Easter 2017

Wishing you and yours a wonderful day.

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The beautiful tulip above was blooming in our garden last week.

XO

Sue

St. Patrick's Day: A Vintage Postcard and a Recipe

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Today everyone is Irish!

Above is a vintage postcard that I recently purchased

and I would like to share it with you to

save and use as you wish.

I think its a really pretty one.

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Years ago (I won't say how many!) when I was growing up my mom would make Corned Beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, even though we are not Irish. Kind of the way she always made fish on Friday even though we were not Catholic. Who can figure?

I never liked Corned Beef and could barely stomach eating it, but unlike most of the kids today, we were required to eat what was put on the table whether we liked it or not. (The only exception was liver, which my brother and I hated, and I still do.) No creating of special dishes for the picky in my mom's household! She would always say "You will acquire a taste for it if you eat it enough", and it seemed to work, because I grew up from a picky eater who lived on milk until I was in second grade and forced to eat school lunches into a foodie who can eat almost anything (except liver of course). Mom also said "If you like to eat, you'll like to cook", and a lover of cooking I am. Thanks Mom! Do you ever wonder why I don't always create too much art?

In any case, I never liked boiled food and to this day I think that it is boring and tasteless. So, in my determination to find a Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe that wasn't boring, I tried several different recipes over the years, and a few years ago I found this one. It is now the only one I make, requiring a little more work, but loaded with flavor. So if you would like to try it, here is the recipe for you to save and print as you wish. All credits are on the page, but also my few notes. A little freshly chopped parsley added to the platter when served is also a fine thing!  Also, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I am not a beer drinker, but a bottle of the Guinness was good along with the meal, and the rest I will use this weekend in a stew recipe, which I will share later. (My husband does not drink at all.)

Though the recipe may not look too clear here,

I did print this out as a test and it printed

quite well...

I hope you enjoy it if you try it.

Let me know if you do, and how it turns out.

Corned beef will probably even be on sale this coming week!

Have a "lucky" day today

and a great weekend!

Hearts: Gifts from the Sea

Happy Valentines Day!

My gift of hearts for you.

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Driftwood...

Sea Glass...

Stones...

Love and beauty are found everywhere!

Have a wonderful day!

Happy New Year 2017!!

Happy New Year friends! I can't believe that 2016 is behind us. Where did the time go? I hope that you had a great holiday season.

I thought that I would share the above print for this first day of January. I scanned it from a vintage book that I purchased some time before the holidays. The name of the book is Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady and it is a compilation of works painted by a gal named Edith Holden, which she entitled "Nature Notes 1905". The book is filled with her beautiful watercolor paintings of flowers, plants, birds and butterflies. Also included are landscape scenes featuring other animals, along with Edith's personal observations of the nature and wildlife in her native area during Edwardian times in England. Apparently this book was compiled from her original works, where her hand-writing was done only in rough draft.

Throughout this year I hope to share with you some other beautiful pieces of her art. I also purchased a book about her later works, and a third one about Edith herself. Needless to say, I have not had time to read them yet!

I hope that this year brings you great joy, good health, and time to do the things that you would really like to do. Thank you for visiting my blog this year and leaving lovely comments. I treasure your friendship!

Christmas Greetings 2016

Blessings to you and yours this holiday season!

A Thanksgiving Wish for You

I wish you and yours a wonderful

Thanksgiving Day.

Christmas in July: Vintage Santa Photos

Merry Christmas! Well, not exactly, but I am celebrating "Christmas in July" in my etsy shop by listing a few vintage Santa Claus photos.

I have scanned six photos from my personal collection 

and made them available as digital downloads....

They would be perfect for holiday cards or gift tags.

Or, a few of them would be lovely incorporated into a Christmas banner.

If you like them you can find them here.

I would love to see what you might make with them!

Don't eat too much Christmas ham today.

Valentine's Day and a German Pancake

Happy Valentine's Day! 

In honor of this special day of love,

I thought I would share a scan 

of this vintage sheet music that I have.

Use as you wish in your artwork!

The other day I took a trip over to World Market.

I love puttering about in their food (and wine!) section

because you see so many things that you don't 

see elsewhere.

I am not a big pancake person

(as in the big thick things that you get

in most restaurants).

I would much rather eat French crepes 

or nice puffy German pancakes

(perhaps because I am of 

French and German descent),

so imagine my excitement when

I saw THIS...

Once box makes two batches,

with one batch being one large pancake

baked in the oven in a cast iron pan

at 450 degrees,

and coming out looking like this...

Served with fresh blueberries

and powdered sugar...

...and a side of breakfast sausages,

it made for a delicious Valentine's

breakfast today.

And the best part?

Mr. Perch did the dishes!

We will go out to dinner tonight with family members.

This day is special for us,

because we got engaged seven

years ago today.

Do you have any special plans for today?

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Keep love in your heart! 

A Valentine's Day Fabric Collage: Sister Love

Happy Sunday, dear friends! Our weather is pretty nasty today, cloudy, cold, damp, and it snowed for a while this morning, but what stuck didn't last very long.

So, I decided to take a break from the attic cleaning project (awful business!) and make this Sunday a day of rest and creation. With Valentine's Day coming, I decided to create something for my Etsy shop, where this item is now listed for sale. You can find my shop on my sidebar.

This is a simple little piece,

only measuring about 

6-1/2 inches wide by 8 inches high,

not counting the hanger...

I love this photo of these two little sisters

holding their dolls.

I think that they love their dolls 

almost as much as they love each other...

Pretty pink fabrics,

vintage laces,

and sari ribbon...

I have ignored my shop practically since

I opened it.

We were away so much in the spring,

summer, and fall 

that it spent more time closed and

"on vacation" than it was opened.

Maybe I'll have better luck this year!

May your week be as sweet as the little girls in this photo!

Christmas 2015

May your Christmas

be filled with JOY,

and your New Year be

filled with HOPE.

A Season of Promise: The Christmas Cactus

The promise of Christmas is always signaled by the early December blooming of my beautiful Christmas Cactus. She is so happy in our downstairs guest room, which seems to receive exactly the right amount of light to suit her. She started off as a wee little plant purchased five or six years ago for pennies. She is now so huge that she takes up about one third of the dresser, where she proudly resides asking for not much more than a drink every so often and to be turned slightly now and then. She is my "miracle baby" because though I am an avid gardener, I don't have much luck with indoor plants, probably due to the lack of good light that we receive in this house.

Oh!

That all of God's creations

would be so content,

and expect so little.

Thanksgiving Greetings

Mother's Day fabric collage, and my new Etsy shop!

Good afternoon, my dear friends. I can't believe that I've been away from this blog for so long, but we just got back from ten days up at Birdsong Cottage, having gone up there to open it for the season and to do some other things, which will be news for a future post.

In honor of Mother's Day, which is right around the corner, I have completed a few fabric collage pieces.

"Mothers are the Most Instinctive 

of Philosophers"

I have a few studio photos that were taken

in Victorian times of children in rowboats.

I loved it when I came across this one that

also included the mother,

so I couldn't resist using it in this 

Mother's Day piece...

...in which I incorporated silky fabrics,

velvet ribbon, lace...

...and a beautiful...

...vintage rhinestone button. 

This piece, as with the ones that follow,

are hand-sewn together to 

18-count linen burlap,

which I have started to use and love.

It has the texture of linen,

the look of burlap,

and of course, no bad odor!

I love this quote...

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"Being a Mother"

The next one is in shades of pink,

again using silky fabrics...

...a beautiful photo of a mother and her children...

...vintage lace...

...and vintage mother of pearl buttons...

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"Mothers Hold Their Children's Hands"

This last piece depicts a mother and 

her beautiful little boy in his sailor suit...

...it is in silky blue fabrics,

navy blue velvet

old lace...

...and of course incorporates more

vintage mother of pearl buttons,

some lovely trim...

...and a beautiful quote...

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If you hadn't already guessed, I have opened an Etsy shop, which you can visit through my sidebar. I have wanted to open one for quite some time, but never had the time. I actually opened it awhile ago, and have been making things to put into it, but just haven't had the time to do the actual listings. A little bit of fear goes with this small venture as well. The big question, of course, is "Who would want to buy this stuff anyway?" I have some other things to list, but as of now, the above pieces are currently for sale.