How to Boil the Perfect Easter Egg

* Here’s one of the articles from the latest issue of my monthly newsletter “A Storybook Life”

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Fill a pot with cold water, and carefully add eggs. Bring water to a rolling boil, then cover and turn off heat. Let the pot set for 15 minutes before removing the eggs. Pour out warm water and fill pot with cold water. When the eggs are cooled remove from water & store in the refrigerator.

Using this method, you will get perfect eggs every time! Fully cooked with pale yellow centers – not green, which can happen from over cooking. There is also no cracking, they are much easier to peel …not to mention this method also saves energy!

A Storybook Life – The New Issue is Ready!

The new issue of “A Storybook Life” is out now!

If you have not subscribed to the monthly newsletter & would like to, you can subscribe with one click at our site: http://www.LittleCountryVillage.com

Once you subscribe, you will get an email with this month’s newsletter inside.

Enjoy!

Pearl

Here’s what’s inside the latest issue:

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In This Issue:

From the Cottage – Pearl’s Ponderings

Letters to The Editor

How to Boil the Perfect Easter Egg

Elegant Easter Eggs – Your little masterpiece will be the talk of the hunt!

Have a Designer Look For Your Walls Using $1 per Yard Fabric

No Mix, No Measure, Delicious Rhubarb Crunch Cake

You can Have a Beautiful Cottage Garden Even in a Temporary Space!

Interesting Things You’ve Got to See – Pearl’s April Picks!

Various & Sundry Other Tips & Treasures
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Make Your Home Always Smell it’s Best


The only thing better than having a clean home, is having your home smell clean! There are so many air fresheners on the market that simply overpower your room with the heavy scent of flowers & perfumes, but I have found a great product that leaves everything smelling like freshly peeled oranges!

I know that we each have different scents that are more pleasing to us, but for some reason, I have never been able to enjoy the overpowering floral scents in our home. I think my favorite room scents of all time are a mixture of cloves, oranges, cinnamon, & apple – which is what I have simmering right now on my desk. I also love to put a pot of simmering bits such as; cloves, cinnamon sticks, whole anise, orange peels, and vanilla, on the stove during the fall & winter months. But sometimes, you just need a quick bit of help to freshen up a room, and you really want a nice pleasing scent.

I have tried many different types of air fresheners, but the one that I picked up recently is one is a clear winner! It is called Pure Citrus – it’s 100% natural, a non-aerosol, and it fills the house with the refreshing scent of freshly peeled oranges! I’ve also noticed that the scent lasts for quite a while, and it covers quite an area within my home when sprayed. I love this product!

* You can pick up a bottle at your local Walmart. Prices average approx. $3 per can.

Pink & Green Inspiration for Your Home and Garden

Are you in love with pink & green? If so, I thought I would share some great pictures to help give you some inspiration for your home & garden.

I especially love the center picture! I’ve decided to use a color similar to this one on the walls in my creative space. Here are my thoughts as of right now.
Walls – lime/chartreuse
Trim – white
Accent Fabric – Black & white toile
Accent Colors – Red, Deep Blue, Black

I will share the pictures as I progress 🙂

Take a minute to share your upcoming project ideas with us!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Raggedy Ann

Although we’ve had a few inches of snowfall this morning, I am still excited about the thought that spring is right around the corner! Although our village St. Patrick’s Day parade was postponed until next week due to the snow, I’m sure that people will still turn out with enthusiasm as we do for every community event.

Today, I thought I’d share a bit of history with you. If you are like many people that I know, you have most likely had your own Raggedy doll sometime during your lifetime. I thought you might like to read about the story behind the beloved Raggedy Ann & Andy dolls.

Raggedy Ann The True Story

I just love the Raggedy Ann that my grandmother made for me when I was a little girl, so I decided to do a bit of research on the doll’s history. Here’s the true story about Raggedy Ann, the museum that chronicles her creator as well as her history.

As the story goes… The birthplace of the beloved Raggedy Ann was Arcola, Illinois. She has captivated our hearts for over 80 years, but very few know of her beginning. She is the creation of a gentleman named John Gruell.

Before World War 1, John’s daughter Marcella was just a preteen. She found a tattered rag doll in her
grandmother’s attic. John was somewhat of an artist, and when Marcella showed her dad the doll, he drew a face on it. He cut out a paper heart on which he wrote “I Love You,” thus the I love heart on each raggedy.

A few years later, in 1917, Marcella died an early death from a contaminated smallpox vaccination. Of course John was grief-stricken, and started writing stories about his little girl and her doll Raggedy Ann. I wonder how many little ones know that they are reading about a real life “daddy’s little girl”?

Today you can find two beautiful brick buildings in Arcola that share a wealth of Raggedy Ann memorabilia. Each year, the town celebrates two festivals featuring Raggedy. “The Raggedy Ann Festival” is held in the summer, and “A Raggedy Ann Christmas” is held during the Christmas season.

Visit the museum website here

Gardening – Fill Your Cottage Gardens With Free Plants!

Foxglove in the Cottage Garden

I love to dream – and one of the things that I love to dream about is my cottage garden. I pull out back issues of my favorite magazines, gardening books, and seed catalogues to add to the plethora of ideas already stored in my mind’s eye. There is one small problem however. When you start shopping at the garden centers & from all of the plant catalogues, you start to see a growing trend – all of these beautiful plants add up to lots of money!

I need to be honest with you for a second. You see, I’m not really good at waiting several years to add a plant here & a plant there to my garden. I’m the kind of person who sees something beautiful, then tries to find a way to make it happen in my own garden. Sometimes the ideas work out wonderfully, and sometimes I learn a lesson from the whole process. In any case, my garden is always better because of it.

We all live such busy lives, and we do our best to have our obligations taken care of. Sometimes, despite all of our work & effort, we just don’t have the extra amount of money that it would take to have the garden of our dreams. I know that feeling personally, and that’s why I wanted to take this time to share with you some of the ideas that I have discovered for finding free plants over the years. Soon, with a little bit of creative thinking, you’ll have to start giving plants away due to lack of any more space in your garden!

I’ve posted the full article in my article bank due to length – read it here:

Gardening – Fill Your Cottage Gardens With Free Plants!