The Dining Room

Thanks for returning for my home tour! Today I am sharing the dining room.

I created an Autumn centerpiece with items already on hand on our lovely table. The freezer I moved into the kitchen used to be beneath the posterboard . I love how open this space looks now! You can also see into my office from this angle. But that's okay because it's neat and clean, too!

The microwave stand hold my cookbooks on the bottom shelf. The top shelf, though bare here, holds my current reads, Bible, and notebooks. I tend to create piles on the table and this will help keep the table-top clear. I placed an Autumn-colored rug in front of the shelf with a more modern design. I am leaning more towards the modern look these days.

 The black bowl. Yeah, that's the dogs' water bowl. We bought it at the hardware store in the horse section. We have to fill this one only once a day verses twenty like the smaller one we had. :)

Thanks for visiting the dining room!

My Kitchen

While my husband's been gone for training for his upcoming deployment, I have been busy deep-cleaning our home. Let's begin in the kitchen, shall we?

This is the shelf above my sink that I decorated for Autumn with things I already had on hand.

Looking into the kitchen from the dining room. I moved the freezer into the kitchen and moved the microwave/stand out.  I also streamlined the counter, keeping only the necessities out.

The left side of the kitchen....

And the right...

Above my freezer, I moved a few pictures around to create a cute little corner.

I have plans for the kitchen in the near future. I want to paint the cabinets black and buy new hardware in brushed nickle. I also plan to strip the wallpaper border and paint the walls, replace the light fixture and put in new linoleum in. Here is the inspiration picture for the black cabinets:

Thanks for visiting my kitchen!

After the Rain

After many days of rain, the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee have finally moved north and in its wake there is sunshine and cooler temperatures. Oh, it is so beautiful out! We are to have Autumn-like weather all week long! That's a good thing because I have a lot of yard work to catch up, plus there are tons of fallen tree limbs all over that need to be picked up and gathered into a pile for pick up.

Though it is not yet Autumn, I feel the nesting urge. I want to deep clean and fluff our home, work on projects I haven't had time to do, spend time outside in the fresh air and sunshine working and relaxing, and bring back our favorite comfort foods. Food like chicken and dumplings, roast with potatoes, carrots and gravy, oatmeal cookies with golden raisins and chocolate chips just like Mama used to make.

Of course, I'd like to try a few new recipes. It is too easy for me to slip into food ruts. Then cooking becomes a drudgery. No, it's time to expand my food repertoire.

Work is calling so I will close for now. May you have a beautiful day! 

This and that

Last night Alfred, the girls, and I went to church. I liken it to a homecoming. We have a history with these people and they are like family to us. It had been much too long since we have been to church and I have greatly missed it!

I was thankful to get my grocery shopping done fairly early this morning. We have a tropical disturbance in the Gulf that will give us lots of rain throughout the weekend. I made it there and back before the first bands of rain came. The rain is most appreciated. It's been a hot, dry summer and the earth, as well as my flower beds, could use a long refreshing drink.

As far as grocery shopping went, I feel I did fairly well with having spent only $100.90 for a family of six. No coupons were used, though I have a stack waiting to be cut and organized. Next week I hope to do better.

Hope you all have a Happy Labor Day weekend!