Give Thanks

In Everything Give Thanks! 1 Thessalonians 5:18

A little bit of fall inspiration to remind us how blessed we truly are!

Cottage Laundry Room Makeover

It has been forever since I have made a post, not because I haven't wanted to, but life has just been so busy. We have been working tirelessly on our home to make improvements and to make it guest worthy. My cousin and her family came to visit and before they arrived, a fresh look throughout my house was my goal.
This post however is in regards to my laundry room. When we first moved in I painted the beadboard in white which I liked, but at the time I was on a brown/blue kick and since those are not colors I normally used in my home, I thought the laundry room would be a great place for them. I never really liked the finished products, but other projects always took priority until now.

As you can see from the first 2 photos my laundry was a mess, however it did not always look like this. I failed to take "normal" photos of the room and only thought of it after I had already started moving things around. I had tried painting the ceiling when we first moved in, but the paper on the ceiling was old and so it started to peel and of course I just left it for "another day". Also the light broke when my husband walked right under it and I never replaced that either.

I like brown and blue, but it made this room too dark.

This is the other side of the room that we stored food on wire shelves and a small drawer freezer.

After clearing the room, I started by painting everything white-my favorite color!

More white paint-thankfully the weather was fabulous, so I could leave the window open for ventilation. Here is Scott starting to grout tile.

In between my painting, Scott regrouted the floors. The tile was still in great shape, so we save no need on spending the additional money for new tiles-but now it has a lightly, fresher look.
Instead of putting in an expensive ceiling, we bought foam squares that just glued to the ceiling-cheap, easy and nice fix. I also replaced the old light with a chandelier that I had stored in my closet. I have been replacing "cheaper" Ikea lights with ones that I pick up at flea markets so this light was one that had been replaced by an antique on in my dining room.

Instead of keeping the room all white, I painted inside the frames that I had in the old laundry room a warm sage color.
More sage
The previous owners did put up this "European beadboard", however there was always this 1.5" ledge all the way around, so we used 14" (not sure the exact size) wide boards all the way around the room for a decorating ledge. We just mounted them with brackets every few feet for stability. I also reused the same brown shelves that I had previously to display all my black toile trays that I have collected over the years.

The finished room. I was still able to display all my vintage laundry wares, such as an old washboard and sewing spools. I also searched many months to find glass jars for my powder detergent. Once I found in France for 6 euros (the large one) and the other in Tongeren, Belgium for 10 euros.

I also collect old apothecary/pharmacy jars, so I figured this ledge was a great place to display them.

I added a light for evening "work", I just like the glow it leaves!

One of my favorite things in my laundry room are those 2 jars of buttons. They were my grandmothers and I remember sitting for hours at her kitchen table just looking through them.

I still have work to do on the window side of the room, however I thought this was a great place to display this very old and heavy, green stained glass window that I picked up in France for 10 euros!

My old glass detergent jars, also the box that holds my yummy fabric softener was a gift from a friend. She found it for free, but to me it is priceless.

We moved our refrigerator into our work room to give us more storage space. I wish I had more time to find a vintage cupboard, but this one serves the purpose and make a wonderful cabinet for dry food storage. I also need to finish above the window, but all in due time!

We also purchased cabinets and a countertop for the other side of the room. I can now store all paper goods easily. I hope to get cabinets above real soon and use the countertop as a sewing area.

I wish I had a great way to hide the pipes, but for now, painting them sage kind or hides them.

Well there you have it, my remade laundry room. Aside from a few more storage cabinets and a window treatment, my cottage laundry room is complete and I actually enjoy doing laundry. I find myself putting away the clothes a lot soon b/c I don't want to see baskets just sitting around filled to the top. I hope you enjoyed my little tour!!

Easter Tea in the Castle Library

I feel very blessed to live in such a beautiful place where castles, old and new are common! After celebrating the resurrection of our Lord, we headed with friends to Schloss Kronberg
www.schlosshotel-kronberg.de

I was taken to this lovely place last year by some friends for an unforgettable birthday and this year I thought it would be an amazing Easter treat.

I made reservations for tea in the library, but to our excitement, we were given a private dining room to accommodate the 9 of us that attended! Noggle family, April 4, 2010 Easter Day

Vince and Tawni in the rear

My friends, Cheryl and Tawni

Chloe ready for her tea

Tawni ready for her choice of tea sandwiches

Scott having a great time, Tawni and Vince's daughter Paige is sitting to the left of Chloe.

2 yummy dessert trays were brought to the table with scones, chocolate covered fruit and many other delicacies

Trentan being silly

My handsome son Micah who is turning into be quite a Godly young man

We felt like royalty for the afternoo

Love, love, love this chandelier

Following tea, we took a stroll over the castle grounds, it was a lovely close to a lovely day!!!

1st SUPPER CLUB

Our 1st Supper Club Event
February 5, 2010

A girl that I work with would talk about this Supper Club that she and he husband do with couples that her husband works with. My husband and I did something similar about 2 years ago with 4 other families, but it died out when some of them moved.
In an effort to step out of our comfort zone and get to know other couples that we don't already know, we started our own Supper Club.

Rules are simple, we meet once a month and the host/hostess home is responsible for providing the complete meal for the other 4 couples. We rotate homes and take 2 months off a year so each couple hosts once every 5 months. It can be as simple or fancy as you like. Most important-NO KIDS! We all have children, but we agreed that we need at least 1 night a month for just couples!
Since this was the 1st month, we wanted to go all out! I had purchased a William Sonoma Paris Cookbook about 18 months ago and never took it out of the box. I thought this was an appropriate time to do so. I found the recipes I wanted to make and headed for France. How convenient to live right over the border. Friday morning came and I began my preparations. I started with the Creme Brulee. I bought 16 ramekins and a torch over a year ago and never used them until Friday. The Creme Brulee (my favorite french dessert) turned out WONDERFUL and I will be making it again very soon! (This was a photo before the brown sugar was added and caramelized)

This was my table setting for the evening. Very simple. I used my milk bottles that I purchased at Comptoir de Famille (once of my favorite French stores) and placed 1 tulip in each. I had ordered beautiful hand stamped french ribbon from etsy, but it never came in:( I purchased all my silverware at a second hand shop for 1 euro a piece (score!) and I used a simple white plate/black and white damask napkin and a white bowl for salad. Simple and elegant.

I also gave each guest a cone shaped box filled with French caramels and a rocher chocolate to savor after dinner.

There were supposed to be 10 total guests, but one lady's husband was flying and another lady's husband is deployed to Iraq and she stayed home because one of her children was sick-so that left 7 for the night! Still so fun!

I purchased this old silver tray for $2 at the thrift store and used my chalkboard paint in the center. I posted the menu for everyone to see.

I still have to find a place for my mirror that used to be in my bedroom, so for the evening, I just put it on the piano and placed some small treasures on it.

My old cabinet door that I bought in Bath, England. I change up the message on a regular basis.

Ahhhh, the beautiful roller and stuffed pork loin-it turned out FABULOUS!

Scott came home from work a little early to help. Here he is placing the endive and red pepper pieces around the loin to cook.

The guests are seated and we pray and begin to eat. I was worried about all the items that we made as I NEVER cook like this, but everyone kept saying that everything was just divine! I was so pleased.

From the left there is, Michelle, Teresa, Steve, Darryl, Debra and of course Scott and myself

Michelle was having a good time and enjoyed a glass of red wine with her meal!

And here is the gang! We had a fabulous night and I can't wait until March-Darryl and Debra have graciously agreed to be the hosts!
More SC posts to follow. **Disclaimer** Earlier in the week (Monday) I was diagnosed with bacterial conjunctivitis; was treated with one medication, had an allergic reaction to it and placed on new med; the infection is gone, but the redness remained, so by the end of Friday night my eyes were burning so badly and I could barely stay focused on anything; hence why I am squinting. Glad to say that today (Sunday) is a better day! Praise God!