Love is in the air.....

 

A few days ago I learned that....

Life like love is fickle...but mostly, fragile.....

When I think of Valentine's Day I think of roses, chocolates, cherubs and candlelit dinners....

..... Over the years my expectations of this day have lessened.....

.....all I need is my husband, my sons.....the loves of my life!

Wishing my dear readers, every blessing and beauty that love inspires......

Happy Valentine's Day!

N.xo

 

All the above images from my Pinterest boards....

Nella Miller on Pinterest

 

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Dreaming in green...

Every year, around this time, I begin to reflect on what I should have done, should do more of, or not at all!

Inevitably, it always reflects around my surroundings, especially in the garden, when we all dream of what could be, when armchair gardening is so much more entertaining and achievable.... I look out at the snow covered beds,which have taken a bit of abuse from the work which was done to the exterior....I should have planted more trees, in lieu of annuals and perennials, more flowering shrubs instead of capricious climbing vines and more boxwood, never enough boxwood!

....but clarity, promotes wisdom, albeit too late it seems!

The lovely little rose above, The Fairy, has been a consistent performer in my garden, and I wisely chose to include her several winters ago, while perusing the Pickering Roses catalog in January.

She is thriving happily among Limelight hydrangeas in the south west border of the garden.

All manner of armchair pursuits are possible in the gloomy, cold days of January...

Pinterest surfing yields an abundance of inspiration for decorating, with the garden as inspiration.

The photo above has a lovely, soft palette of the colours of Nature....and green which I am currently obsessed with!

The above serving as a colour board for my interiors.....

Beautiful inspiration from This Ivy House......

Shades of green and ivory are the two colours I have chosen as colours for fabric .

With a touch of black.......

I am hoping to utilize all of our existing furniture with just a few minor touch ups, either with paint or fabric...

This is the Fairy in my garden, this summer, in white. It is far more prolific in pink, but the white looks beautiful with all the green foliage in my shade garden......

 

 

This is Cinderella Fairy, more of a shrub rose.....again co existing very happily with hydrangea.....

My days armchair dreaming and plotting will soon come to an end....countless boxes are ready to be opened and sorted as we prepare to move back home in mid February.....

 

The new open concept kitchen, above, courtesy of my husband, taken with his iPhone.

Please excuse the poor quality photo....the marble, honed counter tops in the islands,

have a soft green colour through them....I am hoping to bring the outdoors in....

The wood floor, currently covered in large sheets of cardboard, is dark, distressed hickory.

I thought it would anchor the all white cabinets and trim.....the hardware is oiled bronze.

In the meantime, I am hoping that all my sources of inspiration, years of reading and learning from some of my favourite designers will serve me well over the next few months.....

I admire Bunny Williams, Kate Forman, Lisa Luby Ryan, Loi Tai.....all very different, but classic and timeless.

I hope to post more pictures soon, my severe dust allergy has kept me away from our house, but in the meantime, I wish all my readers a cozy, serene and comfy Winter season!

N.xo

All the garden photos are my own, rest from Pinterest.

 

 

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Thinking ahead....

 

I always had a bad habit of not thinking too hard or long, when making decisions about decor....I usually know what I want when I see it, and don't have the need to see more samples or continue looking for the better alternative.....my Aunt Carlotta taught me to stop looking....when your eye has made your heart respond.....I like that, and it has served me well! I have been thinking about how to furnish and decorate now, for seven long months! It is now time to move ahead with a few basic steps.....

I have always admired the tufted ottoman, and liked it's use as a coffee table, multifunctional, topped with a lovely tray....I have just the large, vintage silver tray.....no ottoman!

This photo, is as close to what my two love seats resemble now. Previously, they sported pink and green floral fabric...." Floribundas " as referred to by my friend Trish, from Trouvais, lively, bright, little flowers for the living room!!

Now, in a heavy cotton duck fabric in cream....the chairs on the right are fairly accurate facsimiles, eliminated the skirts and stained the existing legs darker....they are finished, and the upholsterer is graciously storing them for us....

Two bedroom chairs will join the love seats, upholstered in this green pastoral toile... I found the fabric at E. Villeneuve Antiques, a favorite haunt....I have been contemplating it's use for some time...both seat bottom and backs will be tufted....originally I was going to use it on dining room chairs, but I decided differently.....

Hopefully, all of my original furniture will be used again, with just minor changes, like paint or fabric....

Here, you can see the detail of this very pretty toile....

Most of the furniture has gone from stained wood to variations of white, distressed and antiqued pieces....

This example below, is what I have used as inspiration for my own interpretation...

Beautiful, I think!

Images from Pinterest have been an amazing source of inspiration and ideas, and it has been a virtual sample board for design solutions for every room....

Colour palettes can be drawn from everywhere.......

This beautiful linen chest served as inspiration for painting my own powder room vanity and dining table....

This week the kitchen will be completely installed, as will the fireplace and mantle....

I hope to post them soon...in the meantime, thinking ahead, to restoring the comforts of home, like seating and tables to get us adjusted back to our own surroundings...

Hopefully, our projected move in date is early February....

I am posting from my iPad with Blogsy....please bear with me as I attempt yet another learning curve....

This is my 100th post!

Moving ahead in 2013!!!!!

N.xo

 

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A New Year begins.....

How time slips away....more quickly now than ever...one week begins and ends almost in a wink !! This year has been filled with change for me, a temporary address while we renovate our forty something home....watching our oldest son leaving his maternal home, more difficult for him than I could ever have imagined, and my youngest son hosting Christmas Eve for the first time.....good change, but still, always trepidation for those involved....we are all managing very well! I am always grateful and try to remain mindful of those less fortunate....wishing all my readers the very best of the new coming year!! N.xo

This is my 99th post, sent from my iPad, another new beginning!! N.xo

Hallelujah!

Christmas Eve morning, as I was driving back home, with the last of my errands completed, something interesting came across the CBC radio station I listen to....it caught my attention and made me listen more intently than usual...
 

It was about the impact of the song, Hallelujah, almost thirty years after it's release,
sung by Jeff Buckley, and made famous by Leonard Cohen...that incredible word, what it evokes, even if you are of little faith... the words, telling of how joy and sorrow are inexplicably interwoven.... how we can't experience one without the other...

...it gave me pause....

I have always loved the song, my favourite rendition perhaps, by k.d. Lang.
It was sung by Lang at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and I recall the power and strength of the words, the feelings it evokes in me every time I hear it....

This Christmas, more than any other, it resonated strongly with me....how, in desperation, we throw our arms heavenward looking for an answer, consolation,
perhaps redemption, but above all hope and gratitude....and in the end, joy to be alive...

Every Christmas, I am more aware of gratitude and life itself, it seems...
 

On a lighter note..... Hallelujah !!!!  My kitchen cupboards have arrived and are being installed ! At a bit of a stand still now, with the holiday season's arrival....
Above, the new garden room/conservatory, open to the kitchen...one more coat of paint and then finished...it was all painted Cloud White.

The two islands waiting for their marble honed tops...
Early January scheduling....

...looking towards the garden room....
 

I chose simple Shaker style cabinetry with beadboard accents, suitable for our country location...the hardest thing for me to do while renovating, was remaining true to our home's own sense of place....the "bones" I had to work with...
 

Close up view of the posts in the islands....

The powder room vanity, waiting for new Corian top, Avonite, on the new stone/slate floor, called Winter....it will have a simple, under counter, oval basin with tarnished brass faucets....the cabinet is a vintage piece I painted a while ago, in anticipation of the new powder room....the walls are Cake Batter by BM...
 

These paper cones, were the only gifts I managed to make this Christmas...I found an edition of The Illustrated London News from 1871 while rummaging through the carriage house early this month...from December 21, 1871...I photo copied the illustration, Christmas Bells by Lorenz Frulich, on cardstock, and embellished it as Victorian scrap might look....channelling as my muse, Susan's class at Stitch, earlier this month....thank you Susan!!

Another joyful season has come and gone, my dear readers....I wish all of you love, health and much happiness, now and throughout the coming year...and always grateful for your unwavering support and generous comments...I am always overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity and above all, friendship...

photos from my iPhone

The Holy and the Broken, Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of Hallelujah, a new book, by Alan Light.

N.xo

 

Just thinking....what's next??

Today, just like everyday, I went back to check on the progress of the renovation to our home in Jordan...
I like to go on the weekend, when all the trades are absent, and I can look at what has been done through the week, alone, without company or observation...
It was a wet, drizzly and foggy day today, not looking like Christmas at all...
The light coming in through the big, new windows was a flat, dull grey...
but I liked the way it played off the walls, and the paint colour I had chosen, Cake Batter.
I thought it would work nicely with the greens and whites I like to decorate with at Christmas,
and the newly upholstered sofas, now renewed with a creamy cotton duck fabric.
Two tufted, vintage bedroom chairs will join them, recovered in a green pastoral toile fabric. To date that is really all I have decided to do until we move back in.
 

It's been a learning curve these last few months, every little detail must be considered to avoid disappointment and worse, mistakes you have to live with!
 

 

I am hoping that all the collections and trappings of life accumulated over the years will find their way back in....
 

I know that I edited for six months, while I was packing for the remodel and I have a gnawing suspicion that more will have to go!  Several walls were knocked down, so space for furniture has diminshed....

I know that I liked the way things fit in last Christmas....
 

This sweet, Victorian scrap ornament, taught by Susan at Stitch this week, has kept me occupied of hand, if not of mind....

I plan on making a few more this week.
 

Connection to things is interesting....memories recalled and experienced.....

I quite liked the way they looked in my old house, how will they look now??

 

One thing for certain is a constant,  our beautiful, woodland surroundings have not changed over the years that we have lived here...every season they bring new beauty, especially in winter....
Today, looking through the new, white windows, the view was the same, familiar and
comforting....
 

Next week will be the tell all......the floors and kitchen will be installed....
Progress, finally!


Thank you for bearing with my fragmented thoughts today!

N.xo

 

Making a list....and deleting it twice!

I am not a big list maker, but since I have had an iPhone, the Notes app has become my best friend...gone are all the lists of groceries and to do's of holidays gone by...instead everything I need to do is hidden away and available at a touch of the screen...thank you Mr. Jobs...

Food takes top priority at my house, after decorating....first priority at my sister's house...before decorating! It is always a source of friendly discussion between the two of us!
Today, I did just that...made lists....gifts to buy, baking supplies to buy, stocking stuffers, etc. and I actually
managed to DELETE a few off the list...and it is only Dec. 3rd!

Last year was the first time I decided to make a trifle, not really Italian, but we do have husbands who are of English and Scottish descent....so I made a Black Forest Trifle last Christmas...you can see it pictured above...it was lovely, but not really a big seller...

What is requested, however, every year by our husbands, is mincemeat pie or tarts....you can see it below.  I bake it in a fluted flan pan, add more rum and brandy, a grated pear or two... since it is so rich, it makes a thin piece just perfect for a serving....again, not a big seller, except for two special men in the family!
 

I found these cute chocolate mice to embellish it with...
 

Another tradition on the " to do " list is egg nog which I make from scratch...I have made this every year since my sons were very young....with and without spirits....
I use Southern Comfort for my recipe...tastes like a milk shake!
 

I like to gift this to friends, and it makes a wonderful hostess gift...
 

My sister Micki makes most of our Christmas goodies, above are her beautifully wrapped Maria Bruno bars, loaded with candied fruit, spices, nuts and chocolate...the recipe is an old family recipe from our Mother.

She own's M.A.M. Gourmet and is in "production" everyday till Christmas!!!
 

Shortbread stars, dipped in white chocolate, are a favourite with our family, as well as her many clients...they just melt in your mouth!
 

Ricotta cookies, frosted with cream cheese frosting are one of my favourites!!!
 

Here is an assortment of treats for Christmas Eve at our house... along with the traditional Italian pizzelle, dusted with icing sugar, are the decadent butter tarts, my boy's favourites!!
As well as our husband's!
 

Here you can see that a few are missing from the front row!!!

This is prior to dessert being served!

 

 

Because there will be no decorations for me to consider this year....have I said that before? :(  I will have to do some baking I suppose...

Last year's family room window sill....
It is quite different now, it is boxed in with a new window and painted white.  We were able to retain the stone insert as it was, and the panelling is painted in Benjamin Moore, Fresh Cream..

Back to baking... :-\

 

I love that we mix up our traditions, both our husband's and our's, that is what creates such a rich tapestry for our children and families to embrace, cherish and remember from year to year.. Scottish shortbread, English trifle and mince pie, egg nog, Italian pizzelle and biscotti...

How fortunate we are....

I hope that your list is getting shorter, and the preparations for the month ahead coming to fruition....

Remember, to take time to reflect on the true meaning of this beautiful season....

N.xo