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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Helen Allingham (Artist)

Our Cozy Home No. 33


Happy Monday! It’s been a few weeks since we had a weekly goals post and it’s time to get back in the routine. I confess I am feeling a little slow out of the gate today. We just finished our sunniest June ever with over 82% sunshine. This is unheard of around here. I think average is in the 63% range. Now we are in the midst of a 10 day stretch of temperatures in the 90s.

Caroline and I are both trying to keep positive attitudes, but all of this sunshine, heat, and humidity on top of everything else is really wearing on us. If you think of Caroline, would you please pray for her? We have been stuck at home for four months now. There is really nowhere to go and nothing to do. Now that it is so hot, there is even less to do because it’s not even pleasant to take a walk. There is nothing to look forward to. No church, no volunteering, and not knowing if homeschool co-op will really happen in the fall. They are planning on it, but given our governor (Michigan) I have no hope that we’ll get a normal homeschool co-op year.

During the first several weeks of the lockdown, David was drowning in work. We barely had time to think about the lockdown because he was so busy. All of those projects have ended and now for the past few weeks he’s been on the other end of the spectrum – not enough work lined up. If you think of him, please pray that the Lord would guide him to work, new clients, etc. Our business doesn’t qualify for any of the government programs that have been set up so finding work is our only option. Please pray for the Lord to provide.

Honestly, our whole family could use your prayers. We’re feeling rather down, to be perfectly honest. We’re praying and trying to keep a positive attitude. Caroline and I need to get in gear with homeschooling, but neither one of us really feel like doing anything. I don’t mean to be a downer in sharing this. I simply want to be honest. We’re all weary.

Cross Stitching

Yesterday I cleaned out a storage bin with my counted cross stitch materials, books, magazines, floss, partially completed projects, etc. I was able to whittle it down quite a bit. Some of it I’m keeping and some is going to Goodwill this week. Most of my floss is old, but it will still work fine for little projects I might want to work on. If I decide at some point to take on something larger, I will buy all new. I cut up the partially completed projects I will never finish and washed all the Aida fabric since it smelled like it had been packed away for some time. I need to check it over and decide what I might want to keep to possibly use. Aida fabric isn’t expensive, but given how many crafting supplies are still in short supply I decided to hang on to what I had.

I have to give a shout out to Kim at Nutbrown Cottage. KIM!!!!! I saw someone took a link from your site and went to see it since I didn’t recognize the website name. But I saw your picture and was so happy to see you! I’ve thought about you often over the years. Part of the reason I’m mentioning this under cross stitching is because Kim is working on one of my favorite old patterns from Cross Stitch Country Crafts. (I have that issue in my pile.) Make sure you go see her pictures of Gathering Honey. It’s such a lovely project. (And I love her site design. So cozy!)

My Goals This Week

I’m still working hard with David on updating all of my printables in the shop so I’m spending a lot of time on that.

I’m also finishing up all the details on the website redesign. So I’m not going to set any grand goals this week around the house.

Goal 1 – Finish going through my cross stitch stuff. I’m mostly done, but need to decide which magazines, books, etc. to keep and what to get rid of.

Goal 2 – Go through my last sewing storage bin. It is mostly full of fabric. Whatever I am going to keep (which will probably be all of it) needs to be washed and restored in a container that breathes better.

Goal 3 – Order sewing and cross stitching supplies I might want before they run out again. I need to order thread especially. I have a lot of fabric and very nice old sheets I have plans for, but my thread supply is low.

Goal 4 – Continue organizing my crafts and sewing materials in my office. I’ve been slowly working on this while listening to podcasts.

What do you have planned this week around your home? Please leave a comment and share what you are working on. If you write about these things on your own blog or website, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your post about what you are doing around your home. I won’t be offended! If you have a good recipe to share on your site, feel free to link to it as well.

Artwork: “Buckinghamshire House at Penstreet” by Helen Allingham 

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Our Cozy Home No. 32


Happy Monday! I hope you had a restful or productive weekend, depending on what your personal goals were for the time. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve been working on around my home and my goals for this week.

Alternatives to FoodSaver Vacuum Bags

We have had a FoodSaver vacuum sealer for many years, but the cost of the bags makes it less appealing to use as often as I would like. I saw a mention that there were several other brands of the bags for sale on Amazon and decided to try out a different option. After reading reviews, I settled on FoodVacBags 2-pack 11X50 Rolls Vacuum Sealer Bags.

I used them for the first time last weekend and they seem excellent. They are sturdy, sealed well, etc. They are significantly cheaper than the FoodSaver brand name ones so I think I will be permanently switching to these.

Bisto Gravy Granules

Something else that we’ve been using for some time is the Bisto Gravy Granules from England. I saw this product pop up many times in UK based blogs and decided to try one from our Meijer international aisle over a year ago. David and Caroline really liked it so it’s a regular product in our home now. (I can’t eat it.)

The nice thing is you can make as much or as little as you want. This is vastly better than the packets that make one batch of gravy. One canister lasts them for some time so it’s much more economical than other options that have to be used up almost as soon as you open them. Naturally, nothing beats homemade gravy from drippings but this makes it possible to have gravy as often as you would like without all of the extra work (and expense of meat).

AeroGarden 360

Earlier this year we invested in a AeroGarden 360, something I’ve been contemplating for a long time. We have been growing three types of mixed romaine in it as well as thyme, rosemary, and sage. We also have an heirloom lettuce kit to try. They also have a grow anything kit which I haven’t purchased yet, but may try.

It has really exceeded my expectations. For a small family or a couple, this is a great way to have fresh produce all the time. I told David that if someone really wanted to make the most of this, they would have a couple of them. You could be growing lettuce at two different rates (stagger the start times) and then also have one for just herbs. For people like us who live in a place where you can only grow things outside for a relatively short period of time each year, this is a great alternative. Is it the cheapest way to grow? No. But it makes it possible to have fresh food year round right in your home. And, honestly, it’s really kind of fun to watch the things grow and then harvest them.

There are heirloom cherry tomato pods and bell pepper pods which we have not tried, but would appeal to many people. There is even a salsa kit that contains both for people who enjoy that.

The other thing I realized is that the liquid plant food that comes with it has other uses. Have you seen the articles on about regrowing your romaine lettuce in water? That’s all well and good, but how nutritious is the new romaine going to be if it is only growing in plain water? I’m thinking you could add this liquid plant food to the water and do the same thing. So that’s on my list of things to investigate this week.

Goals for This Week

So here are my goals for this week.

Goal 1 – My first goal is to inventory my spices. I’m especially looking to see what is getting low so I can make sure I have a backup.

Goal 2 – Dehydrate something, probably sage from the AeroGarden. I pulled out my dehydrator last weekend, but haven’t used it yet since we were wrapped up in the website redesign.

I’m only setting two small goals because I have a lot of other things on my plate related to homeschooling and work.

What are you working on in your home this week? I hope you’ll leave a comment and share. I know someone’s newest project is a baby so I’m not sure any of us can share something more exciting and interesting than bringing a new person into the world. LOL! But all things done with love for those we love are important, even organizing spices and gravy granules.

Artwork: “By the Cottage Gate” by Helen Allingham

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Our Cozy Home No. 28


Happy Monday evening! Yes, it’s an evening edition of this week’s post. Today is It’s a Girl Day, the day we celebrate each year discovering via ultrasound that God was giving us the desire of our hearts – a daughter –  after many years of asking. Caroline gets to choose a small gift and a special take-out lunch on her day. We’re so very thankful for her and the gift she is.

I’ve been doing some pantry building the past few weeks. There were a few things I couldn’t find locally so I decided to try ordering online from Walmart. Oh my. I cannot begin to describe what a truly horrible experience we’ve had with this. Contrast it with Amazon which is nearly always perfect and it’s hard to fathom a company like Walmart being so bad at something so important. I also ordered a few things from Target and that went well.

But more than anything I have been busy working on this site for the past week like a crazy lady. LOL! I’ve always been honest about the behind-the-scenes aspect of this site that is part of my business so part of my motivation is the desire to move to a better ad network that pays much much better. Ads, in part, make it possible for me to do this site. I would like to spend a LOT more time writing quality content. Increasing my ad revenue will allow me to do that. So I need to greatly increase my monthly page views in order to make that goal. I’ve actually set myself a ridiculously ambitious goal, but we’ll see if I can do it.

How ridiculously ambitious? I actually seriously contemplated going back on Facebook after two years in order to drive traffic to my site. Fortunately a group of blogger friends did a mini-intervention and reminded me that God can provide in ways that don’t require me to compromise in areas in which I have strong convictions. (I may or may not have used the term “prostituting myself” when discussing returning to Facebook. Ahem.) So I didn’t go back on Facebook. Crisis averted.

So here’s a bit of what I’ve done in the past week if you want to take a peek.

  • Completely cleaned out and reorganized My Shop. It seriously looks gorgeous now. I reorganized it in anticipation of the updated and new products coming in the next few months. We are either deleting or updating every product in there. I’m hoping to have this project done in another six weeks or so (depending on David’s availability).
  • Updated the free 290+ Stocking Stuffers Ideas printable and the Stocking Stuffers post that goes with it.
  • Updated lots of post images such as my Back to School Prep Series (in my tiny Practical Tips From My Teaching Career) which is still really popular seven years after I wrote it.
  • Continued the massive work of organizing all my post tags and categories. This included deleting posts that didn’t fit any longer.
  • Added the A Cozy Christmas Planner in the shop. If you purchased it last year, you can download the new version in your account.
  • Continuing to add all of the new clip art and digital papers I’ve created to My Shop, including moveable clip art for digital products. I’m almost caught up. I have about 14 more to go.

I think I’m forgetting things, but that’s what comes to mind.

So my homemaking goals this week?

Goal 1 – Continue to expand my pantry.

Goal 2 – Finish cleaning out the master closet and switching out the seasonal clothes.

That will be enough for me this week. What do you have planned? It can be big or small. I hope you’ll share in the comments. I always enjoy hearing what other women are working on in their homes!

Artwork: “Washing Line” by Helen Allingham 

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Our Cozy Home No. 14


Happy Monday! I hope you had a pleasant weekend. Ours was quiet. Caroline came down with something midweek and was still trying to work through it this weekend.

We finally had some sunshine! During the first 32 days of 2020, we had 21 days of zero sunshine. Zero. As in none. For almost three weeks worth of days. I truly prefer a mix of cloudy and sunny days, but it was starting to get even to me. I told David that we’re going to be shocked how long it stays light later in the early evening because we’ve barely seen the sun for weeks and weeks. The lengthening days are being totally missed by us.

But it’s Monday so that means it’s a new week to jump into and time to set some small, measurable goals. Mine are going to be some repeats and continuations from last week since some of these are bigger projects. David and I also have some significant work things to do this week so any extra time I have will be going toward that rather than extra homemaking things.

Goal 1 – Clean out and organize baking and coffee cupboards since I did not get to it last week or over the weekend.

Goal 2 – Continue cleaning out my clothes and shoes, washing things up and organizing.

Goal 3 – Continue organizing and systematizing our digital clip art, papers, borders, stock photos, fonts, etc.

I’d love to hear what your goals are for the week. Feel free to leave a comment and share with us what you are working on  and then come back on Friday to let us know if you made any progress.

If you are new to my site, you can also find lots of inspiration in my shop under All Products for Women.

Have a lovely week!

Artwork: “The Saucer of Milk” by Helen Allingham 

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