The hydrangeas on Cape Cod are magnificent this summer!!
This is the Hydrangea Gift Shop in Dennisport…
They have every array of colored hydrangea that The Cape has to offer, to feast your eyes on…also, they have a very enjoyable gift shop!!
This is The Commordore Inn, right next to the beach at the end of our street!! They have a front lawn overflowing with beautiful hydrangeas…
Such a pleasure to walk by on the way to the beach!!!
This is the backyard at our cottage, only 2 of these gorgeous bushes…
But look at what we get, for the months of July and August!!!
One evening when out for a walk we came upon this lovely little bush!!! This summer was a particular bumper crop of hydrangeas…a wonderful gift for our healing society💜
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How often do we get to see Victor relaxing at the beach???
Not very often, but now it’s going to happen a lot more…because this man just retired!!! Our family and friends are so thrilled for him…and me, well I’m getting my other half to finally hang out with me and do projects, which we both love to do!!!
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Speaking of projects…another before and after section of our Train House kitchen, in Virginia!!!
This is what our kitchen looked like after we knocked down walls!!
This cabinet was the inspiration piece we bought at an antique store…
It had to fit in this area perfectly, for a coffee bar and microwave cabinet, but also leave room for a heating and cooling vent on the floor…
And this is it after I refinished it with a coat of white paint to match our kitchen cabinets, but sanded the top and put a couple of coats of polyurethane on it!! Victor built the top cabinet to hold the microwave and storage!! He put up mahogany corbels to match the top of the coffee bar!!
I just discovered the “pano” feature on my iPhone:) This is a distorted view of part of the kitchen…oh there’s more…I will show you more on my next post😉 That back staircase leads to our master bedroom, still in progress!!
Now a closer look at the coffee bar!!
Have you ever heard of a cake with zero calories?? Well this is one and I will show you how to make it!!!
First of all, you will need sponges🤣 That’s, right, this is faux cake made of hobby sponges…after making cake slices or cupcakes, you can leave them out to look beautiful on your counter!!! This can be a fun craft for kids, I was lucky to have Gina and Parker to help me!! I purchased the sponges on Amazon…
I used white caulking, for frosting, Victor always has this for his home projects, but you can buy it at HomeDepot!
It’s a lot easier to spread as frosting with a caulking gun, which you can get at Home Depot, also!! Just spread the “frosting” with a plastic knife!! And then after you make your cake, you can caulk a drafty window to keep you warm this winter 🤣😂
Parker and Gina joining in on the fun!! After cutting the sponges to any shape you want…we did layer cakes, but you could do cupcakes!! We used a razor knife to cut the sponges, you wouldn’t want a child using that, so you would have to cut the shapes for them, the frosting and decorating is the fun part!!!
After frosting the sponges, they should dry for at least a day. These are the materials needed for decorating your cakes. A disposable plate to mix the caulking…I used acrylic paint to mix with the caulking. Those are red sugar rose decorations, but you could use just about anything to decorate the cake with, even jewelry beads!! A decorating frosting tip for piping the “frosting” is a good idea, too!!
After mixing paint with the caulking, put it in a plastic baggie cutting a small hole for the frosting tip!! Then decorate the cake in anyway you’d like, I topped mine off with roses!!
And here you have 4 pieces of cake with zero calories!! I bought this 3 tier pastry server at a thrift store for $5, it was shiny silver color, so I spray painted it gold…
it folds up like this!! I enjoyed preparing this post and bringing you inside my world of creativity and hope you all enjoyed it too💙
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School will be starting soon in Virginia, for my grandsons!! I’m happy they will be going for 2 days a week and will be with their friends, but I’m sad that there won’t be many more days that we can be close to them, like this. Until of course, this virus is over with once and for all!! I hope and pray it is sooner than later. Love to you all, stay well🙏🏽💙
Visions of My 70s 
Great blog. I love the little tray you spray painted gold. I would love to get a chocolate colored sponge. That would be more appropriate in my house.
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Thank you, glad you liked it!!!❤️ You could paint the sponge dark brown for chocolate cake…bet you could even make brownies😉 Maybe we could do it together…6 ft. apart of course!!!🤎
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I am always amazed at the things you post!!!! You are so clever and talented. Makes me a bit envious!
I can remember the hydrangeas on the Cape. We had some massive ones when we lived there. They are so beautiful.
So happy Victor is now retired. Give him my best wishes. Just think of all the fun you two will have!
Love what you’re doing with your VA house. That coffee bar is to die for. Where do you get your ideas? You’re both so very smart.
Kudos to you and Victor. Make sure you stay well and keep the blog going. Sending love and best wishes.
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Thank you, Nancy, for the compliments, you are so sweet💖 I know, the hydrangeas on the Cape are amazing, but this summer they are so vivid with all shades of pink and purple, such a pleasure to see!! I never thought Victor would retired…we can’t travel to far away places but thank goodness we have our houses to visit and work on and thank goodness he can go to Home Depot🤣
Hope you and Art are doing okay, I know you’re having some health issues, I’m sending you love and healing energy🙏🙌❤️
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Congratulations to your other half on his retirement!
I adore your coffee bar, and the tier is just darling! Xx
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Thank you, I so appreciate your kind comments💖 It was so much fun to see the coffee bar come together, and now we are so enjoying it, especially Victor who loves his morning coffee😉
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Youre so welcome! Looks great, I’d love to have one. One day when we have a bigger area 🙂 xxx
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👍💖
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Hi Carol,
Congratulations and all good wishes to Victor on his retirement. Great picture at the beach, he looks so relaxed and happy. Now you will be able to get away and not have to worry about the time. You and Victor are doing a fantastic job at the “Train House.”
You both should be really proud of the work you have done and are doing, its looking great.
The pictures of the hydrangeas at your house, the Commodore, and the gift shop in
Dennis Port brought back many fond memories. They really are lovely and are all over the Cape. Enjoy. I got excited when I read,”no calorie cake.” It looked so delicious,
then I saw it was fake. How clever, it looked so real, what a let down, but it was pretty to look at. Happy to hear the boys are going back to school, at least partially. It will be good for them to socialize with their friends.
I really do enjoy reading your blogs it helps to keep in touch. I have been wondering about Patty and Don. Hope they are well and safe have been able to get to the Cape.
You, Victor and your family, take good care, be well, and stay safe.
Much love,
Lucille
ps. Happy belated birthday. Hope you had a great day and that the year ahead holds all that you are hoping for.
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Thank you Lucille, so great to hear from you!!! Glad you enjoyed seeing the hydrangeas, they were particularly vibrant this summer, probably due to weather conditions being just right for them!! The cakes turned out to be so much fun, when the boys are at Train House and walk by the coffee bar, they toss those cakes up in the air and catch them like they’re balls, after all they are made of sponge and caulking🤣😂 Patty and Don have been hunkering down in TX due to Corona, we have been caring for their little cottage, you would think someone has been there all summer🤗 However, we miss them so very much, it has been a very odd summer on The Cape🙁 I had a fun birthday with Gina and family and even VJ came to VA to help celebrate!!!
Hope you have had a good summer and are staying well, our love to you❤️
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Carol, that hydrangea shop in the first view you took with the Extra flowers behind the picket fence is exquisite! They might want that to hang in their store. And your vase is mouthwatering! What is that amazing copper-rose color? That’s probably my favorite. And speaking of the first photo, on the roof to the right is a huge black bird. Did you just happen to catch that moment, or is it a fake bird?
I always love your before and after pics of the train house. I’m so impressed how you’ve made it into such a warm home. And Victor retiring, I had a heads up about 😉 but congrats to his new lifestyle. The beach works for him! What projects will you work on together?
The “sponge cake” is a great idea. Make sure the kids know before they try and take a bite, it looks so scrumptious on that golden display contraption! (I would have chosen gold, too!)
The boys are soooo big!! And I bet they will be beyond excited to see their friends. But I do feel for you. Just remember, no matter how old they get, you will always be the cool Gramma they will be thrilled to hang with!
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Oh, Penny, leave it to you to notice the bird😉I would like to say I did that on purpose, but I didn’t even see it until you mentioned it!!! It’s a real bird, because it’s not in the second photo…Amazing!!!
I so enjoy doing the before/after pics, glad you enjoy them too!! Our next projects…still working on The Train House!! Can’t wait to get to our master bedroom at the top of those stairs!! Right now we are working on the guest bedrooms, so the boys will have a comfy place to stay at Nina and Papa’s house!!
Isn’t the “sponge cake” fun?! I’m looking forward to taking cake decorating classes, once covid is over, so I can do works of art out of cake!!!
The boys ARE getting so big!! We are getting our hugs and overnights with them, before school starts this week!! Once school starts we will be keeping out distance from them😩 Thank you for always leaving such wonderful comments, you truly enlightened me this time, with the black bird!!!
BTW/Seeing a black bird is a good omen, filled with magic and good change…right up our alley😉🖤🙏🏽
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