Spiced Plum Bread

Several years back, Micah planted an orchard behind our house.

One does have to practice patience for a few years after planting a fruit tree.

But we have put in our time, and it is so satisfying to now have fresh fruit right out our back door!

Today the children and I were out on a nature walk, so we stopped by the orchard to pick out some plums.

We found enough to do some afternoon baking.

I remembered I had a recipe for spiced plum bread that I was in the mood to try.

Would you like the recipe?

It turned out really delicious! I think you'll like it.

The house was bright with afternoon sunlight, and cool from a nice breeze blowing in through my screens... All my 'work' was complete for the day, and I had a CD of piano solos playing throughout the house...

The perfect baking conditions.

"My kitchen is a lovely place,

any time of day.

Dishes dry on linen cloth,

a pink and red bouquet.

The floor is swept, the curtains crisp,

my apron's on the hook.

I fill the kettle at the sink

and give it one last look."

~ Susan Branch

Well, I wasn't filling a kettle at the sink, but I did feel just as cheerful about washing up the plums and getting started on my bread...

We had plum trees in the yard of my childhood home, and I remember those being purple.

I don't know why these are red.

They taste just like regular plums.

I noticed today when I was washing them that they are heart-shaped.

Isn't that precious!

I made sure to show Nola.

She gets a kick out of this sort of thing, too.

I like to measure all my ingredients out first before I begin mixing anything together.

I noticed the recipe didn't call for any butter!

It had me use a half of a cup of honey, instead.

I chopped my plums...

And then was ready to make the batter!

Always mix the wet ingredients first...

Then slowly incorporate the dry into the wet...

It looked like this before I folded in the nuts and plums...

I was worried the batter was too dry, so I didn't use the full cup of pecans.

(I've learned through years of making banana bread, that too many nuts can dry out the batter.)

I used my best judgment, and this was what I had leftover...

I poured the mixture evenly among two loaf pans, and placed them in the oven.

I had the thought while doing this, that children can sometimes be picky about chunks.

I wondered if pureeing the plums would be a good and more kid-friendly option.

I decided to take note of how my children responded to this batch.

I can always remember to try a puree with this recipe next time.

The loaves came out of the oven looking like this...

The house smelled absolutely divine!

(I think it was the cinnamon and cloves.)

I couldn't wait to try a piece!

But I let it cool for a few minutes and steeped some tea...

I made sure to try it warm, and covered in a good slab of butter...

By the time my tea was ready and I carried everything over to the table to sit down, the butter had completely melted into the bread...

~ Yum! ~

It's a dense but delicious and sweet bread...

I look forward to having it in the morning for our breakfast.

I think I'll make scrambled eggs to go with it!

We have a relaxing weekend ahead of us.

We plan to take the kids over to the lake for a hike on some favorite trails.

Then over to a tiny cafe that's also a candy shop for lunch.

(It's a family tradition of ours. After lunch we let the kids each pick out a small piece of candy to enjoy on the ride home.)

It is also a dear friends' birthday, so I plan to visit her.

I picked up a small gift that I will be sure to bring along.

But of course, a weekend wouldn't be wonderful without a heavy dose of time at home.

"There is nothing like staying home for true comfort."

~ Jane Austen 

Be sure to let me know if you try my spiced plum bread recipe!

And whatever you do this weekend, I hope it is lovely.

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Our Mudroom

Hello friends!

I hope you all are well.

It's good to be back at my computer, 'visiting' with you.

At the end of my last post I showed you this picture of our mudroom...

As I've written here before, one of my goals for this blog is to record the house projects we work on.

We've been in our farmhouse for nine years, and we're starting to see some of the projects we completed early on now needing to be touched up.

Like our mudroom for example.

Recently we noticed it needed a little attention.

Not a complete overhaul, since we did that already. 

Just a touch-up.

To start at the beginning, here are a few photos of the mudroom right after we moved in...

It's hard to take photos of this room because it's a super tiny space.

Basically when entering through the back door, there are a few stairs that go down into the basement, next to a few stairs that take you up into the kitchen.

That's it.

Not much at all for storage or anything else.

As you can see, the trim and the stairs were painted this orangey-tan color.

And the floor was carpeted...

We re-did this room seven years ago, so I hardly remember it ever looking like this.

Micah ripped up the carpet and installed slate tile...

It has proved to have been a good choice for our mudroom over the past seven years.

I would pick this tile again.

As for the stairs, I had a vision of a faux 'runner', so I measured and taped off, and painted a runner down the center in this light aqua blue color...

I can remember really loving it at the time.

But seven years and four kids later, my paint job was really showing its age.

Earlier this summer there were even complete gouges taken out of it...

We decided to sand it all down and paint it again.

A seven-year run isn't too bad, we thought!

And while we were at it, we wanted to re-do the basement steps, too.

They look dirty, but it's actually the paint worn and chipped off...

Micah scraped it all down...

And now here it is repainted...

It feels great to have this fresh again!

And as for the kitchen stairs, I still liked my faux runner and wanted to do it again.

 Only this time in a darker color because I thought it'd be more practical for us.

So I measured and taped off...

(I tried to remember how I did it seven years ago!)

And here we are today...

Because I had been so used to the lighter paint color, this new dark color is a bit jarring to me.

I hope I will adjust!

I picked it because I thought it would help disguise the dirt that gets tracked in through the back door.

So today our mudroom looks like this...

Behind the door is a small cubby that Micah built when we re-did this room initially.

 I still like it...

We slipped plastic boot trays into it to help keep the kids shoes tidy and up off the floor.

But of course, anybody who has kids knows that this doesn't mean shoes won't still be randomly kicked off and piled up all over the floor. 

*eye roll

It's just such a small space, we had to be creative with what we had.

I'd love to have a mudroom like you see in modern homes today... Spacious with tons of storage. But we chose a very old home, therefore we've had to learn to make do with tiny bathrooms, tiny closets, and this tiny mudroom.

(Homes were built so differently years ago! But I suppose that's a topic for another post.)

So if you ever come to visit me, you're welcome to come around the back and enter through our mudroom!

I'll keep a hook empty for you to hang your coat.

See you soon...

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Summer's Winding Down...

"What we call nature is all beauty and delight. The person who watches nature closely and knows her well has his beauty sense always active, always bringing him joy." ~ Charlotte Mason

Isn't it wonderful, friends?

We get to soak up the last few drops of summer, all while looking forward to bright, crisp Autumn - which is coming for us next!

I was just talking yesterday with someone about how lucky we are to live in a place where we get to experience all four seasons.

Where I live the summers are warm and green, and the winters snowy and white.

(The view today from my front door.)

I am glad God thought of seasons.

He must have known we would need a change every three months or so.

It sure keeps life interesting!

We've enjoyed our summer.

I hope you have, too!

"The world is a great treasure-house full of things to be seen, and each new thing one sees is a new delight." ~ Charlotte Mason

I've been working on getting our school bookshelf ready for the new year...

I'm expecting a box in the mail any day now with this years' curriculum.

I hope there'll be enough room for everything!

I just purchased these green book organizers (pictured above) because the children's workbooks are paperbacks and I remember last year having a hard time getting them to stand up straight in these shelves.

Since I will have a first grader, a second grader, and a fourth grader this year, I purchased three so each child can have one for their workbooks.

I hope this will be a system that I like!

I've already begun prepping the children for what their schedule will be in the new school year...

I've told them to remember three!

There will be three things for them to accomplish by breakfast, and three more things to accomplish by the time our school day starts.

By breakfast I would like for them to have completed their 1. Morning run 2. Bible reading and 3. Folder worksheets.

(I plan to keep their folders stocked with math worksheets this year. Last year I did manuscript and cursive copy work.)

After breakfast it's 1. Morning routine 2. Chores and 3. Piano practice.

Then we will officially start school for the day.

It was not by default or accident that I settled on the pre-breakfast "three".

I designed it that way.

Because of some reading and researching I had done, as well as now having several homeschooling years under my belt, I have organized their early morning schedule in such a way so they experience certain things first. A blast of fresh air and sunshine along with a short run to wake them up and get the brain juices flowing, will come first. Then when they come in they are ready for bible reading and math. Those two in particular were chosen because of their black and white nature. I like for my children to start their day with a clear sense that things in life are either right or wrong.

I think it'll be a great start to each school day, and they're already practicing...

The children make a morning run log each week.

They are in the habit of logging their times and writing an observation. (Although you can see that Soren still needs a little convincing. Ha!) 

We will continue this until the first snow.

While we wait for our school year to start, I putter around the house.

Sort of like a pregnant woman "nesting", I know something big is coming up so I better sweep and dust and get the house ready!

I've packed away my summer decor. (Which is really only some faux lavender and a few sea shells.) And I've put together my fall mantle arrangement...

To create a faux arrangement that doesn't look tacky, I like to use elements that closely resemble what could be found in nature for the current season.

For the arrangement above I used Lambs' ear, Queen Anne's lace, Cranberries, and Turkey feathers.

When I purchased the berries, the sprig came with leaves. I cut away all the leaves and just used the berries because the leaves looked plastic and fake to me.

I like the result.

I think this will satisfy me until Christmas.

On my dining room table I keep fresh arrangements...

These are clippings from my yard...

Even though my phlox and my roses are still in bloom, I think I'm done with pink and purple for the year.

Summer's winding down.

Time to dress the house for fall...

(Although this is as far as I've gotten.)

My next post will be about our mudroom.

Micah and I have been painting in there, freshening it up before winter...

(A sneak peek.)

So check back with me soon!

xo,

~ Courtney ~

Old and New Friends

Why is it so hard to make friends after having children?

I've always been the type of person who prefers a few close friends over a slew of surface friends.

It's one of the main reasons it took me years to get on the Facebook wagon.

And once I was on it, it didn't take long for me to deactivate my account!

(I don't miss it, by the way.)

I guess I just have a sensitive radar to people who are fake, and a low tolerance for people who just stay on the surface level.

I need to know that I can bare my soul to you over a cup of coffee, and you'll laugh and cry right along with me! And I promise I'll do the same for you!

These types of friends have become more rare for me since I've had my babies.

My theory is that people see (and hear!) me coming from a mile away- dripping with children, and think, Hmmm... NO thank you. That's too much chaos for me!

So things never progress from "acquaintance" to "friend".

Haha!

But I do have a few close friends, and for them I am just so thankful!

They are a treasure to me!

Some have been in my life for so many years that I don't feel the need to impress them or act polished around them.

I thought of this because just the other day I got a text from a friend that said, "Hey! What are you doing tomorrow?"

I quickly texted back, "Nothing! Wanna come over?"

She was at my door with her children the very next afternoon.

I very much like this particular friend, because she is willing to ignore the kids with me and just sit down and chat!

And when the kids do barge in on our nice chat, I don't have to worry about what this friend will think of me when I holler, "Go back outside! Let us visit!!!"

At one point during our visit, we went outside to run around the trails with the kids for a bit.

We were collecting frogs and picking wild raspberries down by the water. 

The horseflies are SO bad down there right now, and I was having a particularly hard time swatting them away while also trying to hold on to my frog and handful of raspberries.

I realized just how close to this friend I had become when I found myself in a tizzy over swatting the flies and dropping my berries, and she was rolling with laughter at how stupid I was acting.

That's a true friendship!

No walls. No veneer. Just real life.

It is discouraging, isn't it, when you invest in a friendship for a while only to have the friendship fizzle out?

This has happened to me several times in my life.

Some friend losses can even be heart-breaking!

It's similar to a relationship break-up, where healing is needed and you feel hesitant to put yourself out there again!

I've retreated into my little bubble during times like these, and it feels good for a while... but the inevitable urge, I need a good mom-friend! rises up, and the mom-dating starts all over again!

Do you know what I mean by mom-dating?

I write that humorously, but there's truth to it!

Many nights this summer I sat at ball fields along side other moms while we watched our kids play baseball.

There was one mom in particular that I had a mom-crush on.

I don't know, she just impressed me.

Maybe it was because she was lovely and kind.

Her kids, too, were very kind, and our kids had become good friends.

Then I learned she lives just a few minutes down the road from my house... She'd be the perfect friend for me! I thought.

So near the end of the season Micah said, "The season's almost done. You'd better make your move! Get her number!"

(I hope you can see the humor in this. *wink)

I knew he was right, but I was nervous!

What if she doesn't like me? I thought. She probably doesn't need any more friends...

I had heard our boys chatting one night after a game about wanting to get together, and I knew that was my chance...

I approached her and said, "Hey, I should put your number in my phone because it sounds like our boys are making plans to get together and play! We'll have you over!"

(But inside I was secretly thinking, I should put your number in my phone so that we can get together and become lifelong best friends! Haha!)

She gave me her number and I put it in my phone.

Then when I turned around to face Micah, he winked and said, "Score!"

We laughed!

This had become an inside joke.

We did have them over, and it was delightful!

"There are people who take the heart out of you, and there are people who put it back."

~ Elizabeth David

There was an instant connection.

That evening she sent me this text -

"Courtney, thank you so much for having us over today! My kids talked the whole way home about how much fun they had! We are blessed to be becoming new friends with such a sweet family!"

And at the following ball game she approached me and asked if we'd like to go over to her house next!

So, maybe it isn't so hard to make friends after all!

You just need to be willing to put yourself out there.

xo,

~ Courtney ~

(Some of the photos in this post were taken from my antique books, Marigold Garden and Yourself and Your House Wonderful.)