Horse Shows

For the past two Saturday mornings Rose and I have started out early in order for her to test her interest in the world of horse competition. One was a 4-H event while the other was held at an horse farm about an hours drive away.Nervousness made the events serious, but a relaxed pose should come with experience I assume.
But winning a blue ribbon for showmanship brought plenty of smiles.

The most fun was the 4-H costume event. In keeping with a patriotic theme since we have been heavy in studying Early American History lately, Rose chose to dress as Betsy Ross and ride sidesaddle. Her instructor has a sidesaddle and was more than happy to give Rose a lesson in this old-fashioned ladies style of riding. Actually we will be attending a sidesaddle demo and tea this Saturday afternoon. I am looking forward to it.
Even Riley must get into proper attire with a braided tail of red, white and blue ribbons.


An end never looked so good!

Fried Green Tomatoes

It is a fact. Summer tomatoes are probably one of my favorite foods. I can take a fresh, red vine-picked tomato and bite into it it just like I would an apple. Nothing tastes so much like summer, and the tomatoes found in the store in the winter can never compare with homegrown ones.

I would consider it offensive to disallow the ripening of tomatoes on the vine during the warm weather. Silently I suppress any thoughts of the tantalizing fruit in another highly favored form. Yet before the first frost, I can hardly wait until the last of the tomatoes are plucked green and firm from the overgrown plants. They are immediately bought into the house and battered and fried without any qualms whatsoever. After all one can not cook fried green tomatoes without frying them. However, I do use olive oil.

Served along with the evening's meal these tangy delicacies are meant to be a side dish. But to me they are the main course.

But then they are also the appetizer because I have never been able to resist eating some before they are arranged on the platter and set on the table....in the middle of the table. Like I said, the main course.


I do believe it is a good thing to have my computer back and running sufficiently once again. After all was said and done, everything had to be erased and reprogrammed ( but only after trying so many other things first). My virus protection had expired unbeknownst to me and Internet Explorer was having a big party. So now I have been given strict orders and" ground rules"...his words not mine. There are some glitches yet to be worked out in several areas and many places I can not visit until I find out how to access them properly and cleanly. And I do not like how my picture shows up on the comments I send! Sometimes I feel as if I am using an entirely different program altogether.

Hotel Tea

A windy Tuesday afternoon in autumn is perfect for taking tea in a fanciful hotel.
The miniature roses caught the mood for daintiness and girly things. The afternoon sun warmed us inside and out as the day had turned rather brisk for this time of year.
The food was brought out and set before us on tiers and each plate was passed. Absolutely no one forsook anything offered.
The girls languishing after imbibing pots of tea with sugar cubes. The treats of chicken salad, roasted pepper, and cucumber (of course) sandwiches, crisp cheese wafers, shortbread, fruit, apple cinnamon scones with Devonshire cream and jam, and a delectable chocolate truffle had long since been eaten and the plates cleared by our gracious server. Minutes turned into hours and no one desired to leave .
Giggling and grinning, the little girls delighted in the huge revolving door. I must admit I was watching the fingers!

This was a first time tea event for my girls at this particular hotel, and one that I know they will remember.

It has been a favored afternoon tea spot for my friends and me through the years as we have met and caught up with the happenings of our lives and enjoyed the sweet comfort of friendship shared. May my daughters too know such things.

Forced Computer Rest

Yes, I love technology....but there are times when I must say I can live without it

.......and I do.

But this time it was a case of forced hiatus. My computer must have caught some kind of horrible virus and suffered a terrible crash. It is presently "in the hospital". While I have missed blogging and reading certain blogs, I also realized that the times of going back to those days of the not so faraway past are over.....I most certainly rely upon this form of technology more than even I would like to admit. Emailing for upcoming horse shows, 4-H events where I am the one in charge of food, prayer news, etc. One must shout," Alexander Graham Bell arise! " Therefore, if my telephone did not ring enough with everyday calls and the recent deluge of political calls...now was added all the calls of missed emails!

So hopefully by next week I will have it all taken care of.....so stayed tuned. I have had a delightfully splendid week of an afternoon tea at a charming hotel, Christmas ornament making, horse shows......minus the extra phone calls. Thankfully my answering machine is working beautifully!

And the most thanks go to Alan for allowing me to borrow his laptop this afternoon in order to get this post out.

Twenty-six years

Turning twenty-six on the twenty-sixth....demands a yellow cake with a raspberry filling and an icing of whipped cream abundantly sprinkled with coconut.As tradition dictates, the dining room is decorated with brightly colored streamers. Even the "big kids" expect it and would miss not having this provincial form of hoopla awaiting them on the morning of their birthday. Many a birthday eve my husband and I have been up late hanging the twisted crepe paper streamers from the corners of the room.

My youngest and my eldest share the best kind of gift.....hugs and kisses. We laughed at all the funny expressions that ensued from Witt's face!

Witt attended college in the mountains, where it can get rather cold. Every Thanksgiving holiday we could expect him to arrive home with a beard. Now it seems that as soon as the weather starts to get cool, the beard appears once again. Now unless someone thinks I do not like beards.....my husband has donned one for over twenty-five years. Yes, I most definitely like men in beards....but this man is my son!

Keeping T cozy

Look what is keeping my teapot cozy, panoply for such humble duty. I knitted it from the wool of my Romney sheep which I dyed in this pleasing shade of purple.....perfect.

Daily Living Obsession

"I tried to advise her, "said Bella. " I pointed out that when we were young we broke away from this tyranny of domesticity," said Bella, her color high. "She said why? and I told her we wanted to live for bigger things: movements, ideas, causes."
"What did she say to that?"
"She said, That's just it. You had causes. You didn't live.' The girl is obsessed with living, daily living, that's all you can call it," said Bella, more than ever incensed.

China Court

Rumer Godden

That is what I have been doing these days. Living, daily living....that's all you can call it, and I love my obsession!

Corn Bread Muffin Prep

Promotion of the "stool" from the bathroom sink left this past used little stool just resting in my pantry.Usually the protocol for Charlottte helping to cook is to drag a kitchen chair across the floor. I absolutely loved seeing this stool in use once again and it was a perfect height for my now five year old baker.

Corn Muffins were on the menu to prepare to go along with a pot of chili being served at a basket making class I was attending- such Fallish comfort food should always be shared.

This old tin was a find in an antique store years ago. It has a deep burnished, well-worn look and makes the most fun autumn muffins.....can you see the leaf embossment on one row of the tins?

Corn Bread Muffins

1 1/2 cup cornmeal

3 tablespoons of flour

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 cups buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients into bowl. Beat egg and add to the buttermilk. Add this mixture to dry ingredients and beat well. Add the melted butter. Pour into greased muffin pan.

Bake 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until brown.

I prefer to crumble my muffin in my bowl of chili.....but you can do whatever suits your fancy.

Picnic Days

Last year I was mindfully drawn to a picnic basket that was for sale. The former owner reported that she had purchased this unique picnic hamper in England and had hand carried it on a plane. Because my husband knows me so well, and he could see me smile from the tip of my head to the bottom of my toes with delight when I saw it, he generously agreed to purchase it for me.All the pieces were accounted for and attached to their assigned places, a perfect table setting for four. Look at the stainless silverware! I am not partial to eating on plastic utensils so this is by far my favorite amenity.

In my imagination we pull up to a hilly countryside meadow, open the boot of the car, pull out my treasured picnic hamper that has been filled with chicken salad sandwiches, havarti cheese and crackers, crisp granny smith apples, chunky brownies, and iced tea in the thermoses. The lovely vintage tablecloth is spread upon the grassy ground and floral cloth napkins are brought out.

But this is not just a daydream........ such picnic days are being enjoyed and it is only in my imagination that I hear the picnic basket speaking in a enticingly beautiful British accent, "How lovely a picnic would do today, don't you think?"

Attic Finds

One does not have to leave home to discover vintage charms.

In order to make a cluttered attic look somewhat straightened, I rallied my troops, however unwilling, together today. Our mission was to get all the clothes, scattered from here to there over my attic, distributed to their proper places - some piles to be given to friends and other piles donated to goodwill. Rose's outgrown clothes were neatly boxed and labeled in order to be ready for Charlotte as she grows each year, because even if I tell her in a firm voice, "Absolutely do not grow any bigger.... I am going to put a brick on your head to keep you little...." still much to my chagrin, she grows!

We moved into this house 5 1/2 years ago. I was seven months pregnant, therefore many boxes were carried upstairs to the attic... for later. I found so many treasures today as I opened box after box.

Such as these pillowcases I started embroidering about twenty-five years ago. The skirt was to be crocheted lace ( I have not found that box yet).

And these pillowcases I embroidered as a ten year old maiden and slept on throughout my childhood. So many of the stitches have come out and need to be redone. This does not even distress me. Homemade things should be lovingly used and it is a good feeling to see normal wear from such purposeful use.
The greatest find by far was my grandmother's hand crocheted lace edgings. As I gently fingered them I knew my grandmother would have liked that. Now I must begin embroidering pillowcases once again. Twenty-five years has been entirely too long!

cabinets, coffee beans, and candles

A particular corner cabinet in my kitchen was in sore need of attention. This is the same cabinet I open every single morning to ease out a coffee filter to make the morning's pot of coffee, and every afternoon to scrounge around the tea selections in order to seep a soothing cup of tea.

It was a pitiful sight!

All contents were removed and laid on the counter, then neatly rearranged and stored back in the cabinet. In the process some old hazelnut coffee beans were discovered. Just enough to place into an old "Quaker Oats" oatmeal dish with a chocolate scented candle- coffee house aroma permeated my kitchen. What an added treat to my now orderly cabinet!