Tomorrow is Arbor Day.  I would love to plant a tree that would blossom in the Spring like the above trees.  I just think that they are so beautiful and the delicate fragrance from this is just beautiful also.

I love fruit trees that blossom in the Spring.  The above Spring picnic idea is just dreamy to me.

I can’t imagine having the land to have a line of trees like the above.  I love the old fashioned picket fence, also.

Apple blossoms are just really beautiful and I would love to own an apple tree.

I love the colors of the leaves on trees in early Spring.

But apple blossoms will always be my favorite sign of Spring.

I love the above Spring photo of Keene, NH in the Spring.  The photo was taken at the head of the square in Keene.

I also love Birch trees and the new leaves that are on them this time of year.  I planted a Birch tree one year from what looked like just a branch.  It grew into a really big birch tree within a handful or more of years.

April had to be one of my favorite times of the year.

Everything is just so green and beautiful.

Blossoms are everywhere and Spring bulbs are out.

Crab apple trees are really colorful.

I would love to have a tree like the above and the flowers all around it.

I bought a really cute Blue Spruce tree for my son to plant when he first bought his house.  He didn’t want the tree and I was feeling kind of bad.  My other son said that he would love the tree and would take a photo of his children in front of the tree each year as the tree grew.  I loved it and the idea just warmed my heart.

Hope everyone has a nice Arbor day.

 

I just adore gardens.  People have such awesome ideas on garden planning.

Little garden paths and all kinds of interesting ideas.

I love little fences and Marigolds planted on the outskirts of the garden.

I love little water gardens like the above to have in a window.  The beautiful dark blue colors with the Ivy and little plants is just beautiful.  Then the Dragonfly just adds to it.

I love the above idea for a garden.  Just beautiful.

I love having a little window herb garden.  I made the above little herb garden and just love it.  I got the little herb plants at the Home Depot and I had that container that I bought years ago at the end of the season on sale for almost nothing.  Then I had the chalk board labels from King Arthur Flour.

I dream of being able to grow tomatoes and peppers in a garden.  Because I don’t have a garden area, I do the next best thing and buy colorful veggies at local farm stands and farmers markets when they open.

I love the potting bench idea.

Gardens are just awesome.

Sunflowers are my favorite of all favorites to have in a flower garden.

Lilacs are another all time favorite.  They are old fashioned and just beautiful.

And that’s my thoughts for today.

 

It’s a rainy, cloudy day today.  My little Pansy plant that I got seems to bloom and bloom regardless of not much sun.

I like little waterfalls and would love a waterfall like the above and have goldfish in the little fish pond.  I’ve seen kits to make a waterfall like the above.

I like Asparagus ferns.  I used to have one like the fern above that I put in a beautiful blue and white ceramic planter and I hung it on our patio.

I like chicken and a marinade gives chicken really good flavor.  I found the above marinade recipe ideas on Pinterest and pinned the recipes on my Chicken Recipes board on my Pinterest.  I have one of those machines that takes the air out of freezer bags and you can keep stuff for a year without freezer burn.  I love that machine.  I bought some frozen berries about 6 months or more ago and didn’t use them until today when I put them in a smoothie.  They were just as good as the day I put them in the freezer bags where I used the machine to take all the air out of the freezer bag.

I’m always entering Sweepstakes. They have one out there to win a set of Le Creuset which I entered a few days ago.  I would love to win that set.  Wow, the dutch ovens, sauce pan, braiser and fry pan.   I have never won anything.  Not even once.  But it’s fun to enter, anyway, and dream how nice it would be to win.

I like the above measuring set from the Pioneer Woman.  Walmart sells them, but I have yet to see the set in the local Super Walmart.  I think that is a 4 cup liquid measuring cup, so it is quite big and would be neat to have.  I like the wild rose pattern along with the turquoise.  They have them on line at the Walmart website and they will ship it to your local Walmart and you don’t have to pay shipping.

You know how scrumptious those subs are with the huge rolls?  What a neat idea to make a salad and omit the high carb roll.  Yum.

I made some hard boiled eggs to keep in the fridge the other day.  And so I had to go to the store and get some baby spinach, bacon and some mushrooms.  I saw a really neat recipe where they sauteed the onions and mushrooms in the pan after they fried the bacon in and removed it and then just put everything over the baby spinach along with sliced boiled eggs.  I just used my favorite dressing that I make in a little mason jar over it and I loved it.

Then yesterday, to use up my eggs,  I made some deviled eggs and sprinkled smoked paprika over them and used some of the crumbled bacon for a topping.  I love that little deviled egg holder.  I have a spoon rest that matches it and I got them at T J Max years ago.

And that’s my thoughts for today.

 

The Forsythia is in full bloom now.  So pretty.  It’s one of my favorite flower bush that comes out in April.  Plus my favorite Plant stand called Hemingways is open for the season.  I love that place.

The trees are starting to get buds on them for new leaves.  Everything is so nice to see with the newness of Spring after a long winter.

I made a Spring vegetable soup for lunch yesterday.  I had asparagus, peas, carrots, mushrooms, onions and celery in it.  I put Cannellini beans and bone broth in it as well as thyme.  It was just right for a chilly Spring day.  A glass of wine was just the finishing touch.

A neat idea that I found is to prep veggies when you first buy them and put them all chopped up for soup in storage bags.  It was an idea that I found on Pinterest where it showed the veggies prepped for you at a French Farmers market in Paris.  I love stuff like that.

If little kids can find a puddle, they will walk through it whether they have boots on or not.  They are somehow attracted to puddles on rainy days.

I love my Pioneer Woman mason jar container that has a butterfly on it and the flower cover.  I made a smoothie yesterday for breakfast that had yogurt, banana, dark cocoa powder, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter, maple syrup and lots of ice cubes.  It tasted like a thick chocolate shake and it’s one of my favorites to put in my Pioneer Woman mason jar.

Plus I started making a To Do list in my organizer and writing in my journal each day.  I decided to read a  chapter in the bible each morning.  I say a special prayer each morning and each night for my family and loved ones.

And I do a 2 mile walk from a Leslie Sansone DVD and an age reversing workout called Classical Stretch with Miranda Esmonde-White DVD .  It takes about an hour to do both.  I have been faithfully doing the workouts since Monday.

So that’s my thoughts for today.

Because summer is just around the corner, my thoughts have turned to patios.  I love outdoor living and the above patio caught my eye.

I would be happy with just a place with an outdoor table to have coffee in the morning and maybe tea once in awhile or a nice summer lunch.

I love how people put those bistro lights on patios along with a firepit.

Hanging lanterns is another neat idea.

Patios are just beautiful.  I love the ideas that people have to make an outdoor living space.

I love those tables with an umbrella and then a gas grill.  Beautiful white Hydrangas and I love a stone patio.

A little waterfall with a fish pond would be neat.

A little secret garden patio is always a neat idea.

And that’s my thoughts on this chilly April day.

 

It won’t be long and the Farmers Markets will be opening.  I love all the garden fresh vegetables that they make available.  So grateful that they will be opening soon.  I love how they have fresh eggs, plants, pies, crafts, flowers and all kinds of stuff as well.

I’m grateful that I found a pattern to make covers for my appliances.  I love the idea of the quilted fabric and I love the color of that material.  That little apron makes a cute cover for dish detergent.  And I like the tea cozy.  And as a bonus, matching place mats and napkins.  Plus a matching pot holder.  The covers will protect my toaster, blender and mixer.  And it just looks cottage like for the kitchen.  I like the cottage look.

I have had that pattern for a year.  I guess that it’s time that I used it.

I’m grateful for my chalkboard labels that make containers for the pantry look organized.  I love those containers.

I’m grateful that the Spring bulbs will be out soon.  I especially love the Daffodils.

I am grateful that the Spring tree blossoms will be out soon.  The air just has a sweet aroma in the Spring.  It’s really amazing because there will be a couple of warm days, a few rainy days and then all of a sudden all the blossoms are out.  But it’s for a short time.  I love it when the Lilacs are out.

Grateful for how beautiful Spring mornings can be.

I’m grateful when I wake up early in the morning and can see the sun rising over distant mountains.  So pretty.

Grateful that I got to enjoy Nantucket Island one summer.  So fun to go to the beach every morning before work and see the sun rise.  I had the best tan ever that summer.

That lighthouse is called Brandt Point and there is a Jetty Beach near there that was within walking distance where I stayed on Nantucket that summer.

But I am so grateful for Spring in Vermont.  So beautiful.

Most of all, I am grateful for my wonderful children and my precious grandchildren.

And that is what I am grateful for.

 

I like Pansies and always manage to find some this time of year.

I found the above little plant at the Walmart for only $2.86.  I love it and I had the perfect container for it at home.

I love asparagus in the Spring and on Friday night I baked some Haddock, baked a potato and steamed some asparagus for a nice Spring supper.  The Haddock was on special for $4.99 a lb and I just got a half a lb for $2.50.  Then the asparagus was on sale for $1.88 a lb and I got a lb of that, which I steamed and I had some baked potatoes at home that I just put in the microwave for 9 minutes.  Plus I had some Chardonay wine to go with it.  So I spent under $5.00 for a really nice supper.  Love it.

Shaws, which is the local grocery store has 3 day specials every weekend and two of the specials were the Haddock and the Asparagus this last weekend.

Then I just used the rest of the asparagus in a Fritatta that had egg, cheddar, asparagus, mushrooms and onions for brunch the next morning.

On Easter we went to Sam’s Steakhouse and had an Easter buffet.  We got a really nice table that was in a bay window with all kinds of Easter flowers in the window.

I had ham with a bourban raisn sauce, mashed potatoes, baked salmon, pesto pasta, terriaki chiken, shrimp with cocktail sause, fancy cheeses from the buffet.  Sigurd had prime rib and all kinds of buffet stuff.

They had a horseshoe shape buffet and above is one side of the buffet.

They had all kinds of stuff.

My photos don’t do it justice.  Really nice Easter buffet.

The salad bar was a meal in itself.

I think that I overfilled my plate from the salad bar.  But it was sooo fun.

Then they had a dessert bar.

There were cakes, pies, cheesecake, brownies and cookies of all sorts.

I don’t know how I found room, but I found room for Cheesecake.  It had a raspberry sauce over the top.  Yum.  Just a really happy Easter.

The TV that I had got a short circuit in it and I couldn’t use it anymore.   I was kind of down in the dumps about it because I can’t afford to buy a new TV.  So out of the clear blue sky, my friend Sigurd bought me a flat screen Smart TV.  It’s the TV above.  I love it.  I hooked it up to my DVD player today which was not easy.  But now I can use my DVD tapes for my exercise videos.

So I could do my exercise today.  After that Easter buffet, I really needed the exercise.

I also hooked the TV up to my internet connection and it can be hooked up to your cell phone as well.  I love it.

Plus you can sign up for Hulu, Netflex and Amazon free for a month.

I love to browse different ideas on how to display plants.  I love the above ladder idea.  I might steal that idea with the little birdhouse in there and the bench.

I also like how they use Asparagus fern in containers.  And I love blue and white flowers together.

Some day I would like to build a little butterfly attracting garden like the idea above.

 

There are so many ideas for container gardening.

I love this time of year.  Starting tomorrow I’m going to start walking on the walking trail again.  It was 80 degrees over the weekend, but down in the 50’s today and the rest of the week.  Still good walking weather.

And that’s my thoughts for today.

I found an Easter Lily while shopping for groceries.  It just caught my eye and I couldn’t resist buying it.  It just looks so nice on my butterfly planter for Easter weekend. ❤

Last week I couldn’t resist the little bunny with the ivy plant.  It just fit perfectly on my little plant stand.  Makes me smile.

Then the Walmart had Pansies in little containers for only $2.86.  That did it.  I could not resist it and I love how it looks in my little container that I had at home.  Just so Spring like.

I like to have plants around my kitchen window.  And I like to put little white string lights around the window.  It just cheers me up when I have to wash dishes.

I had a lavender heart wreath exactly like the one above which I really liked.  I gave it to my Mom and she had it on the door of her place.  I am going to try and find another one some day.

Little kids always like to play in puddles for some reason.

And they always seem to like to jump in the puddles.

When I think of Spring, I always think of Lemon Cheesecake.  I found a recipe on Pinterest that sounded really good and I pinned the recipe on my cake recipe board on my Pinterest.

I saw the above dish at TJ Max and couldn’t resist it.  I love it for Spring salads.

I also liked the dish to use for a Spring Frittata.  I had egg, asparagus, mushrooms, onion and Vermont Cheddar cheese in it.  I like a Frittata better then an omelette.  It makes a fun Spring lunch.

I also couldn’t resist the above little bunny dish for Spring soups and/or salads.  I saw the little bowl at TJ Max and it just cheers up Spring days for me.

I love Crudite and the Pioneer Woman made the most awesome Easter Crudite baskets on her Food Network show.  She made a Spinach dip with it that she put in a half of a red cabbage that she made a bowl out of.  I like how she used Kale to line the basket.

I put the recipe for the Spinach dip on my Easter ideas board on my Pinterest.

Then the Pioneer Woman made hot cross buns and I put that recipe on my Easter ideas board.  Kind of complicated to make and I think I would just buy some hot cross buns myself.

I like how she put the hot cross buns in baskets and gave to friends to insure blessings and friendship all throughout the year.

I have those napkins that she used in the baskets that I bought at the Walmart.  Love them.

I need a new dining room set and the above style is kind of neat.

I like the above style dining room set, also.

I love the above idea for lights in a kitchen window.  Even string white lights would look neat strung like that in the kitchen window.

And that’s my thoughts for this early Spring day in April.

Mt Ascutney has always fascinated me.  It’s a beautiful mountain from all angles and can be seen from miles away.  It’s the only mountain in Vermont that is an inactive volcano.  There are several views from both sides of the Connecticut River.

There are all kinds of views of the mountain.  The above view would be a beautiful piece of land to build a house.

Love this view of Ascutney from the New Hampshire side.

The mountain is just beautiful in any time of the year.  Can’t even imagine having a view like the above to enjoy of my favorite mountain.

All the windows in the living room are open to views of Ascutney area.  I love the idea of a wall of windows and that field stone fireplace is awesome.  Love the round rug idea and the round coffee table.

Love the Fall view in the early morning when the fog is rising up from over the valley below and then the majestic Mt Ascutney in the background.

Love the idea of the breakfast nook that also has a bay window with mountain views.

The sunsets with the Mt Ascutney are just plain awesome.

Awesome panoramic view of Mt Ascutney with window seats.  Love that idea.

There are cascade falls along the mountain hiking trails.  So beautiful.

There is a place at the top of Mt Ascutney where those hand gliders jump off and glide along the countryside.  I found a video of one of the jumps and it was just like you were right there with that glider.  So scary but fascinating.

Kind of neat air view of Ascutney.

The Ascutney ski area view from Brownsville, VT is neat.

I like the views of Ascutney from Claremont.  When I go shopping for groceries, I always go to New Hampshire because there is no tax.  So you can see Ascutney from a lot of angles traveling through Claremont, NH.

I just love everything about Mt Ascutney and I have from the time that I was a kid and my best friend lived up on Parker Hill and had a beautiful view from their living room window of Mt Ascutney.  They had a baby grand piano near that window which fascinated me also.  I remember I kept saying “gee” the first time I went to their house and my friend laughed.

Ascutney is one of my favorite mountains.  I think that it is majestic and just beautiful.

 

 

It’s a chilly, rainy day here today.  April is great for showers.  Just lucky that it’s not snow.

A nice cup of coffee really does just warm the heart.

I went shopping yesterday and T J Max always is a fun store to shop in.  I saw the above salad plate and could not resist it.  So fun to have for salads.

Then I saw the above Spring bowl with the little bunny and the wild rose on the pattern.  Well that one went in my basket to buy.  Just will make April days bearable.

Then at the Walmart I saw some cute Pioneer Women dishes.  I already had the bowl in this pattern, but added the salad plate and the coffee cup.  I love to use her dishes for breakfast as it just cheers up a dull morning.

I love cute dinnerware.  I love to cook anyways and to add little fun stuff now and then just makes cooking and cleaning up afterwards worth it.

I saw the above dining room set on Wayfair.  It was out of stock and just came back in stock.  I love, love, love it.  ❤  It’s exactly what I want and at a really good price with free shipping.

I would love to have that table in a breakfast nook like the above.

I love the above idea.  It would be perfect to have family over for dinner.

For dreaming on a rainy day, I love the idea of a garden path with solar light lanterns.

I love the idea of the chocolate Easter bunny in a mason jar for a little Easter gift for Grandsons.

So cute.

I love stuff like that.  A white chocolate bunny for the one that is allergic to peanuts just to be safe.  The little lamb is cute also.

I really like those zoodles that you make by using a spiralizer and zucchini.  I saw a neat recipe on Sarah Moulton’s cook show where she had a New York City restaurant owner share a recipe where she had a garlicky yogurt sauce and lemon over the noodles along with a chopped baby zucchini that was sauteed.  It looked really good.

I saw a cute idea for putting names on little mason jar easter treats.  They used chalkboard bunnie labels.

They had similar labels on Amazon.

Cute idea for milk bottles, also.

And that’s my thoughts for this rainy and chilly day in April.