A new home...for a while

By popular demand, I'm posting a shot of the country house to which I've moved temporarily. It's a wonderful place owned by a dear friend who has lived out of state for more than a decade now.  I remember walking around it when she was having it built 20 years ago and marveling at its post-and-beam construction. 

It's a passive solar design and stays quite toasty most days (when toasty is desirable) and with just two bedrooms and two baths, it is the perfect size for me for now. 

This is a view to the west.  The doorway you see isn't the front entry but is the den/bedroom on the first floor.  The front entry is around to the right in this photo, on the north side of the house.   The master bedroom and bath are in the loft on the second floor, and its tall double windows are seen above the double windows over the kitchen sink, to the left of the den door, in this shot.   It has a wonderful open plan with living/dining and kitchen occupying most of the first floor, along with the aforementioned den and adjacent full bath, closets and stairway to the loft and basement.   The windows on the left side of the building in this image frame the view to the south that I posted last time.

Downsizing from four beds/three baths was the plan and this is a wonderful transitional home to give me a good sense of what I will look for later in the year as I plan to relocate permanently to a warmer climate. 

Yes, folks, the time has come for this born-and-bred Yankee to follow the sun to a land with very little snow.  The plan is to head eventually to South Carolina permanently before the year ends.  

Why choose South Carolina (vs some other state)?  Several reasons, actually, as I find it offers a number of  lifestyle options that I have craved for quite a long time.  First, I have several friends and acquaintances of many years who either have moved permanently or who spend winters there, so I will arrive with something of a social network well started, if not firmly in place.  Second, I am, and have been since childhood when I first began to ride, a horse person - it's in my DNA - and the world of horses and horse sports are an intrinsic part of the culture where I'm headed.  I don't plan to own horses again, but I need to be around them and have them be an important part of any community where I live.  Third, as I approach my later years, the cost of living in the Northeast is simply becoming too onerous for me.   Fourth, I really am not a fan of snow.  I've grown up with it as an unavoidable component of my environment, but those aspects of it that I found entertaining as a child, are no longer appealing.  It's heavy, it's obstructive, it can be dangerous on roads and walkways, and most of all - it's just plain cold.  I want to enjoy my life, not be a slave to it, so I have resolved to go where the cost to simply exist is not so confining as it has become here and where the weather doesn't torture me with cold and snow.  Finally, the South appeals to me.  It has a wonderful, genteel pace and a fascinating history.  Quite honestly, I can make a home for myself just about anywhere, so I'm choosing the South. 

Sure there are aspects relocating to the South that might prove challenging for a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee, but as with living the Northeast, there are always concessions to be made wherever one chooses to live.  That's a given, but I've reached a point in my life when it's well worth it to me to trade off  for good the bitter cold and shoveling ungodly amounts of snow for a much hotter summer, but a much more temperate winter.  It's pretty much that simple, so I hope to be whistlin' "Dixie" with a smile before the year's end.

Happy Spring!

Just a quick update mid-move.  It's going fairly well.  Lots to do at the family homestead and lots to do at the new digs.  For your enjoyment, here's a view of my view at the new home (temporarily) of Country Contemporary:

It's a view to the south from the house...rolling hills, fenced paddocks...a landscape that I truly love.

It's a bit ironic, I think, that I've been moving from a contemporary (well, mid-century modern) home in the city to a contemporary home in the country, literally.  It really wasn't my thinking when I named the blog, which was more an attempt to characterize my sense that I was, in fact, a "city-gone-country-gone-back-to-the-city" girl.  But, Fate has a funny way of laughing at you, or at least bringing you back where you belong, so I'm not resisting it in any way.

Soon, the trees and shrubs will be budding with blooms.  I'm looking forward to that and to the warmer temperatures that teased us into thinking they were here to stay a week or so ago.  They'll be back by the end of the week, which is a huge relief, and the birds are telling us it's time!

Speaking of Spring, and birds and sweet things of the season, Mary over at the Litte Red House blog is having the perfect little giveaway to celebrate her 700 followers.  We 10 here at Country Contemporary are probably her followers, too, but just in case you haven't been there, or haven't been there lately, check out her offer which continues until March 31.  Hey, you never know!

Movin' On

It has been a busy few weeks, with the promise of more nonstop fun in moving in the next month or so as I gradually pick up and pack up for my relocation back to the country.  I've been moving boxes, the contents of my kitchen cupboards, linens and some clothing in anticipation of moving some furniture.  The items not going to the country house eventually are going into storage in anticipation of another move later, so this is only the beginning. 

Once I get myself and the kitties out of the city house, I'll be spending quite a bit of time getting it ready for sale.  There's a lot to do between the move and the preparations, so you'll forgive me if my posts are brief and photos, well, I'll try, but make no promises about posting them. 

I'll have lots to tell when the dust settles, but it will be a while, I suspect.  Please be patient.  As soon as I can (and when I need a break from the fray), I'll share as much interesting info and images as I can amid the chaos of the start of this next phase of my adventures in life.

Until then, as those annoying voice mail messages advise us, "please enjoy the music."  I'll be back to report from the front as soon as I'm able.

No Escape from Winter...Yet

While I sat happily in the Northeast, just beyond the clutches of the blizzards that bombarded the Mid-Atlantic region over the past few months, I suspected my relief would be fairly short-lived.  Yesterday, the hounds of Winter reminded us up here in the NY/New England region that they hadn't finished with us quite yet, and that persnickety ground-hog, Punxatawny Phil, was right on the money.  It's still snowing in my neck of the woods this morning (well, not quite woods, but close enough), but that should wind down soon. 

If it was December, I'd be celebrating the fact that we'd likely have a white Christmas.  Now that it's February, I'm celebrating that this accumulation of white stuff, while very pretty, isn't likely to last forever.  Spring is just around the corner...I think.

Here are a few views of the latest version of "winter white."

Knowing that snow was in the forecast, I went out into the back yard the other day and raked up the last of the residual leaves that had piled up in the corner against the fence.  Sitting in my kitchen, I saw them there as the last snows had melted away and they were bugging me.  So unkempt!  I pulled out a rake and ended up filling two brown leaf bags (for recycling) within a half-hour.  It felt so good to get out an do something physical in the crisp, fresh air.  It was fairly mild for mid-February - funny how high 30s can seem balmy!  I even found, as I progressed, I was too warm with a long-sleeved tee and a fleece jacket under my snow coat, so I took off the coat and enjoyed how my exertions had warmed up my muscles.

Because I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Spring's first crocus, green grass, and warmer breezes, I added a new and optimistic tune to the playlist - perhaps it will hurry its arrival along.

Think Spring!

Mardi Gras: Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Sometimes my celebration of various holidays is consciously grand and expansive, like decorating several rooms in the house for the Christmas holidays weeks in advance.  Sometimes it's modest, understated and somewhat fleeting, as my celebration of Mardi Gras was this year, on February 16, hot on the heels of Valentine's Day.

Unfortunately, I don't have any strings of brilliant, metallic emerald green, purple and gold beads to celebrate Mardi Gras, but I do have this fun mug that I found at Goodwill a few months ago.

It's charming and it caught my attention initially because of the rooster design.  Like many people, I am partial to roosters.  I'm not sure I know why - maybe it derives from my affection for a restaurant that I had enjoyed many (like about 40) years ago in southern Vermont called Le Chanticleer.  I think it was the first time I realized that roosters and French country design and food were inextricably linked, and often were prevalent in kitchen design.  It's that "cockadoodle-do" rise-and-shine breakfast thing, I suspect.

Whatever the reason,  I found this particular rooster mug with its bright colors and confetti-esque, cheerful Mardi Gras theme irresistable.  Accordingly, it became the singular focus of my "minimal Mardi Gras" celebration this year.  Not being in the heart of the "Big Easy" (although I'm happy to say I have been there and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit) but very much in the heart of the frosty, freezing Northeast, I celebrated Fat Tuesday not with an alcohol infused "hurricane" or some coffee with chicory, but with some sweet, dark and rich steaming hot chocolate.  It was a warm, cozy and tasty way to celebrate the evening and the best part was there was no "morning-after" effect or confetti to sweep up the next day!

Of course, what would a holiday celebration blog post here be without a little complementary musical sound track to set the tone?  I give you the sounds of one of NOLA's favorite sons added to the playlist just for the occasion.  So, have a seat, pour yourself a cup of coffee with chicory (or hot chocolate or whatever libation you fancy for the occasion), relax and just laissez les bon temps roulez!

My Funny Valentine

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite celebrations of the year.  It's not because of the red roses, the chocolates, or the other expressions of love and affection, although those are quite nice, especially if one is on the receiving end of the gesture. 

No, I love it because after the quiet - and usually snow-covered - frosty month of January, a period of recovery from the visual excesses of the December holidays, Valentine's Day is a shot of bold, bright color - of brilliant crimson hearts against the stark February landscape.  I just like the vibrant "redness" of it and the sentiments of warmth and affection behind it.  It's a happy day for me, and even if one doesn't happen to have a Valentine to share it with, it's a little reminder that Spring and its signs of rebirth and renewal are just around the corner. 

When I was a child, my father gave me a few little tokens of Valentine affection.  I suspect my mother actually purchased these items on my father's behalf, but the fact that he gave them to me are the memories that linger.  As I grew older, he continued to give me Valentine cards - again, I'm sure thanks to mom - but they were sweet and endearing.  Both my parents are gone now, but I still have a few of the tokens that I keep tucked away in my box of Valentine keepsakes - a tiny, fuzzy, charming little bear wearing a small red heart and a pair of dear little tiny sachets embroidered with hearts - and a few of the lovely cards they gave me.  They are sweet reminders of them and that lovely day in February.

From my mother, I remember vividly the heart-shaped double layer cakes she baked for our Valentine's Day celebrations.  Rich, tasty, golden, butter cakes made from scratch with sweet pink, strawberry flavored frosting.  I still have her vintage, old Duncan Hines cookbook with that cake recipe, but I haven't tried to replicate it yet.  Maybe I will make it on Valentine's Day and revisit those wonderful, warm childhood memories of the people who affectionately launched my Valentine traditions.

To mark the occasion, I've added the beautiful standard, "My Funny Valentine" to my playlist.  It's performed here by one of my very favorite artists.  It's a song I learned when I was fairly young, again, thanks to my dad, who also shared with me his love for jazz and great jazz musicians.  It's a fairly simple, elegant arrangment - just trumpet and piano - so haunting and beautiful, and a heart-warming reminder of a special day to celebrate love in February.

Let Them (and Me) Eat Cake!

I haven't ventured into the arena of food/cooking/recipes here at the blog, but I do love to cook and spend most of my time in the kitchen (where I have the laptop).  Kitchens are my favorite places and I'm so fond of them that I've even contemplated venturing into kitchen design professionally.  It might happen yet.

In the meantime, however, I've been having a food craving lately.  Some years ago, a local commercial bakery that distributes to grocery store chains in the Northeast offered a wonderful cake in its product line.  It was called their "Nut 'n' Honey Round Cake."  It was a simple yellow cake with a chocolate frosting flavored with a bit of honey and topped with walnuts.  It was my favorite for years, so much so that I even asked my mom many years ago to serve that as my birthday cake.  (I'm sure she appreciated not having to bake a cake from scratch - which she did periodically and wonderfully.) 

The bakery stopped offering the cake to grocery stores some years ago and I've been sad about that ever since.  So, this week I finally pulled together the ingredients I'd need to recreate the cake.  I am not the world's greatest baker, so I opted for the easy, short-cut approach - boxed cake mix, even ready-made frosting - because I think the secret to this cake isn't in the "made from scratch" approach - it's in the blending of key flavors. 

I made the cake per the package directions, only instead of adding the full 1 1/4 cups of water needed to moisten the mix, I substituted about 1/4-cup of honey for 1/4 cup of the water.  (I had warmed about 1/2-cup honey slightly in a pan just to liquify it further, using half for the cake and half for the frosting.)  Then, I poured the contents of one ready-made milk chocolate frosting container into a bowl and added the remaining 1/4-cup of warmed honey to the bowl, and mixed it into the frosting with an electric hand-mixer.  The result was a slightly lighter and creamier (and tastier) frosting than the stiff blend that came out of the container, which made it the perfect consistency for easy spreading.  If you prefer a darker color, you can always use a dark chocolate flavored frosting instead.

I baked the cake per the package directions (using, in this case, two 9-inch round pans), then, after the cake cooled, I assembled the two layers, spreading black raspberry jam (rather than the frosting) between them.  (I love cakes with a tasty fruit jam between the layers.)  Then I frosted the top and sides with the honey-laced chocolate frosting and finished it with ground walnuts on top.  Voila!  I give you my quick-and-easy version of Nut 'n' Honey Round Cake:

I'm pleased to report that this version of my favorite cake tastes just as good as the original that inspired it.  Yum!