Bessie the Bovine

 

I hit a couple of yard sales last week, but since it was Easter week, there really weren’t too many of them. But I did manage to find something that caught my eye….

 

 

Did you spot it? It’s right up there on the top shelf of my kitchen hutch…..  Keep your eyes “moo”-ving…..

 

 

Here she is. The latest acquisition to my collection of “whites”  is this bovine butter dish!   I’d been having a really crummy day trying to find things and was on my way home when I decided to stop at an unadvertised sale a block away from last stop I had just made.  The homeowner had multiple tables  of over-priced stuff that I had no interest in, and I was actually hurrying my way out of the overcrowded garage when I spotted this beauty.   Did I mention that I was anxious to pay for a bag of wine corks and was actually trying to get out of the heavy haze of the woman’s cigarette smoke?  Eeewww….  I’m not used to being around smokers!

I shot her a $5.00 price for the two items and she readily accepted it. Woo Hoo!   I left for home, vowing to soak this cow in hot water and bleach- poor thing had come from a smoking home, after all.   After a nice Clorox bath, I put her in with a regular dishwasher load. She came out sparkling clean and disinfected and ready for her new home on the hutch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn’t that face just as sweet as it can be?

 

 

 

First thing this morning I removed all of my Easter decorations from the hutch, so now it’s back to normal.  I think Bessie the Bovine fits in quite well, don’t you?

                                                                            Here’s to better thrift shopping this coming week!

                                                                                                                   

 

                                                                                        Linking to the following parties this week-

                                  Please visit the party hosts and their participants on their appropriate party days if you have some time.  There’s a lot of inspiration out there!

 

                                                                                            

 

 

 

                                                                  

Happy Easter!

 

All week long, the Easter Bunny has been standing outside the Esther Price Candy Store in Centerville and I wave to her every time I pass by.  I’ve actually popped into the store twice to purchase some gifts, as well as to get my chocolate fix!  You see, there’s always a box of sample chocolates that sits out on the counter and I must confess that every time I pass by it, I take a sample. Or two…. or three….

Several times….

I know no restraint when it comes to yummy, rich, creamy chocolates from Esther!

 

In addition to the cream filled eggs and chocolate bunnies that I bought as gifts, I just had to buy a box of “turtles” to stash in my favorite hiding place at home. These are my all-time favorite candies and at $14.95 a box, I guard them with my life!  I only dole them out to people who appreciate them as much as I do. 

After all, this is not your everyday, ordinary, run of the mill chocolate. Now, I realize that everyone has their own regional chocolate favorites. I’ve tried See’s, Godiva,  Betty Jane’s, and Senor Murphy’s- but for me- nothing compares to Esther’s rich, creamy flavor.  What is your favorite brand?

Gotta run-  I think I hear a giant chocolate bunny calling my name…..

source

 

Happy Easter!

                                                                                                                                               

Hey “brothers”- What do you think about this option?

 

Okay, here’s the original furniture that I was set to order last month before I saw the Flexsteel sectional at the High Point Market two weeks ago. It has a lot going for it- it’s comfortable;  it’s made in the states by Swiss Amish craftsmen; and I found the perfect fabrics to go with it.

Here’s the husband checking paperwork after having placed an order for the store.   This sectional, made by Smith Brothers of Berne, is as large as the one from Flexsteel that I showed you here. It has tight back cushions and it sits really well- I gave it both the sit test and the lie-down test!  One big difference between the two pieces I’m contemplating  is that it doesn’t have the chaise option that we liked in the Flexsteel sectional.

 

 

Here’s a closer look at the fabrics I chose. The body of the sectional would be made up in this nubby oatmeal and gray fabric.  I’m opting for two lumbar pillows in the solid aqua fabric, just as you see here to the left. I would cover the buttons with the sofa fabric for a little bit of contrast.  The sectional comes with four pillows. Two of the pillows would be fringed and covered front and back in the floral fabric shown. The other two would be floral on one side and the opposite side would be backed with gray leather sewn into diagonal quadrants. I’m marrying traditional with the more contemporary with this option.

 

 

Oh my, this photo is blurry~ that’s what happens when you use the husband’s Blackberry and you don’t know what you’re doing!   I selected two of these armless chairs. They would be covered in the same floral as the pillows on the sectional. You probably wouldn’t think this style would be comfortable, but it really is!

 

 

 

Here’s what the fabric looks like made up on another style chair.

 

 

 

 

And because Mr. Sullivan wanted to add in some leather, I let him pick this clean lined gray leather recliner.  It’s soft like buttah, as well….

 

My options are two totally different looks, wouldn’t you say?  The Flexsteel option is predominantly leather, with two chairs done up in fabric, while the Smith Brothers only has one piece done up in leather.  I’m going to see how the Smith Brothers fabrics react to the changing light in the room tomorrow.  I think it’s supposed to be a sunny day. Of course,  our unpredictable Ohio weather could bring us yet another dark and dreary rainy day. Here’s hoping….

 

Now, if any of you are following the Royal Wedding preparations, you have to watch this video. It is just hilarious!  I don’t think the royals could ever be this much fun!

 

 

Hope all of you have a wonderful Easter celebration this weekend! Try not to eat all those delicious goodies that the Easter Bunny brings you, ok?

“Flex”-ing our options for new furniture…

This is what the husband saw in the Flexsteel showroom at the furniture market a couple of weeks ago……..  He thinks it would be perfect for the great room.  I thought I had found exactly what I wanted last month when we visited the Smith Brothers show, but I held off on ordering what I had selected until I’d seen the fabric samples in our home.  They just came in yesterday so I’ll have to set them out in the room to see how they look in different light.

 

 

But as far as this sectional goes, “Mr. I love leather”  thinks it would be perfect for the great room .  I really hadn’t contemplated using leather in this room again.  Our current sofa is a collage of leather and fabric, while the chair and ottoman are made up in just leather.  But after sitting and lying on this sectional,  I thought it was really, really comfortable!  Soft like buttah……. The chaise on the left is an option, and since I like stretching out, I would definitely keep it.  And I would top that humongous ottoman with a big ol’  tray.

 

 

 

With this cream colored neutral, I would have the option of changing up colors and prints for pillows and room accessories.  I’ve already decided that this room will have a lot of gray in it.  In fact, the chair pictured below would be a nice companion for the sectional.  

 

 

 

 

This chair has some contemporary straight lines in it,  but I also like the traditional look of the wingback and the nail heads. It’s available as either a recliner or as a regular chair, but I wouldn’t opt for the ottoman because of space constraints. I would need to find two other chairs for the room- I didn’t have time to select anything from the showroom, so I’ll have to check out the catalog to see what would work the best. There are lots and lots of choices for fabric- in fact,  the new introductions just came into the store last week.  I saw a gorgeous gray print that would work really well for the pillows, but I’m not sure if I’d use it for the two chairs or not- I don’t like to be too limited.  The husband just laughed at me when I mentioned this.  He says I shouldn’t even bother myself with this little issue- he knows we’ll  I’ll probably want to buy new things again in three or four years! 

I’m still tossing around a lot of things in my head, so I’m nowhere near making a decision, yet. The Flexsteel rep will be dropping off the leather samples next week so I can play around with fabric choices for the chairs and pillows. And the Smith Brothers fabrics just came in to the store yesterday.  I haven’t had a chance to see what they look like in the room- we’re having  really dark and gloomy rainy weather in Ohio today.  Not good for seeing how these colors will change with the sunlight in the room.

And speaking of sun, I wish we’d GET some! I’m wondering if its ever going to be spring here.  The creek in back of us overflowed its banks overnight and this morning  the water was really flowing by quickly. Our house sits up a little higher in the yard, but in 2004, the water come up to the top of our 4 foot high picket fence. Now that was scary, since the creek is naturally about 5 feet below the fence line! 

I’ll post my Smith Brothers options soon. I’m  in the middle of a cleaning frenzy in the kitchen. Seeing all those organized kitchens at Shelia’s party recently gave me a kick in the butt to start working on the food pantry. The dish pantry looks pretty good, but all my food products are just a jumbled mess! 

See ya soon.

 

 

            Linking to Sherry’s House party on Thursday because this sofa MAY go in my house! 

                                                   

Can you say, “Hey, y’all, we have a winner!”

 

Yes, we do!!    My friend, Jo, from Bees and Fleur de Lis,  is the winner of my give-away for  Paula Deen’s Savannah Style decorating book. I’ve contacted her and am waiting to hear back.  

                                                                                                            

 

Jo said...

“Lucky you! How fun to meet Paula. I love watching her cooking shows ~ not only are her recipes delish, she is a hoot!
I'm a follower.”
Jo

Jo’s most recent post tells all about her crazy week at school and at home. She even had the fire department at her house!  Stop over and pay her a visit.

                                                                                       Enjoy perusing all those gorgeous pictures in this book, Jo!  

                                                                                                                    

I want to say thanks to all of you who entered. Sure wish I could have given away more books, but I think Universal Furniture would have frowned upon me asking for so many to give to all of my faithful followers.  Here’s looking forward to my third year of blogging!

                                                                                                                          Sending you all big hugs, 

                                                                                                                                      

They Once Were Lost, but Now Are Found….

 

I found my missing plates!   Yesterday, I was going to put together an Easter table-setting, but couldn’t remember where I had put the bunny and duck plates that I found for a mere pittance after Easter last year. Instead, I ended up re-posting last year’s breakfast table. You can see that post here. I found these plates at Kroger last spring, thinking that they would contribute to an adorable spring/Easter table.  I bought four of them at only 50¢ each- now that is thrifty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the plates in their place settings…..

 

 

 

 

 

I simply layered them with a napkin on top of a white dinner plate.  Easy peasy place setting….

 

 

 

 

 

I am enamored with this old wooden caddy.  I found it at a yard sale for $1.00. Yup, a paltry dollar!  It has lots of wear and was probably used as a versatile carry-all in someone’s garden or garage.

 

 

 

 

 

I like all the little divided areas.  It was perfect for creating this……….

 

 

 

All I did to create this table centerpiece was to add some greenery, a candlestick, a nest, and a cute little home-made book creation.  Book creation, you ask? What is she talking about? 

 

Well, I took a 10¢ thrifted paperback book…….

 

 

And turned it into this decorative cylinder with just a few simple folds, a couple dabs of hot glue, and an eggshell filled with colorful jellybeans……..

 

 

All that I did to create this was to remove the front and back covers from the book, then fold each page into the center binding. When I was done folding, I hot glued the front and back bindings of the book together. Then I filled an eggshell with colorful jellybeans and glued it to the top.  Voila- an simple and decorative book cylinder.  You can top these  cylinders with all kinds of objects- I’ve used shells, a doorknob, a silk flower……   The sky is the limit.

 

 

 

 

I placed three speckled eggs into this twig nest and plopped it into one of the cubbies in the carry-all. 

 

 

 

This chippy white staircase finial was part of a lot that I won in an auction when a favorite vintage store went out of business. Included in the lot was an entire box filled with different sized finials.  Each one ended up costing me only a few pennies.  I like to use them as candleholders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found a set of 12 cut glass dessert cups  at a yard sale for $4.00. For this place setting, I’m using them as fruit cups.

 

 

 

 

 

The Christmas Tree Shop was the source for these $1.00 light green goblets. They’re perfect for juice or maybe even Mimosas…..

 

 

 

 

 

This resin duckie is calling us to the table.   quack, quack, quack….

 

 

 

 

I never should have put candy into this bunny dish. Every time I walk  by, I grab a few chocolates or jelly beans. I know NO self-control!

 

 

 

 

Found this deviled egg plate at Kroger a few years back.  I’m going to add a bit of hot sauce to my egg recipe this year.  I grew up in New Mexico, so I like a little spiciness. So does the husband.  Do you think that’s why he likes me?!

 

 

 

I moved the moss basket from the hutch onto the table.

 

 

 

 

Our Easter breakfast table………..    I set it for four even though it will just be the two of us.  We’ll probably go to an early mass then come back home for a simple repast of bacon, eggs, toast, and fruit.  Oh yeah,  can’t forget those Mimosas…..  Dinner will be later in the day with our sister-in-law and her family.   We’ve decided that we’re still going to color some Easter eggs the night before, just as we’ve done ever since our son, Dan, was little.  We love deviled eggs and egg salad;and hard cooked eggs are so easy to grab out of the fridge for breakfast first thing in the morning.  Bright and colorful eggs will be a nice way to start our day!   I found my eggs for 79¢ a dozen at Aldi Foods.  That’s at least 50¢ less than they’ve been selling for anywhere else lately.  Another bargain!

 

 

                                                                                          Perfectly cooked hard cooked eggs

                                                                                                                            source

Have you ever peeled your hard cooked eggs and the yolks were green or gray?  Those colors indicate that the egg has been over-cooked. This occurs when the temperature of the yolk exceeds 158° F.  This discoloration isn’t unhealthy; it’s just a result of a natural chemical reaction. Sulfur from amino acids in the white of the egg  albumen)  reacts with iron from the yolk, causing a film of ferrous sulphide to form on the yolk's surface.  Heat speeds up this reaction; so the longer your eggs cook, the greater the chance of discoloration.  Using the method  described below, I never have icky colored egg yolks.

                                                                                             ~This is my method for hard cooking eggs~

Place your eggs in a saucepan and cover them completely (by one inch) with cold water. When the eggs come to a full, rolling boil over high heat,  immediately remove the pan from heat, cover it with a lid, and set it aside for 17-20 minutes.  ( At the end of 17 minutes, I  peel one egg to make sure that the egg yolk is completely done. If not, I leave the rest of the eggs in the hot water for another few minutes.)  After that 20 minute time period,  pour off the hot water, rinse the eggs in cold water several times to stop the cooking process, and then let them sit in a bath of cold water for about 5-10 minutes. After draining,  store the eggs in the fridge until needed.  

Here’s another tip for hard cooked eggs-   Don’t use fresh eggs.  Did you know that older eggs will peel much easier than the fresh ones?  I use eggs that are at least a week old from the grocery store. And  I also never peel my eggs right away- the shells are more prone to stick when newly cooked.

                

Just a reminder~ My give-away ends tonight at 9p.m. EDT.  If you haven’t entered yet, click on the button below to see the post.  I’ll announce the winner on Monday.

 

 

                                                                                                                   Give-away is now closed.

 

                                                                                                                   

 

                                                                                                                          

 

Linking to the parties listed below.  Please visit the hosts on their appropriate party days and leave a friendly comment!   

 

                                      

 

 

                 

 

                             

       Heart of the Home                                                                                                           The Best of Easter