With the gleeful anticipation of Spring just around the corner, I’ve been sprucing up the nooks and crannies of my home……The Theme: American Farmhouse Fresh!
It seems fitting because my home is built on an old cattle farm, which had been in the same family since the Civil War. When we purchased the property, the cows still roamed the hillside. They were so cute! I always thought it would be fun to have a cow of my own, I would tie a bell around her neck with a yellow gingham bow, and name her Daisy Mae!

You know how the Bible says that if you “delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart”? Well, ever since I was a little California girl, I’ve wanted to live in the Midwest. I just loved the idea of a small hometown and a charming farm life. Well, if you look at the map of the U.S. you will see that Missouri is smack dab in the middle! It truly is the Midwest! How cool is that!…thank you Lord!

On the mantel, above my cook-top, I have arranged some vintage “Market Fresh” provisions and produce from the “Piggly Wiggly” ….you know, that adorable corner grocery store from one of my favorite movies…. Driving Miss Daisy! Milk, eggs, bread, butter, fruit, vegetables, and a few canned goods would have been on the market list of any American homemaker in the 1940’s. This is an actual clipping of a Piggly Wiggly advertisement, probably from the late 1940’s…..a 25 pound bag of sugar costs only $1.50!
 I love the simplicity of how life was back in those vintage years. A Homemaker (let’s call her…Mable…) did her grocery shopping without the interruption of cell phones! Mable gathered her goods, dashing a check-mark next to each item on her list, dreaming up the delicious, comforting, home-cooked meals she would serve her family.

I can imagine, tucked inside her leather pocketbook, with the snap closure, just as a reminder to buy extra sugar, she held a time-worn, vanilla stained recipe card that revealed the secret ingredients to her signature Sugar Peach Pie, that she would bake-n-take to the Church potluck later that week. Everyone loved it when Mable showed up.
Back then the typical homemaker, like Mable, kept things simple, taking care of the home and family came first, other obligations and activities came second.
Home arts were in full force, gardening, canning, sewing, baking, housekeeping.
Today we are so busy with too many obligations and demands on our time. We become easily overwhelmed and frustrated because things at home are showing neglect.
I‘m sure you would agree, as homemakers dedicated to nurturing our homes and families, we still want to create that same cozy nest for our families. A place of safety, warmth and love, so our dear ones feel treasured, understood and significant. But, that will only happen if we keep them our top priority.
One way I try to do this, is to get all of my work finished before little Summer Rose (age 9) gets home from school. That way, she has my undivided attention, and lots hugs and kisses! At dinner time she is in the kitchen along side me, learning and laughing. I also have a Daily Planner notebook (Franklin-Covey) so I can make sure I don’t serve up slices of my time and energy to other things or people, leaving only crumbs for my kids and husband. Hey, they want a piece or two of the Mama Pie! Embellishing my home with vingtage elements and simple old fashioned goodness, remind me to slow down and smell the hot apple pie with caramel topping (even if it’s just a scented candle burning!). Little touches like, 3 mason jars in a row filled with red geraniums, placed in the middle of the kitchen table on a freshly starched vintage tablecloth, or a white bowl filled to the brim with shiny green apples. Simple but sweet! It makes a house feel like home.

“Our family members will carry the atmosphere we create in our homes for the rest of their lives.” ~Mrs. Dunwoody

Speaking of Miss Daisy, last time I was in California, I found the most adorable hat that would have been perfect on her, at the Barn Sale that my sister Sherry and friends have each month in the Wine Country of Temecula California.

Look at the dear little daisies and black velvet ribbon! Love it!



Back to the Kitchen! I love anything with polka-dots! So, I decided to add some to these plain-jane flower pails. They are so cheery, and look sassy, especially in lipstick-red!


Here at my “Betty Baking Center” (named after Betty Crocker, “America’s First Lady Of Food”) I painted the back wall Farmhouse White. Before, it was a wood-stained, medium brown color. It adds so much more light and really does look sun-fresh and scrubbed clean! Do you see on the left side, the cutest little red vegetable bin? Well, my sister-in-law Linda was at an antique store and called me right away to tell me about it. She said “you have to have it! It is so you!” She was so right! That same day I found a white-washed Victorian table on wheels, to set it on.


This way, I can see if I am getting low on potatoes and onions, so now, I never have to question if I have them or not when I’m shopping at the “Piggly Wiggly”! Goodness knows, I want to be a smart shopper, and not buy more than I need!


I also hung these light-as-air lacy curtains, adorned with garlands and tiny dots! (From J.C. Penny) They look like the kind you would find at a sweet rosy-cheeked Grandmas house, fluttering in the crisp spring breeze, fanning a hot pie on the window sill.

On my kitchen island sits a picnic basket topped with my favorite “4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie” lamp (designed after the vintage children’s poem)

Say gals! Check out these fab T-shirts my sister Sherry designed! They are so darling with a pair of jeans and some sparkly bling!

You can purchase them on her blog ………at Prairie Home! You can also find out about the next barn sale coming up this weekend….and I am so excited because I am going to be there!!! Wooo hooooo!

” ‘If I can just get home, everything will be all right.’ What a blessing it would be if every member of your family and mine knew that there is one place on earth where everything will be all right!”

~Elizabeth George


Thanks for stopping by for pie!
I would love for you to leave a comment, to say a friendly hello, and let me know where you are from!

God Bless ,you adorable girls, you!

Hugs!

Ruthann

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