Treated Royally and A Shout Out

Yesterday my family gave me the royal treatment.  It started with sleeping in, followed by yummy scones for breakfast/lunch, and then a delicious dinner complete with a beautifully set table.

Our daughter came home for the weekend, which is always a treat.  I just love having everyone under one roof!

On Saturday, my son asked what I wanted for Mother's Day and I told him not a thing.  He then informed me that if I didn't tell him something I wanted, I would get something I didn't want.  

When I opened my gifts there was this single asparagus shaped taper candle (pictured above) and as I pulled it out he was grinning from ear to ear...so was my daughter who had gone shopping with him!  He said it was the ugliest thing he could find and that because I hadn't given him any ideas this was my "something you don't want" present.  I hate to tell him, but the joke was on him since I like my pretty little asparagus candle, and my only disappointment was that he could only find one!

Along with the soaps, a gift certificate, and the candle, I also received this wonderful book Perfect English by Ros Byam Shaw with photography by Chris Tubbs.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile now, then you know how much I LOVE design books, especially beautifully photographed ones and this one did not disappoint!

It's full of wonderful text and glorious imagery of quintessential English country design and decor, which allows it to live up to the title of Perfect English!

My roses are now in full bloom, and my daughter created a lovely table arrangement for my Mother's Day feast yesterday evening.  We had grilled steaks, fresh asparagus, organic potatoes, and berry sherbet for dessert...yum!

Mr. Tide's gift to me was doing a ton of yard work this past weekend and buying me some blueberry bushes and flowers that will bring me lots of enjoyment for years to come!

I also treated myself to a few pretties the past few weeks, including these lovely green cut glass votive holders, which we used at dinner last night.  I also picked up a few pieces from Mason Cash to add to my ever growing bowl collection.  I bought a set of pudding basins, a mixing bowl, and then 4 small oval baking dishes which I hope to use to bake individual pot pies this winter, or maybe yummy creme brulee!

I hope you all had equally wonderful Mother's Day celebrations yesterday!  And thank you to my family for helping make my job as a mother very easy!!!

This week will be another busy one as I am hosting our local garden club this evening, working on a story that was due 2 months ago (yeah this is the life of a writer sometimes...things get delayed or pushed back and you just have to go with the flow), a photo shoot on Wednesday, and I have an art show this weekend that I'll tell you more about in an upcoming post, so it's push time!

But before I go, I wanted to give a shout out to my dear friend Fifi O'Neill!  Her book has been burning up the charts...and is topping lists everywhere!  Congratulations Fifi, I can't think of a more deserving person!!! xoxo

Romantic Prairie Style ranked #6 in sales on Nielsen Bookscan
for two weeks in a row in the Hardcover House & Home category, as reported in the
Best-Selling Books listing (week ended April 17th) in the April 23, 2011 edition of
The Wall Street Journal
Circulation: 9,963,418

Happy Mother's Day

Wishing you...

A Very...

Happy...

Mother's Day!!!

Overwhelmed

I truly can't thank you enough for your kind words of sympathy and support about us losing Miss Kylee.

We have spent the past few days reorienting ourselves to life without her, and I have to say that it still feels weird to not have her at my feet as I type, or to not need to take her out or give her the various medications she was on for the past 6 months.  But we are getting there, and we know that she is free of pain and happy. 

This week has been one filled with emotion starting with putting my parent's house on the market, losing Miss Kylee , and then my sister "K" unexpectedly had her gallbladder removed yesterday after suffering a bout of pancreatitis on Wednesday.

But even with the emotional lows that life sometimes presents us with, there are always rays of sunshine that find their way through the darkest cloud filled skies.


 

No matter how sad you might be one moment, there are always things to lift your heart and mind if you just look around you.  Like bluebirds and sunshine...warm breezes and flowers...and hugs from your family or wet puppy kisses.  Life goes on, and we learn to cope with the losses we experience throughout life.

To those of you who have helped brighten my day with your wonderful words, I want to tell you that right now I'm overwhelmed.  But I'm overwhelmed in a good way, and for that I am forever grateful!

No Words

Today we lost a beloved member of our family, our sweet Miss Kylee.  She was smart, loyal, crazy, energetic and always loving.  We will miss her dearly, but in her all too short 10 1/2 years she imprinted herself on our hearts so that she will never be forgotten.  

There are no words which can fully convey the depth of our sorrow, but we know that she is in a better place with all the tennis balls she wants!  Love you girl!

I'll Drink To That

My parent's, house aka the house I grew up in, goes on the market this Thursday...as in 2 days from now!  So it's major crunch time, with all of us scrambling to finish up the last few details, like mowing the grass, buffing hardwood floors, and power washing the patio.


 

I have my fingers crossed that it will be a quick and painless sale, but the realist in me knows it will likely take a while.  In my spare time, I've been trying to get my own house ready for the warmer weather, and last weekend we did some plant shopping and weeding.

Along with some daisies, verbena, and lantana, I also picked up this sweet little recycled glass, made from an old black cherry soda bottle.

As a child, I used to pick forget-me-nots, violets, or lily of the valley in our yard and proudly trundle inside to present them to my mother.  She always had a tiny juice glass to put them in, and she would place them in the kitchen where she could enjoy them since she spent lots of time there cooking for a family of 6.

As soon as I saw these tiny glasses, it reminded me of those days.  With this recycled glass, I now have my very own makeshift vase that I can fill with forget-me-nots or any other small flower that strikes my fancy.  Today it is filled with daisies...but who knows what tomorrow will bring!

Apple Pie

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Feeling a Little Sheepish

Is there anything quite as cute as spring lambs?!

The way they jump and frolick in the fresh green grass is so cute!

Or how they play hide and seek behind an old turned over feeding trough.

I get to see these cuties each and every day, and they make me smile when I see their darling faces, and sweet wooly coats.

There are 4 of them this year, all of them have the most kissable faces.

Don't you just want to hug them?!

I hope each of you will find something to make you smile this week. 

Perfect

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a morning person.  I tend to go to bed late and wake up after the sun is up and brightly shining.

So when I asked Mr. Tide to wake me this morning as he got ready for work (when he goes into the city he has to get up at an ungodly hour) so that I could watch the royal wedding, even he was skeptical that I would actually get up.

I have to admit that after going to bed at 1:00 am, I was a bit skeptical myself, but when he did wake me this morning I was bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to tune in to watch history in the making.

I haven't followed along all these months with the hype and speculation about this wedding, but I think as a mother there was a part of me that wanted to be there for Prince William on such an important day when his own mother would be absent, at least physically.

And as I sipped tea I purchased in London from my very English Wedgwood china I was filled with emotion, something that caught me completely by surprise.  If I was asked to pick just one word to sum up what I thought of the wedding, it would be "perfect."  From the dress to the pomp and circumstance it was all very magical to watch.

Although we all know that life is never perfect, I hope for Kate and William what I hope for every bride and groom...that their life will be as close to perfect as it can be, and that they will know the kind of love that Mr. Tide and I have shared for almost 25 years!

Today, I think all of us were a wee bit British!