A New Coffee Pot

This is the "coffee station" in our kitchen. It is the first chore or duty of the day. Make the coffee! Hubs and I are both coffee drinkers, but I am a major connoisseur. Last year I splurged and purchased a big expensive Cuisinart 14 cup coffee maker. I thought it would be the end all, be all of coffee pots. Sad to say, I was mistaken. It barely lasted a year and had to be replaced a couple of weeks ago. My coffee maker before that was a Krupps and lasted about 8 years. I'm sure you can understand my disappointment. So this time... we went low end. Just a little Black and Decker. It, actually, makes very good coffee. I thought the carafe style pot would be handy for serving at a table or on a buffet. And it truly does keep the coffee warm without continuing to cook it on the burner. Which brings you to a green bonus....It is energy efficient. The only complaint that I have is that it only makes 8 cups. But perhaps I could consider drinking less coffee? Uh...probably not!

All that to say... I'm happy with the new coffee maker. YEAH! :)



See the cute little lamp? Yup... new! I can't help it. It was on sale. Gooseberries... 80% off.

This little basket.... cut glass. It is getting that purple-ish cast that old glass gets. This is the best Goodwill find that I ever got. It was $1.99. It is really almost tiny, about 7 inches tall. I love it. I saw one in an antique store for $19.00.

Well... We are at the week end!
I will be working on office stuff. No fun what-so-ever! I think next weekend will be my clean-house, play-house weekend.....

The Book Of Want!

This is my Wish Book. I love to get this catalog.
There is little that I can afford in it except for the inspiration. LOL
My home is not French Country, but I sure love the look. We're just Plain Country. That means a mixture of English, French, Cottage, Victorian and what I call Farm House. I did order two area rugs last year that I love. That's probably why I still get the catalog.

The breakfast area in our home could, eventually,
look like this.... I have the window seat and round table...

I just need to find these chairs, put a cushion on the window seat and get the shutters that I want. I really love the chairs. Ours are almost ready to go and need to be replaced....SOON!

How about this for a Living Room?

Or maybe this?
These pictures are from their online catalog.

Some Tableware?

Or French Country Fabric?

A Rug? I hear they are on sale......

Love these pillows!

I hope you enjoyed perusing through the Pierre Deux Catalog. I'm going to fix a cup of tea and start again at the beginning.

Peach Pie A La Mode!

Filling: 2 12oz bags of frozen peach slices (thawed)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Instant Tapioca
2 TBS Crystallized Ginger
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Combine ingredients and set aside.


Crust: 1 (11oz) Box Pie Crust Mix
1/3 cup plus 1 TBS Peach Nectar
1 egg


Combine egg, pie crust mix, and 1/3 cup peach nectar. Divide dough in half. Roll and place one in the bottom of 9inch pie pan. Pour filling in pan and place the second crust on top. Pinch closed and vent. Brush the top of the pie with remaining peach nectar. Bake 30 to 35 minutes in a preheated 450 degree oven. Tent the rim of crust with aluminum foil to prevent burning.

It is just plain good with or without Ice Cream!


My Peach Pie is a special request from Handsome Husband for his birthday. Happy Birthday Sweetie Pie! I was blessed the day you were born!

Happy Memorial Day!

Make sure you hang your flag this weekend!

And Perfect for the Memorial Day festivities....

The first time that I saw this wreath was last year on QVC. I really wanted it, but decided that it just wasn't needed. So I put the phone down and talked myself out of the purchase. Of course by the middle of the day it was sold out. So I told myself that that was it. But, like so many pretty things that I have come across, once it is gone, I truly believed that I really, REALLY should have snapped it up and that I let an opportunity to be shop-happy pass.(Shop-Happy is my term for that feeling of buying something that you just love and that you got at a great price AND that you have absolutely no remorse or guilt for purchasing) I still wanted it! I even, believe it or not, gathered up all the stuff to make it. Unfortunately, it would have been twice the price that QVC was asking. So, in sad defeat, I put it all back and pretty much forgot about it. I know, I Know.... "OH! THE DRAMA!"

Then one day in April I was browsing the blogs and decided to check out Shanda's blog, because I knew she would be doing something great to get ready for spring. So I flipped over to her blog and THERE IT WAS! Shanda was sharing her special arrival of The Summer Wreath. All those old feelings that I felt the first time we met came flooding back and I knew it was meant to be! So I ordered it and it arrived a week ago. I love it so much that I hung it on the pantry door in the kitchen.

Eventually I will move it to the front door to share with the rest of the world, but for now I will enjoy it inside and savor that feeling of SHOP-HAPPY!

If you have never seen Shanda's sweet blog you should zip over there. She has a beautiful country home and shares all her great ideas and bargains. Shanda at Front Porches, Sweet Tea and Old Aprons

I hope you all have a Happy Memorial Day with your families. Please remember many have chosen to serve our great country and have paid a very high price. Freedom and Liberty are never free!

Graduation!

Sweet Daughter we are

So proud of you!

Tea Time Tuesday!

It's Tea Time Tuesday again! A big THANK YOU to Barb at Grits and Glamour for hosting this lovely and elegant party!

The table I am sharing today was done by my friend Leanna, again, for the Ladies Tea and Luncheon done by our church's Women's Ministry. She took the Garden Tea theme to a whole new level. I mean really! Look at this incredible centerpiece!

It's like she brought a little patch of her flower bed. See the garden tools in the flower patch?

I love this sweet creamer!

Thank you Leanna for letting me share your Tea Table with all of my blogging friends. Make sure that you hop on over Barb's blog. There will be even more ladies participating this week.

ENJOY!

Just Some Fun Projects

A couple of weeks ago Sweet Daughter was home for the weekend and we decided that one day would be devoted to crafting. I love days like that! I really believe that it is theraputic.

I made this little decoupage cottage sign and another project that I am truly to embarrassed to show you! : ) LOL Does anyone in blog land show their messes? I don't think so! Don't we all live in perfectly clean organized cottages? Snort!
Not here! : )

Sweet Daughter was so jelous of my H that she wanted to make a J.
Didn't she do a great job?!
Now who's jelous!? : ) ME!

Tomorrow's Monday! Yay! A new week. Make the most of it!

Napco.... Is Two a Collection?

These are the cutest little munchkins ever! My Grandmother gave me this one when I was about 8 years old. It looks a lot like a M.I. Hummel but they were little dime store copycats in the late 50's early 60's. They are kind of hard to find and really pretty inexpensive.

I snapped this little precious up for only $12.00. Which is about the average price, although, I have seen them for as much as $25.00.

I was hoping to get you some history on the Napco Brand and Company. Here is some brief information. By the way... Napco is the same company that was famous for the charming head vases that are so very collectible now.

The NAPCO Company or National Potteries Corporation is located in Bedford, OH and began production of Porcelain and Glass in 1938. Ceramic pieces sold by Napco (National Potteries Corporation) are distinctive and popular again today. Since its prolific output of the 1950s and 1960s, Napco has held the interest of collectors because the ceramic items are consistently well-designed.

Owned and operated in the Midwest, Napco distributed a variety of collectibles, including decorative wall accessories, ashtrays, ceramic and wood house wares, floral arrangements, ceramic planters, decorative glass, novelty figurines, mugs, trivets, and Christmas ceramics. Napco used a wide array of marks for its head vases—some transfer marks and some paper labels. The paper labels feature various wording, such as: "A Napco Collection," "Napco originals by Giftware," "National Potteries Co., Cleveland, OH, Made in Japan," and "Napcoware, Import Japan." I hope this was interesting.

I don't know about you but I like to know stuff about stuff. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Joshua A Parable for Today

This book reminded me of The Shack. It is about a man named Joshua who comes to live in a small town and how he interacts with the Jews and with the Christians. It was a good book and what was different from The Shack was that it was about what Jesus would or might possibly think of our "religions". It was thought provoking and I would recommend it. It is a very quick and easy read. It is by no means new ...It was published in 1983. I remember seeing it in the bookstores at the the time.
Let me know if you have read it and if you thought it was good.

Tea Time Tuesday!

Today is the first Tea Time Tuesday! As I Promised I am going to show you some of the other tables at the Ladies Tea Party and Luncheon.

This table was all black and white. I know that sounds really simple but this gal just did it to perfection!

The centerpiece consisted of all the accessories that you would wear to a black and white tea party. White gloves, white straw hat with black and white polka dot brim.

I think that she did a lovely job. Next week I will show you a garden table that was in full bloom!


Now, thank you for hopping over to my blog from Grits and Glamour. And if you haven't been over there yet... well you just need to see what is going on today. Make sure you swing by Barb's blog and see all her lovely goings on!