Cupcake love

Tis the season for love..... to see it, touch it, smell it.....

....and photograph it.

Love is all this.... and so much more.....you know the verse....

"Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Here's wishing you a lot of love in your life right now.... with a little sweetness sprinkled on top.

{linking up to Mosaic Monday at Mary's today}

A sampler...

...of our Christmas decorations...

(Do you see the tin icicles?  They are some of our very favorite tree decorations.  They hail from the forties and come in beautifully ornate cardboard boxes.  Have you seen them before?)

... Mom's tree...
(the kids have 2 trees upstairs)

...Wyatt's gingerbread house...

(he worked ever so hard on his creation)

...more, more, and more...

(and the dreaded kissing ball..... eliciting screams of terror from the boys)

Out of curiousity, how many of you were able to see the lunar eclipse last night?  

I really wanted to photograph it, but it was too cloudy.  

We could see it veiled behind clouds, but not clearly at all.  

Boo hoo.

Theodore Haviland and Thanksgiving

My built in hutch is brimming with Theodore Haviland china that is as old as the built in hutch itself.  Our home was built in 1917, and as far as I can tell, this Haviland whiteware was made about the same time, or maybe a little earlier.  All together I have enough to serve a dozen, give or take a few pieces here and there.  For the most part, it stays in the hutch.... just looking pretty.  But this Thanksgiving, we brought it out and used it for dinner.  I figure if it has survived this long, it must be tough stuff and we might as well use it. 

It is a very  complete set, and I really have no idea how much it's worth.... but I do know that I would never be able to replace any of it.  There appears to be many different patterns of Theodore Haviland  china, but this set is somewhat special in that it is "whiteware".  Whiteware (undecorated, unpainted) was simply clear glazed and sold to be hand painted later on (or I suppose if you wanted a very plain set you wouldn't want it painted).  Most china of this age had at least some decoration -- at least some gold or silver on the edges.  But my set is plain, and that suits me just fine.  

My husband bought it on sale last year -- the whole set for $300.  It was my Christmas present ...yes, he knew I wanted it.  I wanted it because it was quite similar to the china I already had from my great-grandmother (although it has a gold band on it I figured I could mix them easily).  I've never used either sets since my children were born, and now I think we are getting to the point where I can trust them to treat the china carefully. (I hope!)

Here is one of the cup and saucer sets from my great-grandmother's china.  It dates from just at the turn of the century.  The cup is so thin that you can see light through it....it's gorgeous.

Here is the green "Theodore Haviland Limoges FRANCE" mark on the bottom of the set my husband gave me.

And here is the green and red "Haviland & Co Limoges, Haviland France" mark on the bottom of my great-grandmother's china.  I don't have very many in this set and I know she mixed it with some other Haviland made china that she found (mostly white and gold banded plates).

So, you can see we used it.... and no one broke anything! 

It was fun to use because it is pretty, and yet neutral at the same time.

And no, the two helpers didn't wash the china....

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.... and that you brought out great-grandma's china to celebrate!

{linking up to Mosaic Monday today}

Before and After

Previously on my blog -- a before and after -- before: no mantel, after: Yes mantel!
Linking up to the {Nester's Mantel Party}. Thanks for stopping by!

Are you ready for some before and after? Here is our living/dining room before. The pictures were taken a few years ago -- we have since purchased some different pieces of furniture. The main purpose is to show you the hideous faux rock wall and the brick wall behind the wood stove. Last spring and summer we did {this} and {this--the brick wall part}. It was a lot of work and a lot of mess. We lived all summer without furniture in the living and dining rooms. But it was WELL worth it.

Ta-da!!! Rock wall gone.
Period appropriate (1917) bookshelves and mantle--
doors yet to be installed on the lower cupboards.

Brick wall and woodstove gone!!! We left the floor-to-ceiling brick chimney.
Period appropriate dark-stained trim and crown added.
Period appropriate short-walled room divider and pillars added.
Books and toys scattered: optional.

It took me a few years of living in our home, and many books and magazines to help me figure out what I wanted our home to look like. Going at it slowly has probably been the biggest help getting my ideas from the hazy recesses of my brain into board and nail reality. That and viewing lots of pictures of older homes.

And I cannot take all the credit (really hardly any of the credit) because our {AWESOME contractor Mr. Stratton} is so FABULOUS to work with. He has a real eye for detail and a vast knowledge base that I frequently pick for all my little ideas. No--you cannot steal him from me!!!!! He-he.

Sorry I have been so tardy in postings this week. I have been doing a little of this..... for the kitchen. Soon, very soon our kitchen renovation (started before Walter was born--almost 4 years ago) will be done too!

Warm Repose

This kitty loves a warm place to sleep the day away.
His usual place is on our bed
...all
....day
.....long

Oh, sorry -- did I disturb your slumber?
Please excuse me, your highness.

It is on cold blustery days like today that I am very thankful for our new gas fireplace. Up until now we have heated primarily with wood in the winters. I like wood heat -- it is WARM. And, if you cut and chop your own wood -- it warms you twice, right? Right. (Yes, I CAN chop wood -- I prefer to leave the power tools to Randy). But wood was getting very hard for us to find, and frankly we didn't have the time to go to the mountains and get our own. Last year wood was running around $200 a cord, and we needed at least 4 cords to heat through the winter. We could heat with natural gas for that price. So that's what we did.

We love our gas fireplace. It is a {Home Heater from FireplaceXtrordinair}. It can really put out the heat, and best of all, I don't have to keep the woodstove going all day long. I didn't mind keeping the fire going too much. I grew up with wood stoves, so I was used to the chore, but I did mind the soot, ash, dust, bugs, dirt, and bark that comes along with all the wood. We had considered a pellet stove, but after much humming and hawing, we went with gas. This fireplace will work during a power outage without the use of a generator, which a pellet stove will not and since we had the option of natural gas.......

Didn't Randy do a great job on the soapstone around the fireplace? He just installed it this last weekend. We had a few pieces left over from our kitchen counters and they worked perfectly here. The soapstone holds the heat for a long time -- it's a good handwarmer! I love soapstone. But that's a whole other post.......

Before and After

In the beginning....there was darkness, quiet, peace.
Order reigned supreme.

Barely finished stockings (with paper labels--ran out of time),

hung from sawed-off paint sticks,
filled with goodies from "Santa".

Ready, set, go!!!

Finished.

Except for all the cleaning up. Ugh.

A few more pics.....

Christmas tree at night -- aren't they all beautiful at night?

Sideways Walter

Christmas hutch

Another sideways Walter

Christmas buffet

And last but not least..... our new mantle
complete with baby chasing kitty
(the plywood will eventually be covered with soapstone
leftover from the kitchen counters).

Thanksgiving Decor

Yesterday, I spent most of the day decorating and cleaning in preparation for Thanksgiving and the family that will be here to share our day. I have not had any decorations of ANY sort out since we began our living/dining room remodel -- that is unless you count thick dust, paint cans, ladders, sheet rock, and 2 X 4's. So it was rather refreshing to put some of my pretty things out, even if it is only for a week or so before the Christmas decorations are put out. Here is my buffet done in shades of white and brown. It is simple, but pretty.

The antler adds an element of surprise....

....the crystal butterfly too.

From another angle. We didn't even have the mirror hung until a couple of days ago. Randy made the frame for the mirror about 4 years ago -- the mirror was from a dumpy old dresser that was left in the barn when we moved here. I added the gold paint and dry-brushed details just last weekend.

A little cherub stopping by to wish us a beautiful day.

Oh, and here are the other decorations on the floor. He he.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I hope you have many things to be thankful for.

A New Old Piano

I am VERY thankful for our new piano. What's that you say? She isn't new? You could have fooled me! Well, she's new to us at least. Actually, she is approximately 100 years old, and in pristine condition inside and out. (I maybe should be calling "her" a "him" because it is a Lester.) Oh, and the sound -- hea.ven.ly -- rich deep tones. I have fallen in love with piano playing again. I find myself stopping many times throughout my day to sit and play a song or two. It is amazing to me that after nearly 15 years of hardly playing at all, I can pick it up so easily again. I guess 12+ years of piano lessons pays. Thanks Mom and Dad.

We found her at a yard sale, surprisingly enough. Randy called me one day, and said, "Do you want a piano?" At first I was lost --where did that come from? He went on to explain that he had stopped at a yard sale and there was a piano for sale. I thought, "Yep, I can imagine what sort of piano would be found at a yard sale." But instead I said, "Can I come look at it first?" When I saw her, my heart about stopped. If you know me, you would understand why. Her beautiful exterior is just what I would have asked for if I could have ordered one specially made for me. I love old wood, old furniture, rich (but not over the top 70s) wood carving. So with much trepidation I sat down to play -- oh, ouch. We took the gamble. When the piano tuner first hooked her up to begin the tuning, he said that she was the lowest pitched piano he had ever tried to tune. And as he began to bring her up to pitch, the sweat rolled and his hands shook just a little. But she rallied beautifully and came to full concert pitch with no strings popping. Amen! Praise the Lord! I might have danced a jig if I wasn't afraid of hurting myself, but I did say a prayer of thanks. Piano music once again fills this old house, as I imagine it did back in the 20's before the age of radios.

I will post a photo journal of the tuning later today.

Progress

The one (and maybe only) good thing about being awake at 4:30 AM is that you can get something done without many children under foot. Walter didn't sleep well last night. He was running a fever yesterday, so he went to bed early. Then he woke up at 4AM. Ugh. I am not feeling well either. I guess everyone except Randy (who was sick last weekend), has a cough, fatigue, and mid-grade fever. I wonder if it's H1N1? I guess I assume it is since we have so much of it going around. Who knows?

Anyway, so at 5AM, I propped my eyes open, poured a cup of coffee, and started texturing the new walls. I got about half of it done. You can see the wet and dry joint compound on the wall above. After I get done (hopefully later today) then I just have to prime and paint. The finishing touches will be stained wooden pillars between the dining and living room (over the 2x4s you see both above and below), dark stained trim and crown molding, and bookcases and mantel around the fireplace. The fireplace will be surrounded by some of the left-over soapstone we used for the counter tops in the kitchen three years ago. When, you say? Maybe in time to decorate for the holidays. I can't wait. Now for a nap......

Please Vote-- Door Trim

I have been trying desperately to get all our house projects done so I can start sewing. Honestly, I wish I could clone myself. Then one of us could do laundry, watch kids, fix meals, and clean house, and the other one of us could do the million projects we (myself and I) have half-done. Maybe I should just be like Martha and sleep 3 1/2 hrs a night (and hire an army of workers to do my work for me). Anyway, as you can see, the trim around our front door is still unpainted (only primed). It's been this way since LAST fall. I have been planning to paint the trim a charcoal color to match the roof and the window shutters (as seen on the 2nd floor windows). So I did a mock-up of what it would look like -- and now I'm not sure. Granted, it could be something to do with my poor skills at the mock-up.



What do you think? Option #1, option #2, or option #3? (The plywood steps and falling apart front porch are to be replaced NEXT summer). Any other suggestions are welcome. It's always something.