What's for dinner Wednesday

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What's for dinner Wednesday?

My husband requested Shepard's pie.

It's been ages and ages since I last made it.  We usually leave the oven off in the summer time but the weather has been a bit cooler so after running to the market to pick up the ingredients I got busy.

 

My version is quite simple and plain. I add some onion to the browning meat and I sprinkle paprika over the mashed potatoes but other than that it's just meat, corn, and potatoes. 

My step-daughter loved this simple version when she was growing up 

and I have continued to make it that way. 

I also made a banana pecan cake. 

I haven't made that in over 5 years and it is just as delicious as it was back then. 

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Titus two Tuesday

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In the garden out and about

I have been wandering about in the back garden this morning with my coffee, cutting zinnias here and

 there to place in a tiny old fashioned vase.

There is nothing quite so charming or welcoming than to see a simple bouquet of 

flowers on the kitchen table.

Today there is a pot of beans on the back burner, a cornbread in the oven, and a fresh potato salad ready to pull out of the fridge for dinner. 

I am planning to make some quick refrigerator pickles as well. 

I am not a big pickle fan but my husband loves them.

t

 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, 

not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

Titus 2:3

yellow ric rac and a sunshine daydream

 

I took a day off of work on Monday and spent the afternoon thrifting at local charity shops.

At the Salvation Army store I found these charming curtains for my kitchen window.

I don't normally have curtains there because I am not really much of a curtain girl.

I love the natural light far too much to cover any of it up however,

this charming valance fit so perfectly that I simply couldn't pass it up.

It makes me think of the old children's rhyme, Each peach, pear, plum...

I am so thankful for the woman who handmade this valance. It is so well done. 

I love the yellow ric rac trim!

It matches the cups and saucers that I purchased a few weeks ago.

My husband calls them the sunshine daydream cups.

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Thankful Thursday at It's a Small Town Life

A new day

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t

A cheerful heart is good medicine

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22 

I stumbled upon these vintage cups and saucers at a second hand shop not too long ago. They are really quite cheerful and I love drinking my morning coffee out of them.  They are like a little bit of sunshine even on a cloudy morning. 

Speaking of sunshine, I read that the U.S. government has once again decided to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. We'll see how that goes. If it passes, it is scheduled to take effect on December 1.

t

From the rising of the sun to its setting

the name of the Lord is to be praised.

Psalm 113:3

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The way to start a day

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There is fresh and dried fruit on the porch

in the early morning sunshine.

cherries, blueberries,

grapes and apricots,

crunchy almonds

and coffee.

The rest of the house is sleeping still

but I am settin on the porch a spell

with my feet up on the balusters...

watching the morning come down. 

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Autumnal Equinox

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Autumn is my very favorite season.

I think there is no place prettier than Autumn in New England.

I've spruced up the door to our flat a bit. 

I went to a church bazaar Saturday.

I picked up a little square chalk board and an old wicker basket

and I hung them both up on the door.

In the spring I painted the door a cheery Marblehead gold

and the colours of the Autumn gourds look so pretty against it.

 Truth to tell, the stairway up to our second floor flat isn't very pretty.

The walls are covered in a really old and ugly wall paper 

and everything else is in pretty rough shape as well.

Last spring I painted our door a sweet shade of

Marblehead gold, by Ben Moore.

The door to our place is welcoming.

Once inside the flat is old but beautiful - vintage and comfortable

and the views of the Atlantic are absolutely amazing.

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sepia memories

Only one more week or so of summer.

I live on a rather tiny sort-of an island.

We are just one square mile here on the north shore of Boston.

We are connected to the mainland by a causeway that is one and a half miles long

but that may as well be a thousand miles long come winter.

In summer people go to long Beach at the end of the causeway

but come Labor day they are all gone and our rather tiny sort-of an island

is ours once again.

Our house is perched at the beginning of the island 

just in the center of a three pronged fork.

We are surrounded by two beaches, the old coast guard station,

Memorial Park, a gravel parking lot, and the softball field.

In summer we watch both the men's and women's softball games 

from the windows in the kitchen while we eat our dinner.

At Christmas tide we watch the PTO's Christmas tree sale 

in the gravel parking lot and we buy our tree from there

and walk it up the street toward home.

We we hear the Memorial day parade end in Memorial park

and listen as the speakers say the prayers for our loved ones

and Veterans who have left us.

I love this time of year.  

The darkness settles earlier and it is cool enough for cooking again

and gathering around the kitchen table. 

Church starts up in earnest again.

And I find a rhythm in the days and weeks of Autumn. 

I give my house a thorough cleaning

and set the summer things away for next year.

In their place are family photos and dried hydrangeas

which I picked from the bush in the front yard.

Monday: leftovers 

Tuesday: Swedish meatballs, egg noodles, green beans

Wednesday: Puy lentils with bacon, roast cauliflower

Thursday: Roast chicken, herbs and potatoes

Friday: crockpot turkey legs

Saturday: beef stew

Sunday: spaghetti and sausage sauce, salad

she looketh well to the ways of her household

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soup bubbles on the stove

and the kettle's on for tea

Summer is winding down - school has started

The beaches are quiet....

I no longer hear the squeals of children as they play in the surf

but instead, the sound of the tides rolling the on rocks 

in and out...ebb and flow.

The boys down the road meet up in the park across the street

and play a game of football in the early afternoon

just before the sun sets

 I love the rhythm of  Autumn.

All of us beginning to gather in close at end of day

A thousand sunset colours dancing off the walls in the parlor.

This morning I put on a sweater and wrapped a blanket about me

as I sat on the pouch drinking my tea. 

One hundred acorns gathered while walking 

and bittersweet berries along the dunes.

They are still all close in tight and yellow

against the deep burgundy of the sumac bushes

Monday: Chili

Tuesday: Meatloaf, new red potatoes, green beans

Wednesday: Turkey tacos

Thursday: Crock pot chicken Marsala

Friday: Turkey/sweet potato poppers, zucchini fries

Saturday: leftovers

Sunday: Beef Stroganoff, egg noodles, broccoli

oatmeal cake with chocolate icing

morning glory muffins

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menu plan Monday

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t

Better a small serving of vegetables with love

than a fattened calf with hatred

Proverbs 15:17

Monday

Tuesday

summer corn and zucchini chowder

Wednesday

Balsamic chicken thighs-basmati rice-zucchini

Thursday

Turkey crack

Friday

Maple glazed chicken with sweet potatoes

Paleo morning glory quick bread

20 July

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I got a chance to walk about Beacon Hill before work one morning.

The window boxes are just so beautiful.

I absolutely love Beacon Hill.

I've been searching for a bedroom rug for years

and I finally found one while shopping at Home Goods.

It was a great price...though still a little more dear than I would have preferred.

It was so worth it and has just the right amount of just the right colours.

Tucker likes it as well.

We had a crazy storm Tuesday evening.

It rained as hard as it ever could rain.

All the commuters (including my husband and I)

were drenched.

When we finally got home and dried off

the sunset and clouds were pretty spectacular.

My geraniums are blooming beautifully out on the porch

They look so pretty.

My daughter bought me this sweet little vintage stationary

for Mother's Day.

I found a pillow that matches it perfectly!

It's on the rocking chair in the kitchen

and it is so cheery!

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An InLinkz Link-up

The old bureau

When we first moved here to this rather tiny sort-of-an-island

the bureau was in the kitchen.

It had a big old Norman Rockwell hanging over it

and all kinds of stuff stored in it...

hats and mittens in the bottom drawer

and foils, wraps, and plastic bags in the top drawer.

When I brought an old hutch home I moved the bureau to the living room.

It has a picture that my sister found at a tag sale hanging above it...

one of those old windows with a view painted on the glass...

a view of a path through some scrub bushes onto a beach.

It mirrors the view out the living room window just across from it.

The tiny chest of drawers holds rocks, and pebbles, and seashells

and I think some dominoes and a few old skeleton keys.

The drawers of the bureau are filled with light bulbs, batteries,

ribbons and various scraps of paper and strings.

But the star of the show is the old wooden truck.

Over the years it's blocks have spelled out Christmas, Thankful,

Easter and various birthday names but today...

Today it says SISTER....

My favorite little grandson Verne is going to be getting a sister!

She's due on Christmas Eve!