The Spring Creek Tearoom

My favorite lunch place is Spring Creek Tearoom in Ozark, Missouri. That's about 10 miles south of Springfield, and 20 miles north of Branson. Tearooms seem to come and go, but not Spring Creek. Their food is exceptional and the atmosphere is comfortable and filled with vintage decor.

The outside of the building is just as quaint as the inside. It was an old storefront located on 3rd Street, which is right off the square, in historic Ozark. Actually, 3rd Street is the main street in Ozark, so it's easy to locate.

Easy to see, it's not your average cafe or restaurant.

Come on in.

Usually, it's just my beautiful mom, sister and I, but today, Becky's son Spencer, joined us.


Have I mentioned how wonderful the food is? It' s wonderful! I usually get the chef salad, but Becky and Mom go for the chicken salad on marbled bread.

OK, we're eating, so you can go ahead and check out all the great shopping.

Primitive and cottage

An old rattan bike

Romantic

Ready for the 4th of July.

Stunning

Funky

Eclectic

Traditional

Sophisticated Old World

Sorry, no picture of the Milky Way Cake we had for dessert. It disappeared!

Have a great weekend.

Blessings, Debra

Inspired by White

I recently purchased a copy of the Spring "Jeanne d' Arc Living" Magazine, and I am captivated by their homes, gardens, and living spaces. Typically, I need a little color in my surroundings, but I found that on my deck I seemed to have been in sync with their outlook.

An old sewing machine base with a white painted furnace grate attached,

in front of my old white garden gate.

An old wooden carrier filled with tiny pink buds, a birdhouse,

a birdcage and a concrete rabbit all vie for a spot.

These white concrete urns filled with white bacopa are just like the ones that my grandmother had on her front porch many years ago (when I was just a very little girl) I have another larger set on my lower patio that is shaded, filled with impatiens.

You can put me in any antique or vintage shop or warehouse, and I will immediately be drawn to the white, distressed, rusted, chipped items. Tables, boxes, iron fencing, statuary, ironstone, cabinets...whatever...I want it.

The interior of my home is another matter, as you will see. The pieces I use frequently are painted black. I know we furniture painters have all discussed it. The dilemma, WHITE or BLACK? Which should it be? I've asked myself that question many times and sometimes I just have to wait until I have a "feel" for it and where the particular piece should go.

But for my deck I found a few pieces that were of the rusted white variety and they have landed there. This area is right out the door of my sunroom, and underneath my kitchen window.
The very old "wicker on metal" chair and the table set for tea from the last post, are part of this "white" group.

I love my little camera, BUT, my husband already sees the writing on the wall, so to speak.

Have a wonderful relaxing day.

Blessings, Debra

Tea for Two

I started collecting china tea and coffee pots before I was married. I've sold a few over the years that I have since regretted. I don't have anything fancy, just odds and ends pieces, which is pretty much the way most of my "collections" are. Sometimes a certain object just says it needs to come home with me. I guess that's why I have a lot of little random "things" in my house (and life). So today, I thought I would set a tiny table for two out on my deck.

So I'll grab a chair and we can take our time.

The little plant shown here is called "angel vine". I started seeing it used on a lot of the Scandinavian blogs, but I had never found any before here. I finally tracked down a greenhouse that sells it. It likes shade, but will tolerate some sun. The key is to keep it moist at all times, as it dries out quickly.

"one lump or two?"

Have a wonderful day, Debra

Spring Creek

Most people in our area know about Spring Creek Tea Room and Antiques in Ozark, Missouri. It's best known for it's wonderful TeaRoom, where the food is prepared fresh daily, and the yummy desserts are made by Brenda, the owner. The line starts at 10:00am and goes till 2:00. It's always worth the wait, because that gives you time to browse all the great booths in the store.
I really gravitate toward the feminine, cottage, garden-y look, as you can see. Recently, after some more health upsets, I had to scale down, so right now I'm trying to concentrate on smaller items that don't require a lot of heavy lifting.

Here are the recent pictures from my little booth.

Thanks for coming along, we'll have lunch there soon. Then I'll show you the tea room side and all their great decor.
Have a great day!

Blessings, Debra

Remembering Daddy

Father's Day is a little bittersweet now. It's been 10 years since he left us. Way too soon. He had just turned 70. I am the oldest of 3 siblings. Mom and Dad were young when they had me... 20 and 23. My Dad had been in the Navy in the Korean War. Then stayed in the Reserve for around 20 years. I will never forget how handsome he was in his "dress whites". It would make you swoon. One time the highlight of his tour was when he met Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis in an officer's lounge. He was a great Dad, always ready for something fun and we had a lot of it.

Here we are together on my wedding day December 28, 1972. I was 19 and he was putting a penny in my shoe for good luck. This photo has been setting on my bookcase for many years. It makes me feel young again.






Here we are in a family photo in 1995. Mom and Dad, my brother who passed away 5 years ago, and my sister who is a great sister and friend. She lives here in town and really helps out my mom. They live a block apart.

This photo is of myself, my husband, our daughter Erin, and her then fiance Keith, and our younger daughter, Alyson. Remember, this is 1995. That explains the "do".

My husband and I being chauffeured to Rolla, MO. for our annual Easter Lunch, by our younger daughter Alyson, and her husband, Chris. He isn't in any of these photos so I'll have to post their picture later, maybe on their Birthdays or their Anniversary. Anyway, Chris is a great son-in-law, so I don't want to leave him out. He helps us so much take care of things from moving furniture for my booth space, to landscape work, to pool opening. He and Keith are for sure our boys. I can truly say that my husband is my best friend. Six years ago I had 3 major heart attacks and then open heart surgery. This was the same thing that took my Dad and brother. It made us rethink and make our relationships a priority. It changed us for the better, but I can't say I'd want to do it all again.

This was taken last Christmas at our house. Erin is no longer a blond, she went dark red. These girls are the best! Erin and her husband live in St. Louis, and Aly and Chris live here in town. They are Daddy's girls for sure. Next month we are heading to St. Louis. E&K bought a house last October that is incredible, can't wait to show you pictures. It was built in 1903 or so and was right across from the St. Louis World's Fair.

Thanks for letting me share some of these family photos. I'm one of those crazy people that really likes to see other peoples family photos.

David's dad and mom are still living. They are in their mid-eighties and his dad suffers from advanced Alzheimers. It's hard, he doesn't recognize us.

I just want to mention a book, for anyone out there that didn't have a lasting or good relationship with their father. It's called "Knowing God as Father" by James Robison. I highly recommend it. Sometimes it's hard to know our Heavenly Father, if we didn't have a model of fatherly parenthood.

Have a wonderful Father's Day weekend!

Be Blessed, Debra

Hello Kitty(s)

I'd like you to meet my little fur girls.

I've been reading blogs long enough to know that I'm not alone out there when it comes to our pets. They are more "family" than "animals".(Don't tell them I said that, they think they are my kids). You love them to pieces, then your heart can get broken when they go. Been there done that, many times.


I've had a cat, or 2, or 4, since I was about 3 or 4years old. I grew up in an old farmhouse just outside of town, so we had room for the everchanging menagerie of critters...mostly of the outdoors variety.
My Daddy was a softie, and would feed anything that wandered by...cats, dogs, wild chickens, and because of that, opposums, racoons, and the occasional skunk family would take up residence under our big front porch.

(Hi Handsome, how about a date?)

(please no negative comments about this mountain lion hide, it is very old and my husband found it at an antique mall.)

(assuming the position for dinner)

(don't look at the fur all over the curtain lining)

The old house has been torn down for a new insurance company complex, and my sweet Daddy is in Heaven, but I still love kitties. These cuties are twins, the only two of a litter: Miss Jenkins, who has short hair, and Miss Wrigley, who is Maine Coon. They are 4 years old. They answer to many names, such as Tubbers, Biggley, Poodles, Sweetie, Hair Ball...you know, the list goes on and on.
I'm sure you'll be seeing more random shots of them. They're my little buds.

Blessings,

Debra

p.s. Because I am new to this and don't know what the hecky darn I'm doing, my last post on the "Second Helpings" of my sunroom was timed wrong on the timer so I messed it up. Please take a look because I was up till 2:00am working on it.

Have a great day, y'all, I need another cup of coffee.

A Second Helping

Here are a few more photos of my sunroom. Hope you enjoy.

A closer view of my tabletop conservatory containing vintage wire egg baskets

and wire topiary forms.

...inspired by "Carolyn Westbrook Home"

When a friend shared this book with me I immediately fell in love.

I poured over every page.

Baker's rack with my English Cottage collection and vintage framed Audubon prints.

Old French grain sack with initials casing two old ticking feather pillows.

Wicker chair with antique "Double Wedding Ring" quilt hand pieced and stitched by my husband's grandmother in the 1930's, a primitive patriotic pillow, with an antique birdcage from my mother's gazebo.

Vintage gardening books, tools and small statuary in a strawberry flat, with my favorite Restoration Hardware zinc watering can which was a gift from my daughter, Erin.

Green goat cart filled with an ice cream tub and white geraniums.

Antique door and lantern with vintage mirror and twig wreath with lillies.

Thanks for joining me,

Debra

Coffee's ready!