When I saw the title my brain read it as Let's have TEAL. Teal is a favorite color so I expected teal pic's LOL!

As for how I'm doing: My father had stem cells put in eyes in December and his vision is improving. Hopefully he will be able to drive again. My mother unfortunately, was recently diagnosed with throat cancer. She starts radiation treatment next week. She's very positive and upbeat about a successful outcome. My aunt's last bout of chemo left her so tired and without an appetite, but I believe she is about done with it, so hopefully her energy will be restored.

The one thing about these family health issues is that no one has been mentioning moving in the last few months. That was one of *my* concerns, so I'm relieved it has been put on hold at least for this year.

Other than that, I'm getting very weary of snow, ice, gray skies, and cold. Hoping for a mild March.

I have tea every day at 1p or 1:30p (if not
running errands or taking Mom to doctor appointments, shopping etc), and
especially in the winter I can relax with my cup and do a crossword or daydream
out the window for an hour or more. Sounds awful lazy but hey, winter is my
"vacation" from all the garden and yard work that will begin again in a little
over a month. Yikes, can't believe it.

My favorite tea for a over a year now has been
"Paris" from Harney and Sons. I take it with honey and of course - a cookie or
pastry or two! But I always keep "Lady Grey", "Prince of Wales", and "Orange
Pekoe" from Twinings on hand since I can buy Twinings locally and drink those to
occasionally switch off from Paris and also while waiting on my Paris order to
arrive via UPS. I used to drink "Yorkshire Gold" but it is almost coffee-like
and since I discovered "Paris" I buy less of the "YG". Plus supplies of that
around here are usually out of date.

I found this cute little heart shaped pot holder at an antique shop for $2 and hung it here for Valentine's Day.

A couple weeks ago I bought this small shelf from Pat Catans, painted it, and placed it under my phone in the kitchen. Then I found the perfect pencil holder - a little cottage! for $2.56 from a thrift store. It is labeled, "Nurserymen's Exchange". Not sure if that is the name of the cottage from a set or it is the manufacturer, but it sure is cute.

I think the HomeDec forum had to ask for a conversations side, but if no one notices and complains, maybe we can keep meeting here--just like the good ol' days.

I drink tea sometimes, but mostly it's French Vanilla coffee beans, which I grind in a small spice grinder that my sister gave me years ago. I used to clean it out every time I wanted to grind spices, but then I found a used one in a thrift store, so I keep one with the baking items.

I spent last week-end helping a good friend paint her kitchen, and it was almost as satisfying as refreshing my own space. In her 1950's original kitchen, she used white for the cabinets and trim, and a muted yellow for the paneled walls.

Yesterday was spent with my father, who has had a bad bout with the flu, and then ended up with a strain in the ligaments in his right leg (the one affected by the stroke), maybe--the doc doesn't really know. But, "Take these pain pills, and don't drive."

We went to two banks, the barber, the grocery store, and out to lunch, then I cleaned his kitchen and baked a pan of his favorite, cornbread. He loves JiffyMix (oh yuck!)

Thanks for the hug, lavender, hope everything is well with your MIL.

Schoolhouse, your kitchen always gives me a smile and warm glow.

Just stopping for a cup of tea. I hope you are all staying safe and warm in this terrible cold/snowy weather. I am so ready for spring....although should not complain....so far, we have only had the cold here.

LL....I hope your DH is getting better every day. I think about you so often.

We've started a new tradition now that we live in a colder climate. On cold days, my wife and I have tea when she gets home from work. I was given Bigelow's Peppermint Bark for Christmas, and it's great with cream and sugar. It's also non-caffeinated, which is a requirement for me late in the day. In another couple months, it will be back to iced tea.

I thought they just merged the conver side in with this side. anyone seen 'em sprinkled though out?

geeze guys, it's in the 80's here this wk. around Christmas time it was down to freezing many nights. 85 is about my limit for a hi temp anymore... 65-75 and I'm happy!

I was raised to drink tea a lot. don't know what happened - maybe when I started working and started drinking coffee? I've gone for yrs now w/o drinking coffee too - just bought a small coffee pot in Dec and have been making 2 cps a day. I did buy some tea this past yr tho and made up a few cups.

Spending the month in Yuma, AZ and not missing cold KS. Does not feel 'comfortable' at the new GW yet. I keep checking for a ML update on her huge project... hope all is OK.

Our tea for the past 2 weeks has been iced!

you're close to me now kity! I used a few ice cubes this week too! also watching for MLs update.

Temps in the 80's & iced tea ...

Please don't rub it in! It's cold, windy and snowy here. Spring cannot come too early for me. The terrible ice storm of 2003 was on February 16th (my brother's BD), so until that date has passed, I'm a little on edge.

My other brother's BD is August 29, the date that hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast.

Certainly not wanting to rub it in, but... we ate on a patio at 9pm last night in shorts and short sleeves. Good for our old bones.

Steph, we shared several years ago about my 3 years in Gilbert... and watching the sunrise over the San Tans.

Two more weeks, then back to the hopefully not too cold.

Blizzard conditions here too with temp of 7 below overnight. brrrr. I had tea in the library as usual but the wind whistling through the old window nearly chased me out. Floors are so drafty.

I sure hope we don't experience an ice storm mama goose, but on the other hand my new standby generator was wired up 11 days ago so hopefully if power goes out it will kick on and I'll still have heat and water - unlike during other storms. The worst I remember was in 2004 over Christmas, nine days without power. ugh.

Mild here today, but calling for single digits tonight, which is very cold for SC. They're throwing the 'S' word around, too, with several inches forecast for Monday night, Glad I'm done with the outside of the house! I'm building kitchen cabinets in my shirt sleeves in our snug little house.

Can't wait for another update with the cabinets installed mush. We've been following your progress from day one, you have to be so proud of yourself. I've forgotten what type of heat you use in your house?

I am late to the tea party. School house Paris is Delicious.

I have been working in the yard for three days on the Catico extension. Not sure how to spell that. It will be my sheltered potting area. Poor dogs keep losing more of their yard. But they really do not seem to mind because I end up spending so much time out there with them. when I get the rest of the yard fenced and the new end of the court yard fenced off they will again have more space with a lawn and everything. I think we have had the shortest winter in history. I worked in the yard until mid December and already back out there over a week ago. so weird.

All is well here so far. Hubby and I drink lots of tea. he quit coffee when he was on chemo. He is doing better so far. I am enjoying my low carb high fat way of eating and have now lost 23 pounds. Feeling much better now I am back on my meds. Hehehe you figure what meds.

I do not know what the next yard plans are other then finish the court yard cross fence. Waiting on the ground to dry a little bit more. It is still slippery muddy out there.

Glad to see most of you finding your way here. It seems strange but I guess we will get used to it. I like not having to preview and so on.

Forgot I am dying to do a whole house update. not sure what to do but feeling the need for a change again. When I get ready to do so we can play. I did get all the way through the house deep cleaning it. PHEW.

My mother-in-law did VERY well and had no problem with her surgery! It's so nice to see so many people stopping by for tea :)

Schoolhouse- So nice to see you. Thanks for sharing pictures!

We have had unusually mild weather (for the last few weeks) with the highs in the 40s and low 50s....about six weeks early for us. It's been great, since usually I'd be looking at houses in several inches of snow. Now, we can actually see the pasture and know if it's safe for the horses.

We lost our little sweetheart Mandy (our mare) last week. She was almost 19 years-old, but still full of beans, most of the time! LOL Here's a picture with Mandy on the left, Cordell (her best friend and 'husband') on the right. They were six weeks apart and had four boys together.

Picture with the boys...

mamag - stay away from your brothers on their BDs!

kity - san tan sunrise! did I tell about sitting on the porch of a friend w/my gson to watch one back in '96? They are beautiful. I don't have an E window but easy enough to sit on my steps. Hope the weather isn't too bad when you go back.

shades - glad to hear your dh is doing good!

LL - same with your mil's recovery! and you are both having rather decent weather - not buried under 6' of snow!

Nice to hear from you LL and everyone here on Smaller Homes! Very cold here.

Getting used to the new format.

Home Decor did ask for a conversation side and it's marked at the top when you check in to Home Decor.

I discovered Teavana, which is an arm of Starbucks I think you'd say. My cabinetmaker James clued me in. He and his wife visited the store in Atlanta and now they are drinking tea every day. I visited Teavana's website, which I recommend for your teatime browsing. I ordered some of their rock sugar and a couple of spicy teas. I love the cinnamon. And I decided to get the cast iron tea pot/kettle with koi on the side. I'm a water sign. This tea kettle will be the first thing set upon my new gas range. It shall be christened with tea.

Okay, full disclosure...I'm having a little rum in my Coke...no tea since this morning. LOL

I am doing my best not to freak out this week, but we should know SOMETHING in the next few days! I just want to know where we're going to live and start working on fences. At least the weather has been wonderful...it's February and rather than 8 inches of snow, we have 40s and 50s. It's amazing!

It's going to be +40 here, too, in about 2 months! Can't wait! In the meantime, I'm baking and eating. Not a good combo.

We had 61 when I took my walk. It is going down fast to 58. I will have tea in a little bit I still have a couple things I want to get done before I settle in for the evening. I used to love rum and coke. Been years since I have had any. LL I do hope you find out soon. The stress of this kind limbo really sucks.

Thank you, Chris! (This is Shades, right??) It is stressful, but I'm hoping that whatever happens, we'll keep the mild weather. We'll probably pay for it this summer, but right now...it's so nice! I hate to move in the snow. And either way, Mom will be moving in with us, so nice weather is a definite plus! :)

LOL Yes LL this is Shades. My Houzz account took over my ole GW account. WWAAAHHHH

I am also loving the nice weather I am getting so many things done here ahead of the planned summer time. And so good to get it done before it gets so hot here. Perfect weather for big projects. I did hear there is a 30% chance of rain or snow I think Saturday. 30% is not much but I will not count on it not happening. We might get hammered with snow. I did move the snow shovel from the master bath to the front porch today. Tired of seeing it in my master bath AKA mudroom.

Just the opposite here- down to 8 degrees so far this AM, but will probably drop a little lower yet. They are forecasting a high of 25 here today- very rare in South Carolina! At least all of the ice from Monday night melted. There were over 100,000 people without power locally.

Shades, if you click on edit, top right on your member page, then scroll down to Profile Information, you can change your publicly displayed name (not username), and it seems that every post will sport the 'new' posting name--the old one in your case. ;)

Editing to add: I clicked on this from my member page, and didn't see all of the above posts. LL, I'm happy to hear that MIL is doing well, and sorry to hear about your mare. Beautiful pics!

We've had several days of cold temps and snow. With the cold, the snow is dry and powdery, so power outages were unlikely. However, just in case, I made a big pot of bean soup, and homemade breads:

Cold here,too only 4 degrees and suppose to be minus 14 overnight. I'd like to make a trip to the local hardware but hesitant to go out on the roads in these temps. But for the weekend they are predicting 36 on Saturday and I forget what for Sunday but in the upper 20's I believe.

Oh my that bread looks delicious, and the bean soup is a really good idea. I wish I had a ham bone as I have a bag of split green peas in the cupboard.

Lass, I wanted to say I'm sorry to hear about your mare too. Good luck with the house.

Thanks Mama_Goose. I think I fixed it. Much better this way. It was very warm today. It was starting to get chilly as I took my walk around town. I got one mile in while shopping in Walmart but needed a second just straight walking. DONE It looks to be in the 50's with out walking across the room to get a good look. Kitty on my chair with me. Would not want to disturb the cat.

So sorry about your Mare LL. Always heart breaking to lose one of the family and around here our animals are family.

Thank you all for the nice words. Mandy was part of the family, but she lived a very good life, always with her Cordell and their boys. She never had to work hard, always had lots of room to play and was loved. My husband jokes that he wants to come back in his next life as one of our horses. LOL

We had a fairly nice day here in Mobile. Yesterday, I spent two hours with the cabinetmaker and his wife at their home. Planning drawers we were, yes indeed. And having a cuppa tea from her lovely cast iron teapot discovered at Teavana Atlanta. Very tasty chai tea blend. So pleasant to feel connected to good people. Tomorrow the floor guy comes back to lay the final two rooms of hardwood....probably have the last bit to do on Monday though...when he tiles the fireplace and hearth with black granite. I won't know how to act with new floors! Oh boy. I feel joyful, as I sip my tea here with a smile on my face.

ML - are you getting mostly drawers? I think those are best for access w/o leaning down, bending down, digging behind things... other than a sink cab. Tho, I've seen some of those with drawers or pull outs too.

teabook - glad you posted! and we've always happy to brighten someone's day. It brightens mine when I come here to read and post!

Steph, I think mostly drawers, and some rollouts behind doors, can think of but one base cabinet with a shelf, and that would be the mixer pop-up shelf. Shelves will be on the walls in open (no doors, either side of sink) or with glass doors reflecting their shelves (at either side of the dining room windows). Pretty straightforward. I haven't counted the drawers though.

I chipped the spout of my 2 cup brown teapot the other day. : ( I have had it so many years and it's my favorite, gets used most often than any of the others. I like that it is small and heavy, keeps the tea warmer longer. I think it is a 2 cup but I can just get a third cup out of it if I try. Online I found some called "Brown Betty" tea pots that are very similar.

Has anyone ever seen the pretty sugar cubes with candied flowers on them? Years ago I bought a pack but couldn't use them because they were just so darn cute. I think I finally had to toss them. ha. I wonder if a person could make those? What type icing would be used, something that is more like candy. A set would make a great gift.

Schoolhouse- I wish we lived closer! I have the most charming brown teapot that belonged to my grandmother. I never use it...it's about a two cup teapot. Honestly, I'm afraid I'll break it, but I would love to have it go to a good home. She would want it to be used.

ML- So excited to see your remodel! It's going to be beautiful and I think we all wish we could visit and have tea with you, when it's finished!!!

Teabooks- Great name. I'm so glad you joined us for tea :)

Today, I'm having Earl Grey with a little sugar. I thought about giving up sugar in my tea for Lent (I'm not Catholic, but I like the idea) but I couldn't do it...so I gave up ice cream, instead. LOL

Thanks for the offer, Lass but I have a lot of pots even after I purged the cubby when I remodeled the kitchen in 2011. Now I have just the right number that can sit comfortably on the shelves. : ) If I break one, then I'll replace but no more buying new ones or bringing them home from the antique shop or thrift store (pray there are none I can't live without!).

I began having honey in my tea instead of sugar long ago, but if the honey bottle is empty I use a pack of Splenda. That stuff is very sweet tho, sometimes I just use a half of a pack and still think it makes the tea too sweet.
Found some coconut bar cookies at Dol.Gen. today and had them with my tea this afternoon.

It's just now beginning to spit snow out there again. Today I bought foam tube covers for my shower and toilet lines in the basement and installed those. Hopefully this will help, as it is suppose to be only 8° tomorrow. I had enough left to put on one of the kitchen sink lines too.

Well I got a bag of Cheese Curls and a small bottle Coke to settle in and watch The Walking Dead tonight. lol It's been a long while since I drank Coke, sometimes I just have a craving for it.

Floor guy did not come today, so we are not as done as I anticipated yesterday. Which is a good thing, because I forgot that the router/cable modem/computer/phone/wifi/tv is all attached to a cable coming out of the FLOOR in the first corner he'd come to. So tomorrow, soon after the dentist visit, I buy a 50 foot length of ended coax to replace the one we must cut off. Then, I shall run a new coax from the IN-box splitter on wall near elec meter, up into the attic and across and down to the closet hiding the electronics. That is because the electrician told me they'd be back when the LAST TOUCHES were being done....things like mounting the TV, the electronics in the closet, and now I must run the line myself because of the floors. I hate when that happens, don't you? I might just call him in the morning after the dentist trip, see what he (the electrician) suggests. I know they have about 4 crews all working, and all 4 crews settled on us to get the house old wiring replaced and new areas of house wired ready to accept fixtures and appliances. ...all in one day....my head spun for two days. (You cannot imagine how great it is to have all safe wiring that can carry the load plus conveniently located.) I don't see why I cannot change and reroute the deal myself. First and probably ONLY obstacle to completion would be getting up there and through the attic and back down to the new hall closet. It might take one of the (younger) electricians an hour at most to complete it. But me? Honey, we are looking at all day if I'm lucky. I'll see what happens tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I'm charging my Kindle Fire to play Mahjong and Freecell and go to bed early. My back is killing me from sleeping on the sofa. (And that's the way life is in the remodel with owners in residence)....... really a learning experience.....thank heaven that I was prepared by Smaller Homes Forum for the last umpteen years....2002 comes to mind....but maybe that was when I began posting on Alabama Garden Forum here.....time flies.....so much for a reality show on HGTV, never in a hundred years could a remodel be done so quickly. Not in the real world. Maybe I need to watch DIY? Or visit Smaller Homes Forum for the real story. ....among friends.....over a cup of tea. Love you all.

LOL! Sounds like you have a great evening planned! I haven't watched that show, but I've heard good things about it. I'm going to watch Downton Abbey...I started watching that a few years ago and now I'm completely hooked! Maggie Smith is my idol :)

Lass, did you see her in the Marigold Hotel, or in My House In Umbria? Always good when she is in it. And, another movie you may find interesting is COLD COMFORT FARM. Surprising turn of events, a gentle comedy. The farmhouse in that movie could stand a makeover, it won't be among the top Movie Houses on any list. :)