THINKIN' ABOUT HOME

GATHERINGS

For 27 years we have called our La Chaumière de Briarwood house, home.

REAL ESTATE PHOTO - 1992

She was a little over 20 years old back in July of 1992 when miraculously we scrapped together $3,500 for the down payment and our little family moved in. 

That seemed like a million dollars to us at the time.  Especially for a young couple with two little children.  We were just beginning to figure out if we spent more money than we earned we were destined for big trouble...

Over the years our home has changed a lot.  Back in 1992 the siding was still the original builder's grade color, a shade of dingy off white and it was desperately in need of a paint job.  Her shutters were brown.  Everything was faded, dusty and dirty and the exterior was in pretty bad shape.

Within a year we had changed the shutters and garage doors (ugh!) to a dark hunter green...a color popular in the early 90's.  We lived with that really bad choice until about 1999 (I have some close-up shots of the house at this time SOMEWHERE...would love it if they were lost forevahhhh!)...

SEPTEMBER 2007

In 1999 we finally resided the house and repainted her a light beige.  Her shutters were changed to a pale sage green and we purchased new front doors.  I love how our home looked at this time.  She still needed new garage doors, but with some strategic repairs they were kept fairly decent looking.

JULY 2019

Cheap paint is never a good option and we learned the hard way that if you don't buy quality paint you will pay a price for it.

The beige-siding-paint of ten to twenty years ago (we repainted once the same color!) had faded to a pale pinky-beige that reminded me of canned Rosarita Re-fried Beans.

Seriously.  Same color!

It was not pretty.  Trust me when I tell you it looks better in the photos than it was in person.

I hated it.

We also lost ALL of our euonymus plants that were in front of the left window to mites AND the large shrub/tree by the driveway as well.  After a complete infestation we removed them all...how the plants in the flowerbed where the bench is survived we don't know.  Probably just a different species...not sure.  We plan on replacing the pretty shrub by the driveway with something similiar...but I will never buy another euonymous plant again.  I'm tired of the struggle.

Anyway...

  SEPTEMBER 2019

Last summer we looked tirelessly for a new paint color for our home.  We drove around looking at so many houses in lots of different neighborhoods to just get an idea of what MIGHT look good with our brick color.  We did NOT want to go with another beige color!  But I did originally want to paint the house a soft, very light shade of maze (almost a cream-colored yellow).  Problem was...our neighbor's home next door is yellow.  Even though our shade would have been a lot different...it was just too much!  Two houses right next door to each other, both two-story, close in color, just seemed weird.

STILL LOVING OUR HOME

So...after much debate and a gathering of several test samples in an array of colors, we settled on this shade of paint from Sherwin Williams...

SVELTE SAGE  SW6164

The change has been overwhelming.

A HUGE DIFFERENCE!  The color isn't tooooo green-green...  Just a great shade that isn't too loud or harsh.  We both love it, but it is taking some time getting used to. I will like everything more when our shrubs and ornamental tree have been replaced.  Still looks kind of bare to me!

My Mr.AGPMan has done an amazing job doing the work himself.  Saved us about $10K-$12K.  Two-story houses are very expensive to paint and the quotes were staggering!!!  It's been very hot here in Oklahoma so he's had to wait for cooler temps to finish some of the trim work.  Totally understand why painters charge what they do!   

We love the new garage doors.  Hauling the old ones away brought us great JOY!  Fifty year old garage doors are heavy and are nothing like the new insulated doors you can buy today.

Fall will officially be here before long!  I celebrated my love for all things Autumn by reworking my wreath from last year and adding a bow of vintage black check gingham to the side.

In spite of the Oklahoma heat, a change of seasons is in the air and I love it...

Love to you~

Rebecca

~FOLLOW YOUR SOUL...~

Today I'm killing myself diligently working in my studio trying to organize my work space.  I must say that it has gotten completely out of control.

Seriously.

Way too much STUFF and now that I no longer have a large retail booth I have no need for all the extra paraphernalia!  I've loaded up four huge bins worth of JUNQUE and off to the donation center I will go this afternoon!  And I have a lot more reorganizing to go before I'm finished!  I'm already excited about the final outcome!

It feels good to purge. And weed out...

To give away.

To share.

To toss.

I feel like I can breathe again...(well, almost!)...

I somewhat liken working within my studio walls to the life of an avid gardener.  Just like tending the earth's soil and making sure it's nutrients are rich and balanced by the Planter, so goes my life as a sewer of fine things.  If I'm not careful, weeds of workplace disorganization flourish (from a lack of "pruning"?) and I end up with an abundance of dormant supplies (barren seeds?) complicated by the mind-boggling awareness I've wasted a lot of hard-earned ca$h.  It's impossible for me to create anything in a space that is overgrown and full of weeds.  I end up standing around and asking myself "where do I begin?"...

The Silhouette Cutter I purchased nearly three years ago is a great example of what I'm talking about.

WEEDS!

 I swore I just had to have it...  I've used it ONCE and it's gathered a lot of dust  since dragging it home!  That EXPENSIVE piece of equipment was NOT necessary for me to design the things I'm passionate about creating.  That fancy gizmo may be fabulous for someone else, just not for me.  At least not now anyway.  Honestly,   I'd rather have my $275 back!!!!

Choices!

Sometimes I make really silly ones!

I have at least another full day of work ahead of me before I finish "tilling the piles of fabric" in hopes they will one day bloom into a garden of lovely keepsakes.

I've asked God to help me tend to the field before me and pay attention to the fleurs budding within my own hothouse instead of staring at the plantings in another's...  

I'm following my soul.  It knows the way.

"It was already planted in good soil and had plenty of water so it could grow into a splendid vine and produce rich leaves and luscious fruit."  Ezekiel 17:8 NLT

Love to you...

Rebecca

PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFINS...Food for the Soul

PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFINS

Along with probably a ga-jillion other people in the world,
I LOVE FALL!
When September comes I start counting the days until I can officially kick-start the arrival of autumn.

What is it they say?

Maybe it's because I can finally say adios to Oklahoma's hot summer days, or perhaps it's seeing the children return to learning, walking to and from school again, book-bags in hand.

PECANS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Yesterday morning, like I have many times since her passing, I pulled out my mother's Woman's Home Companion Cook Book and began flipping through the tattered pages before me.  I love so many of things about this old book~but mostly I love knowing it was once in my mother's hands...

I skimmed the pages as I wanted to bake something to celebrate the changing of the seasons, something more than the apple spice muffins my mom made during my growing-up years...

Sadly, the only thing I really found was a recipe for a pumpkin cake!  NO MUFFINS!

The cake didn't sound too appealing, so I found a recipe online that was more in line with what I was looking for!

PUMPKIN SPICE MUFFINS

3 1/2 cups flour
2 2/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1 Tablespoon orange zest
1 cup milk
2 cups  mashed pumpkin
2 slightly beaten eggs
2/3 cups melted shortening
1/4 scant cup molasses
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup golden raisins

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside.
Mix wet ingredients and add to the dry.
Add one cup chopped pecans and one cup
golden raisins.  Stir well.

Fill greased/floured large muffin tins about 2/3 full.
Sprinkle top with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes until muffins are firm to the touch.

Let cool.  Remove from tin.

Serve with honey butter and ENJOY!

BROWN SUGAR CRUMBLY

My mother loved to bake!  She loved spending holiday time with her family and she would have loved the big Labor Day party planned at our nephew's home tomorrow.  Lots of swimming, great food, and a gentle nod to the last days of summer.

 MY MOM ABOUT 1938

Recently my mom's younger sister sent me the photo above (my momma is the child in the photo above and my auntie is the toddler in my grandmother's arms).  I love it so much.  My mom would be so happy to know we have carried on without her...even though her passing brought us all many tears.  I try and celebrate her life every chance I get...and yesterday was no different.  Sweet memories of her in the kitchen and tender reminders of what she will always mean to me.

Today is Sunday...thoughts of faith...love...hope.

I have a long-time prayer that passes my lips every single day.  Over twenty years now.
In God's time I will see it answered.

Love to you...

Rebecca

(P.S.  My blog is page protected and that was done a LONG TIME AGO!  Mr. AGPMan is TRYING to figure out how to remove it so you can easily copy photos or recipes!  More soon!)