'Yule Love It lavender Farm'

'Yule Love It Lavender Farm'

Situated on the back roads and rolling hills
of Northeastern Oakland county, on three acres of land, is a lovely little place called 'Yule Love It lavender Farm' Here you can explore the farm, take a tour, attend a tea under the pergola, or shop in the on site gift shop. The farm offers craft and cooking classes, as well as an internship where you can learn all about lavender and farming. On this farm the motto is, "Relax, Learn, and Laugh."
What struck me most as I stepped out of my car was the beauty that was all around me. It was as though God had taken cans of paint and splattered slightly different shades of lavender in blotches all over the landscape. It was truly beautiful and being the amature photographer I am these pictures just don't capture what it was I actually saw.


The only down sides to my visit were that NO DOGS ARE ALLOWED and the day I happened to visit the farm the gift shop was closed. I had originally went out to the farm to pick up some lavender to use in my cooking after exploring the 'Yule Love It lavender Farm' site on line.

I have provide a link here just in case any of you would like to check out the site as well. It includes an line store, recipes, and some interesting information about the farm and about Iris who is the proprietor.

http://www.yuleloveitlavender.com/main.htm

Luckily for me I have found lavender at another place I visited recently. My plan is to make scones and lavender tea sometime in the future. When I do I will post it here. I have never used lavender in cooking before so I am looking forward to a new experience.

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

With warmest regards, Carol

A Puddles Roast!.....

A Puddles Roast!

Oh boy! Oh boy! Woof, woof everyone! Good morning! It's me. It's Charli here! Today is a very big day here in blog land because it's my very new friend Puddles birthday!!! Yay!!!!
In honor of Puddles birthday her mommy is hosting a roast and everyone is invited. Now why didn't my Grammy think of something like that?
Shh.... I have a little secret... I really don't know what a roast is but I think I'm supposed to tell a joke or something.

OK, OK, here goes...
How does Puddles stop the VCR?
She just presses the 'paws' button!
Ha, ha, he, he, ha, ha....
"Charli are you being silly again? Did you wish Puddles a happy birthday?"
Oh, oh, I gotta go, but before I do we just want to wish Puddles the very best birthday ever ♥
If you want to go over and wish my new friend Puddles a happy birthday too just click on the following link http://wethreedoxies.blogspot.com/
Happy birthday Puddles!!! We hope you have a very special and woof, woof kind of day ♥
Your new friends, Charli and Grandma

Ice cream and a cabana......

Ice cream and a cabana

I've always wanted a beautiful porch like so many of you gals in blog land have. We do have a porch in the front of our house but it's small, in a subdivision, and we really don't like to sit out there. We have our swings of course, which we dearly love, but they are really not condusive to having meals outside. We have always wanted a screened in porch but three contractors later, and due to the line of our roof, the ceiling would have to come down so low that we just don't think it would look right. We have a patio and umbrella for our table but we have always wanted something with a screen. I think we have found the perfect solution in our little cabana. In fact, we like it so much that we are thinking eventually of getting a free standing more permanent type of screened in cabana or gazebo. We worried that a cabana would not work on our patio because there is really nothing to secure it to other than drilling holes in the patio or our house which we didn't want to do. My hubby and our son Michael came up with a great solution! Our son Michael made us weights and drilled holes into them. Then he and my hubby looped rope over the sides of the cabana and tied it to the weights. We have had our cabana for several months now and it has made it through four major storms without ripping apart.

We still have fires out by our swing but sometimes we now have them on the patio too. It's been much more fun when we have cook outs with our family now. The cabana is turning out to be a great place to read and sometimes have coffee and tea in the morning and evening. It has a rather high dome and my hubby helped me hang an ornate tea light holder in the center of it. Then he attached a small piece of rope to it in such a way that I can easily pull it up or down to light a tea light at my own discretion. We also added a rug for Charli because she doesn't like to lay on the cold cement. There you have it ladies, a very simple and relatively inexpensive solution to having a screened in porch.

On days when we go to Brandenburg Park or other places where Charli has to stay home alone we have the perfect way to make it up to her. Charli loves frozen custard and ice cream! Of course she can only have a little bit and we never give her anything other than vanilla. Sometimes we take her to Erma's, a local custard stand, or we give her some ice cream here at home. Charli is such a little Diva that she even has her own, just the right size, glass ice cream bowl. When she sees me get it out or the ice cream out of the freezer she spins around in circles because she knows she is going to get a special treat.

After Charli is finished with her cusard or ice cream all is forgiven again :>)

Does your little pooch like ice cream? I would love to hear from you. I hope all of you have had a great weekend ♥

I look forward to visiting with you.

With warmest regards, Carol

Brandenburg Park.....

Branden
burg Park

Branden
burg Park is a beautiful place to visit and the best part about it is that my hubby and I don't have to take a plane, train, or bus to get there. All we do is hop in the car and after a short drive we are there. The park is situated on seventeen acres and is located on the shore line of Anchor Bay. The park offers many things to do like fishing, picnicking, tennis, volleyball, and concerts on Tuesday evenings. The music for the concerts is sometimes provided by the Tom Allport band which is a sixteen piece "swingin" group that plays a blend of traditional, Latin, jazz, and big band tunes. You can either choose to purchase food and drinks at the concession stand or pack a little picnic basket of your own. There is no swimming at the park but it does have a boat and ski launch. The park also has a five hundred foot pier that you can walk out on and fish off of if you choose to do so. The pier looks just beautiful lit up at night. About the only down side for us is that no dogs are allowed.
We feel very fortunate in that the area where we live has so many wonderful things to offer. Although I have traveled in the past, and most likely will again in the future, it has never really been my cup of tea. I would much rather hang around my own neighborhood doing all of the things I love to do.
One of my favorite things to do at Brandenburg Park, besides watching the boats, and talking to people is sitting back and observing the swans and ducks. I have always been fascinated by them. I think they are such amazing and beautiful creatures. I also love to listen to the water as it laps up against the sea wall on the shore. It is a very peaceful and relaxing place to visit.


Here are a couple of guys we met on a recent visit who are having a great time on Jet Ski's.

At the end of the pier there are benches to sit on. It's a great place to watch the yearly fireworks display.

Oh, oh, what are these? Sometimes the fish flies can be annoying but on most days you will find them hanging on to the posts on the pier and not really bothering anyone.

This swan was very friendly. I think it was looking for a little snack.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing some pictures of one of my favorite places to visit. Brandenburg Park is such a pretty place to spend time in on a lovely spring, summer, or fall day.

I hope all of you are enjoying these beautiful summer days we have been having. I was at Michael's the other day and I am already seeing pumpkins and fall flowers. It won't be long and fall will be here again.

Many blessings to all of you ♥

With warmest regards, Carol

What?..... A duck that trucks........

What?
A duck that trucks...

Image courtesy of
http://www.funnyanimalsite.com/










It's true! There is actually a duck that trucks and his name is Frankie.
If you would like to watch a video that will warm your heart and put a smile on your face just click on the following link and then scroll down
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/a-duck-that-trucks-video.html
Now who would have thought?...... LOL
Many thanks to my friend for sending me such a delightful and heart warming e-mail ♥
Charli and I love you Frankie!♥!♥!♥!
You can truck through our neighborhood any time you want.
We hope all of you are having a beautiful day♥
With warmest regards, Carol

A visitor has come to my garden.......

A visitor has come to my garden.


I saw it for the first time yesterday Usually I see the little white butterflies flitting and flying about but yesterday I had a big surprise. Now where is it? Let me see....


'To a Butterfly'
"I've watched you now a full half-hour,
Self-poised upon that yellow flower
And, little butterfly! Indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless!-not frozen seas
More motionless! and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!"
-William Wordsworth-

Here it is and it's very pretty indeed!

Charli tried so hard to catch it but it was way to fast for her.

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend ♥

With warmest regards, Carol

For the love of cake!

For the love of cake!

It's no secret here that I love cake. It's my very favorite dessert. I not only love the taste of cake but I am fascinated with the artistic design and decorating ability that goes into making them. To me cake decorating is a work of art. I wish I was able to do it. I can make a cake that tastes pretty good but that's about as far as it goes. I have often thought of taking cake decorating classes but I know I would always wind up eating the end results and I do have to limit my desserts. Those of you who follow my blog know I love cake so much that I even feature a seasonal wedding cake here on my side bar.
Well, my dear cousin Kathy recently made a cake, her very first attempt, that I just had to share with all of you. Kathy is my cousin Pam's daughter who I have written about several times here in the past. Kathy is a very talented gal as is the entire family. She is an ice skating coach. She was at one time and still may very well be a speed skating coach for the Detroit Red Wings. She is also a sculptor.
Recently Kathy was vacationing on Mackinaw Island and one night she happened to tune in the 'Cake Boss' for the very first time. She said she was fascinated by the amazing cakes that were being created on the show. She said she thought it would be fun to give it a try herself.
When she got back home she googled a recipe for fondant and ran off a few Sponge Bob photo's. She wanted to try to make a Sponge Bob cake because her future daughter-in-law loves Sponge Bob and her birthday was coming up. Is this cake amazing or what! When I saw the photo's I just fell in love with it. Kathy is going to try an Alice cake next and I can't wait to see how it turns out. You know how I love the Mad Hatter. Who knows, maybe next year I'll commission her to make me a Mad Hatter cake for the Mad Hatter tea party we usually have here in blog world.

I love all of the attention to detail and all of the various colors on the cake. See how she took an ordinary candle and made it extraordinary? At first I thought the characters on the cake were made out of plastic because they look so original but they are indeed all made out of fondant. Aren't they adorable ♥ They look so real! I thought she did an absolutely fabulous job!

I can only imagine how delighted her future daughter-in-law Hillary was when she saw it. I would have been on cloud nine!

Thank you so much Kathy for allowing me to share your truly

marvelous cake with all of my friends. You did a wonderful job!

I'm off to get Charli now. She has been out in the yard all morning chasing birds, bees, and butterflies.

I hope all of you are enjoying the summer as much as we are.

With warmest regards, Carol