08 Saturday Apr 2017
Posted in Garden & Outdoor, KRISTIN HOUSE, Uncategorized
image via pinterest, originally from Houzz.com is a project by ‘The Stone Man’ aka stonemanrocks.com
While all garden gates practically beg you to peek over, around or through them because what lies beyond is a secret space, a private place, a MOON GATE is a rather special one. The moon gate invites you to step through, it beckons you come enter this magic world. Continue reading
20 Monday Feb 2017
Posted in Garden & Outdoor, KRISTIN HOUSE, Uncategorized
“You might be asking the wrong question,” I recently heard a Master Gardener say. “Instead of asking how do I get moss out of my grass? Why are you not asking how do I get the grass out of my moss?”
image from southern living
29 Sunday Jan 2017
Posted in book club, KRISTIN HOUSE, MUSINGS, Uncategorized
![A Man Called Ove: A Novel by [Backman, Fredrik]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51dQBC7HcaL.jpg)
image: Amazon.com
The basics of the book are this: it is the story of a grumpy man named Ove. Well, actually it is composed of the backstory that slowly changes our perception of Ove’s true character and what made him who he is, AND the current events and interactions that offer that perception change to others. Keep reading below for a brief synopsis. Continue reading
08 Sunday Jan 2017
Posted in EAT RIGHT!, KRISTIN HOUSE, Recipes, Uncategorized
Tags
easiest lentil soup, easy lentil soup, how to make lentil soup, lentil, lentil bean, lentil bean soup, lentil soup, lentil spinach soup, lentil tomato spinach, snow day meal, snow day soup, soup for snow day, using pantry items
It was snowing yesterday and I had not planned ahead like all the other pre-snow shoppers, who loot northern Virginia grocery stores each time snow is forecast. Usually I am right there with them because I always make a soup or chili for lunch on snow days, sometimes experimenting with new recipes.
So, realizing I was unprepared, I surveyed the pantry and refrigerator and was lucky enough to find a bag of lentils, a can of tomato paste and some fresh spinach leaves. I threw it all together with some seasoning and achieved a satisfying soup.
23 Friday Dec 2016
Posted in KRISTIN HOUSE, Recipes, Uncategorized
Tags
coconut chewy cookie, coconut cookie, Cookie, Cookies, Ginger snap, gingersnap, gingersnaps, magic melting bar, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Peanut Butter cookie, peanut butter kiss, peanut butter kiss cookies
FOUR COOKIE EXCHANGE COOKIES TO BAKE AND TAKE
When presented with Christmas Cookie Exchange parties I have three go to Christmas recipes, and the fourth is a new addition from a friend. I have tried several other cookies for doubling, tripling or even quadrupling (depending on how many cookies the host has requested) and have had some truly terrible results, so I plan to stick with these four no-fail recipes from here on out, not just for cookie exchanges, but any time I am baking cookies under pressure. Continue reading
18 Sunday Dec 2016
Posted in KRISTIN HOUSE, Recipes, Uncategorized
Tags
breakfast, brunch, Christmas breakfast, christmas brunch, christmas morning breakfast, sausage bread, Thanksgiving breakfast
I make “Sausage” Bread for Thanksgiving morning and again Christmas morning. It is tradition, and you don’t mess with tradition. If you are a lacto-ovo-vegetarian (eat eggs and dairy) keep reading, there are options for you too. Continue reading
14 Wednesday Dec 2016
Posted in decorating, KRISTIN HOUSE, seasonal, Uncategorized
Tags
Christmas, christmas decor, Christmas tree, decorate for christmas, seasonal, seasonal decorating
2016 Christmas House Tour:
Living Room
Love seeing our lights and the neighbor across the street’s lights through the window!
06 Tuesday Dec 2016
Posted in KRISTIN HOUSE, seasonal, Uncategorized
We picked out our family tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Though we have gone to cut your own lots, we decided to take a short cut this year. We were all showered but no one was “picture ready.” Luckily they let me take a few pictures, sans makeup even.
We just rolled up the road a short ways to the Knights of Columbus lot in Fairfax Station, to historic St Mary of Sorrows, and received plenty of cheerful help picking out the tree.
I did not take a picture of the church myself, but the image and full story of this church are credited to the Washington Post link below. Please follow the link to read the amazing history of this church. In short, during the civil war the church was located smack in the middle of surrounding forces from both sides. Used as a field hospital more than once by union forces, and where Clara Barton (the founder of the Red Cross got her start), it amazingly survived the war. Not so with many of the soldiers buried in the Church cemetery.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/22/AR2010092202215.html
03 Saturday Dec 2016
Posted in KRISTIN HOUSE, Uncategorized
Tags
Christmas, Christmas ornaments, old and new christmas, old ornaments, ornaments, shiny brite, shiny brite ornaments, vintage ornaments
My grandparent’s Christmas tree stood proudly year after year in a big living room window. Somewhere along the way between the late 1940s to early 2000s the street in front of their house became a highway and the real tree gave way to a fat faux one. When Grandpa started to grumble in their much later years that the tree was too big and too much trouble, grandma insisted they had more people to see it now and had to put it up, “just imagine all those truck drivers far from their homes passing by and seeing it, how happy it must make them to see those lights.” Her argument was irrefutable and so until he was 91 years of age he was pulling that tree out and setting it up for her. (see the story of their first date …here) Continue reading
15 Tuesday Nov 2016
Posted in KRISTIN HOUSE, Projects, Uncategorized
Tags
check one off the list, clean windows, fall, fall leaves, holiday checklist, thanksgiving, window cleaner, windows
So in my Thanksgiving list of lists last post I said I would be having my windows cleaned today. The guys came and have just finished.
I am excited for how sparkly and clean my house looks both within and without.
This is the nice clear view taken through an upstairs window.
