~ Dwight & Mamie Eisenhower Home ~ (part #3 of trip)

Sherry in front of the Eisenhower home in Gettysburg, PA. (http://countrywingsinphoenix.blogspot.com/)

Located adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield, the farm served the President as a weekend retreat and a meeting place for world leaders ... with its peaceful setting and view of South Mountain.

** Pop over to Sherry's blog today to view the famous PINK rooms, being Mamie's favorite color. It is awesome!

President Eisenhower was always a "country boy" at heart & in 1955 he was able to obtain 189 acres.

Dwight D. Eisenhower & his wife, Mamie, bought this house just outside of the Gettysburg Battlefield in 1950 in anticipation of their retirement. Although, two years later, Eisenhower was elected as the 34th President of the United States & their retirement years were put on hold. The farm house served as their weekend home & became a temporary White House while Eisenhower recuperated from a heart attack in 1955. After his presidency, the Eisenhowers moved back into this house full time until their deaths.

The helicopter landing pad delivered many a world dignitary to the farm ...

Ike & Mamie's wedding photo, 1916

A few of Mamie's famous little hats ...

This was the room that the Eisenhowers mainly lived in. In this porch room they watched tv, ate on tv trays, played cards & President Eisenhower pursued his hobby of oil painting. Their favorite shows were The Lawrence Welk Show and I Love Lucy. Eisenhower entertained many distinguished guests on his porch ... with visiting world leaders like Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union & Charles De Gaulle of France.

Don't you think this family room needs a touch of Mamie's pink ... obviously Ike's room to relax.

One of Mamie's darling dresses ...

A view from the upstairs, looking down upon the beautiful lilacs.

~ I Don't Have A Yellow Barn Yet, Harold ... ~

After greeting Sherry at the BWI airport we took all back country roads home to show her the beautiful countryside.

(Sherry is still pretty sick. We will be posting Victorian homes when she feels up to it, so stay in touch with both of our writes ~ http://countrywingsinphoenix.blogspot.com/)

As we passed down this one road, I saw a YELLOW barn. I inhaled from the beauty ... saying, 'Harold I don't have a yellow barn yet'.

He continued on down the road a bit & I once again said, 'I don't have a yellow barn yet, Harold.' He continues on.

Firmly I stated, 'I don't have a yellow barn yet, Harold'. He replies, 'do you want me to turn around?'

'Well, I do think so.....'

... and this gorgeous yellow barn was captured on a blustery, chilly day ... isn't that sky gorgeous!

~ Now Didn't I Tell You Not To Leave The Window Open?! ~

Focus! Listen to me!! Chuckle!!!

Sherry is very sick with pneumonia so we will continue our 'trip tour' tomorrow or the next day. Enjoy Sherry's birthday ... & a tour of our gardens ...

A wee celebration for that birthday girl ... oh!, the kleenex had a good run with her ..........

... & a cherry teaspoon from us ...

... & a lovely cherry basket ...

both creations were done by Celeste ~ http://larearose.blogspot.com/

You must visit Celeste as she is a very talented & creative artist with fabulous elegant decorative gifts.

As we were wandering the roads of Maryland w/Sherry, enroute home we saw this old rocker along side the road ... she now gracefully adorns my garden after Mr. 911 took care of a small seat repair.

Sweet violas in my front gardens ... I love their delicate faces ...

Dogwood blossoms freshly bloomed ...

Little Miss Cherry II ... we lost Miss Cherry 2 years ago so we now are enjoying our first blooms with our new pink lady ...

One of our newest rhodies blooming for the first time ...

A gathering of our tulips & daffodil ...

My precious peachy colored tulip ... I love this one.

We have NO idea what these trees are. I bought all 3 for $15 when we moved in ... they are absolutely breathtaking when in full bloom & as the blossom fade, we have pink snow dancing into the sky ... & one big pink mess to clean up!

~ The Lion Potter ~ (part 2 of trip)

Returning from our day at Gettysburg Battlefield & the Eisenhower home, we popped by a wonderful pottery shop, The Lion Potter.

Elisha is 7 yrs. old & the son of David & Junko Young, the potters. He, & his 3 brothers, help their parents with the various jobs in the pottery business ... proud Elisha has now his own pottery line, as shown.

** Pop over to follow more of our trip on

http://countrywingsinphoenix.blogspot.com/

David, a good friend of mine, studied under Richard Lafean. Then traveling the world studying pottery in various countries, he apprenticed with Rebecca Moy @ Greenbridge Pottery in Dayton, MD. David has taught at many schools & presently has his own studio in Gettysburg, PA.

Junko came from Tokyo @ ae 17 apprenticing at Greenbridge Pottery, where she met David, a colleague ... later to become her husband.

David, Sherry & his 2 youngest sons.

Most of David's work is wheel thrown & influenced by Japanese & African art.

Junko's work includes hand-built teapots, slab pieces & etched animal motifs ... gorgeous hand work.

I love the way David blends his colors together ...

They now have designed for Boyds Bear mugs.

All the stoneware pieces are food, microwave & dishwasher safe.

Look at the awesome detail of the lion & his footprints, Junko created.

'Enjoy them with your eyes & yours hands'.

Beautiful panda & paw prints.

Seashells & sea horses in ocean blues.

You may visit The Lion Potter ~

https://www.thelionpotter.com/aboutus.html

A must visit in your travels, in the summer & fall they have fresh produce from local farmers, offering you a taste of Pennsylvania ... absolutely delicious!

The also feature Jills Jams & Jellies ... absolutely the best.

Jill's Jams & Jellies

1634 Hanover Pike
Hampstead, Maryland 21074

~ Maryland Luncheon Gathering ~

Marydon, Carol & Sherry the day of arrival, & what a day ... running to the airport & then high-tailing it back to meet the bus ... then out to dinner to relax.

I am telling you it has been a weekend of 3, then a day of 14, & then a whole week of we 2 non-stop chattering of every topic in the world ... we solved so much & wonder why we can do so so easily ... I think we have something going here, ladies! Chuckle!

You can visit each of these ladies to read their writes of our gathering. Thank you ladies, I appreciate the beautiful compliments you paid me, & my husband. We so enjoyed each of you ... time flitted by too quickly ... we only had 6 hours of togetherness ... & what a joy it was.

Kelly (http://kellyaharmon.com/) is an author & blogger. You should check out her mystery stories. We met Kelly @ church ... her family sits in front of us usually & we fell in love with her 4 yr. old daughter Lydia ... charming our hearts ... & our friendship grows. TY sweet Lydia.

Lulu (http://coastalsistersnews.blogspot.com/)

presented us all w/beautiful rosette pins she created, Kelly's modelling one. Lulu, everyone was so impressed with your sweet remembrance. We missed you.

After a wonderful birthday luncheon @ the Mt. Airy Tavern Restaurant, we asked our new friends to come to our home to enjoy dessert.

We had raspberry cheesecake created especially for Sherry by the Clustered Spires Bakery w/fresh raspberry sauce,

Asher chocolates, chocolate mint dip sticks, rice tea cookies & miniature candies directly from a Japanese friend (they had little dried edible flowers on top of each cookie), pomegranite punch & hot tea.

I used my tea cozy for the very first time ... & Celeste (http://larearose.blogspot.com/) you are right, it is fabulous for keeping the tea warm. For all the tea cozies I've sold, I'd not used them before. Hmmmmm, something wrong with that picture!

Our floral arrangements were created by Rene & Elle at the Blossom & Basket Boutique, with Sherry's favorite colors of soft lavender & purples adorned with a variety of pinks.

Marydon is having Oliver draw the numbers for the 2 lucky winners ... Buttercup Counts Her Blessings won a stationary & pen desk set ...

Of Lemons & Honey won a beautiful door hanging sachet.

Our chatty group had a fabulous time acquainting ourselves with one another ... a constant buzz.

The food was delicious, it was a relaxing & enjoyable time with all.

Andrea lifted a wonderful blessing for our meal.

Aren't we a saucy looking group of chicks!

And our group continued to grow, so here is our second fun pics of all we foxes ...

Sherry (http://countrywingsinphoenix.blogspot.com/) was so enjoying her 'day' of celebration with Becky

(http://hospitalitylane.blogspot.com/) who came down from PA.

Becky makes the most DEE-LISH candles ever ... bringing us all gifts to take home. You must pop over to visit her shop.

Carol gave the most beautiful body lotions to Sherry & myself ... Cherry Blossom ... yummy! Carol (http://buttercupcountsherblessings.blogspot.com/ & Lemony Renee (http://oflemonsandhoney.blogspot.com/) just beam in their chatty moments ... Lemony Renee brought a breathtaking begonia ... one of my favorite flowers for the planters. Thank you ladies.

Bunny (http://www.theparishouse.com/), Marydon (http://blushingrosetoo.blogspot.com/) & Andrea (http://arise2write.blogspot.com/)

sharing a precious moment.

Andrea has a fabulous lifting spiritual blog ... if you only could hear her & all she is involved in ... WHEW! This is one busy gal. Doug, her hubby, accompanied her & he & Harold had a grand time together.

Thank you for the gorgeous monogrammed handbag, Andrea ... I so love it.

Bunny, Marydon & Sherry treasuring the moment ... Bunny's Mother Jojo & son, Oliver accompanied her down from NJ. Oliver is just delightful ... you must go visit him on his own personal blog (http://sippycupsforoneandall.blogspot.com/).

Oliver will capture your heart.

Bunny brought Sherry & I the most beautiful cake pedestals in a green toile. She was just featured in Country Living.

**Pop over to Sherry's to read of our Amish experiences today. We have hundreds of pictures to share with you all ... we were finger clicking fools with those cameras ... having a ball.

~ Happy 9th Birthday Precious Ansel ~

What a wonderful sweet young man you are, Ansel.

You have such a loving, tender & giving heart.

My how you have grown ... bringing us such pride & joy, Ansel. Our hearts melt in every moment we share of life with you.

... & what fun ... more Star Wars to enjoy!, a chocolate & vanilla cake.

... the cupcake creations were such fun to make ...

... and the pinata treats you all scrambled for ...

everyone having such fun ...

... & Tatiana & Alyssa in the yard playing ...

... & Alyssa wearing part of the Star Wars pinata

like a calypso dancer!, what fun she had.

Thank you for being you. We love you with all our hearts ...

Mimi & Poppy