Joy List Monday

Canadian Goose on her nest of little ones

Joy List Monday

♥ a weekly ritual ♥

a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties and graces 

that make life magical and to set aside time for gratitude each day

♥ spending time with a dear friend last Tuesday.. her first is graduating from high school.. taking time to talk about  motherhood and watching our children start to fly

 ♥ sunshine.. and more sunshine

♥ the birds are back to Wisconsin for the Spring/Summer.. as each return and they sing out  ♫♪ "Hello We are Back for the Season" ♫♪

♥ hosting a dinner for a couple with young children and watching our 16 year old play with the kids

♥ receiving a phone call from Sam.. he has passed all of his AIT tests.. the count down to his AIT graduation is on

♥

 

Easter 2019 ~ The Annual Easter Cake ~

Easter 2019

Easter 2019 was a little different for us this year. Our extended family was traveling to visit other family. Our oldest son is finishing his training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. It was was just the three of us. That did not stop me from doing the Annual TePaske Easter Cake. 

One.. Two .. Three.. here it is.. 

  

We put a slice in the freezer for Sam to enjoy when he comes home.

I used Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies recipe Click here to find the recipe.

It was delicious, all three of us gave the frosting recipe a thumbs up. 

 We decided to do something different for Easter since it was just the three of us. We headed to the city. We went to  Como Park Zoo and Conservatory located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Click here to check out the park and zoo.

I will do an On The Road Friday post with more photos of our adventure. 

 It was a lovely day. 70 degrees, sunshine and a slight breeze. As we walked in the park, a butterfly flew right in front of me and settled down on the trail we were walking. 

Happy Easter to you and Spring is here is what that butterfly was saying!

 Let's Go Fly a Kite

They are hard to pick out in my photo, I was using my phone camera. If you really peek, you can pick out three kites flying in the sky. Several people came to fly kites at the park.

 The Sunken Garden was all Spring!

It smelled so good in the Sunken Garden. It was just beautiful. 

 I hope you all had a lovely Easter Holiday.

♥

Carla

 

 

Happy Easter

 Happy Easter

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter week.

I will be taking the week off from the blog to work on my Annual Easter Cake, spending time with my family and working on a few other Spring projects.

Click here to see years past Easter Cakes 

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter. 

 ♥

 Carla

 

 I hope to be enjoying the start of Spring.. I do hope!

The photos below are of the blizzard that hit our neck of the woods April 11 into April 13th.

 

On the Road Friday ~ Battle of Kettle Creek ~ Washington, Wilkes County, GA

 During our time visiting Sam in November 2018 during his time off from training we visited Kettle Creek Battlefield.

Below is some history from the battle from the following website National Register of Historical Places

One of the most important battles of the  American Revolutionary War to be fought in Georgia occurred in Wilkes County, some 12 miles from present-day Washington, Georgia. Here on February 14, 1779, a force of 400 patriots, in a surprise attack, defeated a force of Loyalists twice their number. Savannah, Georgia, had recently been captured by the British on December 29, 1778, as part of the British “southern strategy” to pacify the South and separate it from the Middle and Northern rebellious colonies. Southern Loyalists welcomed the British arrival, while Southern patriots began to prepare for battle. Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell, captured Savannah for the British with 3,500 men, soon came under the command of Brigadier General Augustine Prevost. Savannah had been defended by the American General Andrew Williamson from South Carolina, but he withdrew from the city when Campbell approached, fighting a rear-guard action with his roughly 1,000 Georgian and South Carolinian militia men. 

The Kettle Creek battlefield, a wooded area, including “War Hill” is a 40 acre tract encircling a 500 foot high hill.  Upon the hill the War Department placed the Kettle Creek Monument in 1930.  The Georgia Historical Commission placed two historical markers in 1958 atop the hill and in 1962, 1973, and 1974 additional monuments were placed and some Revolutionary soldiers reburied atop the hill. Kettle Creek Battlefield was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on June 26, 1975.

 

 One of the things I found interesting was the placing of the crosses of where those died. As you walk the woods and see the white crosses all about, that is where they were hiding and fighting.

 "Discovering Our Heritage and History"

Georgia's Revolutionary War Trail

 

Thank you for coming along with me On the Road Friday.

 

Artisan Easter Eggs

 Using paper, decoupage medium, hot glue and embellishments

 my son and I created these fun eggs.

 Using Paper Mache  eggs was my original plan. Sadly, I could not find any in our local craft store. I did find an assortment of decorative eggs By: Ashland. This ended up being more fun because we had three sizes of eggs to work with in this assortment.

 

 Strips of old sheet music, strips of fun fabric and pretty paper were used to cover the eggs.

We used stickers, pearls, flowers, buttons and ribbon to decorate our eggs.

I tried to make a butterfly with a strip of sheet music and wire.

 This was a fun project. It does require a day for the decoupage eggs to dry before you can decorate with your embellishments.

Easter Eggs

A symbol of new life in many cultures throughout the world.

Supply List

Eggs .. Click here to see the assortment I used

Decoupage Medium

Paint Brush

Hot Glue Gun

Embellishments ..

butterflies, ribbons, buttons, pearls, stickers and flowers to name a few. 

 

 

Joy List Monday

♥ Joy List Monday ♥

a weekly ritual

a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties and graces

that make life magical and to set aside time for gratitude each day

 

 "Always time for love."

 ♥ Trying a new recipe and everyone loved it.

Stephanie at The Enchanting Rose shared this recipe on her blog.

Apple Butter Streusel Muffins

Click here for the recipe.

 

 ♥ Warm spring rain. The snow continues to melt into the ground giving us moisture for a green May.

April Showers Bring May Flowers 

 ♥ A date day with my husband. A hike in the woods, a fun lunch together and time to talk about the future, dreams, plans and our changing household.

 ♥ More seed starting.. tomatoes and more flowers.

 ♥ Kitty snuggles.. and celebrating National Siamese Cat Day on Saturday.

Penelope our rescue cat! She was found on the side of a busy highway by a co worker. She was banged up, full off ear mites and fleas. Her leg was badly wounded, grazed to the bone. She was full of love, even with all that going on with her she purred.

My co worker could not have another indoor cat. Penelope had me had the first purr!

We have enjoyed her company for 1½ years. Her personality is so much fun and so different from our other cats. It must be Siamese.

"The magic is in the mess."

♥

Carla 

April 7th ~ Happy Birthday to You!

Is a Happy Birthday to a special Wisconsin National Guardsmen.

The following photos are of Sam. The one is his official United States Army photo. The other is when he was in First Grade reading the Gettysburg Address.

 Thank you all for praying for Sam and for his family while he has been at Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and  during his AIT at Fort Gordon, Georgia.

Sam will be graduating May 8th and will be back to Wisconsin. 

He will report to the Wisconsin National Guard when he returns to receive his orders.

 

 During his time at Fort Gordon, working on his AIT he is able to have his phone, computer and can have privileges. During basic training, trainees are not allowed to have phones for 10 weeks. It is snail mail during those 10 weeks. Those trips to the mailbox and finding a letter from Sam was a special treat for this mom! Now days, I receive a "Good Morning Mom" text message and sometimes a photo too.

Happy Birthday Sam

 

Hello Neighbor

Sweet Peas and Zinnias

 Last week I was asked by our local newspaper if I would mind being featured in 

"Hello Neighbor".

It is a question and answer and it helps us all to get to know our neighbors.

I thought I would share the questions and answers here on The River.

Full name   Carla TePaske

Where do you live?  Cameron, Wisconsin

What family do you have in the area?  We do not have any family in the area. We moved to the area 20 years ago for my husband to start his career.

What is/was your career? The Little Garden That Could .. Flower Farmer / Florist 

 

Best part of your job?  I am able to spend the day outside working with flowers.

Most interesting thing that has happened on the job? Finding critters living in the garden, butterflies, bees, spiders and toads to name a few.

What is/are your favorite local event(s)? We enjoy visiting the Pioneer Village Museum.

What are your favorite travel destinations? A day visiting the shores of Lake Superior.

What are your talents/hobbies/interests? I am a Master Gardener. I enjoy gardening and creating flower bouquets.

What are some of your favorite books and movies? My favorite book is:  To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee  .. My favorite movie is: You've Got Mail

What color best describes you and why? The color green best describes me, because I enjoy growing plants.

What is your favorite genre of music and do you play instruments or sing? I enjoy several different types/styles of music. I do not play any instruments or sing.

What are three material items (not people or pets) that you can’t live without?     I can not live without soil, dirt and seeds!

What is the best meal you have ever had? Southern Fried Chicken with all the fixings. 

Do you have pets? Yes, two cats, Penelope, she is Siamese and Max a big orange cat. We just recently said good bye to our 13 year old dog, a Boston Terrier named Molly. Many of our neighbors in Cameron knew Molly from her daily walks.

Our Molly.. RIP.. she was well known in our neighborhood. Her smile cheered everyone as we went for our daily walks.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why? I would be able to look at a weed in my gardens and be able to blast it.

What is one life changing event you have experienced apart from births and marriages? Moving 20 years ago to Barron County and not knowing anyone at all and family not close by to call on for help. My husbands co workers made us feel welcome and we have made many life long friends while living here in Barron County.

Are there any words of advice you live by? The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on my life. Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so we are in charge of our attitudes.

Advice from Charles Swindoll

 It was fun answering the questions. And I agree, it is fun getting to know our neighbors.