Thursday, August 29, 2013

My World this Week

My Study is very granny chic.  ;)

I'm finally feeling a little better.  Christopher called this morning to ask if I wanted to go out to breakfast with him (Hubby being away from home until late afternoon).  For the first time in about six weeks, I could say YES!  He had wrapped up a meeting which started very early in the morning and was taking a late breakfast-early lunch.

Since his office is only a few miles (less as the crow flies) from our home, he picked me up and we went to a favorite restaurant.  The same one where we often went out for breakfast when we lived in the bigger house "in town".

It felt good to get out and chat, I love conversations with my children. We talked about everything from allergies, to Socrates, to how the Romans built a wall between England and Scotland, and the crisis in the Middle East... to who his dad had picked in his Fantasy Football draft.  :)

So... what has been going on in my world this week?  This and that...

Reading

Re-reading The Bird in the Tree and Pilgrim's Inn by Elizabeth Goudge.  Beautiful writing...   

Pilgrim's Inn was my first Goudge book read and still among my favorites.  My copy is very old and stained and the pages are not the same size!  I love it.

Did you know some Elizabeth Goudge books are now available for the Kindle... like here?

Also reading through The Daily Feast: Everyday Meals We Love to Share, a cookbook that was recommended to those who purchased The Mennonite Girls Celebrate on Amazon.

This is a beautiful cookbook from a family of Mennonite women who love to cook and who have lived all over the world.  There is a mother, five daughters, and one daughter-in-law (all the Graber women are artists in one way or another, the daughter-in-law the exception who is a nurse).

The pictures are beautiful and the recipes include everything from Midwest country to a lot of ethnic food from the countries in which they have lived.  I highly recommend it whether you purchase or see if your library has it. 

Information can be found... here.  I've added it to my Amazon Favorites widget.  Lovely and yummy!  (All links are associate links.)

Watching

Watching Pure Country on the CMT channel for like the twentieth time.

What can I say, the ring tone on my first cell phone was Amarillo By Morning, which my son said had to be the most depressing song every written.  ;)

Decorating by Tweaking
Corner of family room...
Corner of my study...

I switched the artwork that used to be in the living room to the family room and the needlework and such from the family room to my study... during all the artwork-picture switching around these past few weeks.

Wonder if that is a sign of cabin fever?

Thrifting

Here's the little bookshelf my husband found while dumpster diving.

Actually, there are times of the year you can find good stuff sitting out because some students leaving the University don't always want to move their apartment furniture with them when they graduate.

That's how Mr. & Mrs. Christopher found a sofa for their apartment at Married Student Housing on campus.  They just gave it away when they moved out.

Her Fluffiness

I think this was during the PBS special about Birds of Paradise.

13 comments:

becka said...

Your study looks very inviting! I love your book recommendations and have been able to find some of them through inter-library loan.

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

I am a George Strait fan, too!

I need to get tweaking in my house - I have the itch to do it, but Time is what I need most!

I am just home today from my mother in laws' in Florida. She is recovering well, but we know another stroke could take her.

I'm going to write about it on my blog.

Deanna

suzanne said...

love the pic of her fluffiness watching pbs! also, i am always so grateful to you, miss brenda, that you share your life in pictures with us. it's an intimate thing, and it allows me to feel like i have a friend out there who thinks like i do and loves some of the same things i love. and i LOVE your study. glad to see the footstool! and very happy you are feeling better.

Vee said...

How wonderful that you felt good and able to get out for some real conversation with your son. Always special for you, I know.

You have done some tweaking. I notice that we have the same picnic basket. Mine is high atop the fridge and yours is being used where you can get to it. I think of that sometimes when I must climb a ladder to reach mine. Ha!

I am in the middle of a depressing read about a mill strike. It may be time to get back to something lovely like Pilgrim's Inn.

lynneinMN said...

thank you for the views of your life! such an inspiration to me! still hoping to "glean" a bookshelf like that for us...it will happen! "Her Fluffiness" pictures are still my favorite :-)

Rebecca said...

I ♥ the designation of your style ("Granny Chic") and think it is MINE, too!

Reading Flannery O'Connor's letters "The Habit of Being". I sure am enjoying it...

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

I'm so happy you're feeling better and were able to enjoy breakfast out! Love the tweaking you've done.

She is so funny watching the birds on TV!!!!

I finished the White Princess and I'm almost done with the Red Queen, then I'll read the White Queen (and hope I can find episodes of the British TV series somewhere).

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

I'm so happy to hear you are feeling better, and had time out of the house with your son....And how wonderful that your husband rescued a bookcase! I just read a review of Pilgrim's Inn and was thinking about a reread, and hearing about it again is extra motivation. I have my mother's old literary guild copy from the early 50s? late 40s? It's one of my favorites of her books, along with A City of Bells and The Dean's Watch.

Brenda @ Its A Beautiful Life said...

I love the way the light comes into your study corner....cozy.

And I'll have you know that it was you who introduced me to Elizabeth Goudge. I'd never heard of her until I read some of your posts about her books. Love 'em. So thank you!

Glad you had a chance to get out and be with your son.



Anonymous said...

I am so glad you are feeling better and were able to spend time with your son - one of my favorite things to do too!
I just finished "Scent of Water" for the 4th (maybe more?)time and was struck again at the absolute beauty of her writing and understanding of human feelings and struggles.
Thank you for the note and I am happy you are enjoying the tea ;o)
Dee

Anonymous said...

I love "granny chic"--your study looks so cozy and inviting. Your home is like ours--with a bookshelf in nearly every room. Glad you are feeling better--and how wonderful that your son invited you out and that you had such a wonderful visit. Those happenings are such a blessing to us, aren't they? Blessing to you, Sharon D.

Karen Andreola said...

How very nice to go our with your son for breakfast and that you are up to it.

I read "Pilgrim Inn" by E. Goudge 15 years ago when I first heard Susan Schaeffer Macaulay mention that she liked reading this author. But somehow "Bird in the Tree" is on my shelf unread. Finding it in your post will probably get me reaching for it.

Right now I am rereading (and reading aloud) an old copy of "Goodbye Mr. Chips." What a sweet/sensitive/sad story.

Karen A.

Morning's Minion said...

The Eliot trilogy is one I read again each year--comfort reading. You didn't mention 'The Heart of the Family'--I hope you have that one as well as 'The Bird in the Tree' and 'Pilgrim's Inn.' The later is the first of Elizabeth Goudge's books which I encountered--when my mother bought it at a library sale.
I've since been able to find most of the Goudge titles in re-issued paperbacks or in hardcover through alibris.