Bye Bye Pom Poms

This chenille spread covers our vintage 1960's rattan sofa. 

It protects the sofa from Shelley, our German Shepherd, who loves to regally lay on the sofa with all of his eighty pounds.

Evidently the chenille spread needs protection too.

Shelley systematically removes the pom poms and is proud

 of himself for doing so.

This is the opposite corner of the spread almost pompomless.  

The theme of my posts this week is Indulging The Fur Babies.

Bye Bye Pom Poms

joy and peace

Olive

Attention Morning People

Are you perky in the morning?

I'm not. CC, our daughter is certainly not. She does not form language well. She kind of growls at us. I bought this coffee cup for her at a thrift store.

I am having fun with the island to the degree Clovis, our cat, allows it. He eats on the island and I have tried to configure a cat friendly vignette on it. He is not a morning cat. He often gets up, eats and goes back to bed. 

Spoiled cat.

The large platter, ironstone platter, and cow creamer do not get in the cat's way. We would not want to upset him now would we? One day last week Shelley, our German Shepherd, was chasing him and Clovis nearly pulled this tray down on his head whilst executing a jump onto the island.  I have moved the tray to the center of the island for him since that incident.

Drama, we have it.

I also purchased this Organic Housekeeping  book yesterday and read half of it. That is why I did not post or pick up my laptop. Sometimes I get lost in books. Those are lovely days.

Today it will get to 74 degrees and I am going out to spread wood stove ashes around my hydrangea (trying to turn it pink). Then I am going to rake. Raking is an endless task here. There is absolutely no need to join a gym with all the garden tasks we have. I will be back tonight to visit with all of you. I am not picking up that book. 

Promise.

Linking@Tweak It Tuesday

The Budget Decorating Party

Wow Us Wednesday's

joy and peace

Olive

Lemon Yogurt Crumb Cake

That my darlings is homemade lemon curd on top of the crumb cake.

 I had a nearly overly ambitious baking moment and made this cake from a Southern Living recipe. I have never made lemon curd before but I will again. It is like lemon meringue pie filling only more luscious. I felt proud and accomplished after making the lemon curd.  We are having lemon curd on biscuits for breakfast tomorrow.

Pride comes before a fall.

 The cake recipe almost exhausted me. For what amounts to a coffee cake there is an extraordinary amount of fiddling with eggs and such. But it is all worth it for the end result. The lemon curd is dolloped on the batter and you swirl it through with a knife. Then a crumb topping is applied. 

The folded egg whites make it rise beautifully. 

Next time I will cut it while it is hot. I had remarkable restraint and did not cut it until our Bible study on Friday night. It is delicious and full of citrus flavor. The cake tastes like a sour cream pound cake recipe that I have been baking for over thirty years.

 You can click on the cake and lemon curd recipe here. 

I made the lemon curd one day and the cake the next day. 

Lemon curd last for two weeks refrigerated.

You can make the cake without the lemon curd if you wish. 

The lemon curd also can be added to cheese cake, 

biscuits, scones, and many other desserts.

What is your favorite lemon dessert?

joy and peace

Olive

Italian Tole

Italian tole candle sticks found at Goodwill. 

They are old and chipped.  

The yellow color compliments our butter yellow walls.

The stacked ironstone mixed with the tole is a soft neutral look for the buffet.

Linking@Be Inspired

joy and peace

Olive

Cat Scratch

This is how Clovis disembarks from the new taller kitchen island. 

We do not prepare food on the island. 

Clovis has to be fed on the island or Shelly, our large puppy, will gobble his cat food.

Clovis and I had an incident/altercation this weekend as the title suggests.

 It is difficult to explain. When I explained to the doctor, on Sunday, he laughed a little bit at me. Sue and I were watching TV in the den, at the yellow house, in front of the fire. I was slouched down in a comfy soft pink chair with my feet elevated on a foot stool.  Clovis was on the top portion of the chair above me. I think I startled him and he swatted at me with his paw. I had my glasses on but something fell into my right eye. I was immediately in acute distress. It felt like I had a large piece of sand in my eye. I irrigated my eye repeatedly and finally felt some relief. By then the right side of my head hurt terribly. When I woke on Sunday my eye had copious amounts of purulent drainage and I had a righteous headache. I made an appointment with our doctors office which does see patients on the weekends.

Thankfully my cornea was not scratched but I did have to have Cipro drops every two hours for two days and now every four hours. The infection has moved to my left eye which is not uncommon. My vision has been some what blurry. I have conjunctivitis. Sometimes called "pink eye" but in this case most certainly a severe bacterial eye infection.

Joe says that could only happen to me.

 I am  His. Problem. Child.

 He stayed home with me and gave me eye drops every two hours. 

I am keeping him for sure.

Clovis thinks we bought the island for him.

 We do not tell him the truth.

 He is still my baby, my shadow.

♥thanks bunches for your kitchen island comments♥

Olive

Kitchen Island

The new tall kitchen island is in place.

We have decided it's not too fussy, or too much, 

if you know what I mean for our little kitchen.

It is handmade and one of a kind.

The front is made from two old windows. 

With this island there is more space to walk around the kitchen  

because it is not as wide as the farm table we had here. 

This one is longer and taller.

This is Tuesday my brother in law's dog. 

We had Shelley Puppy, Clovis, and Tuesday in the house this weekend. 

Tuesday posed for some kitchen island shots. 

So did Clovis of course (tomorrow they will/may appear).

Variegated camellias and a rosebud congregate on top of the island 

like good southern flowers should in January. 

The island with it's two shelves is going to add storage for china. 

I see more near tablescapes happening here at Olive Out. 

This is the little vintage farm table/island that was here before.

Do you like the new island? Do tell. 

You cannot hurt my feelings.

 Remember I was a Director of Nursing for the Department of Corrections. 

Linking@Tweak It Tuesday

Wow Us Wednesday's

Mod Mix Monday

joy and peace

Olive

Weekend News

One quick image of stacked ironstone on the buffet. 

I will show the rest later. 

I have news. 

I bought a kitchen island yesterday at The Rusty Gate in Tennille, Georgia.

 It is handcrafted and is made from old windows.

 Joe is driving it here now. 

It has been measured and will fit in our space but I am afraid 

it may be a visually too large for our humble kitchen.

I will know soon. 

Plus we have Bob and Sue arriving any minute for the weekend. 

We will put them to work. 

I guess I will feed them first.

happy weekend

Olive

Gathered Whites

Whites gathered in a corner by the hearth. 

That chippy wood piece is brimming with texture.

Stacked American pottery. 

The large piece is an unmarked McCoy 

found at a church sale for three dollars. 

I bought it and gleefully ran. 

Those little marks on the surface of the pot are often

 called flea bites and might detract from the value.

I am not selling it any time soon. 

Or ever.

I am traveling to our old house today where the Internet

 is as slow as the house is old. 

For my new followers(bless you), we have a tumble down antebellum home,  

in Middle Georgia, that appears seldom on the blog.  

I likely will visit friends, get my thirty three hairs cut, and rearrange some dust.

Thank you for you kind comments about the funeral. 

Writing alleviates my inner turmoil.

linking@Be Inspired

joy and peace

Olive

Family Funerals

It has taken me a week to gain perspective on a family funeral I attended. 

My family requires months, even years of perspective. If you have read any of my Hold Everything Lightly series, above, you might understand. My great Aunt K. died, she was just shy of ninety. When I was much younger I used to spend time with her but I have not seen her recently. One of my aunts and her daughter have been faithful to visit and care for her. Unfortunately much of what they did for her will go without credit.

I almost walked out of the church because someone was there who hurt me terribly when my beloved daddy died. It took every fiber of my being and the grace of God to hold me in place. Then my Big Sister came in the door and I did not know what she might do because she is far more volatile than I and was involved with that whole incident. My sister did not recognize me.  I have grey hair, have lost weight, and had on heels. A vast difference than my former look when she saw me last year. Yes, it was at least a year since I have seen my sister. We do talk on the phone however. We sat together and she told me she nearly left when she saw the person who caused us so much pain when we were mourning our dad. We are united in that we are the two children left of our parents. Our brother, Fred, was killed by a drunk driver fifteen years ago. Mom had more children later. 

. It was dizzying for me to see friends from high school grown yet strangely the same. They did not recognize me(grey hair strikes again). We saw a vast array of first cousins, cousins thrice removed, aunts, and uncles. Upon reflection I noticed neither preacher who spoke mentioned my great uncle who married my aunt 58 years ago. I do not think that an accident. He was mean and hateful. He was my grandfather's brother.

Going to my hometown is too strenuous and intense for me.

I cannot do it with perspective or grace anymore. 

Too many ghosts of the past lurk there. 

The scary part is they have a pulse.

 joy and peace

Olive

Winter Garden

Quince

Camilla

January is a big gardening month for me. 

It is 74 degrees and gorgeous outside.

This is what I did this morning:

Cut back 13 roses

Cut back all the perennials

Raked mulch from half the flower garden

Replaced  mulch with pine straw from our yard (free)

~~~~~

I still have to rake the other half of the flower garden 

and place pine straw around the plants.

 In February I run over the monkey grass with the mower 

and cut back the butterfly bushes.

This is a before image with long scraggly roses 

and dogwood leaves all over the place.

The pine straw will settle down in a few days. The blank spots are where ground covers are. The plan here is eventually to have ground cover between plants and little need for mulch.

Clovis helped of course. 

I find peace in my little garden. 

All the hard space here needs updating.

I really do not mind. 

There is no money for it any way. 

The plants, sun, and joy of being outside are enough for me.

Linking@Wow Us Wednesdays

happy gardening

Olive

Meyer Lemon Centerpiece

Meyer Lemons and grapes in a basket urn in the center of the table. These lemons are not easy to find in the south but I love them. Am I baking a scrumptious lemon confection with them?

 Sadly no.

I am in recovery from December where incidentally no baking occurred either. I enjoyed having CC home for a month. It was bittersweet because she will be in South Korea next year for nine months. I do not like to fly. My doctor says she will medicate me, a lot if necessary, to get me there to see my kiddo. We shall see.

Linking@Be Inspired

joy and peace

Olive

Amaryllis

I force at least one Amaryllis bulb every winter. 

Then I plant it in my flower garden and it blooms every summer. 

They make terrific gifts.

This bulb was placed in potting soil the day after Thanksgiving. 

The rate of growth is remarkable.

 Some days it grew over one inch per day.

Linking@Wow Us Wednesday

happy gardening

Olive

Vintage Suitcase Solution

Shelley Puppy, at eighty pounds, has been knocking over our small table between these two chairs. Vintage suitcases to the rescue. We filled them with magazines and books and that makes them far more substantial and difficult to move.

I already had the suitcases and paid little for them.

 If they are slanted turn one of them around like we did.

I think they fit in just fine in our eclectic living room filled with thrifty finds. 

Would you like to see the puppy?

He is our furry heart. CC went back to her University yesterday after being home for almost a month. She calls or texts (already) and wants to know what her Shelley Boo is doing.

Linking at:

Tweak It Tuesday

Wow Us Wednesday

joy and peace

Olive