Our coffee bar…

One day last week, Doug and I drove out in the beautiful Iowa countryside to a furniture store in Boone, Iowa. (Redeker’s) We were searching for a country sideboard to use for a coffee bar in our large country kitchen. We didn’t find a sideboard there BUT we found some beautiful dining room tables and chairs that were Amish made. We’re definitely keeping those in mind for the future. We did purchase an Amish made tray there. Painted white but the tag says the wood is maple.

Next, we stopped at the American Country Home Store in Ames, Iowa. I was thrilled to see that they are a representative for Yield House! Remember them? Unfortunately, Yield House no longer has a catalog but I believe you can order online through the American Country Home Store. I came home with a sample of one of the Yield House rugs. I love it!

Next stop was The Attic in Ankeny, Iowa. They are a consignment store for nice furniture and accessories. We have purchased several things there. We were so happy to find a solid oak sideboard that we will use for a coffee and tea bar in our kitchen. The drawers hold boxes of assorted teas. The side cabinet on the right holds more mugs and the one on the left holds boxes of assorted Keurig coffee flavors.

Our cabinets are a golden oak (like a jar of honey as Erin Napier says) and the sideboard fits nicely in here. We placed the Pottery Barn cup cabinet above the sidebar with our collection of Dunoon stoneware and fine bone china from England and Scotland. There is also a USA based Dunoon company. To the left of the cup cabinet are the two P. Buckley Moss original pencil sketches that I love. I remember visiting her art gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia, years ago.

We purchased a few accessories for our coffee bar. The metal and wood round tray came from the Hearth & Hand Magnolia collection at Target as did the two metal baskets that hold coffee pods and tea bags. We are very happy with the finished product. It’s so easy now to make a quick cup of afternoon coffee or tea. (Our twelve-cup coffee maker is on the countertop beside the cooktop.) We also ordered a few of the Torani flavorings. Now, we just need some friends and family to come enjoy it with us!

If you’ve been following my blog since the early days of My Southern Heart, then you know it is my dream to visit the British Isles…especially Scotland and Ireland. My original ancestor, Rev. William McGregor, was a Baptist preacher in Scotland – rare in those days! I enjoy pursuing the answers to the mysteries about our Scottish ancestors. Mama’s ancestors were Irish and I’m also on the trail of those early immigrants! (Most of them were here before the American Revolution which makes finding them in Scotland and Ireland especially difficult.)

Since it doesn’t appear that I will be setting foot in Scotland any time soon, I have started a small collection of Scottish mugs. It started with one mug, of course, as most collections do. They are made by Dunoon Mugs in Scotland. (The only mug made by Dunoon Mugs in England is the one with the cat.) The mugs I’ve collected so far are either fine bone china or stoneware and have very comfortable handles. Suprisingly, beverages stay hot in them rather a long time.

I especially like the mugs depicting pastoral scenes in Scotland as this mug does.

Of course, no afternoon cup of tea in Scotland – or Ireland for that matter – would be complete without a delicious scone to accompany it! Like the one below that I wrote about here with recipe.

I do have a confession though.

The mugs may have come from Scotland, but the tea came straight from IRELAND!

Check out the brief slideshow below to see all seven of the mugs I’ve collected so far.

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