On Oatmeal and Decorating

Strange title, huh? Well, those are two topics on my mind today. First, the oatmeal. Last night we had a young couple over for dinner. We met Will and Briana through church and we've been meeting with them on a regular basis since last winter. They became engaged this fall and like to ask us questions about different aspects of married life as they talk about their future together. Will has Celiac's Disease which means he cannot eat any food containing gluten. We usually have ice cream for dessert as it's safe (however, always reading ingredient lists is crucial--no cookie dough ice cream!). I decided to try something different last night and decided upon a recipe for cherry crisp from Cooking Light. It calls for flour in the topping, but I replaced it with oatmeal I ground to flour in the blender. As we were eating dinner, I excitedly announced my dessert to Will and Briana only to see a chagrined look pass between them. Then Will explained that oats are always grown in the vicinity of wheat and usually processed on the same equipment in granaries. Did you know that oatmeal is up to one-fourth wheat?? I certainly didn't. So, Will ate ice cream. Again. And Briana said she'd help by eating his share of the crisp. :-)

So on to decorating. I love my house. Now that I'm retired, I have time to think about it: how I want it to look, the sense of home I want it to convey to visitors. I used to love to buy decorating magazines, but somehow the ones coming out today seem to be mostly ads, and the homes featured seem removed from most people's every day reality. (I can't tell you how many times I've shown pictures to Dan and said, "This bathroom is bigger than our bedroom!") I've lately discovered several blogs that deal with decorating and they are inspiring me. I tend to be somewhat of a minimilist, but I love distinctive, homey accents. Many of the bloggers are do-it-yourselfers and I tell myself that if they can do it, so can I. I may be picking up a paint brush soon and attacking some long-needed projects. I loved one bloggers comment that if her husband gifted her with a finishing nail gun for Christmas she'd be able to complete her longed-for trim work. I'm pretty sure we have one, but I think I'll inspire Dan to use ours! Spritz cookie, anyone?



In this picture, the Christmas goose was made by our son Matt and wife Amy a few years ago. We love it. The quilt seen on the sofa was pieced by me probably five years ago, and I finally quilted it last year just after Christmas. It's a nine patch on point.