An Amazing place!

This truly is the one place that relaxes me

and makes me slow down

and take a breather and reflect on my life.

Allows me to meditate and

appreciate all that I have and not take for granted

those around me.

We just returned from O.C. MD and had glorious

weather and enjoyed some

wonderful seafood, fresh and sweet and delicious.

It was a well needed vacation and

a great end to summer.



I Belong Here.....

Isn't this a sweet house?

Doesn't it say

"come in and put your feet up"

that's what we did

this past weekend. Our friends

who live in NYC

called and said:

"Hey you want to get away for a

long weekend?"

We said"

"YES!!"

So we packed up, it took me a week

because we also had to

pack food.

I prepared some goodies and

stuck them in

the cooler and drove four and

a half hours

north.

When we pulled up to this

beautiful old farmhouse

my heart

skipped

a

beat!

And when we entered the

house

I

GASPED!

It was built in

C. 1700

actually

some time after that.

Then in the

C. 1800's they added on

to the house,

then

C. 1930's they added

the second

story to the home.

Of course

in order for it to be used

they updated

the plumbing and electrical.

This house is

alot larger than what I

thought.

It's Three bedrooms,

2 1/2 baths,

with a cellar that

has the original stone fireplace

not in use.

It also has the original wide

plank floors,

which I snagged my sock

on and it now

has a large

hole in it!

Below is the

original part of the house

They kept the original built-ins

and the woodwork,

but sometime later they changed

out the stone fireplace

and put in brick,

then sometime recently

added the gas fireplace,

which we used

every night.

I'll give you a tour of the rest

of this beautiful home

Bedrooms next:

We stayed in this room.

It actually

had two closets in it.

Bedroom II

Another couple stayed in this room.

Can you see the floors?

Bedroom III

The couple who invited us to this

lovely getaway

stayed in this suite.

The picture does not do it justice!

This was an unused

attic space for many

years, and it was redone not too

long ago to make

it into a

suite.

This room had the attached

bath

and a gas fireplace!

Dining Room

We used this cozy space

every

morning and every

evening.

Kitchen

Such a sweet room to prepare

meals

every day.

We'd all congregate here

in the mornings

yacking and

drinking some

delicious coffee

that Vince and Wendy

brought with

them from

the

city.

Then with our nosing around

we discovered

this room:

We kept trying to figure out

what this

room was for.

It was beside the kitchen.

We would be in

there coming

up with different ideas.

It has a fireplace,

it has storage,

it has a seperate

entrance,

what in the world did they use it?

This addition was

added in the 1800's.

Then Michelle thought,

it must of been used for the

slaves

they had.

Evidently we read up on the house

and they had

slaves which was strange I thought

because this house is in

upstate New York,

I guess some families had slaves

in the North.

They must of lived in this room.

Very Interesting!!

Upstairs Hallway

Entryway:

Farm Buildings:

Outside of house:

Can you see the original stone there?

We just enjoyed each others

company,

we read,

Wendy crosstiched

The guys played games and were

having a

blast

there were good laughs

and

good fun

And every night we sat in front

of this

(can you see that book there on the

coffee table? thanks to Wendy, she

brought it from the library

and I was addicted to the

darn thing and

didn't get to finish it so now

I have to go to our library

and get it, I'm just going

crazy wondering

what happens next!!)

But anyway, we had this as well

Blueberry Lemon cheesecake. I love

making

cheesecake, but this is the best one

I've ever made.

Literally licked the fork clean!

I made it at home

and wrapped it well for the journey.

So there you have it,

our vacation.

It went by so fast.

We had  a great

time with great friends.

We arrived home this

evening.

Back to reality.

But it was nice dreaming

about what it

was like back in

C. 1700.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Our Ocean Getaway

I would have to say my FAVORITE getaway would have to be to the ocean!! My husband and I enjoy traveling, we've seened different places, but I'd have to say I absolutely LOVE the ocean!! The smells, the sounds, the sand, even hearing the seagulls fly over, it is such a comforting and relaxing place for me to be. I will sit on the beach for hours reading and listening to the waves crashing in. I even enjoy the squeals of the children playing in the sand or when the water gets too close they're running and screaming, or when they see a small crab appear, it is so funny hearing them. I'd prefer to hear children screaming and playing then hearing people carry on a loud conversation as if they're the only ones there, that to me is annoying. No need to talk so loud that everyone in the 1/2 mile radius on the beach can hear what you ate last night, or that you went to a club the night before and got drunk, seriously, does everyone need to know all that?? I just want to hear the kids play, the waves crash in, and hear the seagulls going over me while I relax and read my new book, which by the way, I bought "My Life in France" by Julia Child and I could not put it down. Now I cannot wait to see the movie "Julie and Julia". Wonderful book to read on vacation. I also now want to learn how to cook French Cuisines, thanks to Julia Child....lol.
Well, now we're back from our vacation, and my hubby and I are so grateful that my in-laws own a condo just one block from the ocean. It's WONDERFUL!! We ate well, too well, I'm on a diet now...but the food was incredible. So, now back to our routines, that was a wonderful break, I am ready to go back though. I can smell the salt water now!

Southern Trip

My husband and I did our yearly road trip. In late May, we went down south. Visited friends in Charlotte,NC, then to Atlanta, GA to see one of my bestfriends and my husband's brother as well. Then we went to Benton, TN. A couple of years ago we went to Chattanooga, TN. This year we went to the countryside. What a beautiful area. The picture above is the hike my DH took with his friends.

Then we went hiking with friends the next day and it was just gorgeous. Pictures do not do it justice.

 Note to self: need to start working out, thought the hike was going to kill me....lol.

My hubby and I enjoy our yearly road trips. We either go up north to New England or down South to the Carolina's. One day maybe we'll go midwest. We'll see.