Woodwater Farmhouse

To say I have been a slacker on the blog posts is an understatement 8(   Things have gotten out of hand here at the farmhouse with our kitchen renovation, vacations and recently, the death of a dear best friend.  I am just going to show you in pictures how our summer came about..... Visits from my grandbaby and family.. Bonfires... Swimming (early summer - it's been cold in August) Mothers Day and Fathers Day camping.....we found a new place on a river in the Catskills!  LOVING IT! My mother turned 70.. Zachary turned 13... Hubby turned 40... Our 14th wedding anniversary... The garden is producing like crazy.. Nature is showing off!  Sammie worked hard for the last two years and finally achieved her Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do! Our annual trip to Watkins Glen - Finger Lakes region of NY NASCAR fun!  Kitchen renovation that finally wrapped up 100%  mid- August!  We are loving it and cooking up ...

Today I wanted to share these fabulous muffins that I have been making for the kiddos using our green zucchini and yellow squash from our garden.  Garden Muffins These turn out so moist and fluffy and freeze like a dream.  The recipe I am sharing will give you 10 good size muffins and 1 large loaf of bread.  Ingredients:  3 eggs 2 cups sugar (yes I know it's a lot) 1 cup oil or applesauce 2 cups fresh zucchini, grated 2 cups fresh yellow squash, grated (I used my food processor) 2 teaspoons vanilla 3 cups + 3 tablespoon flour 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon ½ teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup chocolate chips Directions Preheat oven to 375 degrees, grease bread loaf pan and 10 cake cups Mix all ingredients in order, as listed. Mix until well combined. Once it is well combined pour into bread pan, and bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes. Insert toothpick to make sure bread is done.  Muffins...

Gosh friends it's been over a month since I have posted on the new kitchen renovation!  SO sorry it took me this long, but reality of it, the kitchen took that long... We are 95% done but I am ready to show you the progress!  In my last post about the kitchen  I showed you the beginning and the progress of cabinets. But no upper cabinets, lighting, counter tops were in yet... Drum roll please.... Our forever/dream kitchen is almost complete...we could not be happier. Our contractor is top notch and a perfectionist, which is great!  Beverage bar/buffet. This area will double as a food buffet when needed. For everyday purposes it's our beverage bar/center.  You can see the baseboard heating is not yet in and the moldings will be finished then.  So happy we went with the grey grout for the subway tile. LOVE the contrast with the counters.  Island seats 8 comfortably and we can sneak in another two ...

Welcome friends. Happy Memorial Day!  I know it's been a while since I have checked in. Things are crazy busy here at the farmhouse.  With homeschooling, travel, camping, kitchen reno and the other 100 chores that need attending to, my blogging has been less than frequent.  Spring has sprung and we are enjoying seeing what is coming up around the property.   When we bought this home, last summer, we knew we wanted to replace the entire kitchen.  From first glance, it seemed nice. However, once you had the cabinets cleaned out of the sellers food and dishes, you found they were A HOT MESS.  Not only were the "white" cabinets stained yellow with grease (must be they fried everything) , but the doors were falling off the hinges. Don't get me started on the appliances.  Needless to say, we knew right then and there, we were doing a MAJOR overhaul in the Spring.   So what does a gal to do in planning her DREAM kitchen?  Wh...

Each year, with the exception last year, for the last 6 years, I have taken the kids on a three day adventure to Mystic, CT.  With a 3 hour drive it's easy to do in a day and not stay over, but we try to fit a lot in in 48 hours.   This year was extra special!  We invited 2 other homeschooling moms and their children to join us!  Three moms,8 kids and lots of fun.  Some advice before we begin our journey: Go on the off season so you can see more and do more without crowds. Stay in a hotel that offers FREE breakfast - saves you some money and gets an early start on adventure. If you want do to the Mystic Seaport and Aquarium then purchase the Sea Pass , saves you 15%.  Bring your bathing suit for some swim time (if your hotel has a pool) We stayed at our usual place, Hampton Inn , Groton CT (only 5 minutes from the Mystic exit and 50 bucks cheaper per night than the Mystic location)  We love Hampton Inns.  With the fre...

April at the farmhouse has been so colorful!  I wanted to share some pictures from around the property with you. Hope you are enjoying your Spring!  This post may contain affiliate or sponsor links. You can see our full disclosure policy at the bottom of this blog page.

March is going out like a lion however, April will not be coming in like a lamb.  We still have some snow mounds on the mountain and this rain we are expecting today will hopefully melt all those.  I sure pray that Spring is here to stay now!  I need the sun and the fresh warmer air!  We are definitely lacking in Vitamin D around here.    I started my Spring decorating with little sprinkles here and there.  My mom always gets me a Welcome Spring gift and this year she bought me this beautiful glitter set of bunnies for our master bedroom.  They are SOO cute.  I believe she found them at Pottery Barn.  Don't you think they go well with our gray and turquoise color scheme?  Bunnies are easy to decorate with for Spring because they bring you right through Easter time (which seems to be right in the middle of the month this year, like I remember it growing up). When Easter falls in March, it just seems to early...