I’m back! {Summer Vacation Is Over.}

As you may have noticed from my instagram, I snuck out of town as they were finishing up our Kitchen and The Super Pantry Renovation. They were about a month behind on finishing the renovation work because of the whole trickle-in cabinet delivery/terrible paint debacle. I would have never left our renovation at such a pivotal time, but I had reached my renovation stress saturation point. (My skin has never looked so bad!) I put marks where I wanted the cabinet knobs to be placed and left the workers to follow my direction. They could handle this on their own, right? WRONG.Originally I had planned to spend a week or so with my mom in Northern Michigan before our dear friends arrived for our annual 4th of July celebration. Typically they fly from Tennessee to spend July 4th at The Country House. The truth is that I thought we’d have sold the Connecticut property by July. I didn’t want to chance everyone booking flight plans to NWCT and then find we had nowhere to host them. (As Wall Street Journal’s House of the Day – who’d have thunk that it would take more than a year to sell The Country House?!) Instead of Connecticut, I invited our houseguests to spend the 4th at Heritage Farms II. It is a property in Northern Michigan that is owned by my family but cared for by a couple who watch over the horses, garden, land and chickens. Our friends and family members are invited to use it as a ‘Up North’ retreat. It’s been far too long since I took advantage of staying at the property – it truly is a beautiful place.While I was in Michigan, my Mom gifted me a set of new-to-me old china for the New Old Stone House. She is getting ready to build a new home in my home town and is making space in her cupboards for change. (You know how I love a good hand-me-down from Mom!) She is a big believer when you move into a new home you should mix up your tabletops with some new china. Lucky for me, right? It is a beautiful pattern, but I had no idea how fabulous it was for the house until I unpacked it the other day.Meanwhile, I arrived back at The Country House to find the Hydrangea in full bloom and the apple trees bearing fruit. How about that? The market had Sunflowers and Dahlia last weekend, which means it is time to start knitting a sweater for Fall. Not to sound like a complete downer, but the cooler weather and color change will be here before we know it!