The broken shelves

 

There's no denying that these shelves are broken LOL  The lattice work in the back in several places have broken loose but they still work.  And I love them.  They are a wonderful place to display sets and collections and I find myself switching things out every few months or so.  They come in very handy at the holidays.  As you can see in this picture, I've Easter decorations on them.  And of course, each Christmas the shelves are used to display new and vintage Christmas items.

I got these shelves from Grandmother.  I will honestly admit, and I can't say this very often, that I do not remember where she had these shelves in her house.  They originally came from Aunt Billie's house in Wilmington.  That, I remember.  They hung in her dining room over the music cabinet.  She displayed some of her after dinner coffee cups on them.  Yes, I've done that too.  Love those cups.

Even though the shelves are broken, they are very much a part of my house.  I love how they look and I love being able to use them and display my treasures there.  Right now, part of my pig collection is displayed there.  I should take a picture of that LOL  I will probably keep them there until it's time to decorate for Christmas.  I realize that years from now, someone may toss these aside because of their condition.  Until then, I love having some family history on the wall!

Quote of the Week

 This is a good reminder for me and all of us 😊

Walking with confidence

As simple as this may sound, walking with confidence and purpose totally changes my perspective.  I have realized that when I am in public, I tend to shrink physically.  I think it is a subconscious effort not to be noticed, not to draw attention to myself.  Part of that is social anxiety, I know.  I'm working on that one.  But I have realized that it takes a toll on my self-worth.  It's almost as if I am apologizing for being there.  I find myself doing this at work all the time, which is strange because I have nothing to apologize for, for being at work. 

A few weeks ago, when I was walking in between buildings at our community, for some reason I began walking with purpose.  It was very empowering and I carried that throughout my day.  I noticed that I stood straighter when I did that.  My shoulders were back and broad.  And something about walking like that made me feel better.  I felt more in control.  I'm not sure what I felt more in control of, but the feeling was definitely there LOL  Even from parking the car in the morning to entering the building, when I walk like that it changes my whole outlook for the entire day.  I like that feeling.

It also helps with my back pain.  I have no shame in admitting that I have developed a nice big belly.  I look like I'm about to drop twins, but that's a story for a different day haha!  But when I walk with confidence, something about the way I am carrying myself eases the pain brought on by my poor physical shape.  Now when I am out somewhere, I do try to move with conviction and decision.  It totally changes how I experience outings.  I never realized how something so small could make just a huge difference in my perspective, but it does.  Now I just need to work on my posture while I'm sitting.  LOL  One thing at a time!

You'll Never Walk Alone - Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square

 Yesterday morning before church, I listened to the weekly Music and the Spoken Word program presented by Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.  It's always a lovely program and this was one of the selections that they sang.  I have always found this song to be so inspirational and full of hope.  They do a lovely job with it. 

Recipe of the Week - Zucchini and Sausage Bake

 I will admit that I have honestly no idea where I found this recipe, but I know it was online.  I think it may have come from Cooking with Meme on YouTube but I'm not sure.  Anyway, wherever I saw it, I thought it looked really good and wanted to try it.  That's what I did, and I was not disappointed at all!  This was very tasty.  I had it for dinner one night, but it would make a wonderful breakfast entree as well.

Zucchini and Sausage Bake

1 lb sausage

3 Tbsp flour, divided

3 cups shredded zucchini

2 Tbsp butter

1 cup cottage cheese

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup shredded parmesan

Shredded cheddar

Brown sausage.  Put into a bowl and mix with 1 Tbsp flour.  Set aside.  Cook zucchini in sausage drippings.  Add 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp flour.  Cook until tender.  5-6 minutes.  In a separate bowl, combine cottage cheese, egg and parmesan.

Use an 8X10 casserole.  Put sausage down.  Top with zucchini.  Top with cottage cheese mixture.  Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.  Top with cheddar.  cook 10 more minutes.    

Enjoy!

Is my kitchen overrun with gremlins?

 Sometimes I think my kitchen is overrun by gremlins.  You remember the gremlins movies, right?  Well, one of the things about the gremlins is that if you get them wet, they multiply.  I feel like that is happening in my kitchen.  Not with actual gremlins but with stuff in my kitchen.  Just about every time I am trying to put away dishes I have washed or am emptying the dishwasher, it feels like the stuff in my cabinets has multiplied overnight.  Where did third set of measuring spoons come from?  I don't remember having that plastic container before.  How many of these ground meat choppers do I own?

Needless to say, some of my cabinets and drawers are packed to the gills.  It's especially frustrating with drawers because I'll pull out a utensil, things will shift in the drawer and then I can't get it closed back.  I then spend a good 5 minutes trying to arrange the utensils so that the drawer can close.  Sometimes I am not very successful, and exasperation forces me to wedge the drawer shut.  Or I'll have a bowl that's just slightly over the edge of the shelf because it won't go back any farther and now the cabinet door stays ajar.  I love to cook and I use my kitchen stuff all the time, but it's getting to be a might ridiculous.

That is my goal for "One drawer at a time" this weekend.  I am going to go through and organize these cabinets.  I am going to get rid of multiples.  I am bad at convincing myself to keep things because I may need a backup one day.  You know, if I do need a backup, I will go out and get one.  I don't need to keep this army of kitchen tools that become an irritant during the cooking process.  It will be hard, but I can do it.  And then I can open drawers and cabinets with ease.  It's the little things that make me happy, people LOL

I don't need to be constantly connected

 I will say that, overall, my mental health is pretty good.  I have been through periods in my life where my mental health has not been good, so I have become pretty astute at recognizing when I'm in a bad place. But there is always room for improvement.  Even when I'm in a good place, it can always get better.  One of the ways I want to improve my mental health is taking some time each day to disconnect from technology.  I don't mean to disconnect from people but from technology.  It has become such an invasive part of all of our lives.  We're either on our phones or on the computer or watching some streaming service that many of us never take the time to just be present in the moment.

When I log onto my personal computer and get on the internet, it goes to a home page that I cannot change.  I have tried to change it but it never works.  It's a news page.  Well, a "news" page.  Its stories are full of violence and sadness, and this is what I see each morning.  I try my best to quickly go somewhere else, but it is so easy to get sucked into some of these horrible stories.   And then websites like Facebook are not much better.  So many stories of the atrocities in our world and in our country especially.  While I do understand the need to know about things going on in society, it can definitely overload one's brain and cause mental anxiety.  That is no way to live.

Streaming can be the same way and that is unfortunate.  How sad it is that one cannot watch television without these horrible political ads thrown in at quite a high rate.  And these are ads on both sides of the political aisle.  They are just depressing.  I only pay for one streaming service and that payment is the very basic plan.  I am not going to upgrade and pay more just to avoid commercials.  I'm a child of the 80s.  Commercial breaks do not frighten me away.  It's just the content of them these days.  I am constantly watching tv with my finger on the mute button when these horrible ads come on.  The free streaming services I use are just as bad.  So, I have been limiting what I watch and how much. Thank goodness that I have an abundance of DVDs that I can pop in when I just want to relax and have a peaceful watching experience.

So, my goal is to make a conscious effort to limit my exposure to these kinds of things.  I thought a lot about this yesterday at work.  When I got into work, I was told about a problem with our internet that had started the night before.  While there were obvious problems that were caused by the lack of internet with our med techs and our check in systems, many people were freaking out because they could not get on their phones or on their computers.  I found myself to be pretty calm over the situation and enjoyed, for the most part, just doing what I needed to and connect with the residents.  I liked that feeling and want to have more of that in my day.  That is the goal.  Put down the phone, get off of the computer and just be present for a little while each day.  I can do that. 

Quote of the Week

 

The Round Silver Tray

 I do enjoy a nice piece of silver, and I have collected some really beautiful pieces over the years.  And I am not afraid of good silverplate pieces.  Most people gravitate towards sterling because it's more valuable but if I really like a piece, I don't care if it's plated or sterling.  I have also inherited some lovely pieces of silver as well. This round tray is one of the pieces that I got from Mom.  Technically, it belonged to Mom and Dad, but Dad doesn't really care about such things, so I always consider it to be Mom's.

This is a serving tray.  A round serving tray that is about 12 inches in diameter.  It has a lovely border on it that is about 1 inch deep all the way around with intricate gingerbread work.  It is not anything extremely fine, but it is something that is extremely special.  My parents met in 1966 when they both were teaching at Bethel High School.  Dad taught physical education and Mom taught English.  They both graduated from East Carolina University but were four years apart and so their paths did not cross until Bethel. 

They were married on July 28, 1968.  This tray was a wedding gift to them.  It was presented to them by the senior class at Bethel High School.  They had it engraved so that Mom and Dad would always remember them.  I think that's so special that the students came together to do something like that for two of their favorite teachers.  The tray sat in a cabinet for most of my childhood and like so many other pieces in that cabinet it was only for display.  I don't recall Mom ever using it.  You know me, though, I love to bring it out and use it when I entertain.  And even though polishing it is kind of a pain because of the gingerbread work, it's still beautiful to me.  

I think the next time I have people over, I need to use this tray.  Come on over and see! 

Recipe of the week - Cranberry Meatballs

 This is an easy recipe using frozen meatballs.  You could serve it as an appetizer or as a main dish.  I have used it as my main dish and served it with potatoes or rice.  I hope you will give this one a try!

Cranberry Meatballs

1 bag frozen meatballs

1 14oz can of whole cranberry sauce

1/4 cup Ketchup

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp frank's hot sauce

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 Tbsp brown sugar

Place meatballs in your crock pot.  Mix all other ingredients together and pour over meatballs.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Enjoy!!

Life without a list simply did not work for me.

 

Recently, I have spent several weeks listless.  As an adult, I have always been a list person.  It helps me organize and be productive.  Lots of people use lists to get things done.  But for some reason, I decided to not use a list to get through my week.  I thought that would make my life more carefree and spontaneous if I was not bogged down by my own to-do list.  I was wrong LOL In some ways, yes, it was nice to come home and not feel boxed in by a list of things to get accomplished.  But then I realized that I really was not getting anything done at all.  I just sat around like a sloth.  I felt far from carefree and spontaneous.

So, I am going back to my list system.  It works for me and I actually get things done.  I kept thinking that, as an adult, I should be able to remember all of the things that I need to do without writing them down.  That was so wrong.  I am so far behind on so many things that I may need to double the length of my daily list just in order to catch up. And you know what?  I'm so excited about it.  That is how my adult life goes.  I am excited about my to-do lists LOL  Ah, well. I have a daily planner that I use that really helps.  Each month has its own calendar and then daily pages because, you know, that's how daily planners work LOL I have certain things that I do each day of the week and it's so easy to transpose those chores from week to week when I'm writing them down.  I also don't overload my daily to-do list if I'm keeping track of it.  Makes me more productive.

As exciting as this is to all you know, and I know that it is, I am going to end this little insight into my life.  I am off from work today and so I need to go and check my list to see what needs to be done!  Ah, these crazy escapades in adulting.  

For All We Know - The Carpenters

 I've been thinking a lot about my friend Lorraine.  One week ago, her husband left this world.  They had 28 wonderful years together.  I was privileged to be in their wedding.  Theirs was a beautiful love story and my heart goes out to her.  We should all be so lucky in love. 

Sorting into piles

 

When I am going through things in each drawer, each cabinet and on each surface, I divide them into categories.  Keep, trash, donate, sell.  Obviously, the keep pile is the biggest.  I just can't help myself there, but I am getting better.  It's smaller than it was!  And if you know me, that is a pretty big deal. My sell pile is also really a form of the keep pile right now.  In the back of my mind, I still think I may have some kind of antiques/collectibles business sometime down the road, so I want to keep an inventory of some kind ready. But these are also items that I will give to any of my friends if they see something they like.  I keep a picture album on Facebook of such things.  No one's taken me up on that one yet but oh well!

The trash and donate piles can be tricky for me though.  Sometimes I wonder if I should donate items that are not perfect and need repair.  Or should I just trash them.  I watch a show on tv called Money For Nothing.  It's a British show where this woman goes to the dump and finds items being thrown out and repurposes them.  It's a pretty entertaining show and some of the things she and her artisans come up with are outstanding.  So, when I am looking at something that I think I need to just throw out, I will often stop myself and wonder if someone could do something with it. I keep hearing that little voice in my head saying one man's trash is another man's treasure.  Sometimes I want to mute that voice because it makes me think too hard LOL  And I end up donating because for one, it's true that someone may be able to do something with it.  And also, it won't end up in the landfill because I saw little value in it.  Oh, well.

Right now, I'm still in the kitchen working so most everything is in pretty good shape to put into piles.  I'll keep going and once I get a good donation pile going, I will take it to the appropriate place and let it go.  Every pile has its value and forcing myself to make decisions like this is a good thing.  It's not as easy as you see on all of those home improvement shows, but it can be done!

Today's Moment of Mindfulness

 

It's good to have an end in mind, but in the end what counts is how you travel. 

Sleeping In

 

Sleeping in is something that I apparently cannot do as an adult.  It does not seem to matter if I go to be at 9:00 p.m. or 1:00 a.m. I am going to be up before the sun.  Every day.  This is not a bad quality to have but at times it is frustrating.  Sleeping in has become a fantasy in my life.  It's never a reality unless I'm sick and I don't count that.  That is my body telling me that I'm on a different schedule because of some virus.  That kind of sleeping in is far from pleasurable.  I'll take it, because I need it, but it's not the same as just sleeping in.

As an adult, I have become a morning person.  I never saw that one coming as a teenager.  I can get a lot more done in the morning when I put my mind to it.  I am not always productive in the morning, but I know that the possibility is there.  Some mornings I'm just lazy LOL When Michael and I were together, I got up before he did and that morning time was like my sanctuary.  It was my alone time and I cherished that.  That is kind of when I first learned that I needed some alone time each day to focus on myself.  So, I got used to getting up early.  Now, that I am single, I really don't have that excuse, but I still get up early.  

Last night, I told myself that I was going to sleep in this morning.  I went to bed around 11:00 p.m.  I purposely did not set my alarm.  I turned on my radio instead and let it play all night.  I love those nights when I can let the radio play and have music in the background while I'm drifting in and out of sleep.  But then 6:15 a.m. comes around and BAM.  I am awake.  No alarm except for my body alarm.  And it's not the kind of awake that I can say I'll just roll back over and go back to sleep.  I am awake.  I even remind myself that I am off today and do not have to be anywhere this morning.  That held no influence this morning.  I went ahead and got up, made my coffee and here I am.

I am not complaining that I cannot sleep in intentionally anymore.  It is just disappointing sometimes because it feels like a luxury that escapes me. Ah, the joys of adulthood.

Christ United Methodist Church

 

I wonder if my ancestors would agree with this quote.  I hope that they would as that would be the Christian thing to do.  I'm not so sure though.  I grew up in a Baptist family and the further back I look into the family tree, the more Baptist they were.  Ah, well.  They were who they were, and I am who I am, and nothing will really change that. 

After searching for a long time, I am becoming a Methodist.  I began attending Christ United Methodist Church back at the beginning of June.  I absolutely love it.  Everyone there has been so nice and welcoming.  I enjoy the services and actually pay attention to the sermons.  I told one of the pastors that I've become someone who actually takes notes during the service.  And they have a good music program, which is important to me.  I used to feel that was a silly requirement for a church home, but I have come to realize how important that is to me. It is one of the ways I feel that I can serve in the church.  But I really love what this church stands for.  It is very community and service oriented.  They are out all the time helping with many community organizations.  And everyone is welcome at the table here. They really do seem to be guided by the teachings of Jesus.  Can't say that about many places of worship these days, sadly.

So, at the end of this month, I will officially be joining the church, and I am quite excited about that. While I think some past generations of my family may be rolling in their graves, I am happy with this decision.  It feels right.  And I'm taking Dolly's advice! 

Quote of the Week

 

A Bushel and a Peck - Faith Prince

 Stephanie and I went to see Guys and Dolls last night at UNCG.  It was so much fun.  My 4th time seeing the show onstage. The score is full of so many wonderful songs.  The cast did an impeccable job with the show.  Afterwards, we were discussing the film version.  A Bushel and a Peck is Miss Adelaide's first number.  This song was became very popular and was recorded by many artists yet was cut from the film.  Interesting. Here is Faith Prince and company from the 1992 Broadway Revival. 

The glass butter dish

 If you know me at all, you know that I love dishes.  I can't help it, I just do.  I give credit to Mom and Grandmother for that one.  Along with the love of antiques they instilled in me, a love of nice dishes goes along with that. And that goes hand in hand with entertaining.  I love to set the table, as you should have figured out by now LOL To me, that sets the mood for a meal.  The food just enhances that mood LOL

I have several sets of china.  I admit it.  I am addicted to it.  But I also really like to collect different serving pieces.  While it's fun to have the table laid out in one pattern, I like to add to that with different serving pieces.  This butter dish is one of them.  I found it at the Golden Antiques shop in Summerfield, NC.  It was one of those I just turned around and it was there experiences.  I have several different butter dishes, but I was drawn to this one for some reason.  I did not have a glass one yet. 

Glass butter dishes are not hard to find, and they range from reasonable to relatively expensive depending on the age, pattern and quality of the piece.  I love the fact that most antique glass butter dishes are round.  It's a reminder that people used to make their own butter and then mold it into shapes.  You don't often find round butter in the grocery store.  I don't think I've ever seen it actually.  Anyway, I was drawn to this particular one because of the simplicity of its design.  And most butter dishes are flat on the bottom, but this one has a small foot on the bottom. I love any dish that's footed, so that was a plus.  And it's versatile because it can go with all kinds of sets of china.  

While I haven't churned my own butter, I have made some herb butter which goes nicely in this dish.  Like most of what I buy, I love to use these kinds of things and look forward to having this on my table for years to come.

Recipe of the Week - Mazetti Casserole

 Apparently, this recipe (and its many versions) has been around for years. I have no idea how I missed it.  We didn't have it growing up and I don't recall anyone else serving it to me.  But when I saw this on an episode of Cooking with Meme on YouTube, I thought I would give it a try. I really did enjoy it.  It is not something I would want to make all the time, but every now and then it will be a good dish for Sunday Dinner!  If you have never tried it, let me know what you think.  If you have or have your own version, I would love to hear some of the different things you add to it.

Mazetti Casserole

12 oz package of egg noodles

2 lbs ground beef

1 lb ground pork or pork sausage

1 pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 Tbsp garlic powder

2 cups chopped celery

2 cans tomato soup

1 jar of sliced mushrooms

8 oz cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 325.  Cook noodles as directed.  Drain and set aside.  Brown meet.  Drain.  Sauté vegetables in butter.  Add garlic powder.  Toss meat and vegetables together.  Add noodles.  Add soup and mushrooms.  Pour into casserole.  Top with cheese.  Bake uncovered for 1 hour. 

Enjoy!