Strawberries, Chocolate and Mom

Fresh, ripe strawberries and yummy chocolate.

My family seems to always know the best ways to make this day special!

Happy Mother's Day!

Fruits of Our Labors

In our hemisphere, this time of year is full of so many wonderful things...

Like apples and pears straight off the tree...

Sipping cups of tea with a spoonful of honey, while wrapped in a favorite sweater...

And color, beautiful warm, rich colors, like the setting sun, the falling leaves, and the bounty of the harvest.

It's as though the earth is reminding us to enjoy the fruits of our labors before old man winter pays us a visit.  Are you drinking in all that Autumn has to offer?!

Lovin' Spoonful

Last weekend I attended the monthly Vintage Source sale.   I swear, I don't need another thing, but every month I still go, just to see what they have. 

I go because I love the girls who run the shop, and because I know I will always find something I can't live without...like old silverplate.  There is just something so wonderful about the patina of it that draws me in like a fly to honey.

Of course I found some I just had to have, including this beautiful old berry spoon.  I mean come on, just look at that delicate pattern and beautiful tarnish...you know you would have grabbed it too if you had been there...it was 5 bucks for heaven's sake!

It goes so well with the old tarnished silverplate footed goblets I use to hold desserts.

And the handle of my swanky new berry spoon is lovely too, see that pretty beading along the edge?

While I was at it, I went ahead and picked up some silverplated dessert forks from the Vintage Source too.   I mean, you can't be served yummy berries from a beautiful spoon, gently ladled into a pretty dessert dish and then be expected to eat them with your fingers right?!  Though that may or may not have happened while I was photographing these organic raspberries.

You can however lick the spoon if you are the only one around...after you've served everyone else...that last part is very important!

Did I mention that this shoot required a good deal of taste testing...that is so important when you photograph yummy things.

Thank you Vintage Source for keeping me civilized, my grandmother would be very proud!  And no I'm not a paid spokesmodel for The Vintage Source, I'm just under their spell, like half of southern Maryland and beyond!  See you next month ladies!!!

Apple of My Eye

I love objects that are both utilitarian and beautiful, like the stoneware jug pictured above.  I think what draws me to these items for use as design elements in my home is the fact that although we use them decoratively today, their intended use was something far different.

The original owners of objects such as old crocks, jugs, baskets, etc. used them to store things, they were a convenience that they likely paid little attention to from day to day.

Yet on some level they must have thought about their form as well as their function, because they are often just as pretty as they are useful.

I have wanted a wire basket for ages, and silly me, I was so busy snapping pictures while I was in Europe that I didn't bring home a single thing for myself...not even a lovely wire basket!  I hate the practical side of myself sometimes, the one who thinks, "oh that will be hard to get home, or do you really need that?!"  I sometimes kick myself when I return from someplace special for not picking up things that can only be found in those specific places.

Lucky for me the world is now a global marketplace, and reproductions are everywhere.  I'm not a big fan of reproductions, and whenever possible I will always go for the real thing, but this time I made an exception.

A few weekends ago when we went to stay with our daughter, I ventured in to a shop on the way home that I've always wanted to pop into.  I had tried several times, but I was traveling through at odd hours and was never able to catch them when they were open.  

The shop is called Coco Blanca, and as the name implies, it is filled with wonderful tone on tone items in shades of cream and white that make you want to sell everything you have and start over.  They were unloading new merchandise the afternoon Mr. Tide and I stopped in, and I could have picked up a few pieces of furniture, glassware, and even jewelry, had I not been in a hurry to get home to dogs.  I did however, pick up the wire basket you see in the photos above.  I knew it would be a great prop for photo shoots, and when not in front of my camera, I knew it would serve a useful purpose by holding my veggies and fruits.  You have to love something that is both beautiful and serves a purpose in your life!

I will definitely be back to Coco Blanca.  I have my eye on a piece that might just work for my dining room makeover...yes I'm busy changing things up in that room...stay tuned!

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for my latest Giveaway.  If you haven't yet...click HERE to get all of the details!

That Time of Year

It's that time of year again.

When branches are weighed down with barely ripe berries.

When the hazy days of summer are in full force and nature tends to show off.

When Queen Anne's Lace fills fields and ditches, and suddenly a weed becomes a thing of beauty.

When patient puppies sit in an air conditioned truck while humans suffer 102 degree heat...

Hoping for a few of these...or maybe a lot of these!

And when even the ants are happy to be hanging out in their newly decorated abode.

Yup, it's that time of year, when a whole bowl of these seems like the perfect summertime dinner!

What does this time of year mean to you?

Red, White, and Blueberry

I hope that each of you had a wonderful 4th of July!

We watched fireworks from our dock, and enjoyed good food and good company...including this yummy blueberry pie!

I wish I could take credit for it, but my sweet neighbor made it for us as a thank you for taking care of her cats while she was away.

For pie this yummy I would cat sit any day of the week!

I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday weekend, and for those of you outside the United States and Canada, I hope your week is off to a great start! 

I think in order to be a true patriot I better go eat another slice of pie! ;-)

My Kind of Drive-Thru

When my late father retired after 38 years of government service, he decided that retirement should be about doing those things you love and have always wanted to try.

So even before he retired, back in 1989, he started gathering woodworking equipment so that he could make furniture.  And having grown up in Michigan, he had a real affinity for blueberries!  He knew all about the health benefits of these little blue berries, but it was the taste and the idea of growing organic fruit that really appealed to him.  So he planted between 40 and 50 blueberry bushes on my grandparent's small farm just down the street from where I grew up.

My grandparents had long since passed away, but they always had fruit trees, grapes, and a huge garden on the property, so I think my father wanted to carry on that legacy with his new blueberry crop.

He and my mother planted several different varieties.  Some didn't survive that first year, while others have slowly waned with each passing season.  The bush above was never a great producer and with the help of that tenacious weed called honeysuckle, it probably won't last too much longer.  And although you can't really tell it from these photos most of the healthy bushes are nearly 8 feet tall!  You need a ladder to pick the berries at the tops of the bushes so we usually let the birds have their fill of those.

Thanks to my sister "M" most of the bushes are free of honeysuckle and blackberry brambles, which also love climbing up the blueberry bushes!  And now approximately 25 bushes remain and are doing well.  Shortly after I took these pictures my sister and her husband arrived to mow around the bushes.  Now that the berries are getting ripe, she and I will take turns each week mowing to keep the weeds and ticks to a minimum!

When my parents were alive, we would all go to the farm, including the grandkids, and help pick the berries.  Then my father and mother would take them to a local farmer's market each Saturday to sell them.

Today, my niece and nephew pick and sell the berries locally.  We weren't sure how this year's crop would fair since we've had so little rain.  And it's still hard to judge since they are just starting to ripen and are always a little sour at the beginning of the season!

Mr. Tide and I used to live in the little farmhouse on the property when we were first married, and later we moved just down the street.  Each morning, on his way to work, Mr. Tide would take a small ziploc baggie with him and drive right up to the bushes and pick himself some berries "to go!"

Not much has really changed, except that the bushes are much larger!  These pictures were taken from our big SUV and you can tell from the picture above this one that these bushes are mighty tall!

During the relatively short season each year we eat our weight in blueberries, resulting in a few tummy aches over the years!  We also freeze lots to use in pies, pancakes, and blueberry lemon bread throughout the winter.  But nothing really beats a handful fresh off the bush, sweet and ripe and ready for the picking!

I wish everyone had this kind of organic drive-thru because it sure is a lot better for you than a fast food drive-thru!

Thanks to everyone who left such sweet comments about Puddin's house, I know she appreciated each and every one of them!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :-)