Indian Summer Sunday

We love the house we bought two years ago, but it’s easy to get wanderlust in this town with so many architecturally significant residences. We got the opportunity to privately tour one of our favorites yesterday. It sits on fourteen acres of farmland and includes a tobacco barn and a pond.

The home is Italianate style from the 1840s. You can see in this image it’s deterioration over the last few years. The shutters on the second and third stories are broken and falling off their hinges.

This is the view of the farmland from the second floor. Yesterday was such a golden afternoon. It was perfect.

And here’s the barn bursting with the summer’s crop. It’s a sight that makes this Kentucky girl’s heart so happy.

What did you do with your Indian summer Sunday afternoon? Do you ever get crushes on houses?

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Words on a page

Seems like as I get older, I enjoy fiction less and less. Or maybe I just haven’t found any adult fiction I like. Here’s my current booklist and as you can see, it’s pretty lopsided.

To the End of June
This is the devastating look at our foster care system and how it fails our nation’s children. These children weigh so heavy on my heart and the lives of the children it featured give me a lot to think about.

The Trouble With Boys
While I haven’t yet finished this book, I know it will confirm my fears that the educational system discriminates against boys. I’m hoping to glean some tips in advocating for my own son as he starts school in the next few years. Fun fact, did you know boys are expelled from preschool at almost five times the rate of girls?

Growing Up Social
Sometimes I find the author’s writing style a little pedantic, but I’m looking forward to the explicit advice on how to root out and reduce my children’s screen time. I suspect it will involve modifying my own behavior.

Save the Date
I put this on hold at my library when I was looking for some cotton candy to read during summer pool days. I then forgot about it and am not really in the mood for it, but maybe I’ll get burnt out on all the depressing news about boys and screen time and want something light again.

The Snow Queen
I picked this up on a whim from my library’s “new fiction” display because the title reminded me of my daughter’s favorite Disney character. Ha! I have no idea what it’s about or whether I enjoy it. What can I say, I walk on the wild side.

What are you reading? Is there a fiction author that you love??

Mondays

On Monday, I tell my two children it’s “Daddy Day” and we do things for Daddy all day long. Really what that means is I get them hyped up to “help” me with housework. My husband’s love language is Acts of Service and there’s little he loves more than coming home to the smell of cleaning products. So far though, I’ve only managed to accomplish some freezer casseroles for my church’s Bereavement Committee.

Here’s the recipe I use. I know, I know. It’s full of gunk like boxed stuffing and cream of soup. But, it’s comfort food, right? I put it in the freezer before baking and will thaw it before it goes in the oven. I made up a couple of these and it’s such a relief to have that done – and to have used up all that end of summer produce!

Lemme ask you, what’s your go-to vegetable side dish? Share your recipes in the comments!