A Blogger Break

Well, my goodness... I just sat down to post to my blog and can't believe how much time has gone by since my last post!  I guess I really did have a little blogger break!!  Where did September go?!  I hope everyone had a beautiful summer and a great beginning to fall!  I love fall, it's one of my favorite times of year, along with spring.  

We had a nice summer, and most recently took a trip to Texas and saw my family.  It was great spending time with them, loved every minute!!  Although, I do believe that I have fully acclimated to Michigan's cooler climate (EXCLUDING THE WINTER!!!)... It was so hot in Texas, and I really felt that humidity.  Of course, we did choose the hottest time of year to go there!  They are coming into the best time of year weather wise, I'll be quite jealous once it starts snowing here and they are enjoying their beautiful winter weather!!  Along with the climate, I've also become very used to the quietness of the country, I'd forgotten about all the traffic in the city, it was crazy!  Funny how we get so accustomed to where we live.  I admit, I wasn't too crazy about country life at first, but I'm definitely used to it now.   Anyway, like all visits, our trip to Texas went by much too fast, but it was wonderful to see everyone.  We certainly don't get to see each other nearly enough!  Our little nephew is getting so big, in first grade now, and he's awesome!!  He's such fun to be with, and he has a great sense of humor, kept us all laughing!  Our kids enjoyed their time with him too, it's great that they had time to be together, making memories.  We spent a few afternoons at his pool, and he swims like a little fish.  A darling little Superhero, that's for sure!

 

We are back home now, and I'm back to work in my studio creating all kinds of great cake toppers!  I'll be writing a post about some of them soon, and am looking forward to getting back to my blog, starting with 'Etsy Finds Friday' next week. 

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Wishing you all a GREAT day and a GREAT fall!!!
~Trina

Wordless Wednesday

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥  Happy Wednesday and THANK YOU for visiting today!!  Wishing you a GREAT Day!!
~Trina

Etsy Finds Friday - Let's Go to the Beach!

It's *♥*Etsy Finds Friday*♥*

 

Today feels like a GREAT day to

go to the BEACH!

But, since I have to work instead, I thought I'd share 

some of my favorite beach finds from this week!

Enjoy, and be sure to check out each of these Artist's shops!!

Isn't this such a cute scene!?!

 

Miniature Beach Drinks

by Landscapes In Miniature

 I love Adriana's clay work, and this piece is no exception!!!  
Wonderful!!

Aloha Spirit
Original One of a Kind Polymer Clay Art
by Clay Cat Shop 



Such a pretty necklace!  
The colors in the beads are fantastic!

 African Turquoise Necklace with Starfish Charm

by Design by Neringa

 And... While this next photograph has nothing

 to do with the beach, I just LOVE it!!

A beautiful Hummingbird Photograph by My Sweet Reveries

 

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Thank you for stopping by for my Etsy Finds Friday post!!  Please stay tuned for next Friday's Find... It could be YOU! :)   Happy Friday!!   

~Trina

Eeeeek, A Snake!

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous here lately, with temperatures in the upper 70's to low 80's, beautiful clear blue skies, sun shining, a slight breeze... Very difficult NOT to be outside!!   (I think I just sounded like a meteorologist!)

So, I thought I would take a little break from my clay work and spend a bit of time enjoying this unseasonably great weather.  A little time to stop and 'Smell the Flowers' ~ Something I don't do often enough!

I thought it would be fun to take Izzie and Emmi out for a walk by the creek.  Well... I walked, they chased squirrels and birds up into the trees... Their favorite pass-time!  

Izzie and Emmi love to chase squirrels up this big Weeping Willow that's on the bank of our creek!

While they were romping and playing I was soaking in the sunshine.  Then, all of a sudden I felt like I was in one of those movies where the audience knows there's a BIG snake lurking, but the character (that would be me) is totally oblivious!  I don't really know why, but I looked down, and there it was!!!  Right at my feet!!  It was a SNAKE!  I think I screamed... I KNOW I ran!  NOT a fan of snakes, and this one was looking right up at me, with his forked tongue sticking out, as if he were mocking me!  I have no idea how long the snake was that close to me.  He wasn't a huge snake, but he was big enough, that's for sure!  My fearless dogs had no idea, they were fixated on the squirrel they chased, trying to catch him!  They would have LOVED to to have gotten a hold of that snake, I'm quite sure of it!!  But, yes, they had no idea mommy was having a small outdoor crisis.  I'm sure they looked at me when they saw me run, but they always see me do seemingly funny things... They paid no attention!  A lot of help they were!  lol!  Once I settled down a bit, I went back to where the snake was, and he was gone.  Slithered away to his home somewhere in our yard.  Oh dear, now I will have to be even more on the look-out for snakes when I'm outside.  That was enough of the outdoors for me, for a bit.  So, back inside to my clay creations I went, to settle for enjoying the sunshine from the windows of my studio instead.  That snake was MUCH TOO CLOSE for COMFORT!

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Thank you for stopping by today for a visit!!  I wish you a 'snake-free' great day!!

~Trina

Etsy Finds Friday - Red, White and Blue!

It's *♥*Etsy Finds Friday*♥*

Today I am featuring some 

Patriotic Inspired Pieces...

Enjoy!

 

Can you believe it's almost the 4th of July?!

 Time for celebrations, summer fun, picnics, and Red, White and Blue!

In honor of the 4th, I am featuring some Patriotic Creations,

You can click on the photographs to see more about each one. 

 

 

Little Old Lighthouse Set

By Home Style Color

 

Rustic Hand Painted Mason Jars

By Simply Splendid Crafts

Upcycled Newborn Hat

By Rowan's Tree House

4th of July Earrings

By Epic Trinket

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Thank you for stopping by for my Etsy Finds Friday post!!  Please stay tuned for next Friday's Find... It could be YOU! :)   Happy Friday!!   

~Trina

Etsy Finds Friday ~ Summer Fun!

It's *♥*Etsy Finds Friday*♥*

Today I am featuring some 

Summer Fun...

Enjoy!

 

Summer is right around the corner... 

Time for picnics, celebrations, vacations, flip flops and sunshine!

 Browsing Etsy, I found so many fun summer items, each would be a great gift too!

Be sure to visit each of these wonderful shops, there's a lot more to see!

 

 

American Flag Wood Set

By: Jody Aleavitt

of Wood n' Stitches

 

 

Flip Flop Welcome Sign

By: Barbie of

TaDa! Workshop

 

 

Girls Chevron Dress

By:  Christi Gilbreath of

Sew Christi

 

 

Flip Flop Sugar Cookies

By:  Kim Wollenburg of 

Kimbos Cookies 

 

 

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Thank you for stopping by for my Etsy Finds Friday post!!  Please stay tuned for next Friday's Find... It could be YOU! :)   Happy Friday!!   

~Trina

Our Little Tree...

We have a tree that is right outside our kitchen window.  When we are in the kitchen, we can see the birds in the tree, building their nests, eating the birdseed we put out for them... We can see the hummingbirds fluttering around their feeder... Love our little tree and so do the birds.  Sadly, over the last two summers our little tree has been looking quite pathetic really.  First George cut the dead branches and it seemed to promote growth for the other branches... But this spring it didn't look too good.  We decided we would probably need to cut it down.  So George went outside with the chain saw, telling me he was going to cut it down, but instead he cut off more branches and this is how our sad little tree looks right now.  We know it'll have to be completely cut down, and we will plant a new tree in it's place, but I think George knows that I'm wishing it would come back...  

We are lucky though, we have a lot of trees in our yard.  Well, I think we are lucky... George thinks some are way too messy and difficult to keep up with.   Our Weeping Willow by our driveway, in the picture below, looks great this year... I love how it sways in the breeze.

Well, we thought that the farmer next to us was going to plant corn this year, but he didn't... So we can still see all the way across the farmer's field and our dogs love that.  Izzy loves to sit between our two little pine trees, (sitting watch at the edge of the field), I don't think she would have liked the corn, it definitely would have hampered her view!  

It's so cool, we get a new pine tree to plant each year when we recycle our Christmas tree at the nursery.  We go to the same nursery each year to pick out and cut down our Christmas tree and they give us a certificate to come back in the spring and pick out a little live tree.  We have four now, two in the front yard and then the two you see below that Izzy likes to sit between.  They sure look small next to those big black walnut trees!

Izzy and Emmi are enjoying the summer!  We are in the middle of a heat wave right now and we desperately need rain... But that doesn't stop either of them from wanting to play outside!  They like to run and catch golf balls when George is outside practicing his swing.  It's turned into a game now, and he'll just throw the balls out, and they run and fetch them, and then bring them back for more.  They love it and they can go and go and go, but it's too hot right now for too much of that.  Here's a couple of pictures of Izzy and Emmi at rest... Something you don't see all that often!  In fact, Izzy looks like she's about to take off in this picture!

Emmi and George

Right after I took this picture, Emmi was licking George and looking at him with those big eyes... Her way of asking to go outside... Of course George couldn't resist, can't say no to that face!

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The other day I was driving down the road and I saw a baby horse romping around with his mother, it was the coolest thing.  I stopped by the side of the road and watched them for a while, they were so sweet.  I took a few pictures, but they didn't turn out so good.  The one below was the best of the bunch, so I thought I would share it with you. 

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥  Thank you for stopping by today!  Wishing you a great day and a Happy and Safe 4th of July! ~Trina

Summertime in Our Back Yard...

I've shared many pictures of winter and snow taken in our back yard, and I've shared some spring flowers as well... Today I thought I would share these summertime pictures that I took the other day.  I love spending time outside in our yard, it's like being in a quiet, 'secret' park.  There is farmland on both sides and behind us, making our place very secluded.  We have a creek that runs along the back, separating the farm behind, from our yard.  With trees and flowers along it's banks, the creek is so beautiful this time of year.  Unfortunately, during a wild summer storm a few weeks ago, one of the focal trees directly across from our house lost two of it's biggest limbs.  It left the tree in sort of 'V' shape now.  It will probably look funny come winter when all the trees lose their leaves.  Oh, I just said a bad word one too many times here... 'Winter' ~ I can definitely wait for winter, not my favorite time of year!  Anyway, now cut and stacked for firewood, it was sad to see those limbs laying across the yard.   

Our poor 'V' shaped tree... 

We'll probably have to cut it down one day.

This is our garden area behind our barn.  

Farmland is beyond the very furthest trees.

Love this shot that I took, of the trees near the creek!

This is the opposite side of our yard (from the garden area).

The little white house, beyond the farmland, 

is our nearest next door neighbor...

I love our Weeping Willow Trees!! :)

We have several very old Weeping Willows.

Looking toward our road...

Some of our flowers...

A 'Pop' of color...
I love these Lilies, we have them all around our yard!
This one I call 'The Colors of the Sun'
Click on the link to see this Lily as a Greeting Card at my Fine Art America site 

Izzie on the lookout for a Turkey or two... 

Or a Squirrel, or a Chipmunk...

Lucky for this family of Turkey's... Izzie wasn't outside at the time!!  

How they run and fly when Izzie enters the yard.
**If you click on the image above you can see a better view of all the babies!**

A Robin built her nest in our yard this spring... 

Robin's eggs are so beautiful, aren't they?

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Thank you for visiting today!  I hope you enjoyed this stroll through our yard. Wishing you a great weekend!!
~Trina

Summer Fun!

My daughter, Melissa, is here from Texas and we have been enjoying her visit.  She did great driving straight through the night, all the way here. I guess I wasted my time worrying! Although, (knowing me) I will worry once again, when she's on the road headed back to Texas!  Anyway... Thankfully, she and her puppy dog, Emmi, arrived safely last Wednesday and will be here for a few more weeks.  

Emmi all harnessed in for her road trip! 

The weather has been beautiful, which was especially great when we went up north last weekend!  George's sister and her family have a cabin at Higgins Lake and we stayed with them, it was relaxing and fun.  All the dogs got along very well, and from all the playing and swimming in the lake, they were exhausted!  In fact, Izzie slept the entire drive home, then got right in her crate and slept all through the night and into the next day!  I heard that Lacey did the same!  I was a bit worried about Emmi and Izzie getting along, but it's going okay... They have their moments, Izzie likes to keep a close eye on Emmi and follows her everywhere... Emmi gets annoyed!  Izzie is a Red Heeler mix, we don't know what she's mixed with, but the Red Heeler in her is definitely dominant. Heelers, a.k.a. Australian Cattle Dogs, are a breed of herding dog originally developed in Australia for droving cattle over long distances across rough terrain.  Izzie loves to 'herd' and will gently nip at your ankles to get you to go where she thinks you should go.  Emmi is not crazy about being herded!  Emmi (a Yorkie/Maltese mix) is a free spirit and loves to chase critters and run where she wants to run!  So... Small disagreements between the two ensue. 

Izzie, keeping her eye on little Emmi at the lake!

Izzie and her best friend Lacy playing fetch at the Lake

Higgins Lake in Michigan

While we were up north we went to The Hartwick Pines Logging Museum in Grayling.  A perfect day for a nice walk along the trails in the woods.  It was fun to see how the Loggers at the camp lived, and it was great to enjoy a bit of logging history!  It is beautiful there, here are a few pictures I took as we walked:

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥  I took the next picture inside the little Logger's Chapel.  It's such a sweet little Chapel up on a little hill, deep in the woods.

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Thank you for visiting today!  Wishing you sunshine and happiness! 

~Trina

Anticipation...

Well, it's 11:55 PM and I really should be sleeping.  I have to get up early and go to work.  But... My daughter, Melissa, is on her way here, to Michigan, from Texas.  I'm so excited for her visit, we've all been looking forward to it.  She was here at Christmas, so it's been a while since we've seen her.  She is driving straight through the night, just her and her puppy dog, Emmi. So I'm being 'mom' and I'm worrying...  I tried to talk her into staying at a hotel, but she's determined to drive straight through.  So... Since I couldn't sleep, I thought I should do something to keep my mind occupied! I recently came across some pictures, and was just looking through them.  I thought I'd share a few here tonight.  I found the CUTEST pictures of Emmi, from the summer she and Melissa lived here in Michigan.  Emmi is such a sweet dog, and how she loves to chase critters!  She is going to enjoy being back up here for a few weeks to run and play in our yard.  We are not sure how she will get along with our dog, Izzie.  She loves people, but isn't always that thrilled with other dogs.

Here's Emmi... She's half Yorkie and half Maltese and 100 percent spoiled!  When I posted this picture on Facebook, I wrote: "Emmi, all 'dressed up' and looking for critters" ~ Melissa commented back:  "I love this!!!! Typical Emmi :) so cute, so naughty, and so spoiled!!!!" And I said: "SO TRUE!"  :)

How she LOVES being out on the lake on our boat!  Ears flopping in the breeze, as the water is spraying her face!

"Seems my food is just out of reach" 

Emmi's food really wasn't just out of reach... But it sure looks as though it is in this picture! Cute! :)

These 'summer fun with Emmi' pictures were fun to share with you tonight!  Now it's summertime again, and we are so happy that we will have Melissa and her little Emmi, here with us for a little while.  It will be wonderful, the four of us (and our two doggies) camping, boating, visiting family, and making more memories together!!  I'll let you know how it goes with Emmi and Izzie... It should be interesting!  Izzie will want to play (all 60+ pounds of her) and Emmi will want NO part of it... That's what I'm thinking anyway.  

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(¸.•´ (¸.•` ♥ Well, I think I should get some sleep, it's after 1:15 AM now!  :)  Wishing my darling Melissa a safe journey here, and wishing all of you sweet dreams!

~Trina