From The Archives: Blessing The Weekend

This is an oldie but a goodie and a practice I want to become more intentional in keeping! Unfortunately that won't be today, in fact nothing about this week has gone according to plan, but that's ok, kind of :). At any rate, I wanted to share this with you again because when I am intentional  about keeping this small practice, it makes our weekend so much more relaxed!  And yes, this is achievable even as a mom with small children, that is actually the time period that I was the most diligent about observing it. The best part is, if you're children are old enough, you can enlist their help and get everyone excited about making a way to spend quality time together! I hope you'll enjoy!

Some years ago I took a course, Hibernate, with the lovely Heather Bruggeman of North Ridge Farm. If you're not familiar with Heather's blog then I invite you to skip this post for now, pour yourself a cup of something warm and settle in for awhile and peruse her offerings. I've learned so much from Heather over the years, and I hope to be just like her when I grow up!  Over the course of several years I took a number of Heather's classes, and I am now of a member of her online community Hearth and Home! I always learn so much in the time spent gleaning from her wisdom and expertise. I can't praise her classes enough! They are all just so good and I highly recommend joining this lovely community as membership is currently open!

In the last session of Hibernate, Heather spoke about Blessing The Weekend, a ritual that came about during the years when she was homeschooling her daughter.. Like many homeschooling families, Friday's were a half day, and once they finished with their lessons, they would spend a few hours tidying the home, maybe making up a quick pan of brownies, or a pot of soup and a few other quick, easy meals. The objective here being to cut down on time spent in the kitchen. She emphasized that she likes to cook, but she also like not having too, as well, and that by  the taking the time to do a little prepping on Friday afternoons, you can easily have one or two meals and snacks ready to carry you through until Monday. Fast food, but at significantly less cost and better for you!

Another thing she did are what I like to refer to as "cozy chores". Changing the sheets on the bed, dusting off furniture, making up a lovely bouquet of flowers for the table. Anything that freshens the space and make things warm and inviting, "cozying up", as I like to say. None of this takes very long at all, especially if you enlist help. But even it its just you, typically within an hour or two you've set the stage o spend intentional time with your family and just be together.

Reading Heather's words reminded me of the Jewish practice of Shabbat, or what I refer to as sabbath. In Jewish homes Shabbat (pronounced SHAH-BAHT or some communities, SHAH-BIS, is a weekly twenty five hour observance that begins just before sundown each Friday and through the completion of nightfall on Saturday. It is a day of physical and spiritual delights highlighting key concept of the Jewish faith. Preparations begin as early as mid-week. As no work is to be done during this time, meals must be prepared ahead of time (similar to what Heather shared), and the observance begins with the a candle lighting ceremony which I think is just lovely and have long intended to incorporate into my own sabbath observance. Jewish tradition mandates three specific shabbat meals, and in addition to special foods, the family spends time singing, studying and celebrating together.

Now I know at this point some of you may be thinking, "Well, this all sounds lovely, but our kids are involved in soccer on the weekend, there's yard work to do, and preparations to be made for church on Sunday.", and let me assure you, I hear you loud and clear! In her book Rhythms of Rest, Shelly Miller shared this thought; "The sabbath isn't about resting perfectly, it's about resting in the one who is perfect." The important thing is not how much time you are able to devote to rest and being together, but that you are intentional about setting aside some time every weekend, to make space to be together. If you still don't see how that might be possible, let me offer a few suggestions.

❊ Begin planning  mid-week for the upcoming weekend. Think through what activities you already have scheduled and then determine how much time you have to devote to rest and relaxation. Mark that time slot off in your calendar so that as you receive invitations you'll already have it reserved. And don't be discouraged if at first you find you can only squeeze in a couple of hours. It also might even take a little encouragement to get other members of the family on board with the idea, but once you begin my guess is you'll enjoy it so much, everyone will want more and before you know you'll be willing to sacrifice more to have this time together.

❊ When doing your weekly meal planning, take this time into consideration. If you don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, then take a cue from Heather an make up a bit pot of soup or stew that can be enjoyed all weekend. If your budget affords, plan a special meal out, or if the weather is nice, go on a picnic. Maybe you want to bake something together, so take time to do a quick inventory and make sure you have all of the ingredients. Nothing spoils time together like someone having to rush off to the store for eggs or sugar.

❊ Think of other things that will encourage spending time together. Go through the board games in your closet and set out a few favorites. Maybe a deck of cards? Plan a trip to the library together to pick up a few books or maybe a dvd the whole family can watch. But aside from television and maybe a movie, I would recommend you try to limit screen time.This is a time for intentionally being together. You could go on a hike, visit a museum, work on a puzzle. The possibilities are endless, so be creative.

❊ And finally, set the stage. It's hard to be together and not be distracted if the family room is overrun with toys, there's a stack of dirty dishes in the kitchen, the floors need sweeping, you get the picture. It doesn't have to be perfect, but if you take the time to tidy things up it makes for a much more inviting and relaxing atmosphere. I like to change the sheets on our bed on Fridays so that after a day of fun everyone has a clean, comfy bed to crawl in to. Another element that is a must in our home is candlelight. And though I don't follow the the ceremony associated with Shabbat.(though I'd like to), it's such an important piece that it's really become the cue. Any time my family comes in to finds candles lit, twinkle lights glowing, and soft music playing (usually some light jazz), I can almost watch the stress from the day wash from their faces, and they are instantly engaged and ready. Setting aside time for rest and for intentionally being together is just the anecdote you and your family need for recovering from the madness and business of the world.

To help you brainstorm through your own sabbath weekend, or weekend hours, with your family, I've created a little printable, of course, **wink**. And again, don't be discouraged if at first you can't find much time to carve out, or if it takes you a few tries before you find your rhythm and figure to what works best. I've allowed space for you to muddle through those thoughts until it becomes a natural and regular part of your routine.  Just click on the link below to download your free copy!

BLESSING THE WEEKEND

A Family Sabbath Worksheet

In closing I want to leave you with this lovely passage from one of my favorite children's books, All of a Kind Family.

"At home, the kitchen was warm with the smell of fresh baked white bread. The room sparkled with cleanliness. The table, which wore only an oilcloth covering all through the week, now had a snowy white tablecloth. On it stood the brass candlesticks, gleaming brightly from the polishing that Ella and Sarah had given them the ay before. They were just in time to see Mama saying the prayer over the candles.

The children stood around the table watching her. A lovely feeling of peace and contentment seemed to flow out from Mama to them. First she put a napkin on her head, then placing four white candles in the brass candlesticks, she lit them. She extended her arms to form a circle. One the lighted candles the encircling gesture was repeated. After that Mama covered her eyes with her hands softly murmuring a prayer in Hebrew.

This was Sabbath ushered in."

- Sydney Taylor

To learn more about Shabbat prayers, visit this page.

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Homemaking Monday - A Familiar Favorite: Home Sweet Home

Today we'll pause to reflect on a familiar favorite, perhaps you know it, or at least the opening line?  But in case you've never read the complete work, I though it might be fun to share it with you today.

John Howard Payne wrote the lyrics to "Home, Sweet Home!" in 1822 while living in London. It was first published and publicly debuted as a song in May 1823 as part of the operetta Clari, or the Maid of Milan at the Covent Garden Theatre.  You can listen to a performance of it, here.

The song's American premiere took place at the Winter Tivoli Theatre in Philadelphia on October 29, 1823, and was sung by "Mrs. Williams." In 1852, Henry Bishop "relaunched" the song as a parlour ballad, and it became very popular in the United States throughout the American Civil War and after. The song was reputedly banned from being played in Union Army camps during the American Civil War for being too redolent of hearth and home and so likely to incite desertion.

Here is the poem, I hope you'll enjoy it!

❊ HOME SWEET HOME

’Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home;

A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there

Which, seek through the world, is ne’er met with elsewhere.

Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home!

There’s no place like Home! there’s no place like Home!

An exile from home, splendour dazzles in vain;

O, give me my lowly thatched cottage again!

The birds singing gayly that came at my call—

Give me them, and the peace of mind dearer than all!

Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home!

There’s no place like Home! there’s no place like Home!

How sweet ’tis to sit ’neath a fond father’s smile,

And the cares of a mother to soothe and beguile!

Let others delight ’mid new pleasures to roam,

But give me, oh, give me the pleasures of Home!

Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home!

There’s no place like Home! there’s no place like Home!

To thee I’ll return, overburdened with care;

The heart’s dearest solace will smile on me there;

No more from that cottage again will I roam;

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like Home.

Home! Home! sweet, sweet Home!

There’s no place like Home! there’s no place like Home!

Even the humblest home carries God’s presence. Your daily tasks—sweeping, cooking, arranging flowers—are small acts of worship. The love you pour into your home sanctifies it.

"By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches." 

– PROVERBS 24:3–4


Lord, help me to see my home as a place of sacred rest, where Your love dwells in every corner and every act of care I give.

❊

The World We Make

Good Monday morning, my dear friends! I had not anticipated that two weeks ago when I posted to wish you a Happy Easter  that I would be away as long as I have, but to be honest, I desperately needed it!  I won't go into a lot of detail, only to say that shortly before Easter I received some difficult news and it's taken me a bit to process my emotions surrounding it. That, and I also ended up making an unplanned trip to spend a few days with my daughter and her husband that turned into a 10 day trip, and well, there you have it!  All that to say, I feel the fog is finally beginning to lift and I'm ready to rejoin you in this space!

One thing I did want to say is that I think I have finally come to the place where I am able to admit that setting up any sort of reading challenge or reading schedule here at my blog NEVER works out! There, I've said it! It always sounds so good on paper, but then . . . . life, and before I realize it I've fallen behind and I find myself struggling to keep up with the weekly posts and recaps, so unless I can ever truly get my act together, you'll never see me hosting another read-along in this space again, at least not one with any regularity!  That's not to say I won't be reading or sharing about what I read with you here, but inviting you to join me and thinking for a moment that I can actually keep some sort of schedule, it just never works!  I also did not sense much enthusiasm for my suggested summer read along of the Beatrix Potter Mystery series, Cottage Tales and watching Marple, so I've decided against it.  If you were one of the two enthusiastic souls that were looking forward to, I encourage you to spend your summer thus engaged, and perhaps, so will I, I may even write about it here and there, just don't hold me to it! :) However, I do plan to continue with my weekly series Homemaking Mondays, which will begin on Monday, May 4! 

Which brings us to today, and today I thought I would leave you with this lovely poem I recently came across.  I hope you will enjoy it! :)

❊ The World We Make

We make the world in which we live

By what we gather and what we give,

By our daily deeds and the things we say,

By what we keep or we cast away.

We make our world by the beauty we see

In a skylark’s song or a lilac tree,

In a butterfly’s wing, in the pale moon’s rise,

And the wonder that lingers in midnight skies.

We make our world by the life we lead,

By the friends we have, by the books we read,

By the pity we show in the hour of care,

By the loads we lift and the love we share.

We make our world by the goals we pursue,

By the heights we seek and the higher view,

By hopes and dreams that reach the sun

And a will to fight till the heights are won.

What is the place in which we dwell,

A hut or a palace, a heaven or hell

We gather and scatter, we take and we give,

We make our world — and there we live.

- ALFRED GRANT WALTON

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Homemaking Monday - Beginning March 2!

I want to begin by saying that this post may feel a little different from my usual tone. It may even come across as more direct than the encouraging, uplifting atmosphere I strive to cultivate here. But what I am about to share feels important, and it needs to be said.

For years, I have struggled to post consistently in this space. Recently, I realized that struggle was rooted in fear. That ends today.

Being a homemaker and making a home has been the most fulfilling role of my lifetime. It is all I ever aspired to be as a young girl. I have been blessed to serve as a stay-at-home wife, mother, and homemaker for most of my adult life, and so it is only natural that this will remain the primary focus of what I share here.

Before I begin creating again with consistency, I want to make something very clear.

This space has never been—and will never be—a place that shames or judges women who, by choice or circumstance, are not full-time homemakers. My hope is that the ideas and resources shared here will encourage women in every season: stay-at-home mothers, work-at-home mothers, women employed outside the home, young single women dreaming of one day keeping a home of their own. This space is for you.

That said, I do hold personal convictions regarding the importance of mothers in the home. Those convictions will naturally shape my content, the books I read, and the resources I share. I believe God has entrusted me with both a gift and a message, and I will no longer allow fear to silence that calling.

Some may consider my beliefs old-fashioned. I am at peace with that. While I do not embrace the rigid patriarchal models that were popular in some evangelical circles in the early 2000s, I do believe our culture is experiencing the long-term effects of generations of mothers leaving the home for the workforce.

I also recognize that today’s economic realities often leave women feeling they have little choice. There have been seasons in my own life when I worked outside the home. Most of the women in my family do. I understand this personally.

I wholeheartedly support women finding creative ways to contribute financially to their households. I do the same. Many young women today are beautifully balancing marriage and motherhood while earning income from home—through baking, small businesses, social media, writing, or other creative avenues. The possibilities truly are vast.

And yet, deep in my heart, I remain convinced that the consistent presence of a mother in the home shapes families in ways that no full-time position outside the home can replicate. I believe it is worth considering whether that life might be desirable—or possible—for more women than our culture suggests.

More than anything, I want to help remove the stigma surrounding homemaking. I want to encourage women—especially young women who may feel they have chosen an unpopular path—to take pride in their role as daughters, wives, mothers, and grandmothers who build homes with intention.

The choice to remain at home, work from home, or work outside the home is deeply personal. Each woman must walk her own path with wisdom and grace. I ask only that we extend that same grace to one another.

If you find yourself here and occasionally disagree with something I share, I encourage you to extend generosity of spirit. Perhaps another post will resonate more deeply. However, if over time you discover that the heart of this space is not aligned with your own, then it may simply not be the right place for you.

I will not dilute my convictions to make this space more broadly palatable. I have done that before, and it cost me both joy and clarity. This is my space. Staying home was—and remains—my choice. If yours is different, I respect that fully. In return, I ask for the same respect.

In the past, I allowed bullying and shaming to reshape my voice and diminish my desire to share. That will not happen again. While respectful discussion is welcome, hostility and shaming will not be permitted here.

And now, on a much lighter note—

Beginning Monday, March 2, and every Monday thereafter, I will be launching a weekly series called HOMEMAKING MONDAY: A weekly space devoted to strengthening the heart, faith, and calling of the homemaker.

While many of my posts already center on home life, Homemaking Monday will be a dedicated space for encouragement in your calling. I plan to share poems and reflections on home, curated articles and resources, and one homemaking-related book each month.

I am not quite ready to call it a book club—but if you would like to read along, I will be posting the schedule for the remainder of the year later this week so you have plenty of time to gather the books. If there is enough interest, perhaps we will make it official.

I am genuinely excited about this new rhythm and look forward to sharing from my decades of experience as a wife, mother, and homemaker.

For today, I will leave you with one of my favorite poems about home.

❊ HOME INDEED

Draw up a chair and light a light
And find a book to read.
The heavens are dark and wild the night
And home is home indeed.

The louder seems the winter's ire
Tonight, the brighter seems the fire,
For when the wintry storms begin
The more the comfort here within.

The wind is at the windowpane,

The wind is at the door.

It shakes the house and shakes in vain,

For loud the chimney's roar.

And higher leaps the crimson blaze

In winter than in summer days.

The more the weather is unkind,

A greater joy within we find.

The fields in springtime call us forth,

Their rosy paths to roam,

But when the wind is in the north,

We pluck the rose at home.

Perhaps God sends the wintry hours

To show that there are other flowers,

For when a roof and fire you need,

Ah, then a home is home indeed.

- DOUGLAS MALLOCH

❊

On Earth As It In Heaven- Making Our Homes A Haven

Good Monday morning, my friends! How are you? Did you survive the time change and losing that extra hour of sleep yesterday? To be honest it's the change in autumn that typically messes with my rhythm more than the spring, which you might think would be just the opposite. But for whatever reason, it's gaining an hour that takes me a couple of weeks to recover from. In some ways I wish they would just do away with this nonsense altogether and leave time be, but, I must admit, I didn't mind that extra hour of sunshine last night one little bit. Still, left to its Creator, this would all happen naturally anyway, so why not let it? But now I'm getting sidetracked so let's move on.

I'm currently participating in a lovely Lenten reading of This Beautiful Truth by Sarah Clarkson (you can learn more about that here) and I wanted to share a short passage from my reading with you this morning.

"Where my parent's dwelt, home was rich and heaven was close. Even as a child disturbed by change, my childhood was largely secure. For the moving van would barely have lumbered away when my mom would locate the kettle and unwrap the cups for tea. In every home we lived in there was art on the walls and music in the air. There were family dinners eaten by candlelight, stacks of books in baskets, our bedrooms made colorful, our beds soft. My mother set to the work of beauty. Where she lived, the rooms were lovely, the meals delicious and the space claimed for love. 

But the older I've gotten, the more I realize that she did not act alone. My mother was dependent upon God's life creating within her the vision she could not sustain alone. The Spirit who brooded over the vast and formless void at the dawn of time is the same one who broods within our hearts, and the words he speaks within us are the ones by which we act with and in him, calling light out of darkness and form out of the shaplessness of our fallen lives. 

All that's required of us is a willingness to come home. To be made welcome by God and to let our belonging transform not only the inward rooms of our hearts but the outward rooms of our lives, so that where we are we dwell in heaven, though we yet live in the broken earth."

- SARAH CLARKSON

This Beautiful Truth

The reason I wanted to share this passage is because if there's one thing I've come to realize more and more as the years pass, it is that I can do relatively little about the changes that are happening in the world outside my door. But, there is one domain, one atmosphere, that with the Lord's help I can influence and that is in my home. This is where, in partnership with the Spirit, I can strive for just a bit of "On earth as it is in heaven." I just found this so inspirational and uplifting, and couldn't we all do with a bit of that in today's restless world?

10 Ideas For Making Your Home A Haven

And while we're on the subject of ushering a little heaven into our homes, here's an article that speaks a bit to that. What other ideas do you have, or things that you do that make your home a haven?

And now I'm off my friends, to tend to my own home! The temperatures are warming up nicely this week and that's re-energizing me, which is a good thing because spring cleaning is on the horizon!

Until then. . . .

❊ 

As For Me And My House

We will. . .

Serve the Lord with gladness. - Psalm 100:2

Love the Lord with all our hearts, souls and minds. - Matthew 22:37

Trust in the Lord with all our hears. - Proverbs 3:5

Love our neighbors as ourselves. - Matthew 22:39

Forgive as the Lord has forgiven us. - Colossians 3:13

Seek peace and pursue it. - Psalm 34:14

Think on things that are good true, honorable, just and lovely. - Phillipians 4:8

Outdo one another in showing honor. - Romans 12:10

this post was inspired by a lovely graphic I came across on Instagram from @Devoted Motherhood. You can find the post, here.

A Longing For The Comforts Of Home

"One of the most fundamental of human longings is the longing for home. We long for a place that feels like the right place, where we belong,  where we ourselves are longed for and welcomed.  And for all its spiritual and psychological dimensions, this longing is physical and material as well.  We want there to be a place where waiting for us is a room, a bed, a chair, a meal - the things that meet the basic needs of embodied things like ourselves.  We want “the comforts of home”, not just somewhere away from home - a fancy hotel, say - but at home, where, we sense, they are supposed to be.” 

- MARGARET KIM PETERSON

Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life

Now that the holidays are over, I am slowly immersing myself in all things homekeeping, especially vintage housekeeping, which still resonates so deeply with me. I can't get enough of images like these, the sweet scenes of home and a wife and mother tending to the needs of her family. 

Growing up, I was blessed to have a mother in the home. My mother didn't go to work until I was in high school  and it was a great comfort to me. Regardless of what may have been happening in my life, knowing my mother was home and available to me at any moment grounded me, I suppose you could say. I liked knowing she was there and would be there to greet me any time I returned. Though our relationship wasn't perfect, her choice to be a stay-at-home mom is a gift I will always treasure, and it greatly influenced my life as a young girl.

Something I enjoy is perusing the plethora of vintage housekeeping books that are available on the Internet Archives. While nothing replaces holding a book in your hand, since there is no way I could or should own every book that catches my eye, the archives serves as a useful tool.

A few favorites I've come across are the Mrs. Beeton's Books. Her first book, Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, published in 1836, was an instant success. There are actually what look to be a number of updated and revised versions at the archives, including;

- The Best of Mrs. Beeton's Household Tips

- The Best of Mrs. Beeton's Easy Everyday Cooking

- The Best of Mrs. Beeton's Cakes and Baking

- The Best of Mrs. Beeton's - Easy Entertaining

- Breakfast With Mrs. Beeton

- A Picnic With Mrs. Beeton

and this one looks interesting,

- The Best of Mrs. Beeton's Christmas

I just love perusing these old texts, which are often filled with practical, as well as a lot of out-dated but still fun ideas. If you enjoy vintage housekeeping, too, I encourage you to spend some time searching them out on the archives.  I often do an initial search on Pinterest, which usually provides me with a number of images of covers and titles and then seek them out on the archives. I find them quite fun, like stepping back to a time when life seemed simpler.

❈

Planning Ideas and Resources For The New Year

Around here we're not big on resolutions, but now that the holidays are coming to a close and life is settling into a regular pace, we took a few hours yesterday to look over our l-o-n-g ongoing project list and began making a plan to start chipping away at it.  Rather than thinking big picture and planning out the whole year, we just focused on what seemed do-able for January, then towards the end of the month we'll revisit and see what we were able to accomplish.

Along with that, I  have my own list of ideas and projects that I'm mulling over, books I'd like to read, ideas for posts I want to share here with you, as well as making an earnest effort to get back to writing my book, which is something I barely touched this year. There are also a number of crafting projects I'd like to try my hand at. . . . if I'm honest, there are so-many-things that pique my interest, I have a hard time narrowing it all down. That's why I like to keep lists and plan things out, and while I do utilize my phone, at heart, I still prefer an old fashioned paper planner.

I've been putting together my own planner for awhile now, and it's something I look forward to about this time every year. That along my with my portable office cart is how I keep things organized and running smoothly. My planner has varied over the years, but at this point I've finally settled upon a system that is working well. I'll be sharing more about that in the coming days, but for today I thought I'd direct you to some of the free resources that I've used in the past, and some that I still do. Perhaps if you've shifted to your sights toward the new year and have your own list of to-do's, you might find some of these helpful.

2025 Yearly Calendar

This website offers a number of options for a one year page at a glance calendar. I keep one of these at the front of my planner as well as another on clipped to the front of my weekly files.

2025 Monthly Calendars

And at the same website, you'll find monthly calendars that you can print, as well. 

Weekly Calendars

This website offers a number of styles for weekly, day-to-day planners, and here is another one that looks nice. 

To-Do List

I've found a to-do list to be one of the best tools to help me keep things moving and achieving my goals. Something about writing it down and getting it out of my head and on to the paper. I'm much more likely to get it done if it's somewhere I can see it every day.

Suggested Home File Categories For Organizing Your Filing System

One of the things on my to-do list is go through and clean out and organize my files. These category suggestions might prove helpful.

From here you'll find a number of other ideas you could include to help you break down tasks and stay organized. 

- 12 Lists To Help You Organize Your Life

- Home Project Notebook - I really like some of the ideas I found here!

- Make A Yearly Meal Plan - I don't know about planning meals for an entire year, but she has some good ideas! My friend, Heather, breaks her meal plans down by season and that's something I plan to try to implement this year.

- Password Log in today's age, keeping up with ALL the passwords can be challenging. Having them logged in one place can be a huge timesaver.

- Subscription / Membership Tracker - this is something I'm going to be adding to my planner soon. It's just too easy to lose track of things you're paying for but never use!

- Monthly Re-set - 10 things to do at the beginning of each month. I LOVE this idea!

This should give you plenty of ideas and resources work with, and if you don't find what you need, just Google "Free Planning and Organization Forms" or visit Pinterest and you'll find more resources than you'll ever need. As for me, I like to take an idea and then create my own forms using fonts and colors that I like, so that's what I'll be doing with a few of the resources I linked above.  I also have other forms I've made, and I'll be sharing those here in the days and weeks to come. I'm going to begin the year with a series of posts about my homemaking routines, so if you like that sort of thing, be sure to come back and visit. I'll be sprinkling posts on other topics as well to keep things interesting and I hope you'll join me!

❊

Welcome To My Home!- The Family Room & Dining Area

Good afternoon, my friends!  As promised, and now that I am **just** about done with my deep autumn cleaning, today I thought I would take you on a little tour of our family room and dining area, and we will begin with the first thing you see when you walk inside the door.  Since our house is relatively small, I have done my best to make this small space welcoming. This wall is the dividing wall between the kitchen/dining area  and the family room. The first thing you may notice is the small bookcase which holds a few antique books (I am always on the look for old books with red and green covers), and the bottom shelf holds part of my collection of Gooseberry Patch cookbooks. The chalk board is a treasure I picked up last year at a yard sale.  I typically write something seasonal on it, but that is one thing I haven't got around to yet.  And then the black divider is a piece we found at the dump.  It was a very ugly brown, but I knew the minute I saw it exactly what I would do with it!  There are few things a little black paint and some distressing can't fix for me.  The little pine tree and white pumpkin are sitting on a small black stool which I had to cut out to size my images right. And speaking of the pine tree, something you should know it that our decorating theme is mostly salt box houses and pine trees, kind of a cabiny feel, and so we keep a number of lit trees up year round, and when Christmas rolls around we decorate them, so yes, I suppose we are "those people" who keep their tree up year round, but they are really only Christmas trees once a year, at least, that's the way we see it.

And now if you will turn to the right you will in fact, see the first of those trees I mentioned.  The door you see is technically the front door, but we don't use it as we prefer the side door off of the covered porch, so this door stays locked year round. It made for the perfect spot to put our Christmas tree the first year we were here and, well, then we just never took it down. The old ladder is one we picked up at a yard sale. I have fun decorating it with seasonal decorations, and then to the right of that you can just see the entertainment center and bookshelves. My husband built these pieces for me several years ago and I still love them! The white rug you see is something I am hoping to replace. There was a propane stove on the wall where the entertainment center is now and we didn't care for it so we took it out. It sat on a tile foundation, and when we took the stove out, the tile came with it. We did have some matching carpet remnants, so we put that down first, but it sinks in just a little in that area, so I ended up covering it up with this rug.  I don't mind needing a rug, I would just prefer something that isn't quite as contrasting, but for now, it works.

This is the view of the family room as you come into the house, looking down the hall where the bathroom and two bedrooms are. We got this furniture set at ReStore, which benefits Habitat for Humanity. The cushions were blue and burgundy, kind of a southwestern pattern, but we had them professionally recovered in buffalo check. They have held up so well over the years and I still love them! The recliner is new to us, we picked it up from Facebook Marketplace. The book shelf by the recliner houses all my devotional and daily reading books, found at a yard sale a few years ago for $3.

To the right of the recliner is one of the few walls in our home that didn't get painted. We left the hallway cream to keep it from being too dark, but this wall is technically part of the family room. The shelves you see were there when we bought the house and match perfectly with our furniture. Most of the items on these shelves stay the same year round and I just add seasonal touches.  The antique sewing machine belonged to my husband's mother and is a treasured piece. My husband's father worked for Singer for many years, so it's a little nod to our family history. And then, as you can see, we have two small trees in this corner, as well.

This is the view of the entertainment center and bookshelves from the other end of the room. You can just see a little bit of my pot bellied stove, which belonged to my mother. It's probably my favorite piece. I like to keep a candle lit inside of it, especially in autumn and winter to give the appearance of a glowing warm fire.

And then, if you turn to the right we will move into the dining area. This is a better view of the dividing wall which I extended a little with the black room divider. Also just on the other side of the chair you can see our antique radio. We love adding unique piece to our decor, and this was our anniversary present to each other last year. We keep a blue tooth speaker on top and often listen to oldies from the 40's, 50's and 60's.

On the left side of the dining room we have this hutch.  My husband built this piece, as well which we originally used as a pantry in a house where we had very little cabinet space.  Now it holds all of my dishes, everyday and seasonal.  The red dishes you see on the table are ones I use in September each year. I still have some seasonal touches to add to this tablescape. The fan is sitting on top of a little heater. I got it at a yard sale last year and painted it, and then to the right of that is a little chest I also got at a yard sale for all of $20.00. It holds my table linens and a some seasonal decorations. My original plan was to strip it and paint it black, and I may still do that, but in some of the places where it is scratched you can see that the original wood color looks like it might be pretty, so I may just leave it natural. That is a project I hope to have completed by the end of the year. Also, you can just see to the left of the black cabinet the antique telephone. This was our anniversary present to each other this year, albeit a bit early, but we couldn't let this one pass us up. We just hung it earlier this week and I just love it!

Here is a better view of the white hutch and the little heater. The other side of the dining room opens up into the kitchen, which I posted about here, if you missed it. 

At the far end of the dining room there is a door that leads out to the back yard and a window. I just finished the second panel of these curtains and got them hung this week. They are double sided, a pretty rusty red pattern on one side and black and tan check on the other (see below), but when the sun shines through they look rust.  The old churn was a gift from a very dear friend of mine, and another piece I treasure, and once again, another tree! I warned you we had several! The little black bin holds potatoes on top, onions in the middle, and part of our vast array of coffee cups in the bottom. We have a problem when it comes to coffee cups, I've added two more in the past two weeks!

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of our family room and dining area.  I completed all the deep cleaning I wanted to do in the house this past week, but I still have my office/craft room and the cellar to do.  They are both rooms that are not accessible from the main part of the house, and my office/craft room is not air conditioned, so it will be a project for a cooler day!  The only room I haven't shown is the bathroom, so I'll try to get that posted next week. I won't be posting the bedrooms as ours is still a work in progress, and I won't post my daughter's bedroom to respect her privacy.

Until then . . .

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Welcome To Our Home - The Kitchen

If you recall in my post earlier this week I menitioned that I was beginning my Autumn / Winter Deep Clean this week, and true to my word, I began today. You may also recall that my original plan was to tackle the kitchen and dining area first, but I felt that since the kitchen is often the room that requires the most work, that I might be being optimistic.

I was correct. :)

Not only did I not get to the dining room, but I didn't even finish  the kitchen. I did get a lot done, however, so I thought I would share what I accomplshed and what still needs to be completed. 

The first thing that I did was to clean out the refrigerator.  This is actually a task that I complete every week, as the kitchen is the room that I focus on Monday's. There tends to always be a lot of food and leftoevers that accumulate from the week before and in particular over the weekend, so on Monday's I like to clean it our and start fresh.. But today I did a little more thourough cleaning. I went through all the bottles of condiments and other things and threw out anything that was expired, and gave the inside a good cleaning. I also had it on my list to clean the freezer, but I didn't get to that, so I'm bumping that to another day.  I also cleaned the top and the outside of the refrigerator.

Next I took everything out of the cabinet you see above and to the left of the refrigerator, wiped it out and organized and replaced everthing. I took the items off the top of the small counter you see to the left, gave it a good scrubbing, dusted all the items and replaced them. Still on my list is to take everything out of the drawers,wipe them out and then organize and straighten the contents. 

Next up is the stove top/oven and microwave. I lifted the top of the stove up and scrubbed the inside around the burners, took the drip pans off and cleaned them, cleaned the top of the stove and then replaced everything.  I had planned to clean the inside of the oven. I did not that too long ago, but to make it easier to keep it clean I was going to do it again, but I ran out of time. Then tonight I was making a batch of chocolate chip cookies and when I reached for the pan I burned my finger and dropped it inside the oven. The broken cookies fell all over the heating element in the bottom and caught on fire. It ended up making a HUGE mess! Needless to say, I'm actually thankful now that I didn't get around to cleaning it. It will be a much bigger job now, but at least I don't have to do it twice! I also cleaned the inside and outside of the microwave, and took out the glass tray and washed it.  

As with the other cabinets, I took everything out of all the upper cabinets around the stove, wiped them out and organized and replaced the contents. I also removed all the items from the countertops, scrubbed them down, dusted things off and replaced it. Tomorrow I'll be tackling the lower cabinets. 

I gave the sink a good cleaning, and then swept and mopped the floor and called it a day.  Along with the other things I mentioned, I still need to clean the toaster oven which you can just see to the left of the sink, all the lower cabinets and drawers still need to be wiped out and straightened, and the pantry (the white doors to the right of the refrigerator in the first small picture above) needs to be organized, so there is still a lot to do. I got started a little later than I had planned today, as well. My husband and I got into an interesting conversation over breakfast and lingered a little longer than usual, which I don't regret at all.  

In case you're wondering about the Christmas Tree Farm sign hanging above the sink, we keep that up all year round. It's not so much a Christmas decoration, and more because we like a wintry/cabin feel in our home, and decorate with a lot pine trees, saltbox houses and stars, which may sound like an odd combination, but we like it. Our color scheme throughout the house is deep green, rusty red and black. I made the valance above the kitchen window and I'm currently working on curtains for the dining room window. 

So anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of my kitchen. I've been meaning to share pictures of our home for some time now, and I figured since I'm deep cleaning now would be a good time, since it's looking its best!

We are bracing for Tropical Storm Debby which is scheduled to hit our area some time tomorrow. They are calling for 4-6 inches of rain and high winds (30-40 mph) between now and late Friday, early Saturday, and some areas could see as high as 8" inches.  Thankfully we are situated at a higher elevation, so flooding shouldn't be much of a problem for us here at home, but it could present some problems with traveling. All  the rain combined with high winds will  likely mean downed trees in the area and power outages. We're prepared in the event it happens, but if you don't hear from me for a few days, that is likely the reason!

Until then!

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My Portable Office:What's In My Cart And How I Use It

If you happen to be a person who enjoys posts about planning and organization and learning about systems that other people use, then this post if for you! And if not, feel free to pass this one by and hopefully in the coming days I'll post something that will interest you. This post will be image heavy and perhaps over-explained, but since I am a person who enjoys these types of posts when I come across them, I thought today I would share!  The picture above is my rolling cart. I bought it a few years ago from Amazon, though it doesn't appear that this particular model is available anymore, which is frustrating because I was considering purchasing a second one for all of my Bible study supplies, so I guess for now, I'll stick with my current system (I'll discuss that in an upcoming post!).

I think the best way to explain what is on this cart and how I use it would be to simply start at the beginning with the top shelf and then work my way through until we reach the bottom, and so with that, let's begin.

SHELF #1 - TOP SHELF

This is a picture looking straight on at the contents on the top shelf.  

In the very front is where I keep my Ipad.

Behind that I have a small hanging file folder basket where I keep my seasonal, monthly and weekly files, although I just realized my Autumn file, (I've already switched from summer), which would normally be in the very front, appears to not be in here, so I'll have to look for that tomorrow. Never the less, for now the first file you see is August, and behind that there are files for Weeks 1-5, and since we are in Week 1 it is currently in the front. Typically this time of year I would still be in summer, but I've been a little lax with my filing system this year, and I never finished it out. That is why I've already switched over to autumn but I am still working my August files. Behind Week 1 there are files for Sunday-Saturday, and these files get rotated daily bringing the current day to the front. At the end of the week, I will bring the Sunday folder back to the front and then rotate the weekly folders to Week 2 and place Week 1 in the back. I will do this all through August, and then at the end of the month the file for September will come to the front and the August file will be moved to another hanging file folder basket I have that houses all of the out of season files until the following year. Hopefully that makes sense. :)

I don't use these files as heavily as I once did when we were homeschooling, but enough that I appreciate having the system in place. I've used this system for years, it's familiar and it works.  I use the daily files most of all, it's where I keep things like receipts from any shopping I've done that day, mail that I want to keep, notes about upcoming appointments or fun events I want to attend, among other things. I work my files every Sunday afternoon, and as I go through my daily files for the week everything that has accumulated in them gets filed to a more specific place, and then I start the week fresh with empty files.

The picture to the left is a top view of the same shelf.

Behind my hanging files is my planner which I use daily, and it deserves a post of it's own, so I'll be sharing more about it soon.  And then behind that is my clipboard filled with notebook paper (college ruled!), because I am a writer and I write down everything! After that  I have some clear pocket sleeves, which is a new system I'm trying out. I have seven of them, and they each hold a print out of my daily routine. I also have this in my planner, but I found that dry erase markers were not working as well as I would prefer on the cover sheets, and these pockets are designed to be used with dry erase markers. I tried it for the first time last week and so far I'm liking it. And then behind that I have an accordian folder where I keep important papers and files. I don't have nearly as many files as I once did and most of them fit easily here. I do have a small plastic filing box in my office where I keep my archived files, but most anything I need access to is in this accordian file.  Then on the side you can just see a couple of pairs of scissors, and there are a few pens in a little pen cup, as well as a whole punch, a couple of rulers, just a few basic office supplies at the ready. I also have another small accordian file on the side next to the hanging files, and another small spiral notebook with some 3x5 cards inside of it. My plan is to use this to keep track of all of my passwords. I currently have them in a note on my phone, but I decided that probably isn't the safest solution, so I plan to take some time to write them all down and keep them in this little notebook.  The small accordian file I've had for a couple of years now but still haven't found a use for. I've considered tossing it a couple of times, but I really like it and I think eventually an idea will come to me and I can put it to use.

SHELF #2 - MIDDLE SHELF

The second shelf is where I keep most of my notebooks. I have a notebook for blogging, which you can see more clearly in the first picture at the top, a notebook for a book that I am and have been writing for a couple of years now, my recipe/meal planning notebook, and a notebook for our house/homestead, which I haven't used as much as I thought I would and I may end up repurposing, but the other three I use regularly. I have two other notebooks that I use for Bible study. One notebook is dedicated to the my study of the spiritual practices, and another houses my individual studies of each book of the Bible as well as other studies I've done in the past. I would like all of them to fit on this shelf but they don't. I currently use a morning basket system for the Bible study supplies, and I suppose for the time being I'll just continue on with that. 

In the back you can see a black and white striped magazine holder and that holds a good portion of my scrapbooking paper, although I don't scrapbook, at least not in the traditional sense, anyway. But, I do like to keep little journals that I make out of cheap composition notebooks. I used to make and use these all of the time and I've kind of fallen out of habit with that practice. But I'm in a stressful season of life right now with a lot of unknowns and struggling to find the balance, so I think I might try to resurrect that idea, and . . . that will have to go on the cart somewhere as well, so I'll have to figure that out. Anyway, I use scrapbooking paper to cover the front of these composition books and to decorate the insides at times as well, and since red and green are my favorite colors . . . . as you can see, most of my scrapbooking paper are Christmas designs, but the biggest percentage of these patterns, the florals and plaids, work for me year round.

On this shelf I also have three journals. The two black ones are my dump journals and typically I carry one of these with me wherever I go. The world is filled with inspiration, and so often when I am out I'll see a quote, or hear a song, or find a neat recipe in a magazine. Just the other day I came across some sauces that Ranch is making, they have  Garlic Ranch, and a Hot Honey and Jalapeno flavor, but I don't see those two on Amazon. Anyway, I want to look up recipes for ways to use them and maybe try a few, so into the notebook it went. Sometimes I will take a picture on my phone, as well, which I did with the sauces because sometimes a visual helps. But if it's just a quote or an idea that comes to me that I don't want to forget, I try to immediately get it out of my head and into the notebook. Then on Sunday afternoons I go back through my notes from the week and move things to another location, like my commonplace notebook, or if it's an idea for a topic I want to discuss here, I'll make a note in my blogging notebook. As I move each item I draw a line through it in my notebook so I'll know it's been processed. And as for the Snoopy journal, I  recieved it as a gift and I've had it for several years now but so far Ihaven't written a thing in it! But, I loved the gift and the giver so it's not going anywhere. If it's Snoopy, it's a keeper!

And finally . . .

SHELF #3 - BOTTOM SHELF

This shelf is where I keep additional office supplies, envelopes, post it notes, 3x5 cards, a larger three whole punch, a stapler, glue sticks, tape and my small collection of washi tape which I use to decorate my journals, as well. 

I also have two bags of pens and pencils that usually lay right on top of everything else. I have a small bag that I was keeping in my planner, but it got so full that it wasn't allowing the cover to close and that was driving me crazy. So I need to sit down and purge it so that it will be functional again. The larger bag is where I keep my surplus, and if you are or ever have been a homeschooling family, then you understand what I mean by a surplus of pens. I could probably never purchase another pen or pencil again and still never use all that we have. But alas, I have my favorites and they do run of out of ink, so it seems I am will always be adding to the collection!

The black bag is the one that I like to keep in my planner and the plaid one, which is actually much bigger though it doesn't apper to be in the picture, is my surplus. 

And there you have the contents of my portable office/rolling cart. I really love this system, and even more so that it's portable. I love the flexibility of keeping it near me whether  I want to spread out no the couch and work, or sit at the dining room table. Once we get my office/craft room finished, then I will probably move it there, but I haven't decided yet. I do have a desk out there, so I may just keep a few supplies there and leave this as it is, I'm just really not sure, but thankfully those are all decisions for another day.

Tomorrow begins my seasonal deep clean. I've decided to stretch it out over several days/weeks, and I'm beginning tomorrow with the kitchen and dining room, or it may end up just being the kitchen because things tend to always take longer than you originally planned. The pantry needs to be cleaned an organized, I'm taking everything out of the cabinets and giving it all a good wipe down, so the dining room may get bumped to another day. The plan is to do the family room on Friday, but since I think that may be an easier job, I may try to lump the dining room/family room together. And then next week is the bathroom, our bedroom the porch and my office.  My plan is to l take you along, share some pictures of our home and how I have things set up and the way things function, so if you liked this post and you're interested in more like it, then follow along! Summer is winding down and it's time to prepare for the 'ber months, my favorite time of the year!

Until then!

"The greatest wealth is to live content with little."

- PLATO

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