"Are We There Yet"???

As I began my day today my thoughts have been "FULL" of ideas based around my gardens... Everyone is bubbling with exciting news from "all over" about the first signs of Spring emerging from their landscapes... Even Mr Groundhog has announced "Spring is Here... "Well Almost"!!! BUT what no one knows is that MY CORNER of Connecticut is "Still Under a Thick Blanket of White"!!! Mr G-Hogs news rapidly spread throughout our lands AND it won't take you long to "Spot the Spring Inspector" in MY above photo!!!

"Well"??? says all the little voices from below??? "Is it Spring Yet"??? "Can we come out and frolic"???

What's a little guy to do when he's been PROMISED by a shadowless groundhog that Spring is here and all your little ones are "Frantically Waiting" to "Scurry OUT of their hole in the ground"!!! I Tell you all, "It's NOT SAFE out here"... I warned you all not to over indulge in our stashed pantry leaving us a ration of only an acorn a day till we can emerge...

My Dearest Blogging Friends... THIS may be the nearest I am to a "Spring Sprout"... Mother Natures "Little Critter Crocus"... I actually feel the same way he does... Every morning I pop my head out my front door to sniff the air and ask the question "Are We There Yet"??? Are the temps going to rise to melt all this white today???

"MAYBE" if I "STRETCH" my neck a little higher the white tundra will disappear.........OR.........MAYBE not!!! But you must admit I'm awful cute POPPED up looking like a little weasel???

Do you see how deep the snow IS in my backyard??? As deep as it is HERE...This is like a dusting beside what is in my Front Yard!!!

NOW here's My Question! First note the depth of the snow around the birdbath, THEN figure in the height of that cute little chipmunk that has his head sticking out of the snow...NOW tell me how many of his little buddies are standing on each others shoulders to achieve this great height???

It only took 2 dwarfs piled to dance with "Sno"... Not to get sidetracked BUT if you want to watch this adorable clip from Disney's Snow White, this is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMhmVVB4flg  ...Just remember to come back here to leave me a comment so I'll "Know you were here"... I DO LOVE company and do NOT want to miss you... AND if you are not a follower, I would LOVE,LOVE,LOVE to have you FOLLOW ME!!!

Can you read my adorable "Lil' Chippy Mind"???

"You guessed it"! "Lots of Green with Acorn Highlights"!!! "Ahhh... Life is Great"!!!

"I'M LINKING TO"
"Outdoor Wednesday"
http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/2011/03/39-outdoor-wednesday-113.html 

"Home Sweet Home@The Charm of Home"
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/2011/03/home-sweet-home-4.html 

"Friday Pretties@I Love Pretty Little Things"
http://iloveprettylittlethings.blogspot.com/2011/03/its-little-things-that-show-love.html 

"Wow Us Wednesday@Savvy Southern Style"
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/2011/03/wow-us-wednesdays-4-and-new-life-for.html
"White Wednesday@Faded Charm"...
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/2011/03/white-wednesday-89.html

"By Gone Era Treasure"...

Recently I won a giveaway @ The Frosted Gardner http://frostedgardner.blogspot.com/2010/12/one-for-me-and-one-for-you-giveaway.html

You cannot imagine how excited I was to win this projector... The memories of "Our Families Movie night" are embedded in My Favorite Things... It was SO Much Fun when Dad would announce he was setting up the projector AND my brother and I had the job of setting up the screen... Do you remember those old screens we had??? Mom had gotten ours with "Green Stamps" and I thought it was SO Futuristic!

How about some sweet old songs to play in the background?

We have a special guest coming so Mom has set an extra place for tea...  My Dad needed LOTS of room on the table for "SPLICING"... Do you all remember splicing??? It was a major part of movie night and came with "STEPS"...First there was a "SNAP"... Then there was a "BLANK SCREEN"... Then Dad would yell "LIGHTS"... Next was "INTERMISSION"!!! everyone would scatter and Dad would be mumbling that if we didn't "STAY PUT" he was "Packing Up"... My Dad had ALL the newfangled gadgets and whatnots to get the film back rolling as QUICK AS A FLASHHHHHHHHH!!! Sometimes the steps above would be repeated 2 or 3 times in the course of the evening...

And the Sweet Background Music Plays On...

This little pottery set is "Prinknash Pottery" from England... The Little Puzzle Jug has a mark on the bottom that identifies it as Dragon Pottery Rhayader, made in Wales... The Prinknash Abbey Pottery was founded in 1942 by the monks when they discovered a seam of clay during some building work... Their work is typically red earthenware often with a metallic glaze... Mine is all "gun metal glaze"...

This is the look of anticipation of the moving pictures OR the fresh baked cookies that are about to come out of the oven OR "Both"...

Watching movie or slides was always SO Much more fun that getting our pictures taken... Do we all remember those "Blinding" camera lights and Dad telling us to look up at the camera as we "Scrunched out little faces in the most painful of looks"??? I'm sure if there is a man in the moon he saw those lights beaming out into space... It didn't matter that they were inside the house because they had the power to penetrate walls!!!

"Movies & Cookies"!!!

My Brother Loved it when Dad would let him help...But then Dad would be watching Joey and not the movies...

Add caption

A few of my newest treasure finds...

Our Guest has arrived...Mr Gary Cooper's daughter has joined us tonight... She is such a fan of "Old Films & Slide Shows"... It's So wonderful to see her again...

"Ms Maria Cooper Janis was such a special lady who loved her father more than life itself"... I first met her at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut when she published this book about her life with her Famous Dad... This Abbey is not far from where I live... The Nuns are the sweetest accommodating group you could Ever Met!  The day Ms Cooper was there,  not many people came to see her BUT she was accompanied by James Douglas... And with us were Skitch Henderson and Richard Widmark(Who all live here)... We have lost Mr Henderson and Mr Widmark since then... I had also met Patricia Neal at the Abbey. My Mom was with me that day and Ms Neal and my Mom had a fine time together... This is the Abbey's website http://www.abbeyofreginalaudis.com/sitelive/index.htm

This is where my Prinknash Pottery was made by "The Benedictine Monks of the Abbey in Granham"... Gloucestershire...

http://frostedgardner.blogspot.com/2010/12/one-for-me-and-one-for-you-giveaway.html
The frosted Gardner is who made my post possible this evening... It was their generosity that gave me my focal point for this wonderful "By Gone Era Treasure" and brought back so many precious memories ... Please drop in to their "Land Of Blog" where you will see how talented Melanie and Mike are as a 
team... They give Old Furniture New Life again in the most Beautiful ways... You will want to Follow them in their adventures... I LOVE their Blog!
Thank you again, and again Melanie and Mike for my Slide Projector, it has become quite a conversation piece in our home and has been claimed by my youngest son who plans on re-cording it so we can use it with our own slides...
"Giant Hugs to you Both"... 

I'M LINKING TO
"Treasure and Trinket Party@My Cottage Charm"
http://mycottagecharm.blogspot.com/2011/03/thrifting-finds-for-friday-and-treasure.html 

"Memory Lane Monday"(the last Monday of every month)@Brynwood Needleworks"
http://brynwoodneedleworks.blogspot.com/2011/02/memory-lane-monday.html 

"Show off your cottages Monday@The house in the roses"
http://houseinroses.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-off-your-cottage-monday_25.html
"Fabulous Friday@Frou Frou Decor"
http://froufroudecor.blogspot.com/2011/02/fabulous-friday-finds-party_24.html 

"Feathered Nest Friday@French Country Cottage"
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2011/02/old-frames-china-feathered-nest-friday.html 

"Show and Tell Friday@My Romantic Home"
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-and-tell-friday_24.html 

"Vintage Inspiration Friday@Common Ground"
http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/02/vintage-inspiration-friday-26-thinking.html 

"Home Sweet Home@The Charm of Home"
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/2011/02/home-sweet-home-3.html 

"Friday Pretties@I Love Pretty little things"
http://iloveprettylittlethings.blogspot.com/2011/02/sweet-friday-pretties.html
 
"Between Naps on the Porch"@
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/02/celebrating-color-with-april-cornell.html 

"Vintage Thingy Thursday@Colorado Lady"
http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/2011/02/vintage-thingie-thursday-vintage-girly.html
"White Wednesday@Faded Charm"...
http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/2011/02/white-wednesday-88.html

Alfalfa and Darla's Valentine's Day

"Breakfast at Tiffany's"

"Let's have Chocolate for Breakfast"!

There are no rules when you are with your Sweetheart... Swiss Chocolate makes a sensational appetizer...

Do you see that "Chocolate Bread"??? It is packed with deep dark chunks of luscious Swiss Chocolate...Only the Best for my Honey Bun!!!
My taste buds are guessing here that the recipe is close to a pumpernickel(maybe) with just the right amount of cocoa added AND of course large very dark chocolate chunks... Does anyone have a recipe for this??? "Joni or Jackie I'm counting on you"???

"There will be Lots of Chocolat Kisses Today"...

Did you know that Valentine's Day is when our avian friends take their Sweethearts??? As I look outside on this Cold & Frosty Day I can see the birds of the air swirling in Loves Splendor...

The center of my table holds something very dear to me. Do you see the "Stone Tile" the Love Birds are resting upon??? I carried a half a dozen or so back from France when Hubby and I were visiting, A Very Long Time ago! These TILES were from the demolition and remodel of the most Beautiful French Chateau... I didn't know what I would do with them BUT "I had to have some"...I would have brought more if I wasn't getting the SAME Looks as Lucy did when she collected Boulders in "The Long Long Trailer"(one of my VERY FAVORITE movies, You can see "THE LOOK" here plus Lucy's bonus book review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lyS9FYUcXc&feature=related)... Hubby made lots of statements to me like, "I MAY have to go home by a slow ship"...AND... "I'm not carrying your bags"... "Oh My Goodness, is he Romantic or What"???

Oh How I LOVE this Movie! This sheet music is "Mine,Mine,Mine" and I've played it and sung it "So Many Times I don't need the sheet music at all"!!! Here's the link to a little tease from the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7SI7N22k_A

"I Really Liked this book"... The day it was released I bought it...Oh Did I have a hard time getting home to start it. It was one of those reads that was "Delicious"... Was it perfect??? "No"... All I'll say is that I'm an old fashioned girl that really likes to read "Between the Lines" and this is "All Spelled Out"... And I believe Mr Capella drifted a few times... Do I recommend you read it??? "ABSOLUTELY"!!! Just LOOK at that cover!!! It is quite an adventure that will "Take You Away"...

Add caption

The coffee I'm serving this morning is "Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Blend"... I watched the process of the raw beans being roasted to create this delicious brew... "Did you ever see a raw coffee bean"??? We have a Dairy Store here that started as only a tent on a lot and NOW it's in the book of world records for being the worlds largest dairy store... If you ever come to Connecticut you will need to visit "Stew Leonard's"!!!

I collected a pair of these generous mugs about a decade ago... I still tingle when I look at them... Aren't they Sweet?

Add caption

An Antique Jar "Stuffed" with Chocolat..."Priceless"!!!

Add caption

Add caption

Belgique is a lovely little shop located in a trim Victorian carriage house with a small parking lot and a cobblestone walkway. Its masterworks are grand cakes and tarts that are objets d’art as well as elaborate centerpieces of white and dark chocolate in the shape of birds, carriages, and castles. But you don’t have to be planning a wedding or deluxe party to partake of Belgique’s high-butterfat goodness. Its shelves are stocked with imported chocolates sold by the piece or pound as well as mouth-watering pralines that are made on premises.

The inventory of sweets includes truffles, small fruit tarts, and cookies – each lovely to look at, deliriously good to eat. Also on the menu for slaking the thirst inevitably generated by too much chocolate eating are bottles of mineral water and sparkling water … as well as real hot chocolate to drink. Our personal favorite item to take home is the dark bitter chocolate ganache cake with almond sponge, accompanied by a pint of vanilla-bean flavored crème Anglaise.

If you have a sweet tooth, with a particular predilection for chocolate, a visit to Belgique is a satisfying taste of heaven... A roadfood.com review...

This is to accompany my Chocolat Bread...

"We are Now Drifting off to Paris"... where a birds eye view from the Eiffel Tower will bring on an appetite for a special Paris Dining Treat...

Auberge Le Dauphin

Calm and intimate: those are probably the words that best describe this beautiful Norman house, at the heart of the Pays d’Auge. Didn’t Queen Elisabeth herself have lunch there in 1987 ?

Régis Lecomte, back home after several years working in some big restaurants in Paris, has chosen truly country-like surroundings, combining them with the looks of a traditional Norman half-timbered house.

"I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day"!!! However you celebrate is not as important as the feeling the day brings... Take a moment to remember all the people,  furry/feathered friends & things, that have touched your heart now, in the past, and forever more... "Hugs & Kisses" To you All!!!

I'm Linking to
A Few of My Favorite Things@Bargain Hunting with Laurie
http://bargainhuntingwithlaurie.blogspot.com/ 
SHOW and TELL FRIDAY@ My Romantic Home
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-and-tell-friday_17.html
FRIDAY FAVORITES@ The Whistlestop Cafe
http://whistlestopcooking.blogspot.com/2011/02/fridays-favorites-toomers-oaks.html 

HOME SWEET HOME FRIDAY@The Charm of Home
http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/2011/02/home-sweet-home-2.html
 
FEATHERED NEST FRIDAY@
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2011/02/bedroom-inspirations-welcome-to.html 

Debra@COMMON GROUND
http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/02/vintage-inspiration-friday-25-where-to.html 

Friday Pretties with I LOVE PRETTY LITTLE THINGS
http://iloveprettylittlethings.blogspot.com/ 

Thursday@BETWEEN NAPS on the PORCH

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/02/your-beautiful-tablescapes-welcome-to.html 

VINTAGE THINGIE THURSDAY@ Colorado Lady

http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/2011/02/vintage-thingies-thursday-vintage.html 

"IT'S REDNESDAY"

http://suelovescherries.blogspot.com/search/label/Rednesday 

"TUESDAY TEA FOR TWO"@ The Plumed Pen

http://theplumedpen.blogspot.com/2011/02/w-elcome-to-70th-tuesday-tea-for-two.html 

"TABLE TOP TUESDAY"@ A Stroll Thru Life

http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/2011/02/52nd-table-top-tuesday-giveaway.html 

"TEA TIME TUESDAY"

http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-valentines-day-tea-time-tuesday.html 

Moon River - Breakfast at Tiffanys

"THE DISCOVERY OF CHOCOLATE"

 "Click on my link to Explore my Chocolate World"...http://conghailecottage.blogspot.com/2010/08/discovery-of-chocolate.html

 This post can be seen with LOTS of chocolate goodies @http://conghailecottage.blogspot.com/2010/08/discovery-of-chocolate.html

"My obsession with Chocolate did not start with James Runcie's book nor was it Joanne Harris' CHOCOLAT... Not even was it the delightful mo..."

Victorian Valentines & Gifts From the Heart...

"I LOVE collecting these Victorian Valentines" probably as much as the original Love that the cards exchanged... I particularly look for these with the little 3-D tissue fold outs(The two pictured here are German)...I think that I am "Drawn" to the 3-D honeycomb ones because it reminds me of my Dad and his Christmas tissue honeycomb bells that he would hang from EVERY light fixture in our home! I would stand under him on his chair as he reached up high and hung them in place...

"I just picked up this FUN READ"... It didn't take long to get trapped into it's spell... It's a delightful story mixing Food & Love(just as the title implies)

My two youngest sons gave me this Valentine card MANY Moon Ago... Do you see the Heart with a Smile in the middle of the bouquet?(That is Moi)

The cherry pie you see is actually hand carved out of a single piece of wood... The man that made these used to make them exclusively for a few chosen bakeries in Manhattan(He is now retired)... It looks So Real, even up close you can almost smell it...

Almost every detail of my table tonight is a gift from all my favorite people...My Husband, sons, family and friends... All the people who grace my life with Their warmth and comfort... "Life is Good"!!!

Please be warned that Mr Capella has an incredible ability with words... This is going to have you craving all sorts of culinary temptations... AND "You will probably gain a pound or two along his chapters"...BUT I guarantee it will be a delicious ride for you to travel...

Ms Sweet Lil' Hershey Kisses is always so delighted to attend a tea party... She can sweeten anyone's day!
(Little Miss Hershey Kisses is a Madame Alexander Doll) 

Ceramics was one of my hobbies back in the early 70s... This was the smallest and favorite of a set of canisters I had made... Although I have used this little cupcake quite often the remainder of the set stays Tucked away waiting for someone to say "They would LOVE to own it" and Magically it will be theirs! I think I have had a few hints from my youngest son BUT nothing definite YET!

Nothing whispers "Sweetheart" like Roses&Orchids... I love this combination throughout the winter season until the Pastels of Spring breath their fresh air upon us once more...

This little bear just loves to pour cream from my antique German transferware "Burgenland"... I didn't have the heart to tell her to wait for the tea...

"Happy Valentine's Day" XOXOXO

I'm Linking To
http://breathoffreshair-paperbutterfly.blogspot.com/2011/02/41st-teapot-and-tea-things-tuesday.html 

http://houseinroses.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-off-your-cottage-monday.html 

http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com/2011/02/door-decor-seasonal-sundays-35.html 

http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/02/pink-saturday-february-5-2011.html 

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-and-tell-friday.html 

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2011/02/red-silver-feathered-nest-friday-no-20.html 

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/02/valentines-day-table-setting-welcome-to.html 

http://suelovescherries.blogspot.com/2011/02/rednesday.html 

 http://www.aholidayhaven.com/

http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/2011/01/50th-table-top-tuesday.html 

http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/2011/01/ruby-tuesday_31.html