Harvest Moon at Frog Hollow Farm

Last night was such a beautiful night to sit out on the porch at Frog Hollow Farm with a glass of wine and some delicious appetizers.  The air temperature was just right and the most beautiful waning harvest moon was peeking over the treetops at the back of the south field.  Even with the brightness of that moon it was pretty dark outside and our little porch, lit with a few small candles and lanterns, seemed like it's own little world, safe and sound from any harm. 

FHFB had been wallpapering our dining room for most of the day and it was time to kick back and relax.  We've chosen the Herndon Straw pattern from Thibaut's Chelsea collection.  The image from the Thibaut website is a little blurry but I have to tell you that the paper looks just beautiful on the walls!

(Have I ever told you that FHFB is the most expert wallpaperer in the world?)

Our Appetizers

Roasted pancetta and goat cheese drizzled with honey

Picholine olives, which are a French green olive, salt-brine cured, with subtle, lightly salty flavor

sicilian style olives, A medium green color olive, crisp and salty.

Dinner

Pan-roasted Frog Hollow Farm stuffed green peppers

Fresh, whole wheat linguini

Frog Hollow Farm marinara sauce

Arugula and red-leaf lettuce salad with a light vinaigrette

Dessert

Raspberry pies in a jar (Yvonne's recipe at Stone Gable)

I'm still studying for my NCED exam in early November but found time to have lunch at our local Brew Pub last week with Bunny, a fabulously talented woman and owner of The Paris House Designs. 

It was such a pleasure to meet her and chat for awhile, and she brought me the most gorgeous gift of several MOR beauty products -  MOR is proudly Australian and recognized globally for its range of innovative, luxurious pampering body care and lifestyle products. 

Please take a moment to stop by Bunny's absolutely beautiful Paris House Designs website and blog - it will take your breath away and leave you with a ton of new ideas for your home as well as ideas to pamper and take care of yourself! 

Ciao, bella!

A Graceful Visitor

Sadly, I have not been paying enough attention to my blog, nor have I taken the time to visit many of your recent posts.  We're in the middle of getting ready to paint our living room and dining room, and also working with a couple of wonderful ladies from Design Works (Susan and Pam) here in Northwest New Jersey to add a couple of new pieces of furniture that will give the rooms a makeover with a little sparkle. 

The space is the original farmhouse room, quite large, with a walk-in fireplace and stone walls that have been plastered and then covered  with a wide beadboard  in the 1940's- which was painted an off-white color.  This room also has five doors, which has made it a challenge with regard to the placement of furniture, etc.  One corner of the room has been dedicated to the dining room, the other larger part a sitting area - considered our living room. 

Here's where we are right now, Monday morning:

I covered one corner wall of the room with sheetrock, which will be wallpapered in a Thibaut wallpaper called 'Straw'. 

You can see the swatch if you look really closely to the left of the window (or click on the link). 

Benjamin Moore paints will be used on the rest of the walls, all wood.  We've chosen another yellow as the main color, also named 'Straw' - 'Filtered Sunlight' for an accent wall going up the stairs and also for some built-in cabinetry to the left of the walk-in fireplace, and 'Vanilla Ice Cream' for all of the moulding,doors and the inside of the two deep-set windows.  Our wonderful contractor Brian is helping us put with the sheetrocking and some other things, and our good friend Steve, who is a phenomenal painter, is doing all of our painting for us - right after his get-away trip with his wife Liz to Newport, Rhode Island. 

I'll post some photos when we're all done. 

In the meantime, I have been spending lots of time outside in this gorgeous weather we've been having here in New Jersey.  Yesterday we had another visit from what I think is a white egret, although I'm not certain. 

Hope you're having a great week.  Besides getting ready for our painter, we're hosting my family, the Irish clan, here at Frog Hollow Farm for a Labor Day barbeque.  It will be simple but fun - my family loves to sit and chat and eat (and drink) for hours so we'll be cooking up a storm. 

The next day we're leaving for South Hero Island in Vermont for a few days, our friend Dave has a wonderful old summer home right on Lake Champlain.  

We changed our plans of staying at The Willard Street Inn - maybe next time!

Ciao, bella!