Not only is is a new month, but we’re officially halfway through the year! Time’s a-flying. But in an effort not to let the blessings of the week fly by unnoticed, I join up with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story on Fridays to share our blessings.
1. Visit from a dear friend. One of my friends since early married days was traveling from SC to OH and went out of her way to stop and see us in TN. It was so good to visit in person and catch up with each other. She took us out to lunch at a nearby local restaurant, and then my kids came over for dinner while she was here.
2. My dear husband’s help in preparing for my friend’s visit. He cleaned bathrooms and vacuumed, among other things.
3. A dinner gift. I forgot to mention this last week. I got a text from Timothy saying his mom was making dinner for us that day. A pleasant surprise!
4. Impromptu lunch out. Our church has “care groups” that meet a couple of times a month. Jason and Mittu are in a different one than Jim and I are in. Both our groups meet after church for Sunday lunch. Sometimes our groups meet the same Sundays–sometimes we meet on different Sundays. This last Sunday, none of us had our care groups, so we went out to lunch.
5. Applesauce cake made with oat flour. Such good stuff. We had this while my friend was here. I don’t make the cream cheese frosting in the recipe–I make a vanilla buttercream from my forty-plus-year-old Betty Crocker cookbook. In the past, I’ve ground oatmeal for the flour. Oatmeal is gluten-free in itself, but some brands say their oats are grown near wheat fields, so there might be some cross-contamination. I found Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Oat Flour at the grocery store–not only did that save time, but I was assured it was gluten-free for our gluten-sensitive family members.
Bonus: A couple of times a year when I have early-morning fasting lab work at the doctor’s office, I reward myself with a breakfast biscuit. This time it was a steak and egg biscuit from Bojangles along with their Bo-Berry Biscuit. Those are the only things I like there.
Funny story: one time when Jim and I went through their drive-through, Jim asked for a couple of blueberry biscuits. The person at the window said, “Two BO-Berry biscuits. Anything else?” Throughout the rest of the interaction, he kept emphasizing the “BO.” That’s (however much money) for your BO-Berry biscuits, sir.” “Here are your “BO-Berry biscuits.” We got the idea–they’re BO-Berry, not blueberry biscuits at Bojangles. 🙂
Happy Independence Day to my American friends!
Stray Thoughts 
I don’t know what a Bojangles is but that’s a funny story about the BO biscuits. HAHA
Yay for hubbies who help prep the house for company. We have friends coming over Sunday whom we haven’t seen in 25 yrs but i’m guessing I’ll be doing most of the work. Dave never sees the need. sigh.
I love that your care groups got together and had fellowship and food together. I love leading a small group and also being in one. We do a dinner after each semester is complete.
I hope you have a wonderful Independence Day!!
Glad you got to see old friends! Sounds like a great week! Happy 4th my friend.!
I’m so glad that your friend was able to visit. And that Jim helped prepare. You’ve got a keeper!
Bo-berry biscuits! How funny. I hope they taste as good as their name was funny.
I usually treat myself to a McD’s sausage egg biscuit after a fasting doctor’s appointment. Somehow I think that it’s okay to eat it since I had to deprive myself. I’ll have to try a Bojangles one sometime.
Have a great July 4th!
YUM! Now I want applesauce cake 🙂 The visit sounds so nice. And I’ve never heard of Bojangles, so they must not be in Indiana! Happy 4th! I need to get making a salad to bring over to a gathering at our neighbors’.
I smiled at your food-focused faves this week! All good stuff from that special visit to the gift of dinner from your dear Mittu and the delicious cake (checking it out post haste).
It is wonderful living close to your family– all those lunches and dinners and impromptu visits make precious memories.
A visit from a long time friend is always a fave too.
Happy Independence Day to you and yours! Willow
In our generation I was lucky, as I had a full time job and my hubby too, from the very beginning of our marriage in 1969 we have always shared household scores. I think he also was one of the first men who took care of his baby son so that I could sleep. He bottle fed him, changed the nappies etc. And he loved doing it. Most of the people thought that this was strange ! So you had a nice independence day. We have to wait until July 21, not for the independence but for the “National Day of Belgium”.
Always good to catch up with friends and good that your husband helped get the house ready. Mine will help but he needs prompting lol. Hope you’ve had a good 4th July weekend.