for today ~ april edition

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Looking out my window ~
It doesn't look much different than March. It was only 28 degrees this morning, and you can't see it in this photo, but my butterfly garden is to the left and covered in a thin layer of icy snow. More snow is on the way tonight - not much, thank goodness - but just enough to remind us that winter-like weather isn't over yet. In fact, as I'm writing this evening, I can see fat, fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky.

I am thinking ~
that I'm hungry for a bowl of the navy bean soup I made this evening. It's cooling down right now.

I am thankful ~

for friends that message me and ask if I want to go out for coffee.

One of my favorite things ~

Cookbooks. Love Soup is my newest acquisition. I bought it used on amazon.

I am creating ~

an art journal. Nothing fancy - I can't draw or paint, but I do some collages and journal prompts.

I am wearing ~

A long-sleeved black shirt, a purple hoodie, and gray yoga pants.

I am reading ~
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones. It's just "ok"; nothing exceptional. Next I will be reading Kristin Hannah's latest book. I'm grateful for my local libraries.

I am listening to ~

The Man Who Saved the World by Nirvana, though the song was actually written by David Bowie.

I am hoping ~

for warmer weather.

I am learning ~

to practice guided meditations. Two of my favorite apps are Insight Timer and Stop, Breathe & Think.

In my kitchen ~

I soaked the dried navy beans for the Navy Bean Soup overnight, started the soup in the late afternoon, and now it's cooling down. The house smells so good! I used the ham bone from our Easter ham. This weekend, I'll be making Trisha Yearwood's Linguine with Braised Red Wine Short Rib Sauce. I saw her making it on TV this past week and it looked so good, I just had to try it for myself. 

Post Script ~
(Add a favorite link that you would like to pass along. It can be someone else's website, etsy shop, Instagram feed, Facebook link, OR it can be your own.)
I've been thinking about putting a hanging plant in the living room-kitchen pass-thru. I thought a macrame plant hanger with a wooden shelf would be cool - macrame is back in style (what's old is new again) and I think the texture of the macrame, wood, and greenery would be perfect for this empty space. There's a lot to choose from on etsy

Shared quote ~

Let the beauty we love be what we do. (Rumi)

A moment from my day ~

This morning, walking around my yard and filling the bird feeders. It was only 28 degrees, but with the sun shining and the sky so clear and blue, it was actually quite beautiful.

I'm going to dig into that delicious soup now. 
Until next time, be well, be happy, be peaceful.

If you're interested in participating in doing a post for The Simple Woman's Daybook, see the guidelines here.

hello monday

I got the idea for "hello Monday" from Lisa Leonard's blog ~ not my original idea! I've always enjoyed reading her hello Monday posts, so thought I'd do one of my own today. It's just being aware of and being grateful for some of the little things in your life.

Hello dreary, raw, rainy Monday morning... 

Hello to a gathering of family and friends at a cousin's birthday party yesterday...

 

 Hello to a wonderful yoga practice this morning ~ and extra grateful that my hubby was able to come with me this morning and enjoy the practice as well...

 Hello to looking through a couple of cookbooks to gather some new recipe ideas...

Hello to a cup of herbal tea this afternoon and pink nail polish ~

Hello to getting a new-to-me book in the mail from paperbackswap ...

 What are you saying hello to on this first day of the week?

 

a beautiful space ~ and a peek at my new curtains

In the previous post about my kitchen, I said that I moved most of my cookbooks into

my office. This small baker's rack is just the right size for my collection. I can sit in my

red chair and look through a cookbook, or take the book over to my desk by the window.

I love this sunny, peaceful room, so I thought I'd take you on a little tour. For those of 

you who aren't aware or are new to my blog, this room used to be my oldest son, Phil's 

room. Phil passed away suddenly in September 2009. The canvas family photo - the last 
family photo taken with all four of us in July 2009 - is one of my greatest treasures.

Isn't this a beautiful, vintage dresser? It's been in my family for many years. My sister

had it in her bedroom when she was growing up, though it was either white or pink at

the time. Or, maybe it was once pink and then my mom painted it white. Hard to remember

from 45-50 years ago!  Anyway, when I was pregnant with Phil, my mom gave the dresser

 to a family friend and she refinished it for us and gave it to me as a present when Phil

was born. He used this dresser for his entire 21 years. Now Brian and I share it.

This is the space to the right of the desk...my bulletin board, Phil's memory shelf,

plants and ~ surprise ~ more books.

The living room curtains came in from World Market and hubby patiently hung them for

 me today - which was more involved than it sounds. Isn't that the way it usually goes?

The curtain rod was originally hung lower. So that meant taking it down, patching up the

holes, repainting the wall, then hanging the curtain rod in a new spot. Brian is very patient

 with my decorating shenanigans.

Anyway, I love these curtains! They bring much-needed color into the living room, I dig

 the design, and the material is a heavy, quality cotton. They just need to be hemmed. 

Since I don't sew, I will be taking them to a local tailor. And another thing on the living

 room to-do list: getting a few more quotes for the mantle work around the fireplace.

What projects are you working on around your house? 

Linking up with Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday.

kitchen follies ~ and a recipe

The organizing and rearranging continues...so on with the kitchen. I went with a clean,

classic look on this side of the kitchen with using a lot of white in the cabinet and on the

wall shelves. Also, that's a new painting hanging on the wall. I inherited it from my aunt

when she moved last fall. I'm not crazy about the red painted frame as it's too stark 

for the painting, but since I have red accents in my kitchen and the painting is the

right size for this wall space, it'll do for now. 

Most of my cookbooks were moved into a small bookcase in my office, but I left a

few on top of the fridge and on the butler's table that you can see in the first photo.

I cleaned out my baking cabinet and my main food cabinet. I don't have a pantry, so this

is where I keep all my dry goods and staples such as grains, dried fruits and raw honey,

 pastas, dried beans, tea bags, and lots of spices. I like having the grains, pastas, and

beans in glass jars instead of all that plastic and cardboard packaging. Much easier

to see what you have and easier to fit into the cabinet, too. As for the spices, I find it 

easiest to keep them categorized by use. For example, on the basket in the left, that's

where I keep all the Italian spices: oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, bay leaves, etc.

The basket on the right holds cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, ginger, nutmeg,

and star anise. Another basket holds spices for chili making: cumin, chili powder, 

cayenne, mexican oregano. And another basket holds spices such as curry powder,

garam masala, lemongrass, and turmeric. When you're making a certain cuisine ~

say, spaghetti sauce ~ it's easy to just grab the basket of Italian spices.

I am making vegetarian tacos for dinner tonight. We eat a lot of meatless meals

and I found this recipe on Pinterest. The lentil-rice concoction is in the Crockpot right

now and the house smells so good. I "cheated" and opened the lid to the Crockpot

about halfway through cooking (I did let it cook longer after I opened the lid - I know

that opening the lid takes off about 20 minutes of cooking time) to see how the mixture

looked and it's nice and thick, just like hamburger meat. I'm going to top our tacos with

salsa, guacamole, and a little bit of shredded cheese. Click here for the recipe. And 

interestingly enough, the name of the blog is Melanie Makes! No, it's not me. It's

another Melanie.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Linking up with Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday.