Although, I know that Covid is around for a while more, and unrest in our country probably around for a longer time… Being retired and in the house, playing it safe, I have lots of time to watch the news, and frankly I am worried and sick of it!! So let us sit by my fireplaces and take a break…
Come sit by our new faux fireplace in The Train House!! The cocoa recipe is below😋
The left photo is of the area when we had the house torn apart, about a year and half ago. The right photo was taken recently 2 months ago, when Victor was prepping the corner to build this fireplace!! We designed this together, wanting a place to hang the TV in an area we could easily see from the kitchen and family room. And of course we wanted it to look nice…so we designed this corner fireplace with the TV built in above!!
And this is the finished fireplace!! A little tip…if you want your smart Samsung TV to look like artwork, there is a mode called Ambient that you can go into and either use your own photos or choose their photos to use…I love it, it really looks like artwork and not a TV…great for when you have company!!
Now for the hot chocolate!!! As I was making my grandsons hot chocolate at The Train House, it just smelled and looked so good, I wanted to have some, but I know it’s loaded with calories!! So I decided to make a small amount in a little espresso cup…except I made the adult version…
These are the ingredients…any kind of milk will do, truffles of any kind, mini marshmallows and my secret ingredient, Fireball, a cinnamon whisky!!
Heat milk in microwave, add one truffle and small amount of Fireball, mix until chocolate is dissolved, add marshmallows…enjoy this tiny cup of heaven!!! We could all use that at this time!!
This is our Cape Code house fireplace, I use candles in my fireplaces, unless we are around all day to keep an eye on a wood fire!! I find the candles easier, cleaner and they aluminate the fireplace nicely!!
When we’re not using the fireplace, we have a coffee table that folds up, it acts as a screen and is out of the way until we need it for a coffee table!! I bought this at an auction for three dollars, many years ago and I painted the flowers on it!!
Now we are at The Yellow House…when we bought this house 17 years ago this family room was not here, we had it added onto our kitchen, our good friend Frank who is a master mason, built the fireplace and Victor added the surrounding wood moldings. Victor also built the TV cabinet next to the fireplace, the doors cover the TV when we want it hidden!!
This is the faux fireplace in our living room of The Yellow House!! I bought the mantel at an antique store, many years ago and stored it in our cellar until we bought this house!! Victor built this into the wall with tin ceiling tiles lining the inside and marble tile placed on the floor…a perfect focal point to grace our living room…
I made these candle holders out of lamps that I bought at Christmas Tree Shop…We took the wires out, super glued metal coasters on the tops and spray painted them gold!!
I hope sharing my fireplaces brought you all a moment of ease❤️
🔥
After this very difficult week in America, I searched the internet to find some comforting words, because I am truly at a loss…I found this quote that might bring some perspective…
“Morning continues to come to America, especially after the darkest of days. The pain subsides, the light comes and the republic will roll on as long as “we the people” take note, take heart, take courage and take action.“
By taking action, we have the ability in 2021 to press a button and sprew good or bad…it’s been made so easy by our cell phones…I vow to only press my button to sprew goodness, to hold our country up and therefore the World🙏🏽❤️
Visions of My 70s 
I cannot get over how talented you and Victor are at decorating! You should be on HGTV! I LOVE all your fireplaces and the elegance of your homes…so inviting and beautiful! And…I have to add…your “hot chocolate” sounds delicious. I’ll have to make some! Wishing y’all a happy, healthy, and 2021 and that our country settles down to the principles it was founded on! 💕
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Victor and I enjoy our projects, now it’s a form of therapy!! Glad you enjoy seeing them!! That hot chocolate is amazing, sometimes I have it for dessert!! Wishing you the same in 2021, it was supposed to be better than 2020🤞 I agree on settling down to our founding principles🙏 Thank you,as always, for checking in and your thoughtful comments❤️
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Great blog. I loved the idea of making candle holders out of lamps. I got new lamps for Christmas and now I am thinking about making candle holders out of the old ones.
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Glad you liked it, Marilyn💖 A great way to repurpose a lamp!! You could even use the battery candles!!! Send me a photo of them when you do them!!
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Beautiful Carol !
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Thank you, Denise!! Glad you liked it!! Hope you and your family are doing well!! Looking forward to getting together with you, in better days ahead💖
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I really loved reading this, Carolyn. All of us can use a reprieve from the horrible things happening around us. Stay safe and enjoy those gorgeous fireplaces!
❤️ Regina
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Yes, we can all use a reprieve…hope you’re getting a lot of those with your beautiful granddaughter💖 Thank you for checking in, stay well🙏
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You just brought me some peace in these unsett times. Love you Carol. 💕
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So glad I could spread a little peace to you, Claire😌Love you too, stay well❤️
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Lovely piece this month Carol. Enjoyed it very much !! Such a tough time in our country. Very comforting Carol
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Thank you, Ellen!! Happy to bring comfort to my friends, through this blog!! Hope you and your family are doing well❤️
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Always enjoy your blogs Carol. Can’t believe you’ve had your train house so long and it’s looking great Fun to have different places to go and I love how you and Victor do so many different things in your houses. Cozy comfortable and charming. Be well my friend ❤️❤️❤️
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Thank you, Kathy!! It is fun to have different places to go to and stay safe during this pandemic, we are very fortunate!! Thanks for checking in on my blog💖 Hope you, Kevin and your whole family are doing well, vaccine can’t come fast enough🙏🏽💞
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First of all, and not that I am in the slightest bit surprised, but all of your fireplace rooms are incredibly lovely and very cozy at the same time! I don’t even have a favorite. All different, all so well decorated!! In the midst of a tough “one of those days“, this was the perfect thing for me to read and dwell on today. And I love the idea of having an image that covers the TV when it’s not on. At one point I thought about putting a large carved wooden frame around the TV and hanging over the fireplace, but it made it sit way too high. The hot chocolate sounds beyond delicious, and your brilliant crafty candle holders are amazing!
Not much more to say except I hope you are all safe and well. Stay fabulous!!! Miss you loads ❣️❣️❣️
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Thank you for checking in, Penny!!! Yes, all our fireplaces are different, I like to design them around the period of the house!! And I’m glad I could give you a diversion from “one of those days”💖 I love the mode that gives artwork to display on the TV…we have the TV on most of the time, but when the boys come over, Gina doesn’t want them in front of a screen, so we just display a picture and it doesn’t look like dead space above the fireplace!! That hot cocoa is amazing and it’s only in an espresso cup, so no calories🤣 Thanks again for your sweet comments, I so appreciate it…miss you so very much and love you too💞
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I came across your blog and spent a delightful time reading about your adventures in travel and looking at your three beautiful homes and how you and Victor have recreated the period of each home. I too like Joanna and Chip Gaines and how they renovate homes, however I like your bold use of color better and how it all comes together. You and Victor are so talented and make a great team ! Stay well and keep blogging.
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Barbie, thank you so much for checking into my blog…so glad you enjoyed it!!! Victor and I love restoring houses, it’s been great to share that love through this blog, so thank you for the compliments❤️ Hope you and your family are doing well!! Looking forward to seeing you, when life gets back to normal🙏
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Carol,
All of the fireplaces are warm, cozy, and inviting. I don’t have a favorite, each one suits the house and space its in. Like the one in the train house, with the ambient mode above. I don’t like to see a tv above the fireplace, but this is perfect. Enjoy.
The hot chocolate recipe is inviting, even I can make it , thanks.
As always, you find the quote that says it all. I look forward to your blogs, they are uplifting and help to keep us in touch. Hopefully, the pandemic and all the craziness. will pass, and life will return somewhat to normal. I want to be able t visit my sister and would like to get to the Cape, I really do miss it.
You and Victor and your family take real good care be well and stay safe.
With love,
Lucille
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Thank you, Lucille…so glad you liked the fireplaces!! I agree with you about TV’s above fireplaces, but imagine making artwork out of your TV!! It’s been so much fun to play with the new TV, of course the kids are helping us, it can be confusing, but I’m determined to learn all it has to offer!!
I love finding “the meaning of life,” at the end of my posts, with using quotes…sometimes it comes so easy, it’s almost like I’m getting help from the powers that be😇 I know you will understand that🙏🏽
I too, hope you can visit Dee soon, and life will get back to somewhat normalcy!! Thank you again for your thoughtful comments and well wishes, you take care and stay well too💖
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Love your blog, Carol! You always have wonderful little tips or recipes to share. You and Victor are a great team when it comes to making your homes so livable, comfortable, and beautiful. I always look forward to the thoughtful quotes that you use to close your blog. Stay safe … can’t wait until we can get together as a family again.
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Thank you, Sue!! So glad you’re enjoying my blog, that means a lot to me💗 It’s important to make my blog more meaningful, by tying in the quotes to my subjects…thank you for noticing!! I too am looking forward to the day we can get together as a family…you and Anthony stay well🙏💖
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