Tending To My Home

I love to tend my home.  I love to rearrange furniture *a lot*.  I love to change the pictures on our walls, and move them from room to room.  I guess you could say, I like to make our home feel fresh and new without much expense.

One day when I was at the fabric outlet, I spied a beautiful fabric that had a vintage feel to it.  I pulled it out, looked at it, put it back.  Came back to it and bought two yards!

It has a light green background with cream colored dots and a beautiful floral pattern on it.  It is perfect for Summer.  I used it to make a small valance for my kitchen window - I love to be able to see out the window and to let the sunshine in!
 

 I also made two simple pillow covers...

So fresh and pretty!  These are the pillow forms that I covered with my Waverly ticking stripe - you can find that post here.

I have a bit of fabric left, but am not sure what to do with it...any ideas?

Doing these kinds of small things delight me and help me focus on homemaking in the midst of running a business.

The valance and pillows make me happy...what things around your house make you happy?

I Became A Mom

twenty three years ago today, when that handsome young man, surrounded by his sisters and his brother, was born.

He has stretched me in many ways, and I know that I am a better mother, a better woman even, because of him.

Happy Birthday, Nate!

I am so proud of you.

Prettifying My Deck

 Saturday I dropped the girls off at Sight and Sound and Fab Fashion and then stopped to buy strawberries.  I left the greenhouse a half and hour later loaded with flowers for the deck.

 I took the opportunity to plant some of my herbs, and to plant sunflowers and hollyhocks in my garden.  We'll see how they grow!

 Every year I have to have at least one Margarite Sweet Potato vine growing!

 This year I chose double impatiens for the baskets.  It is a mostly shady space with my gazebo covering the deck now, but they get enough sunlight.  

 Aren't they beautiful?  Like little roses.

 I also planted a few of the traditional impatiens...

and these Superbells in Tequila Sunrise...

I was so happy to spend part of my day beautifying, or prettifying as we sometimes say, this space that we love to use.  Our deck now that it has a covering has become and extension of our living space.  We eat dinner out there, or go out after dinner and spend time together.  Now I just have to make sure they get enough water all summer!

I have been doing some buying for the store the last few days but I managed yesterday to make two pillow covers for throw pillows in the living room, and a wee valance for the kitchen window.  I'll show you those tomorrow!

Food For Thought

"I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of, for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking."  

George MacDonald

Lessons, Musical and Otherwise

 Rachel had been talking about learning the cello for a few years.  She had taken piano lessons, along with Emily, but we stopped for a break  over the summer one year and never started again.  They were not really interested at that time in starting back up.  However, she kept mentioning the cello.  


I hesitated because we tend, thanks to me, to be dabblers, not masters of anything.  I didn't want to invest in a cello just to dabble.  They're kind of expensive.


But we have friends whose son plays cello, and another friend who plays, and she takes lessons from another friends' daughter....And one of our friends who plays just upgraded their cello and had one to sell for a very good price.


So it all came together and Rachel has now had two lessons and loves it.  I haven't had to remind her to practice at all.  Being a beginner she is not using the bow yet, but mastering her fingering and playing the Twinkle Variations.  I think she is doing very well, and her instructor thinks so too.


So on the night these photos were taken, Rachel was showing Grandma what she could play and then Lindsay came out from her room with a cd and wanted to play along with it on her violin.  It was a celtic song, and she did well.  I wish she would take lessons again.  She is good on the recorder(she has soprano, tenor and alto versions of the "English Flute"), can play the mandolin, the violin and now 'dabbles' with Rachel's cello.  She has a gift to hear the songs and then recreate them.  I keep encouraging her to master her instruments...sigh.

Now Sarah is eager for Lindsay to help her with her violin again, I must get a new string for this to happen, and she also wants to take art lessons.  I just need to get on the ball, make a call or two and get her a few lessons.  I tend to talk a lot about things before they actually happen.  Procrastination....

Have a lovely weekend.

Peonies and Roses

 My peonies are in bloom!  This is my absolute favorite flower.

 These have an old fashioned roses smell - so heavenly.

 The only problem with peonies is that they don't last long.


That's why I have a second favorite flower.  The rose!

 This is my only one in bloom right now, it is Zephirine Drouhin.  The color is a pink deeper than the photos show.

 It is a sweet climber and I am trying to train it on my picket fence.

The beauty of these flowers makes me happy.   Sometimes I sit on the front step of our house, enclosed in my cottage garden, just to savor the beauty.  

My Feverfew is getting out of hand...I am going to have to cut it back.

I am in the store today, so I am taking some of the beauty of my garden in with me.  I am going to clip some of my peonies to bring.  I will be able to enjoy them and it will be a good conversation starter with people who pop into the store.  It's a win-win for me!
 

What's Been Happening At Home

So I have talked a lot lately about our business - it is a daily part of our lives.  But today I wanted to post about the non business part of our lives.


For Mother's Day the guys grilled steak that had been marinated for days and it was amazing!  Fortunately for us there were some steaks left over, and several went into the fridge.  Monday I decided to make fajitas for dinner, so I took those steaks and thinly sliced them up, sliced up a bunch of peppers and onion, marinated some chicken and then using an electric griddle, I cooked it all up.


I make my own marinade for fajitas.  Here it is the best I can give it to you as I don't measure...


About 1/2 cup of oil ( I use light tasting Olive oil)
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp of garlic salt
2 + Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano


I like to let the chicken marinate for as long as I can, but this time I didn't have the time to do that.  So I marinated it for a bit and then while cooking it on the griddle, I poured it on to the chicken and I also added a bit of chili powder directly to the chicken.


Emily made guacamole with 2 avocados and some salsa.  Yum.  Seriously good stuff.


Then I cooked the peppers and onion until they were soft and nearly translucent, then I threw the steak on the griddle just to heat it up....


We served it with warmed tortillas, sour cream, cheese, salsa, the guacamole, chicken, steak and peppers and onions.


Can I say that it was amazing?  So good.


Yesterday, was my Mom's birthday - she is celebrating her 39th year once again!


Anyway, I surprised her with a dinner party with her and my Dad's best friends, and our friend Denny.  Just the seven of us.  


I made Chicken and Pasta, a green salad, green beans, garlic bread, and a strawberry, whipped cream and yellow cake trifle.


This is a great meal too, and it is so easy to do.


Chicken and Pasta - 


2-3 chicken breasts or 7 or 8 chicken tenderloins, cut up!
1-2 zucchini or yellow squash sliced up
1 pound angel hair pasta
1 16 oz carton of sour cream
1 stick of butter 
1 bag of Parmesan cheese or an Italian blend


In a skillet melt the stick of butter and place your chicken in to cook in the butter.  When the chicken is nearly done add the sliced up squash and cook until tender.  If the butter is nearly gone add a bit more butter and then add the sour cream into the chicken and squash, let it melt in a bit and then add the cheese.


While the chicken mixture is cooking, cook your pasta and drain well.


When the chicken is done mix it with the pasta and serve in a huge bowl or on a platter.  I often will garnish it by sprinkling parsley on top.


You can't worry about calories on this dish, just eat less if you can!


With the garlic bread I bought a really good loaf of crusty Italian bread and sliced it up, buttered it, sprinkled it with garlic salt and the Italian blend of cheese and put it under the broiler.  Just for a few minutes - it gets toasted on top but is still soft underneath.  


I love cooking good food for my family and for special days.  Do you like to cook? Do you cook from scratch?  What is your favorite food you make?