Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Kitchen Renovation: Quirky Designer Knobs for my Kitchen Cabinets

Domino Magazine says in an article titled,

6 Tired Trends We’re Ready to Bid Farewell to in 2019:

I think brass has overstayed its welcome in the kitchen, particularly when it comes to hardware. I’d love to see more woods, exaggerated shapes, and plays on sculpture. It’s easy to overlook the details in a kitchen—especially when you’re focused on creating a streamlined, functional environment—but it’s the smallest accents that help bring character to a space. Lydia Geisel, digital editorial assistant
pc: Domino Magazine

My eyes were drawn to these large, round kitchen cabinet knobs. Where to get them? ?  Found a comparable item in none other than the Mackenzie-Childs website. Look at their 2.5-inch diameter, hefty, hand-made majolica knobs. Yes, yummy-looking IRL -- like chocolate candy, LoL.



pc: MC/Horchow

While quite handsome from any distance, the intricate splendor of our Courtly Check® Round Knob emerges upon closer inspection. Hand-painted onto a scalloped silhouette of hand-glazed ceramic, our signature black and white checks have a dash of rich jewel tones woven into each brushstroke. A wide, glittering band of gold lustre frames each one-of-a-kind knob. Coordinate with our Courtly Check® dinnerware for a kitchen marked by signature style, or use as a drawer pull on an end table featuring one of our equally resplendent lamps. -- Mackenzie-Childs



Discover cc for size comparison
pc: Mackenzie-Childs

Hosea 10:12











28.06.2020
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Sunday, April 28, 2019

Floor & Wall Mirror: Out With the Old, In With the New

Walls  were torn down for an "open concept" space. Change -- even good ones -- can at times be difficult. We will miss the old, full-height mirror that has withstood our busy household and faithfully reflected our family's various fashion and hair do's over the years.  Pup Bubbles remembers.  

But the room brightens up and seems larger... and we still love mirrors.  Thank God for resale shops. Out with the old large mirror, and in with the new. 



at the resale shop







As in water face answereth to face, 
so the heart of man to man.

Proverbs  27:19





90.09.2020
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Friday, April 26, 2019

BLOSSOM: 22 Hacks to be Efficient with Your Food Use!

A close relative shared a link to a budgeting page and we are starting to get fired up once again on the wise use of resources that we already own. These ideas look doable.  Let's go for it!




Commit thy works unto the Lord
and thy thoughts shall be established.

Proverbs 16:3









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Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Your Healthy Weight: No-Calorie-Counting Way to Eat Healthier

The No-Calorie-Counting Way to Eat Healthier --  HARLEY PASTERNAK



Say goodbye to fiber-starved juice cleanses, copious amounts of cabbage soup, and lemon-cayenne-pepper concoctions: This is the year you adopt a simple—and sustainable—weight loss eating plan.
As I mentioned in  Lose Weight Without Losing Your Mind, the My 5 plan is based on efficiency—finding out which health practices pack the biggest punch—and the food component of it is no different. What’s that mean? It means you don’t have to count calories (though you can if you have time!), weigh food, splurge on exotic ingredients, or avoid restaurants. No, all you have to do is follow three, easy guidelines:
  1. Eat 5 times a day—three meals and two snacks. This equates to eating approximately every three hours. Eating before you’re ravenous will help you stay in control of what and how much you eat. Studies also show that eating more frequently, compared with the conventional three-meals-a-day approach, can help keep your blood sugar and metabolism steady—both of which are good for weight loss.
  1. Make sure every meal contains the “big three of satiety”: protein (seafood, eggs, chicken), fiber (veggies, fruit, seeds) and healthy fats (olive oil, avocado). Snacks, too, must contain protein and fibrous carbs. Aside from their individual benefits—protein boosts metabolism, fiber aids digestion, and fats support heart health—these three nutrients also help you feel fuller faster and for longer.
  1. Ensure each meal is made up of the following: one portion of protein (fish, eggs, etc…) equal to the mass of one hand; a palmful of either a high-fiber fruit (blackberries, apples), a whole grain (quinoa, oats), or a legume (chickpeas, lentils); at least one thumb-size portion of a healthy fat (avocado, olives, nuts, seeds); and unlimited veggies (broccoli, zucchini, spinach).
Read full  FITBIT article H E R E

What feeds your soul?


Monday, April 22, 2019

Earth Day: How to "Save" the Planet Earth

5 Things Environmentalists Have Tried To Help ‘Save the Planet’ - Tim Pearce, Western Journal 

Uhmmmm ... the Liberal foolishness continues. Emphasis in article, mine. - RRE

Environmentalists sometimes propose radical solutions to save the world from global warming — a disaster some say will destroy almost all life on Earth if not dealt with quickly and radically.
Getty Images

In honor of Earth Day on April 22, The Daily Caller News Foundation compiled a list of solutions suggested or tried, largely unsuccessfully, by environmentalists to roll back the effects of global warming.
Stop Cows from Eating Grass
Grass fed beef cattle are destroying the environment while putting off large amounts of methane just by digesting food. People need to cut back on the amount of cattle they raise and beef they eat to lessen the severe impact raising cattle is having on the environment, according to Tara Garnett of the University of Oxford’s Food Climate Research Network.
“Sadly, though it would be nice if the pro-grazers were right, they aren’t,” Garnett said in 2017, according to the New Scientist. “The truth is, we cannot eat as much meat as we like and save the planet.”
If We Can’t Stop Cows from Eating Grass, Let’s Just Stop Cows from Farting So Much
Scientists have developed “fartpacks” for cattle to wear, capturing the animals’ methane emissions before they are released out in to the environment. The backpacks capture cows’ methane through a tube inserted into the animals’ stomachs, The Daily Mail reported.
Capturing cows’ methane not only fights climate change from keeping the gas from entering the environment, but the gas can then be converted into energy. A cow emits enough gas in a day to — after being converted into usable energy — power a car for the same amount of time.

Don’t Have Kids, or at Least Have Less of Them
Having children is one of the worst things humans have done to further climate change and bring the world closer to irreparable harm, the Independent reported.
Children produce “an average of 58.6 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions per year,” according to Swedish researchers from Lund University.
“A U.S. family who chooses to have one fewer child would provide the same level of emissions reductions as 684 teenagers who choose to adopt comprehensive recycling for the rest of their lives,” the researchers’ 2017 study stated.
These Totally Unrealistic Yet Absolutely Necessary Climate Change Solutions from a Scientist
Peter Wadhams, head of the Polar Ocean Physics Group at the University of Cambridge, authored a book in 2017 outlining several radical steps possibly necessary to save the planet from climate change, Wired reported.
  • Use giant vacuums to suck all the greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.
  • Use giant hoses to pump massive amounts of ocean water into the sky, creating clouds filled with salt crystals to reflect the sun’s heat back into space and stop it from getting trapped in Earth’s atmosphere.
  • Filling the sky with other crystals, such as sulfuric acid or sulfur dioxide, to provide the same kind of cover and produce the same effect as the salt clouds.
  • Launching a giant mirror into space to orbit the Earth and, again, reflect the sun’s powerful rays.


(This is beyond tragic ...)
Beat Climate Change to the Punch — Set Yourself on Fire
A 60-year-old lawyer and activist committed a “protest suicide” April 14 (2018) by setting himself on fire. He was attempting to draw attention to the affects of climate change and inspire action against it.
“Most humans on the planet now breathe air made unhealthy by fossil fuels, and many die early deaths as a result — my early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves,” the man wrote in a note found next to his blackened bones.
“I am David Buckel, and I just killed myself by fire as a protest suicide. I apologize to you for the mess,” he added.
Read the full article H E R E












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Saturday, April 20, 2019

Kitchen Renovation: Counter & Bar Stools

pc: Design Within Reach
I sooooo wanted the BACCO counter stools from Design Within Reach, but hubby prevailed. Too expensive!  Ended up buying our chairs from Wayfair.  I hope these hold up for a long while and remain comfy -- though they're certainly no Italian-made stools.

Note: We've learned that the most comfortable seat height that fits best to our kitchen island is 26-27 inches.  


"Crews" Bar Stool

Seppich 26" Bar Stool


"Burgos" Bench



Counter Stool vs Bar Stool (pc: Design Within Reach)






The Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.
Happy Resurrection Day!













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Thursday, April 18, 2019

Joanna Gaines: Do Not Believe the Lies!

Happy 41st birthday to Joanna Gaines! (April 19th).  May she continue to fix her eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ.


Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2

Magnolia Market


Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Thankful Tuesday: No More Mosquito Netting

As a legal immigrant to the United States of America, I am thankful, in no particular order, for the following: 

- CHOCOLATE
- abundant JOBS
- hot SHOWERS 
- indoor toilets, and 
- no need for MOSQUITO NETS in the home

While living in my small Asian provincial town, house windows remained open for air circulation in the hot, humid temps. A/C that would keep us cool and our windows closed and kept bugs at bay was unheard of back in the day. We had no window screens neither and definitely no repellant sprays . 

Yet, by God's grace, we remained healthy.  How?  One way was with the consistent use of mosquito netting while we slept at night. No matter how plain,ugly or fancy, the mosquito net did its job. Mosquito-borne diseases be gone (the most common in my area were malaria and dengue).

via Yahoo

via FAQ.ph

via theamblerfamily.com
pc: Amazon













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Sunday, April 14, 2019

Kitchen Renovation: Bold Backsplash Tiles from Floor & Decor

pc: Floor & Decor, Panda tiles
The search for the perfect kitchen backsplash! 

Unlike trending- design articles, I wanted colorful and/or bold.
Hubby loved the 17 x 17 inch mod blue tiles we found at Floor & Decor. Likewise!



 I thought it a better choice than the large black and white "Panda" tile he also wanted. Far toooooooo bold for even me, but stunning nonetheless. 



pc: Floor & Decor



pc: Domino Magazine
Floor & Decor
pc: Houzz

luv these porcelain tiles!













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