Wanna Be-Scandanavian Homes

Clean, but not sterile. Bright, but not glittery. I love the look of Scandinavian homes. One would think with all my Norwegian and Danish blood, a little of the design standards might have made their way to me, but alas, I swim in  a shabby chic, heavy on the shabby, mixed with unoriginal store showroom designed living spaces. I drool over this blog, My Scandinavian Home. Granted, for me, some of the pictures of homes and rooms that are featured move into the sterile category for me, but I long for the rooms with bright walls, simple furnishing, and not a stack of jumbled papers or clothes anywhere. I admit to keeping the Ikea catalogue as a coffee table book to help draw a little inspiration. 

DD2's room is the closest to where I have embraced it, with her white furniture, and pops of color on her bedding. However, still too much stuff and mess (Christmas gift bag still on her desk), and her green and blue walls, her choice, scream American teen. 

Little touches-her pillow from London, peace blanket made by her sis, Rags,her puppy  from childhood, and more books than a typical teen, with many more still boxed up, that she is deciding whether or not to keep.
 

My little office nook, mostly because I can close the cabinet/desk doors on the paperwork clutter, is the simple look I would like to have in the whole house. All the closets in my home are larger than closets from modest homes built before 1984, and from what I can tell from some British home shows, most UK and European homes. Still, I struggle with finding enough storage space. I know this is a stuff problem, more than a design problem, but would like to tackle both. 

 I'm off to take a look at a couple Thrift stores today to see what I might be able to create or re-purpose into a television stand. I think heavy dose of white or Scandinavian inspired colored  paint and sand paper might get me the look I want for cheap. Who else is a Scandinavian design fan? Who has ideas of how, with spending little to no money, I can get some of the look and feel of these spaces?

Just Your Basic Chicken Noodle Soup

 

 It's Sunday, and though I'm still moving slower, I can still chop vegetables with the best of them.  I had some frozen bread dough too so decided today, in knowing we will be eating overly rich dishes later in the week, seemed a perfect day to make a big pot of home style chicken noodle and some fresh baked bread. 

Home style Chicken Noodle soup-the easy way

1 large chicken boneless skinless chicken breast
1 1/2 cups sliced carrot
1 cup celery
1 onion
10 stock cubes
2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
8 oz. (half bag) wide egg noodles
10 cups cold water

Simmer chicken breast in 2 cups of water along with vegetables until chicken is cooked through.  Remove chicken and dice into cubes  If you like more meat, cook 2 breasts.  Add the water, stock cubes,  pepper, and garlic, along with the chicken pieces back to the pot.  Simmer until the vegetables are tender. Add the egg noodles, bring to a boil, then turn down to low.  The soup is ready to serve when the noodles are tender. 

I know this is barely home made, and for those that need to watch sodium, the stock cubes might need to be reduced.  With all the ingredients purchased on sale, or at low cost, I can make this pot for $4.00 plus less than $2.00 for the two loaves of bread, and have two meals for three people, with little more time than opening a couple cans of Campbell's Chunky soup, and buying one pound loaves in the bakery department. The house smelt wonderful too.

I made it to church today.  I was a little nervous about the up and downs and the times of prolonged standing, but I did just fine.  DD#2 sang in her teen choir, which might be the last time for a while because we are losing her director and a replacement has yet to be found.  Even if the church hires soon, there is no guarantee  that person will have the same passion and patience to work with teen musicians as the former director who actually added the teen ensemble above and beyond his regular duties. The kids sang four songs,  including one of my favorite Christmas carols, Go Tell it on the Mountain. Most of the songs they do are contemporary but this was old school caroling, though with an electric and bass guitar, and a keyboard jamming as accompaniment for a delightful twist.

I'm getting a few presents wrapped and put under the tree.   I haven't tackled baking or candy yet, and at this stage may not at all before Wednesday, but I am resigned to accomplish just what I can. The Minnesota Vikings lost a close game, again, but other than that, it was a pretty good December Sunday.



While not strictly home made, the rising and baking dough made the house smell wonderful.

Completely Frittered the Day Away...or Did I?

The weekend news was all weather-predicting the first big storm of the (early) winter.  I went to bed last night with a flurry of text messages about the possibility of the office closing, as so many staff have young kids, and we want to discourage clients out in bad weather.  There have been times when we didn't close, but should have.  A text first thing confirmed we were erring on precaution and the office was closing.  In hindsight, as we never got quite the storm predicted, it was maybe better to just allow people late arrival, or early departure depending on their commute.  I actually was quite under the weather when I first woke, and was probably going to either go in late, or attempt to work from home, any way, giving me time for the bug to pass.  I spent several hours dealing with issues remotely that arose because of the closing, and then had good intentions to do a lot of catch up work from home.  I should have been able to knock off a lot of desk things, but instead, knowing it was now an unexpected holiday, I rested, and I blog hopped.

I got caught up on a what all my favorite bloggers are up to.  Vintage shopping with gal pals, successful and unsuccessful home made bread baking, upcycling a table and chairs for an early Christmas gift, creative ways to make money on the side, and weekend travel get aways made for a lot of busy reading.  I made a few comments, and received  few as well.  I was reminded of the early days of Facebook when you could spend hours looking up friends and getting caught up on the months and years you missed in their lives. I was terrible clicking links, and other recommended blog sites. I was lazy and unaccomplished.  It was fun.

While running my daughter to basketball practice, I made a stop to get new ice scrapers.  The ones we had from last winter were crap, and barely took off the sleet we had coating the car windows. Staring at a wall of ice scrapers of every size imaginable, not yet picked over,  I started thinking about how rested I felt.  For the most part, I had over half a day with no one needing anything from me, no one (other than pup) dropping into my work space wondering what I was doing and could they ask me if I was busy.  No one remembering they forgot something and could I help them take care of it. No boss popping in my doorway with the random thought of the morning, that he needed to share in person just because he wanted a stretch so chose to walk down the hall instead of just picking up the  blasted phone.  At one point I put an old episode of Doc Martin on, fell asleep, and woke thinking I had just vacationed in a seaside cottage.  It was lovely. 

So what I had, was a day of playing hooky, but without the guilt. I woke not feeling well; some dry toast and tea helped calm things down. I didn't call in sick when I wasn't, though by the way I napped, I sure must have needed it.  I didn't hang out for an extra hour in a coffee house before heading home, just so I could get through e-mail uninterrupted.  I didn't even bother to shower, but stayed in comfy sweat pants, t-shirt, alternated with throwing a sweatshirt on, and felt no need to look presentable, though I did comb my hair and brush my teeth before running into Target. So was my day a waste of opportunity or good for my soul?  I had thought I'll be energized and just work late tomorrow, then learned they changed practice times so I'll have car pool duty at 6:00.  Still, I feel ready to get in the office early, and tackle what I would have done half heartedly had I tried today.  I was dreading the work week when I first woke up, and now I am excited to get things done.

I won't be making this a habit, it is not really my nature, but I don't think the day was wasted after all. I once had a staff person that every so often called in and just reported she was taking a mental health day.  We didn't have a policy about what constituted being sick to use a sick day, and I never pushed.  To this day, I still feel she was one of the most productive and talented staff I ever supervised. What about you?  Have you ever literally just phoned it in, and gave yourself a day off?  Were you later more productive because of it?

Pretty Places Part II-In My Own Back Yard

Friday night I blogged about coming across pretty places when you aren't expecting anything, such as I experienced on my recent work trip. Then there are places that are soothing, enjoyable,  and best of all, can be a regular part of your day.  The adult reading nook at my local library fits that bill. That is it in the top picture.  The light is great.  My  little breakfast spot on my back deck-nothing fancy but it gets the right light in the early morning.  I love my wicker bench on my front porch.  It's an excellent reading spot, early afternoon and then early evenings once the sun is behind the trees.  The spot in my living room that I typically sit, legs stitched out, working from a lap top, is pretty to me, even if my kids hate the cinnamon color accent wall across from it.

Best café for breakfast-sans snow!

Stretch and read or work.

Great natural light.

At my office we have a memorial tree and bench for two former coworkers.  On a warm day, it is nice to take a break from the computer screen, walk around the building, and take a short respite in their space.  Even in some of the grungiest places I've lived or worked, I found a little slice of pretty to take a break, get my thoughts together, or just decompress.  In college it was the back stairs that overlooked the fossil and mineral case  in the science building.  When I lived off campus so packed a lunch, I often ate my lunch there instead of the crowded student union. Light, even if the florescent hallway light,  shining off the rocks and minerals in the case was calming.

What about your pretty places?  Are they shared by many, or your own find? 

We love baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet

There is an old car commercial with a catchy tune.  "We love baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet" so it goes. It is a summer kind of tune, but I think about it in the fall as well.  Baseball season has moved into playoff mode, and sadly, our Twins are once again done.  I'm not a huge baseball fan, games get a little long, but I am a die hard Twins fan.  Next year boys.  I have a sister who is a fanatic.  No doubt she'll have the season analyzed and know just what the General Manager needs to do in the off season and if he would just listen, 2015 could be the year. 

As for the hot dogs and apple pie part, fall in the north is a great time for fire pits and roasting a hot dog on a stick, and following it up with a great big  slice of pie, made from apples picked earlier in the day. You can buy little pie tin roasters and make apple pies over the fire using bread and pie filling and do both fire side.  As the playoffs get started, an interesting thing you can see as night gets earlier and earlier is folks pulling out their TV's, loading a portable fire pit with wood, and combing the three together.  I got a great smell last night on my walk, lit up from the glow from the fires going in drive ways and off patios in my little neighborhood.  

I have a friend from high school that manages a farm household, with all the extra hands needed for harvesting.  She has her own supply of apples from trees on her farm.  Here is just a glimpse of her hard work keeping the boys (and girls) nourished and happy. The picture on the heading is also hers-talented in the kitchen and with a camera I'd say.

Deliciousness from the kitchen of Chris "Chicky" Ries Otte

I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit picking apples into the weekend, but we have a little store of them in the refrigerator, so will come up with something, and I know there are hotdogs ready to be thawed from the freezer.  Tonight is supposed to be dry and cool-perfect.  I don't think we'll be pulling the TV outside, but supper will be done and done.  The thing about the commercial jingle and its staying power in our heads after all these years, is that it emotes a feeling of hominess and belonging.  These simple things can bind us as a country, a community, a neighborhood, and a family.  I'll take that, in my Chevy Malibu, wearing a Twins cap,  to the bank.