Storybook Woods

Postmark LA

Oh I have the yummiest book to share with all of you. The other day I  received my copy of Postmark: LA by Teresa Mcfayden, Charlotte Lyons, Rebecca Sower, Pam Garrison, Carolyn Peeler and Amy Hanna. These are all amazedly, creative ladies, so it is no shock that their book is the same. There are so many wonderful and inspiring ideas. So much I am having a hard time choosing which project I want to do first (although I think I now know). What I loved most about this book was all the small details. They put a lot into this book, I can tell. It is the type of book that every time I look at it, I will see a new inspiration. I do not know about you, but that is what I look for in creative book. One that keeps giving and giving. You can see a preview of the book at Lulu (link above). Thank you so much ladies for all the inspiration xoxox

Happy 4th

A Happy 4th wishes, full of watermelon, sparklers, pride and ice cream kisses. For those of you who do not live in the USA, well I just wish the same thing for you xoxox

PS. My flag is inspired by brilliant Amy's flag. By the way if you have not checked out  Inspiredideas, you must run over there right NOW. So much eye candy, inspiring ideas and plenty to keep that creative mind going. Thank you Amy, you are cream de la cream  !!!!

Fabric Pom-Pom

I saw the fabric pom-pom tutorial on Molly Chicken and had to make one. They are soooo darn cute. I have to say that Molly uses the leftover edges of fabric, which is a wonderful use. But I did not have that, so I just cut edges off all my different fabrics with a rotary cutter. It was very easy. You do not have to cut straight pieces. Actually I think the wobbly the better, which I good for me ; -)

Watermelon in Rose Syrup

Akk, it is actually hot, I had to put  my polar fleece away. It will probably only last a week and then I be pulling them right back out !!! But I am having diXymiss and her lovely girls over today for tea. We have meet but she has never been to my house. I am so excited (I wish you were all coming). Tea (we will have iced) though in this heat is not easy. I think  watermelon with rose syrup sounds divine, refreshing, summery, pink, perfect. It is sooooo easy to make. Nobody want to be working to hard when it is hot. As far as what else I am serving, I am still deciding. We will see what I pull out of a hat this morning. Remember I am keeping a list of recipes using the rose syrup on the left side of my blog. I have plenty more recipe to share. Stay cool and enjoy

PS. Make sure you check out Gracious Hospitality's recipe for rice pudding in flower water with coconut cream. It does not use the rose syrup, but rather cook the rice in flower water. It is very interesting and I add it to my rose recipe. Thank you Miss. La Tea Dah xoxoxo

Things I Love

I am not a car person. I really do not care about them, except I adore my heated seat. But now if I had Magnolia Pearl's car, oh this is a car I could love.

Image from Curious Sofa

Signature Creator, Thank you Cassie for the link.

This BBC Woman's Hour, Dales Woman Hannah Hauxwell

 

 Oh my gosh I LOVE this gathering apron, at The Cottage At Frog Creek. Actually I love the blog too.

Puttery post at Broncante Home 

Tasha Tudor Day

I have to sayTasha Tudor has been on my mind all week. Mostly because she makes me think about what I want my life to be like and am I living that?  Am I letting what other's think dissuade me or letting fears get in my way? The girls and I decided we should have a Tasha Tudor day and remember all we love about her. 

 

First we put on dresses (no female goes to Tasha's house in pants) and dug out all our books (23 of them). We set them all out. It was really amazing to see them all together. By the way the picture below is not all the books I own. We decided each to pick a book and do a sketch out of it. We invited my mother over for afternoon tea and watched Take Joy. If you have never watched this movie about Tasha, it is a great way to get to know her and it is very fascinating (I know my library has a copy). I was struck by how happy she was. She had no grips about getting older. She called it an adventure and was enjoying every minute. 

We baked Tasha chocolate cookies for the tea. Also planned to do some gardening and knitting but just did not have the time. It was such fun and we have decided to make this a yearly tradition. Although I think we will do it in the fall or winter in the future. Then we can use candles. If you want to do a Tasha day, here are some of her recipes to encourage you. Tasha love tea, homemade goodies, gardening, books, handcraft, knitting and so much more. Even if you just sat under a tree and enjoyed the silence, it would be very Tasha Tudor xoxoxo

 

 

My Catch

I had a lovely week, it was even sunny. All went well and my father went home a few pounds heavier ;-) I did cook a lot for him but he took us out a lot too. As much as I love to cook, it was so nice to get a break. One day we went to Bloedel reserve on Bainbridge Island. I have not been there for a couple of years and forgot just how beautiful it is. We got a membership so we will be able to go all year (I will take more pictures). There was a pair of swans, just sleeping in the grass next to the pond. We were able to get so close. They are such a handsome couple.

My father wanted to buy me an early birthday gift. You know my obsession with little thatched cottages. I saw this picture and had to have it. It is quite unusual. I am not sure if you can see in the picture but the glass is convex and there is dried flowers added on the picture were the garden is. It is a bit of an odd piece but with my other cottage pictures, it fit right in. I am curious how old it is. If anyone know about this type of thing, I would love to hear more. I really missed all of you. My father and his wife probably think I am cuckoo, because I talk so much about my blog and you readers xoxoxox

Tasha Love

I just had to pop in and say how sad I am that Tasha Tudor has died. I should not be sad. She has had a long, happy life. A life on her terms, the way she dreamed it should be. It just sort of seems like the end of an era. I have been soo influenced by Tasha Tudor. Not so much in how she lived. Although I greatly admire how she lived and try to live the simple life she did. But what I really admire about Tasha Tudor is how she decided what she wanted and did it. She was willing to work hard, to stay focused on her dreams and I am sure at times had to deal with those that did not understand. But she listened to her heart and would not be persuaded otherwise. I hope I can be half as brave as Tasha. I think I will go take a moment under my bay tree ( that I growing to match Tasha's) and try to remember and embrace what she has  taught  all of us  xoxox

Gone Fishing

I am off fishing. Actually not, my father is coming to visit and anyone who knows my father knows he has never fished a day in his life. My father is a true city boy who has never camped, does not know what to do with a hammer and who's idea of roughing it, is no room service ;-) I will be gone all week feeding him. I have German chocolate cake all ready and goulash on the stove. I will see you in a week or so. Remember to stop and smell the roses. And if you have something yummy think of me  xoxoxo

Candy Craft Room

Wow, 85 responses to my giveaway. Thank you so much for all the support and kind comments. You have energized me to come up with 500 more ideas. I am please to announce Gill is the winner of the giveaway. I have to say Gill has been so sweet and such a support of my blog since the begining . I will e-mail you Gill xoxoxo

I have been meaning to show you my craft corner. In keeping with my candy colored living room, I tried to carry the same colors and vintage fabric over to this area. I am still working on it and it is a bit messy as you can see. I have been looking for the perfect spot for these strawberry pink curtains I got at a rotary auction. I added them to the arches and they add a bit of folly to the room. I was also lucky to purchase from Angie this old bird cage. I just love it. It is in two pieces, the red and the white and they come apart. Since it is not very summery outside (the pictures look sunny but it is not) at lest the room feels summery. It is always inspiring to craft in a fun space. 

 

 

                                                   

Ruhbarb Rose Rice Pudding

It is rose syrup time of year. I love things like rose syrup because they are simple way to add a special touch to your dishes without a lot of work or cost. There is something about rose syrup that makes me feel pampered. When I have days were I feel down, neglected, not pretty, empty, a bowl of fresh fruit with some rose syrup drizzled over it seem to make me feel better. Like a new pair of maryjanes or pretty new sheets.

In case you have missed it, I keep a list on the left side of the blog with rose recipes. I have been collecting more over the winter and will be sharing them over the next few weeks. If you have any recipes to share, please let me know and I will link them. This week enjoy Rhubarb Rose Rice Pudding xoxoxox 

                                                 

J. F. Ingalls Embroidery Patterns

I found oodles of wonderful vintage embroidery patterns . I am sure I found it through someones blog, but I did not save the info. Sorry, enjoy xoxoxox

Do not forget the giveaway !!!!! 

                                              

500 Post Giveaway

Wow, this is my 500th post. Who knew I could say so much ;-) Actually I remembered when I first started my blog (and wondered if anyone one would even want to read what I posted) I worried that I would run out of things to post about. I always worried my blog would be lame. But by now I do not worry, well maybe I worry a little. I still have some things up my sleeve I have not shared, I am hold them back for those days when I have nothing to share. As I have said before, this blog has been life changing for me. I have meet so many kinder spirits, been encouraged in my quest to make a home, will be in a magazine and soo much more. It is all thanks to you dear readers. You are all so kind to me. You encourage me and support me. I get the sweetest notes from you, that quite honestly bring tears to my eyes. As a thank you I am having a give away. I made an altered note-book for the giveaway. Sighh, every now and then, no matter how many pictures I take, I can not get a good one. This notebook is sooo much more charming then the picture shows. The image on the front is from a vintage book (that was a gift from one of you dear readers). You will also receive a chocolate bar, of course. I will wait a week, so everyone has a chance and then I will post a winner. So just say hello and I will enter your name. Thank you again dear readers. As I always say, I so wish I could have you all over for tea and lavender chocolate mousse. What a party we would have  xoxoxox

Give-away has ended.

Jacobite Rose

It has been so un-spring/summer like here. It seems like endless cold, gray days. Actually there has been a few sunny days now and then. But basically cold and gray. I am still living in my polar fleece (it is 47 outside). So we have not been able to enjoy our yard and parks much. I have been thinking we need to pull out out nature sketchbooks again. They are a creative idea for several reasons. Well they are fun, they help you stop and focus on the wonderful world around us. But also on rainy days it is a way to enjoy nature. We sketch looking out our big picture windows, we bring things inside and something we just make up stuff.

 

I am not very confident about my sketching skills, even after all these homeschooling years. I  am always looking for inspiration and found it at Jacobite Rose. Rachel is one of those people that can take small, everyday things and make them inspiring and interesting. Her nature sketches are very charming and engaging. One of my homeschool motto's is "it is process, not product that is important". Rachel's sketches reminds me of that and encourages me to just jump in and sketch (and not worry how lame-o it all is ;-) Thank you Rachel, I am sure everyone will be inspired xoxoxox 

        

At The Sea Side

At The Seaside