Caramel Cream Cheese Apple Spread

There are so many wonderful apples everywhere right now, so today I thought I would share an apple snack recipe.

So simple, just 5 minutes to put together.

Please don’t let the simpleness of this recipe fool you, it is so yummy!

Perfect for a quick afternoon snack, or maybe a light after supper sweet, caramel cream cheese apple spread!

Also would be a great tailgate treat, or an appetizer on Thanksgiving Day.

Peanut butter with apples is usually my husband’s choice of snacks, but this recipe is now also a favorite in our home this time of the year.

So colorful on a plate surrounded by beautiful apples slices.

Simply place a slab of cream cheese on a serving plate, spoon on caramel sauce, and top off with nuts, toffee bits, or a bit of peanut butter granola, our favorite.

I told you it was simple!

Be sure to use a large spoon to make a well on top of the cream cheese so all the caramel sauce doesn’t drip off.

That’s it!

I have also used this recipe in individual mini Ball jars for fall favors, something fun for anyone in your life that deserves a treat!

Fill mini Ball jars with the cream cheese and caramel sauce, top the jar with a beautiful shiny apple, and place in a cellophane bag tied with a ribbon.

A cute, sweet fall gift!

Enjoy!

Sweet love to all you folks on this Sunday!

 

 

Sometimes We Need Flowers

It is rare that I buy flowers for myself.

Yesterday, as I passed the floral department at my local grocery, I could not resist picking up a bunch of fall colored flowers.

I decided the beautiful, vintage Mason jar, that belonged to my momma, would be perfect to hold my flowers.

As I carefully washed the Mason jar, thoughts of a one day trip I took with my momma came to mind, just momma, just me.

We shared a love of homemade crafts.

My mom did the sewing, and I painted.

We loved to shop for new ideas, new patterns, trying to have something wonderful to sell at the many craft fairs I participated in, displaying our items.

Momma always supported me, and loved to help me in whatever way she could.

Our one day trip was to Nashville, Indiana, not too far from where we lived, only about 2 hours.

The drive gave us time to be together, just momma, just me.

We talked, and smiled at each other, enjoying our time.

Nashville is just a lovely little town in a beautiful setting, lots of shops, and yummy places to have lunch.

Nashville in the fall time of the year is just heaven.

Our family has been there so many times over many years, renting cabins, or staying in the lodge at the Brown County State Park.

As we shopped, mom found a wire Mason jar holder in one of the country type shops.  She had wanted a holder to display her vintage jar, given to her by her sister.

Mom loved the wire holder with the sweet wood handle.

She kept her jar in the holder, and displayed it lovingly in her kitchen, it is now in mine.

My flowers in momma’s jar are beautiful, so pleased with this simple arrangement.

Added a few fall leaves as a finishing touch.

The end of our loving day together was me dropping momma off at her home, and as she always did without fail, stood and waved to me until I was out of sight. Oh my, it hurts to write this!

My grocery store flowers will wilt and die, but our trip, just momma, just me, will be a loving memory always!

Blessings to all, spend time with those you love, and buy yourself flowers!

 

Transition Time

Sitting on my back porch early this morning, so quiet, so peaceful.

Noticed a few leaves already falling, squirrels hurrying about, one season ending, and a beautiful one about to begin.

Tomorrow is officially the first day of fall!

Breezy, storms predicted this afternoon.

I hate that summer is over, although this year was just so very hot.

The heat and humidity seem to be harder on me as I grow older.

Time to transition!

Time to dig out all my fall decorations, and maybe add something new.

Put away time for my summer porch pom pom pillows, need to find some that are more the color of the fall season.

Mums will be replacing geraniums.

The birdbath I made out of a painted clay pot saucer will stay for now.

Time to put away my lemon pillows in the living room.

Replacing with the pumpkin ones I made a year ago from placemats.

I still love them!

At the beginning of September I made a “Dick and Jane” banner for my blackboard, I suppose one for the fall season will go up in it’s place.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love “Dick and Jane” things!  I do, so much!

I know there is just a part of me that will forever be a child.

Always wanted to be an art teacher for small children, it wasn’t to be!

I think that is why I keep a blackboard in my family room and decorate it for all seasons and occasions.

Just something fun for me!

My current front door wreath will stay for now, it has so many colors, the beautiful colors of mums.

Maybe I will just add a small sign, “Hello Fall”.

Love the fall time of the year.  I plan to make the most of it, enjoying it’s simple things.

It is God’s gift to us, isn’t it?  A gift, as are many, that we sometimes just take for granted.

Hope you all have lovely, colorful fall plans.

Enjoy this day!

Enjoy your weekend!

Blessings to all.

 

 

 

 

Grandparents Day

Today is Grandparents Day!

I could not let this day go by without sharing my memories.

Oh my goodness, I loved my grandma.

Just so special to me when I was growing up.

Spending a week with her several times during the summer was heaven to me.  Just me and my grandma!

As a child, and in many ways still as an adult, I was a loner, not many friends.

Grandma was my friend in the early years of my childhood.

I watched her sew, making a pink dress for me by hand, simple, with only a lovely piece of old lace for the collar.

Loved the porch times we spent together, many times snapping green beans for dinner.

No one made green beans like my grandma.

Coffee in the mornings, with lots of milk, in my own adult cup.  Grandma is the reason I love coffee so much to this day!

Love this photo of her because it shows her hands.We would sit side by side and she would hold my hand, I remember her aging hands, hands that I now have.

Thoughts that bring tears to my eyes!

To my surprise, grandma came to a bridal shower my sister had for me, her gift to me, a tablecloth she crocheted.  I cherish that tablecloth to this day.

Grandma loved to crochet, memories of many crocheted doilies in her home as in the photo above.

Grandma came from such humble beginnings, the hills of Kentucky, Wallins Creek.

Love this photo that I recently received.  No shoes!  Me too grandma, I never like to wear my shoes, they come off as soon as I enter my house.

Seven children, losing a beautiful boy, pictured below, at five years old from a horrible accident, and a baby girl at 9 months old from pneumonia.

Heartbreaks I never heard my grandma talk about.

She loved her family, she loved children.

I am sure her best days were those when her home was full of family, cooking, table filled with country food, gathering together, her daughters singing gospel songs while doing the dishes.

Granny came to my home only once that I can remember. She climbed the steps up to my son’s room when he was very small.

Sitting on the bottom bunk of his bunk beds, grandma patiently listened to him talk and show her everything in his sweet room.

He played records for her on his little record player, his favorite, “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”, by Jimmie Rodgers, she loved every minute of their time together and often spoke of that day.

I never heard my grandma raise her voice in anger, never.

She was just good, kind, and loving, as I feel most folks from country living are.

Memories of grandpa are few, sitting on his lap and the smell of his pipe are the only ones I have.

He was a hard worker, a coal miner, a laborer.

He died young, in his fifties.  He appears much older in this photo, a coal miner’s life was hard.

I could go on and on, the more I turn my thoughts to grandma, the more I remember.

If you are fortunate enough to still have grandparents, give them a gift today of your time, talk to them, learn from them, love them.  You will not regret it!

Wish I would have done more of this with my grandma!

Love you granny, always.

 

 

 

Making Candle Holders

For such a long time I have been wanting a set of wood candle holders, but the cost for three different sizes, just too pricey for me!

So you all know what I did, I made my own!

From this…

A basket full of various wood pieces and chunky chair legs.

To this….

Creating and gluing the wood pieces together.

To this…Love them!

After deciding on the placement of the different wood pieces, and gluing them together, I painted all with white chalk paint, distressed a bit by sanding, and sealed all with clear wax.

Topped with battery operated candles to finish.

So simple.

In the end, I was able to make all three for a little over the cost of buying just a small one.

The wood pieces I purchased at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby, using my 40% off weekly coupons.

I purchased the wood chair leg pieces at Home Depot, under $4.00 each.

They will be so festive for the upcoming fall and Thanksgiving season, surrounded by pumpkins and leaves.

When surrounded by evergreens and red berries at Christmas, they will make a lovely, amazing centerpiece.

Candle holders can be used so many places in a home, tables, dressers, buffets, side tables, and painted many colors.

So fun, so simple, and so pleased with the results, and the money I saved by making my own.

Also, so pleased and thankful, that God has given me a bit of creativity.

Creativity to fill my days with projects that give me so much joy in my heart, and add lots of enjoyment to my everyday life.

So blessed!

With love, until my next project!

 

 

 

When Life Gives You Lemons…

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”.

That is exactly what I did on one of the many very hot days we have had in the past several weeks.

Hard to find anything more refreshing than ice cold lemonade.

A treat for me and hubby when we are sitting together, on our small back porch, which is most days.

Of course, I made a bright beautiful tray out of a thrift store frame, and a lemon filled fabric swatch.

I suppose it does seem as if I am obsessed with making trays.  Maybe so, but they are just so easy and inexpensive to put together, making just a wonderful addition to any table.

The frame I found at the thrift store for $1.00 was large, perfect for my lemonade pitcher and glasses.

A fresh coat of black paint, and simple black screen door handles, completed this summer project.

If I can find a day when my sewing machine doesn’t hate me, I want to make a few napkins out of the remaining lemon fabric.

Lemon print toss pillows, found at Kirkland’s, helped to brighten up my living room for the summer.

The print on the pillows is so wonderful, soft colors!

I like to use toss pillows in the living room, adding color to any season, and they also allow my old outdated wing back chairs look so much better.

To end my “lemon” post, I want to share a recipe I tried from a sweet new cookbook, Magnolia Table, by Joanna Gaines.

I do not buy a bunch of cookbooks, but this one is special.  The recipes are fairly simple, and the photos in the book of Joanna’s farm are lovely.

This lemon pie was so very yummy!  My family loved it!

Definitely a summer dessert.

Here is the link to the recipe.

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, make the best of what you are given, make something good out of a bad experience, turn a negative into a positive.

We are all given bad situations to deal with in this life, but if we ask for God’s blessings, we deal with them, get through them, and move on!

I hope you “squeeze” all kinds of happiness and joy out of this day!

Love to all.

 

 

She Loved to Wear Earrings

A week or so ago I had lunch with my sister, something we do together quite often.

Just the two of us, we talked, we laughed, and that day there were a few tears.

I love her so.

Before leaving, she gave me a small box, old, torn, held together with a rubber band.

As she handed the box to me she said, “I thought you would like to have these”.

Inside the box, our Momma’s earrings.

Momma loved to wear earrings, matching them with whatever outfit she was wearing on any given day.

No gold, no diamonds, nothing expensive, just her gathering of costume jewelry earrings.

I opened the box and ran my hand across the contents several times that day, closing my eyes almost seeing Momma wearing many of them.

Some are vintage, all so beautiful to me in so many ways.

I immediately knew they did not belong in a box buried someplace in a dresser drawer.

Carefully, I placed them in a clear jar and set the jar on my desk.  A quiet area where I sit and work many times throughout the day.

The sun shines in on my desk area, oh how the earrings sparkle!  Just like Momma when she wore her earrings!

My son commented that he remembered Grandma wearing so many of them!

I am sure all his cousins would say the same thing.

So very sad she is not sitting at my desk next to me.

I thank my sister for this gift, and the many days of joy I will get out of just looking at this jar of memories.

For now, a place on my desk, close to my favorite photo of me and Momma.

Just like photos, I believe in displaying keepsakes, I want them all around me so I will never forget those special times, and folks I love!

Blessings.

 

 

 

Red, White, and Blue Memories

Last week we spent our 4th of July, as we do most days, just simple and quiet.

Our fireworks were sparklers!

Of course, a bit of decorations.

Some may find it foolish, but it is something I like to do!

That’s just me!

My son helped me grill some burgers, corn in the husks, and some ice cold watermelon.

He asked me if I remembered the neighborhood bike parades we had on the 4th, as he was growing up.

Of course I do, fun for him to use balloons, crepe paper, streamers, anything red, white, and blue to decorate his bike.

When we purchased our home in 1978 our neighborhood was full of families, many children for my son to grow up with, so thankful, since he was an only child.

We had wonderful backyard cookouts, moms in charge of the food, and dads in charge of the fireworks.

Things changed as the years passed, many families moving on, children grown and off to school.

Our neighborhood is mostly filled with older folks now, many living alone.

We have new neighbors in the house next to ours, moving in within the past month.

A young family with two beautiful little girls, and a sweet dog who runs around the yard with a full size stuffed animal in his mouth.  Many times he brings the toy over to the fence for us to see, so very cute!

When we are sitting on our back porch it brings us joy to see them all together.

Much of our 4th was enjoying this family in their pool, the dog too!  He loves to get in the pool!

I realize that our 4th celebrations of years ago, are no longer.

That “season” of my life has passed, but oh how I thank our Lord for the memories!

Happy summer memories and love to all today.

 

 

 

Thrift Store Finds – Loved Again!

Last week, I worked on three small thrift store items, brought home to “relove”.

A beat up tin rooster, a wire basket, and a metal bulletin board.

Cleaned, scrubbed, spray painted, done!

The tin rooster was missing a wing, and could no longer stand up, but he caught my eye just the same!

A bit of cleaning, glue, and matte black spray paint, was all needed to love this tin rooster, and to find a special spot for him in my kitchen.

He is standing tall again, with that “farmhouse” look perfect for my simple kitchen.

The boring wire basket, just needed to be brighten up, and the metal bulletin board, in almost new condition, just needed to be cleaned.

Two coats of my favorite gold spray paint, Rust-Oleum metallic gold, really transformed the wire basket from dull to bright.

The basket is a great addition to the desk area in my spare bedroom.  Perfect to hold extra pillows or throws, or maybe another place to hold my many books.

I love beautiful books, they are one of the joys in my life.

The metal bulletin board caught my eye because of the really sweet scalloped, eyelet trim.

So cute!

Found a spot for the board above my Mom’s old rocking chair, displaying family photos, she would like that!

Displaying photos, another joy for me.

I am all about enjoying photos, using them whenever posssible, framing and placing around my home, or using them in any event or project.

Pleased with all my items, worth the total cost of $5!

Three items, found and loved, by me!

Happy day!

 

Our Summer Family Gathering

Last weekend our family gathered at a local park for a picnic.

The occasion was the visit of my sister’s oldest daughter and granddaughter from Florida.

It was terribly hot that day, the temperature was well into the 90’s. We picked a shady area and tried to stay as cool as possible.

A watermelon pinata, purchased at Target, kinda gave us a theme, and a fun activity later for the kids.

Loved the cute, whimsy watermelon tablecloths, plates and napkins!  So festive!

The yummies were fried chicken, baked beans, fruit salad, and my brother-in-law’s famous mac and cheese.

I made a banner with family photos, tied around a large tree in the picnic area, our “family tree”!

There were many very old photos, and more recent ones, I wanted to include everyone!

My niece loved it!

Later, I gave her a small box to hold the photos, along with a note, as a keepsake of our gathering to take back to Florida.

We played games, of course.

Stenciled letters on cardstock and we played a version of “Bananagram” in the grass.

A hula hoop contest…

I remember the day when we all could “hula hoop”, not anymore!

We gave out simple gifts to our winners, wrapped in colorful tissue paper, tied with twine.

Made some silly tags to highlight which gifts were for men, women, or kids.

The pinata was filled with treats, a fun time for the kids.

Love those wonderful smiles on those beautiful faces!

I would like to end this post by saying a bit about families.

None of us are perfect, no family is perfect.  I think that is something we all should remember.

Ours has so much drama at times, and there are times when forgiveness is hard, but oh my gosh, how we all love each other.

We were all together for love, sharing our time together, to be with each other, making a wonderful memory!

I am so very emotional writing of my family, they, each and every one of them, mean the world to me!

Gather.

Love the imperfections of your family.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.