Blue Cupboard Primitives

January Snowfall and Family Time

2012-01-22T13:38:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful white covering of snow across the yard and fields. We got a total of about 4 inches. The snow was very light and fluffy so it was easy to move. My husband snow blowed the driveway and I cleaned off the car. I had to take my daughter to work(Red Robin) so I had to venture out. Our road had not been plowed, but going slow and careful I did fine. Even when I got to the highway 4 miles further it was a little dicey. So I dropped Cait off around 10:45, come home and start to plan for my afternoon until I have to pick up Cait around 4pm. Less than an hour later, Cait calls from work and says she was told to go home since it was going to be slow. Ugh! So I thought I would make the best of it. I got Cait some clothes to change into, which she did when I got to the restaurant. So we went for a nice lunch and went grocery shopping. Pretty exciting huh. Maybe not, but we had a fun time being together.

This morning I went out. The roads were all no problem and took my Mommom, 85 years young, to the grocery store. I thought I might have to shovel her walk but a couple neighbor boys did it for her. I have been taking my grandmother grocery shopping for the last year and a half. My aunt, uncle and Mom (her children) passed away in the last couple of years and I am doing my best to meet all of her needs.Sometimes its hard balance everything but spending time with her has been so awesome. I have learned so much about her and also have found that we have a lot in common. I am blessed to have her.

Always remember... count your blessings every day. :)

Natalie

Happy New Year and Free Labels!

2012-01-02T18:38:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to all our fellow Bloggers! 2012, can you believe it? Our family celebrated the new year as we always do with the Mummer's parade in the morning and a pork and sauerkraut dinner. We've made our resolutions and this year my daughter, hubby and I all resolve the same thing. We plan to get healthy and work to keep the stress to a minimum. Neither is always easy, but hopefully together we can do it.

And the FREE Labels... check out our website ad above. In this unadvertised special, you buy 2 sets and get a set of you choice free! Simply go to our website, buy two sets, and when you pay, let us know which set you would like free. In the photo above you can see some of the cool prim things you can make with our labels. Any questions feel free to email us.

Take care and may all your 2012 wishes, hopes and aspirations come to life. :)
Natalie

Christmas is right around the corner!

2011-12-23T20:11:00.000-05:00

There's just a couple more days until Christmas. Fortunately, all the shopping is done and the presents are wrapped. Now we can do what I really love about Christmas, spending time with family and friends.

Tonight was the first of our family events. My niece Sydney and her beautiful daughter Ava came over for dinner. We had a really nice time talking, laughing, and picture taking. (As you can see above.) We exchanged gifts and I got a very precious gift. It was a picture of Ava in a gorgeous frame, with the most beautiful smile. I have to find a very prominent spot for it.

I'm looking forward to having Christmas dinner with My hubby, kids, and my grandmom. It's small group, but they are the ones that mean the most to me. We'll all be thinking about those that are not here with us any longer, but we'll also appreciate that we have each other.

I hope you all enjoy time with your loved ones this holiday season.

Primitive blessings,

Natalie

Making Thanksgiving Memories

2011-11-25T08:15:00.000-05:00

We had a low-key, but very enjoyable day. The night before I made the pumpkin pie. Kenn and I started the day prepping all the food. He was such a great help with his chopping skills. :) We made sausage and apple stuffing for the turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and warm bacon dressing salad. We also had whole cranberry sauce and biscuits.The dinner turned out perfect and so delicious.

Most important of all, we got to spend the day together with my kids and my beautiful grandmother. We all got to reflect on the things we were thankful for and those who were missing from our table. I'm sure my mom was watching down on us with a loving smile on here face.

I hope everyone had a happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving.

Primitive blessing always,

Natalie

Complete Opposite

2011-11-06T14:29:00.000-05:00

What a difference a week makes! The scene above is our backyard last Saturday. This weekend its sunny, crisp, and beautiful!

The freak snowstorm sure wreaked a lot of havoc. For my family it was a minor inconvenience. Well, maybe not for my daughter. Of all days to have her driver's skill test scheduled. She really wanted to go, but I had to be the bad guy and say its out of the question. We got around 7 inches and the snow was heavy and very wet. So Cait had to reschedule her appointment. Now she has to wait until 12/3, which she is not too happy about. But it gives her more time to practice the parallel parking. :)

The storm continued to be a problem for many people in our area, even after it melted. The snow pretty much melted the next day, but many people were without power for days. As of this Saturday night, there were still about 4000 people in the county without electricity. The local electric company said in today's newspaper that the electric would be restored to all customers no later than tonight.

I hope all of you fared better with the snowstorm. Take care and have a great week!

Natalie

Little Miss Ava

2011-10-23T19:01:00.000-04:00

Thursday evening I has wonderful visit with my great-niece Ava Marie and my beautiful niece (her mommy) Sydney Laine. I don't get to see them as often as I would like but when I do, its so much fun, laughing and talking.

Sydney is my brother's oldest daughter. Unfortunately my brother who passed away 7/30/10 and my mom who passed away 10/1/10 never got to meet Ava. She would be my brother's first grandchild and my mom's first great-grandchild.

When I first saw Ava after her birth, it broke my heart that my brother and mom could not see and hold this beautiful little girl. I still think about that often, but instead of being sad about it, I take pride in my role in their lives. I will share as much love and happiness I have with Ava, Sydney, and Stevie (my other niece). Each hug I give them, I will squeeze a little longer for my brother and my mom.

Have a beautiful evening and enjoy your loved ones every chance you get!
Natalie

Great Weekend!

2011-10-09T18:45:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful fun weekend! It actually started on Friday for me since I took off work. Which is always nice, especially when the weather is gorgeous. Blue skies, sunny and 70 ish. Love it!

Friday I spent a good part of the day with my grandmom. I took her to the dentist, which went well. At 85 years young Mommom still has her own teeth and takes great care of them. We then went grocery shopping. We could all take a lesson from her choices. Mostly fresh food, with just a few canned items. Most importantly, no pre-packeged food. After I put her groceries away, I mowed her lawn. May sound silly but I love mowing the lawn. It's time to be outside and just think about everything. What a good day it was.

On Saturday an "old" friend of my husband's came for a weekend visit. His wife was away with her girlfriends at Cape May (NJ) to celebrate her 50th birthday so John came to spend some time with us. He is an awesome story teller. We sat around a campfire out back, listening to his funny stories while he played guitar. We laughed so hard there were tears in our eyes.

Sunday after I dropped Caitlyn off at work and John went home, Kenn and I went to local craft show. It was great walking around and looking at all the cool items for sale. I did buy a really cute, small quilt wall hanging. (see above) I just have to decide where I want to hang it or I might use it on one of my end tables.

The rest of Sunday was spent doing a few chores and having a nice family pasta dinner. It's now time to sit down and get ready for a busy week ahead.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Primitive Blessings,
Natalie

Fall is here!

2011-09-25T09:04:00.000-04:00

Happy Fall everyone! Don't you just love the crispy air and beautiful blue skies? We have had a couple humid days and the rain doesn't seem to want to quit, but the beautiful September and October days will more than make up for it.

On top of that there seems to be alot of Fall birthdays. In the picture above, Bradley (left) and Eddie (right) are celebrating Ed's 4th birthday. My birthday is tomorrow and my beautiful grandmother is will 85 years young on Wednesday.

Next weekend we are going to have a family celebration dinner, We will celebrate my grandmother's and my birthday. It will also be a celebration of my Mom. It will be one year ago that she passed away. I do miss her every single day. I know my mom would want us to be happy and spend family time together. I'm sure there will be some tears shed, but we will also remember all the happy, fun, heartwarming times too.

Take care and enjoy the beautiful Fall days with your family!
Natalie

It's been too long...

2011-09-10T14:03:00.000-04:00

It's been way too long since I wrote. No excuses, just caught up in the daily trappings of work, family and life. Not that I'm complaining, we had a really nice summer and start of the school year.

The beginning of August I completed a project at work that I had been working on since early February. It was a huge undertaking but thanks to come great team members and a very supportive manager, it was a awesome success. The new process is working well, and is being easily used by other employees.

August seemed to fly by, I guess it did for everyone. My daughter Caitlyn is now a senior in high school. Whew... were did that time go. I can still picture the day she was born. My little angel has grown in to a beautiful young lady. We are just starting the college application season. She's not real sure what she is going to major in. She has a couple ideas, but is not 100% yet. I guess that is normal.

The other day my niece and and my great niece came for a visit. The cute little Ava Marie is 4 months old already. She is smiling and doing the baby talk thing. What a joy!

This past week has been one of wettest for a long time. My family was very fortunate that we didn't have any damage or power outages, but it was a trick getting home the one day. There's couple pictures below of the high water in the area. The second one is a picture of what was a small winding creek at the farm down the road. It's not quite back to normal yet.

As far as the label business, its going pretty well. We sincerely thank all our customers and friends who support us and love primitives as much as we do.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. See ya soon, promise!

Natalie

Keeping Cool!

2011-07-21T19:45:00.000-04:00

Is there anywhere in the country that its cool? Whew... It hit 100 degrees here in eastern PA today. I didn't even mind working a little late today so that I could delay getting in the hot car. lol Right now I'm hanging with mydoxies in the AC. It reminding of the real cute picture above. :)

It's been a while since I wrote. Work has been so hectic with an exciting project. I working some really awesome team member implementing a new software application. I spent all week training almost 100 employees.

Our family recently had an awesome vacation in VA Beach.We were never there before and we did so many things we never did before. One of this adventures was that my daughter and I went parasailing. We were 1200 feet in the air. Talk about scary! It was fun though and what a view. When we went swimming, the ocean water was great and the beaches were really clean. The beach wasn't much for shell collecting but it was awesome walking on the beach and having dinner with an ocean view.

This past weekend I went to the local annual Book Bananza. I absolutely love to read and I got some great bargains on used books. On the last day of the event you can fill up a bag with books for $5! All the profits benefit the county library system to purchase new books and materials.

Well, time to relax and get rest for another busy day. Hope you all are staying cool and comfortable.

Primitive Blessings,
Natalie

Apple Dumpling Festival and Mini Golf with a View

2011-06-26T16:02:00.000-04:00

After a couple stressful weeks at work, it was nice to have fun family weekend. It started with leaving work on Friday and actually "leaving work" there until Monday.

Friday night my husband Kenn, my daughter Caitlyn, and I went to the annual Apple Dumpling Festival in Sinking Spring, Pa. It a small fiar with rides, games of chance, all kinds of fair food, and entertainement. They have a pagent for Little Miss, Teen, Junior and Miss Apple Dumpling. Of course you probably have guessed what the hit of the festival was... Delicious Apple Dumplings! Each year they sell thousands, bringing people from all over, just for this awesome dessert.

Saturday was a busy morning and early afternoon at home. I cleaned all the rugs and Kenn did yardwork. I know that doesn't sound like fun, but it sure is a great feeling to have clean house and a beautiful yard.

After our work was done Saturday, the 3 of us went to Heisler's Dairy and Mini-golf. We enjoyed burgers, hot dogs, and onion rings. Then we played a fun round of mini golf. Caitlyn was the winner! Then we had homeade ice cream, that was oh so good. Of course, the whole evening we got to enjoy the great wide open scenery. This little spot is kind of in the middle of no-where and has open view of the mountains and valleys. It certainly was worth the 40 minute drive.

Sunday we had some chores to do at home and I went grocery shopping. Then Kenn I went to se my Grandmom and do a few things in her yard. It's always great sitting and chatting with my Mommom.

Now it time to make supper and relax for the evening. Before for I know it, Monday will have snuck up on me too soon. :)

Take care and primitive blessings,
Natalie

Meet Ava Marie

2011-05-15T10:24:00.000-04:00

Meet my beautiful new "great niece" Ava Marie. Last night was the first I got to hold her and I loved every minute of it. My sweet niece Sydney had Ava on May 9th. She weighed in a 9.1 lbs and was awesome 22 1/2 inches long. She's going to be tall just like her daddy.

Mommy and baby are doing great. I can't wait to spoil this little girl. I'll be doing it for my brother (grandpop) and my mom (great-grandmom) who can't be here but our certainly watching over this little family from heaven. What a great blessing Ava is for all of us.:)

Natalie

Mother's Day is almost here...

2011-05-06T19:45:00.004-04:00

This will be my first Mother's day without my mom. I found a poem (by Roger J. Robicheau)that's helps share how I am feeling...

Mother

A Mother's love, is sure to find
A way to comfort, ease your mind

She knows just how, to build you up
When you're so down, and can't look up

You love the way, she makes you feel
Like you're so special, her ideal

Her thought must start, with God above
To bring such caring, with such love

And as it flows, like gentle rain
It surely helps, when trouble pains

The love from mine, is oh so clear
I only wish, she was still here

Her warming glow, is missed each day
Even though, I seldom say

But she did leave, her gift behind
To help me through, when I do pine

And that's the feel, known deep inside
Her faith and I love, I still confide

Cherish every moment with you mothers and grandmothers.

Blessings and Happy Mother's day.

Natalie

Busy far and near...

2011-04-18T17:43:00.008-04:00

What a busy weekend we had! Bright and early Saturday morning, my daughter Caitlyn and I headed to Philadelphia. We live about 60 miles northwest of Philly. The drive wasn't bad and we always have things talk about. Our first stop was a college visit. Caitlyn is interested in culinary arts and she is a junior this year. We visited the Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College. It was a pretty nice school, but both of us were judging it against the previous college we visited. We visited Indianna Universtiy of PA (IUP) Culinary Campus in Puxatony PA last month. (Yes, this is the famous home of "thee" Puxatony Phil and Yes we even got to see him!) We were very impressed with IUP, particularly, the ciriculumn, the chef teachers, the externship program and the feeling of family. This school only accepts 100 students each year and they have small classes for more personalized learning. Our next stop was Reading Terminal Market. I had been there once before, with my husband, but wanted to show it to Caitlyn. Now... I am a country girl, and the "big city" is a little intimidating, but we navigated through the city thanks to our GPS, and got there with little problems. The market has baked goods, meats, poultry, seafood, produce, flowers, and good eats. The restaurants were from many diverse cultures... from the Amish to Middle Eastern to Thai to Greek to good old American cuisine. The place was major hustle and bustle, but the aromas and the sights were worth it. Our last stop in Philly was the King of Prussia Mall. This is a huge 2 story mall with about 400 stores and restaurants. I'm not a big as shopper as Cait. Let's just say she was absolutely loving it. We were probably there for 2-3 hours. We didn't spend a lot of money, but we did do a lot of window shopping and walked the whole mall. The best part of the trip was spending time with my daughter. My little girl is growing up and I am treasuring all our time together, on trips and close to home. On Sunday afternoon, Cait and I went to my niece Sydney's baby shower. It was great sharing in her very happy time. Last year, we lost her father, my brother, and this would have been his first grandchild. I bet you can guess how much I plan on spoiling this baby and loving her up. Yes, it's going to be a little girl. :) Sunday evening was dinner as family (Kenn, Cait, and I)... like usual. Nothing like sitting down to a delicious dinner and enjoying my family's company. The weekend was busy and went really fast, but was it was filled with some really good memories. Take care and have a good week. Natalie

Happy Birthday Matthew!

2011-04-12T20:43:00.004-04:00

Today my son turned 21! Wow, It's so hard to believe. Pictured above is my son Matthew and my daughter Caitlyn (16). His hair is a little shaggy in this picture, but he's still cute. I cut his hair after dinner and he looked like a new man.

Tonight we (Matt, Cait, my husband Kenn, and Matt's best buddy Brandon) went to dinner. We went to a local steak house. I had a healthy option, sante fe tilapia. Matt, Cait, and Kenn had steaks and Brandon had wings. We had a lot of laughs with our delicious food. Nothing like time with family.

Time to relax with a cup of hot green tea and my doxies on my lap. :)

Good night and God bless!

Natalie

Date Night

2011-04-10T19:03:00.005-04:00

Last night Kenn and I had an awesome date night. I planned the whole night as a fun surprise for my husband. The plan was for a romantic dinner and a show.

I bought tickets to see the Buddy Valastro, aka Cake Boss, at the local performing arts center many months ago. We both like watching the food shows so I thought this sounded like a good idea.

So this week I had to think of somewhere to go for dinner. Hmmmm... where can we go that is not that same old thing? I finally came up with an idea. Kenn always wanted to try this local Thai restaurant, so I made reservations.

Kenn had no idea where we we going but he likes surprise at much as I do, so it was really cool. We dropped my daughter off and made our way to dinner. Up until we pulled into the parking lot he could not guess the surprise. He was really excited when he saw it was Thai Cuisine. I had the shrimp and crab with fresh vegetable fried rice and Kenn had lamb curry. The atmosphere, food and customer service was great.

After dinner it was time for the show. We drove downtown and parked. As we walked down the street, Kenn saw the marquee and saw that we were going to see Buddy, the Cake Boss. I was probably a little more excited but he thought that this was a good idea.

As soon as we walked into the center you could smell the aroma of a delicious bakery. When we were seated, we were in the second row. Buddy put on an awesome show. It was very much family oriented, he had great stories, involved the audience, and of course, showed his awesome cake decorating talent. We talked about the show all the way home.

So often we get caught up in our busy lives and we don't get time to enjoy each others company. Last night was a real nice time to reconnect and relax.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Natalie :)

Icy Groundhog's Day

2011-02-02T19:05:00.004-05:00

So I got up this morning at 4:25am to get ready for work, knowing that the prediction was for heavy ice. I took a shower, then blew dry my hair, and then got dressed. Before eating breakfast, I thought I would check the conditions outside. The ice was so thick. I couldn't even make it 10 feet towards the Jeep. So I slid back inside, and called work to say I wouldn't be coming in today. I was back in bed by 5:15am.

This was only the second time in over 25 years I took off because of the weather. And you know what, it was great! I slept in until almost 9am. I spent the day with my hubby and daughter. We went outside to chip the ice from the driveway, a whole 275 feet of it! I'm not much of a winter lover, but the ice on the trees and bushes was pretty cool.

Since we were all home today, we also had time to get a couple new label sets up on the blog. There is a new Fav 21 "C "set and also a 21 label set called Sheep/Woolen. Both are $10 each. Check them out and see what you think.

Time to go sit in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate. Mmmm.

Blessings to all,

Natalie

And its good for me too!

2011-01-21T19:20:00.003-05:00

Hi all!

I can't believe its so close to the end of January and almost Superbowl time. Did anyone make any new year's resolutions. Are you still sticking to them?

My "resolution" actually started late last year. It got a little derailed with the holidays, so I guess technically I did start at the beginning of the year. I really have wanted to get healthy and feel good about myself. I have kind of been doing for everyone else but me. And I realized, part of taking care of my family is taking care of me.

So 1/3 I started weight watchers online. I did the program before and it worked very well, but I went way off program and put the weight back on. The new WW program is pretty awesome. I sure like that fruit is "0" points. Since 1/3 I have lost 6.5 lbs. I weigh again on Monday. It's coming off slowly, but that's OK. I want it to truly be permanent.

The other improvement I have made is exercising. I have finally found something I truly have fun with and its a great workout. Zumba! My girlfriend Lori, my daughter Caitlyn, and I go 3 times a week. It's an hour long class. It's kind of like dancing aerobics with a Latin flair. Any age and shape can do it. Our instructor has been a true inspiration. She started teaching near the beginning of 2010 and she has lost 48 pounds and looks terrific. Its kind of neat having a excellent example of what Zumba can do for your body.

So I have found a good eating plan that doesn't leave me hungry and an exercise that is fun and time with my BFF and daughter... on top of that its good for me!

Hope you all are having a healthy start to your new year!

Take care of you... its important!

Natalie

New Year - Good Start

2011-01-09T18:52:00.003-05:00

I didn't officially set any New Year's resolutions, but I still wanted to do all I could to have a happy, healthy new year. That of course starts with a positive attitude, which I would like to think I have.

First of all its been a great week on my diet and getting in exercise. I had joined weight watchers online near the end of last year. This past week I stayed on program and it felt good. Their new program is very flexible. Also this week I went to Zumba class 3 times and was on the treadmill one night. Zumba is a blast because its like dancing and is so much fun, and is an incredible work out.

Second, right after Christmas, we put my mom's house up for sale. We had spent weeks making repairs and remodeling. With the economy, we weren't planning on a fast sale. However.... the first person who looked at the house made a good offer. We now have an agreement for sale!

Finally, we are putting the finishing touches on new label sets for the blog. We will have four new sets. We plan to put them on the blog by the weekend. Let us know what you think when you see them.

I hope all of you are having a great start to the new year!

Happiness and blessings,

Natalie

New Year's Day Traditions

2011-01-01T15:59:00.008-05:00

Happy New Year to all! 2011 holds promise to be a great year. And to get it started the Redd family is keeping our New Year's day traditions alive and well.

If any of you are from PA or neighboring states, I'm sure you know what my pictures allude to. The TV is tuned into the annual Mummer's parade from Philadelphia, all day, whether I'm actually sitting in front of the TV or doing some chores. As I write this I am watching the string bands. I love the music, the creative dance routines and beautiful, fun costumes. If you have never seen the Mummer's parade you have to check it out. I have been watching every year since I was a little girl.

The other tradition that my family will be enjoying a little later is a pork and sauerkraut dinner with mashed potatoes. The pork and kraut are cooking in the crock pot right now and it smells awesome. For those of you who do not know, eating this meal on New Year's day is considered good luck for the coming year. (I'm curious if this is northeast tradition or is all over the country.) A little luck could always help and it's a tasty dinner to boot.

Our family wishes all of you and yours a healthy, joyful, and prosperous New Year!

Primitive blessings,

Natalie and Kenn

Christmas Blessings

2010-12-22T19:15:00.003-05:00

The holiday season really snuck up on me this year. That's probably a good thing since this is the first year I am going to spend Christmas without my mom. We have been busy cleaning and repairing mom's house to sell it. Work has been busy. I've been helping out my grandmother and running my daughter here and there. And then throw in getting Christmas shopping done. Whew!

With all that stress and non-stop action, I still have time to sit back and count my blessings. I can list them easily...

My loving supportive husband, Kenn

My funny smart daughter, Caitlyn

My free spirit son, Matt

My beautiful grandmother, Mommom

My cute doxies, Ed and Bradley

My BFF, Lori,

My second family at work and my challenging career

The many caring people in my work and social circles

My little home in the country

My good health, both physically and emotionally

and the many awesome memories of my mom and brother...

I'm sure there are more blessings I am not mentioning. Not a day goes by that I think about them.

I wish you and your family many Christmas Blessings!

Have a Merry Christmas and a healthy, memorable Happy New Year!

Natalie