I saw the above mug and thought that it was just beautiful.  The little sparkly tea infuser is just a fun touch.

And then what is more Spring then a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.   I put the recipe on my pie board on my Pinterest.

Vanilla ice cream with the Strawberry Rhubarb pie.  Yum!  I like the crystal serving dish also.

Today on QVC, Valarie Bertinelli had a set of serving bowls.  I love the yellow bowls.  So cute and they were on easy pay of just $9.00 a month for 3 months.  I mean what a find.  Such a nice touch to add to the kitchen.  She said they were like kitchen jewelry.

The inside pattern was just so Italian Tuscany and the braid around the top and handles.  I just love them.

Then Valarie had a bakeware set complete with trivets.  I just loved that set.  The set came in several colors, but I just love the yellow.  She designed the sets.

I could just see making some lasagna in that baking pan.  I love it.  Then she said that she made banana bread in that bread pan.

I like the ideas on my Instagram and the above containers for the fridge are awesome.  I have the egg container and one for my salad greens.  I’d like to get a couple more containers because they really work in keeping produce fresh.

I like the Pioneer Woman line of dishes.  The sugar bowl and tea-pot has been at the Walmart this last summer and also that little braided place mat.  I love the napkins and have several sets of them.  I also have that little cow creamer which is just too cute.  And I own that little plate which I love.

I love those fancy cakes that you make in a bunt pan.  King Arthur Flour has a recipe on it’s website for the above Orange Pound Cake with Bourbon Glaze.  Yum!

And if Valarie Bertinelli didn’t have enough to tempt people to buy on QVC today, she had a line of her own wine that she went to a California Vineyard and made up blends herself that would go good with food.  A Chardonnay, a Rose, a Cabernet and another Italian one that I never heard of but sounded awesome.

The above photo is a photo of the Vermont side looking over Lake Champlain to the New York Aidirondak mountains.  So beautiful.  I went to school up in Burlington which overlooks Lake Champlain, many years ago, and I will always remember how clean the air was and how beautiful the views of Lake Champlain were.  It’s actually one of the most beautiful places in Vermont.

And that’s my thoughts for today.  Have a beautiful day!

 

I would like a nice Latte this morning, but will settle for my regular coffee that I make.  At least it’s dark roast Starbucks.  I love how they make that heart with the froth from the machine.  It’s very easy to do and looks so fancy.   You just need a coffee machine that has the milk frother on it.  On youtube there are several videos that show how they make all kinds of patterns on the coffee.

I love anything French and I love dinnerware.  In my Email this morning I got the link to a sale that Sur la table has on their website for almost half price on a lot of Jacque Pepin dinnerware.  Really, really good deals and if you spend over $59.00 it’s free shipping.  I saw some really must haves but will have to pass on them from the budget already over taxed.

The above cute mug is usually $20.00 and is on sale for $9.99.  So precious and kind of a keepsake from one of my favorite French cooks.  Jacque Pepin designed the whole line of his dinnerware.

Then Jacque Pepin copper cookware.  So professional and so very beautiful.  I think that if I could get just one item of it I might choose the covered sautee pan.   Then that Staub enamel covered pot with the rooster nob.  It’s just so French and so cute to have for the kitchen.  I love the burgandy color of it, also.

I love the cute potholder that is half price on their sale.

The salt and pepper shakers are just plain adorable.  They are half price also.

Then the pasta bowls.  I just love them.  They are on sale for $49.00 for four of them.   I think that regulary they are about $30.00 for one.  Nice deal.

For what I could possibly swing would be the mug, the pot holder and the salt and pepper shakers.   Then I have a code for 20% off for one which would cover the shipping.  The code is 4C2NBX78FB which I don’t know how long will work and I would use that because I can not afford to spend over $59.00 to get free shipping.  But if you spend $59.00 you can take 20% off the most expensive item which is cool and get free shipping.  I just love sales.   Love, love, love them.  Especially at Sur la table.

The chicken, wine and mushrooms in the above photo is like my best fantacy.  Love it.

And then a fantacy for summer would be a pizza oven.  Wouldn’t that be fun to have!

And then grill like you mean it with a really neat grill for summer.

It has been one chilly and cloudy day every day for quite a while now.  This time of year really is the pits.  So I have to think of fun things to cheer up unreal weather in this area.

And that is my thoughts for the day from a hurting soul stuck in Vermont April weather.  It’s kind of fun to go shopping on the internet.  What a fun escape.

 

I love the idea of a little container in the fridge for healthy snacks.  Some hummus, string cheese, yogurt, carot sticks, celery sticks, grapes, almond butter.  When I was in the Price Chopper yesterday I saw a California blend of almonds, cranberries, pistachios, raisins which I like.  They were on sale and buy one get one free.  So I got two of them for less then the price of one at my regular grocery store.  Love it!

And then I have been looking for a white Hyacinth for my table.  And lo and behold, there was a white Hyacinth at the Price Chopper.   In my cart it went and I just love it.  Every time I look at it I smile because it just is something that lifts my spirits.

Then I had a dollar coupon for my favorite wine.  At Price Chopper coupons are doubled and I got $2.00 off.  Which was good, but the wine was marked up and the coupon only brought it down to what I pay at my regular grocery store.    But I had some microwave Newmans popcorn at home and a nice glass of wine and some popcorn was a nice pick me up to watch TV last night.

And then at Price Chopper they have the TGIF Buffalo Chicken Wings in the frozen foods for like $3.45.  I love them and you just throw them in the microwave 3 minute each side.  I make some blue cheese dip and cut up some celery sticks and I have happy hour when I got home.  I mean it just makes no dishes hardly and it’s just plain fun.

Then at Targets I found two cute nightshirts that one of my favorite bloggers said were available at Targets.  So cute and I can’t believe they were available and they just help to make Spring days bearable.  How cute to wear while making coffee in the morning.

I own a pair of “lambie” slippers that just are cozy and make me smile.  They are perfect with the nightshirts.

When the weather gets to me, I think of a “happy place” and meditate on that.  Always lifts my spirits.

This time of year in Vermont is not really livable.  I mean no leaves on the trees, mud season and chilly.  I would love it if we could have a small vacation to where it is warm and sunny.  Even for a little while to get away.

I try to make the most of each day.  You have to be good to yourself before you can be good to other people.

Yesterday I got in a bad mood because I spent about 2 hours working on a photo birthday card on line for my daughter in law’s birthday which was yesterday.  I put a lot of thought into it and sent it to Walgreens.  It’s same day pick up and takes only a few hours for them to process.  I got there and they said they never received it to process.  I was very disappointed and could not imagine what I had done wrong as I have made a ton of these cards and they always go through, no problem.   But this ruined my day.  I spent about an hour picking out a suitable Hallmark card for my daughter in law.  When I got home I looked in my Email and there was the notification that they received my order for the photo card and that was at 9:30 in the morning and it would be ready in 2 hours or so.   They claimed they never received it at the store.  I then looked at the status of the card on line and they said that it was in process.

So that is why for the rest of the day that I tried to lift my spirits.

It’s very easy to get depressed this time of year in this area.   So it’s important to stay focused on other people and forget things that bother you.  I don’t watch the news and even the weather is depressing to see.   It actually snowed here the day before yesterday.  They have beautiful skiing at Okemo.  Unreal.  At least the snow didn’t stick to the ground here and most of the snow is gone.

 

 

 

I really like Le Creuset cookware anyways.  But the new color that they came out with that is like a lavender color and they call it “Provence” is just beautiful.

They even have Le Creuset soup dishes in the lavender color.

That Le Creuset braiser in the Povence color is just so Spring like and I just love the lavender color.

I just love the tablescape idea with the lavender candles, a little lavender tied into the napkins.  It’s just elegant and very French.

Le Creuset also has a new color called Fleur Heritage.  It goes good with the Provence lavender.

 

I saw a really neat ice cream cone that was made with a home made waffle cone.  Then they shaped the ice cream into a rose.  Yum!

Le Creuset also has a new pot that has a flower for the top handle.  I love the sunshine color also.

I like the little  Cocotte in the Provence color, also.

Le Creuset is very expensive and I  only have 3 pieces of it in the Carabean color which I also love.  I have a grill frypan, a braiser and a 4 quart dutch oven.  I make a lot of soups in the dutch oven.  Some day I’m going to get something in the Provence color.  A sauce pan and the braiser would be awesome to own.  Then the fleur heritage casserole dish would match beautiful to both the Provence and the Carabean.

We got snow here today.  I couldn’t believe it.  And there is going to be more snow next week according to the weather report.  Unreal.  My mom used to call snow this time of year “sugar snow”.   Friday it’s supposed to be in the 60’s.  This weather is erratic and it is good weather for maple syrup because it’s cold nights and it usually warms up during the day.

This time of year, an afternoon tea by the fireplace is a nice thought.  It’s Spring but chilly outside.  I love how they cut the sandwiches in quarters and made little triangles.

There always has to be jam and clotted cream to enjoy with tea.

Then simple tea sandwiches with the crust cut off and maybe egg salad.

You can get fancy and cut out rounds and and add little toppings.

Tomato twiddle is very British and also cucumber sandwiches.

Fancy cookies like Madeleines and French Macarons are always a nice touch.

Pretty slices of cake are always fun to have.

I love the above idea on the course order and the 3 – tiers.

I also love the idea of fancy ice cream in a tea cup with a cookie for after tea.

I love the above ideas for tea sandwiches and also the tea container to store tea bags.  So cute to have for the pantry.

I think that it would be fun to have a Tea party.  It would be almost as  fun as to visit a Tea house and have afternoon tea.

I love the above chalkboard inspiration.  I’m not an artist but I could copy it somewhat.

One of my favorite teas is Peppermint tea.  But I also like Earl Grey tea and almost any kind of tea.

And that’s my inspirations for tea.

I love Tulips and they just make a house feel like Spring.

I like lemon, cheesecake and mousse.  The combination sprinkled with blueberries is so Spring like and a nice treat to lighten up kind of not so good weather.  I pinned the recipe on my Pinterest.

This morning I saw a photo from Hapgood General Store of an interesting breakfast sandwich.  I would love to go there and try it, but it’s a little far to go in the morning.  So I recreated it for myself.  I used bread that I had in the freezer which is Jessica’s Tuscan Pane sourdough starter whole grain wheat bread and toasted it.  I had an avocado in the crisper and I put a little chopped red onion, mayonaise, lime juice and a tinge of Dijon mustard in it.  Then I poached two eggs and they came out perfect.  I buttered the toast and then put the the avocado on the toast.  Then some baby arugala and the poached eggs on top of that.  And finally some smoked paprika over the poached eggs.  Yum!  To make it even nicer I had some Starbucks dark roast coffee with it.  It was almost as nice as going to the Hapgood General Store.

Then I saw a photo of a really dream cottage.  It’s meant for 2 people and is situated next to water.  It’s everything that I love.

The cottage overlooked the water and had white cabinets, stainless steel appliances, a farmers sink and a breakfast nook.

The livingroom had a fieldstone fireplace and french doors to a porch overlooking the water.  Can you just imagine having coffee out on that porch in the morning watching the sun come up.  Or in the evening with a glass of wine with a nice breeze coming through from the water.

The bedroom upstairs also had French doors and a balcony and overlooked the water.  What a dream place.

Definitely a dream place.  If I won the lottery, I would recreate that place as close to that as possible.   Sigurd has some property that he wants to sell but I don’t think that he will any time soon.  If he did, he could have something like this which he would love.

One of my facebook friends writes children’s books and I preordered the above book this morning for my little grandsons.  They will love it.

It’s so cute and by preordering I ordered a signed copy and even a hoofprint signature from the little alpaca.  Plus it’s a numbered copy of 1000.  It will be out in July.  I have a signed and numbered copy of “The Sheepover” that was a New York Times best seller by Jennifer and John Churchman that I got a few years ago which I gave to my little grandsons.  What awesome facebook friends.

The above is little Sweet Pea who is the main character in “The Sheepover”.   So fun and so cute.

I like a good cup of coffee.   The above Breville Precision Brewer with the Thermal Carafe would really be nice to have.  It’s an ultimate coffee maker.  But for now, I will just make do with my coffee maker that works well enough.

And that’s my inspirations for this windy and chilly April day.

 

I love primroses.  They are simply pretty.  It’s chilly and rainy today and a nice coffee with a cheerful background like a Primrose makes the weather bearable.

I like the above Nantucket style rain jacket.  It has a hood on it and it’s perfect for a rainy Spring day.

I saw a Rosemary plant in the grocery store the other day and it was a huge plant.  They wanted $20.00 for it.  I saw a lot of carriages passing by me where ladies had picked up one to buy.  But that is a little steep of a price for me.  I think that I will pick up a smaller Rosemary plant someplace soon.

I love lavender and saw the above cute idea for a candle.  I’ve seen a lot of little white candles in a glass jar at the Walmart.  The rafata string is easy to find at Michaels Craft.  I wouldn’t think that lavender would last long without water, so would have to use some artificial lavender from Michaels Craft.  Just the ambiance of it is enough to perk up spirits to me.

I love Royal Albert Country Roses pattern.  I have the above teapot which is the cottage version and I have that tea cup and saucer and the little plate.

I would love a comfy chair like the above with that darling pillow.  A nice cup of tea.

The above pillow from Pier 1 Imports would be nice for a comfy chair.  I love the photo on the wall in the comfy chair photo.   The white plant in a silver bucket and then the white picture frame is a neat idea.

I love the above tea cup because whenever we went to my grandparents farm when I was a little kid, my parents always said we going up north.  My grandparents lived close to the Canadian border in northern Vermont and that is where my parents grew up.  My friend that lives south of where I live, I call “a flatlander”.

I had a smoothie for breakfast today and it is one of my breakfast besties.  I sliced a banana last night and put it in a baggie and then in the freezer for overnight.  I put unsweetened almond milk in the bottom of the blender, then dark chocolate powder, plain Greek yogurt (Fage is the best), unsalted peanutbutter,  the frozen banana, a little maple syrup and pumpkin seeds.   Sometimes I add a few ice cubes and blend it up.   My blender has a smoothie button which I love.  I got the recipe a few years ago in a magazine and it’s a Dr. Oz recipe.

I have a recipe for mini blueberry muffins that I got in “The Biggest Loser” cookbook a while back.  They are so easy to make and have wheat flour, banana, oat bran, flax seed,  cinnnamon, coconut milk, vanilla extract, olive oil, honey and blueberries in them.  They are healthy and scumptious tasting.  I like that embroidery on the basket liner.  I got it way back when Paula Deen had her line at the K-Mart.   That K-Mart is long gone from this area.

I like that embroidery pattern and would like to find it to make some napkins.  All it requires is a chain stich and a french knot and a silk stitch.  I love to embroider.

Well, that is my ramblings for today.  I’m making a nice veggie soup for lunch with a spring greens salad.  Have a nice day!

Two little Robins looking for Spring!

I found the above Pasta Bowl at the Walmart and I just love it.  I used it for a nice Spring Greens salad so far.  But it’s good for pasta or soup as well as salad.  I’m going to get a couple of more of them if I can find them.  They only had one left at my Walmart.

And I just love the above salad plate that I found at the Walmart.  They only had one of those left at my Walmart, also.  I’m going to another Walmart and see if I can find a couple more of them.

It was cold enough to snow here this morning but we didn’t get any snow.  I’m sure they did get a little snow in the higher elevation mountains.  It warms up during the day and any skiing would be on wet granular snow.

I like Spring Tulips and like the above decorating idea.

I have a new favorite coffee that I picked up at the Walmart.  It’s only $6.99 at the Walmart and it’s $8.99 at my grocery store.  I had a cup this morning with a Smoothie and it was really good.

I saw the above outfit idea on Pinterest and thought it was just right for this time of year.  I like the grey accessories and the light blue with Navy together.  The necklace is stylish.  I love the P-coat jacket.

Stuffed eggs are so easy and fun to make.  Just a little bacon, paprika and parsley dress them up.  And I love the little hen egg holder that I found at TJ Max a few years ago.  I also found the matching spoon holder for my stove and a matching cross that has a sunflower on it that looks so nice over my stove in my kitchen.

I would love the above Le Creuset for Spring for the kitchen.  I have wanted to get it for years but it’s a little expensive.  I wish that it would come on the home shoppers with easy pay but no such luck.  It would be just right to make a little casserole in and it could go from the oven to the table.  I love the color that they call it sunshine, the French word for it which I can’t spell.  Something like Le Solei.

I like the Saturday morning cook shows on the Food Network.  It’s the only time that Food Network has something other then the game shows on.  And the game shows are really a little much.  Every last one of them which they show in marathons over and over.  But anyways, million dollar chicken was shown how to make on the Barefoot Contessa show.  She went to a restaurant in New York City where the million dollar chicken was made and the chef there showed how to make that chicken step by step.  And the recipe is on Food Network.

The million dollar chicken had lemon, fresh thyme and garlic in the recipe and they put sour dough bread in the bottom of the roasting pan.

I have a dining room set that needs to be replaced.  The above dining room set is everything that I love and is on my dream list.

 

A hutch something like the above would be the perfect addition to the dining room set.  So nice to display dish collections and have a place to store them.

Heavenly blue Morning Glories are one of my favorite flowers and the above rug would be a dream to put under that table.

I love the above style house.  I would put the dining room table in that bay window with a bench with cushions around the three sides in a half circle shape.  It would be perfect for family gatherings with making enough seating and putting an extension in the table.

The above chandilier would be the perfect touch to add. ❤

Have a fun and wonderful week!