This Week In My Home: Winding Down

Years ago, my mom acquired metal beds for my brother and I from family members.   I remember those beds fondly and during Katie's childhood she also had one.   I have the headboard of an old Simmons bed in my guest room right now.   I adore them.  

I first discovered that Simmons (famous now for the Beauty Rest line of mattresses) originally made metal bedframes when I acquired a vintage 1928 Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  

A few weeks ago, I was looking at various vintage room decor and I found this old Simmons color ad.  I thought it was such a pretty room and wanted to share it. 

The bed sets with the remaining furniture painted to match are such a pretty deep green.  I love that the pink floral decals were used as the starting point for the room's decor.  Note the pale green walls and the pink curtains.  

It is the Chinese screen behind the headboards that set the theme of the room.  That's where the little Chinoiserie lamp, Oriental chest and accessories come in.   It is the blue in the screen that is used as an accent on the bedspreads.

I really wanted to share the pretty little beds with you all but I confess the room captured my attention as I looked at the details in the picture.   It's a lovely little room, don't you think?

In my home this week...Channukah starts Sunday night.  I usually put up my tree on Thanksgiving night but since I had guests I didn't.  I've been wondering how much decorating I can do with Caleb about but decided that my usual start with a naked tree will be fine.  He'll be fascinated with it, lit or unlit and that's okay.  I'm ready to get started on my usual routine and am longing for those late nights or early mornings sitting admiring my little tree with twinkling lights.  

Samuel gave me a 'mistake purchase' he'd made at the fancy market of Decaf Peppermint coffee.  It's the most minty coffee I've ever had.   I was reminded too that I used to love Barney's Santa's White Christmas coffee.   Even though Katie just gifted me a case of Blueberry Crumble coffee, I think I'd like to have a special coffee just for December days.   

It's the small luxuries that keep me going, as I often say to John.  Years ago, when we were broker than broke, it wasn't going without the big things that made it all so very hard to bear.  No indeed.  It was the little things. Not having money for a new lipstick or even a sample pack of special coffee.  Not the items that cost hundreds of dollars, but the ones that cost $5 or less.

I could get carried away just thinking of Christmas.  Let us not yet forget that November is still here and there are weeks ahead before Christmas is imminent.

Work:

Work on December goals.

Start wrapping Christmas gifts.  

I want to get some smalls for gifts mostly fun things so I'd like to plan those out, make a list and pick up over the next few weeks.  

I also need to add something to four gifts.  And I have one more person I need to buy a gift for.  I'd like to get those all knocked out this next week.  None of them will be pricey.

I have been gifted some extra funds meant especially for stocking up my freezer.  I hope to get that done this week on a planned free day mid-week.

Start Christmas decorating.  This week I'll concentrate on setting up my tree and decorating my mantle.  As usual, now that Christmas is near, I have a load of ideas of how I'd like to decorate and not a thing I want to work with.  I'll work something out, even if a bit of DIY is involved, or I'll scrap my dreamy plan and use what I have as I so often do.

As usual, I'll have Caleb most all week long, this week from Sunday through Wednesday and then on Friday.  And as usual, I'm not planning heavily on doing too much.  I never know how taxing or easy a day might be with him and I will work from there.  

Kitchen:

I froze everything on Thursday night because my brain boggled at the idea of putting anything in the fridge.  Well, not my best thinking, as its all frozen in big lumps and not recipe sized ones.  Duly noted.  However, I want to make a list of those leftovers, plan meals I can make from them and go from there.  I'll post the list on the fridge or bulletin board and then I'll have a handy memo for what I might make on the days I take one of those items from the freezer to thaw...and a reminder to use those things up so I can free up the space and have a few empty containers for future leftover items!

I'm making small kitchen plans for this week.  In about 3 weeks we'll be having family day.  I will make a carrot cake and a few family favorite cookies.  This year I want to make Snickerdoodles.  I haven't made them in years and I really like them.  I tend to make everyone else's favorite cookies but not my own.  

Menus:

Breakfasts:  Eggs and Toast; Biscuits and Gravy; Sausage and Egg Muffins; Apple Pancakes, Bacon; Breakfast Sandwiches; Peanut Butter Toast; Cheese Grits, Toasted Biscuits

Lunches:  Mostly open to what I have on hand.  I have three types of soup in the freezer in two portion servings, turkey to make into turkey salad sandwiches, Peanut butter, Pimento Cheese.  

Suppers:  

Turkey Strata, Peas, Pear Salad, 

Jambalaya with Beans and Rice, Cornbread

BBQ Chicken, Rice, Collards, Black Eye Peas

Hamburger Gravy on Toast, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Beef with Broccoli, Rice, Ambrosia

Chili, Pineapple Salad, Cornbread

Vegetable Alfredo Lasagna, Garlic Toast, Tossed Salad

Personal and Leisure:

I haven't picked up a book since I finished The Baker's Daughter by D. E. Stevenson (*Amazon affiliate link).   I asked Katie to bring me Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone from her bookshelf.  I would like to read something fantasy based this time around and that seemed like a good book to start.

I got a new Stitch Fix box.   This makes my fourth and a full year of using that service to make my wardrobe.  I really like the pieces I received this time around and have only one that I'm not positive about but only because I was in a hurry when I tried them on.  John is always impressed with their choices.  I think I shared that I previewed the first picks and I didn't care for a single one.   The stylist pulled together another group entirely and happily all of them please me.  So, this week I want to play with what I got, see how I can mix and match what I have, cull a few pieces from my wardrobe, etc.

I want to spend a little time each afternoon (or morning) sitting in the sun on one of the porches.  I found this so beneficial last year during the cooler months as well as being a great tension release for me.

This Sunday begins Channukah.   We have candles and we have our Channukah coffee mugs but I don't have any little treats planned or purchased ahead.  I think we'll survive the season without the fun little things added in.   I don't know why I am not prepared except that my mind has been elsewhere for weeks now.  Sigh.  Never mind.  I have candles, thanks to forethought last year.  

I've broken two of the bowls that go to my new dishes.  I say new but I think I've had them for 2 or 3 years already.  Rather than try to find matches and replace, I thought I'd like to find another set of dishes that might pair well with the plates and cups.  It will be a fun little hunt with no particular time line of completion.  Since I can't get out to antique stores or thrift places just now, I thought it would be a fun eBay search.