In this edition of Saturday Snippets…..
It’s Independence Day here in the U.S.A!
Happy 4th of July to us.
The quintessential summer holiday marked with sunny skies, warm to horribly hot weather, kids in swimming pools, family gatherings with potluck foods of all types, tasty desserts, and after darkness finally falls on a long summer day, glorious fireworks. 
My family is no different as we will gather to celebrate and observe the wonderful freedoms we’ve been given and of course, enjoy some good food.
I thought I’d share a recipe with you I found years ago in an ice cream cookbook ( uh, do you call ice cream, cooking??)
Anyway, it was a huge success and it’s been made for many July 4th celebrations. Not only is it amazingly delicious, it is beyond simple to assemble and then let the ice cream machine do the rest of the work.
*** on a side note, as I write this, said machine is making awful noises and I’m praying it will limp through one more go round of ice cream making.*** 😱
My scrawled happy face in the corner years ago is the thumbs up of approval for making again.
Nothing says summer coolness like real cream and fresh strawberries, and a little sugar thrown in for fun.
As we celebrate this year it is hard not to be mindful of all of the upheaval and concerns in our country.
However, even in the mix of difficulties, and overall unknowns with some things in our world, I still believe I live in the greatest country.
I’m proud to be an American and am blessed by all we have, the opportunities available, and most of all, our freedom.
Happy Independence Day!
Tell me, do you like to make homemade ice cream?
Tag: July
Monday Musings
Monday. Am I the only one lurching into it after a long 4th of July weekend ?? Here in the states we just celebrated our nation’s birthday….our 243rd one to be exact.
Yeah we celebrated with a four day weekend 🤣
I may be biased, but I believe we live in the greatest nation.
Yes, it has problems, but we are still blessed beyond measure with the gifts and freedoms we have.
So we celebrated our freedoms and all that we’ve been blessed with…food, fireworks and hanging with family.
Long weekends equal productivity
Having a block of days home let me dive into the deep end on furniture projects waiting for me.
Does this count as athletic activities? 🤔
I mentioned last week I had moved into my new location for my business. I had lots that sold so I was trying to replenish items.
I finished off an antique dresser, four chairs, and some small items too.
I love getting things done!
I’m super excited over how the dresser came out.
Here’s its before pic…
Old, tired and needing a new look.
I kept it simple and it looks so fresh now.
I’m pretty happy with it. The light distressing gives it the aged look it deserves.
Then.. last week I scooped up these antique chairs at the thrift store.
Yeah. I know you’re loving the cheetah print 😏
Cheetah? Leopard? Your call.
Check out the new look I gave them….
Miss the cheetah print yet?
I got this cool chair at an estate sale months ago. I finally got to let the ideas out of my head for it…
Its boring before pic…
Look at it now 🙂
And my final chair. An old harp back and after all my black I wanted to do a bright fun look….
And besides all that, I’ve been working on the room my daughter recently vacated.
Hubby was a trooper and installed new, cooler,molding on the floor and I’ll be painting this week
Then as mentioned previously, the entire antique bedroom set I have in my barn finally has a room to come to 😁
No.
No I haven’t been busy….which is why I’m writing this at 11p m Sunday night..
Oh..and I don’t sell everything…I mean what’s the point of having a fun business if you don’t get to keep some of the goodies??
For instance, I got this super cool old coffee table. It’s over 6’0 long! It has leaves that when open you could use as a table top.
I don’t exaggerate.
Me asking the girl about it.
“Oh, idk, I think it’s from the 50s. I’m selling the stuff for a dead person.”
Me: “whaattt?”
Haha…well she only wanted 12.00 for this solid wood beast so I didn’t waste any time grabbing it up.
Now to decide how exactly I want to spruce it up.
Furniture isn’t the only thing I’ve been lifting
I’ve been adding more strength training days to my week.
Hello sweaty Sunday 🤣
I have a love hate relationship with deadlifts.
I love knowing I can lift some solid weight, I know it’s also gonna be a little work.
I usually do three sets of 6 at my current weight of 165. I’m fixing to add on to that soon.
My 25lb dumb bells have become quite easy to handle. I’ve added more reps on the mix.
I got to thinking when I first started off a few years back I was using 8lbs
8.
Now I can toss 25s around and use a 35 lb kettlebell for swings and other fun moves.
Consistent work is all I can contribute it to
Well…anyone who wants to make progress needs to stay consistent.
Oh. And hard work too 😏
And finally…
Would it be a Monday post if I didn’t offer you up some tasty food I had experimented with???
This is uh…not on the healthy treats list.. but it’s chocolate sooooo….
I made this for the 4th celebrations.
It was devoured.
Trust me, you’ll love it and it’s super easy to make.
That’s a wrap boys and girls. Tell me about your week and any summer celebrations you’ve got going on.
Monday Musings
Happy Monday you crazy kids! I don’t know about you but I’m hitting the floor today with a smile and a mile long to do list!
This past weekend was busy as I was preparing to move my little vintage business to a new location. The new place isn’t that far away but moving is always, well, moving right?
You still have to pack it up and drag it to the new destination.
Oh. And rain.
Yes, let’s add rain to the mix for a little extra fun. ( Insert sarcasm here 😉 )
I was pretty happy with the month in sales…lots of stuff went to new homes so it means I gotta get going on some new projects.
Thankfully my barn has plenty waiting for me.
Seriously though, I’m so grateful for new opportunities and can hardly wait to see how this next part of the adventure unfolds.
Sunday afternoon I got my new space all set up and Monday will find me at the shop entering all my inventory in the computer.
It’s hard to believe that July marks my one year “officially” doing this.
A year of doing this messy, fun, challenging, and extremely creative work. I’ve learned to do so many things I never knew how to do.
Thankfully I have a “jump in the deep end” personality so it’s never crossed my mind I couldn’t fix up some horrible, ratty, falling apart piece of furniture. It kinda comes naturally to me.
It has been the most unexpected, satisfying work.
Speaking of work….
I love that summer mornings get light out pretty early allowing me to get on the road for some miles while the sun comes up on me.
Did I mention though, our county decided to “pave” our little country roads? This amounts to pouring out hot tar, and then covering it with small stones and rolling over it a few times.
It is then expected the usual traffic will pack it down. The bad part is that all the loose stone where cars don’t drive gets pushed into areas and that can make for some, exhilarating ? Moments on the bike if you hit one of those patches.
Curves and cul de sacs I used to ride into like a wild woman, well, I have to be a little more cautious on….. for right now 😉
In the ways of athletic shenanigans….
More than once this week I’ve been reminded of the payoffs for my strength training days. I’m more than capable of helping lift various pieces of equipment at my sons shop….me offering to help unload something from a truck…ha…
Surprised looking man “Oh you’re going to help me?”
Me: indeed I am.
I’m always amused at the usual expectations that because I’m a female I’m not equipped to handle heavy things .
Now I jokingly quip I don’t just have muscles for decoration haha
I helped move a big china cabinet out of my shop yesterday that I sold. I felt like I handled it better than the guy on the other end 😉
Seriously though, you get stronger by using your body. Practicing functional movements and lifting heavy things transfers over into real life by being able to handle all the day to day things you may deal with.
In addition to all that….it’s empowering to be strong.
And today starts a new month…..
Not just any month, July. All things summer and our nation’s birthday month and yours truly as well.
It will be time for another birthday post so stay tuned for that 😉
Speaking of the United States birthday. My kids have been pleading with me to whip up my homemade strawberry ice cream.
This is like seriously the most amazing treat ever. It will not be on my healthy eating tips post Haha
It is made with nothing but heavy cream, buckets of sweet, juicy bright red strawberries, and uh, sugar.
You let it churn for quite awhile in the old ice cream maker ( electric of course) although I’ve entertained my kids with stories “back in the day” where we had to hand crank that thing for eternity before we were rewarded with actual ice cream.
Did you ever get that experience??
Homemade ice cream is one of those quintessential summer treats for sure.
It will also be accompanied by hot dogs off the grill topped with various condiments, along with tasty side dishes to keep them company.
The night will be topped off perched on a blanket, watching spectacular fireworks while that delicious ice cream drips off my chin or runs down my arm cause that stuff gets messy.
But I ask you, is there a better way to end a celebratory day than hanging with people you love and eating tasty food?
I think not.
If you’ll be celebrating the 4th, what treats do you enjoy? What are some if your favorite summer foods?
sassyfitnesschick 