Pizza Night

 I don't know about your household but our theme on Friday nights is "serious relaxing" or should I say "exhausted".  I try to avoid scheduling anything social on Friday evenings.  It's always a crazy day at the office for my hubs and of course I'm trying to keep track of our teenage daughter.  I typically will cook up a pizza and this afternoon I'm going to try this Martha Stewart recipe for a whole-wheat dough that can be portioned up and frozen.
It might be nice to have pizza dough on hand for throwing something together for a football afternoon or movie night, especially during the holidays.
Speaking of holidays my subtle attempts at decorating continue...

Kitchen basket wrapped in ribbon.

Greenery in urns on the porch.
I love these old bells, found those last year.

 I sewed up some new slipcovers for my porch cushions.  The fabric is a toile from France that is a sort of white and gold theme of angels on a bronze background.

 To me it screams holiday without being red and green snowmen etc.

How do you organize your Friday evenings? Are you flopped on your couch with pizza, wine and movies as we are?  Or do you head out on the town?
Whatever you do, hope it's a good one!
xoxDani

Kierkegaardian

 After going back and forth on the existence of the blog in a very Kierkegaardian fashion (either/or) here we are. I seem to have corrected my spam commenting problem, although I'm not sure how.  A computer programmer I am not.  If the ugly head of constant inappropriate comments from rude robots rears its head once more I'm going to put Ole Rascal on the problem, because he actually is a programmer.

In important news around the BP house I have a new favourite fabric:

Moody lighting shot.

I've used it as a curtain in the ensuite bathroom (which functions as a bit of a dressing room as well).  I've also used it as the new wallpaper for the blog.
As you can see I did some slapdash sewing and tarted up the chair with a leopard print cushion.  Leopard being a neutral of course.

In other news I found myself some LeCreuset spatulas in a turquoise blue:

Brussel Sprouts and Chestnuts

 I've been very busy the last few months trying to figure out how to do a plant-based diet correctly.  We started in August and it's been a real eye-opener.  I love cooking more than ever now and it's been fun to discover little heroes of the plant-based kitchen, such as cashew cream:

Cashew cream ready for the freezer.
Here's a really good recipe.

All of this time in the kitchen has made me really miss my Mop Philosophy Kitchen posts!  So much good information to share and discuss.

 I've also been busy hanging out with this character:

 This is my favourite time of year for long walks, especially on days when the temperature hovers around freezing.  All that bracing fresh air, so good!

Veg to serve with black beans and grits.

Roasted carrots are delicious served with lentils and potatoes.
It's the new roast chicken dinner.

 How is your kitchen these days? What's going on at home? Doing any decorating? Having any existential Kierkegaardian moments?

I'll be back with Christmas decorating...it's all go around here.
xoxDani

Fresh Eyes

The azaleas in bloom all over Hilton Head Island

We're back from our trip south which was fun and relaxing for multiple generations of the family.  A week away with both of our fathers was priceless.
We nearly froze on a daily basis, something about a nor'easter named Stella blowing arctic air all down the eastern coast?  We bundled up in our layers and looked longingly at the swimming pool, but our eyes did have some reprieve from winter by way of spring flowers everywhere.

A window box in Charleston.

 Charleston is my favourite.  How pretty is this city? I had no idea.  The day we visited was bright, sunny and cold, but the garden finery of Charleston is permanent and classic:

Old brick, garden urns and wrought iron: Charleston themes.

 The gas lanterns! So gorgeous:

 We had lunch with some super-fun friends of my father-in-law at this really lovely restaurant:

Recommended for the food and service.

After a grey winter here in Canada the bright (if cold) days south were really welcome to our eyes.  You know how returning from a holiday sometimes brings clarity of vision?  I arrived home to see my house and how I've organized it in a new light.  I've been moving furniture, cleaning like mad, and donating a few things.  I've done twenty seven loads of laundry, found the perfect coffee table and bought a lamp for the dining room.

More Hilton Head Island flowers.

I've been mulling over the ideas behind this blog too, and questioning the purpose of it.  I feel that blogs have changed a great deal since I started writing Mop Philosophy in 2009.  Many of my favourites have sadly closed, or moved on to Instagram.  I continue to read and enjoy blogs that are highly personal, and that is how I shall proceed with my own.  I'll focus on domestics which are such an interest and a pleasure for me, even if I am a slapdash cook, decorator and baker.
I hope you've been well Darling Tooties.
xoxDani

The Slapdash Decorator Turns An Eye To The Front Porch

 Our front porch is one of my favourite places to people-watch and drink a glass of wine.  Therefore cushioning is important, and because this space is, after all, outdoors, it is ideal if those cushions are slipcovered so they can be tossed in the wash easily.
Last year I bought some rather uninspiring cushions from Pier One.  The seat cushions fit the furniture (which was purchased at Pier One several years ago, they seem to always have this same style of wicker hanging about) but the indoor-ooutdoor fabric covering them was kind of blah.
So I decided to buy some fabulous French fabric (the porch is covered so it didn't have to be a Sunbrella fabric) and sew up some slipcovers in a slapdash fashion.

 This fabric has a grey background with bits of orange, blue-grey and even a little chartreuse in the pattern.

I love it so much I used the online fabric sample to create the new wallpaper for the blog.

 The sewing on these is pretty terrible but the slouchy slapdash effect somehow suits the casual porch... at least that's what I'm telling myself.

The orange in the main fabric picks up the orangey-red brick of the house, don't you think?

 I had a yard of this fabulous light green toile fabric, also from France, that I was planning on using in the living room.  I had the living room cushions made from velvets with trims so this fabric was left abandoned... in the end I think it suits the porch and the wicker.

 Another Slapdash Decorator solution took place last week... the corralling of the sneakers and the Birkenstock sandals in the foyer.
Scout has decided that she loves to eat sandals and sneakers so when Little Rascal is here with her friends they just throw their footwear on top of the piano:

I know, not very elegant.

 I had a basket that was originally intended for magazines just lying around and it turns out to be a perfect container for several pairs of shoes:  they can be propped in there vertically and don't get lost in a commotion on the bottom.

Better.

How's your week going?  It's been so hectic around here I can't even tell you.  I hope you're having fun and staying out of mischief.
xoxDani