all aboard!

My two middle children were driven to the train depot this morning. It was a promising day of sunshine and springlike warmth, yet nothing could have hampered their excitement anyway, the wonderfully accompaning weather  simply provided  a dab of pudding on the cake. They are headed to Washington, DC for the next five days to sight see and visit with a good friend of the family.

And my youngest child, Charlotte, has reached a pinnacle of success of her own.

She has worked on this feat since her ballet class had resumed in the fall. Faithfully she has practiced and stretched with the hope of finally being able to do a complete leg split. She was like the little engine that thought she could, she never gave up and she did.

On another note altogether:
What does one do with that small bit of coffee left in the coffee pot every once in a while? This is not an every morning occurrence at my house, but I do hate it when I have to pour any leftover coffee down the drain. I just read in a food magazine that you may freeze the coffee in ice cube trays to pop out whenever a need of coffee may present itself. It only happens every great moon when a certain recipe calls for some coffee, but it will be nice to know I can reach into my freezer and pull out an ice cube or twos worth if and when needed. And think no waste of that morning cup of jo!

whiskers on kittens and sunshine on roses

These are a few of my favorite things

criteria for surprisingly great dessert

Today I want to share a surprisingly great dessert. There are two assertions for causing me to elevate this dessert to such a position and giving it the label of a "surprisingly great dessert". First, it is beautiful in its simplicity, only requiring two ingredients, pizzelles and nutella, which understandably have now become staples on my pantry shelf. Then the delicious combination of  chocolate and hazelnut with the the anise or vanilla flavored thin wafer. A little sweet crunchiness running together with oozing smoothness.

 An excellent ending to a Sunday dinner, alongside an afternoon cup of tea, or even served to your dinner guests complemented with a cup of gourmet coffee.

It does not disappoint.

Just spread the nutella on a wafer and top with another wafer. I like the anise flavored pizzelles, but some might not so you might consider the vanilla flavored ones if the taste of anise is not to your liking.

Semplicemente elegante!

another yarn along week

Knitting and books give definition to my days.  I hope there will always be a book or two being read and at least one knitting project nearby in my life, even if the book may take weeks to read or the knitting project months to finish.

 I am for the most part a process knitter with the project being center front. And I see no ambivalence in this remark whatsoever. I love the process of knitting, the feel of the fibers crooked around my fingers and the repetitious rhythm of the needles and my hands. But I also love creating lovely things and dreaming about future projects to knit while seeing the completion of each knitting project only to start the entire process all over again with yet something else to knit.

I have looked forward to sharing with Ginny's yarn along group on Wednesdays, even if it is Thursday before I actually post it.

This week a grey chunky wool is being knitted into a cowl with 10.5 Turbo needles. I see cowls being sported these days and I must say my curiosity has been piqued when I see them. Are they comfortable to wear around the neck and do people truly enjoy wearing them? That might seem funny considering I am a person who loves wearing turtlenecks during the winter months, but I am not partial to scarfs like others might be. We shall see about this cowl.

And I  presently have two books in progress, (only two?) both by authors I have shared in past weeks. An excellent book filled with wisdom by Edith Schaeffer on prayer and another joy to read book by D.E. Stevenson, a perfect before you go to sleep read.

We have all of eternity to praise God in perfect bodies, in perfect surroundings, with beauty beyond our imagination now. We have only a very short time to make known to our Heavenly Father, our Savior and Shepherd, the Holy Spirit, our trust and love. Yes, we are to pray, knowing that nothing is too hard for Him, nothing is impossible for Him to do for us. But we join the martyrs through the centuries in tiny opportunities, or in major ones, to show the reality of our love for God.

Edith Schaeffer

A Life of Prayer

Time has been gentle here.
What on earth do you mean?
Father said, "Lewis, take the tray for Charles."
Lewis got up, muttering, "Well, I don't know what he means."
"Charles's meaning is perfectly clear," declared Father."Time has had a hand in the making of your mother's drawing room; everything has been here for years and has matured gently in the sunshine. There isn't a jarring note."

D.E. Stevenson

Sarah Morris Remembers

a blue pot

 I had to ponder was it actually turquoise or aquamarine, and I decided I would in fact call it aquamarine since it is more blue than green. Whatever, as it is here sitting on my kitchen counter these days waiting to be returned to its rightful owner I have began to covet one for myself. not covet in the bad sense, just taking a gentle liking to it. And as if the pot wasn't enough to turn my head you should have tasted what was in the pot, a delicious chicken and leek soup made by Claire. She also sent along homemade bread and a "noisy" chocolate pie that I hope to get the recipe for and will share. I call it goldilocks pie because it was not too sweet, but just right. Noisy because we could not cease exclaiming over its virtues with every mouthful.

It was all accompanied with a vase of fresh flowers tied with a white ribbon.

She thought of everything!

a cloud with a silver lining

With every cloud there is most definitely a silver lining and my particular scenario delivered the inevitable cleaning that took place recently at my house because of all the rearranging of rooms in my home at the present. Mother moves in tomorrow, she will take our bedroom located downstairs, my husband and I will take Alan's old bedroom upstairs, the bedroom that has just been recently redecorated and made into a spare bedroom. A huge task to say the least, but I was able to go through so many things and move them to more appropriate places either known as storage or garbage, depending on the item. It felt so good to be organizing closets, shelves, drawers and the deeper cleaning of baseboards, blinds and walls left me feeling satisfied, howbeit, tired as I was.

awaiting the hospital bed that is to be delivered early tomorrow morning.

to knit and to read

It seems almost to good to be true, almost a daily diet of knitting which has allowed for another yarn along with Ginny this week, especially since the matter of being in the process of reading is never a problem for me.

Fingerless mitts in a jade green wool with flecks of navy blue, I like to call this a tweed yarn. Do any of you have the proper name for it? I am reading a book worthy of attention for all women, What Is A Family? by Edith Schaeffer. But then any book by her might be worth your attention. Just as the sun was heading toward the west a quick photo was shot on the paved stones outside.

I am certainly enjoying this yarn along, thank you Ginny!

on Monday

 The morning was cloudy and misty and it being a Monday I figured buttermilk pancakes could only help in getting the morning started on the right foot. They were served alongside fresh blueberries and raspberries in the sunroom with the glow of a lighted candle.  By afternoon the day's ongoing drab and drizzle succeeded in creating a very real droopiness in me too. So I did the only sensible thing and put on a kettle of water to boil.  A china tea mug was chosen out of the cupboard and filled with Earl Grey tea. The violets on this mug make me think of the unexpected discovery of violets in the springtime, usually found growing in shady waysides or on a path wandered for here to there.

 "I am the LORD thy GOD which teacheth you to profit, 

which leadeth you by the way that you shouldest go." 

Isaiah 48:17

Upon reading these words, I meditated on the fullness of His words. Such comfort to know Him and to trust His ways.

  And later I listened to Pandora's offerings of Bach/Classical while I hand basted a piece of gingham fabric that is to be smocked and made into a gift bag.

 Bye Bye dreariness. 

to share the times of our lives

I have spent the past year actively caring for my elderly parents, which ultimately led to me creating another blog, Shadow Pearls, a place to blog about the verisimilitudes of caring for elderly, and in my case, sick parents. I desired cherith revisited to be a blog that reveled domesticity, to record and share a kaleidoscope of my life all under an umbrella of faith and family.

Please indulge me this one post to spill over from one blog to another, especially since my domestic life will include some changes very soon. The plans are to have my mother moved here to my home by January 30, chunks of my day are delegated to making arrangements for this huge task.  Yet schooling, laundry and meal preparations are carried on too, without the neglecting of any of the girls' extracurricular activities. I have cooked chicken pastry, (my husband's favorite) and a savory beef stew along with the baking of a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Piano lessons, ballet classes, CC, Latin Club, Church, and every evening play practices have formed the core of my days along with visits with my mother. And I even went by the store and bought a black dress today.

I have peace now. A peace that has eluded me this past year and instead left me feeling like I was drowning in a weighty grief.

 I rejoice in His tender mercies and His perfect timeliness.

"I love the LORD because He has heard my voice and my supplications.

Because He has inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live."

Psalm116:1-2

Oh, and have I mentioned I covet your prayers?

knitting and reading and...

...Yarn along...ing.

Several months back I was reading Gigi's blog and I ran across two things that interest me immensely, knitting and reading. I had toyed with the idea of officially joining this group even though I do not usually do these sort of things.

Today was the day. You may join up too,  here.

A grape shrug for Charlotte, it feels like a hush. If anything could ever feel a hush that is. Actually, I completed knitting this shrug recently but I am considering knitting her another one using cotton yarn for the springtime.

Have you ever read D.E. Stevenson? If not, please allow me to introduce her to you. She is a British writer who wrote mainly in the 1930's through the 1960's. She writes the most enjoyable stories. Check your library shelves or stacks, several of her books, thankfully, still remain on my local library's shelves.  A good rummage through some old book stores would be nice to see if I can stumble upon any of her treasures.

a stash of chocolate

A bug bit me sometime around the first of the year. This bug demanded the cleaning, the straightening and the putting aright of several closets and cupboards.

An assortment of chocolate was found on the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard, a stash was also discovered in a bedside table drawer, and an entire unwrapped bar was hiding on a closet shelf!

Now the chocolate has the temporary venue of an antique egg basket.

No more hide and seek, though willpower might need to be unleashed in greater measure.