Perfectly Imperfect Cups

I love these hamdmade cups that are so perfectly imperfect. via

Snow is Coming

More snow is coming later tonight into tomorrow. Here's hoping for a light accumulation for me and you too, if it's heading your way. via

UPDATE: I got my wish. Just enough snow to be beautiful with no driveway plowing required!!

Amazing Millwork

WOW. Everywhere you look there is an architectural detail. Fine woodworking at its best! This window seat will be a great place to read and daydream once there is a cushion in place. via

Lovely Bedroom

So very lovely. This bedroom is very soothing to my symmetry-loving eyes. via

Be Positive, Stay Strong

I happened on this image and verse today and liked it. It's really good advice too. Don't forget to set your DVR tonight for the first episode of VICTORIA, Season Two on PBS. I cannot wait! xo

Dunmore Pineapple in Airth Scotland

The Dunmore Pineapple House in Airth Scotland

This folly in Scotland looks so beautiful in the early morning light on a frosty morning. via

Nice Conversation Area with Fireplace

I like this arrangement. Each wing chair has a reading lamp and an ottoman. Reading around an open fire is one of life's pleasures.The side tables are lower than the arms of the furniture too. This is one of the rules of good interior design and a very hard one to comply with when searching for low antique tables that you like. I am pleased that I finally found mine and it's much easier for the sitter to put down a drink or a cup of coffee on a lower table than reaching up to do so. Plus it looks nicer too. It's all about scale, you know. via

It is warm and rainy today and all the snow has melted. I entered my subscription to Netflix on Sunday and love it. I have watched both seasons of The Crown and later today I will search for another addicting series to watch. 

I just cooked some chick peas in my Instant Pot and have another batch of soy milk yogurt in the pot for a 10 hour session. My last batch (8 hours) wasn't tart enough. I have a new method. I inserted my pyrex 32 oz. (4 cup) measuring cup inside the pot, added 2 tablespoons of my own yogurt to a 32 oz. box of Westsoy as a starter, stirred it up and this method was perfect. No condensation on the sides of the pot to run down and dilute the yogurt and the yogurt was much thicker. Yay.

I stumbled on a very interesting article about the invention of the Instant Pot in the business section of the New York Times. Now I love mine even more! xo

Winter Birds: Made me Smile

So cute. 

It is so much warmer today with fog and rain predicted for tomorrow. The roads have been fine from the beginning but I never had my driveway plowed. I parked near the road and have been able to get out easily with the new tires I got earlier this year. So far, so good. Aren't Virginia Greene's birds adorable? This was her holiday card for December. via 

Glass Jar Love

This collection of glass jars in so many shapes and sizes makes me happy. I have been using French glass refrigerator storage containers since 1973. It just made good sense to me back then and I never fell into the tupperware trap. via

Real Life Kitchen

This is not a trophy kitchen. It looks like one from a real family with dishes in the sink, essentials on the window sill, an almost empty roll of paper towels, and other interesting things. I like it, don't you?

Frozen Road and Crescent Moon

Gorgeous Photo by Aaron J. Groen

"Frozen Road to Nowhere"

Waning Crescent Moon rises over a snow covered gravel road in eastern South Dakota.

click to enlarge

WINTER, 19th Century Illustration

Winter

19th century color printed illustration with holly berries, snow dusted leaves leaves, and mistletoe. I love the twig font dripping with icicles.

Snowball Catching Cat

This is truly wonderful.

This cat really is trying to catch that snowball!

via

Perfection: Garage / Guest House

I love this structure except for the garage doors as I would be using it as a home. I must save this photo as a favorite architectural design. Do you love it too? I hope you are as warm and cozy today as this dwelling looks. I am always partial to all the lights being on at twilight, especially if there is snow on the ground. xo via Instagram

January Dreaming

I found this on Instagram today and love it.

"Anyone who thinks that gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year. For gardening begins in January with the dream."

This is so true for before I saw this I was trying to figure out how to build a moveable garden that I can roll around to follow the sun. See you later. xo

Instant Pot Soymilk Yogurt: New Batch

My favorite thing to make in my recently purchased Instant Pot is Organic Plain Unsweetened Soymilk Yogurt. I cannot remember how many batches I've made and I can't tell you how much I love it. It is made using only two brands: Edensoy and Westsoy. Both are made with only two ingredients, filtered water and organic soybeans. No fillers, thickeners, preservatives, or sweeteners. Edensoy is the more expensive and it has 12 grams of protein per cup. Westsoy has 9 grams of protein. There is no difference in taste so I've been using the Westsoy and it comes in an economical carton with 64 ounces. It is not sold in the dairy cooler but is a shelved product. At Whole Foods it is across from the cereals. You don't have to boil it to make yogurt like you do cow's milk. All you do is pour it into the Instant Pot, add 2 tablespoons of your previously made yogurt per 32 ounces. Stir, hit the Yogurt button, adjust the incubation time and come back when it's finished to jar it up. I had to buy a carton of vegan yogurt to start my first batch. All I could find was plain coconut non-dairy yogurt and that worked just fine. I have experimented with incubation times of 14 hours, 12 hours, 10 hours and 8 hours. I liked all of these batches. The longer the "cooking" time, the more sour t(tart) the yogurt. Every morning I have 1/2 cup of Ezekiel Golden Flax Cereal that I buy at ShopRite or almost any supermarket including Whole Foods. Today I had a sliced banana on top and a container of my yogurt on top of everything. This cereal is amazing. You have to buy a box and read all about it or stand in the market and read the box. There are other varieties of this Ezekiel cereal but ShopRite only carries this one and it's right around the corner from my cottage. They make a delicious bread too, good for anyone looking for products containing NO SUGAR. Sometimes I just have it plain with yogurt on top if I am out of fruit. I have used chopped apples too. So good. 

Food for LIfe

The vintage milk glass containers are leftovers from old Salton yogurt makers I have owned. I grew tired of making small batches and having to boil the milk and wait for it to cool, etc. I still have the devices in my garage and I am so glad I saved them so I could use the 6 oz. containers with lids for my current healthy endeavor. I also like not having to throw away/recycle individual yogurt containers so making my own is good for the planet too.

North South East West, Home's Best!

The wind has died down but the temperature is failing to go up very much since I arose this morning. At 9:30 it's only 9° but the sun is shining brightly. I took a photo earlier from each exposure of my cottage and as you can see, we didn't get much snow. I am happy to report the fireplace wrap worked perfectly and it's much warmer inside, finally!

North south east west,
Home's the place I love the best.

Made Me Laugh

So far, so good with my resolution to drink more water.

Doxie raincoats, how cute!

Images from Pinterest.

Cozy Snow Day at My Cottage

I am all set for a lovely snow day. My cottage is right on the line between 5"-8" of snow and 1"-4" of snow. I think we have about 2" so far but it's hard to tell because of the wind blowing sideways. I added another blanket to the top of my fireplace and I'm all set with a stack of DVDs from the library and a good book. I went grocery shopping yesterday too. I hope you are all safe and can stay indoors until it stops. That's my plan. I live on a county road and the snow plows come by really often. My roof got finished yesterday so I am all buttoned up and can report the blanket is working nicely to keep the heat in my room instead of up the chimney. Why didn't I think of this sooner? I actually hired a plumber to put in a gas line so I could get gas logs and have a fire anytime I wanted. But you know me, I have to research everything to the Nth Degree and I learned a lot. You have to install a clamp that keeps the damper open a little in case you forget to open the flue when you want a gas fire. Actually, it was highly advised to keep your flue open ALL the time if you have a constant pilot light burning. So I talked myself out of this notion and canceled the plumber. The money I saved was applied to my new roof which turned out to be a better investment. See you later. xo

Blanket Around My Firescreen

Warm at last and it doesn't look too bad. I wrapped a wool blanket around my firescreen to keep the heat from going up the chimney and it worked. Yes, my flue was closed but the big hole was still stealing my heat. The cottage is much warmer as I await yet another snow storm beginning at midnight. Fingers crossed it's not too deep. Stay warm. xo