A Bit of A Transformation

I live in an English Tudor home and as you can tell I am not a minimalist..at all.    I  will say that  a few years ago when I found this beautiful French tapestry  at Tuesday Morning, I was delighted because I thought it added  a touch of the olde world that I  find so charming.  But it also made the room feel  rather heavy, which in  the  fall and  winter  gave a cozy warm feeling...Last summer  I decided it was time to give it a rest...  and I had such  heavy  Fall and Christmas decor on the mantel that  the  fireplace still  felt anchored and   was  adorned fittingly... But then I was decorating the mantel for spring..at first  I was  thinking, "ok", 

But, after looking at it from across the room  it just looked cold and  bleh!

So I  went shopping around the house and found this lovely  painting my mother purchased at a starving artist's  sale...  and  I really like the addition!

As you can see the  brackets for the tapestry  still  are in the wall  which for previous seasons were used to anchor  garlands  which  were very helpful...  I suppose it would behoove me to find a spring/summer garland   to finish off the new look...  but I love it..  the wall is  filled, but not heavily so... and it is  lovely to have a bit of my mom  in  the room with me!!! I did  replace the candles in the  sconces.. so  once  I have the new garland I will share the finished look!   

 Thursday Favorite Things

Home Sweet Home

Grace at Home

A Country Memory

As September approaches I begin thinking of apples...

I am sure it is the teacher in me....  as I  planned my back to school bulletin board which many times included Johnny Appleseed..   actually John Chapman,born September 26th, 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts..

Then I begin thinking of Grandma's apple cake...  yum... and  thus begins the search for her recipe...

(pinterest)

Now this is the actual recipe!

 Grandma's Apple Sauce Cake

2 cups of brown sugar

1 cup butter

2 1/2 cuos  warm apple sauce

3 tsp. baking soda

4 cups all purpose flour

1 lb. raisins

1 cup chopped nuts pecans  or walnuts

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Cream together the butter and brown sugar,  Warm the apple sauce, but not too hot,  and add the baking soda to dissolve.  Add in to the butter mixture.  In another bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.  Add 1/3 of the dry mix to the butter/apple sauce mixture at a time, stirring well after each addition.  Stir in the nuts and raisins.  (  I like to  soak the raisins a bit  to plump them...) Bake in a 9x13 sheet pan  in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

You can find out more about apples here!

Pick the Perfect Apple

With all this talk of apples I am reminded to  call and get myname on the  list for  the   homemade apple butter that is made by several country churches around the valley...  and  unless your name is on the list you are just out of luck!!!

 So, of course,   as I sat at computer this morning over my coffee

  I   suddenly knew it was time to  arrange the  sunroom using an apple theme..  I love to create  new  thematics...  I tell you, I was always re-arranging my classroom around themes...  it's in my blood!  heheheh!

 When I think apples I always think   picnics in autumn  so the red checked cloth  was  taken from the closet.

 I  was thinking  late summer wild flowers   on long stems  so they looked like they were growing along side the road going up to grandma's farm.  I  absolutely love the vase I found yesterday at my favorite  consignment shop for 5 dollars...and since I found it  in a friend's stall I had to  bring it home!!! With its tall neck it suited my idea to a tee!

 Of course, I love using my momma's apple dishes... She never used them except on Thanksgiving.... I say..  use them... carefully... and enjoy the memories they evoke!!!

I wasn't too careful placing the flowers...  I wanted them to have that wild roadside  look  that I  love...  That is  one of the main things I miss about  life now..  Goodness, back in the day when  the grands and  aunts and uncles  lived up on  Peaks Mountain Road  it  was if the whole world was ours  and  we  reigned over the fields and  splashed in the branches...   and the roadsides were  ours to plunder...

 but, now  all the land has changed hands and   I can barely   stand to travel  the wayside,  things have changed so much...
  So I create  a memory.....

 Our sunroom is  the gathering room of our home...   where  friends and family are  welcomed and  invited in to  wile away the hours!

 So Iit is always my preasure to  try ot keep it looking  as welcoming and  lovingly cozy as  I can!!

HAHAHA... now that platter is speaking to me.... how about some fried chicken??? 

To say farewll. I'll share this verse I just came across.

"What wondrous life is this I lead!
Ripe apples drop about my head;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine;
The nectarine and curious peach
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass,
Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass."

- Andrew Marvell, Thoughts in a Garden

Sounds like me... about 40 years ago!

Tablescape Thursday

Thursday Favorite Things

Home and Garden Thursday

Grace  Home

Home Sweet Home

Time to Lay Red to Rest!

  It was   a rather easy  way to  transition from  Christmas  to  February.. just  keep the red  and   pull out the hearts...  and  surely sweetheart will   provide  more red  somwhere along the way,  and  he did!!!   Such  luscious red roses...

You love the roses - so do I.      I wish 

The sky would rain down roses, as they rain 

From off the shaken bush. Why will it not? 

Then all the valley would be pink and white 

And soft to tread on. They would fall as light 

As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be 

Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!

George Eliot 

       

Febrauary was a great time to plan a get together....

 so  about 8 of our  prayer team got together to plan  ahead  for   Christians United to Pray prayer and praise events  around my table over  chocolate pie and coffee. The recipe found here.

Highly recommended!

  

A splash of  valentine red 

set off by valentine hearts  lends such a cheerfulness to the  drab of winter days...

A rosy mantel   spills into    the parlor sharing  a joyful mirth even though that room  sees  little other attention..as  we seek the comfort of cosier  spaces!

but a chilly parlor  seems the fitting spot  to  preserve for as long as possible the  gorgeous  roses  sent by my  lover and best friend, Lynn! They definitely  brighten up the room!

 So I have made my decision  today...  Ive had it with  winter...  we've had our snow  which still blankets  the ground...  the kiddies have had their  sleigh ride.... 

 and  when the    bloom has  lost  its    beauty, then  the red will be gone.. packed away... and  spring will  sprout  fresh and alive  around the house....  I will bid adieu to  February  and it's  lovely red  that has  almost   out lived its welcome.... time for  yellow, violet,  green, and blue!

Home Party@ Sandi's   Rose Chintz Cottage     

Thursday  Favorite Things

Grace at Home  @ Imparting Grace

Home Sweet Home at Charm of Home

A Bit 'O Irish in the Planning Stage

                            
Well, today will probably not the last time I will  speak to this topic.....  because it is something very dear to my heart...It has been my dream to  visit the UK  sometime in our retirement... especially  I wanted to  visit Scotland.....I am  Scotcch-Irish  and I suppose  truth be told I  am probably more Irish  anyway, for my grandmother was  Higgins....  at any rate, Lynn and I will be touring Ireland next spring! And I couldnt be happier!  Today has been a most profittable day.. We  got our  renewed  documents    and  things are really progressing nicely  in our planning!

I have been spending time  looking at the many items  I will need...  such as  luggage for checking...

I am  thinking this 24 inch  by Swiss Gear looks  manageable...  and I  am a bit  concerned about  larger  cases  and going over the  weight limit of 50 pounds....  THis  case has  a great  review rating and is on sale  now at Amazon for  under $70.00 ...

I think if is  very  awesome that  a month ago  prior to knowing about this trip opportunity  I actually  found  last years  Irish travel guide  on sale at the used book sale at the library  for  $1...  It has offered many happy  hours of    dreaming  and   planning.

We will be flying into Dublin  and will actually  have quite a bit of  time on our own  so  Ive been checking out  popular  places,  including Trinity College  and   its Book of Kells,   which will be very convenient to our  accommodations...  and there  are  pubs a plenty in the environs...

Our 13 day tour will   take us  mainly around the  coastal  towns and attractions, both  medieval and    geographic,,   both of which  are   the ones of my greatest interest!

 When I think of the Ring of Kerry  which is very  nearly like Dingle  from the film Leap Year, which I  just  love to watch time and again...

because the  terrain is just so   awesomely  beautiful!!!

One of the   highlights of the trip  for us is the  Medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle.. 

 

When I think of Ireland I  always think of the  thatched cottages on the Emerald Isle... like the  one 

in The Quiet Man.... 


  and  glorious vistas  dotted with sheep


  Which makes me think of the  food....
 because of my  love of  sheep, I have never acquired a taste for mutton.. oh well, I suppose  it's now or never....   but  blood sausage for breakfast......????

 My daughter said I had to try everything!  Yikes!

 Now   when it comes to souvenirs   I'd love  a claddagh  ring.. I cant think of anything easier to  pack for the return trip!

 But I just may have to   ship back a bit of Belleek

and /or Waterford crystal or linens! 

If I can figure out    the euros and the pounds!

                              Thursday Favorite Things