Friday Farrago ~ 11.7.14

Well, this might be the most mish-mashed Friday Farrago ever.  Of course, it IS only my second "farrago" post, so I guess that's not saying much, but...

LIFE has been so busy lately.  Monday through Wednesday FLY by with lots of baby-rocking.  Before I know it, it's Thursday again, and I have to buckle down at home and get things done, or else the following week spirals out of control.  How do I know?  Oh... don't ask.

At any rate, if you follow along here, I'm sure you're well aware that I haven't been posting as often as usual. Not for lack of wanting, I assure you -- but the time just gets away from me.  For a while now, I have had little snippets of posts ready -- but nothing big.  So, I thought I would take a bunch of "nothing bigs" and combine them for the second in a series called  "Friday Farrago."

Ready?  Hold on tight.

A Coke and a Smile

One night a couple of summers ago, my hubby and I found ourselves home alone.  On a whim, hubby said, "Let's go for ice cream!"  We took a long and winding ride down country roads to get to one of his favorite ice cream places.

Admittedly, ice cream isn't really my thing.  Let's just say... it's not usually my friend.  On this particular night, I chose the smallest cone, which... wasn't small enough, apparently.  Before the evening was over, I was very sick. Like, sick enough to make me think about whether or not I ever needed to eat ice cream again.

The culprit was so obvious.

Days later, as we looked back on the situation, I said to my hubby, "Next time, ask me out for a Coke."

I like to say I was raised on Coke -- but the truth is, we didn't drink pop at home except for special occasions.  It was my GRAM'S treat to us when we visited her.  We could always count on white peppermint Canada Mints and CocaCola at her house, and though we had a few other "favorite" snacks, she'd often out-do herself, trying to find a treat that we'd never had before -- or the latest and greatest new thing on the market!

[The end.  Yeah.  Obviously this post has no good transition or ending... just some memories that came to mind, one sort of leading to the next.  What can I say?  They made me smile.  I thought I'd share.  That is all. By the way, the people at Coca-Cola don't know me at all, but I still love their product to this day!]

Grandma's Vase

Not long ago, I invited a friend over for lunch.  I told you about it HERE.  It was a gorgeous day, and I found myself with my act all together [woo hoo] and a few minutes before my friend arrived, I actually got to go out in the yard and cut a few pretty blooms that I had spotted earlier that morning. [They were already slightly faded by the time I snapped these pics.]  It was just a few short stemmed beauties, so I brought them in and put them in this sweet little vase made by my Gram.  When we were kids, my sister and I used to use this vase on our bedroom dressers with pretty little blooms in it.  It's always such a sweet reminder of my Gram... really -- her fingerprints are all over this post today, aren't they?

Table Talk

We started our marriage with a hand-me-down kitchen table that came from who-knows-where.  [My hubby probably knows, but this is my story... LOL.]  The table wasn't pretty.  It swelled out in the middle, and tapered a little at the ends.  Built that way, but awkwardly un-natural - and very laminated as I recall.  Nothing wrong with either of those things I guess -- but it wasn't us.  It hadn't been chosen.  Merely settled for.

Our choice was a round oak tabletop on a pedestal -- with a leaf.  Pricey for a young couple with no spare change.  One thing about my hubby.  When he wants something, he finds a way.  And so, he found our table in the classified section of the newspaper one day.

Together, we went to see it in the cramped and disheveled apartment of a smoker.  I was going to say in the apartment of a smoking man, but then you might have thought he was smoking hot, when really, he was just ummmm... smoking.  We looked at the table, negotiated on the price, and then said [cough, cough, sneeze, sneeze] "We'll take it!" -- and loaded it into our truck.

We took it home, where it landed in our gravel driveway, and got a good washing down before it was allowed into the house.  [AaaaaaCHOO!]  Pretty sure I washed it down TWICE.  Yeah.  We don't really get along well with smoky stuff around here.

As I recall, it had a few pretty worn spots on top, and my hubby put a couple coats of polyurethane on it.

Fast forward to family life.

[My intention was to include lots of other pictures of our table, set up for various occasions.  Alas, I never got around to looking for said pictures, so... imagine if you will...]

The table has become our HUB.  Since it is the only place for seated eating in our home, it sees breakfasts, lunches, AND dinners.

And sometimes this:

You can get to my Instagram account by clicking on the photo above.

Forgive the poor iPod photo... but really, this may be one of my favorite uses of the table.  My son asks if he can have his buddies over to play a game, and tries to plan a place that is out of the way so they don't disturb us... (there aren't many places to go in our house). When I offer the kitchen table, he accepts my suggestion, and I smile.  This table... it is really the heart of our home!

Here ends my "trains of thought" ragbag.  Hope you're having a Fabulous Friday.  TGIF!