Discovering Sweet Simplicity
In my line of work, keeping things simple is not just a lifestyle choice...
it is an absolute necessity.
Perhaps you could say the same.
Unfortunately for me, I am a slow learner. While I have always desired the most efficient way to do anything, I have never had as many distractions keeping me from finding it as I do presently. I am sure if any of you came into my home, you could easily find ways in which I am making it harder rather than easier. You might find the non-word "Duh" coming to mind as you survey my goings about.
Even so, once in a while I catch on to a new tune whistled by sweet simplicity, often courtesy of a few places, people and things that have made my world a teensy bit more streamlined. If you care to read, I am here to share!
The Farm Stand Down the Road
I realize not everyone has these, but everyone has times when they offer/are asked to bring a portion of a meal to which I declare we should find no shame in not toting our Great Aunt Matilda's made-from-scratch-with-the-52-step-recipe Chocolate Layer Cake to the occasion. Of course, if you have the time and desire, I say MAKE IT for the woman there who has neither but greatly appreciates the glorious taste of a time-tested, and painstakingly precise recipe that is bursting with the flavor that comes from such a treat.
As for me...on Saturday night I was to bring a dessert to the dinner we were honored to be invited to. Since local strawberries are bursting on the plywood stands of Amish farms surrounding our home, I thought I'd pick some up and then make an impressive Angel Food Cake-which I've never done before without Betty Crocker's assistance- with the surplus of eggs provided by 'the girls' (our fine flock of feathered friends). I had the recipe pulled up on allrecipes.com, and walked past it for a while, weighing all of the five bazillion things I had to do besides, along with the fact that my window of naptime opportunity was drawing to a rapid close.
Thus, when the farm stand I ran out to had shortcake for sale beside the stawberries, I hesitated not even a second. For a semi-homemade touch, I did buy some real whipping cream and cut a few stalks of peppermint leaves from our back flower bed to garnish with. I almost felt as though my mother and/or Sandra Lee were overtaking my body. ;)
A Sweet and Sensible Sugar Pie
Sugar Pie Farmhouse is a favorite place of mine to drop on in during my few travels in Blogdom. "Aunt Ruthie" recently sent out an email offering her e-book
for a discounted price. I downloaded it and am completely DEE~lighted with every single charming, bright, colorful, vintage, pretty, practical, whimsical, straightforward, quote-filled page. I was so charmed by it's pages, that I printed a favorite one, tucked it in a white distressed Target frame i had in a closet waiting to be used and enhanced a little corner of my kitchen with it. If you have under 10 buckeroos to spare, and if you like this sort of thing, I would suggest adding a splash of vintage color and common sense to your world!
Breakfast Buckets (and a Bunny Trail)
The page (from aforementioned e-book) I printed out had a verse that I felt would be of benefit to read as I reach for my beloved coffee cup each morning:
"This is the day that the Lord has made; Let us ReJoIcE and bE gLaD in it!
Psalm 118:24
It also had the positively BRILLIANT idea to create little 'Breakfast Buckets' to hand out to your children in the morning (best assembled the night before). When I read that the Heavens seemed to open over my head and the voice said: "Beloved daughter, why this didn't occur to you before, I can only assume is a result of The Fall, but thanks to another, you now know a way to reduce morning congestion that begins the moment your big toe hits the old kitchen linoleum and jump starts your daily trips to the outskirts of the dark city called Insanity."
At my last trip to Target, I picked up five cute little buckets from the Dollar Bins.
{Bunny Trail Alert! Darn those venus fly traps Dollar Bins! They get me every time, their loose bins hanging out suggestively all over the place as their well-intentioned, budgeted 'targets' grab their carts to head in. (Oh, you didn't know? Target. It's named after you and I. It is a not-so-subtle reference to their customers. I have no concrete evidence to back this up, but I can think of no greater explanation for it's name. Genius, really. The joke is on us!). As usually happens, at the end of my red-carted forays into the "Money Vacuum", I will hold back my 15 "only one dollar" items and wait for the subtotal of all the other not-really-but-more-so essentials and inevitably assume my most apologetic expression and tone as I lean forward to the clerk and say, "I'm gonna hold off on these...I'm so sorry". I dump -five of each- magic sponge sets, patriotic headbands and cheap character plates into the hands of the annoyed cashier who I pray doesn't recognize me from the last time I did this. Which was around, um, last week. Did I yet mention I'm a slow learner??}
I brought the five buckets home and filled them up each with a banana (a normal morning staple around here), "Simply Gogart" packets (less artificial than the regular, which I like), AND two (each) of the most amazing little muffins I've ever made...Donut Muffins. They are quick and impossibly easy, which should go without saying for any recipe I share.
I labeled each tin and stuck them in the fridge for Monday morning.
There should be a disclaimer here, for this is the first time I have tried this...and like most habits I try to faithfully follow, it would not be surprising to me that if two (dare I say less than one week), these sweet little tins are laying scattered-and dented- over the driveway/play set area. Yet, as always, I begin with high hopes!
Simplicity. It will probably occur to me years from now how simple things really were in this season of life. I know where my children are, and who they are with and what they are doing when they are with them. My peeps are in my nest, and while my feathers are often in a flapping frenzy, they can still be found under their protective fold.
For instance, I know that the blond chic sitting beside him in his Jeep now will not break his heart, nor can she lead him astray and make him a father. He'll toss her aside, and I do not need to feel bad about it. She's cool with it. She is content in the doll basket but is happy for a simple ride with this chubby little hunk when he's so inclined. (I must -and believe you me, I mean MUST, insert here that this John Deer-Green beaut of a Jeep is the restored masterpiece that was once a 'free' grimy pink jeep my husband had hauled home from West Virginia, in which I so cold-heartedly wrote of a few posts back. I was wrong to ever doubt his ability to glorify plastic in such a timely and expertly done way. Yes, honey, I was wrong. You were right. There.)
Yes, indeed...as my fingers type my brain seeks and finds other ways in which this time, with all it's physical demands, is chock-full with a simplicity that the future will point me back to with wistful whispers.
This is one reason why I write.
It makes me remember.
Or it illuminates that which I have not yet stopped to consider.
And if my thoughts are blowing in an Upward, outward direction...
it can serve as a help to this slow learner.
Thank you so very much for dropping by, friend!
PS. Your empathizing comments in my previous post assuring me that indeed, I am NOT the only one, left me laughing and feeling quite connected to you! Thank you for the generous reassurance. Seriously! And according to Random.org and it's generated number "16", Gwenda, I hope you are reading this, for I would appreciate if you would either leave me your email address or send me your address at my email listed on the side bar. Your kitchen sink (and any surface you want to spray!) is about to smell much sweeter, thanks to Mrs. Meyers and her Fan-Tab-U-Lous Geranium scented counter cleaner!!
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