UP IN A BALLOON!

Sammy and I went to Conner Prairie http://connerprairie.org/ this past Saturday. It was loads of fun...a little warm but fun. 

We took a ride on the Helium Balloon. We met Maria who was the balloon pilot who took us up 300 ft i. The only other one like this is in California!

You can see the outdoor theater where they have open air concerts throughout the summer and you can take a picnic...too fun!\

We met Mike the the Lenape Indian and we both had goes throwing the tomahawk at the target. ...I hit it twice...!!! 

Then we met Alexander the trapper who told us where the term "Buck" (as in $) came from....A buck's skin was worth a dollar back then....and that's where the expression..."Got  a Buck?" came from! 

We walked towards Prairie town (outdoor pioneer village) and met  Elizabeth, originally from Leeds, England in the loom house.

Popped over to see "Jo" at the Connor House (first brick house in the county!) 
We petted some cuuuuute baby animals in the barn.

and finally  we headed back to the car. This was a great place to take a young special guy like our Sammy. Everyone was so sweet to him!

Here is the link to Conner Prairie outdoor Pioneer Museum if you are ever in Fishers, Indiana it is a MUST SEE!
http://connerprairie.org/


Hugs,
Mandy

Cheer Me Up Flowers

Hi everyone!!!

Long time "no see"...but I have my reasons....busy, busy summer. There wasn't much "downtime" for me to concentrate on blogging. Just enough to follow others. 

Moving day with college kid...

I was feeling pretty "down in the dumps" earlier this week...everything just hit me at once. I had no more zap left...not for anyone or anything! No! Guess the result of dealing with a special needs teenager, sending another one off to college, having a potential offer on the lake house fall through and a bunch of everything else you don't need to hear about just did if for me! 

Okay "nuf said"! 

I'm not very good at talking when I am "down". Would rather let those close to me know with an email. So I sent off a long email to my sister in Switzerland and she picked up the phone and called me. The result of that phone call was a beautiful basket of flowers delivered to my door the very next day!!!

Here they are "sans" pink flowers....sorry forgot to take before pic...but just imagine pink "Carnies" etc stuck here and there. 

Of course, I had to "mess" with them! I pulled out the pink carnations and the other "purply" pink flowers (name?) and put them in my Irish Belleek log vase and placed them on my vanity in the bathroom. 

So Pwetty! and in case you wanted to proof! I  bought it in a little shop in England  lots of years ago!!!!! There it sits with the little kitten trinket box my mum gave me  when  I was much younger and a little Lenox vase I picked up at good ole' GW (Goodwill). He holds my make up brushes...which don't get used a lot!

So back to the rest of it!!!! I do ramble on...

I place the basked inside one of my Mother-in-law's milk glass bowls and put it in my old wooden crate and sat it on the built in hutch in the kitchen.....phew....I did a lot!

Now you can see why the pink flowers didn't really go with  everything in  "Le 'utch", eh?

I yanked out a few of the daisies and stuck them in my old Coca Cola Bottles ....

See? Fun! I use this old crate on my island to store cooking oils, salt and peppers, and  place mats.

Finally, I laid the few wisps of deep purple flowers (name? and you can dry them!) to dry out next to my watering cans on the laundry shelf.

These watering cans are decorative. I stenciled the numbers on them...just in case I wouldn't be able to tell one was larger than the other! So with that, I now have a little flower surprise all over the house (well, at least the rooms I frequent the most!). And, I am getting back into the groove, just taking it a little slower!

Aren't sisters great????

Love you Samantha!

Hugs,

Mandy

Best Buddy Walk

Today we participated in Central Indiana's Best Buddy Walk. 
We dragged our teenage boys out of bed this Sunday morning which, believe me, is quite an acoomplishment! 


Other members of the "clan" showed up and we headed downtown. It was cold and damp. But we were doing this for a great cause. 


Our son, Sammy loves his buddies. They take him bowling, to the movies and shopping. This is fun for a young teenager to have peers to "hang" out with.  It is a great program and we, as parents of a special needs child, truly appreciate it. 


So here we are before the start of the race, actually I am taking this picture! My husband Mark, Pam, Ryan & Katy, Alan 18, Sammy 15 and Joe 15. (Hannah and Michael are trying to get ready for the Wedding so could not be with us). 

Sam has a collection of cars in the front pocked of his hoodie, this is a normal thing for him...he loves his Hotwheels and Matchbox cars!!! And he does smile a lot...just not in these pics!!!

Here we are bundled up and ready to go! 

We finished the 5k walk without being rained on...just a little sprinkle. We did get spread out a little as Sam insisted on marching ahead of us accompanied by a young lady friend!

After, we all had a lovely breakfast at La Peep before heading home.


A fun time and thanks to my wonderful family for taking time out of their weekend to show their support! 


Hugs,
Mandy

A BRIDAL SHOWER

What a fun day we had!  So many laughs and a few sweet tears... Great food and great company!


Here a some fun pictures of a special day for a special young lady.  The wedding is just around the corner we are all involved one way or another. 


Here is my lovely future daughter-in-law, Hannah.

Let the memories begin....

Hugs,

Mandy

LOOK WHO CAME FOR A VISIT?

Early one evening something caught Mark's  eye outside the window in the family room....it was a deer...it was about 10 feet from the window....of course my camera was back in our bedroom inside my handbag...isn't that just typical??? Anyway, I rushed back with it and managed to snap this shot. 

 (The brick half moon raised bed is actually a gas fire pit...wonderful on cool spring and fall nights...don't  know if we'll get to enjoy it much this year though, our winter was so mild, the mosquitoes are going to be horrendous!).  

Our young visitor was not alone...

 Lola, our Dutch Shepherd

(Picture taken on Christmas day!) finally realized that we had some visitors/intruders and proceeded to tell us exactly how she felt about it! ..the deer just stood there...quite funny actually, but after a minute or two, they scampered back to the woods, long white tails wagging behind them...

We often see the deer come out of the woods at this time, but usually they stay quite a distance away. This was the first time they had ventured so close to the house. 

We are so lucky to have a nature preserve right on our back step. The wildlife is a treat. We have seen foxes, coyotes, turkey vultures (yuck!) lots of bunnies, ducks and the dreaded geese (I don't like them...there are too many of them and they poop everywhere...Lola chases them away for us.)  lots and lots of birds and deer of course . 

Thanks for popping by,

Hugs,

Mandy

SPRING VIGNETTES

March is upon us, and here in Indiana the daffodils stalks are pushing through the mulch and reminding us that the spring season is upon us.


I just did some very simple additions or changes to the already existing vignettes...I like change, believe me but when I find something that works I tend to stick to it until I am absolutely sick of it!!! With work, teenagers and trying to sell a house, this seems to be working well for me too!


So, main rooms that got "hit" were the main living areas: Kitchen, dining room and a wee touch in the living room.


Kitchen table: Boot tray, corks (hmm...wine consumption.....but many years worth!!) 

cabbages (not real! but garage sale purchases last year), spring green hydrangeas (on clearance)

chicks and nests (had a long time).

Kitchen mantle: Large blue eggs (a few years old and realize I need to remove labels...!), broom brush bunny (Goodwill last year).

Kitchen Hutch:
Cabbage bowl (last year Ebay - dirt cheap), ceramic bunny (old) cloche filled with eggs, croissants and artichokes (all stuff I had),

cabbage plates (Goodwill last Fall), cabbage jug (Goodwill last winter).

Dining room:

Centerpiece: Same old basket from sale last year. 
filled with 3 wire baskets (Tuesday Morning) full of gourdes, decorative balls and two large decorative eggs (Michael's). 

Plate wall: added a couple of cabbage plates (had for years), two large white plates (Goodwill last year) and two small french label plates (Tuesday Morning). 

Living room: 

I tweaked the mantle. Brought back orange Japanese Lanterns and 3 cool handmade brown artichoke looking stems (World Market), painted an existing cardinal orange and added milk glass etc.

That's all folks!!


Hugs,
Mandy
Linking to:

http://frommyfrontporchtoyours.blogspot.com/

lbratina.blogspot.com
nominimalisthere.blogspot.com
www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/