Ozark National Scenic Riverways Park and Big Spring Lodge

Big Spring Lodge Restaurant.

His view while dining.

This is the park where my husband had his delicous breakfast. Big Spring is the largest spring in the United States and one of the largest in the world. The Spring feeds the Current River, I just love the deep blue water and he claims it tasted delicious!

Even though I was unable to make this trip, I'm looking at it as a scouting trip for me, he will take me back to all his favorite places. This is most certainly one of them.

The vacation I wasn't on...the food I didn't have....

The "husband" just got back from a weeks vacation traveling around Missouri. Of course he had to rave about how inexpensive and delicious the food was and how I missed having my favorite breakfast food of biscuits and gravy. No erzatz ham and eggs here...the real thing prepared to perfection. And look at those potatoes.....the skins still on! And the best part about this breakfast..it was served in a Missouri State Park!!

Husband is vacationing with my camera

so I haven't been able to post but I'll be back in the swing of things next week. I'm going to have a giveaway for my 100th post so be sure to check back!

Plate hanging.

I recently hung these plates for my Mom using the neatest little discs. They are perfect because you don't see those nasty wires on the plates...they simply float on the wall.
Rhoda at Southern Hospitality http://southernhospitalityblog.com/ has a new sponser that sells these dics and is giving free shipping. I paid over 4$ for each disc...I would have saved quite a bit because the price from Rhoda's source is less than half what I paid. So, if there is any plate hanging in your future check out Rhoda's sponser. You will never want to use those ugly wire hangers again!

Simple Raspberry Cake

I woke up this morning to weather reminiscent of Autumn. Crisp, cool air...lovely and perfect for baking. I am still picking raspberries, the bushes are still giving fruit which is highly unusual for this late in the year. I can't think of a better excuse to have cake for breakfast, so here is the recipe I used. Please stop by Beverly's to see more Pink Saturday offerings. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick of butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar (for topping)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz.)

Preheat oven to 400 F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9 inch cake pan. (Have you tried Wilton's Cake Release? That's what I use to butter and flour, saves on the mess of buttering and flouring)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup of sugar with an electric mixer at med-hi speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 mins, then beat in vanilla, add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing till just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tbps sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25-30 mins. Cool in pan 10 mins, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10-15 mins more. Invert onto plate.

Counting down to 100th post!

After this post I'm only 7 posts away and I plan on having a giveaway just like many other bloggers that celebrate their 100th post. So be sure you keep checking in. Just a hint, it's going to be one of my vintage finds.
Please check out this blogger....http://www.thefiftyfactor.com/2009/08/time-money-giveaway.html I love this clock and she is giving it away!!
I also love the name of the blog....very clever! So be sure you stop by and enter the giveaway, but I hate to disappoint you...I'm going to win!

Tiger lillies

Another simple pleasure, beautiful flowers grown by a woman that sells them by the honor system from a table in front of her home.

I love the fact that people still do this...put a can out with the price and put their trust in strangers. There are alot of little stands like that around here and that makes me feel good.

Little gifts to myself...

This cute little bird nest statue was from a garden shop going out of business and was only 24$. It weighs a ton!

The little clay teapot was a find indeed. I have been looking for these since May when my friend and I saw one just like it at a gardening class we took. We both thought it was adorable and sure enough at the sale there were two of them..one for me and I gifted the other to my friend.

So what little treats have you bought for yourself lately??

The winner for the Pink Saturday giveaway is GypsyLulu. Thanks for participating and if you didn't win please come back, I'll be having another giveaway soon!

Pink Saturday-Giveaway

I haven't been around for Pink Saturday recently due to computer issues...which I thought I corrected but to my dismay did not. So I dug up a photo from the garden tour I went to this summer of a pretty tree peony called Carol. I just loved this plant and recently bought one for myself. I hope it blooms like this next year for me.

The giveaway is for this little sugar bowl. It's not all pink but has pretty little pink flowers. Just post a comment that you would like to enter the giveaway and I'll draw the winner Sunday night.

Happy Pink Saturday and be sure to visit Beverly for more pink pretties.

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

I've been MIA..

I have been enjoying my vacation for the past two weeks. Little road trips, hiking and general puttering around.

I took the picture of the bear on one of our recent hikes. It's difficult to get a good picture because they generally take off when they see us.

I chased this butterfly around a meadow for 10 mins trying to get a good picture. They are as elusive as the bears!

And the raspberries are finally in season!! They normally are ready for picking by the 4th of July but this year are very late because of the rainy weather, I'm happy we are having a bumper crop. I've been busy picking, cleaning and freezing. I printed a recipe for raspberry cream pie and I can't wait to try it. If it tastes as good as it sounds I'll be sure to share it.

Scarlet Tanager

I love to bird watch but find it very frustrating trying to identify what species of bird I see. So it is always fun to see a bird that I recognize. I was fortunate to see 4 Scarlet Tanagers in a tree last weekend. They are recognizable because it is the only red bird in North America with black wings! As the summer progress the birds feathers turn green but right now they are brilliant red and just stunning to watch.

My picture isn't of the best quality, the birds were high in a tree and despite my poor photographic skills the beauty of the bird shines through!

And more birdhouses!

What can I say, I'm crazy for anything to do with birds!

All these birdhouses have license plates for roofs! This window display is in a home store in my town. I think these are adorable although a friend of mine thinks they were ruined by putting the license on the roof!

Which one is your favorite? I just love the blue and white one in the tree.

Birdhouse decorating idea...

I think the little birdhouse mounted on the shelf is just the cutest idea and it's just simple painting. I even think I could do it!

I think the taller birdhouse with the trail of rocks is another easy to do project. AC Moore and Micheals both sell birdhouses, a little imagination and paint and you have an adorable home for the birds!

I took these pictures at the garden tour I recently attended and thought I would share this charming idea. I also saw another birdhouse where an old license plate was bent in half and used as the roof, I hope to try this myself.

Is it Bigfoot??

On a recent hike in the woods we were so fortunate to find these great footprints. The animal that made these can walk for years on the same trail, following their same footprint and leaving these great trail markings behind.

My little dog Snuggles was hot on his trail....can you guess what we were tracking?

Window inspiration

This past spring I went to a local garden show and I thought this would be a great use of an old window placed against a boring garage wall. A faux window with a charming flower box!

I have lots of inspirational pictures for my to-do list. I thought of this one last night and decided it would be my "day off Wednesday" project.

I'll be posting my completed project this weekend if you want to see what I come up with!

Have a great weekend...

I'm off to visit Washington D.C. for the weekend! Will be back Tuesday. Mary

One of the Seven Natural Wonders of New Jersey!

I didn't know there were Seven Official Natural Wonders of New Jersey, but after visiting this Garden of Eden, I'm going to find the other six! We hiked Sunday, straight up 1.2 miles to the top of the mountain where Sunfish Pond is located. This picture was taken from the Appalachian Trail that passes the pond here. Do you see the little Stonehedge formation? I'm sure some hiker had fun putting that up!

The pond was surrounded by gorgeous pink and white Mountain Laurel. The flowers look like cake decorations.

There were masses of them everywhere.

So peaceful a setting.

I just loved the masses of ferns growing at the higher elevations. The trail was easy going here!

We also saw the yellow fish jumping out of the water to feed. Even the fish were beautiful!

I highly recommend this hike if you are in the area.

Nostalgic purchase

One of my yard sale finds Saturday were these coasters for 25 cents each. I had to have them, not because I needed coasters or that they were a terrific buy, but because they reminded me of my Grandmother. This was a stricly nostalgic purchase, my Grandmother had coasters like these that she kept on her radiator cover in her living room. I don't know why they impressed me as a child but they did.

Despite the fact that these aren't my Grandmother's coasters, I think it's nice that a 50 cent purchase can evoke childhood memories.

Has anyone else made a puchase strictly for sentimental reasons? I would love to hear about what you bought and why.

Thrifty Monday with Rhoda

This was another great weekend for finding bargains! I love-love-love my antique pitcher. I think I'm going to use it for flowers. This was only 20$ at an estate sale! I placed it next to the coffee pot so you can get an idea how big it is.

Look at the detail!!

This is perfect for my bath...6$ at same estate sale.

This is a close up of a huge platter!! Probably 12x18 inches... The mark in back reads _urlington...maybe Burlington?? I can't make out the first initial. There is also a # under the name. Does anyone know anything about this design? I would love to know more about it. It was only 15$ Another bargain!!

And how cute are these? All three for only 1$. I'm giving my Mom the shamrock one, she collects pigs, my sister the blue, she is an avid gardener and keeping the pink for myself.

I also went to a yardsale and found quite a few things and even a side of the road pickup! It was a great weekend.

Please visit Rhoda at http://southernhospitality-rhoda.blogspot.com/ for more Monday finds!

Pink Saturday

Happy Pink Saturday! The first picture is of Mountain Laurel which is blooming prolifically in the forests by me. If you enlarge the picture you will see the intricate beauty of these flowers. The seconds two pictures were taken at a local home that I visited on a garden tour. I wish I could grow clematis like this...and how serene is the little bridge over the stream adorned with pink flowers.

Please visit Beverly at http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/ for more pink beauties.

Garden tour house 2

Beautiful clematis.

I love this path going up the incline.

Different use of plantings in an urn.

View of the vegetable garden.

Beautiful hydrangea.

And this peony is called Carole. I bought one for myself this past weekend. It was stunning. Nice compact form..didn't fall over.

I'll be posting another home I toured for Friday. Hope you enjoyed!