fall morning

Richly blessed with a gorgeous foggy fall morning.

a fall family reunion...and rediscovering shrinky dinks

My sister & I hosted our Nicol family reunion yesterday.  I know that reunions are usually summertime affairs, but really a fall family reunion was delightful.  We had a potluck, with so many potato and cheese dishes, Jell-o salads, pies and even oyster dressing.  As we said on one of our Nicol-ism cards, "You might be a Nicol if your 4 food groups are:  Meat, Potatoes, Noodles & Cheese."  It's the truth in our family!

Instead of a White Elephant gift exchange, we decided to invite everyone to bring a handmade gift.  (We treated it like a White Elephant exchange however, as we drew numbers, then each person had the choice to "steal" a gift, or select a new one from the table...we got up to the number 22 before someone actually stole one!  Then the fun began...)

There was everything from jalepeno jelly, a paracord bracelet (that Young Boy made,) homemade candies, handsewn potholders & aprons, photography, handmade birdhouses and even a treetop angel.  At the end, my dad asked everyone tell who had made what...it was great to see so much talent, right there in our own family!

I took some handmade holiday ornaments for my gift.  My favorite was the one below.  It's a vintage photo of our family (waaaay back when!) printed out onto Shrinky Dinks, then shrunk into a little credit-card sized ornament.  It took a little trial & error, but it was so much fun!  Watching it shrink up in the oven, it was like I was ten again.  Might have to make some more for the holidays.

So grateful for such a warm & loving family!

a perfectly fine fall saturday

Had the best day with my sister yesterday.  An autumn day trip right in our own county.  Cooley's Greenhouse, The Cheese House, French Hen Farm and our church cemetery (I know, that last one came about as we were looking for bittersweet amongst fence rows.)  So grateful for inspiring & relaxing days!

a french hen weekend!

SO excited!  The Fall French Hen Farm Sale in Marysville, OH.  This Friday & Saturday, 9 to 5.  It promises to be glorious!  (Wishing you ladies a perfect weekend :)

Photo compliments of Linda's gorgeous blog.

gatherings magazine

Have you seen this?  Wow.

carrots!

My first-ever homegrown carrots!  Can't wait to eat that giant purple one.

a domestic day...

I was a pasta-sauce making machine today!  Yum.

8th grader

We made a deal.  I wouldn't walk him in to school today.  In exchange (for not embarrassing him,) he had to pose for a couple of photos at home.  Can't believe Young Boy is an 8th grader.

happy back to school day!

new etsy goodies

Some new sparkly magnets in the shop...enjoy the day!

happiness this morning...

I don't have a green thumb.  Never have.  So imagine my delight when things actually grow in my little garden!  It's gonna be a good day.

pretty lettering & a sweet quote

fair-goers of the great-grandparent kind

I tell him all the time..."You're so lucky to be 13 and have great-grandparents!"  Just love them all!

blue-ribbon days

What's better than a blue ribbon?  (A pink one, maybe...)

county fair time

Very proud of this young man!

super cute cupcake necklace

I had to.  (Perhaps I can blame it on the heat wave we're having...)  Just look at it, though.  A tiny sterling cupcake necklace!  What could be cuter?  Found it at Shabby Apple...an awesome site.  Hope you're all staying cool.

simple joys

Wishing you a week filled with sunshine...filled with joy.  (More Germany posts to come...in a bit.)  Enjoying summer!

grateful for freedom

germany - beer

C'mon.  It's Germany.  I had to do it.  The beer there is plentiful...and pretty.

And while in the next photos, it may appear that I am a bad mother...yes, I did let Young Boy taste it.  We were in Germany, for gracious sakes...and, he's never tried it before.  Know what?  Even though he's smiling, he hated it :)  (And those were borrowed mugs, not his own!)

I asked our hostess about drinking beer during the workday (say, on your lunch break) and she said that is quite acceptable.  Go figure.

I didn't partake in any of the golden beverage while we were there...just not my thing.  But I do appreciate the craft...it seemed as if every town had its own special brew.  Tradition...that's cool.

germany - food

Second only to the flowers...the food!  For some reason, I felt the need to photo-document most of our meals.  This proved 2 things.  #1--We ate a lot.  #2--We ate a LOT of sausage.  By my calculation...5 of us were in Germany for 10 days.  If we each ate at least one sausage per day (which I'm positive we all did!) that's more than 50 sausages, people!

Oh, and here's a fun fact that we learned.  "Traditional" German Potato Salad (which we have always served hot in the U.S.) is actually served cold / lukewarm!

Even though the lady is blurry in this photo, it's one of my favorites. The oldest sausage kitchen in Germany...in Regensberg.

Okay, it wasn't all about the sausage, sometimes we had pretzels...

 and ice cream...

 and poppyseed pastries.

Let's not forget the apple strudel!

And while we're on apples...my sweet sister really wanted a fried McDonald's Apple Pie (evidently, they bake them in the States...)

The one thing that I missed while on vacation (well, aside from my entire make-up bag that I forgot at home...) was ice.  I'm not sure why Americans put ice in their drinks, but I sure do appreciate it.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a small Starbucks "problem."  In Munich, I found a Starbucks...and ice.

Young Boy found a new cola, Schwip Schwap.

Pork cutlet cordon bleu.

Homemade NOODLES.

Beef with the tastiest horseradish sauce, boiled potatoes, carrots & onions...mmm.

The BEST meals were homemade by our lovely hostess Gini.  Cooking is a passion for her and her food tasted amazing!  Traditional German Potato Balls and Cabbage Salad with Bacon.

This Strawberry Cake with Meringue-like top melted in your mouth!

And, Homemade Spaetzle.  This dinner was so scrumptious!

For the meals in Gini's home, she set the table with white linen napkins and beautiful silver napkin rings.  I'm pretty sure that she's the German-version of Martha Stewart!  Such a gracious and talented soul.

Oh wait, found another sausage picture!