A Gift and a Shift

Miss Bonnie's best friend is getting married over the weekend so I thought I'd share with y'all what I made for the happy couple.  Jessica loves browns and golds, she loves animal prints, and she loves contemporary, so I decided to make this initial picture. I always make my own gift bags ~ I have so much fun doing them!

Here's what I'm wearing to the wedding. As you can tell by my dress I am SO ready for Spring!  I'm playing it safe, and bringing a little shrug sweater.

Shoes I got on SALE!!  Don't you love those words?????  Now I have to paint my toes to "spiffy" up my old winter white feet.

Speaking of weddings, when I give a wedding gift I like it to be something "personal," not just some little thing off the registry.  From our wedding 28 years ago, I still have a few very special items that I cherish.  Sheets and toasters get torn and broken, but something handmade lasts a lifetime. 

Whenever I think of special wedding gifts I have to think of my sweet Mama.  Her most cherished wedding gift was a large decorated bowl. I don't know if it was because she was in love with the pattern, or if it was because it was given to her by her best friend ~ whatever it was, MAMA LOVED THAT BOWL!  EVERY time, and I mean EVERY time we had a special dinner we would always have to use this bowl.Early on Mama referred to it as the "potato salad" bowl, and the name just kind of stuck.  No matter what we were having, it was still referred to as the "potato salad" bowl. 

Mama kept it up on the top shelf of the cabinet for safety, and we were instructed to NEVER, EVER touch it unless she was around.  Whenever my sisters or I would go to reach for the bowl Mama would always say, "y'all be careful with that bowl....Mary Ellen gave it to me when your Daddy and I got married (insert correct number of years) ago."  She made us so nervous about dropping the bowl that none of us ever wanted to be the "one" to get it;) 

Mama and Daddy were married for 51 years when he passed away.  What I wouldn't give to be back in the kitchen with my Mama, cooking together, all the while worrying about dropping the potato salad bowl....... 

I know this is a totally random post, but it got me to thinking about what my most treasured wedding gift was ~ it wasn't the most expensive or fanciest gift my any means, as a matter of fact, it was handmade, too.  I'll show mine tomorrow, and if y'all wouldn't mind, I'd love to hear about (and or) "see" your's, too!

Much love,
Susan P.

Winter Book Basket

In my ongoing attempt to build a home library of quality children's books I thought I'd share with you a few that are in our Winter book basket here at home. I try and find books with the most beautiful illustrations and the loveliest of text. I'm not to ashamed to admit that on some evenings I will go over by our fireplace, take one out, and read it to myself! You NEVER outgrow books, right? :)

I have ordered this book and will receive it any day now.

This book has Christmas in it's title but it is also a perfect story to read in the Winter!

And finally, are you familiar with Chinaberry Books? They are fairly new to me, but I'm so happy to have finally discovered them. I received their catalog (free) and reading the description of each one of their books is probably just as lovely as the books themselves!! Old fashioned goodness as it's best! If you'd like to receive a free catalog just go here.

What's in your Winter reading basket?

Susan P's "Perfect Christmas Music" CD

Every where you go this time of year you hear Christmas music playing, and that's just one of the many reasons I love Christmas! As you know, a lot of the classic Christmas songs are done by many different artists, some versions good, and some not so good. If you're like me you have your favorite Christmas songs that are only done with a certain artist, no other version will do. I started thinking about what my all time favorite Christmas songs were, and which ones I would put on a "Susan's Perfect Christmas Songs," CD if there were such a thing! Here are just a few of my favorites (there are many, many more;)

Mary Did You Know ~ Kenny Rogers

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas ~ Judy Garland

Oh, Holy Night ~ Josh Groban

Baby It's Cold Outside ~Rod Stewart and Dolly Parton

Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy ~ Bing Crosby & David Bowie

White Christmas ~ Bing Crosby ~isn't it every one's?

Merry Christmas Darling ~ The Carpenters

Now it's your turn! What songs/artists would be on your "Perfect Christmas Music CD?" I can't wait to hear your answers ~ maybe I'll find some "new to me" favorites!

Teacups and Birds, two of my
favorite things . . .

oops, better make that three! I love to drink the tea, as well;o)

Simple Pleasures Of Fall

Granny Smith Apples

Aren't they a beautiful shade of green? I love to make delicious applesauce and dumplings them with.

Libby's Pumpkin

I get excited when I see them stocking up on this is in the stores because I know Fall is not too far away! I always stock up when there is a good sale because we love pumpkin at our Home Place.

I love to make Pumpkin Cranberry Bread (recipe on sidebar) with it!

Mums

They come in such beautiful colors. I love to line them up on my front porch.

Candlelight

This is my favorite new scent for Fall. It is called "Mulling Spices" and my goodness, does it smell good!

I love the beautiful glow of the candlelight at night ~ it makes our home feel so cozy:)

These are just a few of the many, many things I love about this time of year! What about you?

Family Fun
I am a BIG advocate of family game nights. There's nothing better than sitting around the table with your family playing a fun game. Every time we get together with my family in Kentucky we have Trivial Pursuit matches. Oh, what fun we have. This past month I am delighted to say that my team finally won! Yay!This is after many, many losses, we won't even go into how many:o) We always have such a great time laughing and carrying on.

I don't know if any of you have ever heard of a Mystery Party, but we had one when we were in the mountains. It's a game that actually comes in a box but it's quite different that a regular game. Everybody is given a "role" to play. You have to dress like the character, say the lines, etc. and at the end everybody has to guess "who done it?" This particular one we played took place in the Disco era and so everybody came dressed accordingly. My sweet Mama and my Dad had to dress like Sonny & Cher (only they were called Sunny & Share;o) Here's a sweet pic of them. Aren't they cute?

When Gerry & Ashley come over we love to play games, too. Last week they came over and it was "make your own pizza" night. I had all the "fixins"and everybody made their own pizzas. After our pizza we played a new game we hadn't tried before, called Apples to Apples. It was sooo much fun! You can read about it here.

I always want my home to be filled with laughter and joy and I most certainly want my children to have fond memories of home. I think that playing games together is a wonderful way to make that happen.

On a side note, Grammy was always arranging family talent shows. She would always say "everybody has a talent they can share." "You can sing a little song, do a little dance, recite a poem, tell a joke, etc.." She would then say, "if you don't participate in the talent show then you have to put a dollar in the hat and it will go to the needy" ~ to which my Grandfather would always reply, "where's the hat?"

What games does your family like to play?

Plate Collection

I love to collect vintage plates, especially ones by the Royal Copenhagen Co.The plates are very special to me because I am of Danish heritage ~ my Grammy's family all came over from Denmark. Each year the company comes out with a Mothers Day plate or Mors Dag in Danish. My very favorite one is the first one pictured below because I can remember it hanging on my Grammy's wall in home. I only collect the plates that really "speak" to me by their pictures.



The plate that started my collection! My favorite!



Y'all know how much I love my kitties and I just had to have the plate with the family singing around the piano at Christmas time because that is what we do each Christmas Eve!





So cute!





In the middle you see another Royal Copenhagen plate. On either side of it are my great aunts flow blue soup plates. I just love the brilliant blue color and they are perfect with my yellow walls! I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my plate collection!

Girl's Night In!!

For my birthday Miss Bonnie gave me the Miss Potter DVD. We have both been anxiously awaiting it's arrival and yesterday it finally came. We were like two kids at Christmas, nearly bursting with excitement. The popcorn was popped, the soda pop deliciously cool and bubbly ~ it was finally time!! As soon as the opening credits appeared I just knew I was going to LOVE this movie. The scenery was breathtaking and the illustrations charming, as well as the period costuming. What I wasn't expecting was the need for multiple boxes of tissues:o( I had no idea, y'all. Miss Bonnie and I were doing much sniffling and "boo hooing" halfway through the movie and I hate to say it but that part of the storyline almost ruined it for me. For those of you who want to see it I certainly won't give anything away, just make sure there is plenty of Kleenex handy. All I can say is, "why in the world didn't they let ME write this movie?"!!!

The Pleasure Of Tea Time

After a most hectic week last week it feels so good to get back to the normal pace of life. One of my favorite things to do is to have a nice cup of tea while reading a book. It is such a relaxing and enjoyable pastime for me.

I was so happy to find this beautiful tea cup while thrifting this past weekend. I just love the Victorian ladies displayed on the cup and saucer. It will be such a treat to slow down my pace a little and sit down enjoy a nice cup of tea. Along with my tea I will be reading this book I just got that is written by Emilie Barnes entitled, Everything I Know I Learned Over Tea. Don't you just love that title? "Ah, a few quiet moments to myself, a hot cup of tea, and a good book ~ sounds perfect to me!"

A Few More Treasures

Here are a few of the other treasures I got at the tea room in Lexington. As most of you know I am a big hankie lover! As I walked into one of the rooms in the gift shop my sister Betsy said, "Susan, you will love this room because it is filled with linens!" Boy, my ears perked up and my steps grew a lot more hurried!! I felt like I had entered hankie heaven!! Never before had I seen so many beautiful hankies in one spot! I just love collecting them because they remind me of a sweeter, gentler time. I always carry one in my purse and have one tucked away in my bible. I love to iron them with lavender ironing spray because then they have such a beautiful,

delicate scent. I am especially fond of giving them as little "just because" gifts. Here are just a few of my favorites.

If you want to read more about my love of hankies you can go here.

As I told you yesterday the tea room actually grows all of it's own herbs. I couldn't resist this bag of potpourri. The scent is so lovely and I just love the name, Lavender Bliss!

I love to place the potpourri in something other than just a plain bowl. Here I have decided to put it in a dainty tea cup!

Here you can see the tea cup on my shelf in the guest powder room . It not only looks pretty but the guests will be greeted with a most "blissful" scent:o)

Laundry Day
Monday is laundry day around our Home Place. As I have said in the past I try to make simple household chores as pleasant as possible and I have found just the way to do that on laundry day! When I wash our bed sheets I like to take the pillowcases and iron them! Yep, you heard me right, iron them!! Why? I just love the feel of a crisply ironed pillow case against my face at night and to take it one step further I iron it using Mrs. Meyers Ironing Spray in the Lavender scent. Oh my, talk about a heavenly smell! Another good thing is that Mrs. Meyers products are so natural that I can feel good about using it for my family. To me, there is nothing more wonderful than slipping into bed at night with nice clean sheets and the lavender scented pillow case to give me sweet dreams;) I also love to use the ironing spray on my hankies, other linens, even some of my delicate clothing. If you are interested in finding Mrs. Meyers products you can go to her website at www.mrsmeyers.com. If you type in your zip code it will show you places in your area that carry Mrs. Meyer's products or you can order directly from the site. You pay a little bit more but to me it is worth it! ** Mr. P wants you to know that he DOES NOT LIKE lavender scented pillowcases and so I'm the only one that gets the scented pillowcase! I wonder why? LOL;)

Treasured Old Friends


Books, oh, how I love them! What are my very favorite books? Books from my childhood, of course! What fond memories I have of bedtime when my dear Mama would come to tuck me in and we would have special "story" time. Not only did I love the stories, I loved the time spent with her even more, I think. The books transported me to far away lands and magical places. With the flip of a page I could be a part of a magnificent adventure without every having to leave my room! My favorite books of all were the Raggedy Ann and Andy books. My Mama would read one chapter a night and oh, how I looked forward to the next one! I was sure that one day I would meet up with the "camel with the wrinkled knees!" I also loved poetry and my favorite poetry book was A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. As my Mama would read I would close my eyes and I could feel the wind through my hair as I was pumping along on my beautiful swing or I would play hide and seek with my shadow. The Swing and My Shadow were my favorites and to this day I can recite them word for word. As you can see by the picture my book (1929, it was my Mamas) has been very well loved. Books and the love for reading is a gift you can give a child that will literally last a lifetime! Not only do they give you a lifetime of wonderful memories, the books can also be some of your most treasured old friends!


I just love the sweet illustrations~

Dish Detergent Bottle
Pretty Tea Towels
Are you tired of having the unsightly dishwashing detergent bottle prominently displayed in your kitchen? Well, I was! I figured since I was going to be spending the next "umpteen" years washing dishes I might as well make it as pleasant an experience as possible. How did I do it? A trip to the Dollar Store to get a decorative bottle and an oil and vinegar nozzle and VOILA, I have a beautiful new bottle that I can display proudly. It's the little things that make such a BIG difference in your home~



For more info you can visit.

Another way to add some beauty to your kitchen routine is with some pretty towels. Here are just a few of my favorites to help me in the kitchen~



If we are going to be spending lots of hours doing a particular task we should make it as pleasant as possible, shouldn't we?

Another Lovely Find!

I have been looking for a little white cabinet that I could put in my downstairs powder room . When I was this thrifting this past Saturday I finally found the perfect one! Since the powder room is done in a garden theme I was able to use some of my most favorite things! Tea cup, bird, birds nest, doilie, candle, hankie, lavender linen spray, and Mrs. Meyers Soap all grace the shelves!

A Few Of My Favorite Things!

This is a little winter vignette that graces that top of our piano. It contains three of my favorite things: baskets, candles, and bears! The candle was given to me by my almost daughter-in-love who knows I adore candles! The scent is Jack Frost which is a wonderful "minty" smell! I wish y'all could smell it, Mmmm! The basket was given to me by my dear friend D who I have talked about before, and Miss Bonnie got me the snow bear! Whenever I walk by the piano I get a little smile on my face because not only do I love these things, they remind me of the people that I love!

Calendar Days!

Every year at this time I look forward to going to my local store and buying a new calendar for 75% off! I just love the fact that if I wait a few days I can get the calendar that I really love for a much cheaper price. Around the first of December I go and peruse the calendar section to see which one I would love to bring home with me. Then I wait patiently for the big end of the year sale to roll around and I go and purchase it. It is always such a good feeling to get such a good deal!

I think you can tell a lot about a person by the calendar they purchase. They have calendars devoted to hobbies, nature, pets, religion, humor, etc. . . You name it, they probably make it! My philosophy is that you might as well get a calendar that you love and that shows your personality because after all you are going to be looking at it for the next 365 days!

Every year I try and go with an open mind and tell myself I am going to give "other calendars" a chance. I think, "maybe I'll buy a cooking calendar," or "maybe I'll buy a cat calendar," etc. . . Invariably, I end up with the SAME calendar each year! My eye is always immediately drawn to this particular one and I can't wait to tear the paper off so I can explore each wonderful month. I love the wonderful drawings, the beautiful quotes and other musings. This calendar really speaks to my heart and what I love. What calendar am I talking about? Susan Branch's Heart of the Home!




There is something so wonderful and exciting about getting a new calendar. All those days and months just waiting to be filled. New possibilities. New hope. New beginnings! I hope and pray that I will be able to fill my calendar so that each new day will be pleasing to God.

Friday Favorite
Antique Clocks
Ever since I was a little girl I had a great love for clocks. For some reason there is something very comforting and soothing about them. I know a lot of people feel "stressed" out by the clock but I am just the opposite. I love to sit in a quiet room and listen to the rythmn and the "tick tock" of each clock. They are all very unique and each one I own has a special meaning to it. If I close my eyes and listen to the "tick tocking" I am taken back to another place and time when I am sitting in my Grandfather's den having one of our wonderful chats or growing up as a young girl hearing the beautiful chime coming from my parent's bedroom! *The only time I am not particularly fond of all my clocks is when they are striking noon and I am on the telephone! LOL

The antique schoolhouse clock was in my grandparent's house in their den. It has the most wonderful tick tock!!


This clock is over 100 years old. It was in my Grammy's girlhood home in North Dakata. I love every knick and imperfection it it!


This is the antique French clock that was in my parent's bedroom. I am going to be honest here and tell you that I never liked this clock! Why? It is much to0 ornate for my taste. However, the reason I LOVE this clock is that is has the most charming chime that I have ever heard on a clock. Again, if I close my eyes I am transported back to my girlhood home.

Friday Favorite
Grandfather Clock

Mr. P and I both share a love of clocks. We decided we wanted to buy a grandfather clock that would become an heirloom and could be passed down to our children. One of my favorite things about this clock is that you can purchase brass rings to put on the weights. On the brass rings we will have important dates and occasions in our family such as births and weddings. So, although this isn't an antique now, one day it will be and I hope will be treasured by future family members.