This Stop Willoughby

I got a new home decor catalog in the mail yesterday. The merchandise isn't really my style, but I paged through it anyway. They have lots of plaques and framed quotes that, I have to admit, I liked quite a bit. The first one that caught my eye was a wood plaque with the saying "It Is What It Is" painted on it. My husband and I say this all the time. There are so many things in life that you can't control or change and sometimes it's all you can say. Our recent yard projects, for example, threw us a few curves we didn't expect. We had hoped to have everything done by now, but we don't. It is what it is and it will be complete eventually. The other sign that spoke to me was a framed print with the words "Enjoy the little things in life...for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things." How true. Of course the major events in life have a big impact; our wedding day and the days each of our children were born, for instance. ...

I stepped out on my front porch yesterday evening to find that my give away prize from Lissaloo at One Step At A Time had arrived! I was so excited to open it! Look at all the goodies it had inside; Wild Huckleberry Taffy, Wild Huckleberry Jam, Wild Huckleberry Honey and two adorable scrapbooks. So much fun!!! I can't wait to try the huckleberry items and put pictures in the scrapbooks. I'm hoping that Lissaloo will post instructions for making scrapbooks on her blog (hint, hint!). She's very talented! Thanks again, Lissaloo! *************** Our yard projects are getting closer to being done so I should be returning soon. I miss keeping up with all of my blogger friends!

It's late, but it's still July 23rd for another half hour, so I want to wish Purple Hoodie Chick a very happy 17th birthday! She wasn't around the Willoughby house today so we'll be celebrating her birthday on Sunday with some good food and a chocolate birthday cake. An Update In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been around much lately. Remember those yard projects I said we would be working on? Well, we're still working on them. Hopefully we'll be done by the weekend and I can get back to my blog. In the meantime, I know I'm missing out on some great posts and contests by my favorite bloggers. I'll catch up with all of you soon as I'm not knee deep in dirt!

Sometimes I get ideas for my blog from other blogs and that's what happened today. Joanna posted some things she overheard in Los Angeles on her blog The Fifty Factor . They were really funny and I enjoyed reading them. They also made me think of things, not that I've overheard, but that have been said directly to me or someone I was with. Some are funny, some are strange. "I know your mother taught you not to talk to strangers, but it's okay to talk to me because I'm nice." A woman I'd never met said this to my son while we were standing in line at the supermarket. He was about 4 years old at the time. I suppose she meant well, but don't you think a not-so-nice person might make the same claim? "It's way too hot to try to this on. You're about my size, can you put this on so I can see how well it would fit me?" A woman asked me this while my neighbor and I were having a yard sale. She was interested in buying my neighbor...

I haven't been around much lately so I've got a lot to cover today. You may want to grab a cup of coffee or a cold beverage because you're probably going to be here for a while. I'll wait.... I Won! Have you been to One Step At A Time lately? If you haven't, you should. I love her blog, it has great recipes and fun stories. She had a fantastic give away for her 100th post and do you know who won? That's right, it was me! Thank you very much Lissaloo (and her adorable assistants who helped with the drawing). I'm so excited about it, I can't wait to try the huckleberry products in my prize package! Why didn't I think to have a give away for my 100th post? I'm not sure, but I think I'll have one for my 200th. Or maybe my 150th. Or maybe my 143rd. What will I give away? I've got a few ideas. It could be an all expenses paid trip to Michigan to enjoy drinks at our bar (yeah, right), or a video of my entire family dancing badly ...

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I don't take myself very seriously. That's not to say that I think everything is funny, there are plenty of things I find serious, and I've blogged about some of them, too. Overall, though, I'd rather find the humor in life. Last night we were listening to music on the back porch. We dug into the archives and played Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer . I'm not sure anyone could listen to that song without having the uncontrollable urge to dance. The problem is, I can't dance (remember this post?). No one else in my house can either, but that doesn't stop us. Instead, we break out into what we call "bad dancing". The object of this activity is to dance as badly as you can. It's all about not taking yourself too seriously. I think life is far too short not to laugh at yourself. I would much rather spend an evening dancing badly and playing "How much would someone have to pay you to.......

When we first visited the little town we now live in, we were charmed by the historic downtown area with it's lovely older buildings and brick sidewalks. The neighborhoods, however, were what really won us over. Each street was an eclectic mix of older clapboard sided homes and newer brick homes under canopies of towering mature trees. After we moved here we developed a love/hate relationship with the trees. We loved the shade they provided in the summer, but we hated the endless leaves they dropped in the fall. We enjoyed watching the squirrels and birds playing on the branches, but we disliked cleaning up the sticks, twigs and small branches that dropped in the yard and the street every time a strong wind blew through them. In the end, we loved them more than we hated them because they were so beautiful and provided some privacy from the street. On Monday afternoon, while the kids and I were in the house, we heard an odd ripping sound in the front yard. When we went outside to in...

Do you remember my Cheap Thrills post? You can find all the details by clicking that link, but in short, the idea was to take a day trip to somewhere within a reasonable distance from home, enjoy the sights, have a picnic lunch and spend less than $20 (excluding gas). For our first trip, we traveled up the east coast of Michigan, along the Lake Huron shoreline. Can you see why it's called "The Thumb Area"? Although we didn't expect to run into any pirates, Mr. Willoughby wore this shirt just for the occasion. We love the ocean, but since it's not possible for us to get to the Atlantic or the Pacific in an afternoon, we have to settle for the Great Lakes. Not a bad substitute, wouldn't you say? This is the view from the shores of Port Sanilac. Despite the tranquil look of the water, this was once the site of a terrible maritime tragedy. The road is quite a bit higher than the water along this stretch, so you have to take some stairs to get down to it. Our next...

Before I begin today's post, I would like to thank all of you for nice comments you left on my Welcome To The Willoughby Back Porch Bar post. I was terribly flattered by the compliments. We spend a lot of time on the porch and it was fun to give you a tour. We did pull ourselves away from the porch yesterday and took a day trip that I will be blogging about later today (I hope). I have lots of pictures to go through, and I need to get a few more from Purple Hoodie Chick . I'm still tired from the holiday weekend, so I have only one "Wonderful" item to post today. It's a good one, though, and I think you'll enjoy it. I stumbled across this blog, recently, and I was hooked. It's called The DIY Maven's Blog . There are some amazingly creative ideas for projects and recipes as well some really cool tech stuff. Check out the Altoid Tin project , the Bacon Cups or the Incredible Interactive Mirror , just to name a few. I can almost guarantee that you'l...

Happy 4th of July! I promised you a tour of the Willoughby Back Porch Bar. So come on back and make yourself at home. At the end of the tour, drinks will be served! It may be difficult to get any sense of proportion in the following pictures, so I'll begin by telling you that our back porch is approximately 40 feet long and 12 feet wide. We've separated it into 3 sections, the lounge, the bar and the pub. Here's a look at the lounge area. Here's the bar. It's 12 feet long, so there's plenty of room. We built it about 4 years ago using antique doors laid horizontally which gives it a raised panel front. There are 3 doors used, each section is made from 1 1/2 doors. The ends are made from antique wood planks. The only "new" portion is the top. The back side of the bar has shelving, but it's a little disorderly right now, so we'll skip having a look at it. For the most part, we keep our huge candle and lantern collection stored there. No alcohol ...

In honor of the 4th of July, we're featuring a layered red and blue drink tonight. When you add the ice, you'll get a little bit of white, too. It was inspired by Guy Fieri's Fourth of July Cocktail, but we've changed it up a bit. The Patriot 2 ounces watermelon schnapps 1/2 ounce cranberry juice 1 1/2 ounces tequila 1/4 ounce blue curacao 1/2 ounce simple syrup Mix the watermelon schnapps and cranberry juice in a cocktail shaker. Pour into ice filled glass. Rinse shaker and mix tequila, blue curacao, and simple syrup. Pour very gently over red layer. The layers look great, but are for presentation only. Stir each cocktail well before drinking for best flavor. Please enjoy your Patriot responsibly. I will be back tomorrow with a bonus holiday drink (and possibly a tour of our bar) so I hope to see you then!

Of course you are, friends and family are always welcome to stop by for a visit, a drink or a meal. If you've never been here before, here are a few things you should know before your drop in. You will be expected to make yourself at home. We'll be glad to get you something to drink, but don't be shy about going into the refrigerator yourself. Dinner is almost never on time. If we tell you we'll be eating at 6:00, it will probably be closer to 6:30 or 7:00. I don't know why, it just tends to work out that way. If you don't like the food that's being served, you won't be expected to eat it. We don't believe in punishing adults or children by making them eat foods they don't like around here. If we know that you're coming for dinner, we'll try to make something you like. Expect to participate in ridiculous games and conversations during your visit. Last night we enjoyed a lively game of "How much would someone have to pay you to ........

A few years ago I had a severe case of the stomach flu. For nearly a week, I had nothing but small sips of liquid. My husband took over the cooking and would make dinner for he and the kids and would heat up a can of soup for me, but I couldn't even stand the smell of food. When the flu finally passed and my appetite began to return, I had a very specific list of foods that appealed to me. Among them were blueberries, cherries, pretzels, salad with cherry tomatoes and turkey sandwiches on multi-grain bread with sliced tomato. I also wanted ice cold apple juice. Mr. Willoughby went to the grocery store and got all of them for me. At first, I could only eat a few bites at a time, but eventually I could tolerate regular portions. That's when a funny thing happened. I started to feel really good. Not just in comparison to how I felt when I had the flu, but even better than I had felt before I had gotten sick. I felt energetic and healthy. Looking at the list, it's n...