bluebird of happiness

The birdbird of happiness has landed at my house. She was discovered in a little shop downtown last weekend begging to come to my home and stay indefinitely.

The work has begun for the sunroom that is to be added at the rear of my house. The girls and I are becoming acclimated to work crews and the banging throughout the day. Right before Christmas I am expecting to have a room lined with windows, just in time to bring plenty of light in those darker months of winter.   Happy, happy, yes.

A new discovery of fascination in the world of sewing has dropped into my lap. The creating of a Victorian crazy quilt. Actually, this one will be a table runner. Late yesterday afternoon sunlight was pouring into the area I have dubbed my "sewing room", and even though it was time to go downstairs and prepare dinner,  I found my self saying "just one more piece, please". Addiction comes easily to me evidently.

Last night I gathered my colored threads and began embroidering a sampling of stitches on the luxurious silk fabric. Silk dupioni fabric from my stash. Happy, happy,yes.

Bright and early tomorrow morning I am taking a junket with my dear husband. A weekend away, just the two of us. Happy, happy, yes.

She is presently hanging in my kitchen. When the sunroom  is completed she will fly in there and make it her permanent abode. Happy, happy, yes

presentation counts

Butternut squash bisque served in creamy-white soup bowls with gold trim dished from an ivory-white tureen with matching ladle.

Sunday dinners in my home are a time to gather and acknowledge a special day set aside for worship. The blessing of family creates a rich backdrop for gathering too.

Butternut squash bisque is noisy.

"Um mm". 

Each and every spoonful has a part in the choir of zinging taste buds.

Cornish hens,
       maple-syrup roasted sweet potatoes,
                          steamed broccoli with a dash of lemon also accompanied today's Sunday meal.

 One Christmas my dear mother gave me a creamy white soup tureen etched with curlicues. She especially loved the matching ladle and delighted in telling me how this is what made the difference in the decision to buy this particular tureen for me. Every time I use it I think of her joy in giving me this gift.

I believe that presentation counts when serving a meal and all the extra effort that goes with making it special  is definitely worth it.  China tureen and snips of chives floating in the bisque make for a good presentation.

nothing wanting

"She was occupied in knitting; a large cat sat demurely at her feet; nothing in short, was wanting to complete the beau-ideal of domestic comfort."

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte

Magical Breakfast Cream

Inspiration: Mireille Guiliano's, The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook


I have certain staples in my diet. All it may take is variety to achieve higher levels from time to time. But I am thinking this might be the Mt. Everest in my life right now when it comes to breakfast food choices.

It is hailed as Magical Breakfast Cream. I first read about it in Mireille Guiliano's newest cookbook.

Breakfast for me usually consists of organic plain yogurt served with a topping of homemade granola and maybe some seasonal fruit. After reading about Tante Berthe's quick and healthy breakfast and  discovering it was similar to my thoughts of what makes a quick and healthy breakfast, I decided to make a few adjustments. So this is how I make it:

1/2 cup plain fat free yogurt
1 teaspoon local honey
2 Tablespoons milled flaxseed and soy grain cereal
1-2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 Tablespoon finely ground walnuts, I grind mine with a mortar and pestle.

First, mix the honey into the yogurt, pour the dry cereal over the yogurt and squeeze the lemon juice over the cereal before incorporating.  Next stir in the ground walnuts.

 She adds 1 teaspoon of flaxseed oil bfore adding the honey. Since I am using a cereal with milled flaxseed I omit the oil. However, I might include this in the future because the oil addition might possibly have more benefits. She also recommends using any type of dry grain cereal, just make sure it contains no sugar. Nuts could also be finely ground almonds or hazelnuts. Fresh orange juice is an alternative to the lemon juice.

Yummy! Exceptionally yummy, surprisingly yummy!

pithy

Two seven-year old girls said it well in the backseat of my car today.

"Oh my goodness."

That is all I can claim considering my activity on this blog as of late.

 But such delicious days and gentle evenings we are having to be sure.

Buttered toast and hard-boiled egg for breakfast. There's no contest that the egg cups are keepers.

Saturday night grilling, wherewith, darkness creeps upon us like spilt ink.

School reviews and index cards, just another thing that carries clout around here.

Still getting accustomed to the wedding ring on his finger. Rose found some videos of herself when she was an infant, that made this one fourteen years old. Those visions of him at that age will not stop lingering in the corners of my mind.

I shall return tomorrow and give a breakfast combination that is quite satisfying. I have grown quite fond of it these days.

small leaps

Sighting:

     My soul leapt with the sight of rolled bales of hay stretching across an open field.

Listening:

     My soul leapt while listening to M'appari, Tutt'amor. I had to close my eyes.

Touching:

     My soul leapt as my hands scrunched a skein of soft black wool, velvety softness to knit into a pair of fingerless gloves.

Smelling:

     My soul leapt when I came in the door and the smell of skillet cornbread welcomed me.

Tasting:

     My soul leapt upon tasting a small square of dark chocolate, my stash.

So what may be causing your soul to leap?

Laud

The rains finally came and if dreary has ever been a glorious word then it would apply to a day such as we had today.

Normal Monday school day, by this afternoon teatime was a treat proposed by Charlotte with hopes in surprising  Rose who was still laboring over Algebra and English poetry forms.

Rose recited a poem by John Bunyan, in keeping with her poetry studies.

I washed the tea things by hand while watching the drizzle come down outside my kitchen window. Listening to  Kirr te Kanawa sing "Laudate Dominum Omnes Gentes", it seemed as if the once-wilted zinnias were singing too.

Some things I did on this first day of Fall.

The leaves are falling, creating crunchiness when you walk and, in this case, sit down.

BSF, on the way home the sweater I wore while in the air conditioned church sanctuary, was quickly removed...the temperatures are still summer-like; I am wondering if today was a record breaker.

Came home to eating leftover spaghetti. If there is a viable syndrome for those who never get the correct amount of noodles balanced with tomato sauce then I most certainly have it! Being lovers of pasta and tomato sauce, we maintain a diet of spaghetti with tomato sauce in my home on a consistently regular basis.  I am always attempting to make it work out evenly, cooking the correct amount of noodles to go along with the sauce I cooked. (Now there is a longer version story here, little sauce remains, but not enough for another meal, so add more to it and you have the pot of sauce that never runs dry).  So for lunch today sheer determination drove me to boil just the right amount of spaghetti needed to go with the leftover sauce.

The dining room rug arrived today. Rose and I managed to get it down on the floor and underneath the dining table, without any extra help. Another example of sheer determination hitting the mark.

coffee and cake

Or is it cake and coffee? Whatever, the pairing of the two on this afternoon topped off our meal quite nicely.

Rose made the almond- flavored cake with lemon icing, colored with bright pink or green.

Alan being home made the cake sweeter and the coffee smooth as polished alabaster.

Edamame

Boil in water, drain

Dip in salt

Pop into your mouth

Today I picked up my last CSA box of the season. Twenty weeks of driving to the farm, bringing the box home to discover what fresh organic goodness was contained within to nourish.

Several projects have been lying around my house all summer; depending on the room you entered or the basket you spotted, a project of some sort would be waiting for a free moment to be sewn or crocheted or smocked.
A crocheted afghan was completed and left at my Smockers Guild meeting this evening to be donated to Victory Junction. Very simple pattern adapted from this Mason Dixon book.

The colors were the organization's choice, I just went with the pattern mindlessly. It worked well for those nights we would sit on the couch and watch episodes of BBC's "Lark Rise to Candleford".

Hoping it will bring warmth of heart and body to a precious child.