Friday Favorites

We've had lots of people over to our new home this past year and most all ask what are the things we love the most and what is something we would have done differently.  To be truthful, we could not be happier with our decisions and choices, and for that we are VERY thankful!  I feel so blessed to live in a home designed just for us but all of the decisions were based on lots of input from family, friends, Pinterest and the many decorating blogs I read.

I thought I'd dedicate a post every couple of weeks to the things we like best in our new home and why they work for us.

I would say my favorite room is our kitchen/dining room.  When we first sat down with our architect, he asked how we wanted to feel in each space.  My vision for the kitchen/dining room was to be light and airy. I also wanted the two rooms combined.  We would use our old dining room furniture so he worked their size into the design.

The nine foot ceilings and transom windows help to make this a bright, cheery space.  The cabinet color also helps to keep the space light.  Our cabinet maker used a commercial grade paint and it didn't have a name, just a color number.  When compared to the white trim used elsewhere in the house, it has a little bit of grey in it.  I didn't want a bright white for the cabinets, just something softer.  I am also pleased with how they look with the wood floors and our existing dining room furniture.

 

We've had lots of discussions about the counter tops.  We chose quartz and I've been so pleased with the two different colors.  Several family members have granite and others have solid surface and each love their choices. This was a hard one.  There are many different options and in the end, you have to decide how you cook and what will be the best for that. I'm pretty messy and wanted a surface that was low-maintenance and durable.  We set our budget and did a lot of looking around but I am so happy with my Silestone! It's easy to clean and has held up well with multiple spills and messes. I cook a lot and can veggies from the garden so the island size and built-in deep sink have come in handy.

Another thing I love about our kitchen that I'll share this time are the pull-out drawers.  Whoever thought of these should be a billionaire!  (I know it's tacky to show the inside of your drawers but... this is truly how they look EVERYDAY!  In our old house, my 'tupperware' space was a lower corner cabinet.  It was large and my stuff got lost in there!  Many times, I would be on my hands and knees looking for a lid to an orphaned container.  NO MORE!  Here they all are!  And I'm not crawling around after dinner looking for anything!!

 The wide space allows me to keep everything where they can easily be found.

 The little cut-out in the drawer below accommodates the gas fixture for the stove.

Several heavy pots and pans are stored here and in another pullout shelf in the island.

Don't judge me!  I LOVE these Ware Ever pots!  The skillets are newer but I just couldn't part with my old friends!!

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be sharing our "favorites" every couple of weeks.  My hope is these posts will be helpful to anyone remodeling or building a new home.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

                                                                                      Zenda





Linking to:

Share Your Style
Share Your Cup
Home Matters
Dishing It and Digging It
Sweet Inspiration Party
Amaze Me Monday
Make It Pretty Monday
Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays At Our House
The Scoop

A Christmas Hello

I'm popping in to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

After celebrating for several days, I've decided to sit down and spend sometime on my blog.  It's been so long since I posted last, I wondered if I still knew how.  Even though my posts have been sparse, I've enjoyed visiting you all and reading what you've been up to.  Hopefully 2018 will be less busy and my blog will receive a lot more attention.

I wanted to share a table I set for our 'grown up' children's Christmas dinner last night.  I've set lots of tables this year in our new home but rarely take the time to photograph them.  This time, I was ready a little early and thought about taking a few shots.

I went with a silver, gold and white theme.  It's simple but was fun and easy to create and I think everyone enjoyed my efforts!

We have hosted my side of the family on Christmas Day for a long time.  This year there were over 30!  We moved the furniture around so I could set up enough tables for everyone. (Notice the cheater fireplace. Lol)

What fun we had!!

J's side of the family celebrated Christmas Eve and we  had a visit by a VERY special fellow.  

The Folta Family wishes you and your family a Merry Christmas and 

a very Happy and Healthy New Year!

Linking to:

Tuesdays at Our Home

Tablescape Thursday

Share Your Style Party

Home Sweet Home

Streams

I'm slowly going through photos of our recent trip to Washington State and Montana.  The roads we chose took us through lots of wilderness alongside beautiful streams.  I thought I'd create a post of photos of some we enjoyed.  Hope you enjoy them, too.

You can see how hazy it was in mid-July/early August from the wildfires that had started burning. The fires are much worse now in the Northwest US, California and British Columbia, Canada.  

Please continue to pray for all of those impacted by these wildfires and the hurricanes.  

Zenda

Joining these parties:

Sweet Inspiration 

Amaze Me Monday

Tuesdays At Our House

Share Your Cup Thursday

A Busy Summer and a Delicious Dessert

We've had a wonderful summer entertaining, golfing and traveling!  Blogging has been on my mind but I've not sat long enough to complete a post...until now.  I hope your summer has been enjoyable and that you were able to do some fun things outdoors!

We are really enjoying our new back porch (J's grilling area).  We've spent a lot of time entertaining and just enjoying the warm weather there.  I especially like J doing most of the cooking outside!  I make salads and such indoors and he does the rest.  

It's a plan that works great for us!!

(Please don't look at my sad plants, we were gone a few weeks and they were neglected a bit!)

We are also enjoying our new home!  

Last weekend the front sidewalk and garage approach were poured and now people can actually come in our front door!  We will finish up the landscaping before winter.

We took a trip to see our son who is living in Montana.  Our daughter and SIL went for a few days, too. I'll have several posts about that in the next coming weeks.  We are heading back sometime this fall so J can do some camping/hunting with the Favorite Son!  I'll be doing some reading and a few projects while they're doing their thing.

We also have a new addition to the family, Ranger!

 He's a Border Collie, like his 'big sister' Sallie.  She's taken to him quite well and they have a lot of fun playing, running and, unfortunately digging in some of my new landscaping.  Thank goodness I don't have a lot out just yet.  :)

It's hard to get a good picture of them, they are always on the move!  

Precious Daughter took this picture of Ranger his first day at his new home.

We're in love with this little guy! 

I have been doing some cooking this summer and something I made the other day was so easy and so delicious, it just had to be shared!

The recipe for this easy summery Peach Galette is HERE.  Believe me, it is easy and SO delicious with Ina Garten's Vanilla Ice Cream!.

I'm hoping to get back into the posting mood. It's such fun to share our lives and ideas with good friends!  

Enjoy these last days of summer!

I'm joining these parties full of good ideas and inspiration:

Sweet Inspiration 

Foodie Friday and Everything Else

Amaze Me Monday

Cookin' and Craftin' With J & J

Tuesdays At Our House

Digging It and Dishing It

The Scoop

Home Matters

Share Your Cup Thursday

Share Your Style

Home Sweet Home

A Little of This And That

This past month has been a busy one for me and I haven't had much time for blogging.  I'm not even quite caught up on my 'blog visits' yet but I'm trying to get to everyone.

Several organizations have kept me hopping, as well as helping J with the landscaping.  We are both pretty tired of looking at either dirt or mud, depending on the weather.  Last week we had 11 inches of rain and this week we've had about 2 1/2.  Needless to say, trying to get trees, shrubs and flowers planted and grass sown has proven a bit challenging this Spring but we're working at it.  Since I joined our county's Master Gardener group, I really want to be able to do the planning and planting myself.  J is also a DIYer and luckily has the equipment needed to get the job done.  Here are a few of our projects:

The organizations I'm in have been winding up their activities until after Summer so there have been lots of meetings, conferences, etc.  Our Retired Teachers' group has been busy crafting items to sell at the local craft fair in the Fall.  We've been busy sewing, crafting and creating!

Our DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) chapter recognized one of our local historical societies with a Historic Preservation Award.  We also went to state conference in Kansas City.  While there we visited the Midwest Genealogical Library and I found a lot of interesting and valuable family information!  I'm hoping to add a few more family patriots this summer!  This term, I'm serving as Regent.  

Our Master Gardener group held the annual plant sale (3 weeks delayed because of rain!!).  It was a great success!  The funds will allow us to award a scholarship, as well as sponsor gardening activities in our community.  We have demonstration gardens and I'll be helping our local Council on Aging plant and maintain their garden this year.

My ombre afghan is coming along.  It's something I work on when I'm on long car rides or in the evening watching television.

We've been enjoying our Grilling Porch this Spring.  

J added the stainless steel sink and counter.  The last component will be a small refrigerator.  This outdoor room is really turning into a favorite spot!

I love being busy and serving others but I'm hoping things will slow down just a bit for Summer!  What have you been up to?   Wishing you a fun-filled Mother's Day!