Friday’s Favs…summer touches here and there

It’s still technically spring, and we’re still having spring like weather here in Portland, Oregon.

Yesterday was nice, but today it’s rainy again.

Regardless, I started adding some summer-y changes around the house the minute Memorial Day weekend arrived!

{Old hymnal pages were crafted into a sweet and simple s-u-m-m-e-r banner

and hang from a vintage drying rack along with some vintage linens.

  This hangs over an antique trunk and my mama’s old suitcase, quilt and photo.}

{This old drying rack, turned photo gallery with the addition of some chicken wire, gets changed frequently.  For summer some beach themed photos and décor seemed fitting.}

{The mantel was given some beach-y touches too.}

{The driftwood boats and shell topped bottle were made by me last summer.}

I love summer!

Have you made any summer-y changes at your place?

 

Friday’s comin’, friends!

I hope yours is a happy one

and

may your weekend be blessed too!

Elizabeth

 

Smells…

Smells bring me right back in time

Brut, that cheap cologne of the seventies, reminds me of that boy with the dark curls and blue, blue eyes I fell in love with way back when

Claire Burke room spray and potpourri brings me right back

to the one bedroom, furnished apartment where the Hubs and I began our marriage

A year after mama died, I opened her pocketbook, finally ready to deal with the odds and ends inside

When her smell came wafting out, I was overcome with the grief of missing her

Ghana, it has a certain smell

Not bad, not good,  just different

Fires burning, garbage rotting, rain and wind, spicy jollof rice, fish, plantain slices frying in palm oil

The potpourri of Koumasi and Accra with their millions of people and bumper to bumper traffic has exhaust fumes mixed in

The potpourri of villages with mud huts and children running around without shoes smells of cooking fires

If I could capture the smell, then maybe I wouldn’t forget

And sometimes I’m afraid, just weeks after being there, that in the smell of America  I’m already forgetting the smell of that place across the Atlantic where I left a piece of my heart

I brought home a carved wooden spoon from Ghana

And it used to smell like Ghana, and when I would forget, I could sniff the wood that grew there

Now it just smells like my house

And maybe when I got home and showered off the red Ghanaian dust,

I stopped smelling like Ghana too

Now I just smell like my house

Now I just smell like America

And that scares me a little bit

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

 

The Hidden Art of Homemaking…

Even as a young girl I fell in love with books rich in descriptive words about home, family, and food.

I wiled away hours imagining my future home and life as a wife and mama.

When those years did come,  the Hubs and I started our life together poor as church mice.

It was Edith Schaeffer’s book, The Hidden Art of Homemaking, that inspired and mentored me in using my creativity to make our house a home, not to wait for some far off day when we could afford it.

I think, while this book was written in 1971 and may have portions that are outdated, it’s premise makes it a good read for anyone who wants to decorate their home creatively,

( not cookie cutter, and catalog like), as well as economically.

“It seems to me that, whether it is recognized or not, there is a terrific frustration which increases in intensity and harmfulness as time goes on, when people are always daydreaming of the kind of place in which they would like to live,  yet never making the place where they do live into anything artistically satisfying to them.”

Edith Schaeffer

As the years went by, God brought real life women into my life, who helped to model this hidden art for me.

One was a woman whose single wide mobile home housed herself, her husband and her three children, teens and pre teens, in very limited space.

I loved visiting their home.

It was creatively, artistically decorated.

I still remember the vintage, round table used as a coffee table.

I remember the delicious, healthful meals we shared there.

I remember her, every time I enjoy the ink drawings she made for me, seen in the photo above.

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Cake and why I gave all of my nonstick skillets to the Goodwill…

With youngest daughter home for a visit this week, we had a backyard barbecue on Sunday afternoon and invited our oldest daughter and her family, our nephew and his family, and our youngest’s best friend and her family.

For dessert I made some brownies and this Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Cake from Joy the Baker

that I found on Pinterest.

It’s a yummy, not too sweet dessert.

I think it would even be a good breakfast coffee cake.

I’m going to try it again with different fruits, maybe some plums, next time.

This recipe is a keeper!

On another note, a while ago I gave all of our nonstick skillets to the Goodwill.

I didn’t like that they are possibly linked to negative health side effects, or that I had to worry about the Hubs overheating them or accidently scratching them when he cooked breakfast, which he likes to do.

I already had a cast iron grill pan, so I bought an 11 inch Lodge cast iron skillet, seen in the photo above, and a round 11 inch griddle pan. (TJ Maxx had them for 11.99)

I researched how to keep the cast iron from rusting, how to clean it and how to keep it well seasoned.

I’m loving it!

I’ve never had crepes turn out better than I did on that griddle pan.

Nothing sticks…eggs, frittatas, pancakes, crepes, cakes, all turn out great and don’t stick!

The key is to never use soap on it, just clean it with hot water.

After that I dry it with a paper towel, then put a little canola oil on a paper towel and wipe it with that.

I will then set it in a warm oven for a few minutes, turn the oven off, and it’s ready for it’s next use.

So, get out your Granny’s old cast iron skillet, or get yourself one, (they’re very affordable), and try this recipe.

Still following,

Elizabeth

Gifts…

It’s been fun and interesting hunting for things to thank God for using Ann’s prompts,

but there are so many other things to give thanks for that I don’t want to miss noticing.

-having my youngest daughter home with us for a week

-time together at the beach

-an indoor pool so little blondie could have some fun when the beach weather was rainy

-clam chowder

-my oldest daughter and her youngest and how much they look alike

-a phone call from Ghana, and the blessing of hearing my second born’s voice and the voice of my oldest granddaughter and only grandson

-working through misunderstanding

-trying a new recipe

-pink roses

-worshipping with abandon

-having friends and family over for a backyard barbecue

So many gifts,  more than I can count.

**************************

I’ve taken the Joy Dare.

I’m counting one thousand thanks in one year.

I hunt for thanksgiving using the prompts Ann gives us each month.

If you are interested in joining in, click the link above or at the bottom of this post.

I continue to count my thanks

piling up gratitude day by day

in my little black journal…

#1973-#1993

3 gifts found in today’s work-

-washing my Hub’s clothes,

(I’m convinced he changes clothes more than any man alive, but I’m still thankful for him!)

-he cooked the breakfast and I did the dishes

-planning meals and buying groceries for youngest daughter’s visit

a gift at 8 am-

-a sunny morning

at 12 pm-

-I notice I’m gaining endurance in my running program

at 8 pm-

-being with my two little granddaughters

3 gifts blue-

-blue eyes-my Hub’s, my second born daughter’s, my two youngest granddaughter’s

-blue sky

-blueberries

3 gifts you gave today-

-making a favorite dish per youngest daughter’s request

-making the Hub’s favorite ginger cookies

-making granddaughter’s favorite chocolate chip ones

3 gifts orange-

-eating an orange while watching my granddaughter enjoy the pool

-orange poppies, orange roses, orange azaleas, all seen on my walk/jog around the neighborhood

-one orange one in the salt water taffy

3 gifts funny-

-the way my girls share each other’s funny sense of humor

-laughing with friends

-the way three year old granddaughter uses big words like “impressed”

3 gifts from today’s conversations-

-open hearted conversation with my youngest

-an encouraging comment from a young woman I mentored

-kisses and “I love you” from the Hubs

 

Gratefully yours,

Elizabeth

Rescued…

 

We’re back from a couple of days by the sea with our youngest daughter,

who is home for a visit from the mid-west,

and our oldest daughter and her family who live nearby, here in Portland.

Portland is about 80 miles inland, so we are blessed to be able to go to the beach often,

something our youngest now misses when she’s in Missouri.

The weather was gray and rainy, but we enjoyed our time sea side anyway.

I immediately knew I wanted this lifeguard stand to be a part of my photo and verse this week.

Who knows how much God rescues us from daily?

I’m sure there are potential accidents, mistakes we make,  relationships that aren’t healthy for us, that He rescues us from without us even noticing.

Then there are the things we do recognize and acknowledge He has rescued us from,

depression, a sin bondage, a situation we knew better than getting ourselves into,

so many things.

He rescues us because He delights in us,

because we’re His.

Thank God.

 

Still following,

Elizabeth

It’s time…

It’s time…,for a little blog break!

Youngest daughter is home for a visit,

so I will be focusing on family time for the next couple of days.

When I get back I’ll have a couple of interesting blog changes to chat with you about.

In the meanwhile, be blessed!

 

Still following,

Elizabeth