Happy Homemaker Monday

Hi there Friends! 

Happy new week to you.

For those in the States I hope you had a lovely Independence Day weekend. 

We went to the lake to spend it with Matt's folks and Annie came with us. They love when kiddos come and especially love the fact that my kids have embraced Matt's folks as other grandparents to them. 💗 Matt and I love that too! 

The weather was a little rainy/stormy on Saturday. But we had fun playing games, watching a movie, and then later it cleared enough that we could watch some of the fireworks across the lake. 

Then Sunday was gorgeous out and we got in a pontoon ride before lunch and then heading back home. 

Another lovely July 4th in the books ❤️🇺🇸

I know my fellow Autumn loving Friends feel the same way I do though. That once July 4th comes and goes we allow ourselves to let in a little Fall thought here and there. Lol In the northwoods July is the epitome of summer and then August becomes pre-Fall so it's easy for me to think that way. 

But don't worry my Summer loving Friends. I am still all in on Summer vibes. I still have a lot of flowers and garden to love, walks to be had, iced coffee to be sipped, golf to be golfed, BBQ's to be grilled, sunsets to be watched by a fire, swimming to be swam in the lake, and pontoon time to be relaxed upon. I just needed to be honest for a moment about who I am and that I do enjoy the allowance of an Autumn thought because it's always in my heart. As well as, I plan on some Christmas in July to be shopped and celebrated too. 😉❤️💚

But that's another story....

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

ice protein coffee, whole grain toast with a little natural peanut butter

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands & groceries, getting ready for an Aunt to visit that is having surgery in the area and will convalesce here overnight (need to work on menu as she has a gluten allergy), check in with my Mom, projects, yard work, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

As a Taylor fan (my daughter & I saw her in concert before and she was amazing!) - I'm glad she got her happy ending and that she had her big wedding with Travis over the weekend. It will be fun to see photos when they release pics of the big day. 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

fun bonding chats with my Annie boo

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. (still finishing it 🙈)

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother Castle Impossible (we have several yet to watch), AGT, Sweet Magnolias (I need to finish this one), new Big Brother starts this week!

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - green goddess pasta salad (for Annie & I), Matt will probably have a turkey sandwich too as he doesn't like to eat only vegetarian Lol😂

TUESDAY - maybe breakfast for dinner? (eggs, breakfast potatoes, I will make pancakes if Annie wants, fruit)

WEDNESDAY -  chicken salad low carb wraps

THURSDAY -  grilled chicken, roasted regular or sweet potatoes, romaine salad with fruit veggies & feta with balsamic viniagrette, gluten free rice krispies bars

FRIDAY - out for dinner?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

projects, maybe read, work on a craft for a future Christmas gift

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

A few shots from around home - including my goofy Hubby's humor. He put this monster plant in my garden for me to find. Lol Also some pics of the pretty glow at night. I love solar lanterns everywhere. 

Some pics from July 4th weekend at the lake. Crazy clouds before it got stormy. And the July 4th tradition Matt loves is to watch and see if Joey Chestnut can defend his hot dog eating contest title each year. I made some patriotic goodies for the weekend including chocolate covered strawberries. And this cream cheese berry french toast bake that was SO good. I will share the recipe this week. 

Sue (my MIL) wanted to take a pic of all of us to send to her Bestie back in AZ who always sends pics of her grandkids to Sue. I love that we always need take 2 because in the 1st one Matt is always being such a dork. That's my goofy Hubby. ::sigh:: It's never dull. 😂 

Also, you gotta love that I always look like I'm standing in a hole because I'm so short compared to everyone else. Lol 🙈

The weather cleared up enough to give us a pretty sunset and allow for us to watch some fireworks going off across the lake. 

Then Sunday was nothing but blue skies and a lovely day to take a ride on the pontoon. I love the last pic of a Mama Loon we came across that had a baby on her back:

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 my Aunt's surgery this week to go well.

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:

See, still mostly iced coffee and summer thoughts around here. 💗 Blessings on your week ahead. 

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

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello my Friends!

Blessings to you on this new week. ☀️

First of all, I wanted to say thank you so much for all of the lovely comments you sent my way on my last post. The sweet love and support meant so much to me! Hospice is definitely a calling beyond me and all the glory really goes to the Lord. But I still thank you so very much!💗

Did you have a nice weekend? We had a nice long one because Matt's folks flew in on Thursday from AZ. They were coming home to the lake property for the summer. We picked them up and headed straight for the lake and stayed there with them until Sunday. We helped them get groceries and do jobs around the property to get them all settled back in. 

We also enjoyed some time playing cards, visiting, taking walks, watching movies, grilling, going out to dinner one night... and all the nice relaxing lake life things. The dock and boats are in but it was too windy and chilly to go out on the water. I just love my in-laws and enjoy time with them so much! 💗

After the nice relaxing weekend I'm ready to get back to busy life for the week ahead...

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

iced protein coffee and a piece of lemon blueberry toast, some banana

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, we need groceries, some hospice paperwork to catch up on, meet up with one of the companies that's giving us a quote on our bathroom reno, Annie dentist, hang with my Mom, some cleaning/organize projects, hospice work at the facility

THINKING ABOUT: 

that it's gray and rainy here today but it's making me feel cozy and productive

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

long walks down country roads :) 

CURRENTLY READING

I still need to dive into a new book I got for Mother's Day but I'm currently having some fun browsing Katie Daisy books that give me drawing inspiration 

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

  Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother & the office,  Survivor, Outlander (need to watch the last 2 episodes I have taped - I hate it's all over for good 😢),  Love on the Spectrum (still need to finish it)

Matt and I need to go back and finish The Last Kingdom series

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - 

TUESDAY - 

WEDNESDAY -  

THURSDAY - 

FRIDAY - 

*not sure what I'm doing this week as I still need to gather a list and go to the grocery store - will check in and see if Matt or Annie have any preferences. I'm thinking a taco/nacho night, maybe go to the meat market to get something to grill and do sides Annie likes (she's not a meat eater), lemon pasta (meatballs on the side) with roasted broccoli, maybe greek chicken sweet potato bowls I've wanted to try to make?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

work on organizing and scrapbook projects

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

I love ambiance action videos like this Ghibli one (perfect today as it's about rain and feeling cozy) 

or like this one:

This one is like right out of the Bramble hedge books. 

They are nice cozy backdrops for reading, cleaning or just doing things around home. 

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

The beauty that is Ten Mile Lake - but it was either too chilly or too choppy to get out on the water over the weekend. And the pic below this is out of one of the windows at the cottage. On the back of the property there is a pond that it so pretty too. 

Matt's Mom has really been trying to work on her walking and balance and wanted to get out to walk with us. Go Sue! It was so fun to see leaves popping out on the trees and little dandelions and flowers popping up in the grass along the road. We ran into another walker this day that said his pups were at the vet because they had a run-in with a porcupine that morning. Yikes! He praised our smarts keeping Ruby on a leash. 

love him 💗💗💗

Out for a nice dinner and saying cheers in honor of Jerry and Sue's return to the lake! Fun to have a reason to get dressed up a bit. I didn't get a pic of my dinner but I did of my drink 😂 which was a salted caramel martini - yum! I had the crab crusted mahi mahi in a lemon cream sauce with green beans and garlic mashed potatoes. Holy moly was it fabulous!

At the lake cottage, there are planked pathways Matt's grandpa had put in when they built the property. They are so pretty and go right to the walkway that heads to a little deck and then down to the dock. Matt's grandparents put in the rocks all over as Matt's grandma was an avid gardener and used to plant wildflowers in these rock gardens all along the way. And she used to hang lots of flowering baskets in the trees. Matt's folks do hanging baskets in some of the trees each summer, but that's about as much as they want to tend to. 

Someday when it's the retirement property for Matt and I we plan to renovate inside the cottage, and also to do more gardening around it too. Although we may talk to his folks about planting some dwarf shrubs in some of the rock garden areas in the near future. They wouldn't really be any maintenance, but it would add to improving the look around the cottage. 

I love the fireplace and the stone Matt's grandparents had put in the cottage and they are things we would definitely keep in the renovation! 😍

So nice that back at home we have leaves finally coming out on the trees and my wild daffodils in the woods are blooming too. 

pretty even on a rainy day

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 Matt's knee. For wildfires to be contained in our area (it was so dry and windy over the weekend and outlying areas still having issues)

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:

Wishing you all an amazing week ahead. 🌸

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