Monday, July 12, 2010

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.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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!



https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif8Bu-RiQ06TmAkOiS788438LIyyEGh1Gu0WWkSwnYLc7q7k3Cy-83TTvLmwqaFttLWSnpBFwkxIcnkfXC6czzEvonurCK_XtHsOIRu_bD1hugjjfRzDklmgMIghwXgf7mlWU_yWeBn_sS/s1600/blog+award.png



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

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






18 comments:

  1. What a beautiful post, Katy, and congratulations on your blog awards! Love all of your pretty goodies, too. I can see you running a B&B, tearoom, and shop. That fits perfectly! :-)

    And I would love to be enjoying that dinner with you. Sounds divine!

    XO,

    Sheila :-)

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  2. So many pretty little treasures you have Katy! Sometimes those little things can bring us such joy and happiness. I bet that was a hard decision leaving your sweet little store but of course, our children are our life aren't they? And soon enough they grow up and spread their wings and then we have more time for ourselves again.

    Sounds like you are making such a lovely dinner for your family ~ my boys are getting chicken fingers and Kraft dinner... our Monday staple! :)

    Thank you for your sweet words above ~ I wish I could give you a big hug!!! {{{katy}}}

    Have the loveliest of evenings dear friend!
    xo Catherine

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  3. I think you are adorable! Enjoy that pork with peaches. Yum!

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  4. My dear Katy, thank you for passing down such a lovely Award and for such kind words. You are the best! As usual, your great ability to always sound real and natural brings a smile to my face :0) You are lucky indeed to have a sister nearby to mind the store (literally) and give you such beautiful gifts. Hopefully, when your boys are older you can then go ahead and work with her. In the meantime, you surely chose the right path! Thank you again for the heartfelt comments left on my Blog and for being you. Here goes a BIG hug! XO

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  5. Good morning, Dear-

    it´s unbelieveable- we both are really similar in so much things...
    I have some rosebooks- and it´s wonderful to read them- I love the Anrew Sisters- I had them on a playlist for a while. They are sooo special- I love their songs!
    My little son loves froggies , too :-)) He has got a collection in his room, too...

    Dear- your photos are wonderful- so full of love and very special!

    I am glad for you, that your sister is with you and has your tea romm, now- I can believe it´s a place like heaven- friendly - and loveable.

    Enjoy your day-
    I think of you and I agree- Jeanne is a gem :-)

    Many hugs and kisses, my Love-
    Ines

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  6. Oh yes, Jeanne does deserve it katy. A lovely post full of prety things. Great to hear what you were up to before as well. x

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  7. When first I saw the beautiful book titled Roses I wanted immediately ask where you bought it ! and saw later it is a beautiful box with prints in it.
    The prints of roses look like prints by Pierre-Joseph Redouté.
    A very beautiful gift.
    Have a nice day( it is a very nice post)

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  8. Dear Katy Noelle!!!!

    What a lovely post!!!! VERY interesting to hear about your 'old' life - and you know what - you were living my dream then! I would love a tea shop with shop (and flowers too), maybe one day.... And how lovely that your sister has carried on and the business stayed in the family and you get to play shop when you feel like it....!!! And, of course, in years to come, when your children have grown up, who knows - you might well have another go....! Loved to hear all you other secrets too - in particular No 4 and No 5! With regard to the latter isn't it annoying? But I LOVE your friends calling it "a gift of stunned silence' - will remember that!!! OH, do you think of something REALLY clever to say when you are lying in bed - like HOURS later...? That's what happens to me!).

    Well, really nice to hear from you! Have a lovely, lovely day!!


    Nicolax

    p.s. Did check out 'your' first tea room.....Did they make you wear white gloves too? I once had to it....AWFUL!!!!It was at a yacht's launch party and I felt like I had been transported back to a different era - very, very awkward to work in white gloves, everything slips just too easily, luckily the yacht was still in dry-dock...:) at the time - so no sudden wobbling about!!!

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  9. I am lurrrrrrvin the tea cosy!!

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  10. Dear Nicola,

    I never had to wear white gloves - thankfully - but we did have to wear the "nippy" uniforms on Wed and Fridays and special occasions. We all looked like something out of Poirot. The skirts had 50 pleats and the aprons were italian linen and had to be pressed and spotless and those awful hats. Individually, we all felt like we looked terrible - all together, brilliant! Just adorable! In general, though, we wore Laura Ashley dresses and our pretty white aprons - it was sooooooooo fun!!! A very magical place!

    Yes, I think of the perfect thing to say when I've gone to bed. Sometimes, though, i don't even realize that someone was being rude until the next day, when I'm folding laundry or doing dishes. I try very hard not fume! =] Why are people even like that? I cannot fathom why they would give in to such snide yuckiness! Hmmm, Cinderella - she was always gracious and lovely - no matter what ugliness was around her - she never sunk to their level. She gets a bad rap in this day and age of revenge. Someday, I'll have to share all of my wonderful old Cinderella paraphernalia!

    Love, Katy

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  11. Dear Katy Noelle!!!!

    Now I have an image in my head, very pretty!!! There is a tea room chain in London (well, there was when I last went) where they wear LONG flowery dresses with frilly aprons and little head things - it's like going back in time - just lovely - and I can imagine how it would be fun to work in a place like this.....it was always VERY popular with tourist, like stepping into a Jane Austin novel....and a littel fairy-tale magic! And - I think we need more magic - so please DO share your Cinderella paraphernalia one day!!!! I would love it and I am sure others would too!!!!!

    Have a lovely day!!!!!


    Nx

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  12. I am a new follower. Thank you so much for visiting my blog. As I read yours, I'm drawn to your love for fine and beautiful things, your profession and the fact that you like Jane Austin. Great taste! I look forward to reading your posts.

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  13. What a sweet post for a summer morning, Katy. I enjoyed Jeanne's blog and spent lots of time there (you know how I love my chickens). My favorite tearoom memory is the sugared violets that would pop to the top of our cups as the sugar dissolved in our hot tea.

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  14. Gosh, I hope the Andrew Sisters have vacated your head - three days is more than enough! Lovely post!

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  16. Will think of you when sipping my tea this evening. Your reversible lovely is so cute! Your tea must taste even better when poured out of that sweetie. Summer hugs for a happy tea-filled Thursday sweet Katy. xxx

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  17. Hello sweet Katy! Congrats on your award!!! Your home is very beautiful, and charming, and cozy!!! How fun that you got to play store and bring home some treasures for yourself :) :)

    Enjoy your weekend!

    Hugs ~

    :) T

    p.s. thank you for the blog suggestion, I will definitely check it out this weekend!

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