Howdy gals! Oh my goodness thank y’all so much for sharing your wonderful summertime memories and ideas! I’ve had so much fun reading them! Each one took me on a delightful armchair-vacation as I read about your adventures down on the farm, at the beach and at your picnics! The recipes look yummy and your tips were great! I haven’t picked the winners yet…but very soon!
Spring has sprung outside but I have been plugging away in my office working on the last few pages of my Summertime book Watermelon & Fireflies! It has been so much fun putting this together! If you love old-fashioned ways….vintage images…yummy comfort food…charming quotes…simple pleasures…family joys…farmgirl style…then you’re gonna hoot ‘n’ holler when you see it! I still have a little ways to go before it’s ready. Like Goldilocks said, it needs to be “just right!”.
I have to say that I am so ready to get to my spring cleaning! But since my book is all about Summertime and the summer season is just around the corner I have to put my urges to feather my nest on the back burner for just a week or two until I finish it! Oooooo! that’s hard! Especially when the sun is shining, the weather is warm and I want to unclutter, lighten and brighten my rooms!
When my book is completed, I am going to start my spring cleaning by clearing out my cupboards and closets. Then I’ll move into each room to clear out the clutter! You know, in the wintertime I tend to hunker down and snuggle in because of the extreme cold. The fire is burning, soup is simmering, I do a little baking…all those things that bring warmth, comfort, and coziness to my home.
Well, things start to accumulate and then clutter happens….and clutter brings chaos. So come spring, I’m so motivated to fling open the windows and get busy making my home look, feel and smell sun-fresh and scrubbed clean! Springtime is so refreshing!
I want to paint things milk-white! I have a few pieces like this buffet that is begging to get that farm-fresh look. I do like the wood stain but I’m thinking it’s time for a change…what do you think?
I want to go to this cooking school! Last year Silver Dollar City (a very fun amusement park set in the 1800’s, in Branson MO., just 10 minutes from my home) built this darling farmhouse to hold cooking and craft classes. I went last summer to a class and loved it!
The cooking instructor is Debbie Dance Uhrig and she is such a fun happy lady!
If you get there early you can sit up close and watch her prepare yummy dishes! Afterward you get to sample them! 
They have several classes available such as Springtime Country Cookin’, Ozark Mountain Dinner, Chuck Wagon Dinner, Dinner In A Bag, and the Taste of Home award-winning birthday cake recipe and demonstration. This year Silver Dollar City is turning 50 years old, so in celebration Taste of Home conducted a contest for the yummiest cake Ev-ah! I like cake, so that’s one class I need to go to. During the Fall and Christmas time, the classes are geared toward holiday cooking. So fun!
Of course while I’m at Silver Dollar City I’ll want to embrace the down-home charm of it all by staying the whole day!
Ashley age 5
But the biggest reason why I want to finish my book Watermelon & Fireflies ASAP….is to have my hands free to hold the baby of my baby! Ashley is due May 25 and I am soooooooooooooo excited!!! There’s a little boy named Johnny that’s gonna need a lot of kissing and holding!
So until then, I will keep myself busy adding the final touches to my Summertime book!
Before I say tootles…I want to invite y’all to leave me a question for an upcoming Question and Answer post. Unfortunately, I’m not always able to answer your questions so here is your chance!
Grab my Summer Ebook here!
God Bless you Sugar Pie Sistas!
Aunt Ruthie
Ring-a-ling! Oh, howdy Sugar Pies! Have I got news for you! For several months now I have been busier than a queen bee in springtime working on a project that I’m going to launch sometime in June! Yes-sir-ee! I am so excited to announce that I am writing a book that you will be able to download instantly and print it from your own computer. At some point in the future I hope to have it published and available on Amazon, but for now, my Sugar Pie Sistas will have first access to my book that is filled with ideas galore!
This book is all about the BeAuTiFuL, wArM and WoNdeRFuL, good old Summertime! It’s bursting at the seams with ideas, recipes, homemaking and decorating tips, quotes and fun memory making things to do with your family to have the best sun-shiny summer Ev-Ah!
My Summertime book is jam-packed with the kind of delightful images that you find here on my blog! It’s full of nostalgia and sweet simple pleasures that I know will warm your heart. Each page will take you on a stroll down memory lane where the watermelon is ice-cold, the fresh peach pie is cooling on the window sill and the fire-flies dance in the moonlight. It’s down-home goodness at best! I gave my sister a sneak-peek and she said “It’s darling! The colors and design remind me of a vintage kitchen tablecloth”. Hey, I like that!
Laura Ingalls Wilder said “It’s easy to have fun if you plan for it” which is so true, the joys of summer can pass us by before we know it if we are not intentional about planning for them. Of course fun moments can happen anytime, but if we are too distracted or feeling discontented we can miss those golden blessings that come our way. We need to be deliberate about living life to the fullest! My book is all about planning for a bumper crop of summer joy!
Guess what Sugars? There’s more good news! I am going to have a contest and give my Sugar Pie Sistas an opportunity to contribute to my book! If you have a summertime idea, tip, memory, tradition, Quick recipe, things that you LoVe about summer, leave me a comment and I will select a few to add to my book with your name and blog link with it. This is a great way for you to get your name out there in print and it would be a wonderful addition to my book to have a few of my Sugar Pie sista’s featured! If your idea is selected then you will receive a FREE download of the book! I will announce the winners in an upcoming blog post.
Got farm memories? Perhaps you have a delightful memory of going to grandma and grandpa’s farm when you were just a youngin’, or maybe you grew up on a farm and have a summer memory to share…I would love to read about it!
Got fun family traditions? Something silly, happy, or heartwarming? Perhaps you have some great Family Reunion tips, or a funny short story about a beloved aunt, uncle or grandparent. Any memories of church picnics? Fun Activities for kids?
Got picnic or camping tips? Quick summer recipes? What brings you joy in the summertime? What are your favorite sights, smells, sounds and tastes of summer? Share your list of summertime favorites!
Oh my! I can’t wait to read your ideas!
To get y’all in the Summertime mood…here are a few of my favorite goodies that get me just giddy about celebrating summer…
The Driving Miss Daisy Sound Track! Of course I love the Movie too! There is something so southern and summery about the music…makes me wanna go shoppin’ at the Piggly Wiggly!
Oh my goodness I want to eat this! It smells so delicious!! I recently discovered Apricots and Cream by Philosophy and it is amazing! It smells like an apricot or peach orchard at pickin’ time! Yummy!
Another favorite CD Down On The Farm! This C D is so fun because it has actual sounds from a farm! Little lambs, piggies, chickens and cows! It also has several Americana songs…Turkey In The Straw…Square Dance Hootenanny…Shenandoah…The Waltons….Andy Griffith Show…Chicken Reel…Old Mac Donald had a farm…Oh Suzanna….Old Dan Tucker…My Old Kentucky Home and lots more!! Fill your house with joyful music and feel the joy! It’s the only way to happily clean your house!
My favorite, most comfortable flip-flops EV-AH! Seriously Yellow Box Flip-Flops are sooooo comfy and cushy and cute to boot! They come in all kinds of patterns and colors…I pretty much live in these all summer long!
Okay gals! Now that you’re in the summer mood….be sure to enter my contest and share any tips, memories, ideas, quick recipes, family fun traditions or even a random list of what you love most about SuMmeR!
Here are three things you need to do:
1. When you fill out the form to leave a comment, be sure to leave your email address (it will not be visable once you publish your comment). If your idea is selected, I will email you the free book once it is completed.
2. Make sure to include your full name in your comment so I can properly give you credit.
3. If you have a blog, be sure to leave your internet address and link for it too.
Hip Hip Hooray!! Summer is on it’s way!!
Can’t wait to hear from my Sugar Pie Sistas!
Blessings and Hugs!!
Aunt Ruthie
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