COUSIN weekend!!!

we have a LOT of cousins..

and we are SO blessed because of it!

Cousins are SO fun

Cousins are our first BEST friends

and we LOVE having cousins come to 

Blessings Farm!

The cousins came late at night

and the next morning was ...

unbelievably HOT

and...

we don't have central Air at the Farmhouse..

(clear throat)

it was hotter than...

H... E.... double hockey sticks

so we wanted to COOL off! 

The blessings were SO eager to show off their 

FAVORITE swimming hole!

here are our Twins!

They are 5

and they are a BLAST!

When with Buddy

things..

CHANGE..

they are a bit like the 3 Musketeers 

following the leader..

should Buddy even be allowed to BE a leader ?

(giggling)

it's like Porthos leading the way! 

Porthos and Athos... 

just a little fun! 

love this shot!

so careful on the rocks

getting their balance 

on to other things..

Porthos,

Athos

Aramis

water fights

rather than sword fights?

but where is D'Artangnan ?

With the fair Lady..

his Tante G :) 

???

REALLY?

C.S. jumping off the cliff 

not once..

but twice..

thank Heavens Princess has 

the sense not  to do it..

ok..

scrub THAT!

LOOK at her go! 

Thank you Tante for bringing the boys!

we are having so much FUN! 

and we are off!

everyone's water overload has gotten them

HUNGRY! 

see the enthusiasm? 

what is for supper???

hmmm

Berries!

some early morning discovery 

WITH my camera 

means some berry picking is JUST ahead!

Coffee is a beautiful thing

several years ago,

I came across this fun piece of furniture at a 

Garage sale

It was its function, size 

and the fact that it's REAL wood

rather than it's actual appearance

that attracted me..

I have never loved how it looked..

(but I confess it looks great in this picture)

so I decided to bring it up to the farm

and paint it..

see... I think coffee is beautiful 

and I want a coffee station!

I cook for a crowd..

Even if it's my OWN clan (we are 6)

but especially when we have guests...

and one thing that drives me bonkers

are the coffee drinkers..

see I AM ONE OF THEM, but...

people always want coffee JUST in the midst of the 

HOT time in the kitchen..

when things are hopping

happening

and have the potential to be ...

ruined..

I find it stress full

when they 

(yes that might be Machine Man I am speaking of...)

waltz in to get a cup of coffee

and then go to the fridge searching

desperately for cream...

yes.. it ..

annoys

so...

my plan?

coffee station! 

here is the new color!  

Princess painted it with 

Emperors Silk

an Annie Sloan red !

I got it at Tattered Tiques 

but you can look for a location near you!

Princess is getting the hang of this..

I love teaching a student that is SO eager to work

and to LEARN!

She did a great job! 

and now my coffee pals

(self included)

can grab a cup of joe

and not bother the Chef..

or the assistant chef..

yup..

BLISS all around!!

everything "coffee" is on the counter!

Ready for some peace

as my guest sit in my Groovy chair

and chat it up whilst I cook!

LOVE IT!!

a bit of bliss in a big MESS

so whilst we were away...

some brilliant men

made a VERY big mess

at the farm..

it's the well thing again..

ugh

but in the MIDST of the mess

Princess and Buddy found THIS! 

this lovely Luna moth needs rescuing 

as the hard workers will be back

to put things to right... 

first off 

some H2O for this wee moth

as he's too weak to do much 

then a new cool 

shady place to lay low till evening... 

because all that gravel will be dumped

right on him otherwise..

bah

what a mess!

LOVE my FAMILY!

It was SO much fun having My brother

and his great children

Tenderfoot and Ina

join us for an action packed

yet very relaxing weekend..

I hope we all get to do it again soon!

now

to begin planning for the next one!

Pinch Me, PRETTY!

so 

my Machine Man's Brother came

with his lovely Bride

AND

(drum roll please)

their beloved daughter

Yippee!

another one of my nieces came to the farm!

At 17 Months she really 

IS

"Pinch me Pretty"

a TOTAL cutie patootie 

She's most ALWAYS happy

pleasant

and cute

now...

having had four this age

I know that things may not 

BE

as they appear

(toddler-hood WHAT it is)

but we have been SO blessed

to always seem to catch her on her BEST days!

She's a BLAST!

and hard to track down with a camera !

Meet J.J. !

Little Man and J.J get along JUST fine!

he's pretty glad to see her 

she's pretty happy to see 

well

EVERYONE! 

Posing so like a 

Ballerina

what a pumpkin! 

Her lovely coloring makes me think of a 

wee

Anne

of

Green Gables! 

look what she found to dance upon!

my beautiful

PINCH 

me
PRETTY

floors!

for all you who guessed 

here and/or on facebook..

The color that won

was Larvik

the black one!

it has rich brown tones

but the stain is a black

and 

we LOVE how it looks

with the Paris Grey Trim

and the China White walls

what do YOU think

Beach time!

It was a HOT hot HOT day...

and nothing sounds better than

a WHOLE lotta water

sooo...

we all piled in Little Scout

(the family van)

and headed to the 

BEACH!!!

Lake Redstone isn't that far from Blessings Farm

and so we grabbed some towels

some suits 

some snacks

 for 

some fun in the sun!

it's a SUPER hot day after all...

and there was not just playing going on in the lake

but the pump was fun too! 

LOOK what Ina found!

yep, it's like caterpillar plague..

they are EVERY place ya look lately

I see you too!

silly wet boy

Papa is drying Little Man all off

so much fun was had playing in the sand and water! 

check out the beautiful waterfall!

we were so excited to find it..

lot's of kids were actually LEAPING into the water..

crazy! 

and little ones swim in the little pools at the bottom 

this is the nice trail back..

C.S. & Buddy LEADING us back to the beach 

where the rest of the family is..

what a great day at the beach

time to head back..

Popsicle anyone?

pretty in pink

oh my 

I haven't been around this many roses... 

since we were blessed to live in the South of France 

for a few months.. 

pinch me...

i love the roses

they are SO 

pretty 

in 

pink!

things coming together!

empty out the fridge... 

because we are
MOVING

the kitchen

and dismantling the mock kitchen

completely! 

Yea for My HELPER Ina!

isn't my niece adorable?

We are watching

"Uncle" Machine Man

take off doors and prepare to move it...

We can't get the NEW fridge

into the kitchen

through the OLD door ways

unless we dismantle it a bit... 

looks like I will get a chance to scrub it up

and it's gonna be good to fill with YUMMY food 

here's Uncle Buck

helping Machine Man with those doors

we are SO blessed to have my brother and his beautiful family UP

for the weekend!

after this is done..

it's PLAY time!!

nothing but fun planned for us!