When my second born went off to college, I took my first art class. She will be graduating in May. I find it hard to believe that nearly 4 years has passed.

I am not a faithful painter. The easiest way for me to paint is to sign up for 4 to 6 week classes, which commits me to one 3-hour painting class per week. During the course of a year, I may take 2 to 4 class series. I never complete an entire painting in 3 hours, so I have several unfinished canvases laying around the house.

Everything I have read states you should paint daily if you really want to improve, but I am not there yet. I believe painting is a bit like golf. Some days are better than others. We just wrapped up a landscaping class and here are some of my nearly finished creations.

Painting comes in waves~~some days I want to just paint and drink wine (I’ve heard that really helps!) and other days, I have no desire to do so.

The fun part about taking a class is you learn new techniques with the help of a teacher. In the painting below (which I haven’t completely finished), we used a palette knife to create a chunky look.

One of my most favorite classes was where we were restricted to mostly using a very large brush. Since I tend to focus on the small details, I was pushed out of my comfort zone~~which is a good thing!

I am perhaps my own worst critic. It takes a lot for me to want to actually frame something I’ve painted. Practice does make perfect and I hope that one day I will have an actual studio set up in the house.

Trying a new activity later age in life is a bit intimidating, but so necessary to keep vibrant and interesting. I hope you have enjoyed my progress over the last four years~~I think I’m getting a little better.

Step out of your comfort zone and be creative! Please let me know what you have done lately to broaden your horizons.

Often I get questions about our chickens. I don’t recall the day we made the decision to have chickens. When we were living temporarily in a double wide trailer while restoring Bella Terra (that’s a complete story in itself!), I remember having 2 toddlers, a newborn, a puppy and baby chicks. Crazy times.

A daily trip to the hen house is restorative for me. The girls are always happy to see me!

Their quarters are designed for up to 25 chickens. If you missed my previous post on the hen house, click here.

Here are some questions I get asked about our having chickens:

How long do fresh eggs keep?

When an egg first comes out, it is covered in a wet coating and then dries within seconds. This invisible coating is called the “bloom” and works to keep air and bacteria from seeping through the pores of the shell.

In the United States, commercial egg growers are required to wash their eggs, which then requires refrigeration. Unfortunately, washing off the bloom accelerates the aging of the egg.

I never wash our eggs and if I do, it is just before I use them. I have read that an unwashed egg can last up to a year!

How do you tell if an egg is old?

Gently drop an egg into a glass of water. If an egg sits flat on the bottom of the glass, it is fresh egg. If the egg floats, it may still be good but it is definitely an older egg. As it continues to age, more air enters the shell and it will float at a steeper angle. But why eat an old egg if you can use a fresh one?

Why are hard-boiled fresh eggs hard to peel?

As an egg ages, air gets in through the pores on the shell. The air forms a pocket between the members and the shell making it easier to peel. Older eggs are best hardboiled.

Does each chicken lay an egg every day?

First, the female chicken, a hen, will lay eggs. It depends on the breed as some hens lay more eggs than others. Typically, a hen will lay only one egg per day but can also skip days. The average hen will lay approximately 300 eggs per year. Chickens require a certain amount of light per day in order to lay. Therefore, hens typically lay more eggs in the spring and summer.

Does a female (hen) need a male (rooster) in order to lay an egg?

No, the female lays eggs regardless. The hen does need a rooster if she is laying a fertilized egg = baby chicks.

Why don’t you have any roosters?

The City of Phoenix does not allow male poultry within the City limits. Since it is rather difficult to determine the sex of a baby chick, we have had roosters. Typically we discover a rooster when a neighbor calls to complain about the crowing.

Do roosters only crow in the morning? No, they tend to crow all the time.

Is there really a pecking order? Yes, the chickens do determine their own hierarchy of status.

Why do you have different colored eggs?

The color of the egg is based on the breed of chicken. We have white, brown, tan, blue and green egg layers. But like people, we may be different colors on the outside but the inside of the egg is the same.

Do you let your chickens free range?

Yes, with some supervision. We keep our dogs inside while the chickens roam the yard. Since we have birds of prey (hawks, owls, etc.) we let them stay outside but for a shorter period of time.

Do you eat your chickens?

No, we do not. Once the children named the hens, it was hard to think about eating Fluffy or Spotty.

What do chickens eat?

We provide them with scratch and crumble. With scratch, they use their toes to mix up litter or scrape the ground in search of various seeds, greens, grit, or insects to eat. Spreading scratch grains (cracked, rolled, or whole grains such as corn, barley, oats, or wheat) encourages this behavior. Crumble is their actual food that provides the nutrients they need.

Do you give your chickens treats?  

Yes, they get fresh greens from the garden, any healthy kitchen scraps and I spoil them with dried black soldier fly larvae~~they LOVE this!

I also add fresh herbs and flowers to their nesting boxes. Not only does it look pretty and smell nice, while keeping the bugs out. Who wouldn’t want to lay an egg in a nest of rose petals?

I hope you enjoyed this information on chickens and eggs!

There is something satisfying about a stunning dinner table.  It makes your guests feel special and honors the meal soon to be presented.  Unfortunately, in our household we don’t do it enough.  We can rarely get our senior in high school to be hungry at standard meal times. I love setting a proper table, and look for any opportunity to do so.

Lately, there are many Spring table ideas on Instagram and in blog posts.  However, I have noticed that often the table isn’t set properly. And because we are not pulling out the linen, china and crystal often enough, I tend to need a reminder on the proper way to set a table.

Here are some quick and easy reminders.

Where to put Cutlery

Cutlery should line up with the bottom of the charger. Not that you need to go all Downton Abby-ish and use a ruler, but put the bottom of the silverware in line with the bottom of the charger. If you are not using a charger, then line them up with the bottom of the dinner plate.

Size of Tablecloth

The tablecloth drop or overhang should be around 10 inches. I make an exception to this when we do dinners in the orchard as rental linens for rental tables go to the floor.

Seems obvious, but the salad and dinner forks go the left of the plate. Knife, teaspoon, and soup spoon go the the right.  Knife blade always faces the plate.

The photo below is one from the internet. See how the silverware is not lined up with the bottom of the charges. It is very pretty, though!

Where to Put Glasses

Guests need only two glasses~~one for water and one for another drink (typically wine).  It is okay to use one glass for either red or white wine. The water glass goes above the knife and the other cascades to the right.

Size of Centerpiece

You can be very creative with centerpieces. Flowers are nice, but depending on the them of the dinner, you could use seashells, branches, or just lots of candles. If you do build a centerpiece, please remember that the centerpiece should be 9-10 inches tall, maximum.  Avoid anything that would prevent eye contact across the table.

Table Linens

Putting fabric on a table warms up the space. However, placemats are a nice alternative to a tablecloth. I didn’t use a charger below because it would have dominated the placemat and hung off the edge.

Napkins-use cloth, quality disposables or inexpensive flour sacks or cotton dish towels.  For maximum lap coverage, the best size is 22 x 22 inches.

Seating Arrangements

How to assign seats? Seat each guest next to someone you think they’d have things in common with.  The most VIP person should be seated to the right of the host.  Couples should be seated separately to promote lively conversation.

What dishes to use

You don’t have to use fine or fancy china. Mix and match everyday ware for something a bit different.

You can make your table setting more formal with place cards, napkin holders, printed menus and chargers.

Chargers

Here are some tips on chargers.

Chargers should then be taken away with the dinner plate still on top, as this clears the table and leaves it ready for dessert to be served. When serving desserts, chargers are never used. Once all guest are seated, chargers can be removed. Or they may remain on the table throughout the entire length of the meal.

I hope this inspires you to create a beautiful table!

This post shared with Tablescape Thursday #624~hosted by Between Naps on the Porch

Historians credit Marie Antoinette with the invention of the pocket handkerchief. She was so broken up at leaving her home in Austria that she cried all the way to France and wiped her eyes with bits of lace torn from her dress and lingerie. Anticipating future tears, she made it a point always to have a piece of lace tucked in a pocket of her dress. This, say the historians, was how handkerchiefs were born (according to 1940 Modern Women magazine).

Handkerchiefs during their existence have been used for many things like greeting someone, cleaning your hands, face, or teeth, wiping your tears and nose, applying perfume, and have even been used to signal to a gentleman that you would like to meet him or given to him as a token of your affection.

We now have Kleenex and facial tissues, and when I mentioned to my daughters that we should bring back the hankie, they said “eeewwww”. But how is washing a hankie any different than washing underwear? And isn’t it more environmentally friendly?

Don’t you agree that pulling out a gorgeous vintage handkerchief to wipe your eyes at a wedding or funeral is so much more sophisticated?

Or if you are on a plane and someone next to you is coughing, what more beautiful way to cover your face than with a lovely hankie?

If you agree, then I have 30 vintage hankies that I would love to share with you. Each one is different and they are super soft.

Some are embroidered or have delicate thread work.

Others have a theme of music or travel.

Some have initials and others are brightly colored.

This one has a scalloped edge and others are tailored. Since they are vintage some may have imperfections, but to me, that contributes to its story.

I would love to send you your very own hankie! All you need to do is send me an email (to marycrz@cox.net) with your name and mailing address. If you would like to share your favorite color or you see one in an above photo you are partial to, please let me know. If not, I will just surprise you!

Do you think we can collectively bring back the hankie???

The first stop on our Baltic Sea tour (in 2007) was Amsterdam. Though it was not tulip season, we quickly learned about the importance of the tulip in their history. During many palace tours, I would spot one gorgeous tulipiere after another. What is a tulipiere?

A tulipiere or tulip-holder is an ornate vessel in which to grow tulips, and is usually made of hand-crafted pottery, classically delftware. They are typically constructed to accommodate one single bulb per spout with a larger common water reservoir base. They were not designed as vases for a cut bloom, as is sometimes supposed, though they could also be used for this.

While fairly uncommon now, during the 17th century tulipieres were used to grow tulip bulbs indoors and were common pieces of decorative art that could often be found in the houses of European elites. Large floor-standing pyramid-shaped tulipieres were particularly ornate and were used as a status symbol to indicate the owner’s wealth.

Since 2007, I have wanted to own a tulipiere. I finally broke down and bought two medium-sized ones from The Enchanted Home. She recently did a blog post on it and I just caved. And I am so glad I did!

Around Valentine’s Day I tend to buy tulips. It is my secret protest to the 2 to 3x increase in rose prices. I am very excited to use my newly acquired tulipieres and share how they work.

This one comes in 4 separate pieces. I was doing this on my dining room table, I always put down a towel to protect the surface.

Each section requires water.

I cut the tulip stem to the size of the vessel as the length varies with each section.

I like my stem mine a bit longer because I like the gentle, loopy arc.

Each section holds 4 tulips.

When the bottom portion was filled with water and flowers, I repeated the same process with the rest of the sections.

Here is how they look finished!

The Enchanted Home did send me adhesive to glue all the sections together, but I don’t see why I would do that. Each section requires its own water and if they were glued together you wouldn’t have access to the opening on the top.

I believe the water and weight of each section keeps the tulipiere supported. Of course, if someone were to grab them quickly and move them, it could be disastrous.

I’m always trying new ways to photograph things for you and I thought you’d enjoy my latest picture. It’s a top down view of the tulipiere~~of course I am standing on the table in my athletic shoes (yikes!) and failed to get my feet out of the picture! Artistic, huh?

I wonder if I should try planting bulbs inside and see what happens?

Three things you probably don’t know about me. 1) I have Royal Worcester soup bowls I love and have never used (after hunting for them for 10 years!); 2) I have always wanted to host a sophisticated lunch with friends; 3) I am design-challenged. I can pick out tile and do a massive restoration project, but when it comes to decorating I can honestly say it is not my strong suit. Low confidence in this arena.

I decided to put all those things together and organized a lunch with friends who are superb at design and whose opinion I value. The deal was I would provide lunch if they would help me with my design obstacles.

Soup was a definite item on the menu as I was excited to use these beautiful footed cream soup bowls and saucer. Since it is January and many people are watching their nutrition, I decided on a simple broccoli soup~~one without cream. Plus I was able to use fresh broccoli from the garden!

I’ve never made cheese crisps before (very easy) and it was a nice accompaniment to the soup. All you do is shred cheese in a 2″ pile on a cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper) and bake for 18 minutes.

The entree would be my Pomegranate, Kale and Wild Rice Salad with walnuts and feta (see previous post here), but I also added baked chicken and avocado.

Since we are in the height of our citrus season here, I thought it might be fun to attempt a new cake~~something small but reasonably healthy? It was timely to receive a blog post from Kitchen McCabe with a recipe for a Candied Orange Olive Oil Cake + Cornmeal and Rum.

I made the soup the night before so it was easy to heat up just before my guests arrived. However, the cake is supposed to be made on the same day you serve it. A rather big undertaking the morning of the lunch.

Thankfully, the table was set the night before and the centerpiece was two simple glass rectangular vases with yellow and white flowers. Placemats vs. a tablecloth seemed more appropriate for lunch too.

The cake preparation took longer than expected. So naturally, I was running a bit late~~hence some of the blurry photos! After looking at the inspiration photo, I think I cut my oranges too thin before I candied them. As a result they didn’t stick as well to the cake. Also, the recipe called for a 6″ pan but 3″ deep. Mine are only 2″ deep, therefore I made 3 layers.

In spite of it not looking as GREAT as the one from Kitchen McCabe, it was still pretty and was very tasty. Kumquats and mint are from our garden.

In addition to a delicious lunch, my friends gave me several constructive ideas on how I can improve the dining room and family room. At first I thought they would tell me to throw everything out and start again, but with they were very complimentary and helpful. Their suggestions were affordable and reasonable and I am excited to make some changes.

I don’t know why it has taken me so long to have a luncheon with friends in my dining room. Typically we would go to a restaurant, but having guests in your home, with food you have lovingly made, is the best gift you can give yourself.

It was so much fun I can’t wait to plan another one! Recipe links below.

Creamy Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Crisps (Note: I seasoned my soup with Better than Bouillon Chicken in lieu of more salt) https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/creamy-broccoli-soup-with-cheddar-crisps

Pomegranate, Kale, and Wild Rice Salad with Walnuts and Feta (I added cooked chicken and avocado)

https://pinchofyum.com/pomegranate-kale-wild-rice-salad-with-walnuts-feta

Candied Orange Olive Oil Cake and Cornmeal & Rum

https://www.thekitchenmccabe.com/2019/01/13/candied-orange-olive-oil-cake-cornmeal-rum/

Beverages: water, Miraval Cotes de Provence Rose, coffee/espresso