Karen Clare

 Every so often, I love to pull out the tea set that I got at the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina back in 2004 during a road trip with my best friend, Dori. The Biltmore Estate was the Vanderbilts' summer home, and after touring the huge estate, we went into the gift shop. It was during September, my birth month, and I ended up getting myself this tea set, which is a replica of a set that was owned by the Vanderbilts.  Afternoon tea has three courses. the first course is sandwiches, so I made cucumber sandwiches: white bread, spreadable cream cheese on both sides of the bread, very thinly-sliced cucumbers (I used a mandoline), salt, and crushed celery seed. I cut the crusts off carefully, and then I cut the sandwiches, some into rectangles and some into triangles.  The second course is scones with jam and often clotted cream. The scones I got were store-bought from Publix, and I had some lingonberry jam -- which, if you've never tried it, tastes like cranberry...

 Today was the first day I turned off my heater because the weather finally warmed up -- pleasant and sunny.  I have decorated a bit for Valentine's Day. I don't do much for it, but the decorations that I have I keep up all February. I did break down and get a few inexpensive things from Amazon, which only totaled around $30. The other things I already had from last year and the year before: My electric fireplace mantle. All three of the things I have hanging from it were from last year: The pink heart wreath on the viewer's left came from World Market last year, and the middle wreath came from an Etsy shop called Blessings And Boxwood last year. The tin and wood heart on the right I believe came from Hobby Lobby two or three years ago.  The bottom picture is of the kitchen hutch that I got back in October that now serves as my coffee bar. I've been really enjoying decorating it. And here is where the new stuff is: the sign at the top, and the concrete hearts that I mad...

 This was my first time planning a tea, and I won't lie: it was a lot more work that I had thought it would be. But it was also so much fun, more fun than I've had in a long time, and I don't know what took me so long to do it. The tea took place yesterday, Saturday, and more perfect weather for the day could not have been ordered; low 70s and sunny. I woke up early Saturday, because Friday night after work I honestly had no energy to get the head start I'd been intending. I started by getting the simple white tablecloth I wanted to use out of my closet and realizing that it badly needed an iron, something I haven't taken out in about three years, and gave it a good steaming before putting out on the patio table that I'd recently cleaned.  Then I made the deviled eggs and cucumber sandwiches (recipes at the end). Scones and cookies were store-bought, because, working full-time, I simply hadn't had the time or energy to make homemade ones in addition to the e...

 The past six months or so have felt incredibly fast. Feels like it was May, and then I was decorating for fall, then Christmas was here, and now it's almost spring again.  I am a winter girl -- I come alive in autumn, and love the "ber" months with the festive vibes and holidays. And then I love January and February, with their reprieve from the holiday hustle and slow winter coziness -- curling up on the couch with a chenille blanket with my dog with my electric fireplace going. Living in Florida as I do, however, I dread the coming heat and humidity and look forward to spring about as much as a root canal. When Christmas is over, I pack up the things that are chiefly Christmas -- the tree, ornaments, and anything red or with Christmas sayings. But I leave out plain garlands and greenery and pine cones, and replace red candles with white ones so that the house doesn't feel bare. For Valentine's Day this year, I've been inspired to host my first-ever afternoo...