This, That And The Other Thing: What’s On My Countertop?

On By SuzIn As blogged by Suz

I was throwing together a little last minute post about three items, then I realized that all three were on my kitchen counter, plus a bonus.

THIS: Flowers

Ranaculas might be my favorite flowers ever; sadly, you can’t get them all year long. I suppose that makes them even more special. They resemble peonies which are my other favorite and are similar to camellias which I also love.

I might have a ‘loving’ flowers problem.

THAT: The Sea Glass

River and Jeanette mentioned that they’ve found Red Sea glass. I was all “WHAT? RED?” I wondered if I had any red in my collection. (I can’t remember things any longer) I went through my old collection and no red to be found. *snap* But, I did find a piece of lavender. How cool is that? I have four pieces of coveted colors; three blue and one lavender. *Can you even see me UP here on my high horse*

Hey Nicole, I do keep the sea glass in a pretty jar. I actually had a small jar in the guest bathroom with sea glass, but since this trip to the Bahamas, I needed a bigger jar, so I went shopping in my own cabinets and found this empty one, then commingled all my sea glass together.

THE OTHER THING: Cholestoff

In the continued battle of lowering my cholesterol I started taking Cholestoff last year after reading good things about it. (I get it from Costco) The trouble with them, is I forget to take them. You’re supposed to take two of them twice a day with your worst meal. Finally, I realized if I just put them out in plain sight, in my face, right between the fridge and stove, protected by my kitchen pig, then I might remember.

They look like kidney beans.

Guess what? In my face works. I remember them almost all the time now!

THE OTHER, OTHER THING: The (almost) freebie that lasts

The first weekend in December The Coach and I attended a charity fundraiser. Since we sponsored the event, we were given some of the table decor which was two phalaenopsis. Nothing extraordinary, I have many of them in the yard growing in tree crotches. They sat on the counter in their plastic container, covered in tacky blue foil for a few days when I thought to find a large pot to put them in. Again, I shopped in my own cabinets. I didn’t even take them out of the plastic container, just plopped them in this white bowl and covered them with moss.

Ya’ll. It’s now February 21st and they have not dropped ONE flower. I give them a bit of water a few times a week. They’re so perfect and they almost look fake; apparently my Kitchen is The Place To Be.

Anything fun on your countertop this week?

42 thoughts on “This, That And The Other Thing: What’s On My Countertop?”

    1. It makes me wonder what was the lavender bottle for? And I’m guessing they are no longer made.

      SUZ GOES TO GOOGLE and falls into a rabbit hole of sea glass.

      “Much of the lavender sea glass comes from older Pre World War I clear vintage canning jars and other glass containing manganese, a de-colorizer originally used to remove the green or aqua caused by the iron naturally found in batch sand. Some manganese dioxide decolorized bottles may date as early as the 1820’s and as late as the 1930’s.

      Over a period of many years the glass made with manganese turns lavender when exposed to sunlight. This is called “sun-purpled”. One in three hundred pieces of sea glass will have a lavender hue.”

      How cool is that? The lavendar is super duper old.

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  2. The bouquet of ranaculas is beautiful. Cheerful. I like your pig in the corner and how he reminds you to pop a few pills. Clever. The only thing of interest on our kitchen counter today is a packet of dwarf curly parsley seeds that I plan on starting inside in peat pots. I use the parsley as filler in outdoor flower pots come spring. Caterpillars love the parsley– and then morph into butterflies. Yay.

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    1. I love that you use parsley as a filler and to feed the caterpillars. Black swallowtails are one of my favorite butterflies and they are the most unique looking caterpillar. (Ok, they’re all my faves!) You must share some photos when you find the cats; I find that sharing those types of things inspires other people to grow food sources for our butterflies. GO YOU!

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  3. Your countertop is MUCH more interesting than mine! Although I do have half a red tail light sitting on mine from when I backed my car into a wall a couple of years ago and broke it off. I’m convinced I can just “snap” it back into place. I just have to get around to trying it. But that involves kneeling down behind the car and I’m just not up to that.

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  4. Bijoux

    I’m obsessed with orchids and love that the flowers can last for months. I’ve had both good and bad luck having them rebloom. Have you had a recheck on cholesterol since taking the supplement? I’m so careful with my diet, but my HDL (or whichever one is supposed to be low) keeps inching up, even though my overall number is good.

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    1. I’m spoiled because all of the ones I put out in the yard always rebloom. I don’t feed them or anything; it’s just the right climate here. (warm and humid)

      I’m due for a recheck soon, so I’ll update then. I’m not holding out too much hope since I’ve been slacking on my ‘clean eating’ lately. *sigh* So I can’t expect the cholestoff to work miracles.

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  5. ‘Tree crotches’ will always make me laugh. I am apparently a clueless soul when it comes to the name of flowers. I do know peonies. I love peonies and the flowers in the above photo are really lovely.

    I know he wasn’t the focus of this post, but I do love your pig. My countertop has a cluster of mail, college mailings and bills, and my laptop. My notebook is right in the middle of it – so pretty, NOT. Plus, my gi-normous desk calendar. My counter is paperwork/booking central here. Oh, and I have my pill bottles that I always forget to take. Just some vitamins and Motrin (taking before I see the doc next to see if that has helped the pinkies. Hard to track if I don’t remember to take it). I guess I need a reminder pig.

    In my post today I share a photo of a very pretty china dish painted by my friend. I showed it to a mom as she dropped off her littles. And I thought, why leave this in the dining room. So? I might find a spot for that in my kitchen. As the color is perfect.

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    1. Tree crotch always makes me laugh too. We’re both immature like that.

      I love my kitchen pig! I found him many years ago at HomeGoods and it was LOVE at first sight. At least for me.

      The dish you speak of YES. You need a sturdy plate stand and give it its own spot; it’s divine!

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  6. I love the look of ranunculus, too. Did you know they’re also called Persian Buttercups? We used to grow peonies like crazy, but Rick is terribly allergic, so they had to go. I was sad.

    The research about the lavender sea glass is really interesting. I didn’t even know there was such a thing, but again, my experience is with Lake Erie sea glass, none of which I’ve saved.

    My kitchen counters have the practical doodads like my jars of dried herbs from my garden, my big red KitchenAid mixer, and things like that. And my life-saving vitamins/supplements so that they are in my face like yours.

    I have Kitchen Cows, not pigs. And they’re everywhere.

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    1. Persian buttercups? Nope. I didn’t know that! Sad that RIck is allergic to something so pretty.

      I was shocked about the lavender sea glass too; I had no idea. How cool is that?

      Kitchen cows are equally as cute as kitchen pigs. Moo. Oink.

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  7. Okay, ranaculas has become my new favorite flower. My friend told me about them at a farmer’s market last summer, and I forgot about them until you mentioned them today. I also love peonies. So much that we transplanted our peonies from the side of our house, where the previous owners planted them 17 years ago, to the backyard, where we can now see them. This will be the first spring, so say a prayer we get blooms.

    I love that pig! Especially the color. So pretty.

    And that sea glass….sigh.

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  9. I need to get to the beach because I need ALL the colors and then a pretty vase to put them it! The flowers are all beautiful. Nothing exciting on my counter right now except all the junk I just cleaned out of my car and need to find a place for!

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  11. All the flowers are so gorgeous. Your kitchen is definitely the place to be, I know I’d love to be there too! I still laugh about the tree crotches lol. I’m a little jealous of your lavender sea glass, definitely don’t have any of that. I think all of mine are blues and greens. Glad you found a way to remember to take your meds. I love your blue watch pig and I really l love your stove. I almost said I’d give my right arm for one of those, but then it would be a little hard to cook now wouldn’t it?! 😉

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  12. Those flowers are absolute perfection! I’ve heard of sea glass, of course, but have never seen any…probably because I’ve never looked for it. Next trip to the beach, it will be on my radar. That orchid is beautiful. Cross your fingers, I may be *this* close to having one re-bloom for the first time ever!

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  13. Maddie

    Look at your beautiful kitchen! I know I’ve said this before but, gosh, I adore your kitchen. The cabinet color, the counters, the backsplash, the gorgeous view. And now a whole post celebrating your dreamy kitchen! Yay!

    Shopping in your own cabinets! Brilliant. I occasionally remember to do this but need to do it more often. I really love the sea glass container you found and that orchid display pot is perfect. What great finds! 🙂

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    1. Thank you for your sweet words; you always make me smile!
      I’m a fortunate person when it comes to my kitchen. As I’ve said before I had to sleep with a guy multiple times for it.
      I’m not overly happy about my backsplash choice; in hindsight, I think it was too safe and it’s kind of boring. I’d love to redo it, but I’m not sure if I’m up to sleeping with my tile guy.

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      1. Maddie

        You always make *me* smile! 🙂 And you are cracking me up with your comments this post! As someone said above… hey ya gotta do what ya gotta do for the perfect kitchen. Priorities!

        The backsplash looks lovely and serene to me but I get what you’re putting down. Soooo, how hot *is* the tile guy? 😉 Priorities dontcha know!

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  15. Margaret

    There is WAY too much stuff on my countertop! Do those pills have any side effects? I would like to lower my cholesterol a bit; the doctor hasn’t suggested medication…yet.

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    1. Hi Margaret! Thanks for popping by. No side effects for me at all. Do some research; I think they might be a good addition to whatever you’re doing now. I’m also trying to avoid medication.

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  17. Ally sent me here, and to my delight, I was greeted by a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. I don’t believe you have a flower-loving problem, it must be a good-taste trait (I don’t feel it can be called a problem, and if it is, then you’re in good company 🙂 )!

    The kitchen-pig is adorable! What a fantastic trigger to create a new habit 🙂

    So glad I was introduced to your blog 🙂

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  18. Maddie

    Oh Suz! I’m so embarrassed! I thought your tile guy & cabinet/countertop guy were the *same* person (and not two diff guys… eeek!). Soooo mortified over here now. Please forgive my lame brain?

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