The Schoolhouse Kitchen

Hello everyone!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend. I thought I would give you a tour of our country kitchen. Part of our home was built in 1885 and was an old two room schoolhouse. The walls of these rooms are wormy chestnut with original floors and ceilings as well. My husband sand blasted all the old paint and brought it back to the original wormy chestnut, which is a dark wood.  Most of my dining room and my daughter's bedroom is also wormy chestnut wood. Six years ago we added a new kitchen with a large butcher block and wagon wheel that holds my cast iron skillets.  I had trouble getting a picture of the wagon wheel, so that will have to wait for another post. 

This kitchen is the centerpiece of our house as we all work and play from home...most days three meals are served here. 

I hope you enjoy my little photo tour....

"Ah! There's nothing like staying home for real comfort."

--Jane Austen

"Soul food is just what the name implies. It is soulfully cooked food or richly flavored food, good for your ever-loving soul."

--Sheila Fergusom

Thanks for visiting!

Erin

Shade Favorites

Hello everyone! 

We still have about 10 inches of snow here, so I am busy dreaming of green things. My garden is mostly a shade garden as we live in the woods. I thought I would share some of my favorite shade plants from my gardens with you. 

Do you have a favorite shade plant?

Hostas are plentiful in my gardens...

Astilbes are a favorite...

"The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness."

--John Muir

"Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn."

---Elizabeth Lawrence

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for visiting,

Erin

A Winter Walk

"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society, where non intrudes,

By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:

I love not Man the less, but Nature more."

--Lord Byron

"Happy are those that see beauty in modest spots where others see nothing. Everything is beautiful, the whole secret lies in knowing how to interpret it." --Camille Pissarro

Thanks for visiting!

Erin

Looking Back on the Garden

" Work is love made visible." --Kahlil Gibran

"Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it." --Buddha

"Bloom where you're planted." --- Mary Engelbreit

Thanks for visiting!

Erin

Looking Back--Daylilies

Hello everyone!

 Are you starting to browse through those garden magazines with dreams of what you want to plant in the new growing season ahead? I know, I am.  Daylilies and peonies seem to top my new planting list.  Peonies are deer resistant and daylilies are just so easy to grow and move around the garden.  I have many varieties of daylilies already growing in my garden, However, there are so many out there that it would be fun to add more variety.

 Do you have a favorite peony or daylily?

My daylilies include the following:

Ice Cream

Always Afternoon

Panic in Detroit

Will Kemp
Art of Seduction

El Desperado

Gardener's Joy

Savannah

Hush Little Baby

Anna Welch

Jay

Lullaby Baby

Elegant Candy

Pirates Patch

Bitsy

New Series

Winter Masquerade

Ruffled Pantaloon

Don't you just love the names?  It is tempting to just shop by name without ever viewing the flower!

There are so many varieties of cone flowers as well. My shopping list is growing!

Adding some new hosta varieties would also be fun! Let me know if you have a favorite!

My garden helpers...

"Home is the heart of life...Home is where we feel at ease, where we belong, where we can create  surroundings that reflect our tastes and pleasures."  --Terence Conran

Thanks for visiting!

Erin