Even the Butter has a Home

So, my goal for the year to not buy things I don't need has been spoiled already.

The old dish was a hand-me-down that we have owned for 20+ years.  It is chipped, stained and deglazed in places.  It rests in the garbage as I type.  It was ceremoniously replaced with this happy piece from West Elm.  The butter would still be residing in its old, decaying dish if West Elm had not offered free shipping.

I've read the Paula Deen fat flak these last few weeks.  If Paula goes down, I sure hope she doesn't take butter down with her.  Butter is very important in my family.  We'd keep it on a pedestal, as long as the pedestal would fit in the fridge (it would not).  I remember the butter of my youth.  A usual breakfast at my grandparent's house would consist of eggs, bacon, biscuits and a big ol' round of butter on a plate.  No margarine there!  Frankly there's no better smell than butter melting in a frying pan.

Little Houses

I love to flip through those glossy coffee table decorating books.  Lately, I've noticed how large those perfectly decorated houses have grown.  9,000 square feet!  Who needs that?  I am always drawn to the tiniest rooms, the nooks and crannies.

Office Shelf

I love these tiny house sculptures by Lauren Gray from The Haunted Hollow Tree on Etsy. These are sitting on some of my grandmother's vintage cookbooks. No doubt, a great deal of the recipes call for lard. Part of my husband's cookbook collection resides on this shelf. The newest is Saraban, a cook's journey through Iran. My husband spent some of his boyhood there and the food of the area is lodged in his memory forever. Two dishes have been made from this book, both good. One required few ingredients and relatively little time. One, a rice and lamb concoction, took two days to make. The family determined that, while good, it would be a one time deal because of the time required.

Winter Window

Yes, the Christmas decorations are still up for the most part.  The tree (or should I say trees) are down, but the garland, wreaths and doodads remain.

Aside for the purchase of a new ornament for each family member, little else was bought for the holidays.  However, I could not resist these little silvery wreaths.  I placed them in my kitchen window beneath little silver cups given to me this year by my mother-in-law.  They were souvenirs from my in-laws years spent in the middle east.  Naturally, the drying sponge brushes remain in the photo.  I didn't even notice when I took the photo that the usual bits and pieces were in the window.  There are always vases, brushes and art stamps drying on the windowsill.

Obviously, I don't believe in cutting back the garden until spring.

My Little House

I've created this blog not to show off what I have to the world, but to show myself how lucky I am.  The world is full of products, people and information.  This is where I want to see what I already have, not what I desire.