Nature Finds

 

 

Our church had a beach day after coffee hour on Sunday and my youngest son found this interesting dried crab in the sand. 

Early Morning Scenes

A Little Bit of Romance

 

 

We were at a very elegant Italian restaurant a few weeks ago where they served water to the table in glass swing-top bottles. I bought these Le Parfait ones hoping that they would bring me the same feeling as the ones in the restaurant and they're exactly what I was hoping for... a little bit of romance for something so useful and practical. 

The First Pie of the Season

 

The first pie of the season | Google 'Alicia Paulson Sour Cream Apple Pie' for the recipe! @aliciapaulson, there is not an autumn that goes by without me baking at least two of these! Thank you for sharing the recipe many moons ago! 

Garden Updates

 

 

My husband and I were able to espalier the last pyrocantha bush today (we currently have six, with one more to be planted sometime soon). It's really made a difference to have these bushes upright and growing against the walls so there isn't so much vast beige space anymore. 

Feathery Autumn Grasses

Tortellini Pasta Salad

 

 

We're going to the beach tonight to visit with friends and eat dinner together, so I put together a tortellini pasta salad to share. It's just a combination of lots of yummy things: tortellini, jarred artichokes, fresh basil, tomatoes, kalamata Olives, chopped onion, salami, and fresh mozzarella peals. The dressing is Olive Garden Italian. 

Lift Up Thine Eyes

 

 

Norman Rockwell, Lift Up Thine Eyes (1957) 

Eucalyptus and Roses

 

 

Trader Joes flowers never disappoint!! 

First Pumpkins

 

 

I made a huge list of autumnal things that I would like to do and make this year. I got my first check mark for these beauties that I found at a farm stand. I just can't believe how many beautiful kinds of pumpkins there are! 

Túrin Turambar

 

 

Túrin Turambar (from The Children of Húrin by J.R.R. Tolkien) made of oven bake clay and paint by our thirteen year old son. 

The 2021/2022 School Year

 

 

They've been in school since the September 7th! I can't believe that we have a tenth grader, an eighth grader, and a sixth grader! Where does the time go? Weren't they all just in diapers and watching episodes of Little Bear on Sprout TV? 

Joyous Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross!

 

 

Sunday's Perfect Pot Roast

 

 

Sunday's Perfect Pot Roast! I could eat this every single day.. Recipe via Pioneer Woman. 

Memory Eternal!

 

 

Here is an excerpt from a letter written by Metropolitan Tikhon on the 20th Anniversay of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks:

"We remember the lives that were cut short in the collapse of the towers of the World Trade Center, the damage to the Pentagon, and the wreckage of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. There were almost three thousand people who never came home, taken from their family and friends who were left to grieve and try to make sense of their loss. Many more were injured and forever scarred, both physically and emotionally. Even those who were not present at the sites of the attacks have vivid imagery of that day come into their minds unbidden.

Great tragedies in our world call us to repentance, and anniversaries like today remind us that we are sojourners and exiles here on earth (1 Pet. 2:11). We look with hope towards the Kingdom of God. Always do we, as St. Paul remarked, “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb 11:16).

Let us continue to remember in prayer all those who lost their lives, the survivors who continue to live with disability, the first-responders who carry emotional burdens of that day, and the families and friends of the victims who have suffered their grief over these twenty years."

Memory Eternal! 

Still Fluffing

 

 

I guess that I wasn't quite finished fluffing our bathroom. I framed two @carleighcoureydesign calendar pages and hung them using command strips (to protect the tile). I originally planned on keeping the two vases empty, but I love the addition of the @masterpieceflowers bouquet that I shared earlier today. With everything in such a neutral palette, the privacy tint we put on the window ten years ago isn't quite right. I might go to the hardware store someday soon and see if there's a better option. 

Memories of a Dear Friend

 

I was so excited to go to the open house at @masterpieceflowers today! This gorgeous dried bouquet was one of the treasures that I brought home. It was perfect for this vessel near the bathtub. Dried flower bouquets always remind me of a dear lady that I knew the first few years of our time in this parish. Jane loved dried flowers and was always looking for good sources for them. I wish that I could have shared this with her and had been able to buy her one. Memory Eternal, Jane. I think of you often! 

Little Roadside Friends

Pond Scenes

Deep Cleaning and De-Cluttering

 

 

 

When I talked to one of my sisters today, she told me that she was slowly deep cleaning and de-cluttering her bedroom. I was inspired to do the same, but in our master bathroom. I de-cluttered, deep cleaned (with my new Thieves cleaner from @homegrownlifemama), and then rearranged all of my bits and bobs. I'll be enjoying a book and candlelit bath in my newly freshened up space tonight!