Antique lace estate sale find

Please visit Rhoda at

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/ for more thrifty treasures!

I found this beautiful antique lace panel at an estate sale yesterday. My niece negotiated it down to 15$ and it fits my bathroom window nicely. I just love it!

A New Bloom

and the timing couldn't have been better. I'm off to the Philadelphia Flower Show next week and I'm going to treat myself to another orchid.

This beauty starting blooming again this week! A little bit of Spring indoors.

A Day to Remember!

I can't remember the last time we had so much snow in such a short period, after 24 hours of snow the sun finally poked through the clouds and the clean up began. Not without setbacks though, this is the heaviest snow I have ever shoveled. The man who plows our driveway is having a difficult time with the weight of the snow and hasn't show up. Joe started snowblowing and we ran out of gas, he managed to roll our car down the driveway and I began the impossible task of shoveling a spot at the bottom of the driveway. I shoveled and shoveled and just when I thought I was going to black out a total stranger with a plow came by and plowed out the bottom of the driveway for FREE!!! He wanted no money! I'm so happy that kind man took pity on this poor bedraggled soul!

He left without me thanking him properly so I plan on writing a small letter to the editor of our local paper. I only hope he sees it and knows how happy he made me!

It's snowing and might be the biggest storm of the year!

My little backyard friends are not looking forward to the predicted snowfall of 1 to 2 feet for today either!! We are all impatient for Spring, especially my little deer friends. It's difficult to find food in all this snow!

I decided to blog again

Today I went looking for my favorite chocolate cake recipe and couldn't find it and then recalled that I once posted it on my blog. Sure enough I searched back and found it and looked at a few other posts and it hit me that my blog was really my online diary of my daily activities. I realized then, that in one, five, ten years from now it will be fun to look back and see what I was doing, memories that I surely would have forgotton about. So, I'm back to blogging again.

I also visit favorite blogs and rarely comment, I feel funny for some reason about leaving anonymous posts, so now I can be an active blogger again.

One of my favorite activites is antiquing and my first return to the blogging world will be my two latest aquisitions.

The first is a very old pitcher and plate, I did some research and it's from the late 1800's. Only 20$ for the two!

I also found this pretty Oberwessel plate by E. Wood and Sons that is supposed to be highly collectible. I was attracted to the brown and yellow transferware rim and the romantic castle scene. I paid 8$ for it and I think that was a steal.

I missed my old blogger friends and it will be so nice to see who stops by to visit!

Ozark National Scenic Riverways Park and Big Spring Lodge

Big Spring Lodge Restaurant.

His view while dining.

This is the park where my husband had his delicous breakfast. Big Spring is the largest spring in the United States and one of the largest in the world. The Spring feeds the Current River, I just love the deep blue water and he claims it tasted delicious!

Even though I was unable to make this trip, I'm looking at it as a scouting trip for me, he will take me back to all his favorite places. This is most certainly one of them.

The vacation I wasn't on...the food I didn't have....

The "husband" just got back from a weeks vacation traveling around Missouri. Of course he had to rave about how inexpensive and delicious the food was and how I missed having my favorite breakfast food of biscuits and gravy. No erzatz ham and eggs here...the real thing prepared to perfection. And look at those potatoes.....the skins still on! And the best part about this breakfast..it was served in a Missouri State Park!!

Husband is vacationing with my camera

so I haven't been able to post but I'll be back in the swing of things next week. I'm going to have a giveaway for my 100th post so be sure to check back!

Plate hanging.

I recently hung these plates for my Mom using the neatest little discs. They are perfect because you don't see those nasty wires on the plates...they simply float on the wall.
Rhoda at Southern Hospitality http://southernhospitalityblog.com/ has a new sponser that sells these dics and is giving free shipping. I paid over 4$ for each disc...I would have saved quite a bit because the price from Rhoda's source is less than half what I paid. So, if there is any plate hanging in your future check out Rhoda's sponser. You will never want to use those ugly wire hangers again!

Simple Raspberry Cake

I woke up this morning to weather reminiscent of Autumn. Crisp, cool air...lovely and perfect for baking. I am still picking raspberries, the bushes are still giving fruit which is highly unusual for this late in the year. I can't think of a better excuse to have cake for breakfast, so here is the recipe I used. Please stop by Beverly's to see more Pink Saturday offerings. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick of butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar (for topping)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz.)

Preheat oven to 400 F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9 inch cake pan. (Have you tried Wilton's Cake Release? That's what I use to butter and flour, saves on the mess of buttering and flouring)

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup of sugar with an electric mixer at med-hi speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 mins, then beat in vanilla, add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing till just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tbps sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25-30 mins. Cool in pan 10 mins, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10-15 mins more. Invert onto plate.

Counting down to 100th post!

After this post I'm only 7 posts away and I plan on having a giveaway just like many other bloggers that celebrate their 100th post. So be sure you keep checking in. Just a hint, it's going to be one of my vintage finds.
Please check out this blogger....http://www.thefiftyfactor.com/2009/08/time-money-giveaway.html I love this clock and she is giving it away!!
I also love the name of the blog....very clever! So be sure you stop by and enter the giveaway, but I hate to disappoint you...I'm going to win!

Tiger lillies

Another simple pleasure, beautiful flowers grown by a woman that sells them by the honor system from a table in front of her home.

I love the fact that people still do this...put a can out with the price and put their trust in strangers. There are alot of little stands like that around here and that makes me feel good.

Little gifts to myself...

This cute little bird nest statue was from a garden shop going out of business and was only 24$. It weighs a ton!

The little clay teapot was a find indeed. I have been looking for these since May when my friend and I saw one just like it at a gardening class we took. We both thought it was adorable and sure enough at the sale there were two of them..one for me and I gifted the other to my friend.

So what little treats have you bought for yourself lately??

The winner for the Pink Saturday giveaway is GypsyLulu. Thanks for participating and if you didn't win please come back, I'll be having another giveaway soon!

Pink Saturday-Giveaway

I haven't been around for Pink Saturday recently due to computer issues...which I thought I corrected but to my dismay did not. So I dug up a photo from the garden tour I went to this summer of a pretty tree peony called Carol. I just loved this plant and recently bought one for myself. I hope it blooms like this next year for me.

The giveaway is for this little sugar bowl. It's not all pink but has pretty little pink flowers. Just post a comment that you would like to enter the giveaway and I'll draw the winner Sunday night.

Happy Pink Saturday and be sure to visit Beverly for more pink pretties.

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/