Changes, Surprises, and A God Thing

And all at once, Summer collapsed into Fall. ~ unknown

Good morning friends! Thank you for visiting today.

There is a change in the air. The songbirds are getting ready to fly south and I shall very much miss them. 

It's hard to believe Summer has come to an end.

We just cleaned out the last of our petunias for another year, and yesterday we drove out to the country to get some pumpkins for decorating. But we will wait until after Teddy before we arrange them.

It is still a little early but soon the leaves on the trees will turn colour, putting on their last show of the season. Somehow, this time of year always makes my hubby and me sad.

With that change however, comes a craving for more comfort food; hearty stews, spicy chili, and cheesey casseroles.

 

I made a rice pudding the other day for the first time in ages and it was so good! I oftentimes make a brown sugar sauce to pour over it. When we first moved to Prince Edward Island, we boarded with a lovely Christian lady and she always served her rice pudding this way. It was one of my favourite desserts, and I decided to serve it the same way when I grew up. She was a fantastic cook, much like my beloved grandmother. My family loves the pudding with the sauce on it!

This week, I felt like gingerbread cake and since I had all the ingredients in my kitchen, I made one. 

I am having a slice of cake with my cuppa today and I am using one of my favourite teapots from Hampstead which I found at the Anne of Green Gables Store a couple of years ago. Isn't she pretty?

My Aynsley teacup which looks lovely with the teapot.

Serenity is a solitary cup of tea; pleasure is sharing it with another. ~ Victoria magazine 

 

Mmm, a slice of warm gingerbread cake and fresh whipped cream.

 

My favourite roses; white with a hint of blush pink were in the store so Hubby got them for me. These roses of such a delicate colour always make me happy!

Two weeks ago, I received a surprise in the mail... 

We sometimes in life, meet people who leave footprints on our hearts. If we are really fortunate, these people become a part of our lives and continue to bless us. Such is the case of my daughter, Carina, who lives out on the west coast. Technically, she is my daughter-in-law, but I prefer to think of her as my daughter; the daughter of my heart!

Unknown to probably everyone, I have always wanted a gold pendant in the shape of the letter "J" that represented my three sons whose names all begin with the letter J.

Just recently, Carina saw a friend wearing a pendant that represented her three children whose names all began with the letter L. Carina decided she wanted to surprise me with a letter "J" pendant. 

How could she have known? She had no idea that I had always wanted one, and not only did she bless me with a gold pendant, {I prefer gold to silver jewelry}, she also got one with Swarovski crystals embedded in it. I also love bling! She shopped all over town with my little granddaughter until they found the right one. The gold chain she found in one store while the pendant itself came from a Swarovski store. Carina went to a lot of trouble to get this for me but it was also a fun outing for both mother and daughter.

 

The pendant couldn't be more perfect and they couldn't be more excited to bless me with it!

A beautiful card accompanied the gift. She has never done this before; just sending me something out of the blue, so I was and am delighted by her thoughtfulness! 

I am convinced this act of kindness was a God thing because He was the only one who knew I always wanted a pendant like this. He also knows how hard the past number of years have been for me, particularly this past year. I believe it was God who prompted Carina to gift me with this exquisite pendant because this is one of the ways He is letting me know He is with me and wants to bless me. He was the only one who knew how I was feeling and He delights in blessing His children. 

I simply had to share this with you. For anyone who is quietly suffering, the Lord knows how you are feeling, and He cares about you. It gives Him pleasure to bless His children.

Before I close, some of you may know that Hurricane Teddy is churning its way up towards us and is supposed to make landfall on Tuesday night into Wednesday. The Island and our neighbouring maritime provinces are still recovering from Dorian's devastation last September. The Island has also been hit very hard in our tourism industry because of the pandemic and we can't afford another catastrophe on top of that. If you think of us, would you please pray that Teddy will head off in another direction and spare us, or that this storm will be kinder than Dorian was? Thank you so much, and God bless you all and keep you and your loved ones safe! Big hugs to all my friends out there in blogland!

Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi

A Pick Me Upper

The fondest memories are made when gathered around the table. ~ unknown 

Hello dear friends! After having gone through so much sadness since March, it was wonderful to be able to go shopping for some new furniture! Getting something new certainly helps lift the spirits, don't you agree? We could all use a pick-me-upper once in a while.

We were in the market for a new dining room set. Here you can see the wood of the old table underneath the tablecloth.

The matching chair.

We have had our dining table and chairs for twenty-nine years, and for about the last twelve years, I have been longing to replace them with a new white set. The table and chairs are made of maple and the red gingham chair pads are from Waverly. They were nice at the time, but I needed a change. I had planned to paint the table and chairs myself but then I damaged my back from a fall seven years ago and had to give up that notion. Time slipped away but I kept longing for a white set.

Dining rooms are really all about the table and chairs. ~ Candice Olson

Then last December, we took the table and the leaves to a paint shop to have them painted an antique white. We had the table painted instead of replacing it because it has two leaves and when our whole family is home, it seats pretty much all of us. We knew buying a new table this size would be pricey and we like to be as practical as much as possible. The table is still in great condition, all it needed was some paint.

Paint goes a long way in making old look new. ~ Candice Olson

I had planned to get four new chairs to go with it, but then the corona virus broke out which put the kibosh on those plans. 

 

While Hubby was on vacation, we found these four chairs which I felt would go well with the table, so we ordered them. The lady who sold us the chairs knew my hubby so she gave us a discount which was nice of her! They are from Ashley furniture and have gently curved backs which are very comfy on my back. I had to choose my chairs carefully because of my back injury and these feel much better than the old chairs. 

We are so happy with how this set brightens up our kitchen-dining area now! It is a sunny spot in our oftentimes dark kitchen.

We will keep the old chairs for family gatherings and we will have enough seats for pretty much everyone.

The new chairs are not a perfect match to the table but I rather like the look because I think it gives the set more character. The seats are padded with a tweed type material which goes wonderfully well with the colours in the floor.

When my children are home, they all hope that their favourite meal is on the menu. One guy loves my spaghetti and seafood chowder while another loves my lasagna. One thing they all agree on is my potato salad. Of course they all have their favourite desserts as well. 

I just smile and I'm happy to oblige them. This leads me to believe that some of their fondest memories were made around the dinner table. 

  

Tea is quiet and our thirst for tea is never far from our craving for beauty. ~ James Norwood Pratt

Now here is my new table set for tea. Would you like to have tea with me? It's not tea and crumpets, but it is tea and peach danish.

Thank you for visiting and have a lovely day.

Sharing from my heart ~ Sandi