Winter Kitchen - maybe a bit more frenchy.........

.......When I first moved  to my little house, almost nine years ago, I wanted the kitchen to have a french country look...........

I had to mostly use things I already had and really didn't focus or work hard to bring that about but, over the years it has taken on a bit of a french-country look. This towel, I found at Home Goods just after Christmas, helps to promote the french feel, don't you think? It is hanging on the oven door.

This corner is arranged with some of the same old things I had before and also a few other things that I have rotated to this spot. Maybe I should paint the brown cabinet white?

 

I brought the sewing machine drawers out of storage and I like them standing on end.

I have never used the big crown in the kitchen before. 

The wire basket with linens and balls of twine has a European look to me.

This little chair on the wall stays pretty much the same, year after year except for Christmas time.

Anita Bryant's high chair.

Little shelf, also the same.

On the table under the little shelf.

The ducks don't venture out very far from under the table.  I know some of my things are just plain out of style but, I still like them, partly because of who they bring to mind. I still remember that shopping day, in Georgia many years ago, when I saw this pair and Bob Courtney tried to convince me that I didn't need them! His giving me a hard time didn't change a thing - I got them!

The chickens have shed their holiday wreaths and one got up on her soap box, making a speech.  Her box was a Christmas gift.

The rooster plate and mug was in the box, a gift from a great long-time friend, Sarah. The old canning jar got moved from the big shelf to this spot.

Adding to the French look?

This group seems quite content to hang out under the antique stool.

On down the counter top sits my olive oil jug. French looking?

A Pinterest inspired cutie - a bird nest in a small ladle. I cut a small length of twine and took the strands apart before shaping a tiny nest.  The eggs are three little glass beads. And, here it hangs on the wall. You never know what you might see hanging on my walls! After I have this all on here I'm thinking I might have shown this in another post. On well, here it is again.

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Thank you for hanging in for the winter kitchen tour. The time is fast approaching for a Spring look. Easter is not far off and I'm sure I will make a few changes which I will feel compelled to show.

Winter Front Yard..........

...........I have been working hard this week all around the yard and took a lot of pictures but, will show the front area only in this post........

So come, walk around the front yard with me.  This flag actually says, welcome. Just as I took the picture the strong breeze took away the "wel".  I decided this week that the snowman flag looked a bit silly in our eighty degree weather and switched to this one.
 

This rose bush is in bloom almost all year round. I cannot say enough good things about little ducher - pronounced "do-shay".

Not a lot of color in the front except the snapdragons sure have been doing their part.

Also, potted coleus provide a nice patch of color.  But, do you see what I see across the street in my neighbor's yard?

A wild turkey!!! 

Two wild turkeys!!!  They live in the woods straight beyond where we see them here. I have been seeing or hearing them most every day lately.  I keep hoping I will find them in my yard and even put out some corn to lure them but, so far, the squirrels are dinning better than usual and, at least when I have been looking, no turkeys. There are usually eight when they come through. The other six had flown over the fence and to the shelter of the trees by the time I could get close enough to snap these.

But, back to the color in my yard.

 

Ornamental cabbage.

This is a new bowl of moss.  I am hoping it will spread to the edge and over the sides. I have tried some before and was not very successful keeping it looking good for very long.

A new plant I bought last week called tibouchina. This tropical is common here but gets cold damage easy so I have never tried one before.  It can get to be a fairly large bush if it doesn't freeze.

The North Carolina birdhouse looked good with the sun-play this morning.  It has lost it's finial and I need to replace it. 

I took time this week to clorox several things and this angel is one of them. He looked pitifully moldy before! It doesn't take long for things to get covered with mold here - inside and out.

This is probably a picture only it's owner would appreciate but I'm showing it anyway. I love what is here but it is more about where it came from and how it got here to my yard. The pot of euphorbia blooms constantly.

The rocks have meaning only because of where they came from. I have told you before but for the new viewers - five came to America from a little village in England. They traveled in my daughter's backpack. The big round one was from my other daughter and came from Indiana. Do you see the little well in the middle. It might have been used by an Indian.  I bought the grey one from a flea market in Pennsylvania, also said to be an Indian tool.

The bricks are here also because of their former homes. The moss covered one from the woods near my sister's house in Tennessee and the other one from a street in Sanford, Fl, close to where I live.  The big moss covered rock is from a friend's former property.

I have so many new yard pictures but will save the others for other posts. 

Old Becomes New........and Enjoying a Harvest

Yesterday, I made a quick walk-through of a newly discovered antique store called Adjectives.  I asked how the store got that name. He said because of the different words they heard people use describing the store. Somehow, I think they could have found a better name. But, I could think of several adjectives to describe the store and they would all be positive!  It is near where I live and I will be swinging through there on a regular basis.

One thing they have in abundance is linens - of all kinds.Very, very nice linens. This happens to be one of my favorite things to collect and use.  Unfortunately most of what they have are out of my price range.  Yesterday, I did purchase the white small cloth you see here on my butcher block.

  

My guess is it is not very old. It is in perfect condition. And, has this design on each corner and fits perfectly on the butcher block table.

This lace design is all the way around the hang-down part.

The other thing I got was this white ironstone oval dish.  I like it for its size and shape. It is shallow and I thought it would be handy for many uses. The two onions are very large which makes the dish look smaller than it is.

It is a Homer Laughlin dish.  And, on second thought, even though it looks like ironstone it may not be. I am not sure what makes ironstone, ironstone. I do know that all the Homer Laughlin things I have seen are what I think of as kitchen dishes - not fine dining china. At any rate, it is a joy for me to find something old that becomes new to me.

You have been seeing two pitchers of fresh herbs sitting on the new cloth.  I have made a promise to myself to start bringing in a few cuttings of something, flowers or herbs, on a regular basis.  Whether I use the herbs or not I love to see them up close and  they make the kitchen smell so good. Besides herb plants do better if they are clipped on a regular basis.

 

In this pitcher is parsley, bay, cilantro, rosemary and pineapple sage.  I am able to have herbs growing outside here year round.

The little pitcher holds dill and thyme.  This picture was made before I put the new cloth on.

I harvested these collards and enjoyed them for dinner tonight. 

Because most of these tomatoes were already off of the vine or at least resting on the ground, I brought them in to finish ripening on the windowsill. I looked out the window and saw a bird pecking at them and knew I needed to bring them in if I hoped to eat any. The one plant is still full of green tomatoes - the most I have ever had on a bush.

So, tonight I chopped half of one of the big onions from my new bowl and cut out the spine of the collard leaves discarded them and cut the leaves chiffonade style. Roll each leaf in a cigar shape and cut thin slices. I sauted the onions in a little bacon drippings and added the collards, covered the pan and cooked them about twenty-five minutes. They were pretty tasty but still a little too tough. They probably needed several minutes more in the pan.

I cut one small tomato and heated some black beans and that was my supper.  Had I been a bit more ambitious I would have made some cornbread.  I just play around growing a few plants to eat. I don't have a big vegetable garden, so I get a lot of enjoyment when I can eat something I have grown.  This winter I have not had a killing frost or freeze and I am sooooooooooooo hoping we get by this year without one!