Pound of Sugar

Hey!  How are you?  I am still on break from blogging.  But I am taking a break from the break!  That’s right!  I wanted to share my pretty little flowers and Tea cookies.  There’s tea brewing in the floral print cup, it has its own strainer inside the cup.  There’s the solid light green creamer because you know some people like milk in their hot tea.

The porcelain young lady belonged to my grandmother.

Concrete cherub that’s supposed to live outside but I really like it inside.

The pink carnations almost look like a pillow here.  I do like carnations but they always smell like the funeral home don’t they?

White pitchers of carnations sitting on old silver.

The bowl is for holding a pound of sugar.  That’s what the tag said!  Oh but honey I could go through that real fast with my sweet tea!



Jan

I'm Stuck On Blue!

Hello, how are you?

I need to take a break from blogging.  That became abundantly clear today. 

So I hope you will excuse me for a bit.  Things to tend to.

Since the tree fell on our house this past summer and took the shade with it I have been trying to figure out the best way to handle the lack of shade we will be facing.  Our back porch was shaded for a big part of the day from the tree as well.  We do have a wisteria bush that has been planted in the same place for a long time now.  It wants to grow to be very big and my mister is always having to cut it back.  So I have been considering letting it grow and looking at some sort of structure for it to grow on and eventually be a shade of sorts.

On the mantel in front of the vintage mirror….

Of course it would have to be something simple and doesn’t cost an arm and leg.  I know my mister could build it.

He just has to agree it’s a good plan.  We will see.

Talk to you soon…..



Jan

January Rearranging and Roses

Hey!  Today there’s a new vignette on the buffet.  I am pretending it’s Spring.  Lots of rose covered cups and dishes with some roses peeking out of the center of the buffet.

Have you started planning what you will plant this Spring?  Are you going to have a garden?  What do you usually grow?  We tried to grow some more roses but they didn’t do well this past summer.  Then we had a tree to fall on the house.  That tree gave us a lot of shade and I knew how much shade plants would get based on that tree.   So it will be a whole new ball game now, I’m afraid.  We will need a lot of sun loving plants as they will get sun all day now.  We have a few oleanders, maybe I will just get a boatload more of them and call it done!

I have to ‘play’ indoors mostly now.

I put this little vignette together last year about this time.  Berries last a long time in water and I paired them with birds and a plate of rose heads.



I have been rearranging the living room since I did a post on it.   But I get to ‘redecorate’ and it’s free.

I added a rug here but it didn’t stay, I wasn’t too happy with this look.

I have rearranged the living room five (5) times since Christmas.  I have a rearranging obsession, I’m afraid.  Do tell me dear friends, which way do you prefer it?  It’s okay, I rearrange all the time.  This has the two green chairs to the left.  One sofa is sitting catty corner with a chair beside it. It’s behind the camera in this shot but  you can see it in the next photo.  The other sofa sits far apart toward the front door.  I have that voice in my head narrating my words again.  Of course, it’s a Downton Abbey character, can you guess which one?

Basically the same but the sofa is moved in closer to the room and the Marsala colored chair breaks up the green chairs.  I like the way that sounds as if I knew what the latest color trend was going to be and I bought it a few years prior to its announcement.  See, I am so ahead of my time! Ha!

One sofa faces the fireplace and the other sits in front of the double windows that overlook the backyard.  There are two chairs positioned closer to the front door.

January roses.   I think my husband may be a bit miffed at me for having a good time with another man.  Even though it was innocent fun.  Not me silly, my character.   Do you know who I am now?

I am the American Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham.



Jan

Just Because

Hello!  I want to share these photos with you today.  The sun has been hiding and I thought you might enjoy seeing these to remind you that Spring will come.

 It will come with beautiful sun filled days and you will overspend on planting things in your yard because that’s what Spring makes one do.  Then Summer will follow and the trees will be assorted shades of rich greens.  There will be every conceivable color blooming on bushes and shrubs and flower beds.  Wild flowers will wear their crown of glory as well.

Children will be rejoicing when they finally get to kick off their shoes and feel the grass under their toes.  Hooray!  Let’s run!  And off they go with summer smiles across their faces.  Memories to make.  Best friends to meet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan

Lady Mary's Gone, I'm Back!

Hey!  How are you?  I hope you enjoy Lady Mary's "visit".  She can be a little distant and cold but I am sure she means well.

So the mister surprised me Christmas and I was the blessed 'girl' to receive a newish coffee table.  I am very happy with his surprise!  The round coffee tables have been calling my name for a good while now and I just resisted.  But secretly I have been lusting over them and hoped eventually to claim one as my own.

While Lady Mary was visiting my home I took a few photos, so you can see the living room/family room with my newish table.

With the arrival of really cold weather I rearranged the living room.  I placed this sofa in front of the double windows.  Yes, that's the fireplace cover sitting in the corner!  I haven't found a place for it to live this winter.  Actually I like it over the fireplace most of the time if we don't have a fire so it's handy for it to stay in here unless I am taking photos of the room. 

Lady Mary was cussing up a storm while setting up the coffee table.  I am glad you didn't hear her.  She was quite upset here.

 

You can see the legs of the table which I really like.  It's amazing how comfortable it makes the room feel.  No sharp edges in here now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I usually have it arranged like this except for the Winter when it feels cozier to move furniture in a little different way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the offending coffee table.  I still like it but it has seen plenty of use.   My sofa is placed and used in this corner most of the time.  It gives us more room and is good for conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The living room can be difficult to take photos of because it is a long room.  The other red sofa now faces the fireplace with the round table in front of it.  My Marsala colored chair and a olive green chair sit to the left of the sofa there.  The rocker stays close to the fireplace. 


I talk a lot about color.  Did you know you can use several shades of one color in the same room?  Let's take red, for example.  I have at least seven, yes seven, shades of red in this room.  We are all guilty of "Does this match"?  Stop it!  Stop it!  Stop it! 

Okay, let's start with the foundation of the room.  That would be the two red sofas.  They are one shade of red.  Then number two is my tablecloth by the fireplace.  That's a different shade of red.  Number three are the curtains.  I have two sets of curtains on each window for insulation.  So I have the solid red and it's a different red than the other two.  On top are the floral curtains with another shade.  Oh my goodness, even my Marsala chair is reddish in here.  Where are we now?  Do you see you don't have to match your colors.  It works here because I have so many versions of red.  The trick is bringing in several shades of the one color.  I do have warm reds and cool reds in here.  The room is big enough to have both warm and cool and it works.

This is how I hope to leave it for the Winter. 

When Spring comes and then Summer, it's very hard to leave the sofa sitting in front of the double windows.  We have woods next to us and there's always something going on back there.  The mister really loves to watch the birds and it's almost impossible to with the sofa like this.  That's when I push it into the corner where the fireplace cover is.  It makes for a good conversation cluster like that.

So now I think okay, I have got it done for the Winter.  But guess what?  The mister says we are keeping the offending square coffee table and he's sanding it down outside as we speak.  Aaaauugh!  Where am I going to put it??



Jan

Dining with Lady Mary

Carlton has left and the staff has gone completely mad. There simply isn’t anyone available when needed.

 Bear with me today, I do have a few pretties to share but the presentation is dreadful.

The tablecloth is not ironed. I certainly never dreamed that this would happen here.  Edith, as usual, is of no use.  Grandmama will be sick at the sight.

Well on with it.

The staff leave tags on all our dishes.  They are incompetent and have to be able to read exactly what dish is used for what food item or flowers as it were.  When I marry again this will simply not happen.

I understand that this is a black mark on my reputation but one must decide if things of this nature must take a backseat when I have very important duties placed upon me which include deciding what grain we will grow in the next season.  Now I am going upstairs to take off my hat.



Mary (Jan)

Beacon of Light

As usual I came across it late one night. Or one would say I came upon it very early that morning. The clock said 2:24 a.m. early. It made me tear up as soon as I glanced at it. It was an old photo of two elderly women sitting beside one another on the porch swing. They were not sisters but did favor one another. They were dressed similar in their floral dresses with long sleeves.


It brought such an immediate feeling of home when I studied it. The photo said it was taken in the 1930’s. It was no doubt taken in the South. There is such a sense of kinship in the South. Such an overwhelming feeling of belonging.  Belonging whether you want to or not.  You belonged because you came from the red clay here. You came from the thick forests of pine. You came from the thick, sticky, smothering air that you once thought you wanted to escape. You are a descendant. Your greatgrandparents last names still crowd out all the other last names in the phone book. These descendants of Smith and Case.


We were desperately poor for a summer and winter when we came back to this place of red clay. My father found work and we settled very close to these wonderful grandparents. We had a four room house with no bathtub. But it never dawned on me that it wasn’t fun to walk to Macase’s house every evening and get our baths. It would be so dark we could hardly see. I remember putting the clean panties on my head as a beacon of light for them to follow and my sisters did the same. So we walked with the panties on our heads in the dim light to find our way there. I can only hope we didn’t try to do the same on the way back.


We feast on cornbread and milk served in a glass while there.  It was a good supper. Pop dries the dishes as Macase washes them. I am very young and don’t realize how well I would remember the insignificant events of the days. But how could I?  I was so young and dreamed of things to come and places to go. These days when I was dreaming of escaping to where the air wasn’t so thick, sticky and smothering.

Jan