Dana Marie's Country Living Blog

My watering can sprinkles light, not water! This garden art is easy to make. It's a perfect project for your spring and summer gardens. I like to bring it out in April and leave it up through the summer. Then I put it away until next year. It's a painted and distressed metal watering can with solar-powered fairy lights pulled through the spout - so much fun to watch them come on every evening. All you really have to do is get a metal watering can and string solar or battery-operated fairy lights through the spout. You may need to drill the sprinkler head hole so it's bigger for your lights to fit. Solar lights are nice, as they come on automatically each night. To dress it up, you can plant flowers in the top of the can, as well. ~ Dana Watering Can Lights Supplies a metal watering can spray paint for metal (opt.) sand paper, fine to medium grit (opt.) solar or battery-powered fairy lights drill if needed shepherd's hook stake (opt.) blooming plant (opt.) Instructions 1...

This recipe for homemade cheese is very, very easy. No special equipment is needed. The texture of the cheese reminds me of feta, which I love. You can slice it, spread it on crackers and sandwiches and crumble it on your salads etc.  I used some of it on a chicken pizza, and wow, so delicious. It's fun to make too!  Chicken Apple Citrus Salad  with crumbled homemade cheese Here's the recipe that is customized to my tastes, but you can totally change up the flavors to the way you prefer. Easy Homemade Cheese All you need is 4 cups whole milk 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar  4 tablespoons butter, melted salt to your taste 2 - 3 teaspoons garlic powder (optional) chopped herbs such as chives, thyme, rosemary, oregano (optional) Instructions 1 . Add the milk to a large pot on the stove. Heat it up until just boiling, stirring constantly so you don't scorch the milk. 2 . Take it off of the burner and immediately add the apple cider vinegar. Stir for a couple of minutes...

Here's a repurposing idea for you - plant flowers in an old firepit.   I have had this firepit for about 13 years now. There is nothing I love more than an outdoor fire on summer evenings. But a few years ago, my son the firefighter said, "No fires this year, Mom. It's not worth it."  Even here in Washington, summers can be very hot! So I took his advice. I don't want a spark to go up and catch a neighbor's tree on fire. Yikes!! That would be very bad. Definitely don't need that in my life. It got me thinking about what to do with my cute little fire pit. Sell it? Well no, I really do love it and I might be able to use it again someday. Then a light bulb went off in my head. Until the day I can use it again, why not make it a planter? So that's what I did, and it turned out pretty cute! Since the firepit didn't have holes in the bottom, I filled it about 1/4 of the way up with rocks to provide drainage for the plants. If you want to drill holes in ...

A few months ago, I had a get-together coming up and I thought I would make cake in Mason jars, so if anyone wasn't ready for dessert they could take one home. I just didn't fill them extra-full on that night so a lid would go on easily. The good thing about a dessert like this is that you don't have to eat it all at once. If you only eat half, just put the lid back on and place it in the fridge. Here's how to do it: Cake in Jars 1 . Make your favorite chocolate cake in a 9x13 sheet pan. Let it cool.  2 . Make or buy both caramel sauce and chocolate frosting. 3 . Place pieces of cake in Mason jars about a quarter of the way up, then cover with frosting. 4 . Add a second layer of cake and drizzle with caramel sauce. 5 . Top with caramel whipped cream, which is made by stirring some left-over caramel sauce into heavy cream and whipping it up like normal. It tastes delicious! 6 . Lastly, drizzle with more caramel sauce and add chocolate sprinkles. 7 . Store in the fridge. ...

This is my deer. We named her Chardonnay because she was found, only a day old, in the Chardonnay Vineyards of Fetzer Wines which was a couple of miles from our home. Her mother was unfortunately killed by some dogs. My husband at the time brought her home and we raised her up. My dog Esther became her mother and did everything for her that a good mother should. We bottle fed her goat's milk for four months then moved her onto some grain and hay. She thrived!! She was our constant sidekick. She went on walks with us and the dogs, kicking and squealing the whole way. We lived in the woods so no need for leashes. When we ate outside in the summer she would lie down beside the table with us. When we had company and campfires outside she was with us. And, yes, she did come in the house to say hi all the time. She was potty trained and never ever went in the house. She was just the bestest friend you could ever ask for. So sweet and loving. She did survive the 2012 forest fire, which wa...

I found this quote and love it so much!  "You are not too old And it is not too late." R.M. Rilke I don't share many personal things but I think I am meant to share some inspiration today. I am about to turn 59 in July and have been through so much the last 14 years. Sometimes I didn't know if I was going to be able to come back from everything that happened.  In 2012 there was a forest fire that took my country home, land and everything in it plus several of my animals. Soon after came a divorce. There were a couple years after this where there was much soul searching but not with much luck. I was pretty depressed. Next came a big move back to my home state of Washington. Then a few jobs where I worked endless hours and hated every second of it with long hours stuck in traffic.  The only thing left for me to enjoy was my page on FaceBook® that I created and my gifts of cooking, baking and my art. Those are the things that have kept me going, plus my children of cours...