she said it well...

It is plainly written there on page 95,

"There is no one way to cook, obviously, but we do all have a way that's best for us, and life is so much easier once we know what that is. For example, I don't cook well in chaos. It stresses me out, I get flustered, then I fly into a rage and start banging pots and dropping spoons on the floor. Now that I've got that figured out about myself, I don't even so much as peel as onion unless I've got the kitchen tidy first. I hate to cook under time pressure, too. I am a putterer of the highest order".

I felt so justified when I read this defining bit of knowledge about Laura Calder that she included in her cookbook, French Taste.

 Because I am exactly the same way. I clean my kitchen and get everything in order before attempting to cook a meal. My brain can not function smoothly with clutter or disorderliness in my surroundings.

Claire gifted me with this book for Christmas. I am on my way to cooking elegant meals everyday. But first my kitchen...

the love of books and knitting...yarnalong

I was the kid that read the back of the cereal box from top to bottom. Place words in front of me I read them, or my eyes will scan my surroundings to find any words to latch onto to read. Bedtime reading is imperative, yet I usually must read something very light at this point of the day. Over the holidays I would be pressed for time with later nights and busier days, perfect for revisiting one of Lucy Maud Montgomery's books. Newlyweds, a quaint home on an island, characters that delight, a bit of drama with a twist, this book included it all.

Cables are tickling my fancy these winter days. The easiest way to get a cable fix I have found is to knit a pair of mittens or fingerless mitts. The wool is a ella rae heather superwash wool and the pattern can be found here.

Joining up with fellow knitters and readers at Ginny's. You can too!

cleaning day aid

Whew! The Christmas decorations are finally down and put in in their assigned space in the attic, with several new storage containers now glamorizing my attic. This definitely was an all day job involving able- bodied family members, willing or not. My house seems empty now, somewhat forlorn. But that will not be for long because tomorrow has been declared Cleaning Day, with a capital C, capital D!

Rose and I are enjoying a break of sorts here at the moment sipping tea, and while I make a detailed list of what must be done starting early tomorrow morning, she comments on something or another on Pinterest. It is a restful moment before I head to the kitchen to complete the fixings of my New Years Day menu of BBQ Chicken, collard greens, black-eyed peas, and cornbread. The cooking was pre-planned and cooked earlier knowing how tuckered out I would be after the flurry scurry of the day's activity.

A dear friend of mine and her five lovely daughters will sail into my house at 9:00 sharp tomorrow morning and we will clean the lower level of my house from top to bottom. This is a cleaning crew of nine females, am I blessed or what?

So in honor of cleaning, I am sharing a most propitious, but extremely simple cleaning aid. I first heard of this on Lesley's blog and I have now developed the keen habit of keeping jars of this always under my kitchen sink. It smells good and can be used to naturally clean so many things.

For dusting cloths I prefer cotton diapers or cut up cotton baby receiving blankets, really anything cotton works wonderfully. Having different weights of fabric for your cloths I have found can be helpful too. Keep your lemon and orange peelings then mix a combination of  1/4 cup of white vinegar and 1/4 cup of water and put into a glass jar. Layer the peelings between the damp cloths and secure with a tight fitting lid on the jar. These will keep in a dark area for quite a long time and when you need to clean just open the lid, take out a cloth and the smell of clean accosts you with such pleasantness.

Now tell me, don't you just want to go and clean something?

Happy New Years!

delayed postcards

My life needs to catch up and it needs to be soon too. The holidays are quickly dissipating and routine is cranking up. My last, hopefully,  time to share a bit of our days of Christmas.

* What kept us extremely busy was Charlotte's part of Clara in her ballet troupe's annual performance of the Nutcracker. Ways to put lasting curls into her hair was a daily quest.

*My sister and I took a day trip to Virginia to visit the aunts, my Daddy's sisters, and a basket of gifts accompanied us

*One evening my husband and I were sitting in the sunroom and the reflection of lights were too beautiful for words, SNAP

*Eli and Charlotte spent one entire morning constructing a gingerbread house

*We hosted a Widow Luncheon at our house on the Friday before Christmas. My family served these precious ladies and we had loads of fun playing games too.

* Christmas cookie baking has become sparser at my house. But we still managed to bake something fun. This year Charlotte chose Gingerbread cookies and decorated them with white icing. This icing is simple to make and I love the shine.

*Claire's mother, Nancy, invited us to their home for lunch and then we made a trip to town and toured a dry good store with a long line of history

*Homemade Nativity in sunlight

*the last performance of the Nutcracker

much to ponder

It was Christmas after all.

And even though it is days later when I am in the throes of wrapping paper and Christmas sweets and leftovers of the feasting kind, still...I am immersed in Christmas goodness.

Which is very evident as I download my photos and smile.

"But Mary kept all these thing, and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

This verse has been one of my favorites of all the Christmas verses read and reread in the Bible. A woman and a mother, roles she was given by her Creator. Yet He chose her, Mary, to be the mother of the Savior, her Savior too. She had  much to ponder.

But as women and mothers, we without doubt have much to ponder too. And I shall spend some of these slower days before the New Year pondering, getting my heartfilled.

Christmas morning, afternoon, and evening

"A jumble of impressions, bright fragments of the last twenty-four hours, jostled together in her tired mind like the tiny pieces of colored glass in a child's kaleidoscope."

Miss Read

The Christmas Mouse

Up early with Claire and Witt arriving just as they said they would.  Hot coffee poured into Christmas mugs. Then Charlotte found Baby Jesus and placed him in the manger. Christmas morning began.


In the afternoon, I took a walk with my second son. The one who is planning on leaving the first of the year to go to North Vietnam to teach English. So glad for the times we are able to spend together.

We dressed for dinner. I wore a  black velvet skirt and black swooped-neck top. A vintage silver watch,  a gift from my husband this Christmas, cupped my wrist. All seven of us gathered around the dining room table with candles glowing in glass globes. We ate a delicious meal of prime rib and yorkshire pudding with brussel sprouts, carrots, and spicy french green beans.

A quiet moment

A yarn of steel-blue wool being knitted into fingerless mitts for Charlotte's violin teacher who ventures out into chilly winter mornings to milk her Alpine goats.

A much favored Christmas book filled with short stories of coziness and warmth by Miss Read.

And a cup of hot tea, all being enjoyed before the twinkling lights.

Knitting and reading with Ginny's Yarn along .

Memories must take time, 

and the choice of a memory always means

 that a negative choice is made not to use the time another way. 

We are finite, and in our finiteness and limitedness 

we can never choose to do something without choosing not to do something else.  

There is usually the need to put aside ten other things to do one special thing.

Edith Schaeffer

What Is A Family

violin lessons

Ever since Charlotte was very young I would whisper in her ear,

"Some day you will play a string instrument...a cello, or a violin perhaps."

The day finally arrived, along with the teacher...at my house.

The plan was that I  might possibly learn how to play some too. I did learn. I learned that I did not prefer the violin as my instrument of choice. Something about the neck position, and even though I could read the music, getting my fingers to cooperate on those strings was another matter altogether.

On Thursday mornings you will find me blissful as I observe my daughter learning to play this beautiful instrument. 

But I feel somewhat like I must look into the camera and make a disparaging statement,

"I am a violin student dropout."

"Not to give way, in moments of fatigue or sadness, to the temptation to slacken my efforts; to remain valiant at whatever sacrifice...Never may any soul hold back discouraged from mine because agitations and worldly complications have hidden the way; may my soul be as smiling as my lips toward all and may Thy Word, O GOD, inspire my humble word and make it fruitful."

Elisabeth Leseur

Who would have guessed or even imagined? A myriad of emotions due to very real events have seasoned my days this month of October. I want to think of them as salt that seasons well, but salt stings...no downright hurts...at first. The  fruit must ripen over time, unfurl gradually.

I traverse amongst the quotidian loveliness of: school, learning along with my children; householding, cleaning, cooking, laundry; personal maintenance, daily stretching exercises and walks and maintaining good nutrition options; extracurricula activities filling my "extra" spaces everywhere I turn. 

Prayer, reading and meditation in His Word, along with scripture memory are vital, the necessary food and water to nourish every inch of my life.

I found this draft as I was doing a little housekeeping on my blog. I remember those October days and decided I would publish this post, however late. 

knitting and reading

*violet fingerless mitts for Charlotte
*biography on loan from a friend
*both good

And also joining up with Ginny's yarnalong...it has been too long.

 Feels good.