A Summer Transformation

This  season is flying by....   plus I am  so   involved in so many  things,  when I am  sitting at the computer I  feel like Im just either vegging, pondering,    praying and  just  havent felt  a bit of creativity ,   but  this morning  there was a bit of   the  desire to   push forward and  do something different  in the house...  lately I have been  so   enamored with  posts from Nancy's Daily Dish  that regularly  appear on facebook,   that  I must say   her  gorgeous transfer ware  has inspired me to   make   these changes....And the fact that  last week following my  skin cancer  removal,, ouch!!!  I  felt I owed  myself a stop at my favorite  consignment shop where I found the most  lovely set of 4 salad plates by Bursley, which I  incorporated into my tablescape..

These  lazy days of   mid-summer  put me in the mind of  those long ago  visits to  my grandparent's dairy farm...  The  checkered tablecloths and the  tall  ever vibrant  sunflowers grandma   planted around the  edge of corn rows...these beautiful   plates depict The Old Post House  from  the  English potteries of Bursley  I enjoyed  pairing each place setting with various other   plates from my red transfer ware  collection...

 some  by Spode's  many groupings

others  with  one of a kind plates like this  lovely white filigreed bordered  Abbey in  red.

 I think the  fiery red of the  table  lends itself very well to the  golden  sunflowers   which  are grounded  by the  sturdiness and   earthiness of the  pewter  pitcher!...

To complement the table I have  removed the  springy  blues of  spring  and replaced them with  the transitioning  colors of late summer..
Completing the  farm theme,  I   am  most happy to  highlight  my  roosters and chicken.....   mainly, too,  because of  one of my  favorite  birthday presents  ....
Jim Shore's  Angel with   chicken....

ON the table  are  a myriad of lovely  birds....   a  jaunty rooster   I inherited  from my  mother's  estate when she had to break up housekeeping...  It was a gift I gave her for Mother's day  several years ago  commemorating   her  namesake...   We are of the Cox clan.... and she  collected  chickens...

The red  ceramic hen is an antique that I remember so well in mommie's kitchen  since my first memories of home...  the   beautiful handcrafted wooden rooster  was one my dad  cut from wood and mom painted  during their  crafting days.... and, of course, my  beloved  angel of the  chickens....

I love how the colors of all these items  reflect the country  theme I  have  created  which  enlivens  so many wonderful memories of my life!  

Another  small tribute to my mother is  this simple arrangement of fresh flowers on the  drop leg table grandpa made..mama always loved  the simple things of life,  yet  she could make   the simple things  seem   like treasures of great worth.

So there is  the transformed sun room...   from  springy robin's egg blue to  the  country  fowl and  hues of mid summer!

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Birdie Style

IN my previous post I spoke of the massive yard sale   that was held by  a wonderful church family  to raise money for their  dear grandson who has  reversible leukemia, but the  3 years of treatments  is   not only very   on the 6 year old but also the family finances...  thankfully, it was hugely successful, and I found a few treasures as well...  I found that  fabulous  pink tea  sign, but I also found a  sweet  vase   that  reminds me of my dear  little Birdie!..

I    love this  lovely celadon color...,  so while I   thinking of  Birdie,,  I thought Id  share  just

 how  precious she is and how she is growing...

What a sweetheart!!!
So   I continue to  create Birdie vignettes around the house   because she and her dear mommie   occupy so much of our hearts!!!

I thought Id share this next item so that Amanda can  show her  family  ....  recently  as we visited in the home of  our aunt who is downsizing and  preparing to  move into a smaller place, she gave  Amanda this gorgeous painting  that  reminds  Amanda so much of her many times of visiting her beautiful country home...  She had a huge poppy garden  in her side yard...

  It will be  fabulous  come  late summer when we can    take this to her   and  get to  see our  dear ones in person once again!
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Up close and Personal

Sometimes I  like to just get upclose and personal... whether  inside or out.....  a close up of my  gorgeous pink petunias  greet visitors  by the door...

The blue salvia  flanks my    statuary  on the wall... 

 A precious hand crafted and  painted  butterfly  my mother made  for me about 20 years ago graces  the dining room  arrangement on the sideboard... 

 My  style  is  pretty eclectic and  very    floral as I bring the out doors inside..... especially in spring...

 A mix of  all manner of items  displayed throughout.. like this  small hobnail  vase of violas,   I remember  this vase in my grandma's kitchen window..

 HAHAHA a leftover from March.... a Celtic cross hidden away in a sea of green silk hydrangeas...

 And always a bird or two, to remind me of our little Birdie....

This may be the last  time I will be  using  silk  blues this season, as my  very own hydrangea bush  has many  buds on it this year...   I am so happy about that!!!!! 

I confess that upclose photos today   made sense because the  rooms around  the house  as still in somewhat of a disarray...  Birdie's  play yard is still assembled in the living room,  and  the  dining table is  still  a gathering place for  things  ever sense the girls were here and  it   became the packing headquarters  as  they were prepapring to leave us...  what to   take and what to leave behind....sad to admit,  I dont want to put Birdie's  toys away.... it makes me really feel like Grammy CC  to have  them lying about... BUT  tomorrow is another day and Lynn and I  are determined we are going to get a handle on the house....  well, what I mean is...  there is simply too much clutter.... I  want to  cull out about a ton of stuff for a very important   yard sale  to help fund a young 6 year old's  cancer treatment from our church....praise God the   leukemia is treatable  but  the  chemo is very expensive....  what better time than this to  make a difference in my house   to help make a difference in  this  little boy's life!  

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Special Luncheon Under Heaven

Today was  an awesome day....   there is nothing  at all  like  celebrating  anything   with  your Christian  sisters..   earlier this week I wrote about a luncheon I  was planning for today   to  meet with  a group of  ladies from my church   who  are partnering with me to do a service project  on Monday... to  give a  fun Easter party to   kids at  an inner city mission, some of which are  transplanted refugees from  the Far East....  what a glorious opportunity to share the love of Christ, especially during this Holy Week!   Since this is  a life journal that I am blessed  that my daughter enjoys  following, I will share that   at 9:30 this morning I had an appointment  to meet with  Good Samaritan Hospice to discuss my mother's care which   wasnt exactly the  best time for me to  be discussing many  difficult topics and then rush home to  cook for   a luncheon for 6,  but  also, because one of those  6 is  a very   special friend, I had already called her to come and help  me,  and my  dearest Lynn helped  so much, too....   So there    was  one  very   amazing blessing of  my  morning..

The menu   was 

Sesame & Ginger Chicken

source

Ingredients

1  pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size strips

1/4 

cup bottled light Asian-style dressing with sesame and ginger

2 

cups packaged julienned carrots

1/8 

teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 

head butterhead lettuce, leaves separated

1/4 

cup honey-roasted peanuts, chopped

Lime wedges

Directions

Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt and pepper. Lightly coat a large skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir for 3 minutes or until browned. Add 1 tablespoon of the dressing and the carrots to skillet; cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes more or until carrots are crisp-tender and chicken is no longer pink. Stir in red pepper. On a large platter arrange 4 stacks of lettuce leaves. Serve by filling leaves with chicken mixture. Sprinkle with nuts. Serve with remaining dressing and lime wedges.

From the Test Kitchen

Stack lettuce on plates. Top with chicken-carrot mixture. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Serve with remaining dressing and lime wedges. Serves 4

Deviled Eggs, roasted asparagus and  angel food cake topped with maserated strawberries and  whipped cream  rounded out the   lunch!

To maserate  strawberries:

1 pints (2 cups) fresh strawberries, sliced thick

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Thirty minutes to an hour before serving, combine the strawberries, balsamic vinegar, sugar, and pepper in a bowl. Set aside at room temperature.

Because this was a planning meeting, I had  individual baskets from the Dollar Tree  with the items  the ladies would need at the party at each place setting.. I was particularly  pleased the  varigated tulips opened nicely for me   right before the gathering time!

Inside each basket  were  the elements needed to decorate  Easter cookies with the children,    and  some story projects helps     to  pass out to each  child assigned to each lady! Ratio,3:1

Walmart was  a great one stop shop  for  purchasing all the decorating supplies  along with the  disposable  icing  sleeves so we  can  each have  at least  4  colors of icing in our basket of tricks!

 My daughter, Amanda  inspired me to  decorate the deviled eggs  with  chopped  red pepper, onion tops, and  carrots  to  make it  extra festive,  I also instructed my friend to  follow Amanda's   idea to  fill a baggy with  the  filling,  snip a hole in the corner and pipe the  goody into the egg white  for a super attractive look.....I love  the  special   touch that little  step made... 

         

 The  grocer did not have the butterhead  lettuce,  which  would have made for much nicer    servings....    this Boston lettuce was just  too  stiff and wouldnt roll easily... but  these  marvels were   quite delicious and were a  huge hit!

Oops, I    snapped this shot  before I had   gotten my serving of roasted  asparagus,  but what a   lovely side veggie that is for   this time of year....

 We enjoyed our dessert with  robust cups of  Arabica coffee...  Quite a lovely dining experience  today,  but   more importantly, to share  good food with  Christian friends  is  the best gift  under heaven.... 
The conversation was saturated with  what I truly believe  were  Holy Spirit inspirations   of  ways   to serve in the  church,   Benevolent  ideas  to explore,   warming  experiences  shared  and some that  were  just deeply personal revelations  shared in  the purity of  the safe  environment of trust and  understanding   One friend  summed it up this way,   "Today was  the church  in action lovingly  doing the work of the Lord." Our  stomachs  and our hearts and spirits were  filled to overflowing  today!

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To Cake or Not to Cake!

Less than a week now  until   my   fun Book Chat Tea...This has been in  the works for about a month now.  It all started with   the book Holy Fire, by RT Kendall....   and if you click on the book you will   go to the author's  page    and find out  why this book is so timely... all I can say it sums  up exactly  what I  believe in my spirit  to be true about  believing  the Bible in its entirety..IN other words, I   was taught the cessationist view,  but  now I think that is   heretical!  I believe the whole gospel!!!!YOU may or may not be interested in that...   but at any rate,  I purchased  the book for my dearest friends and prayer Sisters  and gave them a month to read it....then I  invited them to   a lovely  English  style  tea  to discuss the book  rather in  CS  Lewis style...  therefore  I have  rearranged my  living room  into an Olde English style study  or tearoom....

with the furniture  pulled in close together,   stacks of books  lying about..... and if this cold weather continues  a cozy  fire in the  fireplace will  take the chill off... hard to believe  it is  almost spring!

 My  Blue and white transfer ware   are at readiness... and I actually had  an opportunity   on Sunday to  try out the  tea cake  that  I  practiced baking..... I never  like to   serve  a recipe Ive never  made before.
My marmalade  sponge   cake   looked lovely,  just a single layer....saturated with  delicious orange  marmalade, but  when my  sweet cousin and  aunt  popped in on Sunday  I begged them to  enjoy a sliver  and tell me exactly what they thought.

 
Honest  to the core, their faces   showed  they werent quite sure how they felt....  they  said the texture was a bit off-putting....  I explained it was an Olde English recipe....  and  I  really like it, and Lynn has eaten half of it   now...  but I still   think I will  keep  experimenting...

even though I do  imagine  Mr. Lewis asking for  "a  bit more o that  lovely  marmalade  cake,   if you  wouldnt  mind!"
I still am making   those   beautiful  cinnamon Chip  scones  which by the way are   wonderful made a the day before   and    just  reheated as  desired...  
     

Anyway, dear cuz  offered to send me her favorite  sweet and   the recipe  

follows:

Millionaire Pie

1.  One Graham Cracker Pie Shell (I use the 9 oz/10" size)

2.  One 8 Ounce Package Softened Cream Cheese

3.  1/2 Cup Sugar

4.  One 8 Ounce Can Crushed Pineapple Undrained

5.  One Cup Fresh Frozen Coconut (Keep back 1 Tablespoon)

6.  One Cup Pecans Finely Chopped

7.  One 8 Ounce Container Cool Whip

Cream together your cream cheese and sugar with a hand mixer for 3-4 minutes.  Now add in the undrained pineapple, coconut, and pecans and mix together very well.  Now fold in half of the whipped topping and mix together well.  Pour into graham cracker pie shell.

Take the other half of the Cool Whip and place it on top of the pie, smoothing until evenly spread.  Toast the tablespoon of reserved coconut to golden brown under your broiler and sprinkle it on top of your pie for garnish.  Cover the pie and place back in the freezer.  When ready to serve, let the pie thaw just enough to be able to cut slices.

Optional:  Serve your pie on saucers or plates that you have had in the freezer for at least 4 hours, and it will work better if they have been in the freezer over night.  You can if you wish garnish the top of your pie with a maraschino cherry.  (I don't bother with this optional step.)

Enjoy!!

That does  sound delish  and  yahoo... another   make ahead dish....   because I will be   busy that morning  with the savories....  more on those  coming up  !!!!

Planning for and     getting ready for this tea has  really  been a  great boon to me over the past  dreary, cold, and snowy weeks....  It  has kept the hope of spring  ever on my mind and in my heart as I  have  dreamed of creating  a  joyous  time for my  dearest friends in the world!  

I am  sharing on 



A Return to Loveliness

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 Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Teacup Tuesday 

Friends Sharing Tea 

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The Charm of Home