Advent

 Today we celebrate the first week of Advent....a time to prepare your heart for Christmas. I have always loved the tradition of the Advent wreath since I was a little girl. Every year I buy my new purple and pink candles and prepare for the Advent season. This year I am going to add the white candle-the Christ candle. We didn't do that when I was young, but I think it's a lovely addition.

One of the reasons I really like this tradition, is that it gives me a quiet time, every day, to go in my tea room, have a cup of tea, light the candle or candles, do my bible reading, pray for my loved ones and friends and just be quiet!

 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is one of my favorite songs that I associate with this season. I have memories of sitting in a cold church singing this song. I think it has a haunting sound.
Lighting the candles on the wreath helps me to focus on the coming of our Savior.

The first candle is the HOPE or the PROPHECY candle. How wonderful and humbling that God kept His promise to send a redeemer.

I've posted this little helpful information to follow if you'd like to start this tradition.
Pinterest also has many examples of non traditional Advent ideas that are quite lovely.

Wishing you a lovely season of Advent filled with HOPE, PEACE, JOY, LOVE and CHRIST. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving, I love the smells, the sounds, the colors, the food, the weather and being with family. My life is full and very busy...sometimes too busy.... but I am blessed. I wish you a very special day and I hope that you feel blessed too.

I wanted to share this little spice cabinet before I take down my fall decorations. Actually, fall is gone and Christmas is up, except for the tree.

I made this little grouping on top of my spice cabinet with some of my miniatures. If you are a Tasha Tudor fan, you will see lot several illustrations with a spice cabinet and similar items. The more you read and study her work, the more you will see many item from her own home or collections.

The miniature cabinet was made by Seth Tudor, Tasha's son. He built her home, by hand and he is quite a woodworker. When we were back in Vermont last summer, I really wanted to get a piece made by Seth for my collection. Jimmy and I were looking at the spice cabinets and he told us he only made 3 as they were pretty hard. Jim asked him if he would be willing to sign it if we bought one. He graciously agreed. It will be treasured .

This is a photo of the Rockery where all the Tasha Tudor goodies are kept. When you finish the home and garden tour, you are invited to browse the gift shoppe!

It was soooo crowded after the tour! I'm not sure how Jimmy got this serene photo of the part of the shoppe?

This is my sweet friend Melinda...quitetly enjoying the shoppe. She was so happy to have time to just look and read. Melinda works at the Tasha Tudor Museum and she is a sweetheart.

 Time to leave! The rain stopped and everyone was just enjoying some time to chat outside.

Yes, I did some shopping. One of my favorite things is my little wooden spice cabinet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday Thoughts

Happy Sunday! It will soon be Thanksgiving. I think it's good to think about our blessings and what or who we are thankful for before Turkey Day.
I came across this delightful poem by Emerson. I really love it. It is gentle and sweet for this Sunday afternoon. The birds are having a heard time at my house with the strong east wind.

This summer when we were in Concord MA, we stopped at Emerson's home for a tour. It was a warm day, a beautiful day. We enjoyed the tour and getting to know about Emerson and his family.

Enjoy your day and spend some time thinking about Thanksgiving and your many many blessings. We are so blessed in this nation and need to have a thankful heart. 

Radical Linda....Day I

Today I did something I have NEVER done! I took down all of my fall and Thanksgiving decorations in preparation for Christmas! It's not even Thanksgiving. I had retail stores for years and year and years and I always had to get that next holiday "up" so far in advance. When we sold our store and I was out of retail, it was a pleasure to celebrate the holidays as they happened. So, what is going on here, you ask?

With Thanksgiving late again this year and a very busy Thanksgiving weekend with responsibilities to other family members. I just didn't know how to get it all done. I will be having Ava overnight, I will need to decorate my dad's apartment and put up his tree, and we will be making a trip to Seattle to visit with my SIL's mom. Susan is coming down from Alaska for a few days and we would like to see her. My birthday is Dec 8th and I usually celebrate it on St Nicholas Day, so I like to have our home all done for Christmas.

This year we are going to a Thanksgiving brunch/dinner at a restaurant with our family, so no one will be here for Thanksgiving. Some of us will go over to my sister's after dinner for dessert and a visit.

I did get all the fall packed up and tomorrow I will start decorating for Christmas. I do have to admit, it took my stress away, but it does feel strange. 

Tea Time Thursday #96 ~A Birthday for a Friend

Last Friday, I finally was able to take my friend Lynda to tea for her 70th birthday. We have been very good friends for years. I wanted to celebrate her special birthday by going to tea. I took her to Myrtle's Tea House in Washington, only about an half hour from my house. It is my favorite tea shoppe. Elizabeth, the owner, does such a nice job. I love her floral arrangement.

You can see our tea plate and dessert plate in the photo above. Lots of little detail and everything was just delicious. We enjoyed pots of Autumn Cranberry tea.

Linda and Lynda....good friends. Don't you just love to go to tea and have hours to chat and catch up on your families and all! I love that about tea time.

Elizabeth has a lovely gift area in her shoppe. Lots of tempting and seasonal tea time items.

We had such a lovely time  together. it's always special to have tea with a dear friend, especially on her birthday. Happy Tea Time Thursday.

Butter

I did have to chuckle when I found this butter quote! Leave it to Julia Child! When I was growing up, we never had real butter in our house. It was the era of margarine back then. Every summer, we would go to Yakima, WA to visit our grandparents. My grandpa Smith fixed breakfast for my grandmother every morning and he ALWAYS made her toast with butter. He would make me some before he went off to work. Oh, I can still remember the taste of that REAL butter. I wanted more. When I got married, Jim brought butter to the marriage...no more margarine!

Jim found this lovely early butter stamp at an Estate sale. This is an earlier example and I believe it to be hand carved. I just love it. Most of these were made of maple wood.

On Sunday afternoon, Jim went back to an estate sale and came home with an entire collection of butter molds. He got a wonderful assortment of wooden butter molds.

I had to look up some information on these molds. Butter molds and stamps were used to mold butter after it was churned and salted. Butter was put into round shapes and stamped for storing and for selling. People liked their butter to be imprinted. The early molds were hand carved and later they were made on a lathe. The molds were made in 1/2 lb, 1lb, 2 lb and the little butter pat size. The handles on the larger molds do screw off for cleaning. The wooden molds had to be soaked before they were used. Eventually, glass and metal molds became popular as they were easier to clean.

The small butter pat molds are probably my favorite. Don't you love this owl carving? I find these charming.

I know we have to be careful with butter in our world, but I will always love the taste and think of my grandpa Smith.

I'm linking up with Sandi today...No Place Like Home

Sunday Thoughts

A day for reflection and prayer in a hurting world. I have never traveled too far from home, but I feel for the people of France. Peace on Earth will have a great deal of meaning this Christmas season. 

Tea Time Thursday #95

Good evening...the day is all but gone and I am finally able to write this little post for Tea Time Thursday. It is wet and chilly here in the Pacific Northwest. We seem to be in for yet another rainy weekend ahead. I'm taking a break from the fall teacups and colors today. I was enjoying a bit of free time the other day and I kept coming across delightful illustrations with tea themes. I am fascinated with the work of illustrators.  I had fun finding these and just want you to shared them...so enjoy.

Veterans Day

I usually babysit our Otto on Wednesday, but it's Veterans Day and my daughter has the day off. We did have the little guy yesterday. He is growing up and talking up a storm now.

I find myself thinking about my uncles today. My dad was not in the service. He was too young for WWII and he wasn't called for the Korean War as he was married and I was a baby. But my Uncle Joe and Uncle Ed were in WWII and my Uncle Rich and Uncle Ray were in the Korean War. Only my Uncle Ray is still alive. I never thanked these brave men for their service. I don't think I realized what they had done for me when I was young. I wish I could say thank you to them now. 

That Old Bean Pot!

Jim was digging around in the garage at an Estate Sale recently, and came across this wonderful brown bean pot! We both fell in love with it...great color and great look!.

After our fabulous summer trip to New England, we are both just so fascinated with the region and the things that we find out here in the West. I wonder how thing migrate out here from so far away. I actually found this recipe book at the bins when LaVonne was visiting. I had good intentions of selling it in Jim's booth, but once I got it home and was able to read though it, I couldn't part with it!
The cover is wood and has a paper recipe booklet inside from the 1960's.

 Love this opening page about NEW ENGLAND with it's charming vintage print. I know, a bit corny but I just soak it up.

I was hoping to find a recipe for Boston Baked Beans. Yes, there was one waiting. I have looked online too and they are pretty much the same. I haven't had a chance to bake up some beans yet, but think it would be great fun to give it a try in the bean pot!.

In the mean time, the little brown pot just likes it new home...living with the brown butter churn.
It would be interesting to chat with someone who has actually baked up a pot of beans in this type of old bean pot. Happy cooking.