Homeward Bound

The light is what guides you home, 

the warmth is what keeps you there. 

Ellie Rodriguez

A pleasant Spring day outdoors-

perfect for some gardening 

and a cup of tea. I just discovered

straw bale gardening on Pinterest, and stepped out onto our patio to look for a good spot to place a bale. 

Brambly Hedge by Royal Doulton


There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.
Jane Austen

For charm and whimsy you can't beat Royal Doulton's Brambly Hedge beakers and teacups! I sipped a bit of Assam while dead-heading Pansies and drawing up gardening plans.

Assam is located on both sides of the Bramaputra River in India.

I had rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world. 

George Washington

Home, the spot of earth supremely blessed,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest.
~Robert Montgomery

See the mouse in the basket?

Where thou art – that – is Home.
Emily Dickinson

sharing this post with~

Freedom Fridays
Pink Saturday
Crafts A La Mode
Share your Cup
Clever Chicks Blog Hop
Make It Pretty Monday
Idea Box

Baked Oatmeal- Who Knew?

I am trying to eat oatmeal more frequently for breakfast because it is full of heart healthy fiber and is a change of pace from my regular Greek yogurt and berries. College Girl casually asked me if I had thought about making baked oatmeal. I had not, because I had never heard of it! Where have I been? Haha! It seems lots of other people have heard of it and there is a plethora of recipes online for many versions.

A simple search will give you a basic recipe which is easily customizable. Like raisins? Love nuts? Add 'em! Want to decrease the recipe's fat? Replace it with applesauce. Enjoy some spice? Add fresh nutmeg and cinnamon. Here is the recipe we used from www.myrecipes.com:

• 2 cups uncooked oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (we used 1/3 cup)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 and 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 egg, beaten
• cooking spray for 8 inch square pan
• nuts, raisins, cinnamon as desired

Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine milk, applesauce, butter and egg, stir. Pour milk mixture into oat mixture, stir. Pour into greased eight inch pan, bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm. You may garnish with more milk, yogurt, berries, or eat as is~ It is a cross between an oatmeal bar and traditional morning oatmeal.

 
  I used one of my favorite Brambly Hedge beakers called Homeward Bound, and took my baked oatmeal outside to eat on the patio. College Girl was already out there sunning her legs.

Looks like Primrose had a great time at the shore and is snuggled in a basket for the trip home. The cup is trimmed in soft mint green. 

ROYAL ALBERT HARVEST FESTIVAL PEARS plate

 I sprinkled walnuts and fresh raspberries on my baked oatmeal. I savored every bite and returned to the kitchen for a little bit more! 

The inside of my Brambly Hedge cup is decorated with drawings of seashells, a feather, and a small flag. I enjoyed looking at the detail in Jill Barklem's artwork every time I took a sip of my Winey Keemun tea.

The nice option with Baked Oatmeal is that you can prepare it in the morning or mix it the night before, store it in the fridge and bake it the next day! I love dishes like this - so convenient. It would make a great lunch bag item in place of cookies, too.

 If your family members don't like the soupy 'porridge' consistency of oatmeal, perhaps you could tempt them with Baked Oatmeal! The next time I make it I am going to try an old Amish version.

Sharing this post with;
Show and Tell 
Cottage Style Party 

Seasons On Sunday
Clever Chicks Blog Hop 

Monday Funday 

Martha's Favorites 

Artful Affirmations 

Rose Chintz Cottage 

Antiques and Teacups 

You're Going To Love It 

Wow Us Wednesday 

A Favorite Thing 

Home Sweet Home 

Share Your Cup 

Favorite Things 

Time Travel Thursday 
Friends Sharing Tea 
A Return To Loveliness 
Whatever You Want Wednesday 
Share The Shelter 
The Weekend Re-Treat 
Homemaking Party 
Get Schooled Saturday

Ch-ch-ch-Chia Seeds!

Are you old enough to remember Chia Pets?

Have you been hearing about Chia Seeds  lately?

Seems like articles about Chia Seeds and their benefits are popping up online, on television, and in magazines. College Girl forwarded an article about Chia Seeds to me and I was delighted to read that these little seeds are nutritional powerhouses. I try to keep my ear to the ground for healthy recipes and snack options. It turns out that Chia Seeds are good sources of fiber, calcium, and Omega fatty acids. They even contain protein! And, because Chia Seeds are so full of anti-oxidants, they stay fresh for two years without preservatives. Therefore, when I was shopping at Trader Joe's last week and spotted a bag of Chia Seeds, I bought them.  

 

Over the past 8 days I have sprinkled them on yogurt, mixed them into juice, and baked them in banana bread.

  

The nice thing about the Chia Seeds is that they do not alter the flavor of anything you eat or drink them with, so I enjoyed a nice pot of London Cuppa with no problem. Including these little seeds into your diet is an easy way to do something good for yourself. I used one of my sweet Brambly Hedge teacups today at breakfast.

I am entertained by the whimsical artwork of Jill Barklem and like to look for little details, like the ladybug resting on a leaf in the vines. (center right)

Whenever I use my Royal Doulton sets I recall the charming antics of the mice in the Brambly Hedge book series. They have adventures in the Old Oak Palace, go on picnics, and celebrate weddings on summer days at the nearby stream.

 On the front of the teacup is a scene of the mice gathering berries in autumn - it's harvest time!

I love the pink band around the top of the teacup with meandering vines and berries. This mouse is wearing a hat, shawl, and apron. See the delicate shape of the cup handle?

 Bake up some home-made muffins or cookies with Chia Seeds, then pour yourself a relaxing cup of tea. Nutritious, satisfying, and delicious. Win - win!

sharing this post with:

Antiques and Teacups
Marthas Favorites
Artful Affirmations
Share Your Cup Thursday 
Time Travel Thursday 

  

The Crows and Ravens Call

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
To-morrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
To-morrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow,
Make the day seem to us less brief.

Robert Frost

I feel like I blinked and September was gone. With College Girl going back to school our days not only gained structure but picked up speed!  And now that the last wave of Indian Summer heat seems to have departed (fingers crossed!), a steaming pot of tea is more welcome than ever. Time to unpack my favorite Fall bone china beakers, pull out my quilted tea cozies and deck the house with pumpkins, scarecrows and my favorite inky-black feathered friends. There is something about ravens I find so fascinating. They are much larger than crows and have a different beak and tail shape. They can mimic spoken words like parrots, and they rarely squack while flying as crows are wont to do. Can you imagine how happy I was to find an October calendar in the shape of a raven? At Christmastime I display a collection of Advent calendars but I had never seen one for Autumn in the shape of a bird!

I found this wonderful fellow at TJMaxx, one of my favorite stores. Cool, eh? There were only two of them on the shelf and the minute I spotted them I put one in my basket. Score! Each day at breakfast College Girl moves the key to the next key hole with a little reminder from me. I'm happy she indulges her crazy mom! (I actually think she likes her crazy mom and how much fun I have with each season -haha- I am such a kid at heart) My teacup this week is a cherished Brambly Hedge beaker which holds more tea than a teacup. On the front of the beaker is sweet little Primrose. Are you familiar with Jill Barklem  and her stories about the mice of Brambley Hedge? Run, don't walk, to your nearest library or book store to see her charming illustrations and whimsical stories if you are unfamiliar with this wonderful children's author!

Is it just me or do you notice that tea tastes better from a lovely cup? :)

     Berries and brambles and home made pies!

Primrose has quite an adventure in the Fall Story, but I won't spoil it for you~ You'll have to pick up a copy and share it with your niece or grandchildren. Or maybe, like me, you will curl up on the corner of the sofa and enjoy it by yourself with a hot cuppa.

sharing this post with~
 Mosaic Monday
Artful Affirmations 
Rose Chintz Cottage 
Marthas Favorites 
You're Going To Love It 

Hippity, Hoppity~

When I walked into the kitchen this morning, I checked the kettle, then turned to look at the birdbath on the patio. I frequently check the birdbath to see which feathered friends are visiting...and that is when I saw them! In the planter behind the birdbath is an Iris which just bloomed today! I got excited and called to my husband (little things like this make my day! lol) and asked him if he had noticed the gorgeous purple flowers. I am amazed at how this plant always blooms  just in time for Easter. I'm serious. How does this Iris know just when to bloom, especially when Easter is not on the same date each year? It is a sweet little miracle of Spring~

College Girl helped me as I set the table for Easter brunch. I printed out some darling images from Amanda's Parties To Go, and she cut them out using a 2" circle punch and scissors.

Peter Rabbit made an appearance~ I made him when I was expecting College Girl....that was a few years ago! He has a jaunty raffia bow around his neck today.

We used a mix of Brambly Hedge dishes and carrot napkin rings~

The oat grass I planted for kitty makes a wonderful nest for our colored Easter Eggs since it is not quite long enough for feline nibbling...yet!

You can just see the fern leaf images we masked onto the hardboiled eggs: we placed a small fern sprig against the egg, wrapped the egg in tulle, and dipped them in the purple and blue vinegar color solution. Upon close inspection, you can easily make out the pretty mesh design on the shell too!

There are paper bunnies, cloth bunnies and bunnies made of glass~

The bunny creamer is dressed in beaded crochet~

A large paper egg looks so festive on the table~

Amanda's printables even had an 8.5" x 11" sentiment that we placed in a frame~ I'll move it onto the kitchen island at mealtime.

We are all set for Easter morning, so guess what we did tonight? I have to laugh because my husband and I are such kids at heart and College Girl plays along. She is so great to humor us!! lol~

Hubby and I put glow-in-the-dark sticks in plastic eggs and hid them in the backyard after dinner. We bent the glow sticks into circles and taped them that way, then enclosed them in the plastic eggs. They glowed all around the yard! How cool is that? We also hid some plastic eggs that did not have glow sticks in them, then we invited College Girl to go outside with a flashlight and find them all!!! She was such a good sport.

Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional! We are going to have a glow-in-the-dark egg hunt next year too :)

Rejoice!

We could not wait to cut into the Crumb Coffee Cake! It was wonderful with a cup of Kusmi Troika tea scented with bergamot. We used the recipe from Baking Illustrated and made the coffee cake in a spring form pan. We used Greek yogurt, vanilla and cinnamon. Yum!

                      Easter blessings to you!

Without Easter we would have no hope of Heaven~

sharing this with Mrs. Fox's Sweets