Monday Musings, April 13

Good Morning Glories!

Are you a ‘silver lining’ person? Without being overly pretentious, I’m pretty good at looking for silver linings.

When Hurricane Florence rolled through 1 1/2 years ago and we were without electricity for days, I embraced throwing out a freezer and refrigerator full of food as a great way to give them a much needed cleaning.

I mean, it wasn’t going to do any good to weep over it…I couldn’t control it and so I might as well look for something good in the process. And this current situation is no different…we can’t control it, so let’s look for positives.

So, let’s talk about ‘Social Distancing’ Silver Linings…

The world continues to be blessed by those with incredible God-given gifts making those talents available to anyone with an internet connection. Did you listen to Andrea Bocelli singing Amazing Grace yesterday? It was haunting and beautiful.

Our empty social calendars have made making the time to reconnect with extended family so doable. My mom is now the only remaining ‘aunt’ for my few cousins and the impetus for the regular Zoom Happy Hours we are enjoying during our ‘staycations.’ Sadly, were it not for our current situation, we would not be taking the time to sit down once a week to chat.

Along the same lines, I had LONG chats with 3 of my out-of-town girlfriends last week. Typically we are all running here and there, so it was nice to just have time to sit and chat.

Our country club hosted an ‘online’ Flower Arranging class last week. Two young, local entrepreneurs; one an event planner and one a flower ‘farmer’, initiated the class as their previously planned events were all canceled. They delivered a bunch of flowers to our home earlier in the day and at 5 p.m. we all gathered in front of our computers to learn about the flowers and get recommendations for arranging them.

Not only am I honing a new skill that I would love to master, but I learned about these two local businesses that I otherwise would not have.

So, what are your ‘Staycation’ Silver Linings?

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If you have some scrap fabric laying about, you could order everything else you need online to make these sachets.

You know you have the time, why not give your cast iron a little love? This post detailing how to rescue rusted (or neglected) cast iron cookware tells you everything you need to know. Four plus years after writing this, my cast iron is still in fantastic shape.

Can we all agree, it’s the little things? I recently discovered a spatula that I LOVE! I mean, if you spend any time with spatulas, you will appreciate that this is one piece, the head can’t come off of the handle, and it is so easy to clean. Plus it’s a perfect size.

My brilliant friend Kathleen just published a substitution chart that is coming in handy!

While I thought I had really ‘decluttered’ my computer earlier this fall, I found a whole bunch of duplicate files this weekend. Another thing to do when you have the time to do it is to really clean up your devices. Use the Digital Decluttering Checklist and post to prompt you.

I accidentally found a radio station on Alexa that I am so enjoying. I asked Alexa for one thing and she started playing something else, but it turned out that I loved what she chose! See, there’s that silver lining again! It’s called SOMA FM Left Coast 70s.

If your pantry is anything like mine, you probably have the nuts, seeds and dried fruit to make this Rosemary, Fig and Nut Bread. If you don’t have everything in the recipe as written, other fruit and nuts are easily substituted.

Well, I am almost done with a pattern for a crochet washcloth, for all my knitters who would like to try crochet. And…I am really closing in on my table. I am putting a faux marble top on it and am really enjoying ‘faux-ing’. So, I am signing off to get busy.

Hope you have a great day.

Stay safe and look for the silver linings.

Hugs,

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!