Kitchen Detail

Look at these glorious tiles! Deep breaths everyone. Would love to see the rest of this beautiful kitchen. Sorry, I don't know the source of this image. When I found it I must have been so focussed on the tiles I didn't record where I found it. If anyone knows the source AND the tiles!!!, let me know!

I've got kitchens on my mind this morning as I am off to help a client plan her new kitchen. Speaking of clients, pop over HERE to see one of my lights just recently installed in my customer's home. Warms my heart to follow the progress of my customers exciting renovations and house builds and to see my lights featured!

Maia the Bee- Guest Blogger

Good morning!  Today,  I am back with another guest blogger for you today!  Today, we Andrea from Maia the Bee!  She is an amazing mother to a beautiful 9 month old!  Check her out!

 

 

Thank you, Bonnie, for letting me make a guest appearance on your blog today!

 

Hi everyone!  My name is Andrea and I'm new to the blogging world.  You can find me HERE blogging about my adorable daughter, my new life as a SAHM, and our life overseas.  (Yup, we've lived in Germany for 4 years!)  I'm an amateur baker who loves taking pictures, traveling, and crafting.  Stop by and say hi!  I have so much planned - I can't wait to share!

 

When my friend Brittany asked if I could make Settlers of Catan cupcakes for her husband's birthday, I was excited…and scared!!  Who were the Settlers of Catan??  And how was I going to make cupcakes about them??

 

It turns out, I'm not the first to make these cupcakes.  Not even close.  Pictures of Settlers cupcakes and cookies are all over the web.  I had a lot of inspiration to draw from, seeing as I have never played the game in my life!!

 

I printed out full sized photos of both the game board and a sample set of cupcakes I found in a Google search and then I got to work coloring fondant.

 

 

I had counted 4 grassy fields, 4 hay fields, 3 mountain ranges, 4 forests, 3 with bricks, and one lone piece that looked like a chess piece.  (Brittany later told me that this is the robber piece and it sits on a desert tile.)  I decided that I didn't want just plain "grass" cupcakes…I wanted sheep too!

I always make the fondant pieces in advance.  It gives them a chance to dry and harden, and it gives me a chance to make everything and have it all ready in time!!

 

 

The cupcakes are red velvet with strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting.  I delivered them to Brittany who gave them to her husband, John, for his birthday.  Here is a picture Brittany took of John with his birthday cupcakes…

 

 

In fact, ALL of these pictures were taken by Brittany.  She is an AMAZING photographer!  Look at how beautiful this picture is…

 

 

It's even been used on Pinterest!  (We're both pretty darn excited about that!)  You can check out more of her work here.  She sells prints if you're interested in a gorgeous photo for your wall.

 

What do you guys think?  I was pretty nervous but I'm really happy with how they turned out!  And my husband and I have decided that we need to get the board game to find out what it's all about!

 

Thanks Andrea!  Please stop by her blog and follow this gal!  She is new and would love to hear from you!

 

Have a great day!

WOAD!

We love visiting the Museum of East Anglian Life, there's so much to see and always something to learn about the fantastic part of the country that we are lucky enough to live in!

The annual Steam and Craft fair is a brilliant event with so many steam engines and crafts people from far and wide...Jen (pictured above) is a dedicated volunteer, fund raiser and a (quite brilliant!) Wednesday knitter!

We set up our stall in the pole barn and it was clear to everyone as we donned our aprons and got the pots warming on the stove that this was no ordinairy craft fair...

There were the brilliant colours achieved through the microwave technique - a little bit quicker than the natural dyeing that we do...

...and the chance to see the famous Needham Market fire engine a recent acquisition for the museum!

So, happy that all the pretty bias bindings, ribbons, ric racs and knitting needles were displayed at there best for the day we got busy with the woad!

We had a lot of fun doing the woad dyeing section in A Green Guide to Country Crafts and all think back fondly to Gavin Kingcome's fascination with the whisking!

Woad creates a rich blue dye by reacting with oxygen so although the surface bubbles here are a gorgeous shade of blue if you part the foam you can see the very yellow dye bath below!

The colour starts to develop as soon as the items are removed from the bath! You need a lot of people around to help 'air' the skeins of yarn and silk scarves so each 'dip' ended with the shout of 'WOAD' and the ringing of a great big handbell that Lisa Museum lent to us for the day!

Here they are drying on our line and yes that is a skein of green yarn there - it's what you get when you 'over dye' yarn that has previously been dyed with Dyer's Greenweed - it's Lincoln Green!

Now it's time for a little bit of an apology - the reasons for the LONG gap between this post and the previous one, my trusty old laptop gave up! It had worked hard and written many a blogpost and luckily as it was coming up to my 40th birthday my very lovely and brilliantly supportive parents bought me a new one! How lucky am I?

It was definitely party time at HH HQ last week and Wednesday was also the day that BBC Radio Suffolk came to visit the knitters and as it was also Wednesday Wendy's birthday we had a little party. Tina made these amazing cakes and as you can see they didn't even hang around long enough to get a snap of all the letters!

They were amazing, thank you Tina!

Jo Lea, knitting moss for an ornamental hanging basket and quite determined to teach Jon from BBC Radio Suffolk to knit!

Just one of the very brilliant birthday presents - a marvelous book by a brilliant knitter! This is my bed time reading...

The lovely birthday gifts will get a proper blogpost all of their own after I've written my thank you notes...but this one deserves a special mention as it was tracked down by Mike the Glassman and it's a beauty!

I LOVE glass as much as I love yarn and there had been much plotting, texting and consultation with The Good Wives of Sew and Crow to find a piece of glass that would make me go giddy and I know that Mike is particularly pleased with himself for finding this Martini jug by Holmegaard glass...

...he takes his glass seriously and being charged with this task made it tricky for me to pin him down in order to pick a winner for Country Buntkin bunting giveaway!

BUT, I finally got him - comment 7 is the winner! Congratulations Cath, send me some details halfpennyhome@googlemail.com and the bunting bits and bobs will be flapping their way over to you!

And finally...how proud were Jacqui and I to see a good friend of Halfpenny Home, Polly's Textiles featured in Oh Comely magazine?!

Well done Danielle, your 'Beautifully Purposeful' hand screen-printed fabrics are gorgeous and your aprons are definitely a favourite of ours and featured in one of our favourite magazines too!

Phew! Think that's about everything...Nic x

Yarn Along: 31st August

Do you see my growing collection of unfinished Gnomes?
Why are they not sewn up you ask and why do you keep knitting them and not finishing them?

Well frankly I am pattern challenged. I have difficulty reading even simple patterns like this one of Tonya's.

So I am waiting for my dear daughter Autumn to help we work out how to sew them up.
Once I have done this once I will be right but I NEED to actually do this with someone first to make sense of the written pattern.

So hopefully I will have some finished Gnomes nest week to share. I really an so keen for Trahaearn and Arwen to have these to play with as they look so sweet.

 I am so enjoying the Rosemary Sutcliff books this week I managed to read
Dawn Wind  as well as read a little of  Heaven on Earth: A Handbook for Parents of Young Children
and will add to my growing collection:
A Little Way of Homeschooling and Homeschooling with Gentleness: A Catholic Discovers Unschooling,
these have been loaned to me by the lovely Sue

I am joining again with the other ladies over at Ginny's for this week's Yarn Along  for some knitting fun.

Blessings to you and your homes,

Buyer's Remorse

Well more like 'giver's remorse'.... I was out on my run yesterday morning thinking about my lovely, 'now almost empty' shed and some impending stock arriving for my 'soon to be store'. I was having slight remorse over giving away some shelves which would have come in handy after all.......... but then I saw this! ... propped up on a wall, out in the weather, outside an op shop. Ha! Thank you very much. Just what I needed at that precise moment in time. I love my suburb. It looks after me!

Happy Wednesday!

Twice Owned Party

Welcome to my

64th

TWICE OWNED TUESDAY PARTY!

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Hello all!  I hope that you have been enjoying all the guest bloggers around here! Yes, I am still here,  just been crazy!  I will update you with everything this week!  Until then,  show me what you have been up to by linking up below!

Here are my Queens from last week!

Bee Interiors spruced up her light fixture!

Three Boys re-upholstered this cute chair.

Clear Blue Sky found some really neat items!

Busily Spinning Momma made a shirt from a sheet!  How cute is that?

Blissfully Ever After monogramed these basket liners herself.

Shabby Love re-did a whole bunch of neat items.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day! :)

Thanks to everyone who linked up!

Please feel grab a button for your blog, you were just named a TWICE OWNED QUEEN!

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Have a great week!

I can’t wait to see what you link up this week!

If you are linking up, please grab a button! :) Thanks.

Have a great day! :)

Hearts for Home - 30th August

 In today’s busy and aggressive society mothers at home are not given much encouragement to be committed to their role in being home.

In my weekly 'Hearts for Home' post I am encouraging myself and others to commit to thinking about what 4-6 things we can do each week to bring our thoughts, prayers and actions to keeping our 'Hearts for Home'.

I am praying that a spirit of gentleness, generosity in thoughts and time along with loveliness and grace would lead us to be all that God wants us to be.

I pray also that each person involved in 'Hearts for Home' would also pray for any others involved as well.

May you be blessed by this initiative. I pray it brings you and your family many blessings.

So each week list 4-6 things you will commit to that will keep your "Hearts for Home'.
Please leave a you name and a link to your blog (if you don't have one just leave your list in the comment box) and perhaps a comment so we can all see and encourage each other.

If you would like, add the 'Hearts for Home' logo to your side bar as a reminder of your goals.
May God Bless you this week.

♥ Please leave a link to your Hearts for Home Edition on the Mister Linky at the end of the post, so we can all come and visit.
I would also appreciate you linking back here too.☺ ♥ ♥

Enjoying our lives on the 30th August by doing ♥ ♥

Hello Dear Friends,

1. Work on getting the pattern cut out tonight for  Autumn's, Deb Dress and work on a sample bodice first.

2. Our little Arwen is talking in complete complex sentences as well as understanding difficult concepts.This is a little reminder for me on how quickly our babies grow up and how fleeting the time is. So I am endeavouring to nurture these precious time periods with the children.

3. Well last week I wanted to sew the TWO Gnomes I  knitted from my recent  Yarn Along's . I didn't actually sew them up but knitted another one to add to my collection of 'almost gnomes'. I want to start some knitted dishcloths as these are simple knitting that I can pick up to relieve me form the more complicated sewing I will be doing. And I will sew up those cute little gnomes

4. Continue to encourage out children to play outside in the beautiful almost  Spring days by going out side with them for lessons as well as crafting while watching them play.

5. To continue to say "YES" when asked to read picture books to our little ones, EVEN when I am doing other things. I have found that the younger children seem more contented when I do this and they are less inclined to ask for a DVD.

6. As I go about my home and with my loved ones I will continue to pray for all those who enter my thoughts from near and far, in fact this being mindful of God's promptings in my life has lead to a more gentle and peaceful heart I believe.

Praying you all find peace and joy in your own homes this week,

So How Do I keep This Alive?

Yep, the little water colour in the background is St Ives in Cornwall

I love that place.

On the weekend, I bought some pretty lavender to brighten up my kitchen. I was inspired by the post on potted colour that Leigh did, over at Brabourne Farm (see Leigh I did go out and get some!).

Ok, so how do I keep it alive and perpetually beautiful? Will it stay alive?.... in a pot? Would love some advice please. Nope, can't plant it as I have no garden. Does it need full sun? How often do I water it? It did not come with instructions as it was a 'roadside deal'. If keeping it in a pot is bad news all round, I can cope. Hit me with it!

Monday

How about we start off the week with some pretty flowers? These beautiful orchids were given to me by my friend A-Mi (Anne-Marie with a i)..... yes shoved in a water jug... my kingdom for a vase. That photo was taken on our rainy Saturday... boy did it rain... from my little kitchen table.

Here is the first load of the contents of my shed heading off to various locations. I know that bed of mine was slept on last night by a woman who escaped domestic violence. My bookcases, desks, side-tables and armchairs were going to a family who has been homeless but now they have a roof over their heads. My treadmill and exercise bike went to victims of the flood, trying to put their lives back together. And my ping pong table is going to a men's shelter. 

Yes, this is another big plug for 'GIVIT'.... head on over there and list things that you don't need, that are in good nick. You'll be contacted by a charity who needs your things.... specifically needs your things for people who have been through the ringer of life. You end up knowing exactly where your things are going and they go straight to those in need.... not into an overpriced op shop! It warmed my heart to know that someone was going to be sleeping in my bed last night. 

I did a little dance in my empty shed. My life feels lighter. More portable. I only have what I need now. The last bits of 'The House' have gone. Now, what to do next?!!

Happy Monday!

Happy Tasha Tudor Day

Just a reminder to you all that today is also the celebration of Tasha Tudor Day.
There are many things in my life that I love that I think have been influenced by the books and life style of Tasha Tudor.

Clarice and Suzanne  have both been instrumental in hosting this day each year. They have some lovely ideas to share with all who are interested, so drop in on their cottages for a glimpse of the memories and ideas they share.

We will be celebrating our day this coming week so we will then share our day then.

For now though I would just like to list some of the inspirational ideas that come to mind when I think of Tasha Tudor:
cooking
beautiful and functional cooking bowls
blue willow
gardening
skirts
knitting
tea cups
tea time
aprons
candles
spinning
baskets
goats
beautiful art work
family
children
joy in the everyday
simplicity of lifestyle
hardworking
nature
fireside activities
crafts of many kinds
openness to learning new skills

Drawn from New England: Tasha Tudor, a Portrait in Words and Pictures



This was the first book I had to become more familiar with Tasha and her lifestyle. From the first page I was an ardent admirer of not only the lady herself but drawn to the qualities of this type of rural, home and hearth lifestyle.

I have been thankful for many instances in my life where I have stumbled across a person or book or idea that helped to make me who I am today. I do believe that Tasha Tudor in this way has helped me to be more the person I always wanted to be by giving example in her lifestyle that I could emulate.

These are some past posts on Tasha Tudor I have shared


Blessings to you and your homes,