Happy New Year 2019

Ringing out the old year and ringing in Happy New Year 2019 in style with a performance of Auld Lang Syne by the legendary Rod Stewart.

Talk about classic style!

Robert Burns’ Scottish poem written in 1788 and set to a Scots folk melody, Auld Lang Syne is the traditional musical ode to New Year recollecting events over the year, thoughts of old friendships, nostalgia, old times, and days gone by.

As seen in the video, the long standing Scottish tradition is to sing Auld Lang Syne just before the stroke of midnight with everyone sitting or standing in a circle holding hands, arms crossed so their left hand is holding the hand of the person on their right, and their right hand that of the person to their left.

Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians popularized Auld Lang Syne as it became the traditional song of New Year played immediately after the ball drop in Times Square.

Guy-Lombardo

My sister-in-law, a staunch New Year’s traditionalist, rings in the New Year with a Happy New Year phone call to us complete with Guy Lombardo’s version of Auld Lang Syne playing in the background.

Should old acquaintance be forgot, 
and never brought to mind? 
Should old acquaintance be forgot, 
and old lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear, 
for auld lang syne, 
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, 
for auld lang syne.

Dave and I wish each of you a very Happy New Year 2019!

May New Year 2019 bring you joy, health, blessings, happiness, good fortune, inspired projects, and beautiful surroundings.

love your style

Let’s Get Growing: Spring Herb Day

Fairs, exhibitions and festivals benefiting the preservation of historic sights, homes and buildings spring up this time of year.

One such local institution held its spring herb day sale-a-bration over the weekend.

The scent of fresh herbs gets the spring herb day let’s get growing excitement going.

spring herb day

Get Outside by Robert Palmer is the tune of the day and a dandy one indeed to spring herb day to.

rosemary

My herb love grows where my rosemary, mint, and thyme grows.

fresh-mint

I’m discovering the many uses of mint past its herb status of required greenery in the Southern garden color palette and glass of sweet tea.




 

From Better Homes & Gardens:

Mint, Mentha

Type:
Herb, perennial

Light:
Part sun, sun

Height:
From 1 to 8 feet

Mint is easy to grow.  The fragrance of mint will vary with variety as will the taste.  Fresh or dried, mint is a broad range herb used to season beverages, desserts, soups, vegetables, and meats.

garden-herbs

Chives ~  Serata Basil  ~ Rosemary  ~ Dolce Fresca Basil  ~ Thyme  ~ Parsley

Rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis

Type:
Herb, perennial, shrub

Light:
Sun

Height:
From 1 to 8 feet

Rosemary is an aromatic evergreen of Mediterranean origin, an herb that pairs well with poultry, pork, lamb, fish, breads, vegetables, tomato based sauces, soups and infused oils.  French and Italian dishes especially benefit from the robust seasoning.  Rosemary plants thrive in hot and dry climates.

I am seriously entertaining the thought of using this carrot planter as the focal point of my indoor herb garden.

Carrot+Flower+Plastic+Pot+Planter

Carrot Flower Plastic Pot Planter

The smell of fresh herbs goes well with the ooh la la factor, and is stylishly accomplished with a rattan wall planter.

Rattan+Wall+Planter

Rattan Wall Planter

Better Homes & Gardens gift the gardener an array of free garden plans.

I’ve selected three herb garden plans to share.

Click on the link below each image to download the garden plan of choice for your spring herb day planting needs.

classic herb garden plan

Classic Herb Garden Plan

colorful-herb-garden Colorful Herb Garden Plan

I used to have a friend who actually thought Ina Garten’s name was In the Garden.

In.

The.

Garden.

You can’t make this stuff up folks.

Ina does love her garden.

On a recent repeat episode of Barefoot Contessa Ina plans, prepares, plates and presents a surprise dinner for Jeffrey in the garden.

The principal of kiss, keep it stunningly simple, set the scene and the table.

Michael-Grim-florist

The Bridgehampton Florist  on Instagram

Nature Innovations Oak Log Planter

Nature Innovations Oak Log Planter

Clear glass hurricane lanterns, pillar candles, ferns from the garden, white garden roses, and planter  made a simple yet elegant garden style show.

How keep it stunningly simple is that?

Ina-Garten-garden-path

Ina Garten Garden ~ Pinterest

A search and source session for the hurricane lanterns Ina Garten uses came up empty handed, but look at what I did find.

Being born, raised and living the outdoor living life in Louisiana, the word hurricane typically is not equated with beauty, but this gorgeous hotel glass hurricane with rope and burned copper detail is a beauty!

Hotel+Glass+HurricaneHotel Glass Hurricane

Delicious dishes and stylish settings get the taste party started.

A sprinkle here, a dash of that, and a generous serving of it’s all in the details indisputably takes the look and the flavor from ordinary to distinctive.

love your style

 

 

 

 

This post contains affiliate links.  I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Take Cover Now: Tornado Damage

There is nothing pretty about a tornado or tornado damage, and take cover now is a warning best heeded.

Period.

This past Sunday afternoon we learned that lesson firsthand as our town-neighborhood-house was hit by a tornado.

tornado-Sams-ClubPhoto~Cheryl Davis

We are no strangers to the force and fury of a hurricane.

A tornado however, is an extremely rare occurrence in Central Louisiana. This tornado experience was a first for us.

front-damage

Our local news station was live on the air with the entire weather team covering the storm.  The senior weatherman shouted “take cover now” and with that we took cover in the guest bathroom bathtub.

We never did hear the roaring train sound so many people remark they hear as a tornado approaches or when one is overhead.

What we did hear is the terrifying sound of trees, shingles, and various projectiles hitting the house.

The entire top of our neighbor’s magnolia tree was the first thing we saw as we opened our front door.

magnolia-leaves

Salvaged magnolia leaves placed in a mason jar injects a touch of simple beauty and Southern comfort into this otherwise ugly situation.

tornado1

Utilities are truly a beautiful thing.

We lost power Sunday afternoon, got it back a little before midnight, lost it again Monday morning and didn’t see the light of lights until last night at 9:51 pm CST.

A big, big thank you goes out to the utilities workers for a job well done and most appreciated.

tornado2

That was then,

bird-bath-feeder

and this is now.

howdy-do-down

The crepe myrtle to the immediate right is history as is the hydrangea.  The bird feeder chandelier was found one street over.

Howdy Do (the jockey) and the bird bath may be down but not out of the lawn and garden beautification game.

water-dripping-from-ceiling

The roof is heavily damaged and the inside of the house is a victim of stained ceilings, wet carpets, dirty floors, etc…

Clorox bleach and Lysol spray is suddenly a hot commodity.

My desk/computer is in Dave’s man cave, and a large part of the ceiling in the room is soaked through and through.

That’s an odor one can only take for a few minutes at a time.

Blogging will slow as the smell increases.

I will probably need several more bottles of this stuff before all of this is over.

ms.-meyers-geranium-scent

Roofs, ceilings, floors and sheetrock can be fixed.

We are safe and that’s all that matters.

Period.

Love your style!

 

Mom, You Should Let Your Readers Know What’s Going On

“Mom, you should let your readers know what’s going on” reads the text I received this morning.  The reason for an absence of Thanksgiving week posts and Happy Thanksgiving wishes is not without reason. Black Friday came a week early to the Places In The Home family.

My darling Daddy passed away suddenly Friday, November 20th and our family is reeling in grief.

The keyboard hasn’t exactly been on my mind over the last few days, but you all, my dear readers, have. This larger than life man was a powerhouse personality who touched many lives beyond the pillars of home and family.

He helped me to not only fine tune my life and character, but he helped me with this year’s Thanksgiving table.  I don’t really feel like sharing that post and pictorial now, but I do love this picture of his place card.

place-cards1

Our holiday table settings will be reduced by one only in physical presence. Daddy would be the first one to encourage me to carry on with life and the life lived within our home.

I believe the life lived within the home comes alive through personal style and taste, and that belief stands stronger today more than ever.

His life lived within our community, our circle of family and friends and our home proclaims character and exemplary personal style forever lives here.

I love you Daddy.

Love your style!

 

 

With Heavy Heart

With heavy heart I offer sweet hours of healing prayer of comfort for the Charleston shooting victims’ family members, Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal “Mother Emanuel” church and its members, community leaders and citizens.  We are a nation in mourning reeling in grief and dealing with the aftermath of hate.

The_steeple_of_Emanuel_African_Methodist_Church,_Charleston,_SCEmanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME)

I initially typed the words no pretty pictures today, but how inaccurate those words are!  How beautiful the signature steeple of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church is as it points toward the heavens in architectural wonder and historical significance.  As it has and will continue to do, the steeple of Mother Emanuel forever stands tall as a beacon of hope.

prayers-for-Charleston

The resolve to love, coupled with determination of spirit and great fortitude, testifies to the strength of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation.  May God bless, comfort and keep you all.

Hackers Will Hack: Please Bear With Us

Please excuse the intrusion to the weekend with this rare weekend post. Intrusion to privacy, interference with standard operating procedures and the relentless efforts of hackers to post filth on my feed is beginning to test my patience.  We’re all adults here, and what an adult wants to view on their electronic devices and smart phones is their business, but when you type in placesinthehome.com on your electronic device you want Places In The Home ~ an all things house that make a home website/blog.  Thankfully, there is no issue at this time with our site when accessed from a desktop or laptop computer. Do I realize there is a problem with a porn site redirecting my website to theirs?  I most certainly do.  Dave the Builder and I are on constant “pull up Places In The Home on your iPad/iPhone and see if the porn is on there” patrol.  Extreme and necessary steps have been taken on our part to stop this nudity nonsense, but evidently there is still a spot of weakness and vulnerability left to hack.  A problem for sure, but one we are aware of and are doing everything in our power to put a stop to once and for all.  Please bear with us (bare seems more appropriate- ha!) and by all means, do contact me either in the comment section or via email  – darleen@placesinthehome.com – to let me know if you see content signaling the problem still exists.  I hope you will reconsider resubscribing to Places In The Home is you have unsubscribed due to this reason.  Who knows, curiosity may increase the number of subscribers. In that case, here’s hoping you’ll be disappointed meaning the porn problem is fixed, but wonderfully surprised at what you will find on our site- a design and decorating show and tell that under normal circumstances is rated S for stylish.