The Lake!

I'm back! Did you miss me? No? I didn't think so! LOL!

I ran off to the lake with a friend. It was one of those vacations, where, as soon as you arrive, you can feel yourself relaxing.

The house was decorated in colors reflecting nature. Colors, that you experienced when you sat out on the deck. There was brown, that reminded you of the sand down by the dock. Blue, which was reminiscent of the lake. And green, that brought the lush, colorful, landscape indoors.

Of course, the view was amazing!



You could just sit there, and stare at it for hours.

But, we didn't sit there for too long! There was fun to be had! Even our four legged companions wanted in on it!



The day we arrived was the hottest day of the season. So, we let the dogs hop into the lake and cool off. (They LOVE the water!) After that, it was time to take the boat out for a spin.



While waiting to get on board, I started taking pictures of the setting sun. It was beautiful.



Once the boat was ready, we headed out toward open water. The cove where we were staying was a "no wave" area, so we had to go slow until we passed the "now you can rock & roll" markers. LOL!

It was so much fun! Speeding across the water, with the wind blowing in my face. It was exhilarating! I wanted to stay out there forever, zipping in and out of all of the different coves. But, the sun was sinking lower in the sky, and we didn't have a light on the boat, so we headed back to the dock.



The rest of the evening was spent chatting, watching a little TV, and planning what we wanted to do in the upcoming days.

The next morning we got up, and ate pancakes with lots of butter, syrup, and whipped cream on them! YUM!

Then, we piled into the truck, and headed to town. We needed groceries, and we wanted to visit a few antique stores. We quickly discovered that almost every store we wanted to go to, was closed on Mondays. (That is how they do things in small towns!) We did manage to find one antique store open. So, we got to wander up and down rows filled with dusty, old goodies.

Later, we went to a locally owned peach orchard, where you can pick your own peaches. It is run by a husband and wife. The orchards are behind their home.



My friend had been there before, and wanted me to see the gardens that the wife had planted. They were AMAZING! I was in total AWE! I told her that she needs to make up a garden plan, that includes a list of all of her plants, and sell it to all of her envious customers! LOL! She was so sweet! She even let us take a few pictures.

I caught this butterfly soaking up the sun.



And this bee buzzing from flower to flower.



She even had flowers climbing up her lamp post. And a cool red chair.



Everywhere you turned, you were treated to a spectacular view. But, I have to say that the best part was the shed! LOOK at this shed!



Isn't it the cutest thing you have ever seen? I LOVE the blue door! I WANT THIS SHED!



Seeing this garden, made me want to come home, and plant all kinds of pretties! I wonder if I can talk Mr. Mister into a blue door? Hmmmmmmmm!

While out in the peach orchards, we noticed that there were some buffalo right next to them. We walked over to take some pictures.



I felt so bad for them. They looked SO hot. And there were bugs flying all around, and landing on their faces.



Poor things!

Back to the truck we went. Where we proceeded to travel down quiet country roads, until we found this old barn.



I always wonder about the history of old barns like these. If they could tell you their story, what would it be?

After taking a few pictures of the barn, we went back to the house.

My friend kept teasing me, telling me how wonderful the water would be, if I ever decided to get into it! At first, I kept saying NO! I'm not going into the water. But, it got so hot, that my adamant NO soon turned into a YES.

After borrowing shorts and a swimming suit top, (NOT a pretty picture! LOL) I worked my way into the water. I was surprised at how warm it was. The depth finder on the boat was reading it at 90+ degrees. It felt like bath water! We floated around on our "noodles" for a while, and then decided to take the boat to another location on the lake, hoping it might be cooler.

While we were cruising around, we found my ultimate dream home. I have always wanted a log home. And this one was on the lake too! What more could you ask for? It was absolutely PERFECT!



We anchored the boat near the log home, so that I could stare at it while drifting (dog paddling) around in the water. LOL!

Since it was starting to get dark, and I wanted to take some more sunset pictures, we pulled ourselves from the lake and headed to the perfect spot to take photos. (The spot where I slipped off the back of the boat, while trying to get back into the water, and almost drowned! LOL! But, we aren't going to talk about that! Or the fact that I had "sipped" a few Jack Daniel's Lynchburg Lemonades! LOL!) The sky was awesome! The sun had clouds moving across it, that made it look like Saturn.



Another beautiful day at the lake was coming to an end. We finished it off with hot dogs, a cold drink, and fun conversation.

Rise and shine, it's a new day!

The smell of Belgium waffles, and sausage drifted through the air, as we welcomed the lazy, rainy morning. We sat with the door open, so that we could listen to the storm, while we decided what to do that day.

It was a great day to go antiquing. So, off we went!

We were hunting down crackle glass, milk glass, Princess House Crystal, and colorful dishes to make "junk art" flowers with. I am happy to report that we found some of everything.

As we were bringing our new found "treasures" back to the house, we came upon this lovely pair. Awwwwwwww! Look at them!





Check out that nasty scar he has on his side! I wonder what go a hold of him? That had to hurt!

It was our last night at the lake house. We decided to have flame grilled (not broiled) hamburgers for dinner!



Did I mention that they were flame grilled? LOL! They actually turned out great, and were delicious! We topped the meal off with peach crisp, that we made using some of the fresh peaches from the orchards we visited a few days earlier.

As with all of the vacations and trips I get to go on, I wish our time away didn't have to come to an end. But, real life calls. And that's what makes me enjoy times like this even more!

Carpet Cleaning , Coupons, & Mini Stockpile!

This is what I have been doing! O JOY! (I have been working in sections because I don't like walking on wet carpet.)



I don't understand why companies don't make LARGER water tanks on these things! I mean, COME ON! I know that it would make the machines bigger and bulkier, but it drives me absolutely BONKERS having to make five million trips to the bathroom, so that I can dump the dirty water, and refill the clean water tank again! UGH!

I also don't know why they have to put such LIGHT colored carpet into new houses! (It had already been ordered, when we bought the house, so we couldn't change it without paying extra) It gets so dirty! Especially, with a dog, two cats, and six humans constantly walking all over it!

Hopefully, one day soon, we will be checking out the prices on wood/laminate floors, because I want all of the carpet GONE!

OK! I will stop with my carpet tantrum. LOL!

Next subject: COUPONS!

I'm slowly catching on! To the "coupon game." I have been scouring a lot of blogs, and other websites for information on how to save money using coupons. There are so many great resources. A new favorite of mine is Money Saving Mom. On the left sidebar she has links for beginners. She explains everything really well.

It seems that everyone loves CVS, because they offer Extra Care Bucks (ECB's) on certain purchases. When you purchase the product, the ECB's print out on your receipt, and you can use that toward your next purchase. I actually did my first transaction yesterday. I bought two items that were .99 cents each and I received the .99 cents (X 2) back in ECB's. I also bought two items at $1.49 each, and I received the $1.49 (X 2) back in ECB's. So, those four items were essentially "free" (I did pay tax on them) after I earned the ECB's. (What would have made the deal even sweeter, was if, I had some coupons for the items that I purchased. Then it would have been like CVS owed "me" money for buying the items. Of course, they don't give you money back, but if you had other items you were purchasing at the same time, the amount "owed" would have gone toward those items. NOTE: Some stores do not allow you to use "overages.") If you want to know more about how it works, you can read about it on Money Saving Mom's website.

I also did pretty darn good (if I do say so myself! LOL) at Target the other day. They had specific General Mills cereals on sale for 4/$7.00. I also had two manufacturer's coupons for $1.00 off of two boxes of GM cereal. So, they were already on sale for $1.75 per box (which is good) but, then I got an additional .50 cents off each box by using my coupons. This made them only $1.25 per box. After tax, I walked out the door with four boxes of cereal for only $5.12. YAY!

I know that the "PRO" couponers out there, are figuring out ways to get even better deals on the cereal, but since I am still new at all of this, I think that I am doing good so far.

Also, most of the people who are serious about using coupons, start stockpiling excess product. They have gotten to the point, where they have enough shampoo or toothpaste, that they don't "have" to use the coupons they have collected right away. They are then, able to save that coupon until a "rock bottom" sale price comes along. That is when they will purchase multiples of an item (because they will usually have more than one coupon) to stockpile for future use. It is AMAZING to see some of the stockpiles that people have. Many have a room dedicated to storing all of it. You can check out quite a few photgraphs HERE! (Some of the photographs are no longer on the site, but keep scrolling through the messages and you will see more.) I think some of them could open their own store! LOL!

I don't know if I will go that deeply into stockpiling. There are certain things like: laundry soap, dish soap, fabric softener, toilet paper, etc. that I would like to have multiples of, but I don't need 50 boxes of fruit chews, because my kids are grown, and they don't eat them anymore. LOL!

MANY of these people donate regularly to food pantries, homeless shelters, and other places in need. They are able to "pay it forward" without breaking "their" budgets, because they are getting most of it for free, or close to it, after using coupons on sale items.

Now, having mentioned stockpiles, I do have to admit that I already have a stockpile of mini toiletries. Whenever we stay at a hotel (which is often for Mr. Mister) we save all of the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc. and bring it home. I actually got this idea from Christopher Lowell. LOL! He gathers those items and puts them into a basket in his guest room.

Well, even with us using some of it, we still have plenty for our guest room. We have also sent some to my mother, and to Mr. Mister's mother.

Here is our mini stockpile! (This is not all of it! LOL) (YES! The buffet still has the grime all over it, from sitting in the antique store. I haven't gotten back to wiping it down yet.)



Here is most of it in plastic containers. (I need more containers to put all those white shower cap boxes, and soap into.)



Some hotels even give you cool things like sewing kits, shoe polish cloths, and shoe horns. (See the first plastic tote, on the left. LOL!) We have also collected coffee and tea. They are the perfect size for one person. (These can also be put into your guest room, along with a small (one or two cup) coffee maker.)

Menu Plan Monday! (July 14th)

The menu from last week went really well. We tried two new recipes, and they were both keepers. However, I must say, that everyone's favorite was the Fuss Free Ravioli and Cheese Bake! YUMMY! Definitely, going back on the rotation list.

This week, I am trying to use up some of the stuff we already have in the pantry and freezer. I will have to go back to the store for a few things, but I think it should work out pretty good.

So, here goes:

Monday: Chicken & Dumplings
Tuesday: Philly Cheese steak (HH), Cheddar Bay Biscuits, Green Beans
Wednesday: Spaghetti, Bread Sticks, Salad
Thursday: Meatloaf, Broccoli Rice Au Gratin, Peas or Cream Style Corn
Friday: Easy Chicken Bake, Salad
Saturday: Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Corn
Sunday: Baked Potato Bar (Cheese, Bacon Bits, Sour Cream, Chives, etc.)

I doubt that I will post menus for the next two weeks, because Mr. Mister and I, will be in and out of town. Most likely, we will just grab whatever we can find.

If you are tired of hearing the dreaded "What's For Dinner?" question, and want to see what hundreds of other menu planners are eating this week, head on over to Laura's at Organized Junkie, to get some ideas, and maybe even a few new recipes to try.

A New (Old) Treasure!

OMG! I cannot believe how much I LOVE this antique buffet/server.



Brat girl and I, decided to go wandering around at one of the local antique stores the other day.

I was actually looking to see if I could find some Princess House Crystal, so that I could add to the pieces I already have.

As we were strolling down the aisles, I walked right past this booth, and Brat Girl called me back, saying "I REALLY like that!" I came back and said "Yeah, so do I, but I am sure it costs a FORTUNE!" and asked "How much is it?" She looks at the tag hanging from the knob, and says "$185.00." "NO WAY!!!!" "Are you kidding ME?" I was shocked. We stood there, drooling over it for a few minutes. I kept saying, "I don't know if I can pass this up!" Of course, Brat Girl, being the enabler that she is, kept saying you should buy it! If you don't, I might!

We walked around a few more minutes, but I couldn't stop thinking about the buffet. Forget about looking for Princess House Crystal! I WANTED that buffet! So, I pulled out my cell phone and called Mr. Mister. I was so excited as I was telling him about it. He said, "if it's what you want, then buy it."

He didn't have to tell me twice! LOL! I ran (well, not really, but I walked really fast!) up to the front of the store and paid for it before "I" talked myself out of it. (I tend to do that quite often!) Afterwards, I felt some buyers remorse. But, only for about five minutes. LOL!

We had to leave it there until Friday, because Mr. Mister was out of town, and there was NO WAY that we were going to be able to get it into the truck. That thing is HEAVY!

Finally, Mr. Mister made it back home, and we picked it up. It is now gracing our dining room, with all of it's loveliness! I still need to finish wiping it down with Murphy's Oil Soap, (it is filthy) and figure out what I want to display on top of it. The pictures and stuff were already up on the wall. We had to take a shelf down, (that is why there are silver screws there) and the pictures are long enough that the bottoms of them are now tucked behind the buffet. I cannot decide if I want to move the pictures and everything else, higher up on the wall, or leave them the way they are now. I don't think it looks "bad" the way it is, but I am not totally sure I like it either! (It's the perfectionist part of me coming out again!) So, most likely, everything will be moved up about seven inches or so.

Anyway, that's my story. What do you think of my new (old) treasure? Isn't she PURTY? (BTW....Brat Girl has already informed us that this MUST be willed to her, because she is the one who found it at the store! LOL!)

Menu Plan Monday! (July 7th)

I have been wanting to participate in Menu Plan Monday (MPM) over at Laura's for a while now. Finally, I am getting around to posting my first menu here.

I am going to try two new recipes! This is what our week looks like:

Monday: Italian Sausage & Rigatoni (Bertolli), Rolls, & Salad

Tuesday: Pork Chops, Cheddar Bacon Potatoes, & Cream Style Corn

Wednesday: Stroganoff, Homemade Bread, & Green Beans

Thursday: Stuffed Bell Peppers, & Salad

Friday: Sour Cream & Bacon Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, & Tomato & Cucumber Salad

Saturday: Cheeseburgers, Brats, French Fries, & Corn on the Cob

Sunday: Fuss Free Ravioli & Cheese Bake, Garlic Bread, & Salad

If you would like more recipe ideas, stop by Laura's blog to see what everyone is cooking up this week!

In other news, we had a lot of fun in Tennessee! My in-laws live way out in the country, so it was nice and quiet. We had a great time just RELAXING! There was a lot of talking, and laughing going on. Of course, there was delicious food. You HAVE to have lots of that on the 4th right? LOL! And Mr. Mister decided that his inner child had to come out and play, so he went and bought fireworks to set off.

Where are all the pictures of our good times, you ask? Well, there aren't any! Can you BELIEVE that I didn't take any pictures? Actually, I did "attempt" to take a few of the fireworks, but they were so blurry (I forgot my tripod at home) that I deleted them.

One of these years, I am going to take AWESOME pictures of fireworks! ONE OF THESE YEARS! LOL!

Take Five!

I saw this over at Cheryl's blog and decided to play along.

Five Things You've Done Today so Far:

1. Got up, made the bed, and took a shower.
2. Fed the cats, and made them run around chasing a red laser beam! (HILARIOUS to watch! I get them to run around in circles and then they walk around looking like they are drunk! ROFL!)
3. Checked email, and blog hopped at little. (That's how I found this on Cheryl's blog!)
4. Ate watermelon
5. Did a word search puzzle, and checked on my villagers. (Virtual Villagers 2) They are all thriving, working, running around, and making more babies! LOL!

Five Habits You Need to Break:

1. Procrastinating
2. Eating too much
3. Not Exercising
4. Expecting others to make "my" life happy, and full of excitement.
5. Scratching my Eczema!

Five Cookies (or other sweet treats) you Like to Make:

1. Strawberry Shortcake (Using the shortcake recipe on the Bisquick box! Served WARM)
2. Gooey Butter Cookies
3. Nestle's Oatmeal Scotchies
4. No Bake Cookies
5. Strawberry Pretzel Salad OR Chocolate Eclair Dessert (I make this with one box of vanilla pudding and one box of pistachio pudding! SO YUMMY!)

Five Things You Dream Of:

1. Seeing the Aurora Borealis. (Northern Lights)
2. Going on a cruise with Mr. Mister.
3. Creating beautiful fairies, and other mythical creatures.
4. Being published in a craft magazine.
5. Finding joy in every day.

Five Things You Love to do in the Summer:

1. Travel (Well, I love doing that any time of the year!)
2. Throw pork chops or ribs on the BBQ! YUM!
3. See lightening bugs light up the night, watch butterflies drift lazily by, hear the cicadas humming in the trees, and smell summer rain on the hot pavement.
4. Drive by houses to look at everyone's beautiful gardens, and get ideas for my own.
5. Enjoy long and leisurely afternoons, while sitting at one of the local (or not so local) wineries, soaking up the ambiance!

OK! That's my Take Five! I could have gone on and on with some of my answers, but I "tried" to stay with five. (or close to it)

Now, I am off to pack our clothes (Mr. Mister and I are headed to Tennessee for the 4th of July) do the dishes, and make the grocery list for the food we will be making on the 4th. (We are in charge of hot wings, and macaroni & cheese. I am also considering making the Chocolate Eclair Dessert as well.)

I hope all of you have a GREAT holiday!