CRABTREE & EVELYN - IRIS

To honor our new CRABTREE & EVELYN scent IRIS, we will be offering 20% off this fragrance this week!

Exquisitely scented orris, prepared from the root of the iris flower, was highly prized by Renaissance perfumers who used it in their elegant creations. 

In ancient times, orris was mixed with cinnamon and other spices to make love potions. 

The orris is blended with precious sandalwood, sensuous patchouli and a hint of fresh vetiver. 

Vetiver is a tall, dense, wild grass with long narrow leaves and a strand of underground white, yellow and brown roots. It is sought after for its calming, protective, soothing and uplifting characteristics. Vetiver essential oil’s aroma has a smoky woody scent.

We have body lotion, bath & body shower gel, eau de toilette, tripled milled soap, home fragrance spray and scented drawer lining paper.   Come down and take a whiff.  Once you smell it, you'll want to buy it!

Hope to see you this week

~Corrie

New Wood Roses

Okay, so I'm a little out of practice.  We haven't blogged since June 15th and I personally haven't done one since May!  I'm going to start out with something fun and easy. . . our new WOOD ROSES.  These roses are made out of high quality birch wood shavings and come in a glorious assortment of colors. 

All you have to do pick your colors and we can make a 12 bud bouquet~ $6.95 or a 6 bud bouquet~$3.95.  The WOOD ROSES also can be purchased individually for $ .50.  Use the bouquets as thank you gifts, birthdays, school spirit functions, awareness events or just about anything you would use real roses. 

Buy a few to add to your gift wrap- looks great on one of our bags! Add a few to a bottle of wine for a great hostess gift.   Buy one of every color to use as glass charms-everyone has their own or use them as napkin rings- great for a tea party!  The options are endless. 

Hope this inspires you to come down and buy some roses!  Tell us how you use them and we will add it to our blog.
Have a great week and don't forget about our Labor Day Bargain Hunting Sidewalk Sale! 

~Corrie

Chicken on the Loose

So my son's girlfriend has a menagerie of animals in her backyard....2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 goats, a pot belly pig, and several chickens for a start.  I went over to the house the other morning to help them feed this brood before they left on vacation. 

As we walked into the backyard, my son discovered that a chicken had mysteriously escaped the pen and was frantically trying to get back in.  She was ramming her head in the holes of the chain link fence that made up the pen.  My son tried to get her to go back in the little opening in the pen gate but she was confused and kept running past it!  The more he chased her the more she ran, until she was completely on the backside of the pen.  I tried to head her off from the other side but the more we ran, the more she ran, and the more the dogs thought we were playing a wonderful new game!  My big brave son was afraid to catch her for fear that she'd peck him...oh brother! So here we were chasing this chicken, with dogs running and jumping along with us, and cats wondering what was going on and why weren't we just petting their heads!  It was hysterical!

Finally her dog "Bear" got it cornered between the barn wall and the fence so I could run up behind her and grab her.  She let me know in no uncertain terms that she wasn't happy about that!  But I threw her over the top of the pen and she ran under the coop - trembling and shaking from her ordeal, I'm sure!

It was quite an adventure, but this city-girl-Speckled-Hen wrangled her first chicken and she is mighty proud of it!

Here's hoping you find your own adventure this week!
~Mary

The Quest for Treasure

The chicks are heading out this potentially beautiful and sunny holiday weekend in the hopes of finding some wonderful treasures to delight and intrigue our customers.  My absolute favorite thing is finding something to makeover or re-purpose.  Everything looks better with a fresh coat of paint!  I'm hoping to have some before-and-after pics to inspire you.  

Even Laurie has dusted off her paintbrushes and is painting little tiny prints we've framed to sell at the store...imagine owning your own piece of Speckled Hens original artwork!  Too cute!  I guess Corrie's incredible creativity is rubbing off on us.  It's about time, we were getting a little lazy...

Hope you have a wonderful and relaxing holiday weekend!

~Mary

Sparrow Moment

I just had a "Modern Family" moment!  For those who haven't had the pleasure of seeing this, you are missing a very funny sitcom on ABC.

A bird, (I think it was sparrow), flew into the store today.  It flew in, after a customer and started to make friends with all the other birds in our store!  My customer really didn't take any notice of it and was asking me questions about something or other, but I couldn't focus because of the bird!

I almost had my own little tizzy fit because the bird kept flying into the windows.  It even went in back of the store, in our kitchen area, and landed on a fake potted plant.  (This tells you how real looking our plants are.)  

I was able to wave it towards the door.  I didn't use a tennis racket because I didn't want to destroy anything in the store, but I used a magazine.   (For those of you who DID see "Modern Family" know it was a much better choice!)  The bird hit the window and was dazed enough for me to pick it up and put it outside.  It just took a bit for it to recover and it went on it's way.  I was only then able to focus on my customer, who I asked with a nervous laugh, "Did you see Modern Family last week?"...she looked at me with a blank face...oh well, too much to explain, plus she didn't even know the bird was in the store!  So I just said, "Yes, I can gift wrap that for you!"

If you want to check out the episode click here and have a great week!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnJ_T5ldXw8

Corrie

What Happened to May Day?

Since the 21st century, the May Basket tradition has wilted. I remember constructing baskets back in elementary school from wallpaper samples, construction paper, and paper plates. We would pick flowers from mom's garden to fill them.

My best friend Kathy and I couldn't wait to run down the street to her grandmother's house and hang a basket on her door knob, ring the bell and run away, giggling hysterically until we reached the next house and did it all over again. We'd circle the whole neighborhood, leaving baskets at our friend's houses and then hide in the bushes with our hearts pounding in our chests, waiting to see the smile on the face of the person who answered the door.

Isn’t it time to revive the May basket tradition? Don’t you know someone who could use a bit of cheer? Have you noticed that the rain has everything blooming?

May Baskets are easy to construct. Cut a circle out of construction paper and roll it into a cone. Use a ribbon or a paper strip to form the handle. The bouquet doesn't need to be elaborate. In fact, you can make paper flowers if you don't want to use real ones. You can even find little baskets at the 99 Cents Store and little bunches of silk flowers. Once you decide on the recipient, quietly approach the door, hang the basket on the knob, ring the doorbell and RUN LIKE HECK! It's supposed to be anonymous and I guarantee you'll be giggling like a kid again.

I'm always blown away how when we bless someone else, we're blessed ten-fold in return. Put a smile on your neighbor or friend’s face this May Day!

I can't wait to hear your stories...
~Mary

Lemon Peel Candy

In honor of our Annual Lemon Festival, I decided to make lemon peel candy.  I have tried to make orange peel candy in the past with some success and thought that lemon would work too.  I have a good friend whose tree's seem like they continuously produce lemons so its nice to find another use for them.

The recipe is really easy and goes like this. . . . .





Cut the top and bottom off of about 10 lemons and then quarter them.  Peel the skins off of the lemon quarters (save the lemons for another recipe like lemon-aid or you can freeze for later).






Cut the skins into about 1/4 inch slices.   Place in a pot, fill with cold water and bring to a boil.  Once it boils drain and rinse with cold water.  Repeat process of cooking the peels with fresh cold water, boiling and rinsing.

In a saucepan put 4 cups of sugar into 2 cups of water.  Whisk mixture,  bring to a boil, and add the peels.  Simmer for about 45 minutes.  Peels should be tender.




Transfer the cooked peels to a drying rack with wax paper and let dry for about 1 hour.  Roll the slices in sugar and there you have it- Lemon Peel Candy.  Store in an airtight container.


We will be serving some during the Lemon Festival so stop by before its all gone!

Hope to see you this weekend!
Corrie

13th Annual Lemon Festival

We wanted to let you know that we're open special hours for this year's Lemon Festival (April 23 - 25):

Friday - 12 - 8

Saturday - 10 - 8

Sunday - 12 - 4

Come down and have some fun!  There's rides, music and lots of fattening food!  Visit Speckled Hens and look for our Lemon Specials!

Farmer's Market is happening every Thursday evening until December from 5:30pm - 9:00pm.  Speckled Hens is open until 7:30pm.

Chicks' Pick

Each week we will highlight one of our products that we LOVE here at Speckled Hens.  This week,  I chose our Mission Harvest Olive Oil, specifically our Lemon Infused Olive Oil - $13.95, just in time for the Upland Lemon Festival next week.  Mary Lake-Thompson starts with extra virgin olive oil, cold pressed from one of their one hundred-year-old olive trees and then infuses it with lemon.  The olive orchard is located in Northern California which happens to be the perfect climate to grow olives.  Use this olive oil to make a great refreshing salad dressing or I found a great looking recipe on foodnetwork.com, "linguine with shrimp and lemon oil" from Giada.  I can't wait to try it out and let you know what I think.   

Have a great week!
Corrie   

A Good Egg

Since my whole family decided to follow the Zone Diet, we've been going through eggs like crazy.  I've been hard-boiling just about every other day.  I thought I'd pass on what I've learned on how to hard-boil a perfect egg because the only way I knew how to do it was boiling it to death like my mom did...then I found a better way!  

I only put as many eggs in the pan as will fit on the bottom and cover completely with water.  I cover them and bring them to a boil.  As soon as they're boiling, I turn the flame down to simmer, leave the cover on, and set the timer for 15 minutes.  Once the timer goes off, I drain the hot water out, immediately cover with cold tap water and then plunge handfuls of ice into the pan.  The cold water keeps the yolks nice and yellow and the ice causes the egg to shrink away from the shell so they peel easily.  I can't tell you how many years I struggled with peeling eggs.  But the ice works every time!  Of course all of this only works if you remember that you actually PUT a pan of eggs on to boil, unlike me the other day who proceeded to take a shower and forget all about them!  Yep, that's right, eggs exploded, water boiled away, and the kitchen smelled just dandy!

Easter dinner at our house means deviled eggs.  Everyone seems to love my deviled eggs, especially my kids, so I'm passing on the recipe.  It's really nothing stupendous.  All I do is add Miracle Whip, Seasoned Rice Vinegar, Mustard, and Pepper to the egg yolks.  Yep, that's it.  There's something about the Miracle Whip and rice vinegar that just gives them a good tang - better than regular mayonnaise and regular vinegar.  I can't really tell you amounts because I just plop a little of each and keep adding until it's right.  Sometimes I stir in a little bacon, sometimes I don't.  I prefer them sprinkled with a little dill, rather than paprika, but you can do whatever you like.

 Happy Cracking!
~Mary

Easter Fun

  The other day I was talking with a customer about her Easter plans and asked her if she was going to do an egg hunt.  She had said that her youngest grandson was already 10 and that he was probably too old to enjoy it.  I had told her that my family loves the "egg hunt".  We actually look forward to it.  What we do is fill plastic eggs with money.  We fill them with change- some pennies, some quarters and then we have some with $1's, $5's,  and one with $20.  Everyone has fun, adults, teenagers and the kids!   My customer said what a great idea and decided to do it as well.   Actually, she came back during our 40% off Easter Sale and said that she was already for her "egg hunt".  She had bought iTune cards and some Starbucks gift cards and told her grandchildren- be prepared and ready for the hunt because grandma has some surprises for them. 

  I came by Speckled Hens today to say hi to Mary and Laurie and told them about this story.  All the customers in the store chimed in on what they do for their Easter egg hunt as well.  One customer said that they also put money in some eggs and then in some they put truth and dare activities  (like cluck like a chicken, hop like a bunny, who really ripped the kitchen linoleum.)   One customer said that she put lottery tickets in some and that her kids love to scratch them no matter if they win money or not.  Another customer mentioned that you can have a golden egg as the top prize that's the hardest to find.  The finder gets bragging rights until next year. 

Have a Happy Easter! 
Whatever you do, enjoy your family and don't forget to celebrate the true meaning of Easter.

God bless,

Corrie

Easter Savings

Just wanted to let everyone know that our Easter items are 40% off.

  

This includes Mark Roberts Easter Bunny Fairies! 

Featured Favs

This week's Featured Product is our Farmhouse Garden Jam.  Can you say "Yummy"?  This isn't any ordinary jam, it's really more like a  fruit spread.  It's made in open 40 quart pots, slow cooked and hand poured to perfection the old fashioned way by the Mennonites in Northern California.  Each jam has a high fruit concentration with very little added sugar.  Nothing but fruit, sugar, pectin, and lemon juice in each 10 oz. jar.  

We currently have Apricot, Raspberry, and Strawberry-Rhubarb ($10.50 ea.), but once it's gone, it's gone...until next year!
 

What goes better with jam than a fresh baked scone?  Nothing...that's what I say.  I love, love, love scones.  I could eat scones all day.  Did I mention I love scones?  Our Natural Scone Mix just needs butter and water to make 12 delicious triangles of bready-goodness.  And if that's not enough, each package of mix comes wrapped in a darling flour sack kitchen towel ($19.50 ea.).  Pair it with a jar of our jam and you have a great gift and my favorite treat!

If you're gonna eat scones and jam, then you need a steaming cup of tea or coffee.  Don't worry, we've gotcha covered.  Our Breakfast Tea includes 8 tea bags of Organic Assam and Darjeeling tea packaged in a cute little bag ($9.95 ea.).  Not a tea drinker?  Then try our Good Morning Gourmet Coffee; a blend of Ethiopian, Costa Rican and Colombian Supremos, medium-roasted for a rich complex flavor ($10.50 ea.)  It's smooth in the cup with a medium-heavy body.  Just the way I like it...enough flavor so I can add lots of cream!  

...medium-heavy body...sounds like me!...did I mention I love scones?
Happy Wednesday everyone!
~Mary

Monday's with Corrie

Hello Everyone
I'm down here at Speckled Hens and its a beautiful day in downtown Upland.  It's kind of slow due to the pilot they are filming down here for NBC.  They are using some of the store fronts and the street is blocked off.   I think they will be down here today and tomorrow.  Although I don't really recognize any of the actors, it's kind of exciting to see the scenes being filmed and the crew getting everything set up.  One very exciting thing, a crew member came in looking for twinkling lights and asked if we sold any.  We aren't selling any right now but I told him that he might check out CVS.  I was talking to Mary about it and she reminded me about the store lights that we had from our Christmas trees stored in our little storeroom.  She was happy to lend them out and to show the Upland Community Spirit.  You should come down here and check it out (of coarse after you check out the store).

This week I would like to highlight our great assortment of Tea forte.  It's a collection of artfully blended teas, hand-filled silk infusers from the tea gardens of Asia.  Oprah Magazine says "If you are a tea lover, this is as good as it gets!"   Some of the great flavors are Raspberry Nectar, Green Tango, White Ginger Pear and my favorite Black Currant.  They make great gifts or treat yourself (hot or iced).  If you're thinking of stopping by today, remember the street is blocked off but you can park in the back.
See you soon!
~Corrie

God's Provision and Protection

In these times of uncertainty there is one thing we can always depend on and that is our loving Father and His love and mercy.  Even if we find ourselves unemployed or just needing to cut back, lets feel grateful for even the small blessings that we often take for granted, like the hugs and smiles of our children, the birds chirping and new buds growing on our plants, a special friend that is always there, or even a yummy family dinner.

1 Timothy 6:17***Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

**Keep your eyes open for your blessings today**

Your sister in Christ,
~Laurie

Spring Cleaning

The disorganization of my closet has been looming over my head for months now.  Every time I enter it to pick out the day's ensemble, I cringe...and putting away the clean laundry has become a quick-stuff-it-in-and-shut-the-door event.  So I decided if Oprah could do it, so could I, coupled with the fact that the donation people were going to be on my block the next day for pick ups...I had no excuse.

 I have a long skinny walk-in closet.  This is the mess I see when I open the door.  The rest of the closet goes to the left.

My sweater stacks were tumbling off  the shelf, and what you can't see is that behind them is a gaping hole in the drywall where my husband fixed the plumbing in the bathroom on the other side of the wall, but never covered the hole.  So every time I took out a sweater, I had to shake out drywall dust from it!

You can see how narrow my closet is and when I get crazy with the shoes, there's no where to walk.

Step 1:  Take it all out - there really is no other way.  I mounded it on my bed and began to sort thru.  I used the rule of thumb - if I haven't worn it in a year (Oprah says 2 years), then out it goes.  And I made an executive decision that I'm not hanging onto anything hoping I'll someday fit back into it...if I lose enough weight to fit back into it, I deserve something new!

I organized my cubbies by item and stacked by color.  The top cubbie is jeans, the next is camis, the next is tanks, the next is t-shirts and the bottom is sleeveless summer tops.  I organized the hanging stuff by color - all wooden hangers because I think they look nice and they don't leave those crazy shoulder nipples on my tops!

The sweater piles are the best!  I covered the hole with a piece of foamcore board.  Someday my husband may actually cover it the way it should be, but I'm not waiting for him today!  I'm on a roll!  So at least I won't have drywall dust on my stuff anymore!  I sorted my sweaters by color.  I noticed I have a lot of purple & green...good to know the next time I go shopping!

Clean floor!  Jackets and skirts hung by color.  The back corner shelves are things I rarely wear; sweatshirts, old clothes for painting or out of season clothing.  That big white box on the left is my wedding dress...why I keep it, I have no idea.  I have 2 grown boys so no one is gonna ever wear it again.  The little suitcase next to it is my Barbies...never getting rid of those!  No way!  I may have a granddaughter some day, afterall!

The piles of stuff to donate!  Success!

And look what I found on the floor underneath my hanging stuff with shoes piled on it!  The ruby and diamond necklace my husband gave me one Valentine's Day.  I must have dropped it sometime - so who knows what you'll find on YOUR closet floor!

I can't tell you enough how energizing it feels to get that closet organized and how happy it makes me every time I open the door!.  It's like a new beginning...

I think I'll go shopping now!

Here's hoping you have a productive and blessed day!
~Mary

Monday's with Corrie

     Okay so I haven't planted that wheel barrel yet but I'm still planning to.  The weather didn't help last week and it looks like its continuing this week.  If anyone has any ideas of what flowers would work best, please let me know.   I did have a chance to do some crafting this past week. I have been working on some St Patrick's day and Easter magnets using bottle caps, cut up pictures, stickers, beads, sequins and of coarse lots of glitter.  Thank you Mary and Laurie for letting me sell them in your store.  Oh what a deal at only $2 a magnet!  I wish my phone was charged so I could take a picture of them.  I will post one as soon as possible.  Have a great week and don't forget, I will be here for Farmer's Market on Thursday night!  Come on down!!!!
~Corrie

God is Good

As I was driving here today I was praising the Lord, listening to Air1 radio and taking in all the snow covered mountains.  I encountered fog, clouds, clear skies, and the sun peeking through.  My drive is from the desert of Apple Valley to Upland and usually takes from 50 minutes to sometimes over an hour depending on weather conditions and traffic. Today was smooth, and I found myself smiling, and thankful for God's provisions; a husband that works very hard to take care of us, three awesome children, siblings that I love and adore and the ability to work with my best friend.

May you take time today to to notice even the tiniest of blessings and give thanks the Lord.

~Laurie

Monday's with Corrie

Today's a beautiful day in downtown Upland.  The sun is shining and its a great day for a walk.  I'm here covering for the "Chicks".  I am actually Laurie's sister Corrie.  We're trying out being open on Monday's, so if your around, come by. . . PLEASE!
There's a cart of flowers in the front so you can't miss it.  They are there to inspire me to plant this rusted old wheel barrel I have in my front yard.  I would love to have it full of colorful spring flowers but for now I will just enjoy the flowers that we carry that don't require any extra work. 

Enjoy your day!
~Corrie

Emma and her Tea Parties

So today I was visited by a customer who hosts a tea society.  I've never heard of such a thing!  It's a group of women, varying ages, who meet once a month for tea and friendship.  Her ideas were so creative!  They take pleasure in dressing and acting like ladies...imagine that!  She's hosting a Spring Tea in her home in April with an Alice in Wonderland theme;  The Mad Hatter's Tea Party.  She bought some of our French milled mushroom soaps to decorate her bathroom...too cute! (and they're only $1.95 ea.)  She was telling me about past events where they took a train to the Biltmore (dressed the part, of course) and had a contest for who had the most creative train case.  Or another time when they had a Breakfast at Tiffany's cookie party.  Apparently it wasn't about the cookie, but the cookie container!  They dressed in their fancy dresses, gloves and tiara ala Audrey Hepburn...love it!  She was sharing with me he details she puts into her teas.  For one, she got sugar cubes from France with little crowns on them and put them in boxes with little crowns on top of them!...and that was just the sugar cubes!

Have a blessed day and get those creative juices flowing!

Until next time,
~Mary