::  We started putting together pots of flowers and herbs and vegetables this past weekend.  The project turned out to be more difficult than I thought that it’d be.  With our revised backyard [2 summers ago we added a lower level terrace at the back of the yard], we have fewer trees near the deck and more deer in the backyard.  So I’m looking for sun-loving flowers that deer won’t eat.  Not so many of those around.

Hence, the pot project has been postponed until next weekend when I hope that I will be more clear about what plants I want to put where. Hello Google.  Time to research.

::  We like coffee cake.  Once upon a time there was a product for sale in our grocery store called Aunt Jemima Easy Mix Coffee Cake.  In the box there was a small cardboard baking pan.  The dry coffee cake mix came with a small plastic bag that you could use, instead of a bowl, to mix the batter with water and an egg.  Then there was a small packet of streusel topping.  We liked this small coffee cake, but it is no longer available.

So, I decided to try Martha White Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake Mix instead.  It isn’t as small nor as fun to make as the Aunt Jemima Coffee Cake, but the results were good.  We’ll use it again, but with much less streusel topping on it.  Oy vey!  It was way too sweet for us.

That being as it may, Martha White has gifted us with a new family saying:  all streusel, no cake.  [Think “all foam, no beer” OR “all hat, no cattle.”  That kind of saying.]  Clearly, we are a simple people who are easily amused– or maybe it was the sugar talking.

::  Over the weekend our new loveseat arrived.  We ordered it a few weeks ago from Arhaus, but because it was a standard style + fabric there was hardly any wait time before it got here.  It is gorgeous and looks perfect in the living room– very grown-up, but not at all stuffy.  Plus it’s a mid-century modern frame which I find comfortable to sit on.

Now, I need to get going and find a rug to put under it.  It’s been over 3 years since I started this living room make-over, but I promise when it is complete I’ll post some before & after photos.  Well, definitely the after photos.  I don’t know if I have any before photos to share.  Huh.  Bad planning, that.

[Hello FTC!  Blah, blah, blah.  Not getting any kind of compensation for my personal opinions here.  Blah, blah, blah.  Disclaimer written.  Blah, blah, blah.]