A Quiet Simple Life | Sallie Borrink

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

A Quiet Simple Life

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Our Cozy Home No. 80


Last August I decided to stop writing these Simple Living This Week posts. I had been doing them for a long time (for me). It was taking time to source the artwork. With Caroline starting high school and such, I was feeling the need to reduce what was on my plate.

I decided last week I wanted to start writing these again. In the interim, I’ve found more sources for artwork which helps. It was also interesting to go back through the previous weekly posts. In some ways, these are the most “bloggy” posts I write now, something I wish I had kept up all through the past seventeen years of blogging. Oh well. I can’t go back, but I can go forward.

Originally this was meant to be a weekly way for you and I to share what we did in our homes that week. I invite you to leave a comment if you would like, but I’m going to write even if no one else chimes in. I hope you will, but that’s beyond my control.

So here’s what I’m working on around my home.

I have Mikasa English Countryside dishes which are pretty and go with almost any color of table linens. However, they have a cracking problem. The glaze cracks and then it creates this circular patterns in the glaze that compromises the dishes and leaves dark marks. Mikasa replaced four dinner plates for me about a year ago, but now I have more of them cracking. I’ve read in various places this is a known problem. I’m not going to buy more of them and I really don’t want to buy all new dishes right now.

So for now I think I’m going to pull out the china I inherited from my paternal grandmother (Petite Bouquet). I’ve had it for many years and it’s mostly been packed away all that time because I have minimal daily storage space in my kitchen and none in my dining “room” area. I believe I have 10-12 place settings so my plan is to pull out a bunch to use, but keep back 2 (or 4) complete place settings. 

I know once we start using them, they will chip and get worn. I looked them up on the Replacements website and they aren’t expensive china so it makes sense to use them and enjoy them rather than buying something else.

The downside is they are much more limited in what I can use them with in terms of linens. But for now we’ll use them and enjoy them. Eventually I hope to purchase something else that will work with all my various linens, but this is a good solution for now.

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.

We decided to try growing russet potatoes in buckets this year. We had an elevated square foot garden many years ago, but haven’t done much vegetable growing since then other than cucumbers on the deck. The weather this spring has been cold, cloudy, and rainy. I hope our first batch we planted is okay. We should see sprouts in about another week so then we’ll know. We’re also going to do bush beans and bush cucumbers when it is warm enough to plant them. 

This has been a really slow spring to arrive. Usually our leaves are out by Mother’s Day weekend and we look to be weeks behind. There has been a noticeable change in our weather patterns the past three years in terms of the lengths of spring and autumn, but this is by far the most pronounced we’ve experienced.

I had David bring up the off-season clothes bins from the basement two days ago to switch out our winter and summer clothes. Yes, it is May and I am just now doing this. Last week I was still wearing winter clothes because it was still in the 40s outside. I’ve never switched out our clothes this late, especially in May. Hopefully I can get that task taken care of this weekend. I wash everything when I pack it away, but I also wash it when I get it out again. I like everything to smell fresh so I take the extra step. 

I have many other things on my to do list, but seem to be slow to get to them. I’ve been suffering from decision fatigue for several weeks (at least). Anything that requires much of a decision keeps getting put off. I need to tackle at least a few of them today as some of them are actually quite important. I keep reminding myself that these are difficult times we’re we’re living through and it’s normal to be mentally weary. In the meantime, I keep doing what I can and making wise choices as best as I can. 

Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without.

What are you doing around your home right now?

Artwork: “Summerlust” by Hermann Seeger

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Our Cozy Home No. 79


Happy August. I’m feel like I’m drowning in too many good things. How are you doing? LOL!

One thing I’ve always said here is I would not be a hypocrite. So the truth of the matter is that I have felt like I’ve been drowning in Open Mental Tabs and things to be done for about a week. None of it is bad, but there is just too much of it. But here’s a bit of what’s going on in my home.

I’m re-reading the book I reviewed in this post: Homeschooling a Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities (LBLD). It has helped me refocus while working on our high school planning. I cannot recommend this book highly enough if you have a child who fits this profile. It’s so good, practical, and loving in its approach. Yes, I’m still planning. Yes, we are still finishing last year. Yes, we keep our own schedule. LOL!

We went to Barnes and Noble a few days ago and I bought books. A lot of books. It was so wonderful. New books piled up. I needed book therapy very badly. Some are to use in our homeschooling and some are just to read. I’ll have to share the books in another post.

My NoPoo continues along. I think it’s been a month at least now.

If you use Pinterest you may have noticed what a disaster it has become since it went public (stock market). I’ve all but given up on it. I still pin my new posts there, but they get no traction. Pinterest was a strong provider of both new readers and printable sales for me, but not any longer. I think the Pinterest disaster is a combination of multiple problems. If I had to guess I would say these are the issues.

  • They are overly focused on their investors.
  • They have abandoned what made Pinterest unique (images) and are trying to incorporate things their users don’t want on that platform (TikTok, Instagram, etc.).
  • They lack a strong moral compass that guides them to make wise decisions so they pander to whatever is in the wind that day.
  • They are reaping what they sowed in focusing on diversity hiring instead of hiring the best people.

It’s not just me saying that Pinterest has jumped the shark. There are some interesting discussions in the Pinterest subreddit:

So, no, it isn’t my imagination. It’s really bad. It’s truly a shame. Pinterest was a favorite of mine for many years. I could spend hours in an evening going down interesting rabbit holes and making new boards of neat things. I barely look at it now. Apparently I’m not alone.

I do, however, love Gab a bit more every week. If you aren’t on Gab, you are missing out on so much. My only regret is that I listened to the naysayers and didn’t get on there sooner.

I’ve been contemplating moving back to pure blogging here. Between Pinterest, Google, and the rest, it seems like it may be the best option for me. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m not sure I want to continue trying to fight the Big Tech Beast any longer. I know this is something I’ve said more than once over the years, but it really does feel different this time. There was something about quitting Teachers Pay Teachers that was freeing and allowed me to think differently about my time online and in my home. I’ve tried to play the Big Tech game for so long and I have simply come to the conclusion that I’d rather abandon those efforts and see what God does.

That’s going to be it for today. I have two 50 page handbooks to edit and get back to a client by Friday. (Open Mental Tabs!)

What’s going on in your home? I hope you’ll leave a comment and share. I love reading the comments, even if I don’t respond. I’m sorry I did not respond to the comments last week. (Open Mental Tabs!)

Have a good day!

Artwork:  “The Golden Train” by Edmund Blair Leighton 

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Our Cozy Home No. 78


Happy last week of July! I’m not sure where the month went. It’s been a blur of work primarily around our home. Normally I look forward to the end of July (because of the heat and humidity), but this year feels like it’s all moving a bit too quickly even for me!

I have been focusing more on taking care of myself physically, something that always seems to be a very last priority. I’ve started walking again on the treadmill which works well for me. My goal is just 20 minutes a day. I watch a video podcast on my Kindle and the time goes pretty quickly. I definitely can tell a difference when I take the time to do this. I have a goal for October 1 that involves my clothes. We’ll see if I make it.

I’ve also been trying to focus on working a greater variety of foods into my diet. Trying to determine which foods work well for my EoE in the midst of perimenopause/menopause the past few years has been a laugh. Anyone who has gone through this stage of life as a woman understands how much your entire body changes, including everything related to your digestive system. But, again, I’m trying to make this a priority. Partially for myself and partially to set a good example to Caroline.

My No-Poo adventure is going just fine. It’s been a few weeks now. I wish I had tried it years ago.

As I think about autumn and winter, I’ve been tweaking my office. My office is where I work and where Caroline and I do our homeschooling together. It is a 10×12 room with two large, tall windows in the corner. In my ideal world, I would like to put a small fireplace and chair in here. But the room already has three bookscases, a four drawer file cabinet, a large corner desk, and a six foot table. And two rolly carts. It probably sounds crowded, but it’s actually quite cozy.

I  would like an inexpensive little fireplace or little stove that plugs in. The chair is probably a no-go unless I am willing to part with two bookcases or a bookcase and the filing cabinet. But I could part with one bookcase and have a little fireplace/stove. But then I have to get rid of a bookcase. A bookcase! I know. First world problems. But considering I spend many hours a day in this room, I like it to be as cozy and enjoyable as possible both for me and Caroline.

I’ve thought about taking the doors off the closet and using it as part of the room. I’ve seen many photos over the years of rooms where people have done that. But I haven’t figured out how it would help me achieve my goal of a chair and fireplace so it doesn’t seem worth the hassle of removing and storing them. If I’m going to do something outside the box, it has to be worth the trouble.

So we’ll see where all that goes.

David has been working very long days the past six weeks. It’s the month he puts together the quarterly The Old Schoolhouse Magazine which is a fair amount of work. He’s also been working on a large contract project that has now entered the sixth week. He was one of 30ish graphic designers hired to work on it which gives you an idea of the scope of the project. It’s for a textbook publishing company and they have kept him busy. It was supposed to be for 4+ weeks so it’s gone beyond the initial expectation. Every week it continues is a great blessing. It has felt a bit like all work and no play this summer, but Caroline and I are grateful he has so much work. We did take a few hours two days last week for a couple of family shopping outings to buy some things we needed. It was a good break for all of us.

Mostly I focus on being grateful for how blessed I am with a husband, daughter, and home. I have food to eat, work to do, music to listen to, books to read, and people like you to interact with each day. I imagine many people would consider my life small and uninteresting. But I am very blessed and I recognize that every day.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Psalm 16:6 ESV

That’s all for me this week. What’s going on in your home? I hope you’ll leave a comment and share!

Artwork: “Signing the Marriage Contract” by George Sheridan Knowles 

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Our Cozy Home No. 77


I hope your week is off to a good start. I’m personally feeling the impact of scraping by on 5-6 hours of broken sleep for a number of weeks now. I sleep less well in the summer anyway, but this summer seems especially bad.

I know many people love naps, but I have never been a napper. I don’t sleep if I try and if I happen to doze off, I feel worse afterwards. I remember last fall when the temperatures broke and we got into the good sleeping weather. I slept like a log and remembered, “Oh this is what it feels like to get a good night’s sleep!” I’m not wishing away the summer, but I’m ready for the cooler sleeping weather to return.

We had a family outing to Hobby Lobby last week and I was finally able to purchase five inexpensive frames for my A Quiet Simple Life Floral Art. Since I have the Full Collection, I was able to choose which picture I wanted with each phrase. These are now above my desk to my left. (I have a large corner desk so I have both a left and right wall directly in front of me.) The frames are darker because my desk is a cherry color. They harmonize well with the entire corner. I’m pleased.

 

I increased the size of them when I printed to 105% since I wanted them to fill the frame a bit more. That’s the nice thing about the way they are situated on the page. You can increase or decrease the size for your purposes.

I don’t write the things I do here just to fill space on a blog. I actually do believe and value what I write and try to incorporate it into my own life as much as possible. These are both a reminder of what I’m aiming to do in my daily home life as well as what I am trying to do here to encourage other women in their homes.

If you are a new reader and aren’t sure what these are about, you can start by checking out some of these links. I frequently write about creating a life of peace, understanding, joy, beauty, and faith. Those are the themes that run throughout what I do here.

While we were at Hobby Lobby, Caroline and I purchased a few small cross stitch projects. She wants to try it at least once, so we each have something small to work on. (David also cross stitches. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned that.) Hopefully we’ll get those out this week.

Thank you to everyone who left shampoo suggestions last week. I realized I read them all, but didn’t respond. This past week has been a blur in a fog of tiredness. I know I’ve said this so many times, but there is a reason why sleep deprivation is a torture device. There is a reason why one of the very best methods of weight loss is sufficient sleep. Sleep is so important. Make sure you and your loved ones are getting enough. Other than drinking enough water, it’s probably one of the most important things you can do for your health that costs virtually nothing.

What’s going on in your home this week? I hope you’ll leave a comment and share!

Artwork: “Summer Afternoon Seine Valley” by  Daniel Ridgway Knight

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