My "Goodie Drawer"

   I once told a friend about my kitchen "goodie drawer' post idea and she thought it a good one but to change the title for it because someone else once blogged about their goodie drawer - next to their bed, if you kin my meaning!

   Well I can understand why she'd be worried about that!  But I have called my "goodie drawer" just that, for years!  And to people like me, this is a real goodie drawer - full of beautiful kitchen and serving pieces I use but rarely or on special occasions.  Silver knives with M.O.P. handles...silver sugar cube tongs, tea strainers, etc.  And my favorite pieces of all, the soft paste porcelain handled serving pieces made by A.E. Lewis in Sheffield, England.

   Some have navy handles with a colorful filigree pattern, some have a pale blue handle.  My favorites are in the classic Blue Onion pattern.  I used to have over 110 pieces but sold some off now and then to raise money for other household projects.  The pieces I sold were flatware - fish sets and soup spoons, etc.  The pieces I kept are ones I use and bring out at tea parties or during the holidays.

   The pieces range from bread and cheese knives to salad servers, berry spoons, cheese planes, pickle forks and even iced tea spoons, with long necks and a perforated  bowl with etched filigree.
   Most are stainless while a few are silver plate, like the gorgeous 2-sided punch ladle I found on eBay for $55, around 15 years ago!

   All are treasured and live in my kitchen "goodie drawer", which is off limits to everyone in the house but me.  I can't tell you how many times someone has dropped one and shattered the precious and delicate porcelain handles so now they are used very sparingly but are wonderful to look at in between those occasions!
   My kitchen is tiny so to set aside an entire drawer for these treasures shows you how I feel about them!  

   I thought I'd set a few up outside on the patio table, under the protective umbrella, on a very hot summer day, and take photos to show you.  This isn't all of them, I have around 50 pieces, but they are some of the more fun ones!  I used one of my own fabric designs I have available on Spoonflower, for the back drop: "Watercolor Roses in blueberry blue".

 Server, berry spoon, bread knife and serving fork in Blue Onion

 Pickle fork and cheese knife in Blue Onion

 A cake server and combed cutter in navy Floraine

 Cheese knives and planes in periwinkle Floraine

 Iced Tea Spoons in navy Floraine

 Double-sided silver ladle in periwinkle Floraine

 Butter knives in navy Floraine

 Silver salad servers in navy Floraine

 Bread knife and extra large serving spoon in navy Floriane

A very old Austrian-made silver dessert fork in Blue Onion

Link to Pink Pagoda to see many other wonderful blue and white entries!
 Pink Pagoda Blue and White Bash

May's Rose Slip Cover

   I have completed the second dining chair slipcover, this one in "May's Rose" in pale blueberry blue and white!
Same pattern as the first chair's slip - thought that if I was using a different fabric on each chair, I could keep some cohesiveness by using same colorway and pattern.

Don't they look summery!?

   I am working on a blue and white tartan fabric design for winter versions of these same slip covers...stay tuned for that!

   Once again, my fabric collection, all in blue & white, can be purchased by the yard or in wallpaper, wrapping paper and wall decals at:
Spoonflower

Hydrangeas in Bloom

Last week none of the hydrangeas were in bloom.
Then this past weekend we had a heat wave come through the Seattle area and literally overnight, I suddenly had several bushes in bloom!

Here are the some of the blooms from the big bush on the east side of the house...what started as a small $6 end of season buy at Lowes has, in 2 years, become the biggest and healthiest hydrangea at Elinor Cottage!  I think it loves where it's located.  East yard with full morning sun after 8AM and sun until noon, then shelter from the too-hot sun rays in the afternoon.