. We even did the 'tourist thing' and drove down Lombard street.

 It wasn't our first time visiting Carmel~by~the~sea but was the first time that I had seen this gorgeous floral shop.

 We had lunch in Carmel~by~the~sea at a darling bakery and did a lot of window shopping. 
We even found a yard sale! Of course, it wasn't in a 'yard', but rather up two flights of stairs to a loft. 
I bought a Moda Fat Quarter set called Simplicity by 3 Sisters.
Absolutely darling fabric and patterns! I paid just fifteen dollars for it, and on Amazon, that same set of Moda fabric was around $120.00! 
Ha~ha.. they don't call me "Bargain Kerin" for nothin'!!

 So, here's to goodbye to the old house {hopefully} and hello to a new house.
We are not using a realtor this go round. We have certainly given our share of money to realtors throughout all the times we have bought and sold homes, and this time since it's the last go-round for us, we would like to save that money.

Thanks to everyone that has been so thoughtful and kind and encouraging!
Change is never easy for me. I'm working on being a patient person and turning my concern into a virtue of faith in our Heavenly Father and His timing.
I really desire to lean into my faith and lean on my Savior.
There are so many things that we cannot control.
Embracing the old adage: If you're going to pray, don't worry, and if you're going to worry, don't pray!" 

One more thing... I want to thank Kim of  My Field Of Dreams
for all the sweet hospitality that she and her husband have showered upon my husband and me. 
We've stopped by their house on our trips to see our kids and each time Kim and Ron have shown us such kindness. Thanks for the amazing citrus and for the delicious lunch! You are both truly kind people and we feel blessed to consider you our friends!
For everyone in Blogland...Kim is just as sweet and smart in person as she is on her blog! Stop by her blog and say 'hi'. 

~ The Witches at Gardner Village ~

 Flying witches.
It's that most amazing time of year again...Fall!
Autumn, Fall, 'witch~ever' word you choose, it's time for our annual visit to Gardner Village to enjoy the scenery and enjoy the witches that they display.

 So, in the spirit of Fall, enjoy these pictures of the witches.

 I can never pick a favourite witch. All of the witches are super cute!
  
We also went to one of our favourite shops: Home Again.
It's a consignment shop that is near Gardner Village. 
On this trip, we bought a fantastic box pumpkin that lights up.
More on that later..

This past week, we took time to visit Gardner Village, do some shopping, and worked like crazy on "The List".
More to come on "The List".

Have a wonderful day and enjoy Fall!
It's official now, so it's legal to enjoy pumpkin flavoured everything... *tee hee**.

Attitude of Gratitude :
~ So grateful for rain!
About 1:00 this morning, we woke to the sound of rain. As our little hamlet has a complete restriction placed on each household of absolutely no watering outside, we were so grateful to hear the rain! 
Last week, the main shaft in the water pump for our city water broke. We are all on spring water now and awaiting the city repair of the well. 

All Around the Cottage

 Brr... we woke up to very Autumn temperatures this morning!
Just 50 degrees as we went for our morning walk, then as the sun came up, it warmed to 52 degrees.
I changed out the writing on the mini chalkboard to reflect the weather changed. Previously, it had "Sunshine" printed on it.

 Sunday, just inside the entrance doors to the church, some kindly soul had left a few boxes of juicy plums and a "Free" sign. 
On the way out of the church, as we left for home,  I bagged up a few plums, and also a few green beans that were offered as well.
My first thought was to dry the plums in the dehydrator, however, the plums were very ripe and clingstone, so I changed my mind and made a batch of plum jam.

 On the island, is the middle section to a thrifted bakers rack that we bought at our favorite thrift store this past weekend.
I am giving the entire rack a makeover, including chalk painting this drawer section. 

 Enjoying cooler mornings, and evenings. 
Peaceful country and meadow views.

 Copper colored sunset skies.

 The meadow is preparing for winters sleep. 

 How many more weeks will the hummingbirds be around? As the mornings become crisp and cool and the nights become longer the hummingbirds are feeding quite heavily. Around 10 hummingbirds feed all day at our two hummingbird feeders. 

Classic movies are a favorite of mine, and I just ordered a few more for our collection. Bell, Book, and Candle with Jimmy Stewart. Some of my favorite Jimmy Stewart movies are: It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, & Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation just to name a few. 

All Around the Cottage this week :
~ Continue working on borders and cutting down perennials and pulling out leggy plants.
 ~ Cut and dry chives for winter use.
~Finish library book and return.
~Finish bakers rack
~Sand and paint the little chair
~ Start transitioning seasonal decor to Autumn decor
~Look for and buy two new recliners
~Sew up two toss pillows.
~Stain and seal old wooden ladder

Attitude of Gratitude:
 ~Thankful for my ol' toe healing. I knocked the toenail off when I ran the door over my foot. I learned to get my feet out of the way, but I still prefer to be barefoot, even though wearing shoes would be a much safer way for me to go!
~Feeling grateful for a full pantry and freezers. I feel that we're ready for Autumn and eventually winter.
~Thankful for the nearby Farmers Market. They even had a few pumpkins.. oh happy day!




                                               

Improvement

 Improving skies.
Much less smoky and murky skies these past few days, as some of the wildfires closest to us are becoming more contained. 
Very thankful for all the incredibly hard working firefighters.
Very thankful for their families and the sacrifices that they make in order to let their loved ones go out and fight and contain these wildfires.

 Once again, as the sun rises we can see the gorgeous mountain tops.
So much better!!

 Driveway improvement. 
On the bottom right portion of the above picture is the driveway. 
It is much improved after spending a good amount of our weekend on it.
 Powerwashed, primed with cement primer, then painted with an epoxy paint. 
It is a much better-looking driveway now!
Some years ago, due to the frost, snow and salt damage that the cement had suffered, we resurfaced the driveway. 
One winter was all it took to make the resurfacing crack and break. 
Sans digging up the concrete, and pouring a new driveway, this is our attempt for getting a few more years out of the concrete. 
We have a north facing home and live in Utah where we get LOTS of snow.
 Concrete, snow, ice and ice melter make for a messy mix
If we ever have to repour the driveway, we will have low voltage warmers placed in the concrete, in order to melt off the winter snow and ice 

 My second attempt at bleaching out the pinecones resulted in a much lighter pinecone.
Still, these pinecones aren't as white as the ones that I've seen on magazine covers, Pinterest, etc.
I wonder if it is a certain brand of bleach that should be used, or have those photos of the super white pinecones been enhanced?
Still, I'm quite happy with these pinecones and the color that they are. I will absolutely use them in my Autumn decorating. 
Today I will place the pinecones in a box, and add some cinnamon oil to them. 

 The very large frame that I bought at the thrift store is now a new chalkboard.
It is a more substantial size than the last chalkboard that I had in this location.
The other chalkboard was made from an old cupboard door, and I gifted it to our younger daughter in love.
She was tickled to have it.
I was happy that she wanted it.

Even without measuring, I knew when I spied this large frame that it would make a better chalkboard than the cupboard door chalkboard for this space.
Another thrifty shopper asked me if I was an artist and if that is why I had the frame in my cart... **smile**. 
I told her 'nope, but I have big plans for this frame!'
This is the section of wall that is between the garage door and the laundry room door. 
I'm so pleased with this new chalkboard, and it's generous size.

Attitude of gratitude:
 ~ Thankful to wake up to clearer skies. Grateful to have less smoky air.
~Grateful for sweet summer garden produce.
 It's not a ton.. as we only have a few plants, but I'm thankful that I was able to pick a few squashes and a couple of peppers this morning; they'll be used for dinner.