Tile Lust

I have seen the advertisements for years, but I never checked out the website, http://www.annsacks.com/

I could design hundreds of unique homes from the tile collections. Here are a few of my favorites...

Mud Room Ideas

With our recent summer rains, including a lovely flash flood over the weekend, I have been dreaming about having a mud room. One of my most desired aspects of the dream mud room would be the dog/boot shower. It would be amazing to be able to hose off those muddy paw paws and my wellies after a nice walk in the rain.

In my search for the right accessories for the new utility mud shower I found a pro grooming pet source that has the hardware needed to tackle the dog wash, http://progroom.com/. Here is the link to the wall mounted spray plumbing hardware. A must have: faucet.

My wish list of mud room amenities is extensive, but a mud room is the work horse of the home. I love Shaw fireclay farm sinks and the classic is the 30" original...

I personally would opt for white locker cubbies to store coats, hats, bags, and the mystery collection of scarves that seem to replicate in the cold months. I would opt for a bench and storage drawers below with lovely bin pulls.

I would use dry erase board in the center of the coat cupboard door front so that family members can write helpful reminders. An added benefit would be personal charging stations in each storage locker. An orderly home is a sane home in my opinion. A girl can dream can't she?

The Lovely Iris

Gypsy Romance

Copatonic

Badlands

Brazilian Holiday

BlackDragon

Schreiner's Gardens has the most beautiful Iris collection. Here are a few of my favorites. http://www.schreinersgardens.com/

You have to give props to Ms. Martha Stewart for innovation. I stumbled upon this little idea from her website, and boy do I intend to use it. Just keep an old colander in the garden to rinse off your veggies before you take them in the house and muck up the kitchen. It's a good thing!

Garden Inspirations

Apple Oven Cake

Thanks to Sunset.com I have made this recipe on multiple occasions; it really is wonderful.

Time: 30 minutes. This puffed pancake works nicely as either an elegant breakfast dish or a rustic dessert.

Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 sweet apple such as Fuji, peeled and sliced
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 425°. Melt butter in a 12-in. ovenproof frying pan over high heat. Add brown sugar and cinnamon, swirling to combine. Add apple and cook until just starting to soften, about 3 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a blender, whirl together eggs, salt, flour, and milk. Pour egg mixture into pan and bake until puffed and brown, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon juice and powdered sugar.

After our recent trip to New York City I have had bugs on my mind. You see, one of my clients is The Evolution Store. It is on Spring Street in SoHo. A little enchanting shop full of wonderful curious natural objects... mostly bugs! Since then, I have been thinking about making things, with bugs. I have some ideas up my sleeve, and when I finally do create my first little curiosity I will be sure to share.

Dog Biscuit Recipes

I was giving some thought while shopping at the store at how expensive dog treats are today. Then my little light bulb blinked and I thought, "make your own!"

Here are a few recipes I have found; I have not tested. If I have some success with them I will let you know.

Look at these two, how can you say no to treats? That is Maggie May and Bear Bear Vaughan Stinkelstein. I love my furs.

Here is a little pot of gold for recipes: http://www.bullwrinkle.com/Assets/Recipes/Recipes.htm

Taken from Bullwrinkle.com

Peanut Butter Bones

1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup milk
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose white flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 ° F (165 ° C).

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in water. In a large saucepan, mix together the potatoes, milk, molasses, stock, and peanut butter. Heat, stirring frequently until boiling. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Add yeast mixture. Gradually blend in the egg, wheat, rye, and rice flours. Add enough white flour to form a stiff dough.

Transfer to a floured surface and knead until smooth (about 3-5 minutes). Shape the dough into a ball and roll to 1/2-inch (12 mm) thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out biscuits. Place on ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 1/4-inch (6 mm) apart. Gather up the scraps, roll out again, and cut additional biscuits.

Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool overnight. Makes several dozen bones that freeze well--and have the consistency of pizza crusts, a favorite snack for most spoiled dogs!

New York Gift Show Favorites

One of the best parts of my job is traveling to all the trade shows and spying the lovely new home decor goodies. Here are a few of my favorites from our recent trip to the New York Gift Show.

There is a definite vibe of vintage happening in home decor. One of the stronger themes is blond or light colored wood furniture. We are seeing a predominance of bohemiam nostalgic decor with an emphasis on reproductions of antiques. I am personally loving the strong use of linen upholstery with all of the old antique reproductions. It will be curious to see where the year takes us with design, but for now pick up a Restoration Hardware catalog and you will see what is happening in the home furnishings industry.

Planning the Spring Garden

I have been fumbling through my Seed Saver Catalog joyfully envisioning my garden for the spring. We have a new plot of land to work with; so there will be a bit of a learning curve to determine how the soil and light will affect the new garden.

We are very blessed to have an acequia called the "Old Bernadino Ditch" to siphon off some water from the Nambe River where our house resides. Robb and I are calculating ways to put in some catchment systems and drip lines to best water our new Victory Garden. Do you have any plans to grow food for yourself this year?

Breathing Earth is a presentation that displays the carbon dioxide emission rates, birth rates, and death rates of every country in the world. It displays this information visually, and in real-time.

http://www.breathingearth.net/

The Green Patriarch

His All Holiness Bartholomew: 'The Green Patriarch' is undertaking one of the greatest green movement efforts of any religious leader. Please take a moment to watch a preview of his moving work to collaborate people from both schools of Science and Faith to save God's creation, planet earth.

A New Flock

Our little homestead is going to get a new addition of chickens. I have been wanting to get a small flock for years. Just ask Robb how often I talk about chickens.

I have been researching what birds I want to raise for my new flock. My dad says, "Honey, you can't go wrong with a Rhode Island Red. They always give you nice brown eggs."

I want to mix it up with some Aruacana's for their blue eggs, and Cuckoo Maran's from France for their deep chocolate eggs. And, I just think that Wyandottes are fat happy little things. Do you have a favorite breed for both personality and beauty?

A kitchen renovation is in the works. Robb and I are coming up with clever ways to utilize the grist stone perhaps as the kitchen island encased in glass. We shall see what we can do with her.

One of the most exciting aspects of the kitchen remodel is refurbishing my grandparents 1950's Copper Chamber's Stove. It needs to be re-plated in copper and chrome, but here is what it will look like when it gets finished.

The Chambers stove will be the queen of the kitchen. I will soon be scouring e-bay for used copper pots to collect for my maestro chef Roberto. He is thrilled to bring our family heirloom into our new home.

Moving to the Country

Well, we have finally decided it is high time to move to the country. By a stroke of luck a home that we had longed to dwell in two years ago came back in to our lives, and this time we were able to make it happen.

We have named her the Santa Fe Mill House, even though the home is technically in Nambe, NM nestled beside the Nambe River. The Mill was built in the late 1800's and was utilized by the Nambe Valley community as the Grist Mill for flour, wheat, and corn. As you can see from the photo the adobe structure still has the water wheel on the exterior of the building. Inside the kitchen is the fly wheel. The grist stone is smack dab in the center of the kitchen. We are working on several clever ways to integrate the artifacts of the Mill's former life into our now modern homestead.