Thanks Sarah and Mary

Just had to tell you how much I love the necklace and say thanks for your input.


The first time I wore it I got lots of compliments on such a unique piece. You did good work steering Heather in the right direction!

Time for a haircut

Before we set off for the beauty salon Smudge thought she should put her baby down for a nap. This particular doll belonged to her mother over thirty years ago. We wrote about the doll, Saranella, here and here.
We arrived at the beauty salon with Saranella in hand, but Smudge thought another doll she found in the toy box there needed tending to at the make-up table.
Then it was time for her haircut. She chose the red racing car for the first part of her cut, but another little boy came in and needed the safer seating in the racing car...
so after some thought...
Smudge happily moved to the tractor and let the little boy have the red car.
After the haircut we visited the $$ Store then ventured over to Swiss Chalet for lunch. She had fun hiding in Buppa's coat at the restaurant...
and delighted us all with her gleeful smile.

More Sleepover fun

We were up fairly early in the morning, and just like Amma, Smudge wanted her cup of coffee first thing. Before we came down to the kitchen though, Smudge found another Elf hat in the Christmas decoration drawer, and decided she had to wear it to add a bit of flair to her morning outfit.
Mmmm, the first morning cuppa is good to the last drop.
I couldn't resist taking this pic of her sitting quietly at the kitchen table, sipping her "cup of tea" or "hot coffee" and munching on dry cheerios. She looked so cute in her elf hat, with her little feet dangling off the big kitchen chair.
What a cutie. She asked me to join her for a "cuppa", but...
she insisted I wear the other Elf hat. What fun!
This little Elf sure does make me smilel.
After breakfast she wanted to help Amma with the dishes.
What a busy, busy, busy, little Elf she was that morning.

Sleepover fun

The munchkin came for a sleepover the other day, and she keeps us busy and entertained the whole time she is here. Goodness she makes me smile.

Here she is helping Buppa make dinner. What a helper she is!
She did a very good job beating the eggs, but it was such hard work...
that she had to munch on some cheese to keep her energy up.
After dinner it was time to be a Ballerina. I bought her a little net Ballerina skirt, but she wanted nothing to do with it. She wanted her Elf hat, her housecoat and an old pink sparkly cape of Amma's. Here she is giving Buppa a fashion show.
Then she spun and danced and twirled and swirled around the room.
My goodness she makes me smile.
Hope she brings you another smile this morning too.

Morning Smile

OK, I am finished posting Riverwood pics. Whew! Now I can get back to the kids for all you fans out there.

We were sad to end our winter holiday at Riverwood, but oh so happy to get back home to see the kids. They were happy to see us too.
They were both in fine form and entertained us royally upon our return. First of all, Smudge put on Buppa's shoes and tromped around the kitchen gleefully and noisily.
Jboy wanted to get into the act too, so we put Smudge's shoes on him and he tromped around after big sister.
He is a bit unsteady on his feet, but managed just fine in big sister's shoes.
Looks pretty pleased with himself doesn't he?
I saved the best for last though. This video gives you the full effect of this parade. I laugh out loud each time I see it. Hope it brings a morning smile your way today. Enjoy.

Winter Holiday Pary IV

This day we started our walk at Raspberry Hill and set off towards the Old Logging Road.
As you can see we had lots of snow in the woods
but not a lot of sunshine at the beginning of our walk.
We veered off the Logging Road onto the Riverside Loop,
and encountered lots of downed trees,
and detours along the way.
We eventually found the tree marking the bend in the path and started the trek homeward.
More detours had to be taken off the beaten path,
but we found our way
over to Maple Lane,
and back to the Old Logging Road.
It was beautiful every step of the way.
You can see the Old Bridge in the far right corner of this pic, and animal tracks coming across the river in the middle of this shot.
OK, time to head up the hill,
and make tracks back to the warm farmhouse.
It was a great walk and a great Winter Holiday. Thanks T's for sharing this beautiful place with us.

Winter Holiday Part III

The Playner Mill as seen through the trees near the hammock.
On this outing we started in the backyard at the hammock, and walked counter clockwise along Perimeter Path then cut across Fourpaw Pasture to the south boundary line. The pic be;pw is looking back at our tracks across Fourpaw Pasture.
Ah, blue skies at last.
We tried to get into the south woods at a few points, but there were too many downed trees for us to get very deep.
We kept to the edge of the woods,
and made our way to the Southwood Trail again.
I like these views of Southwood Trail. On the right we have the trail and on the left is the river.

Once again we were tempted to venture out onto the river ice, but knew it wouldn't be safe after all the mild temps...
so we stayed on the forest paths.
From Sandman Bluff we can see the Playner Mill, the Old Barn and even the Farmhouse off in the distance...
or look down in the other direction and see the Friendship Bench beside the Swimming Hole.
We walked to the other side of the Playner Mill, and the whole time I could hear faint echoes of the music and laughter we experienced the day of the A-Team's wedding. It was a magical day indeed.
We then ventured into Poison Fen
and took another pic of the river from the entrance near the Old Ent standing at the water's edge there.