Whew! I got a bit bogged-down there and missed a few weeks of our weekly chats, but I’m back!
First of all, we’re still here and we’re still in lockdown! We had our restrictions eased just the tiniest bit here recently. So golf courses are now open, as well as tennis courts, and we’re allowed to gather outdoors with people from outside our household in groups of five or less. This newest reopening plan is super slow, with our next level of restrictions being eased not coming until at least June 13, theoretically. It’s definitely for the best because last time when we reopened really quickly our cases surged immediately. It’s so hard watching so many other places getting back to normal life though! Things are looking good for us though if we can wait just a little while longer! If you’re somewhere where things are back to normal, I hope you’re thrilled and having the absolute time of your life. 🙂
I finally ordered the new all-weather Adirondack chairs for the front porch, just in time for it to be way too hot to actually sit out there. Ha! Actually, I like the heat, but I may have a hard time getting Chris to join me out there now until fall. I’m glad I waited a bit though because plowing/planting season seemed to be extra dusty this year and now that it’s over, my new chairs will actually stay clean. I have to admit that I didn’t order our chairs from one of the great local companies that we have near us that make them, but rather just ordered them from Wayfair. My soul died a little bit knowing that I wasn’t supporting local when I could have been, but I just couldn’t pass up that price! I plan on ordering more of these chairs over time to go all over our property, so I’ll hopefully be able to order some locally too. I’ll do a full review of the Wayfair chairs when they come in, but the reviews from previous customers are amazing and you really can’t beat that price!
The garden is all planted and better than ever! This year we have a bit of a smaller number of veggies so we don’t get absolutely overrun with things we can’t use up in time, and I’m excited for it. I’ve also started planting a perennial cutting garden, which I hope to show you more of once it starts to fill in. I still have my perennial herb garden and that was really the inspiration for the new cutting garden because I just get so much joy out it. I’ve also started converting the old herb garden into more of a shade garden now that the tree on that corner is so big. I still have plenty of space left to add things in all three new gardens, but they’re looking great so far! I’ve also finished all of my porch planters and I think this is definitely the earliest in the season that we’ve ever been this far along with our planting. Go team!
Cinnamon Roll Sundays just got an upgrade. I started making cinnamon rolls on Sunday mornings a few weeks ago. I was just using a cake pan that I had, and it worked really well, but I thought it would be fun to get a baking dish that’s special just for cinnamon rolls. It just seems like a fun tradition to have a fancy cinnamon roll dish, doesn’t it? I decided on the Emile Henry Ruffled Baking Dish (similar available here), and it came in last week! Of course, it’s the most beautiful baking dish ever and I soon realized that it would also be perfect for my first batch of Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp of the season. So it might not be just for cinnamon rolls now, but at least it will get a lot of use!
Our back staircase project keeps moving further down the list of priorities, but it’s still happening! We had our new furnace and A/C installed a couple of weeks ago, then we had to have a bit of electrical work done to upgrade some of our old wiring. Then of course it was gardening season. So we’ve been doing things during the little windows of time between photo projects, but more and more it seems like the back staircase is the thing that we can get to “for fun” once all the other things are done. So it doesn’t necessarily get a lot of our focus these days. We did get some nice bright white siding up around the windows last week though and – let me tell you – it looks sharp. I always love fresh siding. Really itching to get working on the cabinetry and the actual finishes inside though!
OTER NEWS AND FINDS WORTH MENTIONING
-Another find for all of my fellow blue and white fans! This long blue and white skirt is so flattering and the pattern is so lovely in person. I didn’t think I would like it and would end up keeping this white eyelet skirt instead because of practicality, but the blue and white pattern looks a little more delicate and classic in person and less like a child-like floral, which I think it looks like on their website. The drape is also so much nicer on this one compared to the eyelet skirt and their airy fabric makes it perfect for summer. If you need a long summer skirt, don’t hesitate on this one!
-For all my fellow Monthly Christmas Countdown-ers, these pillows that we picked up to freshen our kids’ pillows are great staples if you’re also working on stocking up for guests right now. They keep their shape nicely and the baffling around the edge makes them so comfortable.
-And another one. Judi left this comment earlier this week and I thought it was just the smartest idea: “I have been trying a new Christmas recipe each month. The family gets to vote on whether it goes into the Christmas recipe book or not. I won’t waste precious holiday baking time on untested treats this year.”
–This classy little side table is such a steal! I’ve been looking for another tiny, timeless table for our living room like the one I have next to where I sit and I think I might go ahead and order this table one of these days. Such a great price for a high-quality piece that won’t ever go out of style. Most of the ones that I find that I like are about three times as much as this one. I just can’t decide between the brass and the bronze. Hmm…
-Our cat, Oreo, is driving me nuts. He’s about eight years old now, but he’s been super active lately. Maybe he’s bored? He’s started drinking the water out of the fish bowl and he’s absolutely shredding the trim next to our basement door that Chris has already replaced three times because of the same issue with a different cat. Has anyone found a scratching post/cat tower that their cat has actually liked?
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