August Greetings

Well, it certainly has been awhile. So much has happened in the last several months, I don't know quite where to begin.

I do know we are blessed with many chapters in Life. They come and go, some only mildly different from the last or the next, and some that feel like volumes all on their own.

This is one of those chapters for us. We are in a new land, a new community, a new home.

We were sad to say goodbye to our farmhouse - especially the garden as our plants seemed most vulnerable. And the task of packing up our house was an arduous one. It began very organized but in the end, things were thrown into boxes in complete exhaustion.

Most of our things are still in boxes as the majority of our belongings have gone into storage. But it is surprisingly just fine with us as there is an overriding comfort in the realization that we are home.

We have rented a lovely little cottage to hold us as we explore the region and decide exactly where we�ll settle.

I have to say that I have moved several times in my life and I am constantly amazed at how the familiar comforts of our day-to-day are so quickly replaced by new comforts. The habits we once knew become shy memories that feel long ago, and the rhythm of the new place starts to feel like it's been a constant all along.

We feel blessed to be embraced by our new home, and are reveling in the daily discoveries of our new surroundings.

I hope that everyone has had a splendid summer. Although there are a few weeks left in the season, I feel as if there has been a shift in the light and air these last few days. I opened the door this morning and took a deep breath. Fall is near.

Beautiful, resplendent, cozy Fall.

Catherine

A Contributing Editor

Last Fall, while discussing the details over the feature on our guest house, I was asked to join Country Living magazine as a contributing editor. 

This was of course a complete surprise, and I was sure I was being mistaken for someone else. 

When I told Mike this news, he responded with lots of congratulations, and then asked, "what does a contributing editor do?" 

I said that I didn't know exactly, but it sounded very important! 

Needless to say, I was quite honored to be asked as I've been a passionate Country Living reader for many years. 

So far, I've been helping to develop story ideas and to find beautiful homes to feature on the pages of the magazine. It has been a great experience. I am continually reminded of the passion and spirit that so many people invest to make their homes and livelihoods truly beautiful and special, and also how their lives are enriched by the beauty that they create. 

There are so many wonderful details that fashion those warm and loving spaces. And that's ultimately what its all about isn't it -  

to endear those spaces so that we and our loved ones feel embraced by the homes that hold us? 

I look forward to sharing my experiences through this new endeavor!

Thank You

Click photo for video. 

(Video by Michael Peterson)

Your sentiments, well wishes and kindness have been so incredibly heartwarming. As we embark on our new journey, it is a great comfort to leave a place that was well loved and appreciated by people beyond our own family and friends. 

Looking through the photographs, I am reminded of how much of ourselves that we put into restoring this property. Every blooming flower, every picket on our fence, and every wall on our house has been touched by our dreams for a home to embrace us. But more than that, this house will always be the beginning of our family and for that alone it will always hold a special place in our hearts. 

The like-minded souls that I�ve connected with through the blog have been such a wonderful source of support and inspiration. I originally started the blog for therapeutic reasons, to force myself to focus on the positive in life. But in the end, aside from the motivation and reinforcement it has provided to keep an eye on the beautiful and the detail, it has pushed me to acknowledge my deepest interests, and has resulted in a collection of images that I would not have committed the time to capture otherwise. And for that, and more importantly for all of the positivity that your friendship has provided, I am extraordinarily grateful. 

Many of you have asked whether I�ll continue to write the blog. Honestly, I wasn�t sure if I would or not. But now, I can�t imagine finding a new home, fidgeting with it to make it our own, and not sharing the experience with all of you. Your extension of support, inspiration and love of all things home is a comforting and generous companion along the way. 

As you can imagine, recently we have been finishing lots of details and small projects that we never quite got to. So I have a number of posts to come soon.

With a full heart, I thank you again for your friendship and the unending kindness you�ve shown me, my family and our home. 

xo

A New Chapter

We have some news to share. 

The time has come for us to say goodbye to our cherished home, there is a move on our horizon. 

With a great opportunity for Mike, and the chance to be closer to our families, we'll begin a new chapter, in a new place, with the dreams of a new home. 

With gratitude and the fondest of memories, we've begun to pack up a house that has held us for the last seven years.  

A house that we hope will offer a new family as much as it has offered us. 

A White Christmas

Between gifts from family and friends and of course, Santa Claus, we had quite the bundle to be thankful for this Christmas. 

My favorite Christmas present from Mike was his thoughtfulness. He stayed up late Christmas Eve and unbeknownst to me (as I was fast asleep), he tidied the house and baked all sorts of things while waiting up for Santa. 

He even took the time to write all the dishes down on the kitchen chalkboard. 

How cute is that? 

The dishes with the (v) are vegan dishes as we are striving to be more and more vegan each day. 

He baked Sweet Potato muffins (vegan). 

They were amazing! He found the recipe here.  

Take 1: 

This is the face I get when I ask Mike to pose for a picture. 

Take 2: 

This is him contemplating my request to smile like he means it. 

Here he is with his pumpkin pie made with the last of our garden pumpkins. 

He used this pie crust recipe but substituted spelt flour for the white flour. 

Delicious!

Anyone have a fabulous vegan pumpkin pie recipe to share? 

I spied a little still life as I wandered through his bustling kitchen and asked, "Is this wine?" 

He had poured the wine to eliminate the sediment from the older bottle, and to let it breathe a little. 

Was he surprised that I took a picture of his breathing wine? Probably not. 

This Golden Lentil Stew is a new favorite. I think the special ingredient is the chopped dates, along with the combination of the sweeter spices and more pungent herbs. 

This dish is so good over roasted herb potatoes. 

Here is the recipe, although we opted to not add the pasta. 

Outside, the snow fell and covered each and every branch and limb that the eye could see. 

The stillness of that first snow fall is always quite magical. 

I hope that the holiday season is warming hearth and soul. 

Peace

for 

Everyone. 

Happy New Year. 

xo

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Gift Wrapping

Now don't you think that jingle bells just make a present all the more fun? 

A gift that jingles is a gift that smiles. 

I also love a gift adorned with fresh cedar clippings. 

The aroma of the wintry woods is always memorable.  

More cedar clippings and jingle bells...

And one of my favorite ways to honor antique lace is to use it to wrap a special gift. 

You can find such beautiful remnants of it here and there. If the lace is longer than needed, I usually wrap it around twice so that I don't have to cut it. 

~

My Grandmother believed that the package in which a gift is wrapped is just as important as the gift that's in it.

I will never forget the time when I was a little girl and wrapped my Grandmother's Christmas present with aluminum foil. I had grabbed a Christmas pin (a kitten in a red stocking) from my drawer (that's childhood Christmas shopping for you) and then proceeded to the kitchen to find my wrapping paper.

I tore a piece of foil off the roll, put the Christmas pin in the middle and then just scrunched it up real tight, squeezing it for good measure.

When I gave my gift to my Grandmother that night, she looked at me with such affection in her eyes and said, "Darling, did you wrap this?"

I nodded proudly as she proceeded to very delicately unwrap my wad of foil. She loved the pin but I think she loved the wrapping more.

She wore the pin each and every Christmas thereafter and every time I saw it, it reminded me of how happy it made her.

Aluminum foil and all.

Behind the Scenes: Christmas Shoot

All photos from this post were taken by Max Kim-Bee for Country Living magazine. 

Now that Christmas is just around the corner, I've been thinking about decorations, greenery and other odds and ends to make the house warm and festive for the holiday. It's reminded me that I have been meaning to write a Behind the Scenes post on the Christmas photo shoot that Country Living featured our house in last year. 

As someone who has been devouring the pages of home magazines for years, I was fascinated how the stylist (Lili Diallo) and photographer (Max Kim-Bee) pulled everything together. Even though the photo shoot was over a year ago, I thought I'd take the opportunity share some of the behind the scene tidbits on the images taken of our home. It's a good excuse to look back at the festive images they created during their visit. 

The family portrait was the last shot of the whole photo shoot. It was taken late in the day as the photographer wanted to evoke the light provided by a winter sky, as much as was possible in July when the shoot actually took place. It was one of the many shots that was pulled together quickly, they had us ready in less than fifteen minutes. 

The weather was unseasonably cool that week, so considering that it was mid-July pulling on wool sweaters wasn't actually too hard to do. The photographer Max Kim Bee, his assistant Kevin, Sheri Geller and Lili from Country Living, and my mom were all jumping up and down making all sorts of hilarious sounds behind the camera trying to get the babies' attention. It worked! Oh my, Graham and Margaret look so little in this photo!

The brass lantern is one I bought years ago at Home Goods. Kevin took fishing line and hung it from a camera boom to simulate it being mounted on the wall. The firewood was collected by Mike and it was funny because when he brought the wood over to the porch, I asked Lili if she thought that they were the right color! She responded without pause, and requested to exchange a few of the pieces for warmer-colored ones. Mike was familiar with requests like that from me for the photos I take for the blog, so it made me laugh to know that I wasn't the only person who ruminated over things like that.   

The garland was shipped in from New York and had previously been used on the mantel in the living room. 

Lili requested that I pick out a large bushy Christmas tree. That seemed easy enough, but when you're standing amongst the rows upon rows of trees at the Christmas tree farm, it's really hard to tell just how big/small/wide/narrow each one really is until you get it inside. So we picked out three. The above was the fullest of the three. 

Did you know that when you cut down a Christmas tree in mid-July the new shoots will droop? You can see that if you look closely, although I think they may have photoshopped the droopiest ones out. 

The holly-esque greenery on the mantle is actually native Oregon grape that Lili picked from our yard. It worked beautifully as holly in July but typically turns orange and yellow come fall. 

Lili had sent a bunch of wrapping paper and gorgeous French satin ribbon to wrap the gifts, but we ended up using paper that I had on hand from previous Christmases. I wrapped the presents that are in the photo, while holding a baby in my Ergo. Lili also had me help decorate the Christmas tree as it was really important to her that the styling reflect my tastes as much as possible. That was a surprise to me, but a welcome one. 

The star on the Christmas tree was one I picked up years ago for $10. I've never seen anything like it since, but it's just a plastic star that lights up with white lights. The other Christmas ornaments, besides the red cardinals, were all shipped in for the shoot. They were mostly from Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel I believe. 

I really like the Christmas tree in the corner and thought about placing it there last Christmas but the proximity to the fireplace concerned me as I knew the tree would dry out quickly.

When Lili initially contacted me about featuring the house, she said that she liked the white poinsettias I had used in some of my photographs of the living room that are on the blog. But poinsettias were not available in July so she ordered gorgeous white amaryllis that were shipped in from the flower market in New York. 

Whenever I see this picture, I think of the day I bought the burlap runner at Pottery Barn several years ago - on sale for $19.99. It was one of those purchases that I hemmed and hawed about...would I really use it? 

The Oregon grape is seen again here on the table. I really love how they used just green and white, with just a touch of red from the transfer ware. 

My $24.99 Target slipcovers cleaned up well - my mom and I washed and ironed them just before the shoot. Lili had me hang the wreath, which I did while holding Margaret! They sent the round wreath pictured above as well as a square wreath, but the square one ended up not being used. 

The red transfer ware was my Grandmother's and the wine glasses were a wedding present. The brass candlesticks were from purchases I made over the years from Goodwill and a from few antique stores. 

I really love how Lili, Sheri and Max styled the dining room. It's so crisp. 

Did you notice that the counter tops were darkened for the final image? I think it's a nice look, a little more modern than their actual lighter color suggests. All of the items on the shelves were ours, just rearranged professionally by Lili. 

This room was by far the most fascinating to watch Lili style as she was using the same objects that I have been dilly-dallying with for years. To see how she arranged the same pieces, sometimes differently and sometimes the same, was so interesting. 

Also, I have taken so many pictures of these open shelves over the years that I was so intrigued that they included part of the chalk board in the image. I usually crop that out, not sure why, but I thought it looked really nice including it. 

I had ordered a new oval braided jute rug for the shoot but a rectangular one arrived, which I hadn't realized until I unpacked it a few days prior to their arrival. So Mike took the old rug out on the porch and gave it a good cleaning.

When Kevin and my mom went out to get everyone lunch that first afternoon, Lili asked them to bring back a few pears. So the pears are from that lunch excursion. 

The bedroom was the first room they photographed. I had made the bed that morning holding Margaret so when I found out they were going to start in the bedroom, I immediately thought I should run upstairs and remake the bed. But Lili said that imperfection was actually better. Let me tell you that it I had to restrain myself on that one. 

I did not realize that they were going to take pictures of the dresser. I managed to dust it beforehand but that was about it. Lili removed Joan of Arc due to her religious connotations and put the portrait in its place. I never would have thought of putting the portrait there, and love how it looks. 

After seeing the dresser in the magazine, I thought I had too many brass picture frames so I've since mixed it with more silver and other cooler tones to balance it out. I'll have to do a post on that soon. 

After receiving a few emails from readers about the danger of the owl print above the crib despite being anchored in two places, I actually took it down and put a much smaller version of that same print in its place. When Lili arrived, she requested the larger version so I quickly did some re-framing (I had to steal the frame back from the bathroom wall). All of the toys and books and the little Moses basket are items that were from the nursery. 

Again, I was surprised by this as I imagined that special toys were going to be shipped in to look just right. But Lili was a firm believer in having the space be as authentic as possible. 

The little blue vintage pillow in the crib is one I bought years ago, perhaps in my young twenties, and stored away for a future nursery. I always think of that when I see this shot. 

The damask throw was something I picked up at Home Goods some time ago. I loved how Lili tied in all the blues...from the throw, the pillow, and the books. 

The day before Lili arrived, I asked my mom to pick up a fern while she was at the grocery store. I had not intended for it to be used in the shot. What's funny is that the plant was way too small for the planter it's photographed in, so I had to place it on an upside-down bowl in the planter to make the fern look bigger. 

The ducks are Graham and Margaret's bath buddies, and were tucked away on the bathroom sink counter when Max thought it would be fun to throw them in the shot. The linen-colored towel is actually an old tablecloth of mine. 

As we were walking back to the house after taking some family portraits out by the barn, I overhead Lili say to the photographer Max...Yes, let's do a close up of the inside of the drawer. 

For some reason, I did not make the connection that she meant one my drawers! It only donned on me when I saw Max setting up his camera equipment with the drawers opened that it hit me. I kind of panicked and said, should I just tidy up a bit? 

So in a few brief minutes I attempted to tidy up the above drawer (and its neighboring one). If you look closely, I'm afraid that you may see DUST on the Martha Stewart cutlery!  

So those are a few behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the shoot. I actually didn't really know how much of the house they planned on shooting until a week beforehand. I believe we were trying to clean and running out of time so I asked Lili which rooms we should focus our attention on, and that's when she said the whole house! 

Also, because we were new parents of twins we really didn't have any extra time to do much to the house before the shoot besides just clean and do little tasks like finally fill the nail holes in quarter- round base, etc.

I did not change anything or style anything before Lili arrived as I assumed that she would change everything anyway. But she was a firm believer in having the owner's personal style come through. So even though I encouraged her to change things as she saw fit (I explained that I hadn't really fiddled with the house decor since I was in my second trimester of pregnancy), she didn't waiver. Looking back, I probably would have put a little more time into making things just right before everyone arrived. 

It has been a busy couple of months around here. Between trips to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving and our earlier fall getaway, we've been gone for a month combined during October and November this year. Add in the recent visit from Country Living for the guest house between those trips, and here we are in December! But we're awfully excited for the holiday season that is upon us. We're off to select a Christmas tree this afternoon. Look forward to sharing a few scenes from this most festive of season over the next few weeks.

Umbrella

On a grey and rainy day here in the Pacific Northwest, our collection of antique umbrellas await their most anticipated season. But their wait will be a long one because one, we never remember to bring an umbrella, and two, even if we do remember, we choose to use the most common Pacific North West strategy for a rainy day - run for it. 

My Grandmother, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, was the kind of person who would never forget her umbrella. Of course rain was not as abundant so in the rare event that rain washed their sun warmed landscape, it was a festive celebration to don ones umbrella. 

Do you use an umbrella? 

Our household is in the throes of our first autumn sniffles. After several days of foggy heads and runny noses, raspy voices and restless nights, we are hopefully on the mend soon. 

On a side note, in my influenza lethargy I was only mildly excited when I saw that my new camera arrived yesterday - a sure sign that I was feeling under the weather. 

Look forward to taking some pictures soon...

The Photo Shoot

Here is a small glimpse into our guest house/barn renovation. The Country Living feature focuses on the interior renovation so I thought I'd post a little peek on the exterior (more photos inside and out after the feature is published). The window that's shown here is in fact an original window, and is the only window that we did not replace.

 The photo shoot took place on Halloween. Unfortunately I don't have any behind the scenes glimpses as my Canon Rebel has expired, and I inadvertently misplaced my point and shoot. But it went really well, and I had the extreme pleasure of meeting someone I have admired for quite some time - Heather Bullard. 

Heather was the stylist for the shoot - she did such an amazing job! Everything turned out so beautiful. I am so excited to see the feature when it comes out in the February issue. 

The photographer for the shoot was the reknowned James Baigrie. He was also such a wonderful pleasure to meet. Heather came Tuesday to prep everything, and then James arrived early Wednesday morning. Shooting began soon afterward. 

Mike took those two days off to watch the babies so that I could be up at the guest house helping as much as possible (ironing linens, fetching props, etc.). Just as the previous photo shoot, it was insanely fascinating to watch the process of creating photo-ready spaces. 

Heather took this photo of Mike on her iPhone. I was with the babies while he ran up to deliver some morning necessities... like fresh brewed coffee. 

After the shoot, Heather and I had a chance to relax and socialize a bit more. She gave me some tips, using my iPhone, on styling this pumpkin bread that Mike made. I think that she may have even taken this photo. 

It was wonderful to stand in the kitchen and talk about everything design. 

Due to the business of the shoot being on Halloween, and also due to the abundance of rain we had that week, we didn't dress the babies up in their Halloween costumes until this past weekend. They thought it was a hoot to look like some of their favorite critters. Graham only tolerated the lion's mane for about 60 seconds (he's never been a hat boy). 

I hope that all had a wonderful weekend, over the last days of October. I also hope that for those of you who were affected by Sandy are with power, and safe and sound. Our thoughts have been with you from afar. 

August Blueberries

Graham is a gardener at heart. He runs around the vegetable garden picking and then sampling right off the vines! Shown here, the blueberries bushes were no exception. He even sampled a blackberry that wasn't ripe. After he removed it from his mouth and threw it onto the grass, I could just hear him thinking...hmmm, another week and they'll be delicious.  xo

Our berry pickings from last year, here and here. 

Chirping Orchids

Some of our feathered friends decided to use our fireplace chimney to nest this year. The eggs have hatched and the nestlings are chirp, chirp, chirping. The babies walk over to the fireplace and look up at the orchids...Is it you that is chirping? 

Our living play room. 

Play, play, play...it's our favorite thing to do. 

xo 

Blackberries and Blueberries

Our blackberry bush is bursting with berries this year. 

So far (knock on wood), the deer have restrained from nibbling. 

Last year we had a nice crop that gave us a good week or so worth of pickings. This year will be even better and I'm so excited as there's nothing quite sweeter than fresh picked berries. 

The blueberry bushes are full of green berries as well. When we were out in the yard the other evening, I showed them to the babies as blueberries are one of their favorite foods. Margaret gave a few a little squeeze and determined that we'll have to wait a few more weeks before pickin'. 

Last season they weren't quite ready to eat blueberries, so it will be a special treat when we pick them this year. 

Wicker furniture...

...for wee ones. 

I saw this little wicker love seat a while ago in one of my favorite antique stores. In a quiet moment several days later, I thought the babies would have so much fun with that.  

Recently, we were back in that neck of the woods and I decided that if the little wicker love seat still happened to be there, we should get it for the babies. And when I say 'we' I mean myself and my other self who supports such ideas. 

The love seat was indeed still there but as I looked more closely, I saw that there was also a matching rocking chair and table to go with it. 

So the little love seat ended up becoming a set.  

After setting up the tiny wicker furniture on our porch, we showed it to the babies. Margaret immediately began re-arranging everything, which made me laugh. And Graham, well he glanced at it for a half second, and then he was off and running (with Mike at his heels). 

xo

An Attache

There are those things that you buy from time to time that you never thought you needed, or even wanted for that matter.  The other day, it was a wicker attache case with leather handle and brass hardware.

The three of us saw her in an antique store (the babies and me) and by majority vote we decided to buy her for $32. 

For something that I didn't know I needed, or didn't even want, and for something I'll probably never use, I thought that it was a bargain! 

What do you think? 

Shall I schedule a business meeting? 

Probably not, but maybe I should use it to bring my laptop somewhere...like a cafe. Or more practically, from upstairs to downstairs (for very important breakfast negotiations).  

Photos by Hubby.

Peony Tulips

I brought home a bouquet of peony tulips, a variety I've never seen before. It's a proper marriage I think because tulips and peonies are such close companions in a blossoming spring garden.  

I panned out so that you could meet my other photography assistant - my dining room mirror! She stands in when Mike isn't home to assist but let me tell you that she's not nearly as fun to 'work with.' I have to keep her clean, she only works during certain day time hours and her conversation is always quite bland. 

Hubby is much more perky and requires much less maintenance.