FEATURED SPACES AND MORE 1/31/2023

In my last post, I talked about our false spring in Georgia. 

Even though our spring-like days are intermittent, they still have me thinking of the warm days ahead.

Fabulous Home Decor

Okay, I know I don't have a porch of my own, but that doesn't keep me from drooling over other people's porches.

I love this rustic back porch at Blue Willow Home And Farm. It reminds me of summers in the country when I was growing up. 

Are you sick of cold weather, piles of snow, and just plain old winter? 

Even though my weather is much milder I know I am so ready for bright sunny days. 

How sunny and bright is this living room by Lantern Lane Designs. 

It would be hard to feel gloomy here.

We can't all have a 19th century apartment in Paris and an 18th century home on Cape Cod, but we can drool over Cedar and Limestones. 

We can also add a beautiful gold mirror to make us feel like we are living French chic. 

An English cottage kitchen? Yes please.

Whats' not to like about racks filled with beautiful plates, antiques, ceiling beams, and even a place for your sweet dog.

Find out more at Decor Curator.

I absolutely love everything about this living room. I could happily settle in for an afternoon of reading.

Find out more about how this room came together here.

Good Eating

Growing up in Canada where winters were extremely cold and seemed to go on forever I can remember that one of my favorite cold weather meals was good old fashioned beef stew.

My mom cooked a lot of fancy meals, but no meal was better than this.

I loved walking in the door after school or a day of ice skating to the smell of a pot of it simmering on the stove. 

You don't have to live in the frozen north to appreciate a bowl of stew for dinner.

Paula Deen has created a stew that will definitely warm you up. 

So did you save room for dessert?

You will definitely want to try a piece of this chocolate chip cookie pie.

It's warm and gooey with a shortbread cookie crust.

Okay, I know spring is just around the corner and you are worried about fitting into those shorts, but you have just enough time for one more indulgence.

Great Reads

My wonderful grandson gave me the latest Louise Penny book that I have been dying to read and I finally had a chance to start in on it this week. 

A World Of Curiosities is just as great as all of her other books. I love the suspense along with her superb writing. 

From Amazon:

It’s spring and Three Pines is reemerging after the harsh winter. But not everything buried should come alive again. Not everything lying dormant should reemerge.

But something has.

As the villagers prepare for a special celebration, Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir find themselves increasingly worried. A young man and woman have reappeared in the Sûreté du Québec investigators’ lives after many years. The two were young children when their troubled mother was murdered, leaving them damaged, shattered. Now they’ve arrived in the village of Three Pines.

But to what end?

Gamache and Beauvoir’s memories of that tragic case, the one that first brought them together, come rushing back. Did their mother’s murder hurt them beyond repair? Have those terrible wounds, buried for decades, festered and are now about to erupt?

As Chief Inspector Gamache works to uncover answers, his alarm grows when a letter written by a long dead stone mason is discovered. In it the man describes his terror when bricking up an attic room somewhere in the village. Every word of the 160-year-old letter is filled with dread. When the room is found, the villagers decide to open it up.

As the bricks are removed, Gamache, Beauvoir and the villagers discover a world of curiosities. But the head of homicide soon realizes there’s more in that room than meets the eye. There are puzzles within puzzles, and hidden messages warning of mayhem and revenge.

In unsealing that room, an old enemy is released into their world. Into their lives. And into the very heart of Armand Gamache’s home.

Amazon

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