Troika Gifts

     I grew up in Pasadena, California. It's a lovely city! Of course, it was a bit more sleepy and quiet when I lived there (even with the world famous New Year's Rose Parade and Rose Bowl). Anyway, I was floating a little after I graduated from college - I mean, being a voice major doesn't exactly spell out your immediate career path. While I was trying to figure out which way to go, I worked in a very, very British tea room, Rose Tree Cottage. I enjoyed it so much that, when I was visiting Vermont and my family happened to see a unique Victorian Home for sale, I had the idea for a similar business but in my own style. I moved to VT and opened a tea room, gift shop and bed and breakfast in the charming town of Chester.

     It was a lovely family venture but, then, I started having babies and I had to make a choice - both the business and my son always seemed to be needy at the same time. Who would get the attention? For me, the decision (though, a little heart wrenching) was easy.  I chose to stay at home - my son being a deeper and longer lasting investment. Happily, as life moved along, my sister was able to move to Vermont and take my place. This past week, she had a large shipment of treasure come in and I went and helped her out. I should say, I got to go and "play store"! What a beautiful place to spend time and, oooooh, you should see what she got in!! I am going to blog about it, soon, but, in the meantime, I wanted to share a few of the small goodies that I couldn't resist bringing home with me.

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Sometimes, we joke that my house is beautiful because of all of the things that have come from Rose Arbour. This is not entirely true, at all, but there is more than a grain of truth in it. I'll say this - Rose Arbour is just my kind of store.

Anyhoo, I do love brown and blue! Look at my new pretty tea cozy!

It's reversible! Look what's on the other side!

The flower candle is from my days there but the little book was a gift from my sister for mother's day.

Look what's revealed inside of it!

There's deeper meaning in this froggy floating candle. My son adores frogs! Someday, I'll share with you his own, very dear, Froggy. (At the moment, however, I'll spare you - Froggy needs a bath!)

Then, there's the floral box on the bottom. I dove for it when I first saw it. It's irresistable to me! I wanted to know what pretty designs were in it.

Oh, beautiful joy!

Then, there are these little pieces of broken china.

They're not from Rose Arbour. They were found, hidden in the earth, during the excavations around our home. They are gifts from history. A link to the past lives of those who were here before me. Treasure, indeed!

Well, I have been given a few more gifts, lately. Nestled inside of them is encouragement! Would you like to know what they were?

Well,......

Awards!

One is from Nicola at September Cottage. She is a lovely, lovely lady with a beautiful eye. I've been enjoying her blog and her friendship very much!

There's another quote from my "Susan Branch: Summer Cookbook". It says,

"Charm: the quality in others that makes us more satisfied with ourselves."

~Henri-Frederik Amiel

I would like to pass this award on to two lovely bloggers who reflect this very sentiment and seem to be perfect for this award:

 The Purple Caravan
This is a link to one of my favorite posts. (And, believe you me, I had a hard time choosing one!) She has a wonderful agility with words and the gift of capturing moods, emotions and ideas with those very same words and the  brilliant images that she uses on her blog.

and

 Cassandra Considers

She strikes such a deep and nostalgic chord with me! Just go and see what I mean!

Then, I have received another kind and complimentary award from Catherine at Corner of Cat's Mind. Catherine is so wonderfully fresh and down to earth.

 

I know just who to give this award to!!!

Jeanne at Tales From a Cottage Garden.
She's a treasure - I really mean it -  and where would we all be without her Monday poems?!?!?!

Thank you, dear friends for your encouragement. It means a lot!!!

The rules of the awards are that I am supposed to pass them along and, that I am supposed to share some things about myself. In the first part of this post, I shared several things that, I think, most of you did not know about me. Maybe, I can dig just a few more things out.

1. I am addicted to ice cream.
2. This makes me a bit chubby!
3. I climbed half dome in Yosemite National Park when I was in High School.
4. I wanted to be Cinderella, desperately, when I was a little girl.
5. I can never think of a clever reply when someone is being rude or unkind. I used to think that this was a downfall but others have assured me that I'm blessed with the gift of stunned silence.
6. I've had "Bei mir bist du schon" (sung by the Andrews Sisters) stuck in my head for 3 days, now!
7. I have been procrastinating making dinner! We are having a slow cooked herbal pork loin with peaches. I'd better get going or we'll be eating at midnight.

First, though, I think that I need a cup of tea!

Love,

Katy Noelle