Porch Tails

Yes, I did mean to write Porch Tails...not tales! The Brickhouse Craft Shop now has a greeter...please meet Howie, the Brickhouse Greeter.

On a side note, you may notice the hair loss on Howie's belly in this picture. Howie was very sick this past Winter and he lost his hair on his belly...but it is finally growing back and he is feeling better.

This past week Howie seems to be my shadow, wherever I go so goes Howie, and this includes out to the Shop to meet our customers. Yesterday, we had some new customers stop by the Shop. We met some new friends, Emie and Dan and their 4 year old little boy, Jack, when they stopped by the Shop on Saturday. Well, Jack and Howie hit it off right away. I did not have my camera with me but wow what a picture it would have been to share with you. I was talking with Em and I looked over and saw Jack sitting on the floor right next to Howie. Jack was talking to Howie and Howie just laid there listening. Em had her camera and she was able to take some pictures and she plans on sending me the pictures. It was so nice to meet this family and we look forward to Em, Dan and Jack coming back to visit us again. I know Howie is, too.

While I was in the Shop yesterday, my sister, Darla called to tell me that she would be stopping by and she had something for me! Darla works for a local Auctioneer and she is always on the look-out for things for me. Well, she surprised me yesterday with these oil lamps!

I love oil lamps and she remember that and decide to buy these for me. And she didn't break the bank to buy them either....she paid a total of $5 for these lamps! That is a $1 a piece! I was one happy girl. Thanks so much Darla!

After we closed the Shop yesterday, Tim and I did some porch sitting. Howie joined us on the porch. He was tired from his first full day as a greeter! I went into the house to get some wine for Tim and I to enjoy on the porch. When I walked out the kitchen door and headed towards the porch of the Shop, this is what I saw....

Howie decided the he was going to sit on the glider next to Tim..what a dog!

Notice the smile on Howie's face...he thinks because he is so handsome he can get away with things like this!

The butterflies and hummingbirds were entertaining us as we sat on the porch. It was not easy to get a good picture of the Hummingbirds....if you look close you can see the bird feasting on the Bee Balm.

Not sure what type of butterfly this is but the colors are so pretty.


Tim and I and Howie, too would love to have you join us on the porch for some porch sitting.

Howie may even let you sit on the glider next to him!

Fun, Food and Friends

This past Thursday was one of the nicest days we had here in Central Pa, no humidity, no clouds and no rain. But that isn't what made my day so nice. It was having three of my good friends visit with me. TERESA and MICHELE were the first to arrive. Teresa came with more wonderful goodies that she made for The Brickhouse Craft Shop. And Michele gave me a little bowl filler that she made. Tim and I hope to have some of Michele's creations in our Shop in the very near future. Our customers are going to love what she makes! And then TARRAH arrived. Tarrah hurt her neck and she was in some pain. I really felt bad for her but I think she soon forgot about her pain in the neck!

I think the laughter that we all shared helped her forget her neck pain and also the hot sugar that was dropped on her bare foot took her mind off her neck pain.....poor Tarrah!

Teresa gave us all a lesson on making prim sugar pantry cakes. You can email me for the recipe for these or check out Teresa's blog. She has a link to it in her comments section on her blog post.

It was so much fun especially the stirring of the sugar...right Tarrah? Poor Tarrah with her sore neck stirring away and no one offering to help her....it was so funny.

Speaking of funny...Teresa stressing over the lunch that I prepared. I didn't know it but Teresa does not like tuna and I made stuffed pasta shells with tuna. I never gave it a thought that someone wouldn't like tuna...sorry Teresa. AND then she got worried when she saw my "lumpy" dressing. She was thinking it was bleu cheese dressing which she doesn't like. Well, she soon realized that it wasn't bleu cheese and she told me she liked the lunch. Boy did we laugh at that and again we laughed at poor Tarrah when she almost broke her tooth, but that's another story! Oh what fun!

Some people have been asking for the recipe for the tuna stuffed shells...well I am going to be changing the name of my recipe to Teresa's Tuna Shells with NOT bleu cheese dressing!

For the recipe... Click on this RECIPE

It really was a fun day. We laughed and just hung out and relaxed. I am looking forward to the next time we all get together.

You will want to win this!

My good friend, Beryl, is having an awesome give away on her blog....make sure you stop by and visit Beryl..tell her Patti sent you! I already feel like a winner just for knowing Beryl and for having her goodies in our Shop...She truly is a BLESSING..A SOUTHERN BLESSING!

Housekeeper and Gardener needed

It is a busy time here at The Brickhouse and our home. Tim and I have been busy making signs and birdhouses for our customers. And I am afraid to admit this but my housework has suffered. Poor Tim...well at least I have been keeping up with my cooking! But my housework, that's another story. I am thinking I need to hire a housekeeper! This is what the kitchen table looks like today. When the Shop is open I am usually in the kitchen painting signs and birdhouses.

Our Dining room floor......what a mess...but it is fun making things for our customers.

This is our dining room table today. My plan today is to get all of these signs painted and then stain. Yep, that is my plan!

My gardening has suffered, too. Now I really love to garden, but again to find the time to do it....I try to coax our customers to help me with the weeding but so far no takers! Instead of coaxing maybe I should bribe them! I just had one of our favorite customers stop by...she wanted some of my plants. I told her she could have all the weeds that she could carry....would you believe she didn't want any? I did give her a box full of plants from my garden but it didn't include any weeds! Here are some pictures from around our house and the Brickhouse....please ignore the weeds!

See the little bee on the coneflower....looks like he is enjoy a nice lunch of some sweet nectar!

Our Bee Balm is starting to bloom.

Mr Bunny standing guard over the garden.

This is my herb garden right outside of our kitchen and next to our Shop. Next year I hope to have this looking better. I am planning on re-doing this garden. If I can make some time to do it!

I just had lunch and I need to do a little commercial here. It seems lately that a lot of people have been raving about how much they like Greek Yogurt. I am not much of a yogurt person, unless it is frozen yogurt. Well, I thought I would try the Greek Yogurt and let me tell you...I LOVE IT! It is so good, I had it with some fresh blueberries for lunch today. I can now say that I love yogurt! And no I am not getting paid for this commercial endorsement!

It feels good to eat healthier and now I think I will have a little dessert........

While eating my "healthy" lunch I heard the clop clop clop of horses going by the house. I grabbed my camera and took this picture of an Amish Buggy going by our home...the picture was taken from our kitchen looking down the hall and through our front door. I love living in the country..the sights and sounds are so nice. Seeing the Amish and their slower pace in which they go about their days makes me wish for days like that.

May we all take time to enjoy a slower pace in our lives.

Too Much Porch Sittin' and ....

Not enough Blogging! Just wanted to pop in and say hi and that we are still around but just not here on our Blog...sorry! Summer time is busy time here at the Brickhouse. I wish we had more time to do some Porch sitting.... Between yard work and house work we are also working on orders for our customers. Our birdhouses and signs are popular and it seems we can never get ahead. As soon as we do, we get more orders....but we are not complaining. I wish I could clone Tim so I could have him home all day cutting wood for me! I think we are both looking forward to when he is retired and we can do this full-time.

We are in the midst of a heat wave here in Pa...it has been so hot and muggy lately. For all of you who are dealing with this heatwave, I leave you with this picture......