Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Family To The Rescue


What do you do when you are the new kid in town, and you don't have any best buddies to go trick or treating with on Halloween?

I had this conundrum yesterday. Sure, Sam's getting a little old to go door to door for candy, but he still wants to hang out with friends, just like any other middle schooler.

I had one of those moments of Mom guilt just thinking about this yesterday.

And then it dawned on me.

Hey, wait a minute. We are not alone on this island anymore. We live close to family. I can throw a big bowl of candy on the doorstep with a note to say "Help yourself" for anyone who comes to our door, and then drive to the family so that Sam can experience some holiday fun with cousins.

I sent off a text to my sister, who is always game for fun, and we are coming up with a plan for this evening to redeem Halloween for Sam.

I am so thankful for family! What a blessing that we live once again near the grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. It just makes life richer, fuller, filled with joy.

Here's a little autumn card to express some of that thankfulness!


{Today's Brew: Into The Woods stamp set (Lawn Fawn), Lawn Fawn birch tree dies, Lawn Fawn stitched frame die, MFT cloud stencil, COPIC markers, PTI card stock}

Happy Halloween! And Happy 500th anniversary of the Reformation Day!

Monday, October 30, 2017

A Not So Leafy Tree


The days are getting colder, the nights are getting longer, and we are still working in the garden!

We had a few more bushes to plant this weekend. The weather has been pretty ideal for planting, with some healthy doses of rain to help the roots get established. I am even successfully growing some grass in bare patches from seed, which always seems like an impossible task. I have added a decent layer of mulch to the beds to protect the new plantings, too. I'm tempted to go back to the nursery center today to buy some more bushes and perennials. The prices at the end of season are hard to beat.


Here's another card featuring the Leafy Tree Backdrop die from Lawn Fawn. This time, I kept the tree bare and built an autumnal scene around it.

{Today's Brew: Happy Harvest stamp set (Lawn Fawn), Leafy Tree Backdrop die (Lawn Fawn), Lawn Fawn papers, MFT banner die, PTI card stock, COPIC markers}

Thanks for visiting the cafe today!

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Cooke Tavern Soups: My Pantry Secret!


Yay! It's soup season, my cafe friends! All of your dinner dilemmas have been solved!

Seriously, I could eat soup for every meal, I love it that much. And if you are a regular here at the cafe, you will see that I'm often concocting my own soup recipes, like copycat Panera Turkey Chili, or Tuscan Bean Soup. I have a lot of "go to" recipes that I make often.

But sometimes, on a busy day, dinner time sneaks up on me and someone in the household will ask the dreaded question:

"What's for dinner?"

Aack! Good question!

This season, I decided to stock my pantry with my new favorite dinner helper:

Cooke Tavern Soups!

I first discovered these soups at their booth at the Country Living Fair in Columbus, Ohio a few years back. My sister and I sampled their corn chowder, and we were sold!


These soup starters are really amazing. If you've ever bought a pre-made soup mix at the grocery store, I can promise you that these do not even compare. They are really that good.


Last night's specialty was one of our favorites: Blacksmith's Black Bean Chili. SO GOOD!

What I love about these soups is that they typically cook quickly, probably because most of the ingredients have been dehydrated. I also love that I can add a few ingredients and make each soup my own.

For last night's chili, I added the brown sugar, water, Worchestershire sauce, and canned crushed tomato to the soup starter. And before serving, we topped with a dollop of Greek Yogurt and some shredded cheddar. Serve it with a salad and a nice hearty bread, and dinner is done.

And take a look at the ingredient list. Nothing weird that you cannot pronounce, no MSG, no preservatives.


These soups also make great gifts for the holiday season! You can order a nicely packaged soup sampler from their website and have it delivered. What could be easier? I plan on ordering quite a few of these to give as gifts this Christmas!

You can visit their website at:

www.cooketavernsoups.com

I believe they have fourteen different varieties to choose from. And yes, I ordered one of each!


Rejoice! Soup Season is here!

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Autumn Trees in Michigan




I love the trees of Michigan. So many beautiful trees! Not surprising, considering we live near Ann Arbor, a town that celebrates trees even in its name.

It was the first impression I had of our new neighborhood, so many houses nestled into the woods. It makes a house feel cozy.

The view from our back deck has been lovely. The sugar maple is turning crimson, the trees beyond are golden...so pretty!


And here's a view from our front yard, where we removed the dead leaning evergreen tree and replaced it with a star magnolia and some low growing junipers.


I pulled out a stamp set from Papertrey Ink last month called Through The Trees. Why haven't I been using this one more often? It's a lovely set with some great tree images like the one featured on today's card:


{Today's Brew: Through The Trees stamp set (PTI), Lawn Fawn papers, Lawn Fawn leaf dies, PTI card stock, white embossing powder, button twine}


Sometimes I like to leave the sentiment off the front of the card. This way, I can stamp something inside for any occasion.

I hope you are enjoying the beautiful trees of autumn in your neighborhood, too!

Friday, October 27, 2017

Falling Leaves and Compost


Last weekend, our new neighbor, Pete stopped by while we were landscaping the front garden. He told us that his parents had a drum composter they wanted to get rid of, and would we be interested.

Yes! I've always wanted to try composting, but never got around to doing it.


This is a really nice unit, too. You can spin it so that it will shuffle all of those materials together to make a nice rich soil. I found a good spot in the corner of the yard, tucked away behind some evergreens.


And in addition to the composter, he gave us this kitchen compost bin, compete with charcoal filter and biodegradable liner bags. Awesome! We really do have wonderful neighbors here in our Michigan home. So blessed!


It's amazing how many food scraps I collected in a short amount of time. Banana peels, apple cores, lettuce ends, egg shells. And here's another cool thing. My Senseo coffee pods can go right in, as they're completely biodegradable and very beneficial to the compost recipe.

I've been researching the good things to add to compost, like brown matter: shredded newspapers and toilet paper tubes, dead leaves, pine needles. And green matter, too: grass clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and tea bags.

I figure with all of the falling leaves, it's a good idea to get this composting started!

And here's a card today that features falling leaves!


I love the leafy tree backdrop die from Lawn Fawn! It adds just the right finishing touch to any nature scene cards.

{Today's Brew: Into the Woods stamp set (Lawn Fawn), Phrases and Praises stamp set (PTI), Leafy Tree Backdrop die (Lawn Fawn), Lawn Fawn papers, PTI card stock, COPIC markers}


Blessed Friday, cafe friends!

Thursday, October 26, 2017

More Good Things


When a pastor retires, there are bound to be a lot of speeches filled with heartfelt thanks and memories.

But there is one person that often gets forgotten, and that person is the pastor's wife. She is usually the unpaid partner in this scenario, silently filling in wherever her gifts are needed. Sunday school teacher, VBS leader, piano player. And let's not forget how often she has to hold the household together while her husband is on call at all hours of the day or night.

A pastor's wife wears a lot of hats.

I made this card to thank a sweet Pastor's wife and friend!

{Today's Brew: Phrases and Praises stamp set (PTI), MFT dies, PTI card stock and papers}


He fills my life with good things! And on frosty mornings like today, He fills me with coffee!

That's a very good thing.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Frankenmuth

Hello, cafe friends!

Sorry for the blog absence. We've been busy working on our landscaping, planting new trees and bushes as we try to get everything done outdoors during this nice autumn weather. Photos to follow soon!

In the meantime, here are some photos of our day trip to Frankenmuth last week!























Fun filled photos of a Fall Friday in Frankenmuth.

How's that for alliteration?

Blessings, cafe friends!

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Why I Love Church Directories


Let me tell you something I love about my new church.

Church directories.

I know that for many, this seems like an old fashioned relic of a different era. Now, the cool kids use Facebook and church member forums to interface.

They use words like interface, too.

But here's where the directory has a distinct advantage.

1.) For new members like us, it's an invaluable tool for putting names to faces.

2.) For someone completely new to an area, we can see who exactly lives in our neighborhood or nearby.

3.) When a church member needs a card of encouragement, I can go to the directory, find their photo and address, and send them something in the mail.

No texts. No tweets. No Face Book pokes.

Just snail mail, lovingly hand made and hand delivered by the United States Postal Service.

Sometimes, old school is just better.

And here's something else I love about our new church. They publish birthdays and anniversaries in the church bulletin.

I sent this card to a new friend at church who works alongside me in a tutoring ministry.


{Today's Brew: Songbirds stamps and dies (PTI), Simple Stories papers, PTI inks and card stock, rustic twine bow}

Tell me, do you like church directories, or do you prefer Facebook?

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Cottage Garden Before and After


Yay! I finally have some before and after photos of the cottage to show you today!

Or to be more accurate, these are probably the Before and After Part One photos featuring our evolving landscaping in the front garden. After Part Two will happen when we do some landscaping and hardscaping and lay some new mulch. But this is a start.

The front of the house had some really overgrown barberries. We pruned them hard after moving in, but they only seemed to grow more thanks to the hair cut. They were pokey and not so pretty, and they had to go. The thought of doing this job ourselves seemed huge, so we hired some tree trimmers to get the job done in short order.


And as long as the tree trimmers were here, we thought it was time to remove this half dead evergreen at the sidewalk. There used to be two evergreens side by side, but one fell and the other remained. We referred to it as the Leaning Tower of Treeza.



I tried my best to make it pretty over the summer with some annuals. But I knew we could do a lot better.


And here's the house after the finished tree and bush removal:


Oh my goodness. It looks better already, and I haven't even planted anything yet! The front porch used to look hidden and unwelcoming. Now, it looks open and friendly and inviting. Yay!


We plan on planting one or two ornamental trees at the front. One tree for the corner right, and possibly one at the left where the sidewalk begins. Maybe a dogwood or Korean Maple.


This area looks a little naked now. We plan on fixing this with some nice bushes, and possibly adding a bit of decorative picket and maybe a cute birdhouse or two on a pole for a focal point. I also have about 300 daffodils and grape hyacinth to plant in this spot for some spring color.


Here's the boss supervising the job.


Just standing at my front door, the view is so much prettier now.

I spent four or five hours cleaning up the leftover debris. Raking, digging, yanking, pulling. Ugh. But I know the end result will be worth it.


We are hoping to do a little planting this weekend, and if weather permits, we might even get our front door painted. I'm thinking of painting these wooden hand rails, too.

The curb appeal is improving a little bit every day! With a few tweaks, I think I can turn this modern ranch into the cozy cottage I've been dreaming of from the start.

Thanks for visiting the cafe today!