Okay, so these are old, but they’ve aged gracefully, wouldn’t you say? I don’t feel comfortable storing food in them, but that’s just fine because they serve a much more important purpose. These pretty canisters bring me joy each time I walk past them.

When I first arrived in Asheville, NC in 2002, my dear friend Cheri Minchew, our children and I visited an antique shop somewhere in the mountains. Couldn’t tell you the shop’s name or how we found it, but I remember the smell and look of the place. I would have no idea how to find it again. Everything was so unique and simple. Precisely how I like it. Sitting in a corner all by themselves were these four pretty canisters just waiting for a loving home.

I love the picture of the grist mill and the wheat on the flour mill inn canister. This reminds me of our visits to the Tuthill Grist Mill in New York with our dear friends the Covells, the Venters and the Bells. I still remember the smell of the old working mill… and the bakery…oh the bakery!

Oh yeah, and I also remember when it took Tracey, Robin, Leslye and I three times longer to get home because I got lost! We laughed so hard as when “circled” the area to find ourselves back at the same gas station we started from — three times!

Maps are for men…all of our boys looked at each other (then ages 7 to 16) as if we had lost our minds. We had fun anyway. Let’s just say that it made for a much more “interesting” ride home.

Ah yes, the sugar shack…isn’t that canister adorable? This brings back wonderful memories of the time when my hubby and I thought we could extract maple syrup from our tree and then boil it down in our kitchen. The children thought it was a great idea. We were young. We should have known better. Larry, an engineer my hubby worked with, lived in the Catskill Mountains of New York. He’d help us. He grew up making maple syrup with his grandfather.

Folks it took days to collect enough sap from those poor trees. It hurt me to watch the guys nail into them. Never try boiling sap in your kitchen. I took me days to clean up the mess. : ) Heed my words friends! Be sure to cook it outside on a camping stove. It wasn’t pretty. But the children enjoyed trying…off to the store we went to get pure maple syrup…

Coffee. This pretty canister featuring the coffee cottage inn reminds me of my dearest friend, Donna Blue, who enjoyed hazelnut coffee (okay so we adored the creamer) as much as I do.  We would always sit in each others’ homes with a hot cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee with International Delight hazelnut creamer.

One day, I decided to make my own coffee coasters. I picked out pretty fabric, cut it into large squares, filled these squares with batting and whole cloves, sewed the coasters back up and waited for Donna to arrive for our weekly coffee hour. I was so proud of my handiwork. I was nesting. I poured her coffee in her favorite mug (we each had mugs we loved at each others’ homes) and then placed it on the coaster. My dear friend admired the hand-sewn coasters and thought they were so pretty. Just as I suspected, the heat from the coffee sent the aroma of the warm and fragrant cloves permeating throughout our home. I was delighted!

It is so nice to welcome your guests to a home filled with warm and lovely fragrances. That is until you find out that your best friend is highly allergic to cloves! God bless her heart. Donna has always been such a patient and forgiving person…

I love tea. Lady Grey is by far my favorite tea.  Chai tea is a close second. I love tea and tea loves me that was until this weekend. I was steeping four chai tea bags in milk as I whisked together my dry ingredients for my spiced chai tea muffins.

What’s that? Is something burning?  I turned to find the paper labels on my tea bags completely on fire. I admit it. I panicked a bit. I guess losing your house in a housefire 10 years ago will do that to you. I ran over to the stove and put that fire out.

I’m pleased to announce that my beautiful kitchen still stands…

… and my beloved canister and all the memories are safely tucked away in their favorite cabinet …

What are some of your most favorite things? Do they bring back special memories? We’d love to hear about it?

From my heart to yours,

Elise