WINTERTIME MEANS TEA TIME

 We are enjoying a quiet week and doing

a little reorganizing here and there.

It is an overcast day which is very

typical in Missouri in winter.  I don't

mind and actually find this relaxing.

I have set up a little tea for us today

where we can enjoy the backyard

views.  As you see, we have no snow

but winter is here.  It's about 48 degrees

today and supposed to be about 60 degrees

tomorrow and then get colder again.

Please enjoy a cup of tea and a

slice of Coconut Cake.  I have been

watching the squirrels go up and down

the giant cedar out back and they have

stripped the bark off much of it.  I see 

them carrying long pieces to their nests

which must smell really good but I am

concerned because after reading about

this on line, I see it can kill the tree if

they strip off a ring of it around the

tree.

Winter is a time to enjoy the birds and

we surely do.  After a succession of bird

feeders we have three that work, meaning the squirrels leave them alone. This one

below works.

 Two of them were more expensive but

 in the end are probably a savings as the squirrels just can't get on them and eat

 all the birdseed like they did with

 the old ones.

I just got a new cookbook which is by

the same person as Dinner With

Mr Darcy which I had shared before.

This one is Dinner with Dickens and

I love all the history in it:

We aren't rushing to get our Christmas

decorations down this year.  We may

enjoy them yet for a few days.

I was reading through some cookbooks

 and one was the Colorado Springs 

Gazette (newspaper) spiral cookbook from 1994.  However, after making the Coconut Cake recipe I was going to share, I  have decided I'd rather recommend  another

 recipe by Charlie Andrews which I think is

 better.  (so I am only going to recommend

this one)

And here is Charlie's video.

MAKING YOUR OWN SPECIAL GARDEN SEED ENVELOPES

 This winter is definitely colder

for a longer period.  We have

lived in Missouri 5 years and this

winter we are having the longest

stretch of cold weather. 

 It is around zero today.

This week while it was especially cold,

I sat at my kitchen table and made

some seed envelopes.  You might

like to make some too this winter while

you are stuck indoors.

I love the artwork of Edith Holden which
 is in these 2 books: The Country Diary 
of an Edwardian Lady and also
 The Nature Notes of an Edwardian Lady.

  If you have Windows on your computer these are easy to make each requiring 1 sheet of regular paper.  I used Pic Monkey to put the border around the photo but that may have been possible in Windows also

                          - not sure.

       This picture above shows you that after I copied the photo I then pasted it in the center toward the top of the sheet of paper in Windows. You can see where I folded the paper after it was printed to form an envelope for seeds.  You can add your

own additional wording to your
photos - I used Pic Monkey for that.

You can find these books on all the

discount and used book sites.  They

came out originally in 70's and then

were popular with the

 restyled

 Victorian of the 90's.

Last summer I had so many seeds to share with a few friends, some strangers and I sent a huge box full over to share with our local garden club (I am not a member) and they

loved them.  If you have Hollyhocks - you will

have tons of seeds!  I just used small plastic sandwich bags for my sharing - very plain indeed. These seed envelope would be used for more of a gift presentation.  You

could easily include one in a birthday card. 

As you can see, 

I made quite

a few:

I hope your winter is going well and of course one must not run out of bird seed.

 That would be terrible!

More posts about Edith Holden Here

Those of you on Facebook might also enjoy

this group by Patty Cone that I participate in called

"Charming Country Gardens"

and she is on MeWe at

"Charming Country Gardens".

HAPPY WINTER TEATIME

Yesterday and today continues
to be very 
bitter and cold outside.

 This means it is a

perfect opportunity for
 a happy teatime.

My husband and I find it interesting the

 way that with just a little snow, everything

 shuts down here in Missouri.  It brings

 back so many memories of living in Colorado where everyone went to work and it really took a blizzard to make a difference.

I have a couple of new magazines

I have been enjoying. 

 Victoria,

English Garden and Tea Time have

brought a lovely reprieve lately.

Winter is a time to get inspired

and excited about our spring gardens.

Wintertime is always a good time

 to try new recipes and brush up

on our baking skills.  Please

enjoy a cup of tea and one of  these

chocolate chip cookies I baked this week.

My friend Gina dropped off a lovely

Valentine card she made.  

So I hope that your wintertime

is going along well.  If you are

bored,  this might be a great time

to learn something new.  How about
doing a new craft, trying a new recipe
 or reading that book on the shelf.

And so I close this post to challenge you

to find joy in the little things.  Make a

nice homemade soup.  Do something not

very popular today - send an elderly person a handwritten letter or take something home baked to a neighbor. 

 You can even

 buy those frozen bread loaves and let

 them rise and bake them.  Make some

 homemade cards to have on hand for 

when you need them.  Enjoy winter 
as spring
will be here soon!

WINTERTIME BLOOMS HELP US

You've seen all the lovely plants at the market - primroses, tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, etc.  I tend to do a major slowdown in this part of the grocery store.

 Fresh flowers, plants and even dried flowers will help you "brighten up" your winter days. We had just a bit of snow last night so it is no longer brown outside. 

 I have watered my small flower garden

out back twice lately just because their hasn't been enough moisture even though it is winter.

We might not realize there are dormant plant

bases down in the ground that need

occasional moisture even now.

These roses are dried ones:

I look at the pictures of the English conservatories in magazines and marvel.  I wonder if Downton Abbey (Highclere Castle)  has a conservatory and why don't they show us a lovely garden?  When the Countess indicates to Edith that gardening would be undesirable...that was sad.  I was glad that Mr. Moseley won the rose contest.