Something Old, Something New

. . . . . Nothing Borrowed But Plenty of Blue! 

We were sitting out on the lanai last week when I noticed a pensive expression on Gary's face. From time to time I will ask him, "What's going on between your ears?" 

Sometimes the reply is, "Nut n' Honey!" But this time, to my surprise, he said he thought it was time to replace our green wicker furniture. Oh, really?!

He's had this set a lot longer than he's had me and he felt it just wasn't comfortable any more. Hmm. Okay. What shall we do about that?

An advertising flyer from one of the local furniture stores had some appealing possibilities, so we stopped into their show room, and also checked out a couple of other places.

We found a set we liked but did not buy on that first trip. We took snapshots of the size/dimension information and went home to measure our available space.

Based on the measurements we decided what pieces we wanted and returned to the show room to complete the sale. 

Not wanting to fool around with selling the green wicker set on Marketplace, etc, we called Gary's favorite donation charity, The Humane Society. To our delight they were able to schedule their truck to pick up our stuff in just a few days.

We moved the old furniture into the living room to await pick-up, which for an overnight took on the appearance of a second-hand store. (But the classic Ethan Allen pieces are still with us!)

G'bye, old friends!

Then the very next morning, the new furniture arrived, and early, too! They had notified us the day before to expect the truck between 7am and 11am. No sleeping in for us!! (Ha! we rise before dawn anyway, so it was good to have them come sooner rather than later.)

Even with our prior measurements, it was a little eye-opening to realize these pieces are larger than the previous furniture. We arranged things differently and are pleased with the result.

I told Gary that the new coffee table, which is significantly bigger than the wicker one, was big enough that we could sit on cushions on the floor to eat off of it, like the Asians. But then there would be the matter of getting our aged bodies up off of the floor (as in, "Help! I can't get up!!"), so I think we won't be doing that.

We are happy with the new look and spent the rest of the morning putting everything in place. With that entire wall of glass sliders between the lanai and the living room/kitchen nook, we can easily see it all.

Recently Debbie, at Millie's Cozy Life, posted her picture of some scones she had made. I made a mental note to bake some, too. I always enjoy baking with my cast iron wedge pan. Cornbread, scones, brownies. 

I did goof up this time. I guess I misread labels with my trifocals. I mixed up baking soda with baking powder and used too much buttermilk. I could do nothing about the dry mistakes, but I did my best to amend the excess of liquid by adding a lot more flour. 

Aside from not tasting as sweet as usual, it all came out just fine. Whew! We sliced them in half horizontally to slather on margarine and strawberry jam. Sooo good (if I do say so myself!).

One more fun thing to share: on yesterday's bike ride this Sand Hill Crane* was on alert for his breakfast from atop a neighbor's roof. 

This house backs up to a lake that is a block away from our house. I had left Gary at home that day to do some yard work, so on this particular route I rode just under 4 miles, which had me pedaling by this house several times. The crane was there every time I passed. On my last pass he lifted up his wings and made a dive down toward the water. Houses obstructed my view, so I could not see if he was able to grab a bite or not. 

* This is most likely a Great Blue Heron, not a Sand Hill Crane. Diane at Lavender Dreams, who is my personal bird expert, kindly mentioned in her comments (at the end of this post) that a Sand Hill Crane has a longer neck. I looked it up for myself and saw that she is exactly right. Thanks, Diane, for your help! ❤️

Florida is such an interesting place in which to live! I've quoted Jeremiah 33:3 many times on this blog:

Call unto me

and I will answer thee

and show you great and mighty things

which thou knowest not.

(That's me quoting the King James version from memory, so I may have messed up with the "thees" and "thous", but you get it.)

My family had a pastor when I was a little girl who quoted this verse a lot, so it made a deep impression on me. I include it in this post because once again, I am in awe of how God answers prayers with responses we may never have even remotely considered. At least, that's true in my life. 

The beauty of creation He has allowed me to enjoy through the many places where I've lived are just amazing. That Sand Hill Crane is one of many examples. 

Okay. I'm done for today. Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, grace and peace.

Barbara