Witches Hollow

Hello friends,

Halloween is tomorrow, and Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here soon. 

 It's a wonderful time of year!

 

Come enjoy our witches hollow,

 

Jackie, Brenda, Natalie, and Joanne

 

River Cruise Relief

 

Hello my friends,

 

I've been away way too long.  I'm excited to be back sharing with you!

 

Many of you know that I was diagnosed with brain cancer last Oct.  I had surgery in Nov. and my cancer doctors have me get MRI's quite regularly.  So far, good; but about a month ago the images were not so good.  They couldn't confirm that it was the cancer growing back or just inflammation.

 

A pic to break up the monotony.  I loved that our cruise director, Britta grabbed Jan's (my friend) phone and snapped this of us!

 

 

My friend, Jan (with one n)  :) invited us to go on a river boat cruise with her and her hubby.  We booked it a long time before I was diagnosed.  I wasn't sure we would be able to go.  Especially, when two of my drs.  said the same thing.

 

Thank goodness for the power of prayer.  I felt in my heart that we should.  I know hubby was worried, but all went well!!

 

We cruised from Amsterdam to Budapest for 18 days.  It was just what I needed!  It revived my soul!! 

 

 I loved the windmill tour and all of the welcoming!

 

 

It was interesting to learn that they really do farm and garden in wooden shoes.

 

 

 

 Even the cows wear wooden shoes in North Holland.  I couldn't help but smile!

 

Hubby suggested I wear his hat.  What do you think?

 

The flowers throughout the towns were so beautiful!  I love the window boxes hanging on the homes.

 

 

A beautiful artichoke blossom.

 

 

Colorful houses in a German town.

 

 

 This padlock bridge of love blew my mind!  I've seen quite a few of them, but never as many padlocks as this one.

 

 

Sweet whimsy of a painted path.  Don't you love all of the cobblestone and brick paths?

 

 

It wouldn't be England without tea.  This was a fun window display!  Sadly, it was Sunday so it was closed.  I could only enjoy the scene from outside.

 

 

Luckily, we had a wonderful tea on the boat!  We had celebrated Bavarian Day.  They put out a delicious

 spread at 1 p.m. for lunch.   At 3 they hosted a tea.  Oh my gosh, they had so much yummy food.  Problem is, we were all still full from lunch.  I still had to try a few.  Posing with some of the staff is always a highlight.  They work so hard!

 

 

Our boat had a lot of Aussies on it.  They were so comical!  The gal in the yellow pants was from Florida, but joined in with them.

 

 There is so much eye candy in all of the quaint towns!

 

A sweet welcome on a home door.

 

 

I love the metal yellow planters!

 

 

 

 

Silly Jan having fun at the flower market. 

 

 

Of course we saw lots of castles and churches.  But that's for another post.

 

I hope you enjoyed what made me happy!

 

To be honest, 18 days was a bit long for hubs and I, but I would recommend a river cruise if you ever get a chance.

 

hugs,

 

 

Now for a happier note, I had another MRI this week and the images were much better.  Almost all of the white was gone.  God is watching over me!!



Cutest Cushion!

Hello my friends,

have you ever felt a connection from the get go with somebody even though they live miles and miles away?

That's how it was with me when I discovered sweet Kim from 

Sarah Lizzies

Talented Kim lives down under in Derby Tasmania, Australia.

But believe me, she is no Tasmanian devil.  In fact, she is quite the complete opposite.  An angel of a gal is she!!

Everything Done Wright!

 

Hello my friends,

on Saturday I attended the "Hidden Garden" tour with three of my friends.

 

It was not one of their best years, but the Wright garden did everything right in my book!  :)

 

Grandma Zetta's Cupboard

Hello my friends,

 

I remember as a child loving the circus, and I even took my own kids to see what it felt like to be under the "big top".

 

Ringling Brothers B&B Circus

One of the world’s longest-running entertainment franchises, the Ringling Brothers B&B Circus promises an unforgettable day out for the whole family. Since the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circuses joined forces in 1919, this mammoth traveling circus company has been delighting fans around the world with its cast of talented performers. From the hilarious antics of comedic clowns to the inspiring feats of strongmen, every act featured on the Ringling Brothers B&B tour guarantees you’ll be on the edge of your seat until the final curtain drops.

But as I got older I fell out of love and decided that clowns are actually a bit scary!

(may have something to do with a scary clown movie or two)

 

 

Do any of you feel this way?

 

Well, be prepared to fall in love again!!

 

My friend, Shirley from Zettas Aprons happens to love the circus.  In fact, she told me she has become even more obsessed with it since they have outlawed the use of elephants and that '2017' will be it's final year.

 

She has been creating the most fabulous circus pieces.  Recently she decided to house them in an old yellow cupboard she inherited from her Grandma Zetta.

 

 

She has the most amazing mind and the things that she comes up with are simply fantastic!

 

For example, she spied the clown Salty and Peppy shakers at one of our estate sales.  I thought she would just add them to her display.  But no, she had to create something with them.

 

Using fun animals and the shakers she concocted a circus train.  She's always on the look out for tins to create scenes in.  The Quik-Seal is absolutely perfect!

 

 

Friends that know her love for the circus will send her things now and then.  This sweet shadow box was gifted to her.

 



 

I too have contributed to her collection.  I first met her when I gifted her a vintage tin top with a circus theme.  I also spied the little clown in the chair and knew it had to go to Shirley's house.  He was so ugly that he was cute!!  :)

 

She never passes up a Circus Peanuts tin!

 

 

 

When I spied the funny bear (or is it a monkey) blow horn at Aunt Bunnies estate, I knew exactly who would be buying it.

 



 

She adds party hats and collars to vintage animals.

 

 

She's also has found some fabulous circus themed tin toys!

 

 

 Another peek at the train.

 

No animal is undressed!

 



One of the things she creates that I absolutely adore are her tin scenes.  Many of these are small Altoid tins.

She makes the most magnificent scenes in the tiniest of spaces!

 



 

It's so fun to be with her when she finds something to create with.  You can just see her mind working!  For instance, last week at our estate sale she spied a round tea cozy.  She opened it up and squealed.  Then she quickly revealed to us that it would make the most fabulous steam punk googles. . .only Shirley!! (wink)

 

I think Grandma Zetta's cupboard is loving these darling circus creations made by her granddaughter!

 

 

And here's the genius behind it all. . .Shirley.

 

 



I hope you have had fun!

 

Her circus obsession does not stop here.  She has also created a "Halloween", a "Christmas", and "4th of July" themed circus.

 

How about you, do you love or hate the circus?

 

hugs,

Jann

I will be sharing with these fun parties: 
Vintage Charm




Fall Tea and Open House of Hilltop Cottage

Hello my friends,

 

If there is one thing this gal loves, it's a party!

 

SO

 

when many of my friends mentioned on fb that they wanted to come tour 'Hilltop Cottage' I decided to throw a Fall Tea last Saturday.  It was a beautiful day and the weather could not have been any nicer!

 

 

 

My friend, Kimi took this photo the day of the tea and shared it on Instagram.  I loved how she got some of the

tea party in the foreground!

 

I had lots of offerings to help with the food, but I told them that this was my treat and I wanted them to just come and enjoy.

 

My friend, Ann however came early and helped me set up.  She truly was a life saver.  Lately I don't realize that things take me longer than they use to.  Lots of the food needed to be assembled at the last minute and I could not have done it without her help!

 

I brewed raspberry sun tea the day before with tea I bought on my spring trip to South Carolina.  Ann recently gave me the cute drink dispenser for my birthday.  Of course we needed some vintage glasses.  My friend, Joanne found these at a thrift shop recently.  Knowing that I was hosting this tea she sent me a photo asking if I would like them.  At first I said, 'no'; but then changed my mind.  lol!  So glad I did.

 

 

Finger foods consisted of:

 

 

 Cucumber sandwiches. . .using the recipe that you get if you google "best cucumber sandwiches".  I've made them twice and I truly do think they are the best!  You marinate the cucumbers overnight and they are so yummy!  The first time I made it just like the recipe and it was too much garlic, (and I love garlic).  The second time I omitted the garlic salt in the spread.

 

 

Ham and turkey rollups. . .stuffed with cream cheese and pickled asparagus.

 

Red pepper relish over cream cheese.  A yummy appetizer served with crackers that I bottle every year because my family

loves it so much.



 

Some of my homemade salsa with chips.  I walked by the cheese balls at Walmart and just had to buy them for the fun factor.  :)

 

I also made mini cream puffs filled with chicken salad, but I guess I failed to get a photo.

 

I went a little overboard with the goodies.  You know how it is, you get started and you just can't stop.  lol!

 

Peach muffins

Apple crisp

Pumpkin bread and magic cookie bars.



 

caramel popcorn, brownies, apple crisp, and peach muffins (again)

And it wouldn't be fall at our house with out caramel apple bites

 

and

 

licorice caramels.

 

If you're interested, I shared the recipes for both in

 Wonderfully Wicked Treats

 

Here are a few new additions to Hilltop Cottage since I posted about her last.

 

Hubby added the small pergola over the porch area.

 

 

She got a new sign proudly sharing her name.

inspired by one I had seen on Magpie Ethyl blog.  I drew out the arrow and my friend, Amanda's husband cut it out for me.  then I printed letters out on the computer and cut them into a stencil. 

 

 

A shelf made from an old shutter and some architectural pieces I picked up at an estate sale has been added over two of the windows.  It was perfect for showing off my cooler collection!

 

Roses have been hung up to dry and a cute banner made from cards gifted to me by my friend, Ann.

 



 

 

 One of my favorite new additions is the chandy.  Not wired yet, (hopefully next year), but it sure is cute!  I bought more bulbs, but hadn't got around to putting them in yet.  (real life)  :)

 

 

 The sliding barn door and painting is all finished.  Hallelujah on the painting.  A glorious day indeed!! Painting under the eaves was not a fun job!!  I still want to add a handle to the door and a grow box will be built to the side of it for growing pumpkins. 

 Can't wait!!

 

 

 I had fun adding fall touches.

And I finally found a place to hang my old scale that my daughter, Karrah and her hubby, Jayson gifted me a few years ago.

 



 

Life is good at "hilltop cottage"  She spreads a little happiness to me every time I walk out into the back yard!

This is going to be an extra long post.  I want to document my friends and family that attended the tea.  Feel free to hurry on by.

 

Joyce and Kathy (sisters and long time friends)

Jan (long time friend) and her daughter, Kassy

 

Karrah, (my daughter), Tracy, (my dil), Brenda, Nichole, (my daughter), Jeanna, and Kylee, (my daughter).  Brenda and Jeanna are Nicholes good friends.

Cheers!!

Saydee, Jordyn, (granddaughters); Ajia (Brenda's daughter), and Braxton, (grandson).  Some boys are not too cool to attend tea parties!  Good for you Brax!!

Kathy and Amy ( a sweet friend from my old neighborhood)

 

 Alice, (friend from previous home) and Debra (long time club friend)

 

Roylene, (long time club friend), my sister Jeanne, and her good friend, Susan.

Shirley (we met through our blogs), and Kimi, (we met through an accuaintance and Instagram)



Cindy (long time friend from our very first home), and her daughter, Kari; and granddaughter, Kali.

Cindy, a friend of Jill (my quilt guild friend)

 

Kate, a friend of Joanne's (an Instagram friend)

Long time friends, Ann, Peggy, and Amanda.

Dana, (Amiee's mother in law) Amiee is a neighbor friend.

/

Karen, (a friend I met through Joanne, and Cathy (my neighbor friend).



 

I had my friends sign my garden book.  I will treasure their comments!!

 

My sister, Julie and her friend; Paula also attended.  I can't believe I missed getting their photo!!

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed the tour and fall tea!

 

hugs,

Jann


I will be sharing with these lovely parties: 


 Bernideens Tea Time blog for Friends Sharing Tea