My Cozy Home

back from Portland, on to St. Louis - a stop in between at home

Portland was very nice even if I was there for work.  I stayed in a great old hotel, The Benson, and was able to get out and shop a little one night.  Anybody heard of Powell's Bookstore?  It's ginormous!  I spent some time roaming the isles and purchased several books and magazines for myself and Evy.  I also did a bit of clothes shopping which is always a good time.  I got home on Wednesday and am leaving again tomorrow for another work trip - this time for St. Louis.  Today Evy and I had an outing at the mall where we bought sparkly shoes (for Evy, but sadly not for me), and some fun clothes for the two of us.  I don't shop for clothes very much so it's fun when I do.  My favorite store is J.Crew (very often I realize that literally everything I am wearing (save for underthings) is from J.Crew. - this includes my coat and scarf).  I do love that store.  Anyhoo, I recently received a wonderful, and completely indulgent cookbook as a belated birthday present from my friend Boni, and at about the same time I purchased another cookbook  - nearly as equally indulgent - just  because it looked so good - "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey" and "Cupcakes!" respectively.  Both have great covers, pictures, and recipes. 

 

"Sticky, et al" is by Jill O'Connor, photographs by Keigh Beisch.  "Cupcakes!" is by Elinor Klivans, photographs by France Ruffenach.   I wouldn't normally add who did the photographs, but they both do such a fantastic job that I had to mention them.

This is a picture from "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey" as is the below picture.

A bit blurred, but you get the idea.  Those colors, the arrangement of the food...it's all so great.

 

This delightful photograph is from "Cupcakes!"

I recently updated the display atop the little chest of drawers in our entry.  I love old baseballs and like how they look in a silver champagne bucket.  If my friend Susan reads this she may recognize it as a wedding gift from her in-laws, which has yet to be used for chilling any sort of beverage in the 10 years we've had it.  It's been used for practically everything else though.  Also pictured is the new (old) clarinet that I recently got from an antiques store called Hunt and Gather in Minneapolis.

I think it's the combination of a classy, respectable looking champagne chiller filled with very old, beat up baseballs that appeals to me.  I don't like things to be too much of anything - it's the mixing and matching of old and new, glitziness and restrained elegance that gets me excited. 

And since it's almost Valentine's Day I am including a picture of the little hand-stitched heart that I made last February.  It's hanging in the Living Room right now, but normally resides in Evy's room.  Some of you who have been reading for awhile may remember when I made this humble little heart last year. 

Thanks to everyone who drops by even when I'm not so quick to update my blog.  I really do appreciate your comments and emails.  Thank you for always being so supportive, kind, and funny.  Talk to you when I return from St. Louis.

 

pictures, pictures, pictures...

The visit with my mom and grandpa was perfect.  I love vacations like that - almost always involving antiquing, watching old mystery movies, relaxing, eating, almost no actual responsibility.  To me, that's vacation perfection.  We had our Christmas with my family on New Year's Eve.  We ate pizza, watched "Candleshoe" with a young Jody Foster from 1977, opened presents, and rang in the New Year.  Even my 93 year-old grandpa stayed awake right till the end.  Here is my Grandpa, Evy, and my mom before my grandpa left to go back to North Dakota.

I think it's picture overload for this post.  Since I haven't posted in a while I've accumulated some settings and a project that I want to share with you.  In my next post I'll show you the project that my mom and I worked together - a very, very old, small crib that's been in our family for a long time.  We painted it and made a cute cushion for it - pictures to follow in the next post.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

This is the journal and bookmark I made for my mom while she was here.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

This is a side view with the tabs and pockets that my mom added to it.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

A view of the kitchen.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

This is an old basket that I picked up while antiquing with my mom.  I also got a couple more 1803 candles which are absolutely the best candles I've ever used.  Some how those little cups ended up in a picture again.  I think they've been in my last three posts.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

My mom gave me that little tray for Christmas.  It has chalk board paint on it.  Such a cute idea.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Cranberries, orange slices, evergreens, and floating candles.  They smell so nice.

My riding hat collection is growing.  I just can't seem to refuse a riding hat when I see one.  I think they're so fun!

                                                                                                                                                                   

A couple of old horns that I picked up recently while antiquing.  Steve was bummed that he couldn't honk the horn sitting above the trumpet.  He couldn't quite understand why I would get a horn with a falling-apart honker.  I looked at him in disbelief and said, "why wouldn't I get it?  It looks like the perfect horn to me".  ;o)

Hope you all are well my friends.  I'll be back soon - I promise!

holiday glow, and random things about me....

Every year I think that autumn is my favorite time of year, but then autumn passes, and think maybe Christmas is actually my favorite time of year.  It's so magical, so cozy and warm.  I've taken a few pictures of the living room, but also added a couple of dining room pictures because Heather asked to see more of it.  And lastly, I'll share 7 random things as requested by Nancy, and what I was doing 10/20/30 years ago as requested by Joyce.

This is our fireplace mantel in the living room.  This glow made me feel warm against the outside snow that is mounting by the minute here in Minnesota.

This is the tree we cut down in our back yard.  It was in a bad spot, one that would have eventually pushed out some of our stone retaining wall.  We didn't want that to happen so we decided to use it as a Christmas tree this year.  I don't normally like to cut down trees from our yard, but in this case it had just gotten too big and was going to start causing damage.  As I mentioned in my last post, it's a bit of a free spirit.  It has bald spots and isn't uniform, but I like it.  It's just doing its own thing, perfectly imperfect.

   

My morning coffee.

"Greetings" banner from Bayberry Cove.

Heather had asked about the dining room.  Here are a couple of pictures.

Sorry that the picture is a bit grainy.  I was having some issues with it and had to switch to our other camera that allows for additional settings.  At any rate, you get the general idea about the dining room at least.

 

And for Nancy, 7 random facts about me:

1.) I organize my underwear by color, they are folded like a little package, and lined up within an organizing container in one of my drawers.  I do the same with my bras.  My closet is also color coordinated from lightest to darkest.  I also use all the same kind of hangers - they are wooden and are the same color.  Does this random fact make you want to run screaming from my blog?  Now that I've typed it out, it does sound rather...obsessive.  All my handbags are in cloth bags and sit on a shelf in the closet.  That didn't sound any less weird did it?  Okay, moving on.

2.) I'd like to own a mystery book store - all mysteries, all the time.  I'd have antiques in the shop, overstuffed chairs, and a fireplace.  It would be called "Creaky Door Mystery Bookstore". I'd have coffee and tea, and cookies available too.

3.) When I get home from work at night I practically run to our bedroom to put on my comfy clothes.  I usually wear a black Adidas track suit, or a brown velour pants and jacket outfit.  I must be comfortable.

4.) I had lasic surgery three years ago - IT IS SO GREAT!

5.) I love the show "Psych" - love, love, love it.  It's hilarious, and it is a mystery show: win-win for me.

6.)I moved from Idaho to Kansas City, MO when I was 18 for college.  After college I moved to Minneapolis, MN for work.  I bought my first house when I was 22 -was the best investment I ever made.

7.) When I met my future husband and I found out he loved old music, old movies, antiques, kids, and talking about feelings - well, I thought I had hit the jackpot.  As it turns out I did hit the jackpot and have been happily married for over nine years.

10/20/30 - Is a request from Joyce to share what we were doing 10, 20, and 30 years ago.

10 years ago: I was 24 and engaged to be married to Steve and we were planning our wedding, which would occur on 8/1/98. 

20 years ago: I was 14 and was in 9th grade at Lakeland Junior Highschool in Rathdrum, ID.  I was looking forward to my 15th birthday, which is on Dec. 5th.  We were about to have a school dance on Dec. 18th, which is when I started going out with a boy named John - we dated for about two years. And no, I'm not guessing about the date. That was the actual date of the dance and when I started dating John.  The things we remember even years later.

30 years ago: I was 4 and was about to turn 5.  I remember that one of the birthday presents I received was a Little House on the Prairie book.  My presents were wrapped and sitting on the floor next to an antique ice box that was in our dining room.  I remember them sitting there and I remember that morning when I opened the presents.  My mom still has that ice box in her kitchen.  We had recently moved to Rathdrum, ID from North Dakota after my dad died in a car accident.  We lived on a mountain - a beautiful mountain in Idaho.  I loved that home and my years there.  My uncle now lives in that house, which is nice to visit when I go back to Idaho.

Sorry for the very long post, but I wanted to accomplish a few things in this one. I hope you are all doing very well and enjoying your weekend.  The snow here is beautiful and I'm enjoying some relaxation in our cozy home.  Until next time my friends.

decorations underway...

I realized this year that I had a lot of Autumn decorations to put away.  I guess that happens when you find new treasures every year, and I certainly always seem to do that.  I started putting Christmas decorations up this weekend - spruce tips in the window boxes, wreaths hung from doors and windows, knick-knacks positioned, the tree cut and placed in the living room.  Wait till you see the Christmas tree (it's one that was on our property).  Let me just say that it's unique...and has character.  I like it, but it isn't your typical cone-shaped tree.  It's more of a free spirit you might say.  More to come later on the tree.  For now I wanted to share an arrangement I put together in our foyer.  I used a silver ice bucket as the base.  I added a large spruce tip for the center, and white pine and cedar bows around the edge.  I used pheasant feathers to embellish, and added a little nest and bird ornament for affect.  Flanking the tree are my two riding helmets.  Not sure why the ice bucket looks dark - it's a light silver color.  Bah...lighting.

   

 

This is a little silver tree that I got from Traditions.  I bought one for Evy to have in her room.  The star on top is from Bayberry Cove.

More to come very soon.  I hope you are all well my friends!

are you ready for it...?

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?  I'm very ready - I love Thanksgiving, I love the food, the decorations, time with family, and taking an opportunity to be thankful and aware of life's many blessings and opportunities.  Every year and every holiday is a stepping stone in life's pathway of memories - a table full of family and friends passing delicious food from hand to hand, kids' tables, naps on the couch with football on the T.V. in the background, leftovers.   This is our dining room, which will not be seeing any Thanksgiving action this year.  We usually go to Steve's brother and sister-in-law's home.  She makes an amazing meal and makes it look so simple.  She's always so cool and calm - I'd be a mess, figuratively and literally I'm afraid.

My little hen that I got last fall for a song. 

This is a picture of the harvest table we prepared at church yesterday.  I'm part of the Alter Guild and one of the things we take care of is decorating for the holidays.  I'm sure you can imagine how much I love to do that.  I thought it turned out really well.  It was fun to view the end result while attending church today.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration.  Next up...Christmas (I recently acquired a couple of 20" silver glitter trees and a "Greetings" garland with glitter letters from Bayberry Cove.  I sure do love holidays :o)

 

saturday stuff...

I wanted to show our stairway area.  The wall leading up the stairs is hand painted with a crosshatch design and Fleur d' Les.  It looks a bit like wallpaper, but it's all hand painted.  I can't take credit for it though as it was here when we moved in.  It was just part of what made me love the house.  Whoever painted it had incredible patience...and a love of geometry I think.

Here is a close up of the Fleur d' Les.  Each Fleur d' Les has gold leafing on it.  Not sure if you can tell very well by the picture.

                                                      

I also wanted show the opposite view from the stairs.

The paint in the living room is a pale grey.  The picture on the wall is one of my grandma and two of her sisters.  My grandma is the baby on the right - sitting up the highest.  Her name was Mildred.

Pictured below is the mirror that hangs at the bottom of the stairs.  Reflected is the chest of drawers, which sits next to the stairs. I wish you could see the mirror itself better.  It's an antique and is black with gold leafing around it.  The glass is mottled, which I love.  I used a ribbon to hang it on the wall.

Have a great weekend everyone!

It's Thursday and I'm ready for the weekend....

I am so very ready for the weekend, a long weekend with laziness, and TV watching, and puttering about doing this and that - time spent with my family and really enjoying every minute, just soaking it all in.  I'd like to get new cushions for the chairs outside, and then I'd like to sit in the chairs and read, and read, and read.  Pure Bliss.  And speaking of "bliss", I just got the book "Domestic Bliss", and have started reading it, in addition to another new book, "A French Country Murder". 

Just a few pictures to share.  I'm sure you recognize the entry.  I've added a new cloche to the table.  And a couple of old bags.  The black one happens to be my dad's, which is filled to the brim with his stamp collection.

Cookie cutters abound.

Wishing you the best of long weekends, and the safest too.  Hope there is a lot of reading, relaxing, and family time for all of you as well.

Inspired?...yes I am...

I kept meaning to take some additional pictures and do some blogging throughout the week, but I blinked twice and the week was gone - I'm not even sure what happened.  At any rate, here I am.  I am so excited because I received a sewing machine for Valentine's day from Steven.  I didn't have one and I have been so inspired and motivated by the wonderful talent of my fellow bloggers.  So I made a general comment one day, "I think I'd like a sewing machine".  And then, just like that, a sewing machine showed up for Valentine's Day.  I also received the "Love Actually" sound track (so good).  And I received the new Belinda Carlisle CD that she did in French - it's great.  I highly recommend it.  I also received a Sewing 101 book, and the new Janet Evanovich book "Plum Lovin'" - it isn't a mystery, but a between-the-numbers book about the multiple men in her life. 

I have spent enumerable hours this week looking at many wonderful blogs and I just get more and more excited.  Thank you all for sharing your lives and homes with me - sniff.  I can't wait to go and get some material and start making stuff.  I thought maybe I would make a bag of some sort - I'll see what strikes me. 

Here are some pictures from around the house.  This is a picture of our breakfast nook (love that snow out there).

                                 

This is a cupboard in our kitchen, next to the breakfast nook.  It is from my grandparent's farm and is over 100 years old.  I love it.  And do you see that vintage wallpaper in the back?  It is from the 30's or 40's and was put there by my grandma.  The little apron is the vintage-inspired one that my mom made for Evy for Christmas. 

This is a picture of our entryway.

   

This is a close-up of the basket.  It holds treasures from an antiquing trip to Buffalo, MN with my mom.  There are many things in that basket (all old): English riding helmet, walking sticks, umbrellas, tennis rackets, skates, and a baseball mitt and ball.

This is our living room.  The bookcase in back holds my mystery stuff collection.  I'll put a closer picture below, but I don't think it can be truly appreciated unless viewed in person.  There is an old typewriter, a Maltese Falcon replica, mystery board games of Cluedo (the British version of Clue (and this one is old), Gosford Park, and Murder She Wrote (yes folks, there actually was a MSW board game and I have it...couresy of my mom and a garage sale).  There are magnifying glasses, a Sherlock Holmes picture from a movie, a deerstocker hat, books, and many, many mystery DVD's.  You can't see it but there is also an old style black phone over there too.  I'll have to devote some pictures to that area so you can see.

If you can make this bigger you might be able to see some of the stuff - like I said, a picture just doesn't do it justice.

 

 

We had lemmon poppyseed scones this morning.  Yum.

 

Some old bowls with my wonderful cookie cutters that have that great green for the handles - love it.

And this is just a lovely little picture in my dining room.  I love the birds, the apples, the colors.  I never get tired of looking at it.  Have a wonderful day!

a few pictures...

I took a few random pictures around the house to share.  I'd really like to be scrunched up in that couch right now - reading with the fire going...maybe tonight.  Some of the pictures are sideways - sorry about that.  The last one is of my mom, daughter (Evy), and me (the aprons are vintage inspired and were handmade by my mom).  We were baking cookies at our house.