Rhema Marvanne WOW!! Listen to her vocals. Amazing!

A little girls singing "Amazing Grace" her name: Rhema Marvanne

Photo courtesy of Google Images. Thanks Google!

OBX pictures

The horses of the Outer Banks in Currituck

A view from the jeep as we zoomed by. It looked more like a dessert than the beach

Look how refreshing the water looks! Makes me want to go back and do it all over again.

My dream house. I fell in love with it at first sight. My studio would be in the tippy top, overlooking the beach and wild horses.

Land Shark! and Sunsets

Land Shark! Ah! My SIL saving her brother, my husband. lol

See the North star on the left. The evening  sky was always picture perfect.

The evening sky was magical in Corolla.

Come walk with me. We can chat along the way.

Friends and siblings taking a stroll

A helicopter joins us as we meander along.

Village Cork and Bean

I have tried to post this for a week now. Not sure what the heck is going on with Blogger but hopefully it is back to normal now. We will see when I hit the post button, I guess. And if you are reading this than we must be good to go. Thank goodness!
So we are back from a week in Corolla on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. What a relaxing week we had. I have so much to share with you. I will have to do it in separate posts so I don't overload you. This lovely little spot is the porch of the Village Cork and Bean in Duck. My daughter and I enjoyed smoothies here while out shopping. It is such a charming spot. If ever in Duck, do stop by. It is a magical little place with huge trees serving as canopies with hanging paper lanterns. In the evening they offer wine tastings here and on the lower patio. I went shell seeking daily and came home with some perfectly gorgeous black ones. I am so excited because I have a project I have been collecting these black shells for for a couple of years. Hopefully I have enough now. We'll see.  I miss the beach and the sounds of the ocean and the wet sand underfoot. The treasure hunt for seashells. We even went to see the wild horses via 4wd Jeeps. What fun that was. I will share those images with you soon if blogger lets me. Love and hugs to you all. Oh how I have missed all of you.

Happy July 4th!

Happy Independence Day!

STAR-SPANGLED FRUIT TART

1 tube (18 ounces) refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 cup halved fresh strawberries
Press cookie dough onto an ungreased 12-inch pizza pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and extract until smooth. Spread over crust. In center of tart, arrange berries in the shape of a star; add a berry border. Refrigerate until serving. Makes 16 servings.

Needham 4th of July parade, photo by Pappatom 
There will be picnics, parades, fireworks, baseball games, etc. All to celebrate our 234th year of independence. 

Come sit for a bit and share

“There are hundreds of languages in the world, but a smile speaks them all”-Anonymous

I sincerely wish that I could have all of you over for some refreshments, maybe a game of croquet, badminton, volleyball, bocce, or to play cards or a board game or to just sit around and chat. It would be so much fun to meet you and to learn more about you and to find out what journeys you have been on and what adventures lie in your future. Where your dream vacation would take place. What you always wanted to be when you grew up and how you might still get there.

We could talk about our favorite authors, movies, what makes our hearts fill with joy. Places we want to go, things we want to do, etc.  We could plant a friendship garden, where everyone brings something from their own garden for each person. Wouldn't that be so much fun! Each year everyone would have a wonderful reminder of the day we spent together and the friendships we made. Maybe exchange home and blog addresses to keep in touch and send a trinket now and then to brighten up someone's day. Come sit for a bit and share.  Here's something about me that you may not know: My husband and I are getting ready for our next adventure. Kinda' like the next chapter in our lives. Both kids will be gone and he just got laid off from work after 23 years so we are free to pick up and move to wherever we want to.  We have no family here so we have no ties. So your turn...

The Beach House

I am reading a wonderful novel called "The Beach House" by Jane Green. It is the perfect summer read as it takes place in Nantucket during the summer months. It is a boarding house opened up to summer guests, because the eccentric owner is in financial trouble. The guests each have something turbulent going on in their lives that has sent them here to gather their thoughts and figure things out. Nan is the eccentric homeowner that loves mothering her guests and making them feel special. It is a fun and quick read. Perfect for those lazy afternoons, or any spare moment you can muster up. I just love  to share a good book. 

3-D canvas, what makes your heart swoon and adding a page to your blog

This is a painting that I created a long while ago. I painted a canvas then added thin branches on top of the painted vines along with a little nest of eggs and I added ribbons and fun fur for the tails of the birds along with a few flowers. Oh and a little lady bug climbing up the vine on the lower right side. See her ? This was a really fun canvas. I hope to try some more 3 dimensional canvases in the near future. I love layers and textures. I am very tactile. When I visit an antique shop and spot a large basketful of linens my heart skips a beat. I immediately B-line for it and have to find the most soft and pretty items to add to my linen closet. What makes your heart swoon whether it be in an antiques shop, thrift store, flea market, yard sale, etc?
I added a new page to my sidebar titled Vintage Images. It has all of the free images I have posted thus far. My father-in-law as a little boy is the image I chose for the link. How sweet he is, huh? Anyway, my friend and teammate Sharon, of Plumrose Lane has a tutorial on how to add pages to your blog here. She has free backgrounds and many other tutorials to help you with your blog.