Happy Saturday! So, some of you may have seen the post on Facebook that our house was back on the market. Sigh. What a story – which I’m sure that those of you who’ve bought and sold homes before know well. It’s a simple – and at the same time complicated – story of other houses not selling, financing falling through, and other properties bought while ours was waiting in contract. So, we now wait again for buyers who will appreciate our cottage-farmhouse – content in God’s timing (though we are still reeling a bit, to be sure!). Thank you all who’ve commented or emailed me about the house – you guys are the BEST.
On to this week’s things I’m loving – and the links I think you’ll love! (Some of the links I provide are affiliate links.)
Peaceful summer kayaking. Finally. With all the house stuff going on, time for things like kayaking got pushed aside. Well, Brian and I had a date night scheduled for Tuesday and the only thing I wanted to do was kayak! So we had a picnic of Caesar chicken wraps and then kayaked for an hour in the beautiful summer evening. Glorious.
And this lake? It’s just a 10 minute drive up the highway and another 5 to where we put the kayaks in the water. Really! This is a reminder to me (and maybe to you, too?) to just DO it already. Stuff will always be there – take time to do the other stuff that fills your soul!
The store-bought dried plum (aka, prunes) hack we’re loving. Okay, I have to start this by reminding you that I love, love, love the Italian plums I dry every fall. They are SO good that we have to dole them out sparingly to make it even through the winter and they are long gone by spring.
But store-bought prunes (that they now call plums, but they aren’t anything like the ones I dry, so I stubbornly still call them prunes) are just gross. The squishy, sticky, blobs just emphasize the flavor I don’t care for as much. But I had an idea: buy a bag of prunes and dry them more.
And it worked! While they don’t have that wonderful sweet-tart flavor of Italian plums, they are chewy and the flavor is much better – Brian likes them, too. So now I regularly buy a big bag of dried plums (prunes to me), bring them home and layer them in my Excalibur food dehydrator at 135 degrees for 6-8 hours, or until they are chewy with no moisture coming from them.
And in case you’re wondering why I’d even care about getting dried plums into my diet regularly – no it doesn’t have to do with, um, regularity. It has to do with studies like these that indicate dried plums should be “considered a valid strategy for prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.” This is something I can get behind, because even if it doesn’t end up showing to help a lot, the plums are still good for you in other ways, too!
Going against the norm for the best hair. So you know how you always think you should buy both the shampoo and conditioner of the same brand or line? Or at least I always did. Since my hair is thin but wavy I would buy a volume shampoo and the volume conditioner to go with it. I really like the Suave Professionals Volume shampoo – I found it works for me better than more expensive volume shampoos I tried.
But the volume conditioner? It always left the middle of my hair with weird waves and the ends fly-away and dried-looking. Then one time I ran out and had to use my daughter’s Suave Sleek conditioner and bam! Perfection. The shampoo gives my roots lift and the conditioner applied only to the ends makes them smooth.
So, is this just me – do you all combine different hair products or use one line?
Links To Check Out:
15 things to do before summer ends (I just did #4!).
3 ingredient, no machine fruit sherbet.
Sweet potato pizza crust…whaaa?
I am definitely making these soon!
10 ways to get audiobooks free.
This looks like it will be a good series on healthy eating.
Cost effective way to add shiplap to your walls.
A real-food pie crust that’s better than butter (and isn’t lard)? I’ll have to try this, too.
Peel and stick subway tile – since I’ve sworn to never tile again, I could get behind this idea!
Like these links? I’m always pinning these and lots more – follow me on Pinterest for more inspiration and ideas!
Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links and by clicking on them you help support AOC at no extra cost to you – thanks so much! Plus you can trust I’ll only share what I love. (You can always read our entire disclosure page here.)
Rachel says
I absolutely ADORE Suave Professionals mousse. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tried on my curly hair, and I’ve tried a ton of stuff from super expensive to cheap. It’s a creamy, thick mouse with substance, and it leaves your hair soft. No crunchy hair! I buy two at a time so I’m never out. Who would have guessed? 🙂
Jami says
Oh, good to know Rachel! My daughter’s hair is curly, so I’ll try this for her. 🙂
Nancy says
Hi Jamie:
So disappointing that your house deal fell through. We tried to sell our house 10 years ago after my husband’s bypass surgery and we got a solid offer within the first week – no conditions other than having our wood burning fireplace checked out. It didn’t pass inspection, we converted it to gas and then the deal fell through because they wanted wood burning. But you know what? We were ecstatic about it, because we had put so much work into our home and didn’t really want to leave it at that time. We felt that God was putting up the roadblock so we could stay – and we are still here 10 years later and still loving it! I am sure the time will come (we are in our late 60’s) when it will truly be time to downsize, but not yet …
I am sure when God’s timing is right your house will sell, or you will decide you still love your home in which you have invested so much sweat equity.
God bless
Michele says
So sorry about the house, but it is so fabulous that I am sure you will sell very soon!
On another note- we used the Home Depot peel and stick tile as a backsplash in our travel trailer and we are in love with the ease of cleaning up after splashy dinners! Sometimes I cook breakfast inside because I’m still in my pjs and can’t face other people walking by as I fry up sausage for biscuits and gravy…or it’s raining, or fires are forbidden because of dry conditions. My trailer kitchen is tiny, and it gets messy, but the gorgeous backsplash is so easy to just wipe and we are good to go!
Hugs, Jami!!