The British Invasion

I'm currently in Pennsylvania visiting my Mum - who is entertaining her family from the UK.

They have only been here a few days - but it's been non stop entertaining since they arrived. Seems all of our family and friends want to meet the crazy Brits (and the Welshman).



Mum hosted a big party on Saturday Night. Everyone brought their favorit dishes (German Potato Salad, Calico Beans, Home Made Fudge, Chinese Chicken Salad)....yum.

My contribution arrived via UPS - from Cincanniti Ohio. Courtesy of my friend Deb at Mt. Lookout Sweets



She makes these amazing hand decorated cookies (and dozens of other sweet treats)....



...in addition to managing her busy daytime job, and taking care of her sweet (and very entertaining) mother who suffers from Alzheimers.



She's an inspiration to anyone who ever thought about turning their hobby and passion into a business. Starting up just over one year ago, her business is booming.

Maybe it's time I open that Etsy shop I've been dreaming about?



I'm excited that Deb and I were able to barter our services.



I recieved her amazing cookies in exchange for a little crafty project I'll be sending to her at a later date (shhhhh - it's a surprise for one of her clients).



And so the British Invasion continues - and we're loving every minute of it.

Happy Housiversary

One year ago - I was standing on the front porch of our new home waiting for the Moving Truck (OK....that would be Moving TruckS) to arrive.

I can hardly believe we have been here for a year now. I still have a few boxes that need to be unpacked - and a long list of home decor and improvement ideas - but I'm feeling very comfortable and settled.

Thought I would share some of the beautiful sights of our new hometown that we have enjoyed over the past year.

Walk With Me

One of the things on our Summer Fun List - is to take a Photo Walk.

I don't now how we ended up choosing the first day that the temps hit over 100 degrees - maybe not the best planning, but we had a great time.

Little K invited a friend along, and the three of us set out along the shaded (and not so shaded) path from our house to a nearby park, with our cameras in hand.

We each captured some of the same images, but it's interesting to see how different they can look from a another persons vantage point.

Come along and take a Walk with us.

"A Walk to the Park {Karina}"

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"Summer Day {Little K}"

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"Walk to the Park {CB}"

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Next time - we'll head in a different direction, and see what we can see.

Fourth of July Festivities

Last year on the 4th of July weekend we were:

- in a car driving from Arizona to California
- with all our pets (a parrot, a crab and and cat)
- several weeks worth of clothes
- all our important documents
- and a whole bunch of cleaning and painting supplies

We arrived on July 4th and went straight to the new house to get started on all the work that needed to be done before the moving trucks arrived.

Not much celebrating done last year, so this year we were sure to participate in at least a few Independence Day Festivities.

We were invited to a neighborhood get together and I made mini cheesecake cups to share.



My Aunt Pat used to always make these and I remember thinking how magical they were. Cheesecake in a bite size form - how fantastic is that! I used to devour these by the dozens.

I've never made them before, but I know they were made with Nilla Wafer cookies in the bottom. I did a quick recipe search and found this one. I'm sorry to say - I don't recommend it.

Since the recipe is pretty straight forward, I didn't think there would be many versions, so I just went with the first one I found (I got sucked in by her pretty picture).



The batter was very loose. The cakes browned too quickly and they seemed still gooey inside.
Don't get me wrong - we still ate them - and they weren't bad, just not what I remembered.

I should have searched farther and used the official Cherry Cheesecake Recipe from Nabisco. Next time.



I used plain white and red polka dot paper liners, and topped them with both cherry and blueberry pie filling.



These cute 4th of July toppers were made from a free printable download courtesy of Paper and Pigtails that I found here.

Since I wasn't sure how the Cheesecake Cups would go over - I decided to bake up some mini pies as well (plus I had a little leftover pie filling)



Cherry and Blueberry pies - each with a different crust design.



Cherry is still my favorite.



I found these adorable cupcake boxes that were the perfect size to hold one mini pie.



Tied them up with a ribbon and bow, and another one of the 4th of July layered tags.



....and off to the neighborhood party we went.



We saw an amazing display of Fireworks.



Put off a few of our own (only the legal ones of course).



Got creative with the sparklers.



And when the sparklers ran out (or wouldn't stay lit) we continued the creativity with a flashlight.

Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Weekend.