Thursday, September 26, 2013

TREASURES IN THE GARDEN AND RE~VAMPING A VANITY BENCH


Okay, I had these three plate rack thingies that I ordered from One Kings Lane months ago.  My daughter asked me why on earth I would order something that went with nothing in my home.  I was asking that question myself when they arrived in brilliant yellow, red and blue.  That's the yellow one above.  Just about the only time I use primary colors in my home is at Christmas, those glorious reds and greens.  I know I simply fell in love with the design and shape and I never...NEVER thought to spray paint them, my mind just never went in that direction until recently.  And I know this is hard to believe, but I hadn't even taken them out of the box because I was so dejected that I had ordered them in the first place.  So, out to the patio we went yesterday. 
I chose the middle color here, Silver Screen.  I'm a little nervous, I consider gray a "cool" color and the furniture is definitely warm.  The color we have now is like a beige/tan.  But I want to stop worrying about things like this, and other insane hang ups... like not wearing white after labor day, redheads not wearing red, and only blue eyed Swedish women being true blondes.  I am on the hunt for a new comforter or duvet cover and an area rug.  I found a duvet at Land Of Nod that I really like (did you know it's not just for kids anymore?).  I will post an image of it next week.  The hard part is the area rug...it stays forever, like carpeting, it has to coordinate with whatever kind of bedding I switch to over the years. A nice neutral sisal rug would make me more than satisfied, but The Husband likes to feel something soft under his feet.  I guess I can't fault him there.  

So, I spent Tuesday taking everything but the large pieces of furniture out of the room.  The biggest job was emptying the bookshelves.  I never thought I would or could eliminate a book shelf, in fact, I always looked for the right place to add one.  But I've reached that time in my life that once I read a book, I can pass it on.  As much as I love it, there will never be time to reread it when there are millions and billions of books out there that haven't even been written that I want to read!  So I've been passing them on to my family and I also drop them off at a used bookstore nearby.  We have several shelves in our den and that's where I keep all my garden and decorating books, as well as classics and limited edition books I've found over the years.  I think I'm good with this, and these in the bedroom were finished and I decided I didn't even want shelves anymore.  I'll find a pretty piece of artwork or something.



Off to the lake tomorrow night.  I am definitely going to chill!  The Husband and I both need it.  Emily accused me of taking the last great white pumpkin so I have to scour Michigan to find one to give her and make her stop pouting!!  See Ya! :)

I am linking with Jody over at Rooted In Thyme for her Simple & Sweet Fridays party.  You have to check out the Woodland Garden birthday party her friends threw for her!  Rustic and so, so sweet! :)

XO,
Jane


Sunday, September 22, 2013

HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW & REFLECTIONS


We have to interrupt this post to pass on some safety measures when following along with Blondie's Cooking Sessions.  Did I mention I bought a fantastic knife sharpener at Target last weekend?  Hmmmm...usually a trip to Target becomes blog fodder.  Well, I was happily preparing this marinade and began to work on the fresh cilantro.  Rather than chop it, you just want to run your knife through it in forward motions.  And I always warn my girls, keep your fingertips tucked under, that way the knife will glide against your knuckles if it gets too close to your hand.  Well, the  index finger wasn't tucked very well, and the knife sheared off half my finger nail and a bit underneath (I'm trying to word this mildly), which was good, it was at an angle.  My finger wasn't bent under enough and I was using a bit more pressure than I needed since I wasn't used to the knife being sharpened.  I have thanked God a thousand times that my finger was bent because it would have taken off whatever it came in contact with.  I am super big on knife safety,  lots of experience and  a class at Sur la Table on it, and I have cautioned my kids so much that up until recently, Emily wouldn't use a chef's knife.  ANYWAY...gosh, I do ramble, This is just a paper towel and some surgical tape on it, I ran to Walgreen's this morning and bought fingertip bandaids.  It hurts, but more than anything I am mad at myself. But this will teach me to slow down and never feel too confident in a situation where you can hurt yourself.

3 clear Mason jars
1 bag of short peppermint sticks
Red ribbon

Place peppermint sticks in jar.  Tie ribbon on.  Arrange attractively somewhere.

I can't wait to get started!  Don't you wish my recipes were this short?!

Joining in with Brenda at Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday.

XO,
Jane

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

THE COOK, THE GARDENER & THE FUSSY READER


I picked up a little bouquet of flowers at the grocery store, the colors are just perfect for getting in the mood for fall.  I haven't started doing any sort of decorating though...okay, I picked up two very cute pumpkin candles.  They are darling.  It's those one of a kind things that get to me when I try to curb frivolous spending.  Anyway, about my bouquet...
...this is the flower frog jars in a basket thingy I found at Tattered Tiques last month when I met up with Kris from Junk Chic Cottage.  I really love it, the old wire, the zinc lids and the wooden handles.  It makes flower arranging a breeze!

You can find this recipe in the October issue of Redbook magazine. 

This is how that space is looking now.  I order tulip, crocus and hyacinth bulbs every year from Breck's and they should be here soon.  That will be the end of my work.  And for the spring, I ordered seeds from Renee's; Alyssum, Cosmos, Four o' clocks, Morning Glories and miniature Sunflowers.

Not much planned for the rest of the week, dental check up tomorrow, major haircut Thursday.  Yes, I am getting it cut back up to my shoulders, I think that will be about a good 6 inches off.  My breath catches a little at the thought of it, it's sort of like a curtain I can hide behind.  But I want something more chic, something I can style easily.  As long as I can fit it up into a ponytail, I'm happy.  That's me, everyday.  And then I really, really hope we make it to the lake this weekend.  In another month we will be putting everything away until the spring.  I haven't been there since mid July.  How can that be?  Last weekend we had a fund raiser to go to which was very important to us and we had a great time.  The Husband won an autographed football by Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears.  He was one happy guy.  And after we went to one of our favorite restaurants.  So while it was a good weekend, I just want to spend a few days outdoors doing nothing, maybe even hop into the old fishing boat with the captain and take a slow trip around the lake!  Have a great week everyone!

Joining in with Tracie at Fishtail Cottage for her Thursday Garden Party.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

SOME HO~HUM & SOME DRAMA


I brought this basket home from the lake last time I was there.  I had moved it around and couldn't find the right place for it so here it is.  I think it is the coolest thing!  I laid some different placemats in blue and brown (no fall colors yet)...
You know, the rosemary and I are getting a bad rap around here.  In order to keep this topiary looking good, I'm trimming it quite often and I've made the rosemary salt and olive oil too many times to count.  So I started adding it more and more to our food and I think it's been overkill.  The other night I made Greek Hamburgers.  I thought this was genius.  I made my burger mixture (ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, S & P), and then crumbled in some feta cheese, rosemary and green onion.  Ooh la la!  Well, my little family of 3 didn't "ooh" or "la la" too much.  The Husband has been on a "no spice" kick for several months, I don't get it.  After 28 years of my cooking, he suddenly declares he doesn't want me to season his food.  Okay.  One night I was making spaghetti sauce and he happened to walk by just as I had added my palmfuls of oregano, basil and thyme, yet unstirred.  "Oh My Gawd!!  What Is That???"  I really thought he had finally come unhinged.  So, as he works his way to the Funny Farm, I just keep doing my thing.  And then we had the Greek Hamburgers!!  Abby sat picking out the rosemary, muttering, "It tastes like a Christmas tree." and The Husband speared his salad pointedly while looking over at me from under his brows, saying, "I'm not eating the burger."  So now the motley crew comes to the table every night, looking around cautiously and sniffing the air for that piney scent, ready to protest, I'm sure.  By the way, you have to try these hamburgers, they were delicious!!

So The Husband came home and the first thing I asked was, "Are you going to go out and look at those trees when they're finished??"  He gave me a sideways glance.  I sulked for awhile and became even more quiet as Indiana started packing up the trucks with his guys.  Finally I broke down, even with a few  crocodile tears as I confessed all that I had been doing and how I wasn't finished and how I wanted it to be the perfect time to show him.  He just chuckled and hugged me and I knew I was making huge deal out of this.  So we walked out to the backyard together and stopped in our tracks when we saw this...

Saturday, September 7, 2013

A HOE LOT OF GARDENING!



Well, I hope I haven't bored you silly.  Wednesday I treated myself with a trip to Home Depot.  Perennials are all marked down, some 4 for $10.00.  I will share those with you later.  And...my son is going to give me a huge rosebush that he has blooming in the yard of a property he recently bought to rent out.  I haven't seen it yet, but if it's free, I'll take it! lol!  And yesterday I bought a ton of shredded bark to neaten everything up and protect the new plants over the winter.  All I have to do now is add some tulip bulbs as I do every fall.  Now...this is a total surprise for The Husband.  So far he has not ventured out into the backyard to see anything I'm doing, and in his own daffy way, he never questioned why I wanted him to bring home a few gardening tools from the lakehouse last weekend.  This is his second weekend in a row up there without me.  He and his brothers have a big reunion there and take in a Notre Dame game (our home is just 30 minutes from Notre Dame).  So...I am going to get that mulch in this weekend and I have to return a hose to Home Depot and I think I will use  my refund on a few more plants! ;-D

Okay, I'm off to find my gardening gloves. I was in heaven all week long with temps in the low 70's.  Today is 88, I don't know how that happened.  And we have rain in the forecast tomorrow, So I want to get my work done.  I will try to have my camera ready when I surprise The Husband on Monday!! :)

XO,
Jane