The Beloved Mason Jar

I can't get enough of these images ...

_______________________________

i find myself reaching for a mason jar
when creating something simple ...
whether it's a vase for wildflowers 
or 
dry goods in the pantry
or
a simple gift

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I was looking at my July issue of 
Better Homes and Gardens 
and stumbled across a host of recipes 
for this season's canning.




enjoy the scenery

tomato basil simmer sauce

blue ribbon corn relish

chunky tomato salsa

best ever dill pickles

homemade strawberry jam

Interested in these recipes?
click below ...

Better Homes and Gardens



Happy canning my friend :O)

Road Trip with Hubby!

                  

One week w/out the boys.

That's what we had.

Cousins Camp comes once a year.  

The time w/out them is a bitter-sweet.

We missed them but the time together was 
just what we needed.

:O)

Davis and Dawson headed off to Virginia for one whole week of fun with their cousins Sam and Josh.  
Their cousins live in Sudbury, MA.  So they, too, travel down to their grandparents' house in Harrisonburg, VA.

Nanna and Bubba (grandma & grandpa Welty) take all four boys (even though our boys aren't technically their grandchildren - they've adopted them as their very own) for a week of adventure (daily field trips), training (the good kind - bible story hour each day) and LOTS of back-yard sports!

__________________

You can say that the annual camp is a marriage builder!

__________________ 

So what do Dan and Gina do for a whole week?

Well ... when you're in the south ... 

you eat what the south eats!

The first stop was ...

 

drinking a hot cup of ...

 playing with ...

while listening to ...

 waiting for these...

And don't forget the apple butter ... oh my goodness.

Yum!


________________________

Next stop on our road-trip/8-hour date ...

IKEA: Pittsburgh, PA - USA

usually we shop at the IKEA in Burlington, Canada ...
but us shoppers from the states usually end up paying a whole lot more for the retail ... plus you get charged double tax PLUS crossing the border into the states can also be pricey depending on how much you spent at IKEA that day.


So... our plan was to make a pit-stop at Pittsburgh, PA!


Gina's always got somethin' a bruin' ... 
this is was the latest brew ...

The farmer's sink ... :O)

Doesn't she rock?

I tell you this

the website for this item does it NO justice!

This is one of those things you must see in-person.


At one point I thought I heard it singing ...
it's just that lovely.

It's even got the old-fashioned soap tray built in on the backside.  Sweet.


It is a hum-dinger ... 36" wide ... 27" deep.
After hubby got a view of how it should be installed -- he warmed up to the idea of it because he, too, saw how awesome it is in-person.


But ... I couldn't sell him on this ...

I grew up in the restaurant business ...
my parents owned several in the course of my middle-school and high school years ... so there's something drawing about this fixture.  I suppose Dan is turned off by this style due to the fact that he was a "dish-dog" during his restaurant working days ... not fun swimming in all that leftover food-muck.  yucky poo poo.

_______________________


So ... we left with ...

a really heavy sink.


And Gina was very happy.

______________________

The kitchen-flip adventure continues.

When does the sink get installed?
Are you kidding me?
I'm not asking that question for quite awhile ...
I'm just pleased in our garage and available.


:O)


Hope you are having a summer full of adventures 
with your hubby.


As Dan shared that special week ... 
"Babe, this is just a taste of what the empty-nest will feel like.  Let's enjoy it and prepare for what is to come one day."


I love that man.

7 Coats Will Have to Do

My intention was to slather this bad-boy with

10 coats of Waterlox ... but thought 

after 7 coats ... 

this counter top was lookin' 

mighty fine

:O)

you might notice a coil of wiring

peaking under the upper cabinet ...

that's the future wiring of 

under-cabinet lighting

:O)

remember all that paintable wallpaper?

it turned out great!

we used it on the sides of the cabinetry

and

as a back splash to all the electronics

that will be housed in this area

every coat made the grain in the wood

sing a little louder

the knee hole just needs a bar stool ...

hmmmm ... I wanted to share

a picture of the bar stool I'm thinkin'

about getting from a chain of stores

called ...

The Christmas Tree Shops

When we lived in Massachusetts and New Hampshire I would see these stores and avoid them thinking, "I'm not in the mood to shop for Christmas."

But then a good friend shared what's so

special about the Christmas Tree Shops...

Oh my goodness!!!

If there is one close to you
go
and I mean go right now!  

They sell so many wonderful things ... 
things that are so crazy cheap ... 
you'll find yourself filling your cart 
(like I do) 
and pulling into the check-out area and 
sorting through the items that are 
"yes(s)" 

and 

"no(s)".

What's so great about this place?

Say I only have $25 to spend that day ...

you can fill your cart (big cart) 
full and still come under budget!  
I AM NOT KIDDING YOU!

We now live between Buffalo and Rochester ...

both cities got a Christmas Tree Shop 
and we all went wild!  

Really. 

Googly-eyed WILD.

So ... let me find a bar stool that is comparible to the ones I found at the Christmas Tree Shops for only $50

this one comes from Pottery Barn ...

it retails @ $180 ...

I can get this chair at the Christmas Tree Shops

for $50

:O)

BUT we will eventually need 4 of them ...

3 @ the bar/peninsula area and 1 at the desk

area (the area we've been working on since Mother's Day weekend) ... sooooooo

if space is an issue (the backs of the barstool dictate how much space is needed for seating) ... then

this could be an option (not my favorite option) ...

I can get the above at Big Lots 2 for $40 ... but I'd have to paint them ... which is a good thing and a bad thing ... it requires time and $ BUT I could spin a personal touch to them and make our cottage kitchen look like a one-of-a-kind space!

What do you think I should do?

bar stools w/backs vs. bar stools w/no backs

:O)

Can't wait to post again with you ...