Le Beau Paon Victorien

Food: Cinnamon & Sugar Glazed Orange Knots

2012-01-28T12:07:00.003-06:00

I had some Rhodes frozen roll dough in my freezer that I was wondering what to do with (besides making just plain rolls) and just happened to come across this recipe on Pinterest. Yum! They were quite delicious.

                                            12 Rhodes Texas Rolls (thawed, but still cold)
                                            1 medium orange rind, grated
                                            1/2 cup sugar
                                            1 tsp. cinnamon
                                            1/4 cup butter, melted

                                             Citrus Glaze:
                                             1 cup powdered sugar
                                             1 tablespoon butter, melted
                                             3 tablespoons orange juice
                                             1 tsp. vanilla extract.

             Mix grated orange rind with melted butter. Roll each thawed Texas roll into a 9 inch rope and tie in a loose knot. Roll each knot in melted butter, then in cinnamon and sugar mixtures. Place on a greased baking sheet. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap sprayed with Pam and place in a warm area to rise until rolls are double in size.
               Bake at 350 degrees for 15 or 20 minutes until golden brown. Brush with citrus glaze while still slightly warm. I only had about six roll in my freezer, so I did a half-recipe. I also didn't have the Texas rolls, just the regular sized ones but they worked just as well. They were a nice addition to our breakfast table!

                                                        Thanks for stopping by!!!

Update on Astrid

2012-01-28T11:20:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to give everyone an update on our new kitty, Astrid! She is doing very well and is adjusting to her new home wonderfully. After her isolation period was over, we started slow introductions to Olive and E.B. by wedging the door of her room open with door stops so they could look at each other through the crack in the door and smell each other, but not touch.

I was surprised by how mellow and unfazed she seemed to be about the other two cats. I thought there might be more agitation, but she did really well. Olive and E.B. were also well behaved towards her. They were mostly curious about her and anxious check her out.

After a few days of this, we started letting her out of her room for short periods of time so she could have supervised interactions with Olive and E.B. There was no fighting, or hissing or anything of the kind, which was a relief. She was eager to explore the rest of the house as well.

It's now been over a week since she was "let loose" in the house full time and she is doing great. Her first few days she spent a lot of time upstairs in the 'cat room', which is an extra bedroom that has no particular use. It has lots of windows and faces south, so I keep my plants in there in winter. One of the windows faces the back yard where I have the bird feeders and squirrel feeder, so we put a window perch in there for Olive to look at birds and squirrels. I've seen Astrid on it a few times as well, so I'm guessing she'll be an avid bird-watcher too, once spring comes and the birds come back. There is also an old futon in there and a bunch of cat toys and a cat tree, so it's just sort of become the 'cat room'. After she got more comfortable being out all the time, she now spends most of her time wherever we are, just like Olive and E.B.

Just like Olive, Astrid likes to be where the action is. Here they are "helping" me a couple of days ago when I was putting away Christmas tree ornaments. Yes, my Christmas tree was still up. I had all my other Christmas stuff down and put away three weeks ago, but I got a terrible cold and I had no energy to deal with the big tree until a few days ago.

This is one of Astrid's favorite ways to lay; the " flying frog". She's a real cuddle bug and loves to sleep on your lap. She does like to play with toys, but she's not as addicted to toys as Olive. With Olive, it's play, play, play all day long. Astrid loves to lounge and nap a little bit more, but she does enjoy playing with Olive. They are the same age and they have fun chasing each other around and stalking each other. E.B, being a stately elderly gent of almost 15 years old now, prefers to watch them most of the time. When he gets feisty and wants to play (which happens occasionally, even for an old guy like him) he prefers to self-play with various toys, rather than participate in chasing games.

Resting after an exhaustive play session with the cat charmer wand and yarn ball toy.

Pretty soon I'll be taking Astrid for her first visit with our vet so they can meet her and check her over. She seems to be pretty much over her URI, but she still seems a little stuffy in the nose and occasionally sneezes, so we might need to get her some antibiotic nose drops.

Thanks for stopping by!

Meet Astrid

2012-01-15T12:57:00.001-06:00

We decided to add a new furry child to our household just after the holidays:

We adopted her from the Wisconsin Humane Society. She is two years old, a domestic long hair calico.

I don't know much about her background; she was a transfer from another shelter and though tame and socialized and very friendly, she was apparently brought in as a stray and was unclaimed. She was not declawed or spayed, but the WHS spayed her.

We have named her Astrid.

Right now she is in her "isolation" room ( our guest bedroom) with her own food, litter, toys, bedding etc. Because we did not know what kind of environment she came from, we don't know if she lived in a home with other companion pets, so we wanted to introuduce her to Olive and E.B. slowly. She is a little more shy and less gregarious than Olive, who is a total social butterfly and adjusted so quickly to our home that it was quite amazing, but we know that Astrid's personality is little more cautious and that she would need more time and much slower approach than Olive.

The folks at WHS have different personality categories that they use to determine how easy it will be for a cat to adjust to a new home and how they will interact with people, based on their own personality. Astrid was placed in a category that was in the middle; the "Sidekick". She's very friendly and social, and loves to sit in laps, but she needs to be comfortable with that person first. She won't just walk up to anybody and be their instant best friend, like Olive does, but she's not fearful, like E.B., who is very shy and will only come out from hiding if there are no strange people in the house.

Both Olive and E.B. know there's a new cat in the "secret" room; they often sit outside the door hoping for a glimpse when we go in and out. Olive's curiosity is much more rapacious and she'll sit outside the door for hours on end. After Astrid had been with us about three or four days, we started opening the door a few inches and held it in place with rubber doorstops on either side so that she could look out through the crack at Olive and E.B. and they could smell each other and look at each other without being able to touch. Olive is, of course, totally unfazed. E.B. gets a little weirded out. Astrid seems to be pretty unruffled so far.

I had hoped to continue the slow introductions with letting Astrid out for short, supervised durations to let her explore the rest of the house and see the other cats, but she started sneezing on Thursday night and had a little bit of a cough. Because we had only brought her home five days earlier, it sounded like feline upper respiratory infection, which is very prevalent in shelters. Olive also had it when we adopted her. So now I have to hold off continuing introductions while Astrid gets her antibiotics and gets over her infection. Feline URIs are very contagious, so I don't want Olive and E.B. to get it. I don't know if I can handle giving liquid antibiotics twice a day to three cats!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Food: Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

2012-01-15T12:21:00.001-06:00

Well, it's 2012! I can hardly believe another year has sped by!

We had a very busy holiday season and also some other things that came up which made for some stressful days and a not entirely pleasant holiday....but more on that later.

Winter seems to have finally "arrived" here in Wisconsin. We had a few light snowfalls in early December, flurries really, but it was unusually warm all through November and December and we had no snow on the ground.

The snow finally came last week Thursday.....and colder weather. We spent a day or two clearing snow and shoveling out and I also looked through recipes for hot and hearty meals to warm our tummies!

I found this winner on Pinterest:

Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken "Chili"

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, undrained

1 can RoTel, undrained

1 pkg ranch dressing mix

1 tsp. cumin

1 Tbs chili powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 -8oz. pkg light cream cheese

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Drain and rinse black beans. Place chicken breasts at bottom of slow cooker pot, then pour out whole can of corn (undrained), Rotel (undrained) and black beans. Top with seasonings and ranch dressing mix. Stir together. Place cream cheese on top. Cover with lid and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Just before serving, stir cream cheese into chili. Use two forks to shred the chicken and stir all together. Serve.

I actually had three chicken breast halves, so I put all three into the crock pot. If you don't have the brand RoTel available in your area, it's just diced tomatoes with green chilies.

I served ours in large soup bowls with a demi-baguette with a little butter. YUM!

Thanks for stopping by!

95th Anniversary Christmas Program--Polish Falcons of America

2011-12-31T14:14:00.003-06:00

        Last year I did a post about Polish doughnuts, or paczki, in which I mentioned that I am half-Polish, from my mother's side.
        My grandparents were born here, but my great-grandparents were immigrants from Poland, who came to America to escape poverty and the political oppression of the Germans. Milwaukee had a huge number of German immigrants and the German heritage and influence is widespread in this area and very well-known, but there is also a significant number of Polish. In fact, Milwaukee became one of the largest Polish settlements in the U.S.
       Like many Poles, my great-grandparents settled into an area where there were many other people from their own country who spoke their language and could help them assimilate and with whom they had commonality.

         My great-grandfather Boleslaus came to America in 1911 at the age of eighteen and settled in a north side neighborhood in the city of Milwaukee, WI. which was essentially a Polish community, many of whom were also new to America. Later in the century, the south side of Milwaukee became known as the most Polish part of the city, but most early immigrants settled on the north side first.
       Boleslaus was the youngest of eight children, born in 1893 in Raciaz; two other older brothers had already come to America before him and had sent financial assistance home to the rest of the family in Poland.
       Walter was the first to come to America, followed by eldest son Ludwig. A travel visa was purchased for another brother in 1911, but because he had poor eyesight, he was not allowed to go and so the ticket, having already been paid for, was given to Boleslaus instead.  Within a few years after arriving in America, Boleslaus married; his wife, called Pauline, was also from Poland. She was also an immigrant and probably had settled in the same neighborhood. I don't know exactly how she and my great-grandfather met, but it's possible they might have met at a Polish Falcons club event, as they often had dances there.
       The mainly Polish north-side neighborhood where they lived was first settled in the 1850s by wealthy Germans, but by the turn of the century the area had become mostly Polish and still has many examples of houses that were known as "Polish flats" (click here to learn more about those) . Today the area is known as Riverwest and has become a trendy spot favored by college students from nearby UW-Milwaukee, artists and co-ops and is made up of a diverse group of ethnicities including many Russians,Iranians and Asians.

       It was once very common and quite popular for ethnic groups to form social clubs in their new homeland as a way to socialize and further the well-being of their people. Similar to social and civic-minded clubs like The Elks, The Wheelmen, the Knights of Pythias and even the Freemasons, there were dozens, even hundreds, of clubs like these.
     On December 6, 1916, my great-grandfather Boleslaus and several other north-side residents founded the Polish Falcons of America Nest 725. Boleslaus remained very active in Nest affairs throughout most of his life and was Vice-President and Instructor in 1919, as well as President of Sub-District II for 10 years. He also received the Bronze Legion of Honor Cross from the Falcons for his work in the organization.
      The Polish Falcons were very interested in physical fitness and gymnastics, as well as wrestling, bowling, Polish folk dances and drills and over the years won many National and District competitions.Nest 725 still offers classes in tumbling, gymnastics and dance or boys and girls of all ages but you don't have to be Polish to join!

My great-grandfather Boleslaus ("Bill") c. 1920s

This year was the 95th Anniversary of the Polish Falcons of America Nest 725 and a special Christmas program was held where some of the children performed drills and gymnastics and there were also some awards being presented. I attended the program with my mother and several other relatives.

This is the tavern and bowling alley that are housed in the same building as the Polish Falcons hall, which is actually quite large and extends quite a ways down the block. Nest 725 purchased this building in 1945 and have been here ever since. The building itself dates to 1882. Their first quarters were on Fratney Street, only a couple of blocks away from this location. My great-grandfather and his wife and children lived on Fratney Street as well.

Just down the street you can see St. Kasimir's on Bremen Street.

Before living on Fratney Street, my great-grandparents lived on Bremen and attended this church. There was also a school, which is where my grandmother and her siblings attended school.

Kitty-corner to the Polish Falcons building is this lovely old building which now houses a food co-op.

The neighborhood is full of charming old buildings and houses set close together on narrow streets.

Evidence of the Polish origins of the area can still be found.....

At the end of the children's program, there was a brief skit involving the adults and these amazing Christmas costumes:

The woman in the center is the current president of the club and she made all these costumes herself. (She also works as a professional clown).

The women were "Mrs.Claus' sisters" and all of them worked at the North Pole in various jobs, which was sometimes evidenced by their costumes or items they carried.

Here is "Starlite the Clown", the club president (center) with two of the "sisters". I have no idea how long it took her to make all these costumes, but there were about 20 of them, I think.

At the end of the program, there was a special "award"; a plaque was given to my great-aunt Phyllis (center) who is Boleslaus' only surviving daughter (of his five children, only my great-aunt and the youngest, my great-uncle Stanley, are still living). The plaque was to commemorate her father as one of the original founders of the club on the club's 95th anniversary.

They took a photo of Boleslaus' descendents who were at the ceremony; a daughter, two grand-daughters and a great-grand-daughter.

From left to right: my mom's cousin Judy, (who is a grand-daughter of Boleslaus)

Phyllis,( Boleslaus' daughter)

Janice ( my mom, Boleslaus' grand-daughter)

and me (great-grand-daughter and towering over all my short Polish relatives!)

It was a very lovely program and an experience I treasure.

My great-grandfather "Bill" passed away in 1990 when I was twenty; he was 97 years old and the last of my great-grandparents. I feel lucky that I was old enough to know him and had a chance to spend some time with him. It's not often these days, with people getting married later and having children later, that children are able to know some of their elders. There are many people even my own age whose great-grandparents died before they were even born or whose grandparents died when they were little and they never had a chance to meet them or know them. I feel lucky, indeed!

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas At Le Beau Paon. Part 2

2011-12-24T12:19:00.000-06:00

Better late than never; here are the last of the photos I took of the Christmas decorations.
This holiday was extremely busy for some reason, for me. In addition to several birthday parties, we also had a wedding to attend yesterday (yes, the 23rd).

And with all my holiday baking, shopping, work, decorating......well, time really got away from me this year!
I had a new decorating project that I was going to do for the parlour this year, but I never got the time to actually put it up. I guess I'll have to save it until next year!

The fireplace mantel in the front entry hall has been decorated with fresh greenery again this year.

On top of the piano..........

There was also a lot of cookie baking going on this year at my house!

In addition to some of my "usual" cookies, I tried a couple of new recipes this year. One of them were Linzer Cookies. I bought a special cookie cutter for these, which also came with a recipe for the dough.

This is the cutter; it's made by Wilton. I found these to be sort of fun to make and no more time-consuming than say, sugar cookie cut-outs. I used raspberry jam in the center, which is my favorite kind of jam.

They turned out quite delicious!

Of course, I always like to make Spritz cookies too. We have been making these every Christmas since I was a child.

These cookies were a new recipe I tried last year, which I found in a Taste of Home magazine.

They quickly became Erik's favorite cookie, so I made them again this year. They are called Triple Chocolate Peppermint Treats. The dough has baking cocoa, semi-sweet chocolate chips and 60% cacao dark chocolate chips in it, thus the "triple chocolate". The frosting has white chocolate chips and cream cheese in it!

I always have to make sugar cookie cut-outs as well. They are my favorites!

These were also a new recipe I tried this year; Chocolate Peppermint Kisses. They are essentially made from egg white and sugar, flavored with miniature chocolate chips ad crushed peppermint candies. Very light and tasty!

My complete cookie baking list this year:

Pecan Fingers

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Sugar Cookie cut-outs

Spritz

Chocolate Peppermint Kisses

Triple Chocolate Peppermint Treats

Linzer Cookies

Santa's Sugar Cookies

I also made two kinds of fudge:

Fantasy Fudge

Peanut Butterscotch Fudge

and a "party mix", called White Chocolate Party Mix.(pictured below)

Thanks for stopping by! And since it's Christmas Eve today, have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas at Le Beau Paon Victorien!

2011-12-14T21:39:00.001-06:00

I did manage to get my Christmas decorations up finally, including my tree. I'm really late getting going this year---I've just been too busy it seems!

I managed to snap a few pictures when it was daylight; it gets dark now at about 4:15pm, so by the time I get home from work I don't have the kind of light I want for good pictures.

When I purchased fresh greenery for the outside decorations, I also bought a bundle of pine boughs for $2.00. I like to put the fresh pine boughs on top of some of the pictures throughout the house; like this one in the dining room. A little faux holly and a plaid ribbon makes it festive, and it smells lovely.

Last year I had to dress up my ugly chandelier for Christmas....but this year, our lovely antique parlor lamp needs no such accoutrements!

The sideboard gets Christmas-y too. ( I just need some red candles now).

Dining room centerpiece.

Last winter I found two of these white deer (a buck and a doe) for $3 each at Goodwill. They are small pots; probably someone got them from a florist shop with a fresh flower arrangement in them as a gift. They were a little dirty, but after I scrubbed them up, I added some pretty wintery florals and ribbon.

Here's the buck. I put them in the living room on top of the media cabinet in front of the TV.

They compliment my white and silver Nutcracker.

Holiday toss pillows add festive cheer!

Not much change to the decor for the parlour mantle..........

Martha gets a little Christmas cheer for her portrait too.

And at last, the big tree.

You may notice that my tree skirt is a little askew. That is courtesy of Olive. She insists on the tree skirt being in disarray no matter how many times I fix it. Five minutes later she appears and messes it all up. All attempts I made to photograph the tree with the skirt nice and neat was futile.

I added some extra greenery, bling and ribbon to the top of the tree this year just to make it more fancy!

And of course, some cabinet cards from my collection get added to the tree as always.

I bought two of these pink beaded chandelier ornaments last year after Christmas. Since they are new, I had to show them off.

I also put a string of lights on the parlour mantle to back light everything. I have a new decorating project for this mirror but I haven't put it up yet. As soon as I do, I promise to post pictures!

Here's another picture of this year's theme tree, with the lighted garland on the banister. When I took these photos I didn't have the decor in the front entry finished yet, so I don't have photos yet, but I will post them this week as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas 2011 Outdoor Display

2011-12-06T21:12:00.001-06:00

I still haven't gotten the big Victorian tree up yet ( probably this weekend!), but I did take advantage of the somewhat warm temperatures this last weekend to put together my Christmas outdoor display.

When I say "warm", I mean 40 degrees....which is warm for December in Wisconsin!
Last year we had snow already at this time and the weather was very cold and windy when I did my outdoor display. It really was not pleasant!

This year I used fresh garland again, although I didn't make it quite as extravagant as last year, since we aren't having a Christmas party this year.

Click HERE to see last year's display.

The only real big difference between this year and last year's is the addition of two lighted fake little trees that I put in the big urns on either side of the doorway. I didn't have those urns last year (I bought them in March last year.) It has been fun to find ways to incorporate them into my decor now that summer is over and all the flowers are gone!

You can see them a little better in this picture.

I found the set of two 3 foot tall trees, with lights, at Target. Each tree fits into a little red pot which is weighted so that you can place them outdoors and the wind won't knock them over. I actually "planted" the trees in my urns, which are still full of dirt. I dug a hole in the dirt and stuck the pots into the hole and covered them up so they'd be steady if it gets windy. The set of two trees, pre-lit, with the pots, was only $24. It worked out perfectly for my display.

My Christmas wreath, which I made for the house the first Christmas we lived here, is still looking pretty good. My cardinals are starting to look a little faded however. I might try to pick up some new cardinals during the after-Christmas sales and replace them for next year. They are just wired onto the wreath and can be easily removed.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Theme Tree 2011: Peacocks!

2011-12-02T12:00:00.001-06:00

At last Christmas decorations are starting to appear at Le Beau Paon!

I've really been slacking getting things set up for Christmas. So many people I know have their outdoor lights and their trees up..........many blogs that I follow have had Christmas decor featured in their posts since before Thanksgiving.

I never decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving is over and technically it is only December 2nd, so I guess I'm not as much of a slacker as I thought!

As some readers probably remember, I put up two Christmas trees every year. This small tree that we put up in the front entry hall by the staircase is my "theme tree". Every year I plan a different theme. This year, I did a blue and green peacock tree. To see last year's theme tree, click HERE.

Here it is with lights on, although it's hard to see them..........

Ooooooohhhh...............

Typically I have white lights that go on this tree, but I decided that a peacock tree should have colored lights. I always have fun planning out what my tree for the next year should be. I purchase all the ornaments and decorations for the next year's tree during all the after-Christmas sales. This way I can load up without spending a lot of money. If I hit the sales in January, I can usually find everything at 70% off and I can get more than enough decorations and ornaments for my theme tree for about $20 or $25.

This weekend I hope to get the outdoor decorations set up and also have Erik help me drag the big tree for the parlour down from the attic!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be joining Feathered Nest Friday with French Country Cottage

and

Show and Tell Friday with My Romantic Home

Food: Thanksgiving Pies

2011-11-26T11:48:00.001-06:00

It really wouldn't be Thanksgiving without stuffing a turkey.....and stuffing your face at the same time, right??

I always look forward to candied yams at Thanksgiving.......and PIE. This year I was in charge of brigning dessert to my family's Thanksgiving dinner. I made one pumpkin pie and one cranberry pie.

The pumpkin pie recipe I always use was my Grandma Helen's. I always make my own crust too. No store-bought crust enters my household.

Before adding whipped cream.

I always get lots of compliments on this pie recipe and people request it all the time.

It's super easy also.

Tawny Pumpkin Pie

1 1/4 cup solid pack pumpkin (or fresh)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1-2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp flour

2 eggs

1 cup evaporated milk

2 Tbl water

1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla extract

Put all ingredients in a blender, adding milk last. Blend until well mixed. Pour into prepared pie crust.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

Then bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until set.

I've made this pie using both fresh pumpkin or the canned kind. Fresh pumpkin is a little more watery looking, which can be disconcerting at first, but it still sets up nicely. It will also not look as "orange"; canned pumpkin has food coloring added to it to give it that "orangey" look. Fresh pumpkin will look more yellow, but after all the cinnamon is added and it's cooked, it will look pretty much the same.

The kind of pumpkins you want for pie-making are actually quite small, round in shape and the skin will look more brownish-orange in color, rather than orange. If you buy them at a market or grocery store they will often be marked as "pie pumpkins" by the store to make it easier for consumers to identify.

You want to cook the pumpkin first, to make the flesh easy to scoop out for pies. My grandma would cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and guts, and then put the two halves on a shallow baking pan in the oven. I don't remember the exact cooking temp, probably 350 or 375, and we would just cook them until the flesh was soft and fork tender and then we could just scoop it out of the shells.

I also made a Nantucket Cranberry Pie:

This is a delicious alternative to the traditional pumpkin pie. I actually make this pie often at other times of the year; it's great for 4th of July picnics, Christmas time, or actually ANY time!

The "crust" is actually on the top, so it's pretty quick and easy to make this one. Whole fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped pecans and sugar go in a round cake pan or pie pan that has been generously buttered.

The top "crust" is made with sugar, flour, eggs, almond extract and more butter.

The batter is poured over the top of the cranberries and then baked. Mmmm!

Nantucket Cranberry Pie

Butter, for greasing

2 cups (heaping) cranberries, fresh or frozen

3/4 cup pecans, chopped (measure, then chop)

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbl sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Generously butter a pie pan or round cake pan. Add cranberries to bottom of the pan, sprinkle with chopped pecans, then sprinkle with 2/3 cup sugar.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, 1 cup sugar, melted butter, eggs, almond extract, and salt. Stir gently to combine.

Pour batter slowly over the top in large "ribbons" in order to evenly cover the surface. Spread gently if necessary. Bake for 45-50 minutes. 5 minutes before removing from oven, sprinkle 1 Tbl sugar on suface for a little extra crunch.

For serving, cut into wedges and serve with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Delicious!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Antique Mall Shopping Trip: Some New Finds!

2011-11-25T12:44:00.001-06:00

Recently my mother-in-law asked to us to join her in visiting a favorite antique mall in Columbus,WI. We often try to go up there once or twice a year with our "wish lists". Click HERE to see my post from my last visit.

One of the things on my wish list I was able to find: a pretty footstool or hassock for the parlour.

I love the pretty needlepoint cover! The base and legs are actually cast iron, but it's been painted.

The base is very decorative, but I hate this color paint they used. I'm going to try and remove the paint and leave it the original color, which is black.

I resisted buying more vintage linens; I love them, but I have so many that I told myself I wouldn't buy any. However, I did buy this one tablecloth. It's so festive and I thought how pretty it would look on my kitchen table as a Christmas tablecloth, that I made an exception!

This was one of Erik's finds. Some time ago we had seen a silver butter dome at a local shop, admired it but didn't buy it. Later, we returned to the shop on another day after deciding that we wanted it, but of course, it was gone by that time. A silver butter dome was on Erik's wish list and he found one for us!

A little tarnished.

Erik liked that it has lion heads and feet on it; it matches the silver chafing dish with lion's heads we acquired awhile ago.

It cleaned up very nicely, of course!

Inside the flip-top dome, a pretty glass dish for the butter! This will be so pretty on our dining room table.

I also found a couple of blue transferware Spode plates to add to my collection:

Those dark looking spots are shadows. I was taking these pictures at night and the kitchen light above me always casts weird shadows when I'm trying to take photos. (It doesn't seem to matter which way I stand!)

I also found this antique ironstone blue transferware plate that is very similar to some of my other ironstone blue transferware: (Again, sorry for the weird shadows and it's also wet: I was trying to get all the stickers off!)
It has a maker's mark for TJ & J Mayer Co in England. The pattern is called "Florintine", which is also marked on the back. It's dated to probably c.1843.

It was made by a different maker than my other ones, but the design is so similar and the color identical:

Here it is pictured next to a small bowl that I already have (left). The bowl is marked "Medici" by M.V. &Co. M.V. & Co stands for "Mellor Venables and Company" and was one of many potteries in Staffordhsire, England. It appeared to be in operation between the 1830s-1850s.

And this (below) is one of a set of two small salad plates that were made by the W.Adams Co. in England c.1850s-1860s. The pattern name is called "Columbia". I had bought these two plates many years ago.

I mostly use these antique ironstone dishes for display since I have only a few pieces, but I'm always looking for more.

I also picked up this vintage tray for $2 !

I saw one of these recently somewhere else, but it was pretty banged up. This one has a few scratches, but the colors are still good and it has no rust on it. I love this tray. My mother had one just like it when I was a kid!!!

I'm sure she must have gotten rid of hers a long time ago; or maybe not! I should ask her if she still has it somewhere.

I just love the retro graphics; so fun and bright!

I can always use another big tray, too. When I'm not using it, I'm going to keep it up here on top of the kitchen cabinets with all my vintage tins.

Thanks for stopping by!

Crafty Things: 'Give Thanks' Banner

2011-11-25T12:15:00.001-06:00

I really have no Thanksgiving decorations; I usually just leave up a few "autumnal" things, like leaves, pumpkins and gourds and the like until it's time to bring down the Christmas decorations.

Recently, however, I saw a cute project featured on a blog called Primp,(click HERE to see) that I recently started following. The "Give Thanks" banner was so cute, that I decided to make one for myself.

It was so easy to print this out on my color printer, cut out the letters and then add embellishments and other things to make the banner "my own".

click HERE to get the free printable download

After I had all the letters decorated to my satisfaction, I strung them on plain brown twine and hung them on the fireplace mantel. Fun and easy!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday!

Food: Harry Potter's Butterbeer Cupcakes

2011-11-19T10:48:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago I saw this recipe on the blog Purple Chocolat Home click HERE, and I decided that I would have to try this one for stamb club, since I am hostess this month.

If you have not visited Jacqueline's blog before, I recommend popping over there; she has lots of great recipes and many other wonderful things to share!

I used the same recipe for everything, I just did a variation with the presentation, since I was taking them to a party.

I made the little signs using some of my stamping punches and a toothpick. I printed the words using my computer. There was a MS Word font that was called HP PSG,which I wondered if it stood for "Harry Potter" or "Hewlett-Packard"( my computer is a Hewlett-Packard). I'm not sure which it is, but it's a cool looking font and looked appropriate. The cupcake wraps I bought from Wilton.

Yum!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Girls Getaway Weekend

2011-11-18T11:56:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I went upstate for a "Girls Getaway Weekend" with my mom, my two sisters and my stepsister.

It's hard for us ladies to do things together and be able to really visit with each other because my sisters and stepsister, unlike me, have children and they are all fairly young. My stepsister also lives in Minneapolis. My stepsister comes to Wisconsin often to visit, but normally when she visits, naturally her husband and two children come also; when we all get together with my sisters and their kids....well, you know that chaos often ensues!

Even though everyone has busy schedules, we made a plan for us ladies to leave kids and husbands behind and spend a weekend somewhere just to relax, have fun, play cards, visit etc. We chose a resort in northern Wisconsin, in the town of Warrens, which is near Tomah. Tomah is about halfway between where we live, and Minneapolis, where my stepsister lives, so it worked out well; it was only about a 2 hour drive for us and for her. We stayed at a resort called the Three Bears Lodge (HERE). In the first picture above, you can see some of the villas. There is a large main building which includes regular hotel rooms and suites, and also restaurants, and a 50,000sq. foot water park. Because it's off season, we got a great deal on one of the villas!

This was our villa for the weekend. The decor is very rustic and lodge-like, which is perfect for this area of the state, with all the tall pine forests, farms and cranberry bogs. There are many Amish in this area as well. In the spring, summer and fall months there is a lot of tourists in this area because of the Cranberry Festival, the numerous campgrounds and the Wisconsin Black River State Forest. Cranberries are the state fruit of Wisconsin and are grown in twenty counties (out of a total of 72 in the state). Most of the cranberries produced in America are from Wisconsin.

We saw some of the cranberry farms that were near the resort, but they've all been flooded and harvested already. Our plan for the weekend, however, was mostly just to do a little shopping, visit the water park, soak in the hot tub, drink wine, play games, visit and enjoy each other's company!

This was our little porch attached to our villa. Behind the villa is a small stream with a walking path. Each unit also has a fire pit in back for summer and fall bonfires.

It's always interesting to me how different northern Wisconsin looks from where I live, just outside Milwaukee in the south-eastern part of the state. Southeastern Wisconsin is actually a lowlands area; it used to be a vast marsh and prairie. Milwaukee is actually in a large, bowl-shaped valley, called the Menomonee Valley, which was formed many millenia ago by glaciers. The same glacier that flattened most of Illinois, actually. In the Midwest, folks from Illinois, Iowa, and some of those states are often called "Flatlanders" around here! ;-)

We arrived on a Friday night, had dinner, opened some wine and played a few hands of canasta before it got too late. The next morning we did some shopping.

Everyone else was gracious enough to let me stop at an antiques mall in Tomah. I can spend days in such a place...but I knew the rest of my party was anxious to move on, so I only "breezed" through.

Mmmmm.....a lovely collection of dishes that I would have loved to have!

I absolutely loved this desk; it would be perfect for Erik's "man cave!"

The price tag was a little steep and there would be no way for us to get it home, of course, so I took a picture of it with my phone and texted it to him just so he could see it!

The inside of our villa was very rustic too. This was the main living room; there was also a full kitchen and dining area behind me, which I forgot to photograph.

On the main floor were two bedrooms each with a double bed.

The quilts on the bed were very pretty and perfect for the rustic decor, with moose, pine trees, fish, leaf and farmhouse motifs.

The upstairs was an open loft with a steeply pitched roof. Up in the loft were four twin beds. I slept on the one on the left, under the eave!

Each floor had a bathroom; this was the upstairs one.

Following our shopping trip, we returned to the villa for lunch, then we walked up to the main lodge to visit the water park for the afternoon. It was a lot of fun! Then we went to soak in an outdoor hot tub for awhile and just talked and had fun. We returned to the villa that evening to shower and dress for dinner, which we had up at the main lodge, then we returned to the villa to have dessert, open up more bottles of wine, and play some games until late into the night!

My family has always enjoyed card games and board games and we often played games regularly at home when I was growing up. As young adults, we still loved to play card games, cribbage or board games at family gatherings and holidays and we often did at every chance. It's been harder to do this the last few years with the arrival of all the grandkids; there are now seven of them, ranging from age seven years to one year old. It was really nice for us girls to get away and I know it was nice for my sisters and stepsister to have some "me" time. It was especially enjoyable for my mom too, to have all her girls with her all weekend. My mom and stepfather were accustomed to playing cards just about every evening after dinner, or sometimes they played backgammon, which was a favorite as well. Since he passed away in 2003, my mom has really missed that, so it was really fun for her too.

While we were shopping the first day, I came across this print, done by a local artist, that I decided to buy.

To try and keep the glare off the glass, I took a photo really close up. The print isn't very large, only about 8x10 size. The style is sort of country/primitive, which isn't my style at all, but the picture just really struck me and I had to have it. I think it was the farmhouse and really, the whole composition. The farmhouse really reminded me of my Grandpa Al and Grandma Helen's farm (my mom's parents). They owned a large farm with a house that dated from 1850. It looked very much like this one, except it had a really big porch on the front. I love the crows on the fence too; there was lots of old wooden fencing like this on the farm. I have decided to hang this picture in the front entry hall.

We are going to try and plan a girls weekend every year now. We don't need to spend a lot of money or do anything fancy because really, the real point is to spend time with the ones we love.

Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Tablescape No.2

2011-11-14T18:49:00.001-06:00

While most everyone else in blogland is moving on to Thanksgiving and Christmas decor, apparently I am still stuck in Halloween!

A couple of weeks ago, I posted Halloween Tablescape No.1, click HERE, with the promise that I had a second table also that I was going to post the following week, but I was having some issues with Blogger taking FOREVER to load up my pictures, so I didn't do that post until now.

I used the same Halloween placemats as in the last table, and also the orange plates, but paired them with my black transferware plates and another black plate.

This table has a much more scary look. A skull centerpiece, complete with crow and rats!

This large skull is made of foam; it is usually sitting on the dining room table during Halloween on top of a wreath of black roses and red flowers. (I like to stick two flowers into the eye sockets also!) For this table I wanted it to be raised, so I placed it in my silver chafing dish. A hungry rubber rat is looking for tidbits.

I took a few other things from around the house to add to the center of the table.

I love this fun shot glass. It shows a ghost holding a martini, while an owl looks on......probably wondering where his martini is! I used it here to hold a handful of foil-wrapped eyeball chocolates.

At the other end of the table, some old books with appropriate titles (and another rat!) make up the rest of the "centerpiece". Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural I bought for Erik a few years ago and Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetary Symbolism & Iconography is mine that I often take with me when visitng old graveyards.

I don't have linen napkins that are black (or orange), so here I have cheated and used paper ones.

Lets break down the plate stack!

Black transferware dinner plate.

Underneath I have these appetizer plates. I have a set of four; they are all black but have different designs on them. These were from Target about 10 years ago.

Orange plate on top.

We can have some "Hallowine" with dinner. This is actually a drink that is served warm.

For dessert we could browse the "candy buffet" on the sideboard!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be joining these parties:

Tabletop Tuesday with Marty at A Stroll Thru Life

and

Tablescape Thursday with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch!

Super Cute Cats

2011-11-03T20:06:00.002-05:00

I got a new camera for my birthday two weeks ago and I've been playing around with it, learning how to use it. Of course, I had to find something to take pictures of besides all my Halloween decor!

Why not my super cute cats????!!!!!

Olive. Super cute, but also super naughty sometimes. This last week she broke two things; a candy bowl and a decorative pot.

E.B. is also super cute, even if he's super weird sometimes. ;-)

Thanks for stopping by!

Tablescape Thursday: Halloween Table No.1

2011-11-03T19:54:00.001-05:00

It's been ages since I had a chance to think about and put together a tablescape for Tablescape Thurday...but this week I actually had two tables I was playing around with!
I'll be joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday. Be sure to check out all the other awesome tables for this week.

Both tables that I did have a Halloween motif but are very different. This is Table No.1. I set it up in the kitchen at the breakfast table:

The spiderweb tablecloth I bought last year on clearance after Halloween at Home Goods.

A silver coffee pot, muffineer and an orange sugar and creamer set at the center of the table, with the centerpiece slightly behind.

The witch's shoes are salt and pepper shakers; they are Fritz & Floyd and were a gift some years ago.

These are the placemats. These were also a gift.

I've decided to use my blue transferware with some orange plates in the plate stack.

The orange plates are shiny glazed on the top:

On the underside, they have this curious ribbed texture. These were a birthday gift from my mother-in-law (along with the orange creamer and sugar set and some other things). I'm sure she found these at antique store somewhere. I love how they look with my blue transferware!

An egg cup is a handy place to hold some little fake pumpkins!

This is a breakfast setting (as evidenced by the egg cups and silver coffee pot), but I realized later that I forgot to put the coffee cups on the table!!! ACK! I do have some black coffee cups that would have looked perfect on this table.

Fancy glasses aren't just for wine! I like to use mine for juice or water as well!

Next week I'll be showing Table No.2 !

Thanks for stopping by!

Hallowe'en Masque

2011-10-27T21:10:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was our Hallowe'en Masquerade Party. It was wonderful; we had a great turnout for the party, almost 30 people, and everybody seemed to like the idea of wearing masks instead of costumes for something different.

I had the lanterns and pumpkins on the front porch lit.

This is a real pumpkin; I carved a spooky castle!

This one has a hanging bat!

In the front hall I had the treat bag favors ready to go. I did take a picture of this at night with the candles lit, but I think I accidentally deleted it. :-(

The masks I had placed on a rotating card rack that I borrowed from my mother! Guests had fun choosing a mask to wear, although some people brought their own. I bought all these masks at Oriental Trading Co.

I made sure that I took pictures of everything "before" the guests arrived! As usual, during the party I was too busy to take many pictures "during". The dining room spread is pictured here.

There were Caprese picks and deviled eggs............

And Dead Man's Cheese Ball (covered with toasted black sesame seeds!).

We added some dry ice pellets to the punch bowl to make it look spooooky!

The punch bowl was filled with "Ghoul-Ade", a non-alcoholic very yummy and very sweet punch that I make every year.

We also had a large tray of sandWITCHES.....No really. They were just sandwiches. There was also sliced fruit with a chocolate mousse dip, a veggie tray and other snacks. I also made my "Sinister Sludge" avocado dip, but I seem to be missing the picture that I took of it. (My new camera uploads pictures differently than my old one and I think I may have accidentally deleted a few of them while I'm still learning how to use it!)

I do have a picture from last year, however:

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

We had plenty of desserts too:

Stenciled brownie cakes and gingerbread cakes (brownies were stenciled with powdered sugar, gingerbread cakes were stenciled with a mix of ground nutmeg and powdered sugar).

I also had Hallowe'en decorated cupcakes (some with molded candy skulls) and Witches' Finger cookies.

The "fingers" are just sugar cookie dough shaped into a finger, with an almond "fingernail" held in place with a little decorating icing.

We also had this fabulous cake made by my mom. The flowers are real; they are crystalized. She glazed them with some egg white and covered them lightly with sugar. The cake was chocolate, with a delicious mocha creme filling.

Erik and I wearing our masks (we also had cloaks on). I made us these bird masks.

I did manage to snap a few pictures early on in the night:

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be joining

My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home

A Visit to Hawthorne Hill Farm

2011-10-27T19:28:00.002-05:00

A couple of weeks ago the hubby and I went to visit a great place near our home called Hawthorne Hill Farm. I heard about it at a craft fair that I went to in September.

It's a 150 year old farmstead that is open to the public and features the work of local artisans and crafters, as well as unique collectibles and vintage finds.

There are also art workshops and women's retreats held here, as well as special events.

One of the large barns holds three levels of vendor booths.

This particular weekend was the Harvest/Halloween Market, so all the booths were showing fall and Halloween items. Coming up in November is the Holiday Market, when everyone will be showcasing Christmas themed items. I will be out of town that weekend, unfortunately. :-(

It's such a lovely farm and, of course, full of adorable vignettes everywhere, like this one above. I love the blue wicker and the red table and chippy red bench paired with the pumpkins and fall flowers. The color combination is unexpected, but lovely.

Inside the barn there were lots and lots of goodies. I especially loved this cloche on a stand with a bird and flower figurine inside. There were two of these.

Everything was displayed beautifully and creatively.

I especially liked what one artist did with this old door. Some of the panes of glass were covered in old newsprint and crows were nesting in the middle where a pane of glass was missing. A few spooky spiders added just the right touch.

I bought a couple of decorated vintage cabinet cards from a booth filled with neat things and used them to make two Halloween collages. Click HERE to see that project.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be linking up with A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday!

Crafty Things: Hallowe'en Collage

2011-10-23T16:55:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite crafty-type projects when I was in high school was making collages.

Art was one of my favorite classes in high school (I bet you couldn't have guessed that), and when we had to make a collage for class that respresented "you", I became sort of hooked.

I made several more for my bedroom, just for fun. I even made a collage that actually encircled my entire room. I mounted it on the wall just below the ceiling; kind of like a wall paper border. I wish I had a photograph of how it looked.

Recently I visited a place called Hawthorne Hill Farm, which is near where I live. It looks like an old farm, but it's now a place where crafters and artists can sell their handmade items. The booths are set up inside a large barn and another outbuilding. I took some pictures of that visit, which I will share soon. I saw something there that inspired me to make some wall art to be part of my already extensive Hallowe'en decor.

Here is a picture of one of the finished collages that I made. The central piece is an antique cabinet card photograph which had been stamped on and had some cute paper witches' hats decoupaged onto the woman and her children in the picture. I bought the cabinet card this way at a crafter's booth at Hawthorne Hill Farm, then I put it together with some scrapbooking paper and stamps and embellisments from my stamping closet. After it was assembled, I placed it in a black frame I bought for 50% off at Michael's.

This is the second one. Again, I bought the cabinet card, which had a spider-web and the "Happy Halloween" stamped on it, and a paper witch's hat and kitty in a pumpkin glued onto the card. I added the rest to complete the collage. On the back of the cabinet card, the subject's name was written in pencil (Mary Flemming), so I made sure to add a little tag on the front with her name written in flowing script. The lady that I bought the cabinet cards from said she felt a little bad "desecrating" the pictures and hoped the ghosts of the people in the pictures wouldn't come haunt her for making their serious portraits whimsical. I told her "better you than me" and we laughed about it. Then I told her,"Better to make them into interesting art than tossed into the garbage."

After they were done, Erik hung them in the entry hall above the piano for me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hallowe'en Decor 2011, Part 2

2011-10-19T20:36:00.001-05:00

A few days ago I posted some pictures of my Hallowe'en decorations (HERE), with a promise for more!

In the dining room, a skull sits inside a wreath of black roses and red flowers, as my centerpiece. A simple black and silver cobweb table runner and black candles in the silver candelabra make up the very simple decor. I left the table pretty empty because with the party we are hosting this weekend I will have this table filled with serving ware and food!

This picture below shows something new this year:

This was Erik's project. He really wanted to make this display in the stairwell.

Yes, there it is. Pretty scary. I'm not really into gory or super-spooky decorations, but Erik really wanted to have a giant spiderweb and a cocooned-body in the house, so I let him have his fun.

There is also a skeleton running up the stairs. Perhaps he's running from the mice cavorting on the steps?

In the hallway I have put up my scary fence with raven again.

These next pictures were taken with my NEW camera. Yes, you heard right! My birthday is this coming Friday and my birthday present from Erik was a new camera. (He gave it to me early because I was getting so mad at my old camera while trying to photograph my decorations!)

I'm still learning to how to use all the settings etc. but so far I'm loving it.

Here's a nice shot of the fireplace mantel in the front hall.

Even Martha is getting into the spirit of the season and will be masked for our party on Saturday:

You've probably seen pictures like these before; at first glance they look normal:

But as you walk past and look at it from a different direction:

Eeeekk!!!

People always get a kick out of this "portrait". In fact, it stays on this wall all year. You may have noticed it in other pictures I've posted occasionally of the front hallway. You may have thought it was just a regular portrait too. Most people do when they first walk in.

Usually they start to comment on it:

"That's a neat portrait. Are they relatives of yours?"

Then as they walk closer, and the angle changes, suddenly they say:

"Oh!"

The reason it stays up all year is sort of a joke between Erik and I. When we closed on our house, it was the last day of September and we spent that weekend of October 1 and 2nd moving in. For some reason, and I have no idea anymore why, I had stopped in at a party supply store that weekend and I saw that picture. I had always thought they were cool and I liked the big size, so I bought it. It was the first thing we hung on the wall in the house. There was already a picture hanger on the wall in that spot, so when I got home, I hung it up. I intended to take it down after Hallowe'en, but it just looked so perfect there so Erik said, "Let's just leave it there all the time. We can freak people out all year."

So, that's the story of the hologram portrait!

I also took a picture of some of the treat bags I made for the party. I like to send guests home with party favors:

Some of the treat bags have glittery witches.

Others look like pumpkins. (Small orange paper treat bags, green floral tape and a green pipe cleaner for the stem).

Another whole basket of treat bags. These are just plain cellophane bags with scary tags that I made.

Most of the treat bags have an assortment of candy, but others, like this one, have two chocolate graham crackers, a marshmallow ghost, and a chocolate bar in them----for Hallowe'en S'mores! I got this idea from a wonderful blog called A Little Cuppa Tea. She had hers inside small canning jars, but I just used treat bags. If you haven't discovered her blog, I recommend checking it out!

I even made a little sign to let guests know they can take one!

And last, but not least, I wanted to show the Hallowe'en mirror that I made:

I wanted to place a standing mirror on top of the piano in the hall for guests so they can try on masquerade masks (we're having a Masque instead of a costume party).

I don't have any small standing mirrors and I really didn't want to spend too much money to buy one, so I decided to craft one especially for Hallowe'en!

I bought the mirror at Michael's in the glass-etching crafting section and then used various things from my stamping closet; stickers, embellishments and rub-on transfers to decorate the mirror and then placed it in a black wooden plate stand. Voila! Problem solved!

I also completed another Hallowe'en craft project this week; I made two Hallowe'en collages for the wall. They turned out great, but I will feature them in their own post later this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Haunted House in the Neighborhood

2011-10-16T21:53:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago, as Erik and I were heading to a farmer's market, we passed by this house decorated for Hallowe'en and I had to stop and take some photographs of it.

I've seen this house before; it's not far from where our house is, but I had never seen it decorated like this.

I wasn't even sure if it was a private residence. It's located right next to a private Catholic high school.

As we drove away, I did see a sign advertising it as a Haunted House put on by the school that is next door, so I'm guessing this house is owned by the school and might be used for administrative purposes. I think we might have to visit this Haunted House and see how scary it is inside!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hallowe'en Decor 2011 Part 1

2011-10-14T20:44:00.001-05:00

It's starting to get really spooky at Le Beau Paon Victorien!

I added a spooky tag to this cheese dome on the parlour mantel. Inside, a skull and spider rest on some spanish moss. The tag was blank in the middle, so I added a rub-on transfer and wrote some words on the tag in black ink (Beware!! Dangerous Specimen)

A full view of the parlour mantel. I still have some tweaking to do.

I also did something different with the harmonium this year; this is what I had in mind for all those Little Boo pumpkins I bought.

The big white pumpkin is actually fake; it's a white 'funkin' that I decorated using transfers that I bought last year from the Martha Stewart collection at Michael's. I have a small one also, which you can see in the full view photo above on one of the side candle pedestals.

I might add a few spooky spiders yet; but I haven't decided yet for sure.

Here's a picture at night with the candles lit. I use electric tealights in these votives because of our cats. Olive is quite the climber and she has been known to climb up here on top of the harmonium. Since I put up the lace sheers she doesn't do it much anymore because she can't see out the windows, but it's better to be safe than sorry!

The pillar candle with the skull on it is also a fake candle.

My beautiful hand made witch, Euphraxia, is no seated on her chair in the front hall. She was a birthday gift last year from my sister. She bought her at a craft fair we visited.

I just love her face!

The chandelier in the front hall has some spanish moss also; and new this year, a flying crow perched on it!

These are window clings. They work just as well on mirrors and the glass fronts of picture frames. It's a quick and effective way to add some Hallowe'en fun to your decor!

Here are some bat window clings on the hall mirror.

I have to get everything ready for our Hallowe'en party next week and for some reason I'm really behind this year. Usually I have all my Hallowe'en stuff up by the first week of October!

Thanks for visiting and stay tuned for more!

I'll be joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays!

Crafty Things: Halloween Party Invitations

2011-10-13T20:36:00.002-05:00

I thought I would share a couple pictures of the Halloween party invites that I made for our upcoming party on October 22nd:

Basically, I used the same card design, but used various papers and stamps to make several different looks.

I do really like to send actual invites out for parties. People seem to seldom do this anymore. ( I usually get e-vites or Facebook event invites from most people nowadays.)

What can I say? I'm old-school!

Thanks for stopping by!

Little Boo Pumpkins

2011-10-12T23:43:00.001-05:00

I'll be joining Faded Charm this week for White Wendnesday with some pictures of sweet Little Boo Pumpkins that I bought last weekend. They will be making up part of a display I'm doing for Halloween in the parlour. More on that later!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fall Farmer's Market

2011-10-07T13:11:00.001-05:00

Even though last weekend seemed a little too early to get my Hallowe'en pumpkins, the hubby and I went to a favorite place to pick up a few things nevertheless.

All summer you can pick up fresh veggies here; right now they are getting all their squash in and still have sweet corn, tomatoes and root crops, like garlic, onions, potatoes and beets.

They have a large selection of decorative gourds too; which is mainly why I was here today, looking for something specific for a Hallowe'en decor project.

There are also numerous pots of mums and asters. I bought some purple asters for my porch.

Inside the market building you can buy fresh apple cider, Indian corn and even cookies, among other things! Mmmm....

I will be going back again this week to pick out some pumpkins for carving.

Thanks for stopping by!!

I'll be joining up with A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday!

Spookify!

2011-10-07T12:23:00.002-05:00

I pretty much skipped over making a fall display on my front porch.....

My pots of summer annuals were just too pretty, so I left them where they were until the nights started getting chilly, then I moved them indoors until spring.

This left the two big urns next to the front doors empty and full of dirt. What to do?

It was time to spookify the front porch and get it ready for Hallowe'en, of course!

My camera has been acting strangely lately ( it's old...as I have mentioned before). I took this picture at night with my camera and it came out looking pretty much like this. I did make a slight adjustment to the brightness, but the result was actually pretty cool-looking. I guess my failing old camera that takes weird pictures is good for something!

This one I adjusted the tint saturation slightly, but again, it came out looking pretty much like this. Spooooky!

Okay, here's a daylight picture. My camera can still handle photos in bright daylight, as long as the subject is not moving in the slightest.

As you can see, my spooky porch decor was pretty simple; I collected a whole armload of branches, looking for long ones that were crooked and creepy looking. Some of them were branches that I picked up off our driveway after we had a particularly windy day a week ago.

Most of them I collected at my mom's house. She has millions of trees. Ok, not millions. But lots!!

Some of the branches still had dead leaves clinging to them. Bonus! Some even have creepy lichen on them, which you can't really see in the pictures.

Most of these came from an apple tree that had once been in my mom's orchard. It died a few years ago, from disease or knocked down in a storm, I forget which it was. The downed tree was broken up and dragged into the woods, where I came upon it during my hunt for branches.

These urns are very deep and filled with dirt, so I just stuck the branches way down deep in the dirt, which seems to hold them up very well. I had made sure to collect only really long branches. They look pretty cool even in daylight, esepcially when I finish decorating for Hallowe'en. I have more blackened "dead" roses to go in the urns, to match my wreath. I will also have some pumpkins out here as well.

A string of orange mini-lights would also look cool intertwined in the branches. I had thought of spray painting the branches black, but I liked them the way they were.

I also have blackened "dead" leafy vines that twine up the porch posts. These are simply silk leaf garlands that I spray painted black. In the daylight I'm noticing the black is faded a little on some of these, since I've had them a number of years. I'll probably give them a fresh coat of spray paint when I take them down at the end of the season. This is a fun and easy way to add some "creepiness" to your Hallowe'en display. I use thin floral wire to tie these to the posts. I'd like to get some more this year to entwine around the light fixtures next to the front doors!

Thanks for visiting me!

I'll be linking up with Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show & Tell Friday and

Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

and Sherry at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home!

Sunday Favorites: Fall Table 2010

2011-10-02T17:15:00.001-05:00

This was a favorite post from last November (2010) showing my dining room table which I thought I would share again for the Sunday Favorites hosted by Chari at Happy to Design:
Thanks for visiting!
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November 15, 2010:

Although my Hallowe'en decorations have traveled back up to the attic, some of my fall decor is lingering.

I used a number of my fall decor pieces to make one big centerpiece on the dining room table.

If I had a few turkeys I could add them to the mix; but I actually don't really own any Thanksgiving decorations, believe it or not!

It was sort of fun to take all my fall things from around the house and make something 'new'. Do you notice the "candy corn" candles? Too cute! They were a gift this year.

I will be joining Chari at Happy to Design for Sunday Favorites!

Falling into Fall: Decorating Le Beau Paon Victorien

2011-09-30T15:35:00.001-05:00

I seem to be extremely late getting my fall decor up. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was surprised that October was already almost upon us and I realized I hadn't done anything (except obssess over fabric for window curtains).

Last week I started making my way up and down the steep attic stairs to ferret out my fall decor. A lot of my fall decor I use along with my Halloween decor, so they are typically stored in the same storage tubs. Last year I decided to get smart and separate the more "fallish" stuff from the spooky Halloween stuff but ,of course, a year has passed and once I went up there and saw the mostly identical tubs, I couldn't remember which ones had strictly fall decor and which ones were hard-core Halloween, so I had to open a number of them and peep under the lids. Maybe if I was as smart as I think I am I would have......hmmm, I don't know.....labeled them???

I bought this little autumn apple basket last year on clearance at Michael's. I also bought all the faux flowers and berries and fall leaves on clearance. I had this on the front porch last year as part of my porch display. This year I put it on top of the spinet piano in the entry hall. The vintage thread- crocheted runner is normally on the fireplace mantel in the parlour.

I really shouldn't count this faux flower arrangement as part of my 'fall decor' because this arrangement sits on the entry hall fireplace mantel all year around (except Christmas), but it has fallish colors, so I included it. And it's fabulous!

This pretty arrangement looks lovely on the hall table.

I love this carved gourd; he is a favorite with everyone that sees him. I received it as a gift several years ago so I don't know where it came from. I like to fill his big gaping mouth with faux leaves.

Here's a sad, depressing story about our attic: I was somewhat fearful, ridiculously so, of going up there this year and poking around. Technically our house is 3 stories; the third story is unfinished and used as attic space. I don't go up there much in the spring and summer months because it's really hot up there and the stairs are scary steep and we only keep Christmas, Halloween and other holiday decor up there, so there's not much need to go up there otherwise. Additionally, there's lots of spooky corners under the eaves because it's huge and lit with only one very old light fixture and the windows up there are very small, dormer-type windows.

Last spring when I went up to the attic for some reason I noticed there were some white splotches on the stairs that looked like bird poop. I knew they had not been there the last time I was up there. Concerned that there was a bird either trapped or living in the attic, I went up there several times over the next week and looked around with a flashlight but the bird was either hiding himself pretty well and being very quiet or he had gotten out again, because I didn't find anything.

We had just had a bird in the house a couple of weeks before; it somehow got down one of our four chimneys and flew through one of the flue holes that still remain in our bedroom. We were able to catch it in a towel and let it outside. It was an adult starling and I know that they nest on top of our chimneys. There are wire grates in our chimneys to prevent critters from getting in, but somehow this one got in. The chimneys run through the attic, of course, but all the flue holes that I could see (the attic must have been heated at one time with coal stoves like the rest of the house) were cemented over. I couldn't see any way that a bird had gotten in but I hoped that it had got out the way it came in.

Not so. As you may have guessed, the poor thing must have been up there still and eventually it died. Luckily, as it may be, it must have been near the attic stairs when it died because it was just inside the door that leads up to the attic stairs and it was actually Olive, our cat, who alerted me to it's presence. She had been unusally interested in the attic door and had been laying on the floor outside of it for the better part of an evening. I thought this was odd, but didn't pay much attention until I noticed that she kept sticking her paw under the crack in the door and that she was playing with something that was sticking out under the crack. It looked like a piece of black ribbon, but when I bent over to look closer, I saw right away it was a black feather. It had been more than two weeks since I had first seen the bird poop on the stairs and it had been about three days since my last sortie into the attic looking for the bird so I knew what had happened.

I sort of freaked out anyway and had to run to call Erik to look. I didn't want to open the door. I grew up in a very rural area and most of my friends and both sets of grandparents were farmers and many were hunters, so I'd seen my share of dead animals (When I was five my brother and I found a dead robin and we played with it and wheeled it around in our Little Red Wagon for the better part of a day before my mother found out what we were doing and made us get rid of it), but I've become somewhat more squeamish about this sort of thing as I've gotten older. I don't know why.

Erik did his husbandly duty and looked behind the door and when I asked him if the bird was there he said yes. When I asked him if it was really dead, he said, "Well, it certainly isn't sleeping." He very kindly removed it for me. It just broke my heart just the same, that the poor thing was trapped up there and probably starved to death. I felt awful about it for weeks.

I am relieved that it hadn't been dead for awhile before we found it because that would have been extra gross, but now when I go up to the attic to poke around boxes I'm fearful that there was more than one bird up there and that I'll find it's mummified body or something. It's totally irrational, I know.

So that was my long story about the bird and the attic. Now that everyone is thoroughly depressed, we can continue:

The fireplace mantel in the living room also gets some fall splendor.

Comfort Cat is so sweet!

And this is Ginger Cat. I bought both of these from an Etsy seller a few years ago. I thought they were so sweet and cute. Comfort Cat and Ginger Cat are always part of my mantel decor year 'round. You may have noticed the framed bugs behind them. Those are real insects. This one above is a grasshopper from somewhere in Peru. I've bought these for Erik; they are going to go in his man cave when we start that project.

This is a fall display I put together using funkins and faux berries, leaves and pine cones. I usually arrange it here on the brick hearth of the living room fireplace.

In the kitchen on our little breakfast table, a very pretty fall centerpiece graces the table.

I also have some pretty harvest-themed placemats for the table. These were a gift a few years ago from my mother-in-law.

My black chair with a painted pumpkin on the seat was brought down from the attic also.

A faux bittersweet wreath for the back door. As you can see, a little bit of Halloween has slipped in already.

The dining room:

Aren't the candy corn candles adorable??

This pretty fall centerpiece was a housewarming gift from my mother when we bought our house (we closed on our house September 29, 2006). I arranged some faux silk leaves around the base. I have to re-arrange the leaves often, however, because Olive has decided that they are toys for her to play with and she messes them up quite a bit.

In fact, here she is while I was trying to take pictures, even though she's not supposed to be up on tables:

As I mentioned, even though I haven't started really decorating for Halloween yet, a few things have slipped in already:

There will more Halloween to come later, so stay tuned!

In my flower gardens there's not much left blooming:

My 'Oranges and Lemons' gaillardia is still going pretty strong. It will usually bloom pretty well into fall until we get a frost.

Fall is also when my toad lilies bloom. They look absolutely lovely when planted near ferns.

These are Japanese Painted ferns which were newly planted this spring.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be linking up with these parties:

Show and Tell Friday with My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Friday with French Country Cottage

Seasonal Sunday with The Tablescaper

Is It Really Autumn Already?

2011-09-21T20:30:00.000-05:00

I looked at my calendar today and I thought to myself......it's almost October? Since when???

I took a break from blogging for a few weeks; mostly because I was sick, then I was on vacation and then work was crazy and then a million other things, etc etc etc. prevented me from getting creative and working on my blog. I also have been scouring the internet and every fabric store in my area looking for the "perfect" fabric for some kitchen curtains that I want to sew. I've been ~~obssessing~~ thinking about what I want to do and haven't found the right fabric yet.

Additionally, one of our cats, E.B., had to have surgery to remove an apocrine tumor. Fortunately it's a kind of tumor that, while it's cancerous, does not normally spread to other tissues and lies just beneath the skin, so he's doing very well. He will have to see the kitty vet a couple of times a year to make sure it doesn't come back; they are pretty sure they got all of the tumor so it's not likely to re-grow, but it will be something that should be monitored.
I am also in the midst of planning a Halloween party at our house for Oct. 22 ......more on that later!

The weather has been dry but has remained nicely summer-like, so I've been reluctant to start putting up fall decorations yet.

Although most everything in my flower gardens is done blooming for the seaon, some of my tall phlox is still looking pretty. This lavender-colored phlox was planted new this spring. It actually looks a little pinker in this picture than it really is.

Most of these colorful annuals I bought late in the season and they were really cheap! But, they really brighten the yard after some of the perennials are finished blooming.

I love this red celosia with the dark burgundy colored leaves. I had some of these last year in the front yard too. It looks striking alongside the variegated green of the heuchera (a.k.a. coral bells or alumroot). These green ones were called "Green Spice". I also have other colors; "Plum Pudding" and "Creme Brulee".

In springtime this is where my Dutch tulips come up. After they are done I usually plant some annuals. I like to change it up every year. This year I did a mix of petunias in white, solid red, purple/blue and red with a white edging. There are also two red geraniums mixed in. Further back, in the bed where my astilbe is, I planted some hot pink and white petunias.

The porch is such a pleasant place to sit. I will miss it when the cold winter arrives!

Next year we have to re-paint the porch (obviously!).

Very soon these pots will come indoors to be over-wintered in an upstairs bedroom and my pretty little curly wicker chair and plant stand will go in the garage and be shrouded in plastic.

It's always a little sad to say good-bye to another summer season......but now that October is looming, I guess I'll have to start my fall decorating!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Antique Parlor Lamp

2011-08-31T22:08:00.003-05:00

So , the other day I posted a couple of teaser pictures of something new that Erik and I purchased to dress up Le Beau Paon's dining room. Click HERE for that post.

We have it hung up now, so I can show you all what exactly it is..........

My apologies for the blurry photos. My camera is getting pretty ancient and I've been having issues with it lately. I think I'll have to start shopping for a new one soon.

As you can see, it's a very fancy hanging lamp! An antique hanging lamp! Now, I realize that this hanging lamp is actually what is called a parlor lamp; obviously it would have hung in a parlor or sitting room or maybe even an entry hallway, but I just loved it so much and it's RED and all I could do was picture it hanging in my dining room, so that's where it is.

Our dining room isn't actually very large, so I didn't think it would look too small for the space and would look nice as a central light fixture.

The lamp had been wired for electricity at some point, but it began life as an oil lamp. This milk glass resevoir for the oil is usually referred to as the "font". At the top of the lamp there is a pulley-looking wheel with chain wrapped all around it for lowering the lamp so that the oil could have been re-filled. I haven't figured out how to work the mechanism yet, and the chain is a little rusty, so I'm reluctant to mess with it too much; I don't want to break anything!

The previous chandelier in this room was quite large and extremely heavy. It was not an antique or even vintage and I really hated it with a passion. When we took it down, I was astonished by it's weight. There was also a ceiling medallion around the fixture, which is why in the above photos you can see some old crusty adhesive on the ceiling where the medallion was. I will be replacing the old medallion with a new one because the old one had a very small opening that the new light fixture doesn't fit in. We also found that the big, heavy chandelier was so heavy it had actually bent the metal bracket it was hanging from.

I'm sure some folks that are purists and are restoring their historic homes 'period-authentic' or 'museum-quality' are probably cringing that I'm using a parlor lamp in the dining room, but I guess I'm just not caring at this point. Maybe someday I'll come across a really big, elegant antique chandelier for this room and I'll move this parlor lamp elsewhere, but I'm really loving it here, and that's what matters to me!

My dining room table is still dressed in it's summery pinks, yellows and peaches.

Soon I'll be changing out the dining room decor to be more "autumnal".

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be linking up with Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursday

and even though I'm cheating and this isn't a real tablescape, I'll be joining Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch!

Vintage Apothecary Bottles

2011-08-27T12:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I came across three vintage apothecary bottles and I just had to buy them. I could just picture them in my kitchen with fun, old-fashioned looking labels.

The smaller bottle, made with the greenish glass, actually had a date scratched into the glass; 12-14-1939. The other two I have really no idea of their age. I made the labels using clip art I got from The Graphics Fairy. Instead of apothecary labels, I picked out colorful fancy ones. For one of them I used a label for vanilla extract and I tied an old-fashioned key trinket on it just for fun.

This label is in French and appears to be some kind of prepared tonic or syrup for "chronic maladies" of the chest for children, I believe. My French is terrible, but I think that's what it says.

This one is for balsamic vinegar for the "toilette". I just printed these on heavy paper and used double-sided tape to stick them on the bottles. I thought I would also print other labels, maybe with a more medicinal or even a Halloween motif and stick them on the other side of each of the bottles and then I can just turn them around to whichever side I want to face out when I want a change.

For now, they add a nice touch to the vignette on top of my kitchen cabinets!

Thanks for stopping by!

Around the House & Sneak Peek

2011-08-27T11:51:00.000-05:00

Just the other day I posted about some new finds that I recently purchased at a new store near where I live, click HERE for that post.

Of course, I was busy finding "homes" for my new goodies. Usually when I buy something I already have an idea of what I want it for or where to put it. I also keep a list of things that I would like to find, so when I go browsing at stores and shops I take my list with me and I have it as a reference. It also helps me to 'keep on track' and not impulse-buy! (Which I admit, is a problem!)

The vintage pillowcases are already on the bed.

It seems just like yesterday that I brought out the "summer bedding", and here it's almost September already. Where has the summer gone??

The sweet crocheted butterfly doily seemed best displayed here, on the back of my parlour sofa.

Of course, the curly wicker chair I already showed in it's new "home"; the front porch.

I also mentioned another item in that post that was "expensive" and for the dining room that we were considering buying. We did actually decide to buy it!! Here's a teaser picture of it.............

and here...........

Hopefully soon I will able to show more of it, once it's been put up!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Favorites: Redux of Christmas Tablescape

2011-08-21T13:35:00.037-05:00

It may seem really awful of me to remind everyone that Christmas is now only four months away....but I really enjoyed making this Christmas table for Tablescape Thursday last December.
I'll be linking up with Chari at Happy To Design for Sunday Favorites.

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Wednesday, December 29, 2010Tablescape Thursday: Christmas Dinner for Six

It's been awhile since I put together a tablescape for Tablescape Thursday and I was very excited to have some time to do one for this week. I didn't get a chance to do one for Halloween because I was so busy preparing for our costume party, but I was determined to do one for Christmas, even if I had to do it after the holidays.

This table is sort of a re-creation of a table I did many years ago at my mother's house for Christmas Eve dinner. I used plaid ribbon to "gift-wrap" the table itself.

A beautiful poinsettia plant, a hostess gift from my mother, forms the centerpiece of the table. I placed the plant in a silver wine bucket and decorated it with red berries. It is probably too tall to have on the table during an acutal meal, but it is easily removable.

An elegant holiday dinner calls for my formal china, the good crystal and formal silver plate flatware.

Taking a look at the cover, I have placed the cup and saucer to the upper left, with the bread plate at upper center. Just below it, a crystal salt dip for each guest.

Dark red damask napkins have been folded into a simple, yet elegant fold called the Chloe, and placed to the left, under the forks. Vintage linen hemstitch place mats have also been used. I have used several layers of linens on the table. A festive red tablecloth that was a $5 find at Goodwill, is underneath a vintage crocheted tablecloth. Over the top of those, a white table runner with a red embroidered monogram down the center.

A water goblet with matching wine glass, each with a platinum edge, are placed to the right of the cover. These are made by Mikasa and are called Jamestown Platinum. The platinum edge on the crystal matches the platinum edging on my formal china.

Small ball ornament place card holders are on each bread plate, with a name card.

Santa salt and pepper shakers with snow globe bellies.

A be-ribboned candy cane as a sweet after-dinner favor.

Formal china: Noritake, "Knottinghill" ,1996

Crystal goblets and wine: Mikasa, "Jamestown Platinum", 1996

Silver flatware: "Baroque" by Godinger. Nieman-Marcus, 2010

Tablecloth/linens: red damask napkins, Boston Store, 1997.

red tablecloth, Goodwill. Crocheted tablecloth, vintage.

Monogram hotel linen table runner, Pottery Barn, 2007.

linen hemstitch place mats, vintage.

Individual salt dips: vintage, antique store purchase, 2010

Silver wine bucket: Unmarked, pattern and maker unknown.

A New Store in Town & Some Finds

2011-08-21T11:19:00.001-05:00

There are a number of antique stores and art galleries near where we live, which is both fortunate and dangerous.

Fortunate in that I can easily go there to look for goodies.....and dangerous for the same reasons!

One of the stores that we really liked recently emptied out, to our surprise. We wondered what in the world was going to take it's place. We felt sad...empty....apprehensive. There were other stores, of course, but we like having numerous stores in which to hunt; the more the better!

Luckily, the new store turned out to be an antique store. We heard that it had recently opened and that it was called "Antiques and Uniques". We had to go there.

And I found this.................

Love!! I've been looking for some pretty curly wicker chairs for my porch.....FOREVER! It was a really good price. I wish there had been more than one.

It matches perfectly with the white wicker plant stand that I found last year. I stole the pillow from one of my Adirondack chairs in the back yard. I have more of this fabric, so I will probably make another pillow or perhaps a cushion.

I also found some more vintage embroidered pillow cases for our bed. I can't resist these.

Just look how pretty that is!

Sorting through a box of doilies, I spotted this lovely butterfly-shaped crocheted doily. How cute is that? I was hoping there was a pair, but alas, there was only the one. I had to have it. The other item is actually a tissue box cover.

I love Battenburg lace and cutwork, so I had to have it. It will look pretty in one of our bathrooms, I'm sure.

There was one other item that Erik and I found and are considering buying. It's kinda big and sort of expensive, but it's something we've wanted for the dining room for ages. We have to look at our budget and see if such an expenditure would be wise before deciding. I hope that I can bring it home and show it off soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be joining Coloradolady for Vintage Thingie Thursday

and

Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday!

Charming Gardens at Dad's Place

2011-08-19T12:20:00.006-05:00

Just recently I was at my father's house for a visit and I decided to bring my camera along so I could take some pictures of some of his flower gardens, since there's nothing too exciting happening in mine right now!

One of the first things that you see when you drive up the road to my dad's house is the horse pasture. He recently got some new tenants who are renting out the horse barn on his property and they have lots of horses! His previous tenants only had three.

Several of their horses are palominos. They are very pretty. That's my dad's house in the background. The pasture comes right up to the yard.

One of my favorite things about his house is the big fieldstone chimney.

There is always a massive passion flower vine that grows up the side of the chimney. I have tried to grow one of these, using a cutting from their plant, but it didn't work out for me.

There is more fieldstone on the back side of the house, where the dining room windows look out onto their garden and the woods in back. The house actually sits on a small hill. This deck was new last year, built to replace the old one, which was made of wood and unfortunately had weathered badly over the years and was taking too much trouble to maintain. This new one is made of resin to look like wood. No upkeep needed!

They have a lot of wildflowers in their gardens, in keeping with the somewhat 'rustic' look of the house.

Lavender!

There's also numerous little signs and garden art tucked into corners and along borders. I've always liked this one!

There are also many curious metal objects that are sometimes just decorative and sometimes have a function, like these two metal serpentine stands, which have some kind of vining plant on them. My dad probably made these. He used to always be making stuff from scrap metal, in addition to building things in his wood shop. He isn't able to craft things anymore, which is a shame, since he really enjoyed it. He has FTD, also known as Pick's Disease, which is a degenerative disease often mistaken for Alzheimer's. He was diagnosed about 7 years ago, but has only really began to decline in the last 2 years.

On the front porch in the cool shade, two red Adirondack chairs await you! My dad made these in his wood shop several years ago. He actually made a whole lot of them ( I got two of them, my sisters also got several) and he has four himself. He even sold some, if I recall.

A chippy, shabby antique wash tub on wheels makes an interesting and charming planter!

When it was time to head home, I stopped down by the horse barn, using the old driveway. Right about here was where the original farm house had stood. My father bought this property, some 43 acres, in 1988 when I was a senior in high school. My parents had divorced in 1984 and my father had been living in a rented duplex since then, but he was eager to get back out into "the country" again. This property had once been a large farm but it hadn't been used or lived on in many, many years. The farm house that was here was falling down. In fact, the whole back side of the house had collapsed and when you walked around the backside of the house, it was like looking at a really big dollhouse, with the front side looking normal, and the back completely open. It was filled with junk too. We did spend some time poking around in the junk, looking for anything interesting. Much of it was old newspapers and magazines. I found a Home Arts magazine from 1939 that was intact and had a pretty picture on the cover that I liked so I took it home and framed it and I still have it. It hangs in my kitchen. I know my dad also found some newspapers and magazines and other things that he kept also. Eventually, he had the local fire department come and burn down the house. It had been an old Cream City brick farmhouse and before it was burned a company came out to buy all the old bricks that could be salvaged for 5 cents apiece. Click HERE to find out exactly what Cream City brick is.

Just behind where the house used to be was an old barn and the silo. The silo was still in good shape, so they left it alone. The barn, however, had long before collapsed. My dad salvaged a number of the old barn beams and used some of them in the building of his house. One of them is used as a mantel shelf on the fireplace in the house. A great number of the barn boards and beams were also sold to other people who had an interest, just like the bricks. A large portion of the southern part of his property is wooded, old hardwoods like walnut, maple, oak, chestnut; just perfect for a man who likes wood and loves the outdoors. Back in the woods he had also found the rusting hulks of two old cars from the 1930s; I know one was a Packard. Surprisingly, there were people who wanted those too; for the parts I suppose. He sold them to a man who came with a tractor and yanked them out of the brambles and thistles.

I made sure to pick some sprigs of lavender from his garden to take home. They look pretty on the kitchen windowsill in my crackle-glass creamer jug.

Thanks for joining me on my visit and trip down memory lane!

I'll be linking up with The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays!

This & That: Summertime Fun: The State Fair

2011-08-18T21:41:00.001-05:00

Summer never seemed complete when I was a kid, without a visit to the State Fair. My parents used to take us pretty much every year. The Wisconsin State Fair has been held in West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee, ever since I can remember. From 2002 until 2006 I lived in a house right across the street from the fairgrounds. It was always very interesting around my neighborhood during Fair time.

When I was a kid, going to the Fair was an all day outing because we lived in a rural area that was almost an hour's drive from Milwaukee. We always had to visit the animal barns (always a favorite!) and we always had to have a cream puff. I still try to make it to the Fair at least once every year; this year I went twice. The first time was to see Erik's band (this was their first State Fair gig; it was very exciting) and the second time Erik and I went on a Friday evening just to hang out and, of course, stuff ourselves with Fair food.

The evening was very pleasant, if cloudy. We did have a little rain later on for a short time.

One of our first stops was at Water Street Brewery; it's a popular local restaurant and microbrewery. Right next to this building they have a bar area and stage for music, which is where Erik's band had played three days earlier.

We went there because they have on their menu a Scotch Egg on a stick!!! If you've never had one; they are delicious! It's basically a hard-boiled egg, encased in pork sausage and some sort of breading, then deep fried or baked. They serve theirs with a spicy mustard sauce too. Yum!

Then we went to the critter barns to look at some goats;

Goats are so funny!

We looked at the piggies too; many of them were tuckered out and sleeping. I always think of the book "Charlotte's Web" when I go to the Fair and wander through the pig barn. That's definitely "Some Pig!"

Llamas are really quite big animals!

Awwww! These were some young calves that were born this last year. I think the one on the right is a Brown Swiss. Both of my parents grew up on a farm and the area I grew up in was rural and mostly dairy farms, but I didn't know anybody that kept Jerseys or Brown Swiss....they have such sweet faces though!

Holsteins and Guernseys are the kind you see most often in rural Wisconsin. Holsteins, like this one, are actually quite large animals.

Fittingly, right outside the Dairy Barn is the Herb Kohl Milk House. There is always a huge line here because it is very popular; you can get five different flavors of milk here for 25 cents per glass. The flavors are Banana, Strawberry, Cherry Vanilla, Chocolate and Root Beer. Visiting the Milk Barn is one of the quintessential activities at the State Fair.

Erik and I both had two glasses each; we each had one Chocolate and one Strawberry. Erik had to help me finish mine, though. (I am lactose intolerant and even though I looooove fresh milk, I can only handle so much, even with the help of some Lact-Aid!!! Oh, the irony! A girl born and raised in the Dairy State, who's lactose-intolerant! ha-ha!)

At this point, it started to rain a little, so we ducked into the Poultry Barn, where they have fancy chickens:

Yes, that's a chicken.

So is this! (It looks like a small poofy dog, doesn't it?)

They also have bunnies in this barn:

So cute! He looks very plushy.

And they have very fancy pigeons too:

This one was very happy to pose for me; he seemed to know I wanted a picture. I think these are called Fantails.

When I was a young girl my Great-Grandfather Boleslaus lived for awhile with my grandma and grandpa on their farm before he went into a retirement home. They no longer kept animals by this time, but he had a coop of pigeons that he kept. They were homing pigeons, none of them were fancy like these, but I remember his favorite was a pure white one he called 'Snowball'. He used to show us kids the pigeons when we would come to visit. I don't know what became of his pigeons when he left the farm; perhaps he sold them. He was from Poland and had emigrated to America when he was about twenty years old or so. We used to drive to Milwaukee to the retirement home to visit with him there too. He passed away when I nineteen.

After the milk and looking at chickens, it was time to visit the Agricultural Building. Here there are many booths that sell goodies and products from local Wisconsin farms, like honey, maple syrup and of course, dairy items and cheese! We stopped here to have a grilled cheese sandwich.Mmmm.! Look at all those sandwiches!

The Scotch Egg, milk and grilled cheese sandwich wasn't enough for Erik; we stopped for awhile at one of the pubs with a music stage to listen to a band, have a drink and so Erik could have a burger. This burger was called the Cheesehead Burger; it has Mac n' Cheese Bites on top of the burger.

I always have to have a corn dog when I go to the Fair; I can't possibly go to the Fair and not have a corn dog! I ate my corn dog earlier (after the Scoth Egg, but before the milk!) so I could save room for a cream puff!

The Cream Puff Emporium is one big building devoted just to making the cream puffs; they are famous! They have these nifty glass windows so you can watch the workers while you wait in line. They probably have a half a dozen workers, mostly high school and college age kids, at each station. This stations is where they are slicing the shells. They really have fun in there; they always have music playing in there and everyone is always dancing around and having fun.

In the next room is where the fillers are. It's very cool in this area because of the giant vats of cream filling. The cream is dispensed automatically from a machine into their pastry bags, so you don't have to give yourself carpal tunnel syndrome squeezing the bags to get the cream out.

After they are sprinkled with powdered sugar, they are placed on these big wheeled racks for the servers at the counter. There are dozens and dozens of these racks all lined up in the coolers.

Erik and I each had one cream puff, although you can buy "6 packs" or "8 packs" in to-go containers to take home with you if you like. Also while the Fair is going on, you can get cream puffs at the "drive through" at one of the fairgrounds entry gates. In the mornings between 7am and 9am you can drive up to the Fair gate where they have a huge refrigerated trailer of cream puffs and you can pick up cream puffs for your co-workers at the office or your morning sales meeting and be a total hero!

Thanks for joining me! I hope that you are having a wonderful summer as well!

A Summer's Evening Walk

2011-08-10T21:35:00.000-05:00

Finally we have got rid of the desperately hot and humid weather....at least for now! We even got some much needed rain recently.

The humidity and heat was so unpleasant that nobody has been spending much time outdoors, unless they were immersed in water! Even the usually refreshing cool of my mom's pool wasn't much help....the water was so warm that it was more like taking a warm bath rather than a cooling swim.

Now that we aren't in the grip of the suffocating heat, it was pleasant enough for Erik and I to take a walk in our neighborhood and enjoy the cool evening air. I, of course, brought my camera to take a few snaps along the way.

This pretty Victorian just down the street from us is a favorite of mine and I pass it almost every day on my jogging route.

I'm especially enamoured of their white picket fence and the cheery sunflowers growing close along the fence, all in a row.

I am also totally in love with this enclosed vegetable garden in the very back quarter of their yard. The house sits on a corner, much like our house, so this garden is easily seen as you walk past on the sidewalk.

Look at the sweet arbor with a gate to enter the garden!! Love!

Right behind the picket fence garden, across some railroad tracks, we see this house. The siding is a little shabby (and probably is asbestos siding! eeek!) but it's surrounded by the prettiest flower gardens.

Just down the block, this pretty blue and cream Victorian, complete with turret, sits prettily in the shade behind this lovely fence. I have "porch envy" when I look at this house. I love all the decorative millwork on this porch and their fancy turned railings and skirting.

I always love to walk by this house and see what's blooming. The entire front yard is filled with flowers and the porch is loaded with baskets and pots of flowers. In spring, the yard is a sea of tulips and daffodils and in summer it's full of roses, daylilies, phlox, rudbeckia and many other perennials.

The front porch

There are also a few birdhouses and other garden objets d' art peeking from the lush flower beds.

This big white Victorian has a curious single stone pillar in the corner of their yard. A leftover from a long-ago stone wall or the corner piece to a wrought-iron fence probably. There are many houses in this area that have wrought-iron fences interspersed with these stone columns.

A rustic wood fence is the perfect backdrop for these orange daylilies.

A quartet of bright red Adirondack chairs sit quietly beneath a canopy of big, tall trees in another yard.

This Spanish villa-style house has always intrigued me. I love the curving brick walkway. Here you can see an example of the limestone columns and wrought-iron fence that I spoke of. One of the earliest industries in our town, when it was founded in the 1840s, were the limestone quarries. They are still in operation to this day. There are about four or five quarries in our area, two of them are right at the edge of town. The others are located in a nearby town about four miles away and there are several more in a small town called Lannon, which also isn't far away. Often times limestone is referred to as "Lannon stone" in our area, because of the proliferation of quarries in Lannon.

I love the flower pots on the upper windows attached to those little balconettes.

Red Adirondack chairs must be popular,because this house has some too:

These folks also have this wonderful stone arch over their front gate:

This house and yard is Erik's favorite; I think he has "front entrance envy"!

Thanks for joining me! I'll be linking up with A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday!