Saturday Meanderings

Welcome to Saturday Meanderings where we chat about all good things this week. I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely looking forward to a relaxing weekend. As much as I enjoy the slow pace of summer, this week was anything but carefree. Our neighborhood group has been busy preparing for an upcoming zoning case, which meant diving into research, reviewing legal documents, and meeting tight submission deadlines.

After three full days glued to the computer, making calls, and running through reams of printing, I’m reminded just how draining administrative work can be—despite never leaving my desk!

The good news? That phase is behind us. The groundwork is done, and now we turn our focus to the in-person hearing coming up in early August. So let’s get started and find all the gems from this week.

Last Saturday Movie Night

Our dear Phoenix friends, Mitch and Tevia also have a property up here in the mountains, a short distance from our cabin. Last Saturday night, we got together for dinner and an outdoor movie in their backyard. Have you seen the 1991 Goldie Hawn movie, Deceived? It’s one of my favorite psychological thrillers starting John Heard. So fun to sit out on a perfect evening and watch this.

Mitch’s family has a ranch in Wyoming, so he has access to some of the finest quality beef. We brought the dessert, which is a sourdough discard chocolate bundt cake with a ganache icing. This cake is decadent, rich and “sits in the perfect sweet spot between dense and fluffy”. I found the recipe on the Instagram account @wellmadebykiley. If you don’t have sourdough discard, Kiley offers a substitution on her website.

To dress the yummy cake up a bit, I add a fresh hydrangea blossom (not to be eaten of course!).

A Favorite Breakfast

Easily influenced by a good food story, I’ve found myself starting the day with a new favorite: a simple bowl of cottage cheese topped with ripe tomatoes, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Recently I read about this combination somewhere—and now, it’s officially my breakfast of champions. Easy to make and tasty too!

A Cleaning Spree

Down in the Valley, I am fortunate to have help cleaning Bella Terra. However, up here at the cabin, I turn into my Polish heritage cleaning lady and go to town. It’s rewarding and good exercise so there’s nothing to complain about. Each weekend I try to do a good deep vacuuming since Finn has SO MUCH hair! During the week, I leave the sweeping help to our robotic vacuum~who does a fairly good job in between.

I don’t think I’ve shared pictures of our kitchen here, but here are a few right after my cleaning spree. Personally, the kitchen could use an updating, but it’s hard to justify the $$$ when we are not here full-time.

Here is a view from the kitchen island to the dining room. Last week, I showed you the improved natural bark mantel in this room.

I found this dining set in a consignment store. The table has two leaves that pull out from the ends and can expand to 10.

Fostering a Dog from the Flood area

My sweet daughter, Julianna, who lives in Austin, Texas is fostering a German shepherd mix, named Gambit. The dog shelters in the flood areas are seeking help and her generous heart has given this sweet boy a temporary home. She hopes they are close to finding him a forever home. These are consequences of disasters we don’t consider. Heartbreaking.

Wild Weather

What a weather week we have had! Thunder, lightning, hail and lots of rain nearly every afternoon. We so desperately need the moisture after an extremely dry winter so I am not complaining.

Thought you would enjoy some of our weather photos!

Nostalgic Rice Pudding

I have fond memories of my mother making rice pudding. It’s been years since I’ve had any and you typically do not see it on a restaurant menu. However, my husband made enough rice for a small country this week and we are trying to use it up.

From Allrecipes.com, this creamy rice pudding has a 4.8 rating from over 5,000 reviews. I made not one, but two batches this week. It’s as dreamy as I remember and very comforting. What recipes bring back childhood memories for you?

Fleeting Cherries

Last year, we planted two cherry trees—a Montmorency, perfect for pie-making, and a Bing, chosen especially for my husband. This spring, the Bing didn’t produce any fruit, but to my delight, the Montmorency had a modest handful of cherries beginning to ripen.

Every morning, I’d go out and check on them, watching those tiny fruits grow and deepen in color, hopeful for even the smallest harvest. But this week—they were all gone. Vanished. I’m guessing the birds beat me to them.

A bit of research tells me cherry trees typically don’t start producing reliably until their fourth year, so perhaps I was overly optimistic. Still, I can’t help but feel a little robbed. Here’s hoping next year brings both cherries and a little luck.

From the Internet

In the living room of our cabin, we have this large white wall…16 feet to the peak of the ceiling and 15 feet long with only our flat screen television on it. Rather boring.

Slim Paley (@slimpaley) recently shared a photo of a sitting room at the wildly imaginative Fife Arms Hotel in Braemar, Aberdeenshire, nestled in the Scottish Highlands—and in a strange way, I’m really drawn to this use of a white wall.

Now, to be clear, I would never hunt or mount animal heads myself, and I understand that the antlers (or “sheds”) are naturally shed and collected without harm. But still… if I happened to stumble upon a collection of vintage antler mounts, I think I’d be tempted to hang them on the vast, blank white wall in our cabin’s living room. Curious—what do you think? Too eccentric, or just the right kind of rustic charm?

Decoupage Shells

Every time I order fresh oysters, I keep the shells (after scrubbing) with the intention of doing something creative with them. They currently sit in my art room unadorned. Wendy, from WMDesign House has an informative post on decoupaging the shells with maps.

Aren’t these clever? It would be fun to add maps of places you have traveled, use them party favors or as a gift for someone who has moved to a new area. Here’s Wendy’s post and if you are collecting shells this summer, you may want to try this. If maps aren’t your thing, Wendy has other attractive suggestions for decoupaging shells. Wendy is very creative.

Mary’s Must Haves

It is definitely cherry season and I hope to whip up a homemade cherry pie this weekend. My friend, Tevia gave me this 6-cherry pitter and it’s a life saver.

This is the perfect tool if you need to pit a good quantity of cherries for jams or pies. The design makes it splash-proof too but I always have an apron on just in case. Priced at $13.99 it is a definite time-saver. You can find it here.

I am nearly out of this eye serum, and though it’s a bit pricey, I can honestly say I love using this Lancôme de-puffing eye & lash Serum with Bifidus Prebiotic and Caffeine. Targets under eye bags and puffiness while fortifying lashes. Clinically tested to reduce the appearance of fine lines & wrinkles over time.

Sweep applicator back and forth around eye contour. Massage with circular motions. Apply excess along the lashes. The applicator has this cooling effect when you apply the serum. It’s a bit of a splurge ($80.00) but I’d rather spend it on this vs. another less effective product. You can find it here.

Finn does not like rain or hail. In this photo from a video, he made an abrupt U-turn and ran back into the house. He is a fair weather dog.

I literally do not want to do anything this weekend, but long walks, reading books and maybe having a nice glass or two of wine. Hope you have a relaxing, stress-free weekend. Stay safe out there!