Monday, March 29, 2010

Footprints in our Hearts

Many people will walk in and out of your life,
but only true friends will leave footprints
in your heart.
~~~Eleanor Roosevelt~~

Saturday at The Brickhouse was a special day for Tim and I. We realized why we love having our little Craft Shop...it is all about the people we have met in the past 3 years....special people who have become our friends and the way they have made us better people. Tim and I have wonderful customers and a lot of them are like family to us. On Saturday 5 Special friends surprised us with gifts.
The first gift we received on Saturday was this:


I love these eggs...!!!!

This gift was made by Tammy. I had no idea what we did to deserve this amazing gift from Tammy, but we love it. Tammy is a a truly talented lady. She makes the best prim goodies and I am always oohing and aahing over her creations. I am trying to talk her in to selling her wares in our Shop, I know our customers would love her goodies as much as I do. I had the chance to meet Tammy's mother and she is a beautiful lady just like Tammy. And then there is Tammy's daughter who is so nice and she is like our "adopted" daughter. Lauren is proud of her mom, Tammy, and she always tells me what her mom is creating and if I am lucky, Lauren will bring the goodies into the Shop to show me what her mom made for her. Tammy, THANK you for the Easter Gift! You have left your footprint in our hearts.

So I told you that there were 5 Special people that surprised Tim and I on Saturday...here are the other special people.

Let me introduce these special ladies. Starting on the left meet Miss Alaina, next is Miss Brianna, in the middle is Miss Stephanie and then there is Miss Destiny.

I love these young ladies! If I were to have daughters, I would want them to be just like these young ladies. They are the nicest, most well~mannered and God~loving people you could ever meet. We have known them for a few years now. I remember the very first time that they stopped by the Shop and they always amaze me. They are always thinking about other people and they love buying gifts for their family members. I have never heard them argue and they treat each other with so much respect. Their parents did an amazing job raising their girls!

On Saturday evening after we closed the Shop, Tim and I were sitting in the Shop relaxing and talking. A car pulls up to the Shop and in walks my favorite girls with big smiles on their faces. They presented Tim and I with a HOMEMADE CARROT CAKE and A BEAUTIFUL HAND PAINTED sign.

We didn't know what we did to deserve such a wonderful gift...It sure left BIG footprints in our heart..lots of footprints! The cake was one of the best carrot cakes we have ever had and the sign was perfect! Alaina was the baker, she made the yummy cake. Thank you Alaina it was SO GOOD! The frosting and the sprinkles were so pretty and we were told that Destiny was in charge of decorating the cake....Destiny you did a great job..the cake was so pretty....just like you..Thank you Destiny. The sign was designed and painting by the artist of the family, Stephanie. Stephanie is going to be a famous artist someday...I know it! Thank you so much Stephanie for the pretty sign...you're very special! And last but not least is Brianna....she just got her driver's license and she was the chauffeur...she did a great job delivering the cake....the cake arrived all in one piece! LOL...Brianna you are a wonderful young lady...I love your smile.... thank you for the hugs that you gave to Tim and I. That meant a lot to us!

I am not sure what we did to deserve the gifts from all of these special people but we treasure them and treasure the friendship. Tammy, Brianna, Alaina, Stephanie and Destiny THANK you all for your friendship and your gifts. You put smiles on our faces and footprints in our hearts!

For all our readers of our blog, may you all go out this week and leave footprints in another person's heart.

~~Patti~~

Friday, March 26, 2010

Busy Day!

I love days like this in the Shop. I have been busy since I opened this morning. Lots of customers/friends that I haven't seen in awhile are coming out of hibernation and stopping by The Brickhouse. AND lots of new customers, too! I had two special visitors at the Shop today. Pat and her husband, Zip drove up from Newburg to visit the Shop. It was so nice seeing Pat again and meeting her husband....two really nice people. I met Pat at Grant Street Woolworks during my day out with Tarrah and Teresa. You can check out Pat's blog HERE. I just wished that I would have had more time to spend with them. They were on their way to met with another fellow blogger, BARB. And then they were heading up to Gratz to check out TARRAH'S Open House. I am so jealous I wish that I could go to the Open House but I have to be here for my customers. I talked with Tarrah this morning and the way she described everything it sounded so nice. Oh and Tarrah told me that her computer crashed, so if anyone is trying to contact her and she doesn't get back to you that is the reason. Poor Tarrah is going through blog withdrawal!
I want to share some random shots from The Brickhouse.Please stop by and visit us.






Our Shop may be small but it is filled with lots of great handmades and I think there is good karma or something like that in the Shop because a lot of times when people visit us they never want to leave. So many of our customers tell us that they want to move in! There is something about the Shop because at night when we close, Tim and I will spend an hour or two just sitting in the Shop talking and relaxing...and for The Porch Sitting..well everyone that drives by and sees us Porch Sittin' knows that we spend a LOT of time on the porch. When you stop by to visit us feel free to spend some time porch sittin'!
Have a wonderful weekend.
~~Patti~~






















Thursday, March 25, 2010

What's New at The Brickhouse.


My good friend, Tarrah made me this wonderful chalkboard tray for my Birthday. Thank you Tarrah, I love it! She shared on her blog other trays that she made. You can check them out on her BLOG. She is so talented. And for my friends that live locally that read my blog, Tarrah and Bob will be having an Open House this weekend. So if you are in Gratz make sure to stop by Tarrah's home and see all her handmades and Bob's pottery.
More Bunnies from Beryl. We sold out of the first ones we received from Beryl, so I asked her to make some more for our customers. Thank you Beryl!


I LOVE LOVE LOVE these stars made by Beryl!



More handmades from my friend, Beryl......I LOVE these crow make~do's!

And finally cute Amish bowl fillers handmade by Beryl.

Thanks for stopping by the Porch...please stop by again to see what is happening at The Brickhouse.

~~Patti~~

Monday, March 22, 2010

Lazy Monday

It has been such a dreary day here in PA. After the BEAUTIFUL weekend we just had, today's rain was a bummer..but at least we had a nice weekend. It was a day where I felt like being lazy and believe me I was! It feels good to have a lazy day every once in awhile. I spent most of the day doing some serious research on the computer. I am planning on making something for our customers at The Brickhouse and I am excited about it. Once I get everything all set and I make my first one THEN I will share with all of you what it is I am planning on making...I can't wait!! I still have lots of research to do on certain things and then the next step is to get my supplies...I am so impatient and I want to jump right in and buy everything so I can get started, but I am learning to be patient and do just a little more research and then I will share with all of you what I am going to do. I was so focused on my research today that I almost forgot about Howie's Vets appointment...We made it just in time for his appointment. He was spoiled today by the staff and by a man who was there for his cat's appointment. He gave Howie a great back rub and lots of treats....Howie was loving all the attention! The Vet was impressed with how well Howie is doing with his treatment. And to think that a couple of months ago I thought we would lose Howie...but I think he is really going to be ok. Can you see the scar on his nose? It is from the swelling that he had before he started the steriods. I think the scar makes him look like a tough dude dog!

We have been getting new goodies delivered almost daily here at The Brickhouse. I will be taking pictures this week and I will share them with you. And I want to get some pictures of the Shop since we changed things around. We have been getting compliments from our customers on how much they like the changes. So if you are in the area make sure you stop by and say hi. If I am in the kitchen I will be able to see you as you arrive at The Brickhouse...this is the view from my kitchen window..


Thanks for stopping by our blog. I hope you all have a great week and take time to enjoy a lazy day every once in awhile....!



~~Patti~~



Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Porch Sitting Weather!

Come on and have a seat on our porch. Enjoy the sunshine which has been a rare site the last couple of days.

What a beautiful day here in Central PA! And it is only suppose to get better by this weekend. It is amazing what a little sunshine can do for my mood and my energy. I have been cleaning and organizing today. I have been bringing things up from the basement and putting them back on to our porches. I have a feeling Tim and I may be doing some major porch sitting this weekend!



The Shop is looking good if I have to say so myself! Now I can't wait till our customers see the changes. We are open today but it has been a slow day at The Brickhouse. I think that maybe everyone is doing the same things that I have been doing today...cleaning and sprucing up their homes and yards. Lets hope they get all their work done this week so they can come and shop this weekend! I hope that in your neck of the woods you are enjoying this sunshine. AND if you are in my neck of the woods, please stop by The Brickhouse we would love to see you and maybe we could do some porch sitting!
~~Patti~~

Monday, March 15, 2010

What I much rather be doing.....

Eating these....While reading these....

But first I have to do this.......




We are rearranging the Shop and what a mess I have out there. But it is looking so much better. We moved a lot of things around. I am thinking of it as doing our Spring Cleaning except it feels more like Winter outside. Tomorrow I hope to work on the porch and change things around. I will post pictures once I get finished. I am so tempted to just sit down and eat a few of these yummy peanut butter Easter eggs and read my magazines. The Country Living just arrived in my mailbox along with a new magazine....Flea Market Style.
I need to thank Judy from The Cinnamon Stick for the FLEA MARKET SYTLE magazine. I had such a hard time finding a copy and Judy was so nice to send me a copy. Thank you Judy. And Thank you for the nice Easter tag and the sheep confetti..so cute!
And I need to thank my neighbor, Millie, who stopped by this morning while I was in the Shop to drop off these yummy peanut butter Easter Eggs..SO FAR I have had only ONE..they are so good!

Well, my break is over and it is time for me to get back out to the Shop.
Have a great week.
~~Patti~~

Saturday, March 13, 2010

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

I should say, "Howie, I have a feeling we're not in Millersburg anymore." WOW is it ever windy here in Millersburg, PA. I won't embarrass Tim by telling you how the wind knocked him over this morning...poor guy! (it was funny, though!) And I just noticed that the wind knocked over our basketball hoop. I hope we don't lose power...it is SO WINDY!
The Brickhouse is open today if anyone is brave enough to venture out to visit us!

The other day when my box of goodies arrived from Beryl I was so excited to take pictures to show all of you on our blog. Well, after I saw the pictures posted on the blog I thought I should retake one picture. The quilt bag with the stars and crows was bunched up from it's long trip to PA from AL. In my excitement to share my goodies with all of you I quickly snapped a picture of it in it's bunched up state...so here is a much better picture of it.
And Beryl made this heart that we have on an old rusty spring...I really love how this looks!


We want to thank all of our friends that follow our blog. Tim and I have met some of you and we hope to meet many more of you. So please stop by The Brickhouse or email us...we would love to hear from you. We hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Please stop by again for some more porch sitting.

~~Patti~~

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Come and See What is New!

If you follow our blog you know that Tim and I are always bragging about our wonderful friends that create amazing crafts for our Shop...well here we are bragging again! Miss Linda made these great bonnets....so very prim. I am thinking about keeping the blue one for myself!

I love how they look hanging from this hay rake.

And then today I got a big box from Miss Beryl. It was like Christmas morning when the box arrived because I had no idea what was going to be in the box. I love everything that Beryl makes so I told her to surprise me and make whatever she wanted for our Shop. AND she did surprise me! I love everything!
This quilted bag holding a crow and stars on sticks is so neat!
Awesome bowl fillers!
This Bunny is so darn cute! UPDATE: JUST SOLD HIM.....see I told you things will not last..so get here quick!

Sunflower on old wooden bobbin.

This doll is SO WONDERFUL..great job Miss Beryl!

Cute bunny holding an Easter egg garland...cute!

Bunny on Spools..so cute!

I love this angel!

A BIG thank you to Miss Linda and Miss Beryl for being such great friends and wonderful crafters! Tim and I love you and so do our customers! Make sure you stop by The Brickhouse this weekend and see what is new....these goodies will not last long!