My Cozy Home

....this year's august is the new april

Usually Minnesota Augusts are hot, sticky, and in general one of my least favorite months of the year.  It's the month I spend thinking about how glad I'll be when it's September - see here for proof.  It's the month when my plants take a big nose dive - looking dry, faded, and gangly, and the grass is usually a sad shade of brown for lack of rain.  This August however is quite a deviation from Augusts of the past.  We have had rain, rain, rain.  It looks more like spring around here.  I took a couple more pictures of the outside to show how the flowers have been doing.  I'm quite pleased by their color, and have to say that as a result of this mild weather I'm actually enjoying August (even though I'm still thinking about autumn - as exemplified by the picture at the bottom of this post - I can't help it).

I realize there's nothing overly amazing about this display, but believe me, if you saw what they normally look like in August you'd think me a gardening wizard right now - maybe even a botanical genius :o)

I also took a few pictures of the kitchen because I enjoy the lighting during the middle of the day.

I'm sitting at the island right now as I write this post.  Seems to be one of my favorite places to sit - whether I'm on the computer, reading, looking at magazines, eating - I just like it here.

These are some roses I picked up the other day and liked how they started to look droopy and sort of hang dog.  I like the creamy pitcher paired with the creamy roses.

This is my little shelf of Ironstone pitchers - something I tend to look for when I'm antiquing.  I like seeing similar things all grouped together.

And, as I mentioned, despite being very satisfied with the pleasant, mild August weather we've been having I still get excited about autumn.  As I've mentioned in the past, I drag out all my fall and Halloween stuff on September 1st.  Yes, it's true, in August I'm dreaming about the October gatherings we'll have, cups of cocoa, warm sweaters, jeans, boots, picking pumpkins and apples, and of course going antiquing - all good stuff.  Be well my friends.

family, home, and rhubarb berry crisp...

Steve, Evy, and me in North Dakota on my mom's 60th birthday

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My cousin Kelly on the left, my Aunt Claire, me, and my mom - Lynn on her birthday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silver collection in the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family room view from the kitchen - the living room is on the other side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Ledger Paper from Queen of Tarte

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My trip to the farmers market - needed rhubarb for the crisp!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rhubarb berry crisp before we dug in....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ended up using rhubarb, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries - it was a really great combination.  If you have "The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen" cookbook the recipe is on p 112.  It's called "Blackberry Crisp", but you really can use any combination of berries and fruit that you like.  I've included the recipe below for anyone who needs it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhubarb berry crisp

Ingredients:

·         2 cups fresh or frozen fruit (that one 16 oz bag if you get it in the freezer section)

o   (I used 1 cup of chopped rhubarb and 1 cup frozen mixed berries)

·         ¾ cup all-purpose flour

o   (I used whole wheat flour)

·         ¾ cup packed brown sugar

·         ¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats

·         ½ tsp ground cinnamon

·         ½ cup cold unsalted butter (1 stick), cut into small pieces

·         ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions:

·         Heat the oven to 375 degrees

·         Place fruit in the bottom of an 8-inch square (or round) baking dish

·         Combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a medium-size mixing bowl

·         Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or your clean fingers until the mixture forms large crumbs.

·         Stir in the walnuts if you wanted them (which I left out :o)

·         Sprinkle the mixture over the berries in the baking dish

·         Bake until the topping is browned and berries are bubbly – about 40 min’s (you can carefully poke a fork in to make sure the fruit is soft (especially if you are using rhubarb)

·         Serve warm with vanilla ice cream

 

birthday wishes and new arrivals...

  Happy Birthday to my mom, who just turned 60 on July 7th.  We were able to be together to celebrate her special day.  I love you mom!! 

Mom loaded her car with all of the treasures that I couldn't bring back with me on the plane in June.  I'm very excited about my new chair (also pictured here), which made it's way from Washington to Idaho, Idaho to North Dakota, and finally, North Dakota to Minnesota.  It's now in the entry of my house - making me smile every time I see it.  I love it and am so glad that I got it from JuneBug at The Farm Chicks show in June.  And once again, the bag that I got at the JuneBug booth is also in the picture.  I love it so!

Just brought these flowers home from the farmer's market this morning.  I enjoy arranging flowers in a no frills, relaxed sort of way.  Nothing too fancy.

In addition to the chair from JuneBug, I also got this great chalk board.  I'm enjoying having a new focal point on that dining room wall - I had the Ironstone platters and liked how they looked together.  Me thinks I need more Ironstone platters though....

 

There's my big boy - K.C., laying next to my new pillow (which also made the trek in my mom's car with many other treasures).  It's a wonderful heavy linen ticking. 

 I have to say, I hate polishing silver, but it sure looks nice when it's done. 




 

A growing collection of starfish and my new "Cottages on the Coast" book that Steven got for me.

I hope you're all having a nice weekend.  We are grilling tonight and I'll be making some strawberry rhubarb crisp for dessert.  It's so good and will hopefully be picture-worthy so that I can share it with you.

sunday at home....

When things are so busy it really is nice just to have a day at home.  I enjoy not having to be anywhere, mixed in with some relaxation as well as getting things done. 

 

Raspberry Chocolate candle from  Stephen's Candlrey in Hayden Lake, ID (just down the street from my mom).  My favorite candles that they have are the Pumpkin and the Candy Corn (seasonal).  Both are outstanding.

Family Room

 

 

 

One of my new pillows from The Farm Chicks sits in the Family Room. I should have done a close up of it - has a great faded French looking pattern.  The fabric is from Shabby Chic.

I really enjoy dog figurines made in Occupied Japan.  I have quite a few now and still don't tire of looking for them.  I also have a couple of dog show trophies and ribbon. 

This old wire filing basket work great for corralling magazines.

I've had this old tray for a couple of years now.  I use it in so many different ways - for now it holds books that I often look at while sitting on the couch.

These are all finds from my trip to my mom's.  All but the "A" are from The Farm Chicks show - the "A" is from a little antique store in Coeur d' Alene, ID called Forget-Me-Not.

I have more pictures, but I'll post those in my next entry.

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!

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)

 

kitch' n' things....

I'm surrounded by sick people - trying to keep myself healthy, but when people are hacking, sneezing, wheezing, and generally oozing goo from all facial orifaces, it's a tough row to hoe in order to keep from succumbing to the same fate.  So, hoping my next post will boast of my iron-strong immune system, repelling all cold, virus, and bacterial germ entities in the vacinity.  Back off germs!!  Just back off!  I'm having none of it!  While I'm waiting for the germy incubation period to pass, I thought I would post a few more pictures of my kitchen.  So many people mentioned the island and the marble on top that I thought I would mention that we got it at Williams-Sonoma.  I looked to see if they still have it, but it doesn't appear as though they do.    Also, folks have asked about the paint in the kitchen, and I don't have a name for it, but it is a dark camel color with a slight bit of a mossy green in it, although, really it mostly looks camel-colored to me.  The below is the breakfast nook.

In the breakfast nook to the left is the cabinet from my granparent's farm - it is very old.  Here is a picture of what the cabinet looks like if you haven't seen older posts.  The below is the opposite view from the breakfast nook.

There's my sewing basket with the liner that my mom made me - love it.

One more.  Can you see the salt pig in the below picture on the right side on the counter?  It's next to the Kitchen Aid mixer.  I love the salt pig - its so great for cooking  - we use kosher or sea salt typically.

I hope you all had a great weekend and will have a nice week.  I appreciate your visits so much - it truly is a brightener each day to hear from you.  Thank you my friends!

view from a kitchen doorway...at night...

I was struck the other night by the simple beauty of soft light and the warm glow of this candle that my mom gave to me (another wonderful candle from Stephen's Candlery).  This was taken Saturday night and we were about to watch Banecek - from the early 1970's with George Peppard.  They are mysteries (of course). 

The roses are opening now and look so pretty - they're pretty closed in this picture.  I really enjoy the creamy color of the pitcher paired with the coral roses.

Evy and I made muffins this morning - cinnamon streusel (recipe below).  They turned out very nice, and Evy loves helping to bake - makes eating them together that much sweeter.

Does anyone have a butter bell?  They are very handy - keeps the butter perfectly soft and fresh.  Mine says "Butter" on one side and "Beurre" on the other.

They were "nummies" as Evy says...and did say.

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Recipe:

FOR MUFFIN MIX:

1 egg
3/4 c. milk
1/3 c. oil
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

STREUSEL MIX:

1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. melted butter

Grease or line 12 muffin cups with paper cup liners. In a bowl, slightly beat the egg; beat in milk and oil. Set aside. In a large bowl stir flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center. Add the egg mixture all at once. Stir just until moistened. Do not over beat. Batter should be lumpy. Spoon into muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Top with streusel. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and serve warm.

 

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.

Tuesday...

  Hi folks - hope you're having a good week so far.  I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my mom on Wednesday evening.  She is flying in from Idaho and is spending 11 days with us (including Mother's Day).  On Thursday we are going to Buffalo, MN for a full day of antiquing - we plan her trips around when antique stores are going to be having their occasional sales.  I'm taking a much needed week off of work - haven't had any vacation since the beginning of January.  I'm really looking forward to it.  I know some of you have seen this cookie tin before, but I changed the arrangement around a bit and thought I would take another couple of pictures.  Also, just wanted to mention that if I haven't been to your blog lately, or replied to comments, please don't think I'm ignoring you - I've been working some very long hours, including weekends so my free time is pretty small right now.  Please know that I'm thinking of you and definitely not ignoring you.  And for my cousin Signe, who likes to visit my blog, but is afraid to leave a comment - don't be afraid, you won't inadvertently wipe out the entire eastern seaboard's power - or cause a brown out in Los Angeles :o)

I wish you all well, and will post pictures of my many treasures from Buffalo.  Until then, have a wonderful week.