Harrington House

One of the Perks...

...of being Mama's little kitchen helper is getting to lick the spoon after making dessert for dinner!  Mmmmm...

Mama got the bowl!  ;o)

"Love in Any Language..."

...fluently spoken here." 

That song reminds me of one of my favorite things in my home.  It's an old embroidery of a beautiful Bible scripture.

"Nun aber bleibet Glaube, Hoffnung, Liebe, diese drei; aber die Liebe ist die größte unter ihnen."

"And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three;  but the greatest of these is love."  - I Corinthians 13:13

Now, I have never known a single word of the German language.  However, when I saw this in an antique store, I immediately knew what it said.  That means to me that love in any language is always the same!  And that God's Word in all the world never changes!  I love y'all!  Have a wonderful day!    

Roll On, Mama!

 

Homemade rolls.  That is one of the things I am determined to get right.  Along with piecrusts and growing gardenias...  Anyhoo, I have been testing out lots and lots of recipes.

And, being the bread-lovin' family that we are, the process has been enjoyable.  :o)

Still, I haven't found the perfect roll, yet.  I'll keep working on it.  I'll let you know when I find it.

A Day at the Waterpark

While on vacation, we went to one of the local ski resorts...not for some summer skiing, of course...but for the indoor water park!  This is really and truly one of the highlights of all our trips up north...we always make time for this water park, Avalanche Bay!

It's designed like a little Swiss village with faux snow everywhere and, of course, the Matterhorn...excuse me, the Splasherhorn.  The Splasherhorn is a mountain of slides, bridges, water sprayers and shooters, and buckets to fill with water to dump on the unsuspecting passerby on their way to and from the other water slides.  It's great!  hehe!  Every so often, the alpine horn will sound followed by the crack of the avalanche...that's your cue to go stand under the Splasherhorn because an 800-gallon water avalanche comes falling. 

Mike & I completely turn into kids in this place.

I'll spare y'all the shots of me exiting the slides...  ;o)

Miss Amelia loves, and I mean LOVES the water!!  We kept having to take her out periodically to warm her up in the warm towels.  It was nice not to have to worry about the sun that day.  Here are some pictures of the real kid in our family...

These water fountain thingies in the kiddie part were a major hit with her.  She played with them for ev-er!  I think at one point she was trying to hug one...

Then, she ventured up to the kiddie play area and found...Oh! the excitement!...lots and lots of steering wheels!

My Mackinac

One of my favorite places in the world is Mackinac Island.  It's beautiful!  The style of the homes, inns, hotels, bed & breakfasts, shops, flowers, gardens, and tall, old trees are so inspiring to me.  And, being that it is an island, views of the water are everywhere.  It's perfect, I'm telling y'all! 

   

This is the phone booth where I called my family to let them know Mike had proposed.  Wow!  That was about 7 years ago!

In June, the island celebrates their lilacs with a festival.  We were there on the heels of lilac blooming season, but I still got to see some late-blooming varieties.

One of my favorite things about the island is that you walk, ride a bicycle, or ride in a horse-drawn carriage.  That's because no motor vehicles are allowed on the island (save for the fire and medical emergency personnel).  It makes everything so peaceful. 

And the only way to get to the island is via ferry.  (We always ride Shepler's because Mike went to school with them.)

Some views of Mackinac Bridge from the ferry...

Coming up to the island, there is a string of incredible, historic summer cottages lining the bluff.

I would give my "I" teeth to live in one of these.  Can you imagine?

And then...Oh My!  It's the glorious Grand Hotel!

 

I think one of my favorite things about the hotel is the color palette.  I adore those rich reds and greens with yellows and blues, all next to that crisp white.

 

And, of course, I'm all about the wicker... (Those floors were so shiny, I just know I could have put my makeup on in the reflection.)

Out in the gardens, little Miss Amelia was happy as a lark to be running free in the soft grass.  And chasing the seagulls...

Bye bye, Birdie!

We went up to the Cupola Room to enjoy a drink and the view from the highest point in the hotel.   

 

 

One of my favorite movies Somewhere in Time, starring the late Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, was filmed here at the hotel.  I'm not sure which came first...my love of the movie or my love of the Grand Hotel...

Bye for now, my Mackinac!  See you next time!

Vacation or Bust

Phewww!!!

We just got back a few days ago from spending several weeks on vacation.  It's so nice to get away, but...OH!  It's so nice to be back home!  We drove from Georgia to northern Michigan.  Yes, we DROVE...across the United States...with a baby...and lots and lots of STUFF!  We always joke that we look like the Clampetts (you know, the Beverly Hillbillies) when we travel, and this time was no exception.  We had everything but the kitchen sink, including Granny in her rocker (okay, so it was Amelia in her carseat...).

We stopped in and saw almost all of Mike's family on our way up north.  Mike grew up in a small town right on Lake Michigan called Harbor Springs.  It's such a beautiful little town.  It's on the bay (Little Traverse Bay) across from Petoskey.  This is a view of downtown Harbor Springs...

This is part of Petoskey's downtown overlooking the bay...

Don't they look like postcard towns?  Well, the downtown shops of both really look like postcards, but I was too busy shopping and chasing Amelia around to take any pictures.  (Okay, really...I just didn't want to look too fudgie-y.....all of the folks who live in these areas call the out-of-towners who come up in the summers "fudgies" because they usually buy lots of fudge from the many, many fudge shops). 

We stayed in a great cabin right on the lake just outside of Harbor in a little village called Good Hart.  There is a general store in Good Hart that sells the most delicious pot pies and fresh baked goods! 

We had the perfect place for some dining al fresco!  ;o)   

This is the road you drive to our cabin...it's a highway called M-119.  This part is known as the Tunnel of Trees.  It's such a beautiful drive, and it's always on those scenic highway lists of must-drives.

Here are some more views from our cabin...

Can you see the pair of swans below?

Even though we packed a lot into this vacation, it was completely relaxing.  Another wonderful family vacation with lots of wonderful memories...

Bedside Bouquet

The other day, I decked out the bedside table with some white roses from my two Sombreuil bushes.  The Sombreuil roses I have are tea climbers with the most beautiful white blooms with tons and tons of petals, and they smell fabulous!  Thankfully, there are blooms throughout the summer, and it is very easy to grow.  I use organic methods of pest control on my flowers (or nothing at all!), and these have done just fine!  The blooms look incredible as a bouquet or all alone...like this one sitting in a tiny glass salt shaker in the master bath...

Right now, these two bushes are in the front flower bed, but this fall I am going to move them so that they will be growing on a fence and arbor on the side yard.  I can't wait to see them in all their climbing glory next spring!

Fiesta Chicken Bake

This dish is in regular rotation here at our home.  It's one of those quick and easy meals, and I almost always have all the ingredients for it.

After you cook your chicken, shred it and put it in a bowl with:  1 can Cream of Celery soup, 1 can Cream of Chicken soup, 1 can Rotel, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. chile powder, and a small onion that has been sauteed in butter.  Mix all that together.

Then, crush up some tortilla chips.  (I just crunch them in the bag after I open one corner of the bag to let the air out.)  Spread a layer of the crushed chips into the bottom of a 9x 13 dish.  Then, spread you on a layer of the chicken mixture.  Follow with a layer of shredded cheese.  Repeat layers once.  Top it with the last of the chips and another sprinkling of cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees till hot and bubbly!

Grab a fork, and y'all come eat!

Daddy's Hands

I remember Daddy's hands
folded silently in prayer,
and reaching out to hold me
when I had a nightmare.

You could read quite a story
in the callouses and lines.
Years of work and worry
had left their mark behind.

I remember Daddy's hands,
how they held my Mama tight
and patted my back
for something done right.

There are things that I've forgotten
that I loved about the man,
But I'll always remember
the love in Daddy's hands.

Daddy's hands were soft and kind
when I was cryin'.
Daddy's hands were hard as steel
when I'd done wrong.
Daddy's hands weren't always gentle,
but I've come to understand...
There was always love
in Daddy's hands.

Do y'all remember this incredibly sweet Holly Dunn song?  I know my sister and I used to sing it all the time.  We love our Daddy.  And, yes, he is still "Daddy," and we hug his neck just like we did when we were little.  He'll probably never know how much he means to us.

You know how they say a girl looks for a beau that reminds her of her Daddy?  Well, my husband is every bit as sweet as mine.  In the past year, I've watched him grow into an incredible father.  I'm sure one day, Amelia will hear this song and feel just what I feel when I hear it.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Daisies

These are some of the Becky daisies that are growing right off the front porch.  Don't daisies just look so happy?  I love my Becky daisies...they are so tall, and blooms are always in abundance throughout the summer into the fall.  Even though they aren't fragrant, they still look pretty to me.

I found this glass bowl and frog at an antique store in Kentucky.  I have seen a blue million of these floral frogs but have never seen one of these little bowls with them.  Have y'all?

 

Into the yellow guest bathroom they have gone...

Happy weekend, y'all!!