Today I noticed...I really like a southern voice.

The other day I was scrolling through social media on my phone and stumbled across a southern author's post. I had heard of this author and had even read several recommendations for books she has written. I never read any of those recommended options because I didn't really think it would be something that would hold my attention and be what I consider a good read. 

Yet, here was this southern author speaking my exact thoughts about something that had recently taken place in this great country of ours. She was using language, a southern dialect, and an experienced voice that spoke to me as well. I was so inspired by this one little post that I dove down into the rabbit hole of her social media account to check out another post that she referenced. Then, I kept hopping through her feed and finding myself shaking my head and patting my foot in agreement and enjoyment of several of her posts.

I think one of the things I loved most is that she is not some young upstart. She is, "a woman of a certain age." After enjoying quite a few minutes almost an hour of scouring through her Instagram feed, I clicked over to check out her book titles. I learned which was the first offering and ordered it on the spot. 

I didn't allow myself to start the book until I had completed one of the three books I had going. It served as sort of an incentive to stay up late and wake up early to get some extra reading in! As I was crunching on my cereal and slurping my tea this morning, I began this author's first published book. 

That first page was absolutely delightful! It was one that definitely would have been included in an old book notes from when I was teaching in a middle school classroom. At the beginning of the school year, I asked students to make a collection of first lines of the books they read. Periodically throughout the year, we took some time to look back at these first lines and compare them to the first lines of works we were writing. Those first lines served as inspiration for a lot of my young writers - and for them as readers as well. Below is the first page of the book that I read this morning in all it's southern glory:

First page of Every Crooked Nanny by Mary Kay Andrews

Since breakfast, I am already about one-fourth the way through this book and am enjoying every single bit of this light read. It is refreshing and, oh so enjoyable! Yet, at the same time I can hear the post by the author expressing her own opinion about what is happening in our world today. 

I've been wondering what I can do. What can one little old retired school teacher do to help make changes in the things that are happening today? I think Mary Kay Andrews is doing just what all of us should be doing. Expressing her opinions and explaining the basis of those ideas. Letting people know what she sees happening and how she feels about it.

I know that years ago my father stressed to me the importance of voting and how my voice counts. So, that is something that I definitely will be doing as well - and I will be campaigning for candidates who seem to support the way I think. I don't know what else I might do to help make changes in the things that are going on in the world around me today, but I'm going to keep my eyes and ears open for opportunities. I'm going to keep noticing.

I'm also pondering whether I should begin to follow this wonderful voice's lead and record some Kitchen Karaoke sessions to post for my family to enjoy...

Just Three Things | #2

One of the things I told myself I would do when I retired is to take on some of these projects that I've had in mind. It has been several months into my retirement, but I have tackled a few of those items on my project list this week.

What I'm Working On

I have a thing for chairs I think. When I'm out thrifting, I seem to find so many odd chairs that I really like. Or when I am surfing the internet or reading decorating books, I seem to notice chairs and odd tables and save those ideas for later. I guess this has sort of been the summer of good finds for me because I have picked up chairs that I really like - more on that at another time. I have tackled our new-to-us chairs lately and am changing the seat covers so that all of them will match. 

A before between a couple of afters...

These are all dining chairs with a padded seat. So, it seemed like a quick and easy project. My hands and forearms beg to differ about that summary, though! At any rate, we have a total of 18 dining chairs with padded seats - some are upstairs and some downstairs. I have eleven of the fourteen upstairs done!

What I'm Loving

When we visited a couple of our grands this past week, they were working on their pear trees. They have a handful of trees near their chicken coop and their Dad had decided the trees needed trimming up some. So, they were gathering the pears off the branches and picking them up off the ground. Abby Lee handed me one an I just bit into it right there. It was firm and so juicy and delicious! She and Easton were going to give us more to take home but they had set a goal to fill up one of their bins on wheels. So, I suggested that they fill their bin first, then deliver a bag or bucket of them to us. 

Abby Lee and Stephen and a load of pear tree limbs.

We came home but my mind began wandering to what I might do with those pears when they are delivered. So, I found several recipes and saved them to give a try.

     

Gingerbread Pear Loaf

Autumn Pear Bread

Butterscotch Pears

Caramel and Pear Pudding

I suppose I could use some of my apple recipes and substitute pears as well. At any rate, searching through the recipe offerings has really made me start to think about fall even though the weather around here is still summer-like.

What I'm Watching

I didn't get a lot of reading time this week because I was working on projects a lot. So, I'm still working on the same books from last week. We did do some evening television watching, though. We got hooked on the Amazon Prime series, Bosch. 

Image from Amazon

It is definitely an adult show with lots of violence and strong language. There were times when I even jumped and gasped while sitting on the couch and there were times when I had to look away because it was pretty graphic. We did get into the crime solving and had some lively discussions about the corruptness that the show brought out. Mike and I tend to try to find something that we can watch together besides sports and this one captured our brains a little bit. We've finished all the seasons and even the reframing, Bosch: Legacy.

Image from Amazon

If you are a police show buff, it is a good one but be ready for the adult nature of the subject matter.

Well, that's just three things that have been a part of our world lately. I hope you have had at least three meaningful things in your world as well!

Today I noticed...Misplacing things is just too easy.

I had a few minutes and decided I would dip my toe into a craft project that I had been procrastinating about. I had seen a blog post (Thrifty Decor Chic) where the author had used Rub n Buff to update some frames. Knowing that I had an abundance of frames, I decided I might give that a try. I read a couple of other Rub n Buff users' experiences and how-tos. Then, I went online and ordered a couple of different colors of Rub n Buff. 

Rub n Buff Gold Leaf

Rub n Buff European Gold

So, I gathered my prints that I plan to put into the frames, went to my frame stash, and went to where I thought I had stored the Rub n Buff tubes that I ordered several months ago. Can you hear that Wah! Wah! sound? 

I have searched all the likely places that I might have stashed those tubes and cannot find them at all. So, instead of knocking out a quick little project that might be really easy, I spent twice as long as anticipated and never found them.

I did the same thing not long ago with a new phone case. Finally, I gave up and ordered a new one. The day that the new one was delivered, I stumbled across the old one - I was probably looking for something else I had misplaced!

Happy Birthday, Harris!

Today I noticed...some posts make me happy!

I was scrolling through social media today and realized that some people's post just bring a smile to my face on a regular basis just like some people do that when I see them. Maybe that is because the person or what was posted directly makes an impact on my life. 

Then, I noticed a post by one of my neighbors. It really brought a huge smile to my face and probably won't directly impact my life. However, just the thought of what is in the works makes me smile and feel less stressed just the same!

 UPDATE:

The Longhorn neighbors departed on Saturday morning!

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

 

Hope you have a great one!

Just Three Things

I've mentioned before that I am sometimes a procrastinator. I don't know why I drag my feet and fill my mind with angst. As I stated in a previous post, sometimes that dreaded task turns out to be simple and moves along fast once it is tackled. This has been a week that reminded me of that as I checked off a few items on my To-Do List.

What I'm Working On

I've finished up The Great Freezer Cleanout and now I am faced with freezer scrubbing duties. When I started the cleanout, I just spent a little time on the morning of our regular garbage pickup and gathered up all of the home-frozen bags and sealed packages and hauled them to the trash barrel for the garbage truck to take away. Then, Mike gave me the nudge to take out all the outdated packages of sausage and meat. So, the next week on garbage pickup morning, I began that sort. Three consecutive weeks of me sort of standing on my head to sort through the sealed packages and zip bags and tossing them into the garbage, and the freezer is really empty. All those dried up bits and sticky bags of mush have been hauled away with the garbage. I have plans to give the the inside and the outside a good scrub down with a spray cleanser and scrubbing cloth. For some reason, cleaning really does make a person feel refreshed in a way and provides incentive to tackle the next little project. 

What I'm Loving

I've spent some quality time in our kitchen lately. While I was clean out mode, I cleared out all the mysteries in the fridge in our kitchen and the fridge in the basement. I washed all the shelves and drawers and the edges and seals as well. I guess I'm now geared up to scrub down the aforementioned freezers.

I also did a little painting. When we updated the kitchen last year, I cleared off the island because I knew the cabinet and appliance installers would want to move it out of the way. I never put my cookbooks and sundries back on the bookshelves because I told myself they needed a good coat of paint and the entire island would look better with touchups as well. So, procrastinator that I am, I had been putting that off and dreading it. Then, when I tackled that project this week, I surprised myself at how quickly the job was done. I'm letting the paint cure and was surprised when the paint store recommended waiting weeks to a month for letting the latex paint cure. Maybe that is why the shelves had gotten dinged up; I'm sure I didn't wait that long before! At any rate, I catch myself smiling and admiring the freshly painted shelves and how clean and nicely they look.

Kitchen Island painted in Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore

I've done some recipe testing in the kitchen as well. One night when we were thinking of ordering take out from a local restaurant, Mike mentioned that he wished the special was chicken and dressing. Now, I have made old-fashioned dressing for Thanksgiving, but I have never made chicken and dressing for a regular old meal. So, while I was taking a breather from some of my cleaning, I searched for good recipes. Then, I included what I needed in my grocery order and stirred up a great dinner. My effort was based loosely on this recipe. In my search for a good chicken and dressing recipe, I stumbled across a chicken an broccoli alfredo recipe and we enjoyed that on another night. In the process, I learned a great way to make chicken taste juicy, flavorful, and delicious using my crock pot. 

What I'm Reading

I am a reader. I have been a reader since before I went to school. I love books. I have grown to love reading on a digital device because it is always available and handy. So, I can just open up an app and read for a few minutes when I'm taking a breather, or when I wake up in the middle of the night, or while I'm waiting at an appointment. I also generally have two or three books going at once. 

I have been reading and looking and thinking and gathering ideas with Marian Parsons (Miss Mustard Seed) while reading the hard copy of Feels Like Home. I find myself turning back and rereading parts and pausing to think about what I have that might be used in ways she describes or how places in our home make me feel the way she describes. The book is just the inspiration I've needed to help me be patient and keep thinking and practicing the art of making the basement be a reflection of us and how we live. I've followed her blog for years. So, I already feel like she is an acquaintance. Reading her book has been a special treat because of the beautiful photography as well as the way she phrases words to encourage readers to love their home.

via Amazon

I've just finished reading Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight using my Kindle app. The book is set in the 1960s and it has really made me pause and think about how things for women in the world have changed over my lifetime. It has also made me think about how some things still need to change and how it seems we have sometimes taken a step back in regard to progress for women.

I've begun reading Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey. I kind of like how it is a bit quirky and has notes included in different formats as well as stories he tells in regular text. I've also begun reading Helen Simonson's The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club. This is another historical fiction novel set just after World War I. I'm reading these two with my Kindle app. One is checked out as an eBook using the Libby app from the library and the other is a selection from Kindle daily deals.

Well, that's just three things that have been a part of my world lately. I hope your world has held at least three wonderful things lately!