Having a back staircase is such a blessing. Located off the mudroom, this leads to the 2nd landing on the main staircase. Hundreds of trips have been made up and down this staircase by many feet. Suffice to say, the back staircase is used much more than the main entry staircase. Both staircases have the…
We are up in the cooler mountains for the July 4th holiday week. The temperatures have soared in Phoenix so we are truly enjoying the higher altitude. Since the homespun Bull Frog Loop parade goes right by our cabin, we typically host a patriotic brunch set up in the kitchen ~~an easy spread so our…
We are headed to the mountains for the holiday next week. Even though the cabin is comfortable, it doesn’t have all the dishes or entertaining items I have here at Bella Terra. Therefore, I need to plan ahead and determine what I can work with. What’s so nice about mountain life is that it is…
As the 145th annual Kentucky Derby occurs this weekend, we are celebrating with mint juleps and Derby Pie. This is my first Derby pie and it was easy to make. The recipe describes it as a thick, gooey chocolate chip cookie meets a warm buttery pie for a heavenly and decadent Southern dessert. Using a pre-made pie…
We have an old 2 stall horse barn on our property. We’ve never had horses even though the girls REALLY wanted them. I am always so impressed with those that do take care of animals larger than themselves. Here’s what the barn looked like when we first purchased our home in 1999. In 2011, my…