Farmhouse Porch

Spring is so brilliant and so special, especially after a long, gray winter.

It's always a pleasure to get back outside and ready the porch for the summer season.

So now that it's done, I thought I'd share with you.

I got out the old washtubs again, and this year, I used the bottom shelf, which now looks less awkward than sitting empty.  

In the washtubs are some nice full geraniums.  Someone had asked if I planted the flowers in the washtub.  They are not.  This is a couple of potted geraniums sitting up on a brick so the pots sit high enough to see the flowers.

I keep a cute little enamelware dishpan on the table with water in it for JuneBug.  I think the birdies might eventually find it and don't know what I'll do then, especially since JuneBug is such a good hunter girl.  :(

I just love the old Spirit of  '76 flag flyin' in the wind.
I usually fly two flags, one on the front and side railing each.  
So one of the flags is always 1776.

Come sit, down, let's rock and chat a spell!

How have you been?

I've missed you!

When You Really Need Cushions

What do you do when you're too cheap to pay the big money for cushions for your wicker chairs?

Well, if you're me, you improvise.

 Throw rug is a homemade rag rug I got for $1 at a garage sale, 

a favorite that is a treat to pull out to use for the summer.

What I did is bought four pillow shams for my wicker that match my porch decor at Pottery Barn outlet for $7 each.  Then I got some old pillows out of the attic.

The shams are a blue gingham with red trim!  PERFECT!  I found them in the kid's section late this winter.  I had this use in mind when I found them. 

This crochet rag rug is a favorite, bought it filthy dirty at a garage sale for $1 and have had it for years, 

I save it just for the porch in summer. 

WAY cheaper than buying ready-made lawn-furniture cushions that I never can find in the colors I need for our Old Centennial Farmhouse front porch.

Sometimes, they're thrown on the chairs in this direction, sometimes the opposite, but one thing for sure, they're comfortable and home-y and they fit the need I have for very little money.

I can wash them whenever I need to and the bonus is that 

June-Bug loves them, she's always curled up in a cushion for her nap.

Meow!  JuneBug says HOWDY!

XOXO

Spring has come to Michigan

We are finally getting outside to get some things done.  Winter lasted a long time!  Our garden will be larger this year.  Will yours be larger as well?

CPAC 2013

Steven Crowder and I.

You often hear Wayne Dupree on Sean Hannity's show, he has a blog called News Ninja 2012.  He is a great guy and after following him on Facebook for years, I finally met him!  

He just taped a Glenn Beck show today!

OH HOW I WISH!  I love the Breitbart News Network.  I visited quite a while at this table.  I also attended the "UNINVITED" panel discussion that was not allowed on the CPAC Schedule--a subject they seem to want to avoid which is the Islamic infiltration of the United States.  That is also on YOUTUBE.

This is Dan Bongino, another great patriot.  If you don't know who he is, look him up on YOUTUBE.  He is a former Secret Service agent that could not keep working for this President as he had in the past.  He left to do something to save this country, and is patriotic in every way, and is a fiery speaker, a plain spoken patriot.  He is going places, I can tell you.  Keep your eye on him!

This sweet girl's name is Paula.  She came from Canada with an American friend to CPAC.  She was raised in Argentina but her family decided to leave when Communism took that country.  She visited quite a while, after she asked to borrow my charger for her phone, so we sat by the outlet for a while.

Paula cannot believe that our country would settle for such a president, and she says our country is going the way of Argentina and giving up our freedom so easily.  She said our country is the only one in the world with a bill of rights, why would we give that up?!  

She told me that if America stays great, she would one day like to become an American, but is extremely frustrated at the direction we are going.  She admires our freedoms and envies them, and wonders why we cannot see the direction our great country is going.  She said one sign we should have rejected Obama is because the rest of the world loves him.

Wise beyond her years.  But when you have to leave your family and homeland to leave Communism, it gives her a special insight into where we are going.

Artur Davis is another great speaker, a former Democrat from the state of Alabama.  He gave a speech advocating freedom and American exceptionalism. ALL SPEECHES LOCATED ON YOUTUBE.

I met my friend Tanya at CPAC, someone I'd known for several years on Facebook, but had never met in person.  We are patriots, writers with defiance in our "pens" -- which is the keyboard.  There are MANY women like us that are giving of our time to the effort to save our nation from the forces of tyranny!

 I even got to meet Col. Allen West.  He is a humble and kind man. 

And Sarah did not disappoint, she gave a barn-burner of a speech, poking the mainstream media all the way through!

Ted Cruz!  Love this man and am so proud of him!  He makes me wish I was from Texas!

Steven Crowder:  you remember him, the guy who got beat up by a union thug in Lansing, MI during the "right to work" legislative fight.  

Ms. Schlafly gave a great speech about the losers that the GOP hands us to vote on. Her age allows her to be a little more plain-spoken I think than someone younger, but I loved it!

David Webb!  

RAND PAUL is very popular, this was the week immediately following the 13-hour filibuster which was quite buoyant for Conservatives.  I feel he has the youth vote and that he will be a contender for the presidency.

IN THE GOP LOUNGE AREA!

AND ... I saved the best for last!  Dr. Benjamin Carson!  

He is as nice and humble and kind as can be!  He is the real deal, that is why the liberals hate him so much already!  He signed books for a long time and was the longest line in the place!

ONE NOTE:  There was a GREAT turnout at the convention of young people.  I was very encouraged by that.  Some of the nicest looking kids you'd ever want to meet!

I Went to Washington, D.C. & Met Hillbilly Debutante!

This lady is as sweet as she looks and she is as cute as a button.  

And you should see her drive that little six-speed Mini-Cooper around the city in all that traffic!  She is impressive, let me tell you!

(I am a country bumpkin and I must apologize to Kathie for all the times I said "They're going to hit you!"  Or..."That car is in your lane!"  Poor Kathie!)  

She and her family were welcoming and kind.  I enjoyed talking with Kathie's husband Jay because he is a politically-oriented man, having spent much of his career in Washington, DC.  I could talk to him all day!  And, I do apologize if I yammered too much, Jay!

If this car isn't Kathie, I don't know what is!

Cute, cute, cute!

This restaurant is that owned by Kathie's daughter and son-in-law and is as adorable as can be.  It also has very delicious food and was a true treat for me. When I'm with my guys (only guys left at home now!) they would never choose a restaurant like this one, but oh, what heaven it was!

We don't eat out much and I truly enjoyed this place, the food is gourmet and the presentation is artwork.  I enjoyed visiting with Kathie at this restaurant and the other restaurant her son-in-law and daughter own called Polpo.  Polpo was in Georgetown, I think.  If you're in the area, I HIGHLY recommend these two restaurants.  At Floriana, they bread and pesto they bring out for you to begin your meal with is incredible! 

Last weekend, I went to CPAC.  I stayed with Kathie of Hillbilly Debutante fame.  (Her blog is here.)  You know the gal who wrote the book "False Victim" and Hillbilly Debutante Cafe!  

(Her books are here and here.)

I was so excited I couldn't sleep the night before.

It was like Christmas when I was a kid!

I've never been to Washington, DC and it was so exciting!

The Jefferson Memorial made me cry.  When you walk up to it, you can't see his statue, it's situated where it's hidden until you walk in.

I don't know why but instantly, tears came into my eyes.

The place was filled with kids on a tour and they were loud and obnoxious and they probably thought I was nuts, but this just got to me.  Mostly because, I think that Jefferson understood the most what happens when government becomes to powerful, we have most definitely let him down.  

This sits on its own out toward the bridge going over the river, and it's by itself.  It was my favorite stop and at night there, it's even more impressive somehow because it stands out in the darkness...like our country once did.

We didn't do the "tourist" thing, but Kathie knows the area and drove me around in her cute little Mini-Cooper (six-speed) to see the famous sites from the car window and she showed me the highlights of DC and different neighborhoods like Georgetown.

I even got to to Mt. Vernon.

We got here in a little more than an hour before they closed -- I got to see the highlights and we are going to plan a trip back to the area to see more of the historical sites and spend more time exploring.  What a beautiful area!  

Photos were not allowed in Mt. Vernon itself.  But I snapped this one as I was walking in from that back porch -- it was thrilling to know that I walked where George Washington and many other of our Founding Fathers had been.  Isn't this wood beautiful?

On the back porch, facing the Potomac, was a long line of thirty-some chairs for all the entertaining that the Washington's did at their home.  These are replicas of the original chairs, even so, they are from the late 1800's.

It was pretty special to walk where so many of our nation's founders may have been.  The lady who took this photo was a homeschooler there with her three daughters.  I could tell they were exceptional and guessed they were homeschooled before I even talked to them.  This lady had her three daughters and had come clear from Texas with a camper and they were headed north to Pennsylvania the weekend I met them.  This family was a true pleasure to talk to.  The kids never watch TV and have a lot of hobbies and know how to do many things.  The oldest had graduated and this was her senior trip! How cool is that?!

Soon, I will share some of the photos from my time at CPAC for you.  What an awesome weekend!  I met so many interesting people and have some good stories to tell!  See you soon!