A Fall Breakfast

I love watching food shows on the Discovery + channel and I'm particularly enjoying Joanna Gaines new Magnolia Table: At the Farm series.  In the most recent episode of season one [episode 5], Joanna made a Maple Pecan Baked Oatmeal that looked delicious and with the exception of the 3/4 c. pure maple syrup it's quite calorie friendly - but I wouldn't recommend leaving it out because it definitely adds to the flavor.

I decided to make it this morning and it didn't disappoint.  Joanna poured a warm, spiced brown sugar flavored milk over her oatmeal, but I opted for a dallop of 2% plain Greek yogurt on mine.  It was yummy.  I enjoyed it with my usual Harney & Sons blueberry green tea.

The recipe is available at:  https://magnolia.com/blogs/recipe/maple-pecan-baked-oatmeal

Yesterday afternoon my hubby and I enjoyed going to the theater to watch Downton Abbey, The Grand Finale for the second time.  It was Tuesday $5 ticket day.

It was fun noticing things I missed the first time.  I remembered seeing Lady Mary and Edith Pelham shopping together in London shortly after the movie began, but I didn't remember the store was Fortnum & Mason and that they enjoyed tea together there during their shopping outing.  I tried to find an image of it online to share, but no luck.  You'll just have to see the movie, if you haven't already.  There's so many tea scenes in the movie [and too many cocktails! ;-)]  The British seem to love their alcohol as much as their tea.

Tomorrow will be a fun day as I'm meeting my girlfriend at the Pink House Tearoom in New Baltimore, MI.  I'll be sure to write a post about it.

 

'Proud Great-Grandma Day'

I wonder who thinks up all the special celebration days???  I didn't even know a great-grandma day existed until I went on Facebook this morning and saw a friend's post. 

If you've followed my blog very long you know I'm a proud great-grandma to two sweet little girls and I blog about them from time to time.  What a blessing to have four generations of our family living and enjoying life together.  

I only knew one of my great-grandmothers and she passed when I was seven.  The other three were deceased before I was born.  I pulled out a picture of my paternal great-grandmother and made the side-by-side picture below.  She was actually two years younger than me in the photo.  She was the mother of four and grandmother and great-grandmother of many.  I've had the benefit of all the modern conveniences, while she had to work much harder in her lifetime. She lived to be 84.  In her later years she was an invalid [due to a broken hip] and lived with my grandparents.  I remember her as demanding and crotchety and I was afraid of her.  Yikes!  I don't want to leave those kind of memories behind for my great-granddaughters. Do you remember your great-grandmothers?  Are you a proud great-grandma?

Speaking of family... my hubby and I were in Zeeland last Wednesday through Saturday visiting our son Jeremy and his family.  We had a wonderful time, and of course I took pictures!  ;-)

Jeremy celebrated his 46th birthday two days before we arrived, and Samantha still had the decorations up.  I baked his favorite - Boston Cream Cake -and took it to him.

Shortly after our arrival we were off to granddaughter Ellie's volleyball game, and her team won.  [She's in the middle in the white shirt below.]

We had unseasonably warm and beautiful weather the whole time we were there - mid 80 degree temps which is unusual for October.  We saw very little color change as we traveled from the eastern side of the state to the the western side. Most of the trees are still green and keeping their leaves.

Thursday we met up with Jeremy for lunch in downtown Zeeland at a place called Taco Kitchen [he was downtown at the public library doing some work].  I got chicken tacos and they were yummy.  As you can see, we opted to eat outdoors.

Thursday night was football on the big screen TV watching Jeremy's favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers play the LA Rams.  It was a close game and went into overtime.  I went to bed and learned Friday morning the 49ers won 26-23.  

Friday, we drove to the nearby Post Family Farm.  It was busy with lots of young school children. Ellie only had a half day of school so she went with us.

We got some fresh apple cider and yummy pumpkin donuts to eat onsite and bought some to take home as well.  I was disciplined and only ate a half a donut [still watching my weight].  The apple cider was SO good - much better than Blake's Apple Cider available near our house.

Zeeland isn't an over populated area like where we live, so there's a lot more roadside farmer's markets/stands to shop for fresh produce.  When we left the Post Farm we stopped at a smaller market a few miles up the road where Samantha purchased THE BEST freshly picked strawberries.  [Notice the very green trees in the background.]

Then we went home to grab a bite to eat before heading off to Grand Rapids for Landon's high school football game.

Below Landon is #10 looking towards us in the stands.  He was disappointed the Grand Rapids Pioneers beat his team [Holland Christian Maroons] but at least his family was in the stands to lend support.

Saturday morning got off to a busy start for this very athletic family.  Zeeland was celebrating their pumpkin festival and Ellie ran in the 5K for some extra school credit.  The race began at 8:30 a.m. and Sam and Jerry said she did very well.

All good things must come to an end, so around noon we got in our car and headed for home.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.

Our family activities are much different than what my great-grandma would have experienced.  Life for her and her family would have been keeping the farm in Ohio going seven days a week.  I like things just the way they are now, but when Evie and Jules grow up I wonder what they will say as they reflect on me and my lifestyle.  Life is always changing and it's hard to imagine what life will be like in another 50 years.

An Additional Tea Time Offering

I belong to a Facebook group [Christian Tea Time & Hospitaity], and a member recently posted a visit to The Huntington Library, Art Museum & Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA [an upscale area south east of Pasadena], where she had Afternoon Tea at the Rose Garden Tearoom, situated in the historic rose garden.  

What piqued my interest was following the scone course, a cheese course [$16 ala carte] can be added which I've never seen offered at Afternoon Tea before, and I think it's a great addition.

Apparently it's served on tiered servers or plates and both make a lovely presentation.

I went to their website and their cheese offering consists of Spanish Manchego, California Brie and White Cheddar or Gouda cheeses served with toasties, crackers, assorted fruit [Champagne grapes and California strawberries] and nuts [Marcona almonds or toasted pecans], and fig jam.  That sounds and looks so delicious and I would gladly pay $16.  Would you?   It serves two or more.  I don't know if the management at The Whitney would be open to such a menu option, but I'm definitely going to tell them about it.  Charcuterie is so popular and this is a form of it.

I wish I would have known about this venue when I visited Pasadena in 2019.

Being the history buff that I am, I had to read up on it.  I discovered [in a nutshell] Henry Edward Huntington was a railroad and real estate businessman.  In 1903 he bought the San Marino Ranch [now the Huntington].  He married Arabella in 1913 and in 1919 they signed a trust document that transformed their private estate into a public institution.  The Huntington opened publicly to visitors in 1928 and has grown over the past century to become an internationally renowned collections-based non-profit institution that supports the humanities, the arts, and botanical science.  

The Art Gallery was originally the home of Henry and Arabella and the library was built in 1919.  The Rose Garden Tearoom has recently been remodeled to mixed reviews.  Have any of you been there?  If so, please share your comments.

Family

It seems my posts have been more about family and home lately than tea experiences, but that's where life's at right now for me.

Jeremy, Izzy and Ellie came to spend the night with us Saturday after he finished speaking to some of the Cleveland Browns football players at their Chapel Service.  I never knew NFL teams had chapel services, but I'm glad they do.  Attendance is optional so the full team wasn't there but Jeremy said it was a good group of guys who were very engaged and some have since made email contact with him.

Since they were in town to play the Detroit Lions, Jeremy decided to build his talk around the biblical story of Daniel in the Lion's Den found in the Book of Daniel, chapter six.  His title had a timely and humorous play on words, "Preparing for the Lion's Den" but in reality he talked about spiritual preparedness in life.   As for Sunday's game, the Lions defeated the Browns 34-10.

We went to church together on Sunday and took pictures afterwards.  Below is Jeremy with his sister, Lori.  

Jeremy with 'his girls', Izzy and Ellie.  Jeremy and Izzy are celebrating a birthday today - Jeremy #46 and Izzy #20.  They bring so much joy to our family. Jeremy loved the new cornhole boards that he received for his birthday.

'Cousins' - Izzy, Brooke and Ellie

After the photos, Jeremy and the girls left to meet-up with Samantha and Landon and all the Theisen family for their annual Apple Orchard visit. It was a picture perfect day with a very pleasant temperature - perfect for apple picking.

Samantha stayed behind in Zeeland with Landon who attended his first Homecoming Dance [he's a sophomore] on Saturday.  I was happy Jeremy had a Homecoming picture and one of Landon's Friday night touchdown at Holland Christian High School.

On our way out of the church parking lot Sunday, we stopped to take a picture of the sign promoting our annual Harvest Festival on October 11th.  It'll be a great event.  If you live in the area of 30 Mile and Mound Rd. in Washington, MI, pay us a visit.

The Rooftop and Beneath It

When the contractor finished putting on our new roof last week, our neighbor across the street hired him to do their roof this week.  While he was up on their roof, he took a photo looking across the street at our roof and sent it to us.

It's been very dry here and the only watering our grass and hostas get is what the Lord sends via rain, so disregard the dry patches of grass and parched hostas!  Our lawn always looks best in the spring before the weather gets hot, but we couldn't wait that long for our new roof.  :-)

Beneath the roof my hubby was putting the finishing touches on the new set of cornhole boards he build for our son Jeremy's birthday present.  I think he'll be pleased.

As for me, I spent 19 hours in the hospital emergency room following complications with a medical procedure I had done on Tuesday.  I'm very glad to be back home again and all is well.

I'm looking forward to Jeremy, Izzy and Ellie coming Saturday night and going to church with us Sunday morning.  Then they will meet up with Samantha and Landon and all the Theisen family for their annual apple orchard adventure.

Jeremy will be speaking to the Cleveland Browns football team Saturday evening when they come to Detroit to play the Detroit Lions on Sunday.  

Happy weekend everyone!

 

Up On the Rooftop

Today is day #3 of getting a new roof put on our 47 year old house.  It's our third roof and will be the last one we'll put on.  The cost more than tripled the last one.  Yikes!  Thank goodness the next roof will be the responsibility of the future owner. The roofing job began on Tuesday and there's been lots of pounding, thumping and rumbling going on up there.  We've only removed a few things from the walls inside as a precaution against falling due to the vibration and pounding. The supervisor/owner of the company came inside and looked around our house when my hubby told him we have a very 'fragile' interior due to all the china in several rooms, and he said everything should be okay.  So far, so good!

The dumpster for the old discarded shingles was delivered first.

Then came the delivery of the new shingles.

And then the work began.

We've been blessed with beautiful weather for the roofers.  They've put in very long days arriving at 7:30 a.m. and working until after 7:00 p.m.  They will probably finish up today. We've known the owner since he was a young boy who attended our church, and as a teen he was in our son's youth group.  He put a new roof on our son's house and did a good job, so we knew he was trustworthy.

While the roof work was going on outside, I got busy inside sorting through ALL my tea.  If you're a tea lover you know how quickly tea inventory multiplies, until you have more than you could ever possibly drink.  I hate to throw tea away, but I forced myself to purge.  Since I only drink green tea now, most of what I disposed of was black tea, giving the non-commemorative tins to my hubby for his workshop, and keeping the commemorative ones for myself.

Below is the finished result.  The repro icebox still looks full but believe me I pitched a lot.  I should have taken a before picture for comparison.  You'll notice all my Republic of Tea Downton Abbey tins on the third shelf that I couldn't part with yet.  I didn't order the latest three tins of tea that came out with the new movie released last week.  I think I have enough. ;-)

I recently received a card and note from a cousin who moved from Colorado to Texas.  She said they had been in their Colorado house for 30 years so the move was monumental.  We've been in our house 47 years and I don't even want to think about all the work a move would entail.  Time to start purging now!

I used to have a big garage sale every couple of years to get rid of things we no longer wanted or needed, but since my hubby turned our garage into his work shop I haven't had a garage sale since 2016.  I often think about my kids having to get rid of all our 'stuff' and know I need to get busy paring down to spare them.  Being a minimalist isn't my cup of tea, but neither is being a hoarder. 

All About Family

This post isn't about tea [unless you count the iced tea that was drunk at dinner].  Today I'm sharing some family pictures.  My sister-in-law, Anita [my hubby's sister], lives in Alamogordo, New Mexico and hasn't been back to Michigan for a visit since 2006 - the last time I saw her.  

She returned to help her best friend, Millie, purge her home to get it ready to put on the market. She called a few days ago to say she and Millie were coming to our church today in hopes of surprising our son, Steve [the pastor], but he's in Nashville visiting his daughter, Brianna, so he missed out on the surprise.  Daughter-in-law, Sharon, and granddaughter Brooke were there though, and my daughter, Lori, was happy to see her too.

[L-R:  Millie, Anita, Sharon, Lori, Me, and Brooke]

After church we went outside for more pictures... who knows when we'll see her again??

[Jerry and Anita - he's five years older than her]

[Anita and Lori]

Me, Anita and Jerry.  Height is in my hubby's family, but not mine!  ;-)

[Lori & Dave]

After church we went out to dinner together to visit and get caught up on family news.

Steve went to Nashville to take Brianna to a James Taylor and his all-star band concert.  I'm not up-to-speed on entertainers.  Even though James Taylor is only one year younger than me, I never heard of him and had to Google him.  Steve and Bri are having a great father/daughter time together.

John, granddaughter Tiffany's husband, posted a picture of the two of them recently so I'm sharing them in this family post.  Lori is flying out to California this week to visit them and their two little girls and she's anxiously awaiting her visit.

Youngest son, Jeremy, and grandson, Landon, spent a fun weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana taking in a 49ers and Saints football game.  Jeremy said it was a good day - his team won 26 to 21.

Jeremy recently posted three short Conquerors's Way videos on Facebook explaining the ministry.  In the first video he thanked those who helped his book sell 1,000 copies. Onward and upward sharing the 'Good News' about Jesus Christ.