Category: THOUGHTS

Violets Secrets…

On By Barbara StroudIn HOME, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

Violets | ArtFoodHome.com

Look at this violet! It’s going wild! Tons of beautiful flowers, there is also a smaller (baby) violet to the left… I’ve had good luck with them, this is what I do…

I set the three violets that I have in a butchers tray (any tray will do) and add 1/4″ + of room temperature water (they really don’t like cold water). Let them sit until the pot feels heavy, then I transfer them back to the plate, etc. that I have them sitting on. My baby violet is in a self-watering pot, which does not self water. I never understood that… but it’s pretty, so I keep it.

I have them in a sunny room. Right now they don’t get direct light, but the room is very light. Those are my secrets ;) Go get one, they’re wonderful plants!

Taking a few days off, posting some photos this week, back to normal posting next week!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Daylight Savings Time Begins – Time to Spring Forward!

On By Barbara StroudIn Lifestyle, THOUGHTS2 Comments

spring forward

A good trick I use to remind myself to set the clocks back before we go to bed… Set the clock on the stove forward an hour this morning… then you will notice the time is wrong when you see it later in the day, and that prompts you to change the rest of the clocks. I know the entire country doesn’t participate in Daylight Savings Time, but for those of you who do… you know what to do (Ex: If it’s 8AM, set your clock to 9AM, ahead one hour)!

Daylight Savings Time begins at 2AM (Sunday), but not many of us wait up for it!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Embrace the cloudy days…

On By Barbara StroudIn Photograph, THOUGHTS6 Comments

Tree of Life

I saw this tree a month or so ago and it stopped me in my tracks. I quickly grabbed my phone and snapped a photo. I walked out of a neat little design shop (Elizabeth Stuart Design or ESD as we call it), and walking back to the car saw this tree in the parking lot. It was the wild sky and the bright sun that made it stand out.

This tree makes me think of how strong people are when they need to be. When the wind is whipping, the sky is gray and life has problems or uncertainty remember…

The sun is soon to follow.

Let the sun warm you and make you smile. Soon things will turn around, there will be leaves on the trees, more sun in the sky and life will feel better…

Embrace the cloudy days, for they make the sunny days that much more special.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Captivating design – this is something you don’t want to live without!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

Image via Rad Empire

R A D Felt Pouch

R A D EMPIRE – brilliant design. Clever. Modern & sophisticated. MADE IN THE USA! This company should be on your list of small businesses to support. RAD Empire was started by Ross DeWaard, a 17 year old high school student from Viroqua, Wisconsin. Ross started R A D Empire “in an effort to create a useful, everyday product that was well designed, beautiful in its simplicity, but most importantly, handmade in America (by me).”  Handmade in the USA.

GO ROSS!! We need more people like you!

Photo: R A D Empire

Cool branding… I am impressed! I love the website, the cool tags, every detail has been thought of and it shows! In addition to the wonderful products and the visual appeal is a stunning website. 5 stars!! The website has a link to R A D Empire’s Etsy shop, where you can order online. I was happy to see that they also accept PayPal. Shipping is free… prices are great… check it out!

Image via RAD-EMPIRE

R A D Canvas Pouch

I placed an order and quickly received a shipment confirmation, and not long after it arrived in the mail. Wrapped in brown paper and tied with string – First class!  Again… impressed! I didn’t show you everything on his website so go check it out! I cannot wait to use it!

Read a bit about R A D Empire, from their website:

In the year 2015, RAD Empire was created. My goal was to create a beautifully hand made, durable, made in America product. 
RAD Empire utilizes high quality materials, some new, some
recalimed (to give reclaimed materials another incredible life in this world). With great attention to detail, every bag is designed to withstand the test of time. The more you use it, the better it looks, and everyday use is what this product needs and wants. New, reclaimed, we’ve joined these two materials to create one great product!At RAD Empire we don’t tell people our dreams, we show them.Look, seek, find!!

All images via R A D Empire, used with permission…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Recipe: Ham & Cheese Noodle Casserole – The ultimate in comfort food!

On By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, Recipe, THOUGHTS5 Comments

Ham & Cheese Casserole

A friend sent me this recipe. Oh. My. Word! I changed up only a few things, I used less butter, substituted low-fat sour cream, used a little more cheese, and a wonderful noodle I found, I also thinned with milk because Fred likes a thinner sauce – I included the original recipe, and then my version below. This casserole is comfort food at its very finest. There are no cream soups with unknown ingredients, good ingredients = a healthier meal for sure!

You can make this as healthy as you like. Less cheese, no problem, I think I’m going to try using Greek yogurt in place of sour cream. One day. So afraid to mess it up. But I have substituted Greek yogurt in recipes in the past with good results. I will update this post if I do!

Click to print (both) the recipes (minus all my words)!

The original recipe (from a friend, thank you Heather Locke!!):

HAM & CHEESE NOODLE CASSEROLE

4 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped fine

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese

1 ½ cups finely chopped cooked ham

Salt

½ pound noodles, ¼ inch wide, cooked.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 2 quart casserole dish. Melt the butter in a skillet and cook onion over medium heat until soft.

In a small bowl: Mix the eggs and sour cream together, then add onion, cheese and ham. Add salt to taste. Put the noodles in the casserole dish, then add the sauce and toss gently. Bake for 45 minutes or until a straw inserted in the middle comes out clean.

_________________________________________________________

My variation (was more clear to re-write, even though there are only a few changes)

1-2 Tablespoons butter

1 small onion, chopped

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup low fat sour cream

~1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1 ½ cups cooked finely chopped ham

8 oz (½#) egg noodles (I used Amish Country), cooked and drained

Milk to your taste – I thinned it a bit using probably ⅓ – ½ cup 2% milk.

Follow above directions, I also topped mine with a little cheese. I baked it covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Moving paintings around – like a room makeover!

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, HOME, THOUGHTS2 Comments

GALLERY WALL

It’s easy to keep everything where it’s at. You know, furniture, lamps, paintings – I simply cannot do that. Since I was a kid, I would work hard at changing my room around. Often. I loved moving furniture and creating a completely different looking space. It’s so rewarding. I know we aren’t all wired that way.

Too much moving can be a bad thing I suppose. Like the time my sister and I thought we could bring the love seat from the living room (like it wouldn’t be missed), up the stairs (very old house) to my room. It got stuck in the staircase. I don’t think my dad was too happy about that. (Thanks Dad :) ) but aside from your furniture getting stuck somewhere I can’t see a downfall. We have been known to change entire rooms. Living room one day… Dining room the next.

I have even changed a few kitchen cabinets around. Hmmm, I don’t totally recommend that. For years you will go to the wrong cabinet out of habit, ha ha… I say it’s good for the old brain, ha!

This is our gallery wall (click that link to see previous post regarding). This is a big wall that is difficult to make right with just a few paintings. It needs a statement. So a gallery wall solved that. Then all that gold started to get to us. So we made some changes. Exchanged some for floater frames, and took some out of the frames. They look fabulous! Now our gallery wall is in a different room.

Painting by Carol Bass

This painting is by Carol Bass. She’s a great person as well as a stunning abstract artist. We feel very fortunate to have one of her paintings. The frame on this painting is even beautiful with pegs (not nails)! Hand made by her husband (also a super nice guy).

The chair on the right had a striped slipcover, that didn’t work with this painting, so we had a white duck cloth slipcover made for it. Love it! Need a white/off white pillow to tie in the other chair that is the ultimate in comfort! A modern chair near a cool abstract painting… love it! Do you move furniture around, or are you one that believes it should stay put?

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Paintings on gallery wall (top photo):

ARTISTS: (FROM TOP LEFT TO RIGHT): DAN COREY, ALISON HILL, DAN COREY (MIDDLE ROW): TIM BELL, TIM BELL, ROBERT ABELE, TIM BELL, TIM BELL, (BOTTOM ROW) BJORN RUNQUIST, DAVID KASMAN

Valentine’s Day…

On By Barbara StroudIn FOOD, THOUGHTSLeave a comment

IMG_5262

Happy Valentine’s Day to each and every one of you!

What do you normally do on Valentine’s Day? Go to a nice restaurant? Stay in and make a nice dinner? Read a good book? Do nothing special?

There are a lot of nice restaurants to visit in Charleston, that’s for sure! This weekend is also SEWE (Southeastern Wildlife Expo) – so the city will be crazy busy.

I think we’ll find something nice to make ourselves… or maybe something from Goat Sheep Cow? Enjoy your day!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Regular frame vs. floater frame and how to…

On By Barbara StroudIn ART, THOUGHTS8 Comments

Regular frame

Painting by Ken DeWaard

A regular frame or a floater frame? Ah, the dilemma!

Above is a painting with a regular frame, which is fine, but when you have many paintings the frames start to compete for the attention, especially when they’re hung in close proximity to each other – I think the painting (rather than the frame) should be the star!

We have four paintings that we wanted to redo the frames on, two by Ken DeWaard and two by Tim Bell, all painted on canvas panels. We had them in regular frames, but with all our other frames it just got too much. So we ordered some floater frames from Franken Frames. Great company. We had a good experience and I would not hesitate to order from them again, they were wonderful!

DSCN4152

See how more of your attention is on the painting rather than the frame? I really like these! It looks even better on the wall! But this gives you an idea.

This is how we put the painting in the frame. We didn’t want to use glue because we tend to change frames out, so we opted for Velcro. We placed Velcro dots on each corner of the back of the riser (photo shows back of frame how we received it from Franken Frames). Then we marked the center of each Velcro piece with red marker and quickly placed the panel, lined up how we wanted it, on top of the back of the frame (back to back). You can then (faintly) see the red dots, so you know where to put the other piece of Velcro. After that simply place it, lined up, into the frame. Tada!

Add Velcro dots
Mark with marker
See faint red dots. Add Velcro.
After adding Velcro to red dot areas on panel, add painting and press corners.
Painting by Tim Bell

Frankenframes. Woohoo!

Catch you back here tomorrow!