pleasure in simple things

yes, there are still orange pumpkins

October 30, 2026

For those of you who prefer an old school orange pumpkin, I have some to show you! My trip to The Farmer’s Daughter this fall included seeing many pumpkins in the traditional orange color.

Everything at The Farmer’s Daughter is displayed beautifully – including the mild-mannered, garden-variety orange pumpkins!

Orange has never been a favorite pumpkin color of mine, but it is hard not to admire some of the traditional color pumpkins displayed at The Farmer’s Daughter.

Check these out! Hope you enjoy visiting this wonderful garden shop with me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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green and bear it

October 23, 2026

We are still heavy into the pumpkin season and I am continuing to share photos from my latest trip to The Farmer’s Daughter. This second post from my fall trip to this fabulous garden shop highlights green pumpkins and gourds!

We have all noticed plenty of the color green in décor lately.

Green is always a popular color choice at this time of year, but I am sure the recent announcement of Benjamin Moore’s color of the year for 2027 (Webster Green) has helped its trending!

I think the green pumpkins were my very favorite this year. I am usually all about white pumpkins, but the green ones have such a beautiful subtlety about them!

Hope you enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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the farmer’s daughter fall 2026

October 16, 2026

Summer is my favorite season and it is really tough every year for me to come to terms with its ending. But there is one fabulous event at the start of fall that helps me cope…a trip to The Farmer’s Daughter!

This garden store/gift shop is an explosion of fall aesthetics! If you know anything at all about me, you know I am totally color-obsessed and The Farmer’s Daughter plays right into my obsession with its wide variety of color offerings!

Last year I said ‘these are not your grandmother’s pumpkins’ and certainly the assortment of pumpkins this store provides is a tribute to that! Each year the varieties of pumpkins and gourds increases in colors and textures.

I have so much to show you from this year’s fall trip that I will need a few posts! I am going to start with a post that highlights a color that is a newer one on the scene…yellow!

As you see here, yellow mixes especially well with white pumpkins, lavender plants, or even burgundy grasses.

And, even though I am not a yellow fan, I cannot help but appreciate the beauty of these newcomers on the scene!

Hope you enjoy checking out the first Farmer’s Daughter’s post of Fall 2026 with a highlight on yellow!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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co-dough viral cinnamon buns

May 1, 2026

Okay, so it may seem crazy to devote an entire post to a cinnamon bun, but it really does deserve it!

I had heard the hype for quite some time about the sourdough cinnamon buns at Co-Dough Bakery in Newport, Rhode Island and I recently had the perfect opportunity to try them! I had a couple reasons to spend some time in Newport (one reason may or may not have been to visit The Farmer’s Daughter for a springtime visit) so Co-Dough was added to the list of places to stop!

I guess it worked out to my advantage to visit on a rainy, dismal day because the line to wait for the buns was not typical (as in super long!). There were only two people in front of me when I arrived close to opening time. (Though it did grow long very quickly!)

There is nothing like eating a warm cinnamon bun right from the oven! And, the sourdough cinnamon buns from Co-Dough are soft, pillowy treats baked from scratch and oh, so cinnamony! (Isn’t cinnamony a word? Spell check doesn’t seem to think so!)

Click here to see the buns coming from the oven!

In my opinion, the cinnamon buns at Co-Dough are definitely worth the hype! So, if you ever find yourself in Newport, RI, be sure to head over to Co-Dough first thing in the morning (8:30 am) to line up for these tasty treats!

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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visiting charleston landmarks

April 24, 2026

When I knew I would be visiting Charleston for the first time, there were a few things I wanted to be sure to include in my itinerary. I wanted to see some of the places shown on Southern Charm (a reality TV show that takes place in Charleston*), I wanted to see the Pineapple Fountain, and I wanted to walk across the Ravenel Bridge.

Guess what? I’m happy to say I was able to accomplish all three!

The Pineapple Fountain is a famous, relatively new (1990) landmark in Waterfront Park, symbolizing Southern hospitality, wealth, and the city’s recovery from Hurricane Hugo.

While in Charleston, I walked many miles. It is a very walkable city and I love walking, so it was a great fit! It was a nice walk from my hotel to Waterfont Park where the fountain is located. There are great views of the harbor and access to piers and boardwalks and some cool porch swings once arriving at the park.

Surprisingly, splashing inside the fountain is allowed! It was cool and windy the day I visited so I didn’t witness anyone in the water!

I never made a visit to the foundation in the evening, which is unfortunate, since the fountain is illuminated at night. Offering a dramatic contrast against the dark sky, I’m sure it must be beautiful!

One of the other nice walks I took was to (and across) another Charleston landmark – The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. It’s 2.5-mile span stretches across the Cooper River. In the spring, it hosts one of the largest 10Ks in the U.S. – the Cooper River Bridge Run.

The Ravenel Bridge opened in 2005, replacing two aging structures.

It connects Charleston with Mount Pleasant.

One of the most popular features of the bridge is Wonders’ Way, the dedicated pedestrian and bike path that runs along the southern edge of the bridge and made my walk across and back possible.

*Check my Instagram if you’d like to see the Southern Charm places I visited!

Hope you enjoyed sharing my Charleston landmarks! Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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the charleston vibe

April 17, 2026

Charleston, SC has been on my bucket list of places to visit for a very long time and I had always planned to some day visit with my daughter. But, in the meantime; my good friend was attending a wedding in Charleston and asked me if I’d like to join her on the trip! Of course I agreed!

Our visit happened to be scheduled during the time of The Charleston Festival sponsored by the Historic Charleston Foundation. (In its 79^th year!) One of the festival activities included a series of House & Garden Tours. These tours gave access to privately owned historic homes, select interiors, and private gardens and we were able to book one of the tours in advance of our trip.

Although photos were not allowed on the tour, I was able to capture some photos during our walk around the city to give you an idea of the Charleston vibe. I am sharing some in this first Charleston post. (My next post will share a couple of my favorite Charleston landmarks.)

The fountain in front of the restaurant Husk.

One thing I had heard about Charleston was that there were plenty of beautiful window boxes. We were able to find some. It seemed it must have been the beginning of the window box season since we saw quite a few people planting window boxes while we walked around the city.

As gardeners, we did take note that the window boxes were planted very full – many more plants per box than we would have expected. So, if you plant window boxes – take note that the ones with the most beautiful results did not skimp on the plants!

Other details we noticed at many of the homes were the gates and iron work as well as some pretty house numbers.

If you haven’t yet visited Charleston, I highly recommend a trip! Please enjoy the photos!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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diy decoupage feather easter eggs

March 14, 2026

This year the theme for my Easter egg decorating is feathers. The medium I decided to use is decoupage.

I have done a lot of decoupage and I have shared many of my decoupage shells with you over the years but I think this is the first year I have used decoupage on my Easter eggs.

Eggs, nests, feathers – these are all motifs I really love. I’m actually surprised I’ve never painted feathers on my eggs in the past.

Decoupage is so easy to do and it is especially great for anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable hand painting eggs. Decoupage gives such a great result with very little effort!

Start by choosing a pattern you wish to use on your egg. Just like my decoupage shell instructions, I am suggesting you use paper cocktail napkins because there are so many to choose from and they are inexpensive and easy to use. Home Goods or Marshalls is a good place to look for purchasing paper napkins.

You will need the napkin of your choice, Mod Podge, a paint brush, and some eggs! I like to empty out my eggs first so I can keep the finished product year to year.

Start by cutting out the shape(s) you want to use on your egg. Then, separate the layers of the paper napkin; removing the back two layers. Paint some Mod Podge onto the egg and carefully place your paper shape onto the Mod Podge. Once in place, brush another layer of Mod Podge over the top of the paper. Let dry and that’s it!

I hope you have some fun creating some decoupaged Easter eggs this year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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icy does it

February 14, 2026

The temperatures here in Connecticut have been frigid and lasting for more than a couple of days.

Today, I want to share some photos with you that demonstrate these temps!

Living on the coast, we don’t often see the saltwater freezing like this!

It has been over ten years since I’ve seen the water freeze to this degree!

With the temperature in the single digits (not counting the windchill), I could barely keep my mittens off long enough to take a single photo!

So, it was very hard to get a few shots to share.

I hope you enjoy looking at these photos while you are someplace warm…or, at least enjoying a warm cozy weekend indoors!

Thanks for stopping by. Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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fall visit to the farmer’s daughter

October 31, 2025

You know I love gardens and garden stores. This year, I’ve enjoyed sharing visits to New Jersey, Pennsylvania and my home state of Connecticut with you.

Today, I am sharing a fall visit to a great garden center in Rhode Island – South Kingstown, Rhode Island, to a spot called The Farmer’s Daughter.

Open since 1998, The Farmer’s Daughter is more than a garden shop. In addition to greenhouses, there are gift shops housed in barns on the property that contain many unique garden inspired gifts.

I hope you can see by the photos I am sharing, that it is a very inspiring place!

Please enjoy!!

I hope you enjoyed your visit to this special garden spot in Rhode Island. Maybe we will take another visit when all the barns are magically transformed for the holidays! Until then, thanks for stopping by!

Have a fabulous weekend and remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

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