My cozy craft room

My little inspiration corner.  I don't keep the candle lit while I weave.   My nickname is Lucy (like I love Lucy) and I know better than to tempt.   My little bird here is cousin to the other 3 in my kitchen.

Hello Ladies~

This week I want to share where I create.  There are many years I didn't have a craft room.  It was a corner of the dining room, or the dining table itself.  One tour overseas, it was the corner of the living room.

Today, older & wiser (at least from experience), I have learned it's necessary for me to have my own space. With children grown and gone and my husband's office is our 3rd bedroom, it's very easy for me to stay too busy with homemaking and trying to keep things appealing and cozy. That is creative too, but I like something in addition to that.

Prayer time this morning and journaling, the memories of how easy it is for me to allow all the "little" things of home fill my days.

I need creative time.  My temperament needs it, and my spirit.

There have been many books of old that speak of the necessity of having daily "recreation" or creative time. A break in the day, even for 15 minutes, to sit and write a lovely letter, crochet a bit on a project, putter in the garden and tidy, or create a basket.

For me, basket weaving is one of the many things I enjoy but can be a couple of days project. One basket can take a minimum of 4 hours from start to finish. More detailed handles (my special touch) can add 2 to 3 hours on top of that.

I enjoy it.   Please join me in my "studio" and bring a bit of tea, I love to visit while I weave...

Here is my table where most of my work is done. Whether weaving, sewing, clay bears angels, or learning silk ribbon embroidery (thank you FlowerLady!). I am creating a pattern here.  I made that small basket  in the picture years ago and it holds my clips, ribbons, and pony tails.  I didn't have a pattern anywhere so I am measuring the reed sizes and writing it down. 

 

The base is being laid. Water in the bucket on the floor has the reed for weaving the sides. The coil on the floor behind me is how it comes when I order it.  I keep them put away in bags or I look like a cat all tangled up in yarn, except the yarn is the reed all wound up around me! Trust me, I won't have a picture of that one.

Done! A cute little catch all.  I will stain it with Min-wax wood stain, I like Oak. It gives baskets an "old time" feeling.  I have hopes to make a few along with some other things I love (soap apron covers, flower pins for winter coats, handmade dishcloths  etc) and sell them at the winter craft show....but I keep giving the baskets away as gifts! My cousin just got one with a handle that was really cool! Her birthday is coming and I wanted her to have something fun that I made.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the little tour of weaving. It was fun to have you.  

A few years ago we had folks from church here for dinner. The ladies wanted to see my "studio" and  it inspired 2 of them. One friend, she had never seen or heard of the idea of crafting.  Within the month she bought yarn and a crochet needle and made a long scarf for her son. Her first project! I was so proud of her.

Last weekend she dropped off a mask for me. Pink with white polk dots and she crocheted the loops out of a lovely soft white yarn.  I was so impressed! From a lady who had never heard of crafting!

Have a lovely week, stay cool!  An old time homemaking tip to keep cool: ladies would take down their curtains and dip them in a bathtub of water, re-hang them and the air passing through cools the room.  I have used a squirt bottle and sprayed them.

It also works on sheets. Spritz your sheets before bed, the cool air will allow you to sleep for a bit until the air cools down.

May God's peace be with you,

Mrs. Peterson

Spreading Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

It is such fun to create for Valentine's Day.  

Last week I found those cute little Valentine cards you get,at Walmart, for kids to exchange at school.  I found some with inspirations like "God loves you" and "God thinks you are special".  After adding a few fun stickers to each, I mailed them to our grandkids. 

I had such fun to create them, though I thought it was a bit corny, but they are young.  And truth be told, I would love to get a corny Valentines in the mail.  Just because it brings a smile. So I do what I would like.

I then prepared to send a few other hand written notes and decorated the envelopes with stickers, I love stickers! 

Later, decorating!  It's not elaborate. But it brightens our home and shows a bit of change for this season.  Since it is just my husband and I, and he loves what ever I do to decorate, I find it fun to pull together random things and create.  Each year is different, for the most part.

Lovely pillows add a bit of color for the season.

The seasonal table I use is actually my great-grandparents desk. I have a picture of them in front of it. I think it was their anniversary present.

A seasonal table is something you can decorate with each season, or birthdays, or just have a basket for prayer requests and prayer books.  I originally got the idea from Mrs. Sharp's Traditions book.  The book I have is older than this version, but I imagine this one has the same lovely traditions.  

This is also the day I usually make a valentine for Mr. P.  He sometimes participates in making a card.  He is so patient when I get these ideas to do something fun and different.  Sometimes, I get an eye-roll, but he usually enjoys what ever the plan was. 

Anything that I think would bring a smile to me, that's what I love to do for others.  A way to share the love in my heart. The love that is given to me from my Father in heaven.

"The Greatest Love story ever told."

We will be having roasted chicken with sweet potatoes and broccoli tonight for dinner.  I am planning on using a small table in my foyer for our dinner table and setting up in front of the fire.  Cozy and lovely. 

I am not great at picture taking, but you can get the idea of what I've done this year.  The shelf below Jesus and the string with tiny close pins is there all year long.  At Christmas our manger scene is on my seasonal table and our cards we get in the mail are filled all along the string with clips.  I like to use real leaves in the fall to help decorate as well, and in the summer...it's what ever has come up. Lent everything is bare.  Then Easter I have little things the kids have made through the years that I clip up.  

My placemats on the table are made from last year.  I have 4 Christmas placemats, but only use 2, so the extra 2 got a fun heart stuck to them and they became Valentine placemats.  They need new hearts though.

The centerpiece is a serving tray from the thrift shop, and a little red  glass votive holder. We light a candle each night for dinner to remind us the Christ is the Light of our life.

Lydia over at HomeLiving has wonderful ways to arrange flowers, Though my flowers never turn out like hers,  I still enjoy going to the store and finding something that can be created to a centerpiece.

Happy Valentine's day!  

Wild flowers from roadside

It's so exciting here to see the changes that slowly occur just before the seasons change.  Little signs that the earth is preparing for winter...at least in our part of the world.

Each year just before Fall the roadsides are sprinkled with these cute little sunflowers.  They are wild and grow everywhere.

The closer Fall get the more there are.

Just today we where in town and the tips of a few trees are turning yellow.  And neighbors say a trip farther up into the mountain reveals the trail paths are full of color.

We try to take a trip farther north to see the colors, they are so bright yellow, orange and red you almost need sunglasses to go sight seeing.

I love to find ways to bring nature inside and decorate in some way.  This is my centerpiece this week.  I love to be creative and try something, even if it's a small thing that no one else notices....I do.

It's those small things that when we listen to our heart and honor them, the joy that fills us is Grace!

Creating Beauty

Lately, as I am recovering from a chronic illness, I am finding I am slowly gaining energy and clarity.  I find I am looking for my interests, after 12 yrs of managing my health.  I will still have to continue managing my days, but it's much different now.  Now I have the energy to create!

I love to make something from nothing, so to speak.  Like scraps, or recycle or the hanks of reed I buy and create a basket.

Recently there is a book that has caught my eye.  It's called The Artist's Rule .  I am not really one to work through a book that has you different tasks each week, but the concept of this is interesting.

If I learned nothing else after the few chapters I've read it's this:
"The artist (part of you) speaks to that part of you which yearns for beauty and creativity. "

I love that! It makes me think of the beauty within us that wants out in some way.  We want to be beautiful (women naturally desire this), we want to create something beautiful.

I realized in my basket weaving I have created based on patterns and a mindset of "get it done".  I like basket weaving, but it doesn't always seem "beautiful" to me.  It's actually a bit messy, but fun.

Recently I popped over to a friends blog, Flower Lady  and when I saw the silk ribbon embroidery it was the definition of beauty from within that I was readying about.  She is so inspirational to me.

I have decided to hunt for a beginners silk ribbon embroidery kit and teach myself.  She told me once a couple years ago, if I can crochet I can do embroidery.  I think she has more confidence in me than I do.  I'll lean on that until I get going with it.

Have you ever seen embroidery with flowers and beads and just enjoyed how beautiful it is?

What is that part of you that longs for beauty?  Is it fresh flowers on your bathroom counter?   A creative way to make a centerpiece (challenge: from what you have!).  or is it trying your hand at what speaks to your heart?

Beauty is from God.  When we create something beautiful we are thanking Him in return.

Drying your harvest

Heres' a link to a great sheet on preserving and drying your harvest. It even gives guidance if you don't have a dehydrator.

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/foodnut/09308.pdf

Re-Enactment Basket Weaver here!

So Guess what!! The fort here in town has an annual festival and they call in folks to do re-enacting. There's even authentic Native American's that come in their full garb and educate people on the "camp" they have and what life would have been like in the 1780's.

I was asked to demonstrate basket weaving. That's part of the reason I have been busy with weaving. It was to got the skills out and dust them off so I didn't make a fool of myself in front of folks.

It turned out great! I only did Saturday, Sunday is the Lord's day and I try hard to not work (or volunteer) on Sunday. Just a personal thing of mine.

People stopped and watched and asked questions. GOOD questions, most of all "do you know how to do caning?" No. Sorry. And "are you going to teach classess?" YES!!! I have decided to start teaching and pass this gift on to others. Not until the Fall though, once the garden is done. I can only do so many things, and today...my plate is SOOO FUULL that I am once again in my life having to re-evaluate where I am and how I got here. Most of the time the answer has been my need to get involved and a Super woman cape that I thought I retired several years ago. Oh the pains of leaving that darn thing in retirment!! Pray for me.

So here are a couple of pictures Chris took of me. He was kind and brought me lunch. :-) I like lunch! And it was HOT out that day. None the less, it was a great day. There was a little girl that took a special interest in what I was doing. After watching for over 15 minutes, and the questions she asked told me she was really thinking, I told her I would teach her if her dad said it was ok. Who knows? Only God knows if there's an undiscovered basket weaver in her.

All the garb except shoes (I wore my western boots :-) and a hat.

One happy weaver. The baskets in the picture are some that I have done before. The one I am working on is a standard market basket, about 13 x 11 square. The handle was the special part. I wove a pattern around it. Sorry, I gave it away before I could get a picture.

Have a great day!

Peace,

Dee

What have I been up to?

Several folks often ask "So what have you been doing?" Well I'll show you:

Basket making is never a neat and tidy job.


Just about finished.

Ta Da! One market basket with a twill weave base.

This is a cassarole basket. This basket was my teaching basket. The Lord used this to teach me "let the basket teach me, not me "making" the basket". I learned patience and humility. It's surprising what God will use to teach lessons.

Yummy food!

And a bit of this!

Hope you have a great day!

My sweet Valentine!

It was so sweet.

I woke up to a great breakfast and a romantic setting in our living room. Check it out-

I helped a bit with the table cloth, but he did all the fixin's as we say in the south. It was so wonderful. No paper, no books, just us and a fire. :-)

My Valentine also wrote me a very sweet letter for my valentine card. I am not much for purchasing things, I like handmade. This was not only handmade, but handwritten. That's a keeper in my book!

For my morning prayers, I wished God a Happy Valentine's Day. He is the ultimate example of Love, for He loves you, and me, so much that He sent His Son to walk amongst us and die for us. For our sins. He deserves acknowlegement of the example He has given us.

Chris asked me to join him for World Marriage Day dinner at our church, which also happened to be Valentine's Day. It was great. Everyone in attendance got a blessing on their marriage. Then a lovely dinner and some witnesses about marriage...and how it's not all roses but it's worth it!

I hope your Valentine's day was grand.

Christ's Peace,

Dee

Simplicity

As I re-read some of the posts at High Desert Home on simplicity, I am inspired to par down and re-think what I have and what may be adding a burden to my day or life. Even without being conciously aware of it.

As the Lord would have it, I have been allowing time for creativity and it feels good. I finished my curtains for the kitchen, then I found myself desiring to par down my basket weaving area (where I did some of my sewing). A sat down and cleaned out 2 binders and stacks of "stuff" that was doing nothing but causing me to feel a bit of angst everytime I looked at it. I want peace, and from what God is showing me, Serenity is to be had if I am willing to change me. That means I need to let go of somethings, accept some things and have the Courage to Change the Things I can.

After all was said and done, I've parred down to one binder of patterns, a few books and one small binder with future ideas that I have dreamed of for years. Like owning a tea/craft shop where folks can come and chat over tea, or bring in their projects to work on in the back craft room. Just a dream but things like that are in the small folder. It FEELS more serene over there now. I am blessed to have taken the time to listen to the Lord and ask "what's the next right thing for me? Clean out your creative area!" Yeah! So my goal this week is to pick out my next basket weaving pattern. Small steps, 2 % changes as a dear friend has told me.

Almost homemade, :-) I'm adding on to some curtains I bought.



The finished product! I wanted the off white band with fabric bows and buttons added.
This is the valance. I try to keep as much daylight coming in as possible. I like the natural daylight, it seems to give me more energy.
Today, I am seeking God's will for me and not getting caught up in what I need to do for someone else ~ to my detriment.

Peace,
Dee

Treasures to me

In my post on Jan 1, I spoke of looking for a new tea pot that was made in the USA. I hadn't been able to find one that I could use on the stove, so I started to resign to the fact that my small pot has worked for the past 6 mths, so what's wrong with heating tea in a pot. I don't need a tea pot, right? Chris said, wrong! He did some searching and found a woman that had this tea pot. It's a Pyrex Flameware Tea pot, meant for stove tops. {insert big grin here}. And this is what he got me for my birthday:

I have such a loving husband! He did a great job searching and picking this out. I love it! It's perfect for us. It makes 6 cups and the lid is glass with little tabs that when rotated, lock the lid on. The handle never gets hot and it boils water just as quick as my stainless steel pot. Did I ever tell you how much I enjoy having tea? Click on the link to see.

This treasure is so neat. I ran across this broom at High Desert Home (she has a great blog by the way). At first I thought "that's weird, but in a cool kind of way". As months passed I noticed every time I got my grocery store special out to sweep with, I would dream of have a cool colorful broom. It may make sweeping fun! And lately, I'm all about bringing more fun into my life. So I went to the site and saw the price, no way. I'm not paying that. Some more time passed and this was still on my heart, so I went back to their site. I read the whole story about the company and the people that make them. Yes, you can really see the pictures of the people that make them. HAND MADE! Not in a factory somewhere in you know where. These people grow the materials, harvest it, dye it with non-toxic dyes, weave or braid them and earn an honest buck for their work. I like that. I am always willing to pay a bit more when I know the person that made it is benefiting directly. Kind of like Fair Trade.

And you know what. It works great! I've tossed my grocery store special that had severly frayed bristles and now own this beautiful pink and lime green broom by Sweep Dreams. I encourage you to check it out. Maybe you need some color and fun in your day to day sweeping. (No I'm not getting any money for this, but I am getting a lot of joy when I see it and use it.) It doesn't even go in my pantry, it hangs on the outside so I can enjoy it. :-)

I believe God gave each of us gifts to use. These people have great gifts and I feel blessed to have a treasure they made.

Wow! There is a lot of links today. I hope you enjoy them.

Christ's peace,

Dee

For Unto Us a Child Is Born...

Merry Christmas to you!

We have had a great day. We each have been blessed with gifts from family. Danielle's bo' must have been really good this year, he got 2 stockings!! (She helped Santa out with one of them). Christmas was really nice and dinner was way cool as my sister would say. We chose to have steaks for Christmas dinner. Something different yet something C and I really enjoy. Especially a good grass fed, slow cooked or seared steak. I was online looking up the right way to cook grass fed beef. I've learned DON'T cook it fast. You will end up with some of the toughest meat that would fatigue anyone's jaw muscles, trust me on this and don't ask why!

So I ran across a website that sells grass fed beef and they are gracious enough to have a chef on staff that posts articles and recipes for cooking grass fed beef. I found an article about cooking them in cast irons the way the pioneers used to. They didn't have refrigerators (?) to keep their beef cold, or lovely ovens to cook in or fancy grills. It was hot coals and a good iron! So this guy walks you through step by step and here's how it goes (trust me when I say keep a fire extinguisher near by, but trust in the technique. You won't be disappointed):

* Heat your oven and your cast iron (from here on out called "iron") on Hi broil for 15-20 min. Now I didn't do a typo and I haven't lost my mind. Oh wait, I'll hold that until the end.

* Now with welder's gloves pull your iron out and put it on the burner, that is already on high, for 3 minutes. Right before you put on the steaks put some oil in it that is NOT flameable, like coconut oil or we used bacon grease. Warning: do not use olive oil per chef.

*Now put on your steaks for 30 seconds each side. TIME IT!

*Take the whole iron & steak and put it back in the oven and broil for 3 min, each side. Believe me, it is worth the work.

*Pull it out and put it on the plate. The most important part that people don't do: DON'T cut it for 3-5 minutes. Let it rest so the juice stays in it.

I have never had a tastier, juicier, fantastic steak ever! Even all my years in Okinawa, and some of the best steakhouses. Never! Now I will say, my oven is a mess and the kitchen was smokey so we had to open up the windows, but will I do it again? You bet! Soon? No way!

We even made Danielle's bo' nervous, Ha! I'd say we did a good job. I think God was patient while C and I experimented. :-)

We have much to celebrate on this Christmas day! Things like a good steak that God gave us, family arrived safely, good health, a roof over our head and shoes on our feet. And windows (see post above).

I wish you a Merry Christmas and God's peace, mercy and loving forgiveness to be with you.

~ Dee

And the garden is finished!

Wa-La! We have a garden!

After 2 months of working on and off due to weather, we have a completed garden. The two "Square Foot" beds are 4 x 8, and there's a 3 ft walk all the way around. Chris and I decided to put 2 ft chicken wire on the floor next to the fence. That's to keep out George! Yes, we named that fat woodchuck that keeps coming in my yard. Now I need a name for the possum I saw last week!

I also built a compost bin - of which I'm still learning how to do that. A friend says I'm making it more difficult than it is, but I don't know. We are offically watering the garden with rain water. Two 55 gallon rain barrels are capturing so much of that awesome rain that God sends down, just so I can water my garden. It must be really good water, my plants are growing straight and strong! I will post a current picture of what's growing later on. For now...here's the process and finished garden. Welcome to my garden:

Here, we layed weed cloth down and got the frames with chicken wire in place.

My strong husband is inserting the posts for the inside of the frames, they are 12" deep when done.

Post hole digging. Let me tell you, as a woman...there are limits I respect. And I am Oh so grateful God made man!

My gate. This gate was built in Georgia when we lived there. C built it for me and I loved it so much we hauled it with us. Yes, he rolled his eyes, still does. But that's ok. I like my gate. :-)

I started with 1 4 x 4 garden last year. This year it has grown. I hope to Keep It Simple, yet have an abundance of food to freeze and can. If you are interested in Square Foot Gardening, check out his website or better yet, buy the book. It is fantastic!

Peace,

Dee

Basket Weaving Weekend

It was fantastic! The Lord gave me the opportunity to go away for a couple days to a weekend for basket weavers. It was held in Mentor OH, right on the Lake up north. You can see more about it here. The newspaper came and did an article on us and a short video which is also available on the site.

Besides an amazing weekend that sparked the fire of weaving inside me that had died from the years of not being able to, the Lord blessed me in many ways.

Saturday's basket, the handle is the fun part!

Friday's basket, Cherokee on Cedar or as I called it "the little bugger." 120 spokes 16 hours to weave!

The class I took on Friday, weaving what I affectionately call now, the "little bugger". Or Cherokee in Cedar.

The room the hotel let's us use to finish our projects from the day. We were there until 11pm weaving.

*I learned more about my weaving and corrections to make so my baskets form better.

*I met women (and men) from all over the U.S., one as far away as Alaska.

*A gift from the Lord: On Saturday there was a raffle of several items. I purchased 12 tickets, hoping to win SOMETHING. There was 3 "piles" if you will, of pattern books,weaving supplies, handles, basket decorations (add-on's), etc. One was a lime green tote bag to carry all your supplies in. I really wanted the tote bag because I saw most of the long time weavers had a similar bag to carry their tools. I ended up putting 11 of my tickets between the 2 piles of supplies and books and the last ticket in the bowl for the tote. The hope of winning the tote filled me with excitement.

I left to go to another room that had a vendor, Royalwood, to make some purchases of long needed tools. My name was called so I went in to see what they needed. I won one of the stacks of supplies. Yeah!! I was so excited because I usually don't win raffles. As I walked back in to finish my purchase, I heard my name called again. My first thought was "oh no I grabbed the wrong stack", so I hurried back in only to have them tell me I won again!! I was SO excited. Now I had 2 piles of books, handles, and supplies. As I grabbed my second winnnings and turned to walk away, my heart was filled with so much excitement when I heard my name called again, for the third time!! I won the lime green tote to carry all my loot in. How cool is that!?

As one friend said, not only did the Lord bless me with the spark inside being ingnited, but also gave me some books and supplies as if to say "yes, this is what I want you to do, oh and here is a bag to carry it all in." I could never have afforded all this without saving for a time for it all.

God knows what we need and if we are willing to step out in faith, He will be there to bless our efforts. Know Him. Trust Him. He will always be faithful to you.

God's peace,

Dee

Kitchen Blessings

I have always been the kind of cook that can have 1 or 2 things going at the same time, but not 3. And that is within the same meal, like making dinner. Something gets put in the oven or covered to keep warm while I tend to the rest. I have learned and respect my limits.

I was in the midst of several baking projects and stood back in awe as I watched how the Lord was blessing me in my efforts. I had already made my Coconut macaroons, which were baking, and had homemade whole wheat bread rising for the second half, and was making dinner when I realized what was happening. Words can't even begin to discribe the feelings I had. It just confirmed for me that all things are possible with God, and that were there is true effort the Lord blesses. I am so grateful for His help.

If you look closely, the bread is rising under the green towel on the stove, the cookies are in the oven and I'm cutting the sweet potato for dinner. In front of me is my trusty homemade cookbook of all my favorite or collected recipes...held together with blue duct tape! No graceful way to hide that!

The first completed baked good: (No sugar) Coconut Macaroons! Made with a touch of honey, sliced almonds and lots of unsweetened coconut.

Homemade bread from scratch for C! He loves bread. This one was new for me. I used a recipe from the back of the King Arthur flour bag and it called for honey or molasses and powdered milk. C says it's very moist and tastey!
This was our supper. Seasoned roasted chicken breasts with cubed sweet potato's, steamed green beans with slivered almonds. Very tastey! I make all my seasonings, this one has cayanne, curry, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

All praise to Him, for all the food provided and the creation put it all together.

God's peace,

Dee

A stitch in time

My sewing buddy (he's talking to C as he takes the pic!)


Carefully stitching while thinking of the patches in the quilt.

This past weekend I was able to get to some much needed repairs on a quilt that I have. My grandmother made this many years ago (before I was around) and used bits and pieces of fabric from her clothing and my dad's clothing. What a treasure. Ever since I inherited a box that had her linens in it I have had this on my bed to use on those cold nights. Needless to say, here in Ohio those nights are often. This morning it was all of 7 degrees here!! Thanks be to God for my quilt.

I also find it comforting when I'm sick, or just want to rest with a cup of tea. The stitching required was much needed as some of the fabric is starting to wear thin. Some patches aren't the most professional, but it is holding it together nicely and I can get many more years of use out of it again.


As I sit and repair this quilt, I can't help but look at how wasteful I've been with some clothing for the kids and us. If we don't like it or it's worn out, how many have I just donated to tossed when the fabric could be used to make a memory such as this wonderful quilt my grandmother sewed with love. It has allowed me some time to ponder those items we dearly love and don't want to toss. What better use for them than to cut pieces of fabric and start collecting them for a quilt!



~God's peace be with you today,

Dee

Basketry Artist?

One of my talents is weaving baskets. One that I have often put on the back burner because there is always something else that needs done. For the past couple weeks, the Lord has put weaving back on my heart...and everytime I turn around there is something literally in front of me to keep the ball rolling so I can start weaving. If nothing else, just for me.

Since hubby is very busy with school and work and my step-daughter is moved out and living on campus, I don't have much for me. I enjoy doing things with friends, but new location and I'm not one to rush out and make new friends quickly. Sooo, I love the idea of weaving and selling them at winter craft shows. This is so exciting because I've had great ideas about weaving in unusual things like turquoise pieces. I tried to make it a business years ago and got caught up in the paperwork and never really got to weave. This time, weaving first...one basket at a time. The rest will happen if the Lord wills it. I'm just finding something to give me a creative outlet and consume my time since I stink at housekeeping! (being honest here) To much time on my hands causes much upheaval.

Selling at craft shows is not new to me. When we lived overseas I sewed small quilts, dolls, bunnies and misc. craft things and sold them at various craft shows at all the bases on the island. That was so much fun, though hubby came in from work one day and asked if he could paste a picture of him in front of my sewing machine so I wouldn't forget him! Ouch! Needless to say I've had to learn balance.

God's peace~
Dee

Tea Time Birthday

My birthday was in January but I have had trouble getting the pictures up here to share. Thanks to hubby and his computer knowledge I finally got them posted.

I decided to have a tea party with a few friends for my birthday this year. My dear husband took me to several antique stores and an estate sale so I could get all the teacups and plates I needed. Since I didn't have very much and we were on a tight budget, this was the best way..not to mention the most fun. He even got into looking for teacups and teapots for me. When I found a cup/saucer I liked - I enjoyed to imagining who the women were that may have shared a cup of tea with a friend. We had so much fun.

Toasting to friendship!Each person got to choose their tea cup! My Grandma on my Dad's side made the table cloth many years ago!
Ohh, the scrumptious food! I got the idea of the flowers in the teacup from a tea magazine. Homemade scones, canoli's and thumbprint cookies (thanks to a woman who loves to bake sweets). The silver tongs on the table is my "find". They are true silver serving tongs, one side is flat and the other is bent for a bit of a grip...guess how much? $3 with some bargaining!

~Homemakersheart

Lace trimmings

I have always wanted lace in my cabinets. I saw this once when I was younger and I was in an antique store. I just love how it "dresses" up the cabinets. I took everything out of all the cabinets, wiped them out and put things back in some sense of an order. Example: the cabinet on the right is the "serving" cabinet. All things we would use for serving are in there, or at least most of it. The silver bun warmer on the top shelf was my mom's. Now to create the same order in the pantry. eek! That is going to be a challenge!

~Homemakersheart

Gardening Day

God has blessed us abundantly today, with enough collards and brussel sprouts to last a month. I am working on preparing them for the freezer. With a huge lawn bag full, this will keep me busy for most of the day.

They are so tasty! Much better than store bought.

~D