Worth Sharing: September 29-October 4

I'm determined we shall capture autumn some way, if only in the art I share!  Our very hot temperatures (high 90's to 100f) continue here but are supposed to decrease to mid-80s over the weekend.   85f does feel like a 'cool down' after 100...but it's hardly autumnal.  I am longing for cooler crisp days.

From an October 1943 Elsa Conners column in Woman's Day magazine:
A woman can accomplish almost anything she wants to accomplish if she proceeds with persistence and good humor as well as wisdom.
~Madame Chiang Kai-Shek



On a whim Sunday I was trolling a blog and the author mentioned that a website offered an inside view of  Coco Chanel's Parisian apartment.  I've been a fan of Chanel's classic style for years, courtesy vintage fashion magazines I once owned, so naturally I was curious to see her apartment. I didn't find that particular feature on the site, but  I stumbled upon the fall/winter 2019 fashion show.  Then I clicked a second box.  Oh.My.  So intricate and lovely!  I'll never wear anything like this in my lifetime. It's impractical and my mind boggles at how one goes about laundering delicate and lovely things which are so beautifully made  but something in me is very satisfied as I watch the seamstresses do the handwork.    Have a look here and click on the photo with the sequins.

The necklace in the photo below,  is proving to be a wise economy.  I bought this necklace about three (?four?) years ago and I've worn it only occasionally but this year it seems it's lending itself quite well to my fall wardrobe.   When a piece is worn more often it becomes something of a signature piece in the wardrobe.  I think this necklace is going to be one of my signature pieces this fall.

Originally when I bought it, I paired it with a peach colored shirt and that's something I continued to do until this year when I bought nothing peach colored for summer.  This past week I pulled it from the drawer and paired it with other pieces.  Here I'm wearing it with a navy lace shirt.   The contrast of the light rust and gold with the navy is quite pretty.   I've also paired it for autumn wear with black, oatmeal and rust colored tops.  It would contrast well with both olive and hunter greens, and might even be rather pretty with an eggplant or maroon.  That is one combination I've yet to try.

I often buy costume jewelry pieces (yes and scarves, too, but that's another subject) on clearance when they catch my eye, even if I'm not sure just what I'll wear them with at the time of purchase. This is a prime example of why.  I may hold onto a piece several years without wearing it very often but because I tend to buy pieces that aren't trendy and have a more classic look to them, they are well worth holding onto.  I  tend to forgo any pieces that are all metal, as they often tarnish or lose their finish, unless they are brass or copper, which do wear well.  Colored glass rather than plastic beads which have been painted are another sign of a better quality piece, also.  Now and then you'll find plastic beads that are not glazed but the plastic actually is colored through and those beads hold up well.  

And here I must share a funny little story about an evening find this week.  I saw a lovely scarf on Pinterest and clicked through to price it.  I thought it likely it was far more than any I've bought to date (my silk scarves are generally about $3 at thrift stores) and mentally guessed at the price.  Well...The actual price of the thing made me gasp and then laugh out loud.  "Gracious! I have great taste but I just can't afford myself!" I told John.  I'd guessed the scarf cost about $50.   It went for $555 and that didn't include shipping...I still get the vapors just thinking about it, lol.

Here is a wonderful guide to seasonal squash I received in an email.   John doesn't care for acorn squash at all, but he does like butternut and spaghetti squash.  I hope with this guide we might expand our enjoyment of winter squash season.   There are recipes included on the page that look worth trying, too.

I noted in one of our very  local store ads that buttercup squash was offered.  I haven't heard of that squash before.  I didn't see buttercup squash on the link above so found information about it, just click on the link.

Last week I shared something I'd read on Instagram @sarahwanders.  I am a newcomer to the Clarkson family though I know that they're well known among the Christian circles.  However, this week I signed up for Sarah's newsletter which was just lovely. Click the link to sign up if you're interested.  It was thru her newsletter that I was introduced to her sister Joy's podcasts which I've been listening to with rapt attention.  I noted that mother Sally has a podcast as well and there's a musician brother Joel, as well.  Such a talented family.   More mind and soul expansion.  Check out her sister Joy's podcast, Speaking with Joy.  Well worth listening to.

I continue reading slowly through Concerning the Inner Life by Evelyn Underhill, which is fast becoming nearly as well marked as my Bible:
Only when our souls are filled to the brim can we presume to offer spiritual gifts to other men...

and  also this:
The remedy for that sense of impotence, that desperate spiritual exhaustion which religious  workers too often know, is, I am sure, an inner life governed not by petition but by adoring prayer.

I found this item on Pinterest.  It's written by Aurorasa Coaching:
9 Types of rest:
1. Time away
2. Permission to not be helpful (!Here I really struggle with myself!)
3. Doing something unproductive
4. Connection to art and nature
5. Solitude to recharge
6. A break from responsibility (!Another struggle)
7. Stillness to decompress
8. Safe Space
9. Alone time @ home


Before I send this out this afternoon, I would like to share another wise economy.

I checked my refrigerator for 'forgotten foods'.   What prompted this was the sudden realization last night as I lay awake for a portion of time that I had 1 single zucchini in the drawer that really ought to be used if it wasn't already too late.

I found the zucchini this morning, still fresh enough to use, thankfully.  So glad I remembered to go over the entire fridge,  as I'd taken a pound of ground beef out to thaw early in the week and had placed it right in the fridge frozen solid and I'd completely forgotten it! I also found leftover cooked rice.



My work today was part meal planning for the weekend and preparing a few things to put in the freezer.  Here's what I made for the freezer, some of which will be passed to Katie as  Helper Meals after Caleb is born:

2 breakfast casseroles using bread cubes from freezer and eggs that I bought three weeks ago.  This morning John called to say that the girl who used to supply us with eggs had dropped off two dozen for him at work and that pushed me to use up some of the eggs on hand, as I had promised Bess I'd buy a dozen from her, as well.

1 large and 1 single serve Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole. (Used cooked broccoli and half the cooked rice from the fridge).

1 Golden Chicken Mushroom Pasta Sauce Packet to drop into the crockpot later.

Half a recipe of Cabbage rolls (using half the rice and the pound of  ground beef  and some saved outer leaves of cabbage).  I'm not freezing this one but have prepped ahead.  I only need to do the simmering process.  I'll make this for John and I early next week.

1 packet of Italian Pan Roasted Vegetables (zucchini got used here) which was put in the freezer and can reheat beside that pan of Mac and Cheese I put in the freezer a couple of weeks ago.

The kitchen was a huge mess when I was done but the work had  double satisfaction of knowing I'd used items that might have gone to waste, and had provided for future busy days ahead as well as getting started on meals to ease Katie's path in the early days of bringing home the baby.