five for friday

remembering the backyard... summer 2010.

new home for the blogroll

The blogroll has moved here. I'm sure I have forgotten a few so I'll keep updating this post as I remember them. And adding new blogs as I discover them.

BLOGS AND SUCH...

Major Progression
ModFruGal
Skinny laMinx
BB|Studio S K E T C H B O O K
The Art of Doing Stuff
deedee9:14
Modernica Blog
emmas designblogg
desire to inspire
ArchDaily
mackapär
Bloesem
SMARTS & CRAFTS
yellowtrace
the marion house book
the vintage cabin
black. white. yellow.
Camilla Engman
fine ting og sjokolade
Curbly
Dailytonic
KITKA design
Hello Neëst !
Daily Icon
http://konfettiform.blogspot.com/
time of the aquarius
norsk stil
Blossom & Bill
if the lamp shade fits
Brick and Brack
China Shepherdess
the Tiny Aviary
oijoy photo
TwoNineOneFour
The Design Files
our chch modern
hoping for happy accidents
Mid-Century Modernist
the seventy tree
Grain Edit


SHOPPING...

flatout design
hot coffee!
Pegboard Modern
circa modern
FromSthlm
Amsterdam Modern
Merchant_4
MCMF (San Francisco)


NERD ALERT...

Chicago Weather Center
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

what's up with that?

St. Dalfour Black Cherry Organic Tea is Mark's favorite and I ordered some for him from Amazon.com. We used to buy this tea at the grocery store when we lived in Chicago however it's completely unavailable at any store near our home now. I was pretty happy to find it on Amazon and it's also a bargain when you buy it there. My order confirmation email came Tuesday stating that my order had shipped via ENSENDA and I should expect in on Thursday (today). Ok, what the heck is Ensenda? Anyone heard of it? Well let me tell you what Ensenda was for me. Yesterday afternoon an older model GMC Jimmy (completely unmarked) pulled into my driveway and a non-uniformed lady walked up to my front door, set the package down, and then drove away. Is that weird or what? At least the tea came a day earlier than I had expected.

Raymond Loewy

It's the holidays... time to bust out the Raymond Loewy china... even if it's just dinner for me and Mark. The moment I saw these dishes I HAD to have them - 8 place settings and a serving platter. One of my favorite purchases of all time.

Christmas morning

Christmas morning was beautiful. Fresh snow fell overnight. At times the sun was bright. The clouds broke in a few spots to reveal a crisp winter blue sky. I'm such a nature dork. I woke up early and filled the bird bath full of seeds as a special treat for my birds... and for myself since I got to enjoy watching them all morning while I drank coffee with Mark. A perfect Christmas morning.

merry christmas!

from HousePet to you... Merry Christmas!

the sauce

Some people bake Christmas cookies... we make holiday hot sauce.

Mark is the heart and soul behind this project. He selects the peppers to grow in our garden and then creates a sauce recipe which is different each year. I am more on the packaging and distribution end of things.

In the Spring Mark planted Bhut Jolokia peppers which are more commonly know as the Cobra or Ghost Pepper. These peppers are the world record holder for the hottest chili on Earth. I have zero tolerance for all things hot so I have not tasted this sauce however Mark says it's surprisingly NOT as hot as he thought it was going to be. He said it's the hottest sauce he's ever made yet completely edible and enjoyable. Yeah, he's pretty happy with it!


The pepper plants were so tiny back in June! (they are on the far left)

We collected peppers all summer long.

We had quite a few green peppers on the plants in October. Mark learned a trick to ripen this last batch of the crop by hanging them upside down in our garage window. It worked!


There was some fire roasting that occured out on the grill. I was out Christmas shopping so I missed that step.

new at the ranch

vintage teak tray from


air plant from

living room

Today the living room looks like this. I moved a couple of things around... again. Oh and ditched the shabby rug. If Santa brings me new frieplace tools, I will be a very happy lady.

furry

five for friday

1. make these now!
2. lost river
3. cardinals out back
4. house6 spotted on yellowtrace
5. from the living room window this morning

happy wednesday

this made me smile today...

Thomas Campbell- FUEL TV Signature Series ID from FUEL TV on Vimeo.

at least it's sunny

Don't let the sun fool you because it's snowy and cold out there... 18 degrees Fahrenheit (-8 degrees C). Our living room gets some nice light in the morning. A perfect place to drink coffee and appreciate winter from the warmth of the indoors.

five for friday

1. things in my house
2. skinny laMinx
3. time of the aquarius
4. lottie
5. Woody 35 at norsk stil

our christmas tree

more cabin envy

Will I post pics of every cabin I love? Pretty much.
This modular prefabricated home is a little bigger than most of the cabins I've ranted and raved about. Built by Ecomo Homes and located in Franschhoek, South Africa.

from inhabitat.com - more pics here