Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

 

Good morning and happy Saturday, my friends! It has been a wildly, wildly busy week here in Shafferland, but I managed to grab a few links for you – and some of them are extra sweet, I think. Maybe I need to stop and spend some time on #1 myself!!!

We are all just a little too busy…I think we can agree on that! 😊 I loved this article from Magnolia (you know…Chip and Joanna) about living slowly. I think this was my favorite quote: “Creating margin is less about making cuts and more about deciding what’s written in pen on your calendar—unerasable and necessary for you to live a well-loved life.” Convicting! After a very, very busy April, and a May that already has much within the calendar squares, this might be a good quote for me to chew on.

 I loved reading this article about an old bakery in Grand Rapids that still operates the old-fashioned way. The amount of love and soul poured into goods baked by hand…yes please! When I made that apple slab pie last week, it took time, but it felt for a minute like I was making a great gift…and that was fun. (BONUS: If owning a bakery/café sounds fun – and also overwhelmingly awful, check out this idea for a home café. It’s apparently a thing on TikTok, but I’m not on TikTok, so I didn’t know it. I think it’s charming and lovely and sounds like SO MUCH FUN!)

Shortly before Ryan’s stepdad passed away, we had been helping him clean out the cabin. He hadn’t been ready to sort through Nita’s things until then, and it was quite the undertaking. As we cleaned out the attic, we found two brand new boxes of red dishes, which he suddenly wanted to keep, even though he didn’t know he owned them and didn’t want to use them. After he died, we were able to bring them home and have been using them as our everyday dishes for the last four years. Now that we are here at the lake and our color scheme is blue, rather than red, I’ve known that someday I want to swap the dishes for something that matches better. I’m not in a hurry, because what we have works just fine. But when I passed THESE beauties in Walmart last week, I confess my heart melted just a little. Aren’t they so pretty???

I love reading KariAnne Wood’s blog, and though she usually writes about design and décor, sometimes she writes about her family, and I love those posts, too. Her twin daughters are graduating from Baylor this spring and this week she posted the loveliest tribute to them, filled with some good life advice for all of us. Even if you’re past your college graduation days, I encourage you to read her thoughts! (BONUS: Speaking of KariAnne, she also wrote this post about her unpopular home décor opinions. I agreed with her on some and not so much on others. 1000% agree with her on overhead lighting, though!)

 Because Ryan and I are not from this area, we don’t automatically know all the things about all the homes and properties surrounding us. Also, we live in an area where family homes are still very much a thing, so it’s unusual for homesteads in our county to leave a family entirely. We hear stories now and then about our house and those who lived here before us. The one we hear the most about is the lady who lived here first and taught all kinds of music lessons. Most everyone (within an age range) seemed to take piano, organ, or guitar lessons in our house! We even named our boat after the lady who lived here so long! Anyway, the story lover in me finds home-history fascinating, which is probably why I loved this post!

And speaking of stories – I think this is SO COOL. Because of Ryan’s work at Swiss Village, I have talked to a lot of seniors, and they do have such interesting life stories to tell. You know I’m a fan of telling your story, regardless of your age, but I love this initiative to give seniors a platform for sharing their life stories and lessons – in a fun way!

                I’m taking my hints outside today!

                May has arrived, which makes it the perfect time to clean up your patio! Sweep away the bugs and dead leaves, hose down (or pressure wash) the porch, pull out/clean off the patio furniture, and replace anything that needs updated for spring!

                It’s also a great week to refill your bird feeders if you have any. We only have hummingbird feeders, and we are excited to put those back out on the little hooks!