This Darlings, is where we will gather for morning coffee. Where we will throw hello's across the ocean, share news and vintage gossip, post our gratitude lists and get to know each other in our own scrumptious little virtual world...

Sounds lovely!

Does that mean we post all that in this thread? Or in this whole section of the forum? (I am so bad at computer stuff.)



If here, then here goes......

My morning coffee is gone, but I sure wish I had a nice iced coffee or fresh brewed iced tea right now...


My daily gratitudes:

~ I have a/c to retreat in during this very humid and hot day

~ I am on summer vacation

~ Hubby got a bonus in this week's paycheck

~ our kitty cat, Sassafras, is back, after having been missing for four months (we only had her for five months, got her when she was about 12 weeks old, and then she got outside one night and has been gone ever since - but we got her back!!! A miracle!)

~ my mother got a good offer on her house

~ I no longer hate summer

~ I have ice cream to go eat later on

We're out of coffee, but I can give you tea.

Hi, I dont know which forum to post this question in, Im new, but I was wondering if anyone out there could give me tips on what to do with cinamon sticks. I dont mean to cook with, I want to fragrance the house with them as I adore the wintery smell of them, so if anyone has any ideas on how I can make my house smell of fresh cinamon, it would be most appriciated.

Bye for now, Melanie.

Gently simmer the cinnamon sticks on the stove Melanie. Tie them in bundles to add to popouri. Pop one in a cup of hot chocolate.

Thanks ali for the advice, I think I will try that.

Melanie, you could always use it as an excuse to bake cinammon biscuits on a daily basis!

When people are trying to sell their houses they're advised to make good coffee and bake bread immediately before potential buyers come round as the house is statistically more likely to sell! That says something about the power of scent and how it makes us feel about our surroundings!

I make my own hair-tints and in winter when the sun isn't strong enough to leave them outside I simmer the liquid very very gently in the jam-kettle and it smells lovely!

Thanks laura for the tips, have you a recipe for a hair tint for black hair? And I would be over the moon if you could share your cinamon biscuit recipe with me, hope I dont sound too cheeky!

I have one HUGE thing I have to be grateful for today. I need to put it out there into the ether for our guardian angel to hear and know just how very grateful I am.

Last night one of our little kittens fell out of the upstairs spare room window (which no-one knew was open), onto a concrete slabbed patio, and miraculously survived unscathed.

It truly must be a miracle, as my husband and I, frantically searching the garden in the dark with a torch last night to see where his adrenalin had taken him to hide, really thought we would find him dead and have to give the heartbreaking news to our little girl (for the second time this year) that her beloved pet hadn't survived. We just didn't know what we would see when we found him.

But thankfully there, stuck down the side of the shed, he was, looking all in one piece as far as we could tell, if a little subdued. My husband smashed a fence panel down to be able to get to him, while I rang an emergency vet to meet us at her surgery. We hardly dared believe, though he appeared uninjured, that he wasn't hurt in some way. Wrapped in a blanket in his carry case, my daughter in her pj's, we all raced in the car (not literally!) to the vetinary surgery where the lovely vet (who did a great job of calming us down on the phone too, bless her) was waiting to 'fix' him.

But, amazingly, no fixing necessary! Apart from a little cut on his lip (which we think he did trying to run into the patio doors - it was this noise that alerted us to something going on outside!) he suffered absolutely no damage whatsoever! The vet was telling us that this is actually often the case, as cats have a self-righting mechanism which makes them land on their feet, and they are supple and strong enough to withstand the impact. Amazing. Thank God.

Our relief was immense (for my daughter's sake as much as anything) and I want to put a big THANK YOU out there - to whoever might be listening (surely God reads Brocante Home???!!!).

LOL, Sasha xx

I'm glad your kitten was ok Sasha. Cats are pretty amazing in what they can do!

Thank God your kitten was alright sasha, I know how it feels to loose a beloved pet.The first cat john and I ever got died 2 years ago this month. He died suddenly, no one knew what was wrong with him and what caused his death. One minute he was playing, and the next making awful noises and he died right before our very eyes, there was nothing we could do to help him. He was only 3 years old and it was tragic. We have Jack now, got him last christmas, but of course no animal could ever replace our beloved jagger.
Im so pleased your kitten was fine, someone must have been watching over him (or her).

Thank you so much for your kind responses! My daughter and I can't stop kissing little Bear (or 'skydiver' as he may now have to be called!) today! I still can't believe we have him here today in one piece, as if nothing happened!

I am really sorry to hear about your sad loss Melanie. Our pets really do become members of our family, and I know we didn't realise just how much we got from having a cat until we had lost ours.

It was the worst day of my life when my daughter's beloved companion of 6 years, and our first ever family pet, died under the wheels of our own car which was truly hideous. Nobody saw him at all (he had a habit of sauntering in front of moving vehicles, tragically). I rushed him in my arms to the vets, but it was already too late.

My other biggest gratitude in life was that my wonderful daughter and husband, though distraught (as was I) never once, then or since, cast any blame - understandable in their grief though it may have been. My daughter showed amazing love when I had to break the news he was dead (she had sadly been in the car when it happened to make matters worse) by hugging me tight and telling me "it was an accident Mummy, not your fault". I thought she would never forgive me (I still don't forgive myself and run over the 'what if's' in my head all the time) - I will never forget her unconditional love and support as long as I live - she is an amazing little person.

Hence, we now have two kittens, who have provided another dimension again to our little family, and given my daughter back the companionship she yearned for. And it would seem we may not be in for an easy ride.....!! They were rescue kittens, a boy called Bear and a girl called Ava. They think they're brother and sister (but shush - don't tell them, but Bear was in fact an orphan who started out life as a survivor when his mother was killed, and he was 'adopted' into Ava's litter to give him a start in life) and they are inseperable. Bear has also already survived severe allergic reactions to his jabs as well! I think he was put here to try us??!! So maybe he should be re-named 'Lucky'??!! They say they get 9 lives....

LOL Sasha

I'm not having morning coffee right now but afternoon tea.
i'm looking through the new Victoria magazine and Taste of Home Simple & Delicious magazine.

I am grateful today for:

woodstoves
tea
lovely magazines
hard working husband

I'll resurrect another topic! I am reading SBB books and am a member of the Simple Abundance website and I found Brocante via google search. It has been a very happy discovery as I really love to read your posts and the whole "feel" of the Brocante website/forums. What a breath of fresh air to be blessed with this connection to like-minded women.

I am having a break from work at the moment and I am grateful today for...

~~~a new friendship forged via msn with Karlanee (wow, we had such a great chat last evening and I am so blessed!

~~~discovering Brocante and how it so fits in with the transformation that is happening in "me" just now!

~~~the glorious sunshine outside (can spring be far behind?)

~~~arranging to begin swimming at our local indoor baths with my good friend (I've uncovered my bathing suit and will bite the bullet and swim "fat"......)!

~~~the joy of serving customers this week/weekend with that special card for Mother's Day (it's tomorrow 2nd March here in the UK). They leave our shop very pleased with the selection of greetings cards and the competitive prices! That's when it is good to know hubby and I are making our mark in the business world and satisfying the needs of our customer base.

I hope others will post regularly on here. I'm just off to get myself a fresh cup of coffee...and browse some more!

Jacquie x

Wonderful list, Jacquie! How do you like SBB's website? I've considered joining, but haven't yet because of the price.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies - so delicious!

2. Scented potpourri - English Ivy & Hydrangea

3. Jershey sheets on the bed

4. New clothes

5. Blue skies and sunshiny days