Sunday Afternoon Visit

This has been a great Sunday. 

Everyone was up and we made at out of the house on time. That isn't always the case. We even remembered the milks and cream this week; Stacia didn't have to run back to the house. LOL 

Stacia had the lead in children's church today. She reports it went well. We enjoyed visiting, the singing, the message, the visiting. It was simply good to see everyone today. 

We decided to come home and enjoy an Encore Presentation rather than eat out. Yep, leftovers. 

Cory was busy with meetings, so Arielle and the boys dropped in. 

Benny, Danny & Charles (Charlie? I don't know)

Danny discovered the raspberries. We actually have some berries on the canes this year. They ate their fill. I tried to grow a bed of strawberries and they DIED. We discovered wild strawberries out here and they are SWEET. 

The Rainer cherry trees are still not producing. These little ones are...but they are tart! 

Benny anticipated a great cherry. After eating one he told me they, "Don't taste normal." 

I keep promising someday we'll have good cherries in the yard. LOL 

These two make my heart laugh. They discovered two 1/2 full cans of soda left over from yesterday's gathering. We heard laughing and big smacks...They'd take a drink...smack their lips... burp...and repeat.  Over and over. Again and again. 

We enjoyed our Sunday afternoon visit from the gang. 

We watched a couple of episodes of Manifest tonight. No spoilers. We have 2 episodes left in the series. We watch them together and lately that has meant Sunday night as Allie has been working many nights. Her work schedule is changing with her college schedule so we should have more nights at home together...but then again...HOMEWORK will probably take precedence over Prime video. ::snort:: 

I was gifted this mug by a couple of gals in our girl tribe today. It's the PERFECT mug for Sunday night ice cream. 

#mugshot

The girls have headed off to their room. They're sure to take their time settling in, but they're also planning out their college week. Michael is unwinding by catching up with YouTubers he likes to follow. 

I'm nearly at the end of blogging...I will make sure the planner and wall calendar match my phone calendar and then read a couple of chapters and unwind. 

The Nook Reimagined

 Another rearranging of the nook?!*!*!? 

Yeah. I know. 

When we moved in, we didn't have space for furniture and lots of it ended up in this space we were trying to carve out to be a sanctuary.  It looked great at first, but the furniture was terribly uncomfortable.  Over time the space filled with STUFF.  We cleared it out....and 2 years ago rearranged it...and it worked for a bit of time quite nicely. It was crowded - but I was able to invite women over for tea in the nook...

As we began moving things around downstairs the idea of moving the roll top desk DOWN again was brought to mind. I resisted. I like having everything up here and not having to run down to do business...but then again, I keep getting distracted when I try to work in the nook. Dad ISN'T in the same state he was in 2 years ago. I don't have to be in the same room with him all the time. The nook DID feel crowded. We had added mom's recliner to the room. We didn't have a real desk in the new study. Jamin and Cory moved the desk downstairs again last night. 

Now there's space. We have 3 chairs in here permanently and can easily pull more chairs in if needed. I want to paint the tea hutch and I'd like to find matching cushions for both rockers, matching covers for the tables - or refinish them....but this is the best arrangement we've had so far. It's functional and I'm allergic to clutter. I need to unclutter more...but it is MUCH better.  I needed a place to set my open day timer, I did NOT want it downstairs on the desk. This works. That is the rose from MOTHER'S DAY. It's growing roots...along with the new shoots - that.will.preach! 

Some asked for a photo of the sunflower painting I was blessed to buy for $50 a few weeks back. Here it is. I moved some of the antique photos that were here down to Spare Oom and I was able to move it up. 

I think I may want to paint the "tea hutch"  a baby blue or pale lemon yellow or something. 

Here it is. Two rockers and mom's recliner.  One rocking chair is Michael's Granma Anne's. The tables are Mom G's and are dropleaf. They open to make nice spots for teacups and treats. The lace is my Grams' and Mom's.  The tea hutch was from Mom G. 

It's much more comfortable...I've had several conversations in here already. It is much more inviting without the desk, tubs of Dad's files, and buckets of food. I do still have a tower of egg cartons I should put somewhere else. I must think about this.