G R E Y


Acorns crunch under my shoes when I walk in the backyard now, the remnants of what the squirrels haven't hidden away. The sun is bright. The air is crisp. I love this weather. 

Around the corner is grey. I don't mind. It's just another color of the season.

Some Etsy picks to share on this September day...



Delicate handmade versions would look so pretty on display.



Pretty earrings. Minimalist. 



I like typographic art. Do you?



I love these simple light fixtures. Thinking of these on either side of our bed.


A fun pillow for my foyer update, perhaps.



simple holiday decor (yes it's coming)



I love this tablecloth. perfect for Thanksgiving.








Freshly Pickled


This weekend I spent a day pickling with some good friends. We get together every autumn for what has become a bit of a ritual. 

Pickling itself is pretty easy. It's really not as intimidating as some people think. Really, you don't have to go all Martha to accomplish this. As long you put some effort into the preparations and are careful during the canning phase you are good to go.  We work as a team divvying up responsibilities in the planning, purchasing of ingredients and the workload day of. 

We have pretty much stuck to these four different recipes for the past few years - pickled green beans, pickles, pickled beets and a savoury onion compote that is fabulous.






We only pickle what is in season. Choose only the freshest produce for the best results.





It's really satisfying to see the results of a days work on your pantry shelf.


There is a great website by the talented Dana & Joel called Well Preserved. They are my go-to guru's of all things preserving. If you are considering trying it out for yourself visit their website for inspiration!

Debra




ETSY Friday Favorites! Kitchen Edition

I've always enjoyed sharing my favorite Etsy products with you so I was excited to see the many changes that Etsy has made to enhance how we can share what we love.

Now, when you visit my shop page on Etsy you can now see my favorites organized by category. In my opinion it's similar to Pinterest. It makes it so much easier for shoppers to look for products rather than skimming through a list of shops which is how it was previously organized.

I've decided to start a new regular column called Etsy Friday Favorites. Every week I'll share some Etsy picks. I hope you'll enjoy it!

This week I'm sharing some picks that would look beautiful in a kitchen. Maybe that kitchen is my kitchen, but it might be yours too!

I love these pillows. If I had a place to put them in my kitchen like a bench or a banquette these would be there. Gorgeous colours.





I can picture some fresh whipped cream in this pretty bowl. Ready to scoop over some blueberries.


Mixing bowl with small wooden spoon by Art et Manufacture



And if you really love blueberries than this print will satisfy that craving! What a fun pop of colour for the kitchen.



White mortar and pestle sets. Say no more. 




A little pop of yellow would look just right especially these vintage mid-century lovelies.




I will be spending a lot of time in the kitchen this weekend. Saturday is our annual pickling day! I get together with some of my friends to pickle. We will be pickling and canning our little hearts out. I'll share some of the highlights with you next week.

Have a happy weekend :)

Debra







a little of this and a little of that...


Hello...finally catching up with you. So nice to be back. I have some exciting news to share with you soon about a fun styling project I worked on. More on that in a few weeks ;) So I've got a bit of a mixed bag blog post for you today.

I hope September has rolled in smoothly for you. The summer flew by. We spent a month by the sea in Prince Edward Island. Pure bliss. Here is a photo of our beach.



You know when you need to catch your breath and relax? This is what I try to focus on.


Yay! These are the new shelves on the wall over my coffee nook. I've been playing with styling them. That's the fun part :)


The print is from Atelier Eva Juliet on Etsy. The rest is a mix of antique pieces I've picked up at markets and some newer finds such as the milk glasses from West Elm and the teapot from David's Tea.


I baked this cake on the weekend for my son's birthday. 


He says "It's my most favourite cake ever!" 
The recipe is my go-to chocolate cake recipe from Trish Magwood's cookbook Dish Entertain's It's one of those really easy almost one bowl kind of recipes that you will use over and over. It makes great cupcakes too.

The Malteser's or Malted Milk balls, if you are south of the border, are a yummy way to cover up a less than stellar icing job.

and ...

We finally got around to hanging our gallery wall in the dining room. There are a few items I want to tweek but I'm pretty happy with it.


I'm trying to decide whether to keep this gorgeous mirror I bought from Ikea.

Stockholm Mirror, Ikea

The plan is to hang it on the empty wall at the end of the table. What do you think? The only caveat is that the light fixture is centered in the room. It is asymmetrical on purpose to hide that it doesn't hang in the centre of that back wall. A friend suggested I hang the mirror off centre and add a longer piece of art or object to it's side. I thought that was a clever idea.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Debra