The Ways of Her Home

Embracing the homeward call

Fluff the Nest Friday: Brighten Your Home with Fresh Flowers!

Good morning, friends! Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it! We've had a high school graduation, a big trip out west, a family wedding, our Texas daughter and SIL visiting, several gatherings to host, and another surgery for my younger daughter. I'm so eager to get back to blogging and I have a zillion ideas for posts, yet when I sat down earlier this week to click away on the keyboard, I suddenly felt stuck. I think it's because I have so much to catch up on. So, I'm just going to start slow and simple today with a little inspo for your nest fluffing. We've hosted several gatherings lately and it's been so nice to have flowers in bloom for clipping and adding to little vases around the ... Read more

We Went West!

Good morning, friends! I've been MIA here lately and for good reason. We've been wrapped up first with my daughter's high school graduation and then left for a 2-week road trip out west!! We had a blast, and I can't wait to document it all here with photos and stories. But for now, I'll be spending the next couple of days baking a wedding cake for my nephew's wedding. Pray I don't mess it up, please! I hope your summer is off to a great start! I'll be back later this week! ... Read more

Cook by the Book: Between Seasons Luncheon

Welcome back! In my last post I began to share a little about a luncheon my daughter and I prepared for my mom and my mother-in-law for Grandparents Day. Today I'd like to share the recipes. And since we're between seasons right now I selected recipes that would blend summer and fall! Also, as I've mentioned before, I'm challenging myself to use my cookbooks more, so I planned my entire menu from cookbook recipes. It was true lady food! Between Seasons Menu Rosy Raspberry Soup Chicken Salad Croissants, Broccoli Salad, and Cheese Straws Apple Raspberry Iced Tea Hummingbird Cake & Coffee The first cookbook I want to feature is actually not even a true cookbook but a ... Read more

Between Seasons Luncheon

Good morning, sweet friends! I had a post about adoption in the works for this week but since an adoption post requires more thought than my usual posts about recipes or cleaning, I'll need a little longer to finish it. So instead, I'll go ahead and share some photos from a little "grandmother luncheon" my daughter and I hosted last Saturday. Each year, we like to have our children help with something special for Grandparent's Day! This year my daughter and I prepared a girly luncheon just for the grandmothers while my husband and son took my dad to a downtown restaurant overlooking the river which serves the ultimate "guy food"--burgers, wings, fries, etc. It can be hard to plan a ... Read more

Cook by the Book: Mahogany Chicken

Labor Day is coming up this weekend so for my "Cook by the Book" challenge this week I decided to feature none other than something off the grill: Mahogany Chicken from Williams-Sonoma's Essentials of Grilling! This is a cookbook the kids and I gave my husband for Father's Day one year. He has used it many times, but I have not so I decided to flip through and get some inspiration for a good grilled chicken dish! Really, they had me at the word "mahogany" based on the idea of the color alone. The thought of a mahogany glaze made my mouth water, just imagining the tasty components that might go into it to produce a rich reddish-brown sauce! I skimmed through the ingredient list and had all ... Read more

Back-to-School Tea

Friday afternoon we had a few neighbor friends over for an after-school snack--a sort of "teatime" except I didn't call it that in front of my son and our tea was enjoyed iced rather than hot, perfect for our warm summer afternoon. This was really easy to throw together! When you have stuff in your stash to work with--tablecloths, paper goods, ribbon, baskets, trays, etc.--a simple table can come together without any prep or purchases. The chambray cloth was a hand-me-down from a friend. I made the red checked topper when my girls were little (I use that thing all the time). The green napkins were leftover in my party box, the ribbon and pencils were on hand, and I always keep apples ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday: A Week in Waco

Happy Saturday! This post is coming to you a little late in the morning because I'm typing as we're heading home from Waco! We got to visit our daughter and son-in-law this week in their new hometown, and it was soooo good to see them! We enjoyed several fun activities with the newlyweds who gave us a tour of the town. Having more than just a few snapshots to share this week, I put them in collages so this post wouldn't be so long. OK, here goes! Magnolia Silos I'll begin with the one everyone is expecting from Waco: Magnolia! I've posted on this attraction before, so I didn't take as many photos of the property this time (Be sure and check out my Silos post from last spring!). The ... Read more

Snapshot Saturday: This and That

Hello, friends! I have a few snapshots to share this week but without any kind of theme like I sometimes do. Just some of this, some of that. I'm going to begin with the highlight of our week which was time with our small group! Graduation Fiesta Our small group met at our house this week to reconvene after our summer break and honor one of our sweet girls who's been a precious friend to my girls and graduated high school this past May! We celebrated with a belated graduation meal--a taco bar! Many in our group have been traveling this summer so it was so good to have the whole gang back together. I found some cute cactus paper goods, a pinata, and a cactus garland at Target, ... Read more