The Rest of the Story

 

A couple of Mondays back I joined in with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to show how I am finishing off our lower level family room.  Today I’m participating in Met Monday again to show you more of this level.

 

 

There is still much work to be done, but it is definitely coming along downstairs at this stage. 

 

Here a full shot of the window I recently had draperies made for:

 

Another angle showing the shelves…..

A close up of the window..

 

For this picture below, I stood in front of the red chairs and faced at a different angle.  It’s hard to photograph this room as it’s very open and goes in different directions.  Beyond the chairs and lamps that you see here is a guest room and my silk floral work room.

 

 

Here I am standing behind the red recliners…  Don’t mind the old pine bench.  I tried to part with it, but couldn’t.  Someone special made that for us back in the 80’s.  Don’t you think a coat of black paint and a pretty seat cushion will help?  It’s nice to have extra seating sometimes too.

 

Here is a picture of “Hazel” ~~ the picture….

 

 

From this angle you can see the opposite end where our rec room is.  I have more plans for this open area.  To the left you can see a portion of our bar which I have shown close ups of before here.

 

 

Okay, back to the start.  See this little green chair with a throw over it???  for good reason ;)

 

I would love to find a houndstooth fabric such as this to have it covered in.  Let me know if you have a fabric source for this!

 

Thanks so much Susan for allowing us to share our before and after projects.  I just don’t have many before pictures because this was new construction.

 

I appreciate all of you who have visited today.  It is truly so much fun getting to know so many new bloggers.  Thank you most sincerely for stopping by!

Patriotic Baskets

 

 

Back in the nineties I collected many, many Longaberger baskets.  Suddenly I realized I had plenty and haven’t purchased one in a very long time.

 

Some of my favorites are the Inaugural Baskets.  I was putting this away after our Fourth of July celebration and thought I would share with you.

 

 

Here’s my first.  It is from 1993, from President Bill Clinton.

 

 

 

 

And the second from 1997, President Clinton’s second term.

 

This is from 2001, President George W. Bush

 

 

And probably my favorite basket from 2005, President Bush’s second term.

 

 

A close up of the gorgeous lid.  Isn’t it beautiful?

 

 

All lined up together….

 

Don’t they look important?

 

 

God Bless the USA

 

 

Is your July speeding by?  Summers always seem to fly. 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to leave a comment so I can say hello!

An early Summer Luncheon

 

What would we do without Susan at Between Naps on the Porch and her fabulous Tablescape Thursday?

 

 

Last week I was the hostess for our small little Bible Study group.  We have been studying a Beth Moore dvd series which concluded with the lesson in my home.  Since it’s summer and several of our members are teachers we had our meeting in the morning and we had a luncheon afterwards.

 

 

 

If you follow my blog, you may recognize these dishes.  The sweet little flower ones I recently found at a garage sale in a Chicago suburb.  I placed them with other garage sale solid brightly colored plates found at a garage sale locally. 

 

I’m sad because there is a reflection on the little mirrored place cards I found while thrifting recently.  Maybe there’s a better picture on down.

 

 

 

I loved these faux geraniums to pull the pink from the dishes.  The little pair of birds under the dome was a recent thrift store find as well. 

 

 

In my opinion, a tray is always the perfect accessory to pull for a centerpiece.  It is the backbone for any of your lovely treasures you like to display and coordinate the colors you are using for any tablescape.

 

 

I’m going to have to keep working on my little mirrored place cards pictures to see if I can get a close up without the reflection.

 

Anyone for dessert?  Oh, here you can see a portion of Cindy’s place card.  They all have different flowers painted on them and the set of eight came with their own little easel. 

 

Yes, it’s blurry, but this Lemonade Pie was summery delicious.

 

 

I’m so pleased you stopped by.  I hope you will have time to visit Susan and see all the other lovely tablescapes!

A Family Room in Progress

 

It’s fun to finally have something to share again with Susan’s ever popular makeover.  I’m joining her today at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday.

 

For those who are new to my blog, my house is still somewhat new and we are ever so slowly doing window treatments and finishing up the rooms in the way I would really like.  Does a room ever totally get finalized?  For me, I think not.  There are still things I want to do in here but at least I’m off to a good start.

 

Here’s the family room in our lower level walkout basement before:

 

 

 

Here’s the fabric I decided to go with:

 

The window treatments are up and I’m excited with the new look!  On the shelves you can see some of my recent thrifting/garage sale finds such as the fox hunt tray and the little dog.  I’m still working on these shelves trying to achieve the right look.

 

 

 

 

The entertainment center is on another wall.  I recently found these pictures to hang next to it.  They have sort of a Ralph Lauren feel, don’t you think?

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a closeup of some items on a shelf.  I found the old pipe holder, featuring a hunting dog at an antique store.  The tiny little hunt plate was at another antique store and the marbles belonged to my husband when he was a child.

 

 

 

More fox hunt pictures…………

 

 

 

I see now that I have these pictures in place I could have taken more to show the full room.  Will I ever get faster at this?

 

 

 

I’ll save more pictures for a different day.

 

In the meantime, let’s go over and get inspired at Susan’s with all the other room makeovers!!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by to see me on 47th Street today! I love meeting new friends and reading your comments!

 

 

 

 

Do you eat Rhubarb?

 

 

 

 

For years when my dear mother in law would bring in rhubarb from her garden, I would secretly make a face.  That is until I tasted her cobblers and pies mixed with strawberries and all the other yummy things she came up with for this very tart fruit.  Anything is good if you add enough sugar to it..   ;) ;)

 

My mother gave me a good sized bundle of rhubarb recently and while she was with me we decided to turn it into jam.  After scouring many cookbooks we came up with a rhubarb/strawberry recipe.  We actually reduced the sugar and it worked, I think because there was strawberry jello in the recipe.  Using pectin, you normally have to be very careful about altering the sugar amounts.

 

My daughter was home for a visit shortly thereafter and she was very much interested in using the remaining rhubarb to learn how to make jam.  There was another recipe that struck my fancy and it was blueberry/rhubarb jam!  Uummmmm

 

 

We loved the flavor of this.  I could eat my weight in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made with this jam!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are carefully filling the hot jars.

 

 

 

 

Very good breakfast…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue-Barb Jam

5 c. rhubarb, diced

1 c. water

5 c. sugar

1 can blueberry pie filling

2 (3oz.) pkgs raspberry jello

Cook rhubarb in water until tender.  Add sugar and cook a few minutes longer, stirring constantly.  Add pie filling and cook 8 more minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in jello.  Stir until dissolved.  Pour into jars.  Store in refrigerator or freezer OR seal.  Variations:  can use apricot pie filling or strawberry or raspberry.  Just wonderful!

*My note*  I reduced sugar to 4 c.  This did not set up real firm, but is also not runny, just nicely spreadable.  Great flavor!

 

I know I am late posting today, but I still wanted to add my recipe with all the great cooks at Designs by Gollum .  This is such a wonderful Friday feature that I really look forward to.  Have you had time to search all the Foodie Friday posts today?