When You Really Need Cushions

What do you do when you're too cheap to pay the big money for cushions for your wicker chairs?

Well, if you're me, you improvise.

 Throw rug is a homemade rag rug I got for $1 at a garage sale, 

a favorite that is a treat to pull out to use for the summer.

What I did is bought four pillow shams for my wicker that match my porch decor at Pottery Barn outlet for $7 each.  Then I got some old pillows out of the attic.

The shams are a blue gingham with red trim!  PERFECT!  I found them in the kid's section late this winter.  I had this use in mind when I found them. 

This crochet rag rug is a favorite, bought it filthy dirty at a garage sale for $1 and have had it for years, 

I save it just for the porch in summer. 

WAY cheaper than buying ready-made lawn-furniture cushions that I never can find in the colors I need for our Old Centennial Farmhouse front porch.

Sometimes, they're thrown on the chairs in this direction, sometimes the opposite, but one thing for sure, they're comfortable and home-y and they fit the need I have for very little money.

I can wash them whenever I need to and the bonus is that 

June-Bug loves them, she's always curled up in a cushion for her nap.

Meow!  JuneBug says HOWDY!

XOXO

Start to Finish: A Photo Essay

It is a pleasure when nothing else is on the agenda for a sunny Saturday but getting the tomatoes done, and I can enjoy the whole ritual.  Today I am sharing that with you in photos.  

There are so many lessons in gardening and canning:

Initiative. Starting hard things.
Perseverance. Work from months ago eventually pays off.
Dependability. Doing it whether you feel like it or not.
Planning. There is reward in being prepared.
Freedom. Making your own food is being independent.
Tidiness. Clean up is part of the process, just not part of the fun.
Reward. Satisfaction usually comes at a price!
Payoff. Completing a task is often its own reward.
Appreciation. Simple things make one feel the richest.

I also am happy that I am and have been imprinting my children with the rewards of hard work, and that they will always remember late summers when the house smelled like tomatoes!  

Life sometimes is a grind...but it's worth it all in the end.

In coming winter days, I can look forward to soups and stews 
blub, blub, blubbling away on the stove.  

In other words...

Contentment.

One of the sure signs of late summer is tomatoes coming in and the kitchen full of canning supplies.

I try not to can unless I have a whole bushel ready because the mess just isn't worth it otherwise.  :)

Assembling and gathering all of the supplies and getting everything ready to be organized and make it all go smoothly, is part of the process.

I am thankful for the changes of the seasons we can mark our years by, aren't you?

Back Road Beauty: Barn Fix

I wanted to sneak in a few more barn pictures from the summer season.

I am making the transition at home and on the blog...changes coming soon!

Enjoy a beautiful day, I have a long "to do" list that has to be done.

I still have tomatoes left to can. (I made relish a couple days ago!)

I still haven't decorated for fall.

I have sewing to do. A birthday dress for a little red-headed beauty.

(And I should be getting a garage sale ready to go.)

And I have shopping to do:  Little Miss Audrey turns one shortly!

Memories of Summer

It's hard to say good-bye, but we must.

But we have the memories, the sweet, sunny, bright, breezy, carefree memories.

And so thankful that we do, as we march on into the Autumn.

Tomato Juice

Picked a couple bushels of tomatoes the other day...Luke went out and we worked together.

What pleasant conversations can be had in the garden!

Made some beautiful tomato juice once we got them all in and washed.  Already took the chance to turn some of into some spaghetti sauce.  It's like having the taste of summer in a jar, truly.

The whole process from start to finish is a whole lot of work, but rewarding?  Certainly!

Then I get to cleaning up the gigantic mess and I wonder...is it all worth it?

Yes, I think so.

In summers to come, my kids will have memories of late summer and early fall days with the house smelling like tomatoes and recall the ways they helped, and how delicious it all tasted later during winter evenings.

It's a tangible way to love and provide for our families.

There's something about it .... That makes me keep doing it.

The sound of the lids popping as they seal, writing the date on the lid, lining up all the jars on a pantry shelf...the pride that I feel when the job is done and the food is safely stored away for winter.

(Did you know that if you cut the tiny tip off a Roma tomato, that after you scald it, the whole tomato just pops right out when you hold it up by the bottom!  No need for the skin to split!  Just hold upside down, squeeze, and PLOP!  This is one of the reasons I love the Roma!)

Chasing Sunset

 I love the play of light in this shot.  This tells me Luke is doing well at noticing light in his frame.

On our recent trip north, we made a point of being in a great spot to watch each sunset.  There are no bad spots along the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore!  

You know, there's nothing better about a vacation than deciding where to eat dinner, and then the next biggest question of the day is where to perch to watch the sunset.

Well...this is our choice spot.  It rarely disappoints!

Here I am featuring Luke's shots of this sunset that was particularly beautiful...

 Here is an excellent example of showing light and how it's playing off the beach rocks.

He did what he had to in order to get the perspective he wanted.  Young people are so good with a camera!  They will twist, contort, kneel, anything to get the shot.  

And the play of light off the shoreline, a beautiful pastel shot, and an excellent choice for the feeling the evening left us with: contentment.  

Contentment with the simple things in life.  

Indeed, sunset is one of the beautiful free gifts we receive each evening from above.  Done in colors to match the season.