living unplugged unconciously

Hello friends! 

I'm just popping in to say a brief hi and I've missed you. Our computer decided to give up on us this last week and so we have been living the life of the unplugged. It's actually been rather interesting and I will have lots to share once the computer comes back from the shop. But in the meantime, we're not really online at all except for brief forays like this when I borrow my sister's computer. 

I hope you all are well and enjoying this fabulous early summer! 

a happy kitchen

our collection of tea etc. tins atop the fridge

Slowly but surely we're making this little hobbit hole into a home. Getting pictures printed for the walls that have been stored on hard drives, putting some of our many books in a bookshelf, and finally setting up my kitchen with all my own appliances and dishes. 

I love to be in the kitchen so creating a space for creativity, inspiration, and easily accessible was pretty high on my list. After storing most of my pantry supplies on the floor and under the table, we finally got a stand alone pantry. The kitchen in our hobbit hole was not designed for hobbits (since we all know that hobbits love to eat and need no excuse to put on the kettle), it has several drawbacks but we make do with what we have. It's a little on the small side and the storage is lacking somewhat but we've made it our own and think it's quite nice, actually.

At a recent garage sale, I was able to get a lot of glass jars which I had been waiting for so that I could organize my pantry the way I wanted too. 

I emptied out plastic bags into the glass jars, my preferred method of storage for several reasons. One of them being that everything looks so much better in glass and also glass is a really good long-term storage for food items. All the baking supplies have labels on them so I know which white powder is what and which jars I need to refill. The finished product doesn't look as neat and tidy as I would like it too since everything doesn't fit into jars but it's all organized and clean and makes me happy when I open it.  And we all know that if a cook is happy, the food is bound to taste good!

here's a glimpse at one of the shelves

I keep these three items on a shelf beside the fridge since I use them all the time along with my garlic and pepper grinder. They're some of my best friends in the kitchen along with my tins of tea.

What keeps you happy in the kitchen?

3 Things That Make Me Smile

1. Little girls who love books and who entertain themselves with their books. 

 2. Little girls' inquisitive eyes and the way they wonder at the world. 

 

  

3. Little girls in pink and braids.

What's making you smile today?

 

If you want to have a girls' night....

....it's best to start in the afternoon with a little scrapbooking. Orange julius make a very nice refreshment while you cut and paste and create. 

 

 It's best to give the kidlets a little something to nosh on as well, popcorn is quite well-liked. 

 But sometimes you need a little more. So you look at all your options, and try to decide what you really want. And sometimes you just really want Chinese. So you get take-out and you eat at the coffee table because the table is covered with your scrapbooking stuff.  

 Then you get the kidlets ready for bed. And ooh and ahh over how adorable they look in their jammies. You try to take some pictures and they turn out. Sort of.

 Then the house is all quiet and you have a couple hours until the husbands come home. So you make some brownies and you make some tea and you dish up some ice-cream. You settle in to watch a movie and pause for a pedicure. 

 And then at a very late hour, you take a picture of the two of you because it's a moment and a memory. And you smile when you think back over the night and it kind of makes you want to do it all over again.