Week's End

To answer the questions I received about the China...
I have several sets of china for different foods and occasions.
This set is Royal Albert's Old Country Roses. Royal Albert's is part of Doulton china and now Wedgwood has combined with them.

After a week of hustle and bustle and worry and work, I hope your weekend is peaceful and lovely.
It will be a new year when I post once again but year in and year out old Barney the Light House, 200 feet tall stands like a soldier calling everyone safe home.
It isn't the 'new' we love so much as the old traditional and reliable things of life.
May they remain constant for you.

Sitting Room, Tiny but Taking Shape

You can click the photo to make it much larger.
Its tiny!!!! But it will take shape and will be nice, I hope.
The dimensions? 7 X 10. Yup, very little. But it can hold 3 chairs and bookcases and it is a design challenge.

Across the back wall with the door I will place a wall of bookcases which I hope to make look built in.
I am not sure yet if they will be high book cases or low ones.  A picture or the tv can cover the rest of the door if  I go with the short bookcases.

I would like to place an upholstered chaise lounge on a slant there where the mirror is or at least another chair with a nice foot rest.
There will be two brown wicker chairs on the other side. These are on loan for the time being but they are surprisingly comfortable.
That mirror is really pretty but does not show up here. I found it at Home Goods and paid 39.00 for it though it looks far more expensive. It will go over top of my old wood table there. Its recycled wood and painted.

These chairs are on loan. The cushions are from Pier 1 and are generously thick at almost 4 inches. They are cushy and soft but I think I will recover them in a neutral shade of fabric and might make cushions for the backs as well.
I got these in a chili red because I am basically always drawn to color. But originally I wanted a cream shade. So, now I will cover them and I can have them two ways.
I prefer upholstered chairs but these will do for now and as I said, are very comfortable.
The throw is just residing there for the moment and will be replaced with something else.

The table is from TJ Maxx on sale and I bought a thick round glass to cover it. The lamp is Home Goods and is a mercury glass "milk can".

The door will be repainted to blend in with the wall and the molding removed I think. The bookcases will cover it mostly and then the large flat screen will take up the rest of it.
If I go with tall cases, then it will be definitely covered but, I am just concerned with how they might be.

Here are two ideas for bookcases, one tall, the other about 32 inches in height and represented by the cream colored block against the back wall.
You will have to imagine that things actually fit!
Here are the three quicky   photoshops:

What do you think?
The high is more expensive, while I can build the short built ins from ikea and crown molding.

Taking Shape..the new place

This desk is a new one that I bought for the office in my new apartment. I gave up on redoing the old dresser/desk. Just too much work at this time.
The lamp is a find from Home Goods and is a Labrador Retriever on the base and a lovely oval beige silk shade.
Click on it to see it larger if you like.





The doors are where the furnace and water heater are. Yes, I wish it was a closet but this is a former 24 X 24 foot garage.
The door on the right wall is my bedroom.
The walls are painted a pale blue/gray by Glidden called Chilly Morning.

These are the two night stands I found at Home Goods. They are a bit more exotic than I would usually pick but I think they will go well in my bedroom. At least I am hoping they will.


I have put up new drapes and sheers in the bedroom. The drapes are a very pale blue faux silk called Rainwater.The sheers are white.
I need to purchase a wardrobe and perhaps a new dresser as the dresser I have may be too large for the little bedroom I will now have.  10 X 10 is a challenge to decorate  but it can be done.  We are spoiled in the world today anyway. There are people who have literally nothing. We have so much to be thankful for.

The closet in the room is so very tiny,much smaller than the old fashioned closets I have now. So   I think it will be better to put top to bottom shelves inside for folded shirts, sweaters,pajamas etc and buy a nice wardrobe with a decent sized rod.
I am even toying with the idea of lining the little closet with some cedar. It is only 26 inches wide and though its 8 high inside, that is not a lot of space and so it might not cost too much to line it a bit with cedar and give added protection to the clothing from bugs. While it is small for a closet it would not be small for a bunch of lovely shelves at all. It would be quite spacious actually.

Ikea sells wardrobes and this one here seems nice. At first I was not fond of the clear doors. But on thinking it over they might actually be a better idea in a small room as they would give an idea of more space rather than just a large closed box. What do you think?

Magic in a Pot of Tea

There is magic in a pot of tea.

Power to soothe, to lift the spirits and envigorate.

Whenever someone is in need of a lift someone will suggest a cup of tea.

With good reason too.

I began to think about this when a friend was feeling low and I invited her over to share a pot of tea and talk things out.

The tea provided a magically healing environment that helped bring things back into perspective and raise spirits.

I like listening to old radio programs and one in particular , The Arthur Godfrey Show had Lipton Tea as its sponsor.  "Take Tea and See!" said the jingle.

Now usually advertisements make outrageous claims that the product will make you all you ever wished you could be and then some, but , no, not these. Not one word was false.

Tea does all they claim it can and more. We even know that the anti oxidants it contains are good for you.

In the Little House on the Prairie series, Laura Ingles Wilder's father 'Pa', describes tea as "fragrant" and he loved a hot steaming cup when he was done working in the fields. And there is certainly no doubt they worked hard in those days.

And it doesn't seem to matter if its green, black, orange pekoe, white or all the shades in between, tea does seem to have magical , powerful qualities to it. It certainly does provide a calming atmosphere for a variety of things...most especially friendship.

And romance, since Victor Youman's song  Tea for Two  was considered a very romantic song back in the 1920's.Link takes you to the original recording from 1925.
The Duchess of Windsor, the former Wallis Simpson recalled in her  biography dancing to Youman's Tea for Two in a sunken garden trimmed with paper lanterns in Shanghai.

I used to have tea a few nights a week with a dear friend and its one of the nicest things to do  . It slows things down and the world seems less hectic.

You can see people pausing over tea, or coffee in a cafe with  calm, tranquil expressions on their faces. They sip, pause, reflect...stare off into the distance meditating on things.

But, do you consider that this is but one of the many things in a utilitarian world that are put here for our use and enjoyment?

We have been given the gift to see, feel, taste and appreciate beauty in things that are around us, or help us, or are for our benefit.

It is a gift.

God has provided us with things to aid us in so many ways and given us the ability to have enjoyment from them too.

If that isn't love, I don't know what is.

Magic in a pot of tea, yes and a lot of love as well.

Lovely Lyrics

 All the time I thought
There's only me
Crazy in a way

Fall in the  Pine Barrens by me

That no one else could be
I would have given everything I own
If someone would have said you're not alone

All the time I thought
That I was wrong
Wanting to be me,but needing to belong

If I had just believed in all I had
If someone would have said you're not so bad

All the time, all the wasted time
All the years, waiting for a sign
To think I had it all
All the time

All the time I thought
There's only me
Crazy in way that no one else could be
I can't believe that you where somewhere too
Thinking all the time there's only you

All the time, all the wasted time
All the years, waiting for a sign
To think I had it all
All the time.
Song and lyrics by Barry Manilow

End of Day

We are still in the midst of a burst of springtime weather. It is warm and today a bit drizzly but, the birds are happy with this warmer weather.

Late afternoon in the salt marsh

Kitchen Fiasco

My Kitchen Window

My kitchen sink was leaking badly. A new tap/faucet was called for. One of the parts did not fit, that was yesterday, today I still have no kitchen and it's Friday.
All the things from under the sink are on the counters and its a mess and , its Friday!!
Now I am sabbath observant, so I do not work from tonight until Saturday night and I do all my cooking for tonight and tomorrow, today. Yikes!
Well I am using the bathroom but what a hassle that is. One of these days a project will get done without all the delays and misfits but, I have no idea when that will be.
It isn't a huge catastrophe, of course, but Friday is not a good day for it.
Well.. not so fast, it is huge. The leak was ongoing and not noticed for a couple years evidently and now the sink underneath is rusted, and the counter is tilting downward. So, really the entire counter top, sink and faucet and maybe a cabinet need replacing, though I will most likely paint the cabinets white and be done with it. They are natural cherry now so, sad really. And, of course I am moving out and letting the 'ex' take the house. I have no choice anymore.
  But, I just will probably only replace the faucet and let that be it. The work needed on the house is major and I just don't have the money for any of it. If I don't leave it will fall down around me sadly.
This is one of those things you look back on and laugh about though, right?? Well I hope so, sigh.
I have been through far tougher things in life.   And it is a chance to be creative and I enjoy that.
 The apartment is moving along nicely also, and I will post some photos and some info on that to show you some progress.
 I am buying furniture for it and must install a tiny kitchen too and waiting on next payment for the book to do that.

Oh on the bronchitis, I am much better , still coughing slightly but overall a lot better! Thank you for your concern I   appreciate it more than you know.
It is in the mid 50's here, sunny, blue skies and lovely. I hope you a lovely Friday and a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.

Sagittarian Birthdays

My Favorite photo of
 The Anonymous Kid

Today is the Famous Anonymous Kid's birthday so a special dinner for her will be on the menu for tonight.
The photo of her is a few years old but one of my all time favorites as it captures her sweetness perfectly.
We are a family of  Sagittarians, the archer . Our family birthdays begin in November and run to January with one Taurus in May, my son.
 Other than that we are almost all children of winter.We all enjoy archery and horses and the outdoors. Typical of Sagittarius if you go by such things. I find it interesting but don't live my life by such things.



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I thought I would share a favorite cookie recipe with you. They are variously called Butter Balls, Mexican or Russian Wedding or Tea cookies but whatever you call them they are rich and delicious and very easy to make.
I put the recipe on a 5 X 7 card you can print out if you like.
Just right click , save as a jpg. to your own computer then print it out. Remember where you save it !