Cottage Core Kitchen Curtains And Early Spring Decor

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are well. 

I spotted some floral fabric with a yellow background when I was at the thrift store late last summer. I've never used a lot of yellow in my decor, but I was drawn to it because of the beautiful flowers. It was around $6.00 which is a bargain for a yard or so of good decorator fabric. Changing the valance in my kitchen for a new look is one of my favorite ways to change up our decor. This remnant was going to be perfect for a new color scheme. I thought I might stitch it up last fall but it didn't feel quite right for autumn but it seemed perfect for spring. 

So Caroline and I cut it up for valances. 

If you have been around for a while, you might remember my Better Homes and Gardens curtains from Walmart. I also have these in turquoise. 

The scallops on these are very pleasing to me so these were used as the pattern for the yellow cottage style floral fabric. 

This is so easy to do. Just lay the old valance on top of the new, double it over and cut. 

Easy if you don't have an assistant. 

My assistant was there to make sure that the center of the floral design was the same for both valances. 

That was not possible, however, with the amount of fabric available. 

This is why, I'm not a professional seamstress. I know how it should be done, but I've not the patience or wherewithall to achieve top notch results. Unless, you know that the center of the floral is supposed to be in the center of the valance, most aren't going to notice this flaw. The little cafe´ curtains stay up all the time. They were made during lockdown from an old voile tablecloth from my sister.  The window behind the closed cafe´ is foggy. Thankfully, we are finally getting those fixed. Our eight foggy windows have been on my repair list since before the pandemic. You can imagine all the reasons why they've never got to them. 

Shopping the house for matching accessories is one of my favorite things to do when introducing a new color scheme. 

Here are some photos of how yellow was sprinkled about the room. 

Some of my daffodiles from East Texas dried perfectly so they rest on a shelf in the niches.  

The double vases with the cottage motifs were a thrifted find. 

A porcelain rose from my mother in law is a perfect compliment to the roses in the floral fabric. 

The clock was an antique store find. I'd admired it for a while but it didn't have a price. It finally had a price and then I dropped it on the way to the register. I caulked it and repainted it when I got home. Only a close inspection would reveal the break. I just love it. 

What could be more cottage than a needlepoint of a cottage? 

This one was an eBay find. The glass cracked when I stapled the ribbon to the back. Ugh! 

Cottages are a repeated motif in the room. 

There wasn't any yellow in my ribbon stash so I did make a run to Hobby Lobby. 

I loved this frayed edge ribbon that was found in the fabric section. I'm going to need more of this.  

A loop of mustard ribbon around the preserved boxwood wreath echos the color story.

A begonia from Calloway's matched the coral cabbage roses in the valance. The flower pot came from there as well. They were purchased with a gift card that Santa put in my stocking. 

Santa knows me well. The white glazed clay pot is a new favorite find. 

Except for the ribbon, the striped vase was the only item purchased for this redecoration. 

I thought it was super cute. 

We had gorgeous weather while I was working on this. I cannot wait for spring.

The kitchen will be ready.  

That is about it for now.  

Thanks for stopping by. 

Katie 

The Garden Room Is In Bloom

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are well.

How are you doing these days? 

Our garden room began to take shape after I read a Victoria Magazine article in a very early spring edition. 

 Our "gameroom" is a 90's loft. It was great to have when our children were small because I could hear everything. Including, "D@^^n it, Joe" when our four year old was playing G.I. Joes. I don't think I washed his mouth out with soap but I may have made him brush his teeth with baking soda. 

"If you're going to talk like a sailor, you will brush your teeth like one." was my feeling. 

This was one of my more brilliant parenting ideas, in my humble opinion. 

There was a traumatic soap situation in my childhood. 

As a preschooler, I was playing with my baby brother. I was reciting words that rhymed with duck. Before you knew it, I was swept into the kitchen and a bar of soap was in my mouth. I was a teenager before I realized what I said. Haha. 

When we had video game playing and garage band teenagers, Bill and I needed a place to escape. 

So we closed up the little used back porch. It already had a roof. We had a beefier foundation poured. Bill worked on walls, windows and a sliding glass door. 

Right off of the kitchen, this is one of our favorite rooms in the house. 

Bill got a new chair a few months ago. I'd like to pick up a second one but I'm not sure where we would put it. 

For some reason we buy chairs in singles instead of pairs. 

The coffee table is from Tuesday Morning. The old wicker table was a little too deep for the space. It's out on the back deck for the time being but I may take it out to East Texas.  

A new storage ottoman came from the Pottery Barn Outlet. My other ottomans were taken out to the new house. I always need a place to put up my feet. 

Right now, the garden room is living up to its name and it is busting at the seams with plants. 

I'm so ready to be able to take them all back outside. 

We had snow, sleet and ice last week but this week our temperatures are in the 70s. 

The dish dresser got a refresh after a good cleaning. 

A gorgeous doorstop from my mother in law makes a good bookend. 

Clock faces are such a fun collectable. The largest one came from a very junky yard sale out in East Texas. I bought the clock for the face but then had second thought about taking it apart. The box was not in good shape. It'd been wired for electric somehow and the trim had been repainted in silver. The other day I finally removed the face.

I may do something quirky with the wooden shell of the old clock. 

This is a great place to keep gardening and decorating books. 

Recently, my brother in law gave me some collectable guides that he won at an auction. 

Bill wasn't excited about the "Kitchen Glassware of the Depression Years" but I am. 

I ordered this darling rabbit print off of Etsy. It is on canvas and the edges are hand aged with antiquing wax. I love it. I've been in a bunny mood recently so a few have emerged early from their spring tote.  

I brought my favorite garden angel in from the yard. 

The lantern got a scent warmer from Walmart. I don't have scents in it but it is a cute lantern. So much easier than battery operated candles. 

A little corner reflects my desire for sowing seeds in the spring. 

All my saved seeds are stored in a wedding chest from my great grandparents. 

You might be wondering why so many plants are in the house instead of in the greenhouse. 

My greenhouse is not heated. My must save plants are in here. Everything else is over wintering in the shed and in the greenhouse.

I do not do anything to debug my pots before bringing them in so sometimes Caroline will find a creepy crawly. 

She loves this room too. 

 

After getting down to -1° last February, I realized that a lot of my plants are hardier than 

I previously thought. I water them and cover them with two fleece blankets. That has worked so far. 

I was shocked at what came back last year after Uri.  

That is about it for now. I hope you enjoyed seeing the garden room. 

Please come visit again soon. 

Katie 

Pawtuckets, A Quirky Old Recipe

Hi, Friends,

How are you? I hope you are well. I haven't disappeared into the woods of East Texas.

 I am only blogging when I feel like it these days which is a good feeling but I have missed you all.  

I talked about East Texas in my last post. In that one, I mentioned that I have taken more time to relax when we are out there which has been wonderful. The urge to do everything at once as subsided. I've taken your advice. Thank you for that. 

I still have a list of things to do. however. 

Our kitchen is a joy to use, so on Saturdays I've been trying out new recipes. 

 Before she died, my step mother sent me a box of my mom's old cookbooks. 

"Favorite Recipes of the Red River Valley" was among the volumes. 

I came across a recipe for Pawtuckets while looking for a sweet treat. 

I read the ingredients aloud to Bill and he was intrigued. He was headed to town so he would pick up pecans and baking chocolate before he returned. The pantry out there isn't quite complete. 

Pawtuckets

1/2 cup butter

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 squares chocolate (We assumed she meant unsweetened baking chocolate so that is what we used.)

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans 

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one a a time Beat well. 

Then add flour which has been sifted with salt and baking powder. ( I never sift.)

Add chocolate which has been melted, vanilla, and pecans. 

Pour in a buttered shallow pan and bake in a moderate oven. 

Cut in strips and roll in powdered sugar. 

I used a 7 by 11 baking dish. A moderate oven is 350° which was something I'd never encountered with a recipe. 

This is more of a brownie than a cookie so I started toothpick checking after 20 minutes. 

They baked in about 25 minutes. 

I didn't cut them into strips but powdered sugar was sprinkled on the top while they were still warm. 

They were delicious. They have a very light chocolate touch which is good with the pecans. 

We decided that they would be really good frosted with a German chocolate cake frosting. 

I tried to find a recipe like this on the internet and there was nothing. If you have every heard of these, let me know. 

We both had no idea where the Red River Valley was. The forward cleared that up for us. 

Once we learned that the Red River Valley is in Louisiana, I realized the cookbook had to have been gifted to my mom from my Aunt Susan. 

The front cover has my mom's and my aunt's handwriting which is so special. 

Cookbooks are a wonderful gift and this one is a treasure. 

My aunt is still alive and she always has tidbits of family history to share with me. 

Recently she told me about a house that my grandfather designed and had built. 

I was able to find the address from my father's draft card which I'd found on Ancestry. 

It sold in 2016 so there were listing photos on the internet.  

Here is the link in case you'd like to see. 

My aunt told me that as they were building the kitchen window wasn't installed according to the blueprint. My grandfather made them take it out and put it in the right place. 

I could absolutely see myself doing the same thing.

 Sadly, I didn't know my grandfather because he died of tuberculosis a decade before I was born. 

If I ever get to Valparaiso, I'll have to drive by to see this house. 

I've been tinkering with our decor. I know spring is still a bit away but I've added a few spring tidbits. 

I'll get some photos to share with you soon. 

Stay well, 

Katie