WHooooooo's Ready for Elevenses??

This morning I looked outside and finally the mums   are  blooming... and I thought.. why dont you   set up an October  vignette in the kitchen,  so  hubs  and I  enjoyed  elevenses!!!  Just a snack to tide us over til lunch..

Early spring this year  while visiting our daughter near Boston.. I  found  these darling owl cups at Home Goods.. They  say on the bottom.. Rose of England..  made in  United Kingdom.  Ive been saving them for  today, I guess... They feel so great in the hand... and  Pumpkin Spice tea is the tea of choice for these  autumn vessels..  Haahaa, I actually heard an owl last night right outside our  bedroom window!!!

It was so funny... I love our  new kitchen,  but  being an English Tudor house,  the kitchen is small and I  dont particularly like  open rooms  so    when we had it redone last  summer we  worked within the  regular foot print.. but  we  got double the storage  by  including a pantry and  cabinets  all around the room.  But the work space  is still  rather limited... When Hubs passed through here  while I was assembling this he said...  "Where is my toaster?  You're not planning on leaving all that up all the time are you?"...Poor guy...  he is so pragmatic and  a  true creature of habit... I love how he  does all the morning  coffee, yogurt, and  muffin   service,, plus he is the primary dish washer...  what a doll!  But things have to be just  so...  Im in trouble if I  move anything... So I will   try to figure out  what I can keep out and  what  I cannot.. but for now it is   making me happy..

Yes, I heated the water in the microwave  whchh invariably leaves that  foam on top of  tea with a tad  of sugar..  But I love how my owls are    camouflaging themselves   into my granite... but I still see you!!!!  And  even though Hubs wasn't too sure  that our elevenses were going to  be enough for him to  ward off the    grumbles... he  was  really excited about the  cup of tea.. it was so delicious!!!

I will also add that I now  have a favorite autumn pairing... 

Hubs so  sweetly brought me a surprise yesterday.. knowing how  much I love  everything Irish.. He found  this  fabulous Irish cheddar all bound up in its  green wax casing.. The label says  made from the rich milk from  beautiful Irish cows  who have  eaten  the lush  green grass of  the  leas of Ireland..well, it is  a  pretty stout  cheddar  which I love  and the ginger  snaps stand right up with them...  a tasty  bite if ever there is one!!!

Make it Pretty Monday

Amaze Me Monday

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party

Friends Sharing Tea 

Teacup Tuesday

Thursday Favorite Things

Home and Garden Thursday

Grace at Home

Garden Dreamin'

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party

 I  am  always  so  delighted to share  on Berndeen's  blog party...  she is  a real inspiration,  especially  now, how she can pack  up her household to move and blog at the same time!  Whew!!!

 I've been  dreaming a lot lately  about  the coming spring  and    days like  these

  I have definitely decided that we need more   hydrangeas,  so  I am putting in my order  for these

These are both  paniculata   type...and I  want to plant them  agaisnt the fence row ... 

I can hardly wait   for the  clippings!!!!!

Some Monday Blog Parties

The Simple Woman Daybook 

and a  bit of    party  fun!

For Today...

February 15, 2016

19  and  snowing..  we have about  7 inches at this time

with 3-5 on the way

Outside my window...
from the dining room

from the  living room

 from the library

it was  a fine snow this morning,  then  it poured in huge  flakes,  but now  it  may be   bit of sleet.. a messy day all around..   a good  day to  stay  all tucked up inside!!!!

I am thinking...

this is a  great day to put away  the reds of  valentine's and  start planning the greens of March..  along that line while the  table is clear  I can get the  sewing machine out and  do a bit of  sewing!

I am thankful...

that the meds the ENT prescribed  are working and I am feeling so much better.. that post holiday virus really threw me for a loop!  Thankfully,  prednisone puts a  lilt in my step and  I  get  more done around the house than usual... I intend to take advantage of that!!!

I am wearing...

and probably will wear my pj's and  terry robe all day....  it is my  winter  retirement garb!!!!

I am creating...

I  still have  that lovely  winter  material  that I purchased to make  cute  matching aprons for my sweet girls...  but, also,  I bought some great green Celtic  fabric to make an Irish table runner  which is really  my inspiration for actually getting that  machine out today..

I am going...

to put all the reds of valentines away and  start pulling out the greens of spring....  that will chase away  the winter doldrums and    it marks one step closer to  the  glories of spring

I am wondering...

if my  new purchase  will arrive tomorrow as promised ....
 I must confess to my huge weakness in  transfer ware. It does me no good to  peruse  the Replacements site for when I find a bargain  I cant help myself
2 sets of 4  salad plates in   Johnson Brothers

Fruit Basket design..

due to arrive tomorrow  in the post...  well, I am Irish, after all!
Ok, they were  only 19.99  for each set of 4.. now who could  pass that up!  Now to find  storage space...  oh, my!

I am reading...

not much except my Bible Study work  

I am hoping...

 to get my   new crock pot  this week.. maybe today...  this seems like a great  time  to  make a lovely  chicken stew... yummy for a  cold miserable icy day!!!

I am learning...

to  try to make the most of each  realm of my  existence each day..
  physical...  mental...  spiritual!

In my garden...

I  was inspired by the new lovely porch and garden magazine I  bought at the market this weekend...  such beautiful outdoor spaces...  I want to  do  some  sprucing up this spring!   More on that  at a later day!

In my kitchen...

Since the prednisone is  sending my  blood sugar  levels into the  stratosphere  I  am trying to  eat  less and less carbs so  for brunch today  I have  a lovely  crustless  quiche  in the oven....  yum.. it smells so tasty!!!!

A favorite quote/scripture for today...

A word from our timeless and never  irrelevant Scriptures

1 Cor. 2

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.9 However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,

what no ear has heard,

and what no human mind has conceived”—

the things God has prepared for those who love him—

10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord

so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

A peek into one of my days... 

Let's peek in  at our  past Saturday...  Hubs took my out for  dinner to one of my favorite Valentine  restaurants..
Carrabas

Love their  fresh baked bread and dipping sauce

what is it about men that  they  can't see that it might be a nice idea to say, "  Honey...  you might look  better if you'd adjust your jacket.. you know for the photo!"
 I ordered the Tuscan  tenderloin  with Marsala....  doesn't get any better than that!!

One of my favorite things...
I know I shared about  doing this wall a few weeks ago...   it  finished up the  main decor in our  new kitchen...  but  I really do  love   displaying plates on the wall. I didn't get my hangers until I  got my Christmas order from  Amazon... I didn't know where else to get the hangers... but now all I  can think of is  where  else can I hang a plate! HEHEHE

but I am also loving the "Eucharisteo" plaque Amanda  had made for my Christmas present..  hanging it  here  is a great reminder to me to praise the Lord for  all his benefits and blessings...  Ann Voskamp coined the word in her book, One Thousands Gifts... a highly recommended read!!!!

From the board room...

for a bit of Irish inspiration visit 
Farmette. You will find  amazing recipes and  other   Irish  goodies here!

A tidbit!

Post Script

I am  just  ecstatic to  have  valentine's behind me..  time to move ahead  and  enjoy the thrill of coming things....  for one thing... my cousin, Pam is coming  in early  March    to spend a couple of days    digging into our  ancestry...  and share  about our  last years separate

 adventures to Ireland

So  thus  you see   my ambition to  celebrate  my Celtic roots..

 Slainte'

 I am also sharing  on

Bernideen's Tea Time, Cottage and Garden Blog Party