Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello dear Friends 💛

How are things going in your world? I hope this Monday is starting off your week in happy and wonderful ways. 

It's a rainy gray one here in the northwoods. But I love how it just makes it feel cozy (& it gives the garden and flowers a good drink)

We got back from the lake last night. We went to celebrate belated Father's Day with Matt's Dad. The weather was a little cooler - so no pontoon rides this time. But we hung out, watched movies, ate goodies, played cards, and went out to dinner with some close family friends of theirs. It was a restful and fun weekend. 

Then we got home last night and loved on Bubba, who always misses us, and watched some volleyball. My Bestie Mrs. C sent me the link to watch her daughter's vball match live online. They are down at national championships in FL and so far her daughter's team (Mr. C coaches) is doing amazing! They won all of their matches yesterday! And after this tourney their life will slow down a bit more and we look forward to some fun catch up time with them and hanging out. 

I just talked to my Mom and she found out she has shingles right now. Ugh! That poor wonderful Lady can't get a break. She had that fall that she is still healing from and in a big brace for months and now has to deal with this too. Please send some prayers and good vibes her way if you get a moment. 🙏🏻💗

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

ice protein coffee 

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, Matt's MD appt, bring things to my Mom and check in, groceries, projects, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

things I may want to make for the July 4th weekend coming up to add to my grocery list

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

Bubba's purrs and cuddles after we've been gone

CURRENTLY READING

I'm happy to report I'm back to the book I was reading a month ago and making a dent on finishing it. Then I can dive into my new pile.

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother (can't wait for the new season soon!) Castle Impossible, AGT, Sweet Magnolias

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - 

TUESDAY - 

WEDNESDAY -  

THURSDAY -  

FRIDAY - 

*not sure what I want to make this week - Annie gets back tonight from being out-of-town and will get her input on meals for the week. I know some things I want to make just to bring to my Mom and step Dad. I also have some ideas about things I want to make for the holiday weekend but going to check in with Annie & Matt before I finish my grocery list.

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, projects

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

I always have hand sanitizer in my purse and in my car. Anytime I go out to the store and get back in the car I use it. And if we go out to eat and get done ordering and hand back the menus we sanitize our hands. 

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

happy snuggly Bubba - glad we are back home

a favorite corner to sit and read, look at the bay, and my peonies :) 

I didn't get many pics at the lake but looking out the window you could see it was gray, rainy & cooler. Also I made healthy date bites as Matt's folks are trying to lose weight. They loved them as a healthier treat.

Some shots from around home. The gardens are growing. My peonies completely popped, lilacs finally bloomed, and the bleeding hearts were fading but hanging in there - so I made a bouquet of all of them. 

I love this shot as I had transplanted these peonies from my former MIL's garden. She was one of my best friends in the world and I think that beam is her smiling down.  They sure are thriving :) 

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. For healing for my Mom. For all those suffering from the earthquake in Venezuela.

For the Lord's love and peace to fill 2026. ❤️ 

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way to loving our neighbors as ourselves. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Sending love and blessings to you all!

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Cooking Thursday: Apple Blueberry Crumble

 

Hey Friends!

Happy Thursday to you. The sun is shining in the northwoods and I'm going to tend my flowers soon and cut a pretty bouquet with all that's blooming here. 

I hope the sun is shining where you are and you are getting ready for fun plans for the weekend ahead!

Summer weekends call for yummy fruity treats, don't ya think?

So today I thought I'd share this recent apple blueberry crumble recipe I found and baked up. My Uncle had given us some wild blueberries he had picked last year and froze and I thought I should use some of them up. So I made this dessert for Father's Day for my Dad & Matt. It was so good warm with some vanilla bean ice cream. 

I forgot to get a photo after it was baked but here's kind of the vibe:

It was a pretty easy and straightforward crumble recipe I found at the site jamjarkitchen.com

You toss some sliced apples and blueberries with some sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, flour etc Then place in a greased baking dish.

Then make the crumble part with oats, sugar, flour and butter and put on top of the fruit and bake until golden and bubbling.

I used the frozen bluberries I had and didn't even thaw them. I followed the recipe as it is and it was so delish! 😋 Here is the recipe below. This combo was really good together. If you give a try I hope you enjoy it. 💗

To see the flowers I picked scroll to the bottom :) 

Thought you might want to see the bouquet I cut. My peonies are popping open like crazy. My lilac shrub finally bloomed! My bleeding hearts are on their way out but I still picked a few for the bouquet. And I added some wild queen Anne's lace (really a weed) growing along our deck. It all made for a lovely early summer bouquet in my opinion. 

Blessings to you 🌸

Wordless Wednesday: Flavors of Summer

​

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello my Friends!

Happy official summertime to you. :) We've reached the summer solstice time of year and I love how it's getting warmer during the days and the sunsets come later all the time. Nice long days of sun and fun! ☀️💛

Speaking of fun...it was a lovely and fun time here this past weekend. My cousin David and his wife Micki came up from Green Bay, WI to stay for the weekend. Dave ran Grandma's marathon - which is a local marathon here that is nationally known. Many use it to qualify for the Boston marathon. It's funny as I've grown up and lived here my whole life and always had the mentality to stay away from that area during race weekend because it's so busy with people. Besides the full marathon there is a half one and a 5k and between all of them 20,000 people participate! So it was actually fun to be a part of it and get to cheer my cousin at the finish line. It's quite an accomplishment as he's close to my age (he's 53) and only began running as a hobby at age 48. So it's pretty cool to witness. They came up on Friday and we drove the course so he could see it ahead of time. The race was on Saturday morning. We asked what he would want to eat after the race and he said steak. So Matt grilled him a ribeye as big as his head! Lol It was wonderful catching up with them and hanging out. Matt and I did sneak away for a little bit Saturday evening to go to church and to check on my Mom and bring my step Dad goodies for Father's Day before we made dinner for my cousins.

Then early Sunday morning Dave & Micki left... and Sunday afternoon we had my Dad and step Mom over to celebrate Father's Day. We will be going to the lake in the near future to celebrate Matt's Dad too. 

Both of my kiddos were not in town this past weekend but they sent Matt the sweetest messages that made us both cry. They expressed how much they love him and look up to him as family and a father figure in their lives. And I presented Matt with the goodies that were from all of us. I love how Matt has become such an important person in my kids' lives too  and how much we all love him. It's truly a gift in my life I didn't think I would have after my divorce. We are so grateful for him! 

I hope that if you celebrated Father's Day with your loved ones that you had a wonderful weekend too. 💗

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

ice protein coffee 

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, Ruby vet visit to have ultrasound, visit my Mom, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

some new craft projects I want to start on

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

sweet summer watermelon with a little tajin (chili lime seasoning) sprinkled on top

CURRENTLY READING

I need to finish a book I had started a month ago! Then I can dive into my new pile. I'm determined to fit in a little time to read every day now.

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother (can't wait for the new season soon!) Castle Impossible, AGT, Sweet Magnolias

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - leftovers from the weekend

TUESDAY - buffalo chicken sheet pan bake with ranch potatoes and  roasted broccoli

WEDNESDAY -  tacos and homemade salsa

THURSDAY -  leftovers

FRIDAY - out for dinner?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

hopefully get back to reading my books, craft, go for walks with Matt

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

my cousin's wife Micki, Matt, & I went out for brunch to kill time before Dave was going to get in at the finish line (it's hard to park anywhere to watch him run along the way). She said she wanted to treat us for the hospitality. She's such a sweetheart and I've known her for many years. They are tall folks - Dave is 6'4" and Micki is 6'1" (and I have shrunk to 5'2" now - sigh) Lol This pic shows that I'm a shrimp pretty well. 🙈

Matt took this shot of all the people at the finish line in that moment watching for their loved ones like us. It's neat because there's an app where you can track your runner. They have a chip on the bib they wear with their number. When they run over certain parts of the race it triggers the chip and on the app so you can see where they are.... and you can know when to head to the finish line.

I took this pic from the video I had taken of David coming in at the finish line and giving us a wave when we were all yelling & cheering for him.

Happy David it's over and did it! :) 

Summer scenes from home sweet home:

peonies starting to really pop now and one partly open!

Yay back to shorts season! (spot Ruby in the background doing her wiggles on the floor😂)

Matt & I played some ladderball in the backyard yesterday before my Dad and step Mom came over.

For Father's Day we got pizza from my Dad's favorite place and I made sides (including cutting up wonderful juicy watermelon) and I also made dessert which was an apple bluberry crumble. My Uncle had given me wild blueberries he had picked last year and frozen. I forgot to get an after pic of the crumble baked up - but it was so good and we had it with natural vanilla bean ice cream 😋

my superman 😉 (notice his shirt)

We had been gone to the family reunion the weekend before the week my cousin came up to visit. I decided with my arthritis and how much I wanted to get deep cleaned I would hire a service. They were amazing! I'm going to book them monthly for some things now. And I love all the little details they did around the house - so cute! 

I highly recommend getting help if you need it. It saved my arthritic back so much!! 

The pretty moon I captured last night when I let Ruby out before bedtime.

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. 

For the Lord's love and peace to fill 2026. ❤️ 

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way to loving our neighbors as ourselves. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Happy summer goodness to you dear Friends! 

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.