Averyl.com

Yesterday was a rainy afternoon, so I was treated to the calming sound of rain on the roof of our sunroom as I set the table for Sunday supper. I could also hear the house finch mama singing while feeding her babies peeping away in the nest on top of our outdoor solar light above the corner window.

When I bought my house seventeen years ago the sunroom was pretty rough. The windows are over fifty years old in wood frames that needed replacing and glazing; much of the wood siding had rotted, and the room was being used to store yard machines. Rather than replace all of the windows which would cost a fortune, my ex-husband did an excellent job with replacing the wood and glazing the windows himself. My husband, Wayne keeps up with the maintenance. One of the things I love about these windows is the slight warping in places from old age. It adds time-capsule charm.

This humble seasonal dining nook has special window treatments in early June. Both the Rhodedenrosn and Azalea shrubs were cute little shrubs when I first planted them in 2009. Today they are intentionally “unruly” to create a colorful privacy buffer.

A chandelier with battery-operated candles and dangling faux crystals hangs over the vintage wrought iron glass-top table and matching chairs I bought at an estate sale for $45 at Prouts Neck shortly after moving in. The vintage lace tablecloth is also an estate sale find for just a few dollars. I like that the pattern could look like snowflakes…or flowers so I leave it out year-round.

I put out vintage linen napkins at every meal which saves money and trees. They are machine washable, so I just throw them in with the other household linens once a week. When they’re line-dried they don’t need any ironing. There’s something lovely about a worn-soft cloth napkin vs a paper napkin that usually falls apart and sometimes sticks to you, ew.

While I am a thrifty Yankee who appreciates a good deal, I source quality ingredients, selecting organic when fresh and available. For supper I made salad with cold spicy chicken sausage drizzled with olive oil served with homemade gluten-free flatbread made from scratch in my antique cast iron skillet.

Outside after the rain had stopped I noticed that the lupines growing in our raised beds looked like large brooches with a diamond center. Our groundhog Miss Gordie thought they were delicious later on, which we expected. You see, she is a gem to us, because she brings us a lot of joy, so we never get angry. Our mini-wildlfower meadows in our beds will still be bursting with color and pollinator food soon, because she is selective like me and doesn’t care for everything out there.