Home Wong Nga and Black Cty: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

{ Man Cave }

quite a sight, ehh?

I know it's a lot to take in.

Bear with me...

It'll all make sense in the end.

(Does anyone have any A.D.D. medication they can share?)

Hello everyone,

I am a little late posting, but I have been enjoying some bright sunny days, the outdoors has been calling me.Also, a friend and I went out for lunch and did a little thrift shopping. I got a few treasures that I will share with you later.

Now on with my post!

I bought this wicker breakfast tray at a thrift shop recently, just in case some lazy Sunday morning my husband wants to serve me breakfast in bed! I hope he reads this post so he will get the hint.

But for you, I have served a light breakfast in our little guest room. This green and white toile wallpaper has been on for several years and I still love it. Do you see the hand crochet bedspread on the end of the bed, that is one of my treasures from yesterday. I should have shown a closeup but don't worry you will see it again as it gets moved around the house.

Don't you love this sweet little spoon with the matching teacup?

when you are done of your breakfast you can enjoy looking through some of my magazines.

I found this cute little egg cup at the thrift store as well.

these two shots of the room were taken last year.

Well, even through your breakfast was pretty skimpy, I hope you enjoyed breakfast in bed,- I know I would!!!
Today I am joining Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday and My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.
Thank you for visiting,
Carolyn

Remember when I tried to put together those blue pillows with my gold ones?

As much as I want to, I just can't seem to do blue in my own home...

Sooo, I decided to take those pillows over to my son and daughter-in-law's house.

They have a lovely, neutral couch and I think the blue pillows look absolutely fantastic in their family room.

I'm so glad I could find a home to enjoy a little blue!

Pictures

One of the things I have been meaning to do is order some prints of a few of the pictures I took in France last year to use in my home.

This one is kind of cheating :-). I took a picture of this original oil Monet painting in the Musée de l'Orangerie. This way I can have a Monet - sort of - in my home. This one is going in the master bath on the wall at the end of the tub.

The next one is going in the commode area of the bathroom.

These last two are going into my laundry room, that I also use as a potting area, so I thought the flowers would be appropriate.

I ordered them from Kodak, online. I should receive them in about a week, then I will go to Michael's for frames. As soon as I get them up, I will do a post on it.

In the meantime, it is still too cold and rainy to work on the dining table and chairs. Hopefully I will get the table done this weekend.

Welcome Home,

Penny

Bloom Time Line: Spring Bulbs

This is repeat story from 2010—a popular topic for those anticipating spring blooms from bulbs! As an update for 2011, the VOLES ate all of my Dutch iris bulbs over the winter. Very sad! Worse than the deer herd whose population is ever-increasing and chose only to munch a yucca in desperation over the winter.

When do plants bloom? That's always an important question when designing a garden. By noting bloom times, it is easier to match up companions for the future.

When selecting bulbs to bloom in mid-April, I shopped for bloom times in May or June—based on zone 5 bulb sellers.

All of my bulbs were planted in late autumn for spring bloom. The bulbs that have been in my garden for several years bloomed a few days earlier than new bulbs. Bloom time was also earlier for bulbs in all day full sun— versus bulbs in sun for half of the day.

Below is a recap of the dates for spring blooming bulbs in my zone 7b garden in North Carolina. Of course, warmer zones will have earlier blooms and cooler zones will have later blooms. Bloom times also differ by variety, so I'm not including daffodils in my recap.

April 15 - Dutch iris (iris x hollandica)
Blooms finished on most varieties by May 7.

April 15 - Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica)
Blooms ended around April 30.

April 15 - allium aflatunenense 'Purple Sensation'
Blooms were fading by May 7, but the green orbs will be interesting for another week.

April 22 - Star of Persia (allium christophii)
Still in bloom on May 7 and the green orbs will be left for interest.

Every bulb included has proven to be deer resistant. The Dutch iris foliage was nibbled by rabbits early on. The irises recovered so I consider all of these blooms to be rabbit resistant. Your results with wildlife may be different.

These perennial bulbs multiply every year, so it's important to mark the location in the spring if you need to divide the bulbs in the fall.

Words and photos by Freda Cameron, Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel. Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

One of a Kind Show, Toronto Spring 2011

Wednesday, I popped on over to the One of a Kind Spring show. The Show hosted a little breakfast Wednesday morning that included some bloggers. I chatted with Jen, Emilija and Lisa at the breakfast, and browsed the show with Jen as we chit chatted about the Bloggers Give Back, our babies, and of course, decorating.

I picked up a few things at the show - A bar of lavender scented soap (1), Lavender and Cedar Linen Spray (2) A little wooden car and boat for Oscar (3) and I fell in love with some art (4) and I also brought back some macaroons for Aubrey from Sweet Definition which sadly aren't photographed as we ate them too quickly. ;)

(1) Soaps by Demo Soap (2) Olive Linen Spray $12 by Olive Authentique(3) Thorpe Toys (4 & 5) Paintings - Pauline Conley (6) Felt Animals by Lesley Anne Green (7) Playmobil Paintings by Studio Liscious

I'm so excited about this giveaway! You know I love children's clothing, but today it's all about the women. This exclusive giveaway is from Shabby Apple, a boutique clothing company specializing in women's and little girls dresses. They will be giving away the dress pictured above (in your size) to one lucky The Cottage Home blog reader.

Click HERE to enter the giveaway, retrieve the exclusive discount code, and find out more about this amazing company.

Change of Heart?

It is hard for me to get away from white bedding but this bed could change my tune...

This picture is from the same article, I included it because the side chairs are in one of my favorite Schumacher fabrics...be looking for it in the future...

Images Kelly Keiser Better Homes and Gardens.

first friday flea market!

It's that time again!

Come out to the Willows this Friday for our First Friday Flea Market!

Once again we will also be offering 20% off all apparel!

(We even just got our new apparel in from Japan and that will be 20% off as well...)

And with Easter around the corner, we will also have 20% off all children's items!

This Friday only!

You won't want to miss it...

So, come enjoy some coffee and a snack and peruse the lovely wares of these vendors and more...

Emily Adams will be bringing her amazing homemade pillows...

Michelle will be back with her adorable baby items and sweet homemade frames.

And if you happen to see her, wish her congratulations, as she is recently engaged!

Congratulations, Michelle!

Carolyn will be here with some of her lovely jewelry...

The lovely gals who make the embroidered jeans will be back, as well...

Hope to see you all Friday!

Jonathan Adler comes to Atlanta

Finally! The long-awaited Jonathan Adler store is opening in Atlanta. I was able to get a sneak peek tonight right before I attended the Switch Modern Spotlight on Design event, thanks to Liz Lapidus PR.

Before I show you the images, let me just say that the store is gorgeous! My pictures definitely don’t do it justice.

I’m looking forward to spending more time in this inspiring store tomorrow night during the grand opening event, and I’m even more excited about getting to meet Jonathan himself!

LiveJournal Tags: Jonathan adler,switch modern,liz lapidus pr,atlanta

Spotlight on Design with Todd Murphy

If you happen to be around the West Side of town tonight head on over to Switch Modern. Tonight, in their Spotlight on Design series, they will be featuring the amazing Atlanta artist Todd Murphy. It's from 6pm to 8pm. All of the details are below. Click on the image to see a larger view. I'll be there along with some of my favorite designers. Hope to see you there too!

Sometimes the most delicious dishes only contain a few ingredients. My tortellini with lemon cream sauce is one of those. So simple, yet indulgently delicious.

Tortellini with Lemon Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1 package fresh cheese tortellini (8 oz.)

3 tablespoons butter

1.5 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Begin cooking fresh tortellini according to package directions.

In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add in heavy cream and bring to a boil. Once you've reached a boil, reduce the heat to medium. Add in the juice of one lemon, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Taste the sauce to check for salt and pepper. I like a lot of pepper in my cream sauce and if it doesn't taste savory enough, it probably needs more salt.

Allow the sauce to bubble lightly until it reaches your desired consistency. Once you are happy with the thickness of your sauce, reduce the heat to low until your tortellini is ready.

Drain tortellini and add to the large saucepan. Toss to coat. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, freshly grated black pepper and a slice of lemon.

Enjoy!

Morning Snack

Maybe this wall could keep my brain a little less scattered....

Image This Old House Magazine

...this fabric. I was at a quilt shop last week, and found this laminated cotton. I have several ideas what to make with it, but I haven't really decided yet.
One of my friends loves this color combination, and I guess it rubbed off on me. It is so cute!

I have been busy sewing baby blankets to donate last week, and I am going to finish one of my quilt tops to donate. My friend is going to do a fund raising event for Japan on April 9th, I am not exactly sure, but it sounds like it will be a big yard sale and such. I wanted to help in some ways, so I decided to donate one of my quilts for a drawing. I am thinking if someone spends or donates more than a certain amount, their names will be put in the box for drawing.
A close friend of mine agreed to help me with the machine quilt, so it will be done by that day. The quilt I am donating is this one...

I wrote a post about this quilt top in June of 2009, and never got around to quilting it. I love the quilt top, but I am more excited that it will be used for something good.

I will let you know more details about the fund raising event, when I hear from my friend. So, if you are in the Utah county area, mark the calendar on April 9th!

Now, go ahead and link up to our weekly party! Visit each other, leave comments and have fun. :)

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.

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Show us what you've done!!