searching for a balance

a good airing

2012-03-08T19:54:00.000-05:00

Not just the afghan, but the whole house - such a beautiful day!

a little calypso in the night

2012-03-06T19:55:00.000-05:00

Matilda, she take me money and run Venezuela

March {p,h,f,r}

2012-03-04T19:02:00.000-05:00

Joining Rosie and Leila at the eleventh hour here -

I've noticed on the blogs which have the best photographs, that the blogger tries to only photograph in the sunshine. Well, I don't have that luxury - we have plenty of light here, but only the living room gets actual rays of sun coming in in the afternoons.

pretty

But some rays fell on these kitchen towels when I was folding - I thought it was pretty, if you excuse the wrinkles. :o

Going through Leila's archives, I read her piece about rags for cleaning, and it made much sense to me. But I hesitated - not sure why, until Anna's post the other day. She's made some cloths from two layers of cotton, wrong sides together and zigzagged all around. Aha!! I knew that was the missing link - the double layer idea seemed so much more substantial to me. But I have nice dish towels, it's the bathroom where I need something better, so I made up a bunch of smaller, squarish cloths, not particularly color coordinated, but they're a big help already!

happy

I'm very happy about these! Thank you Leila and Anna!

I'm sure I've mentioned before that Dolly has shredded most of our upholstery in the living room, so I have sheets draped over everything; I try to keep it neat, not always with success.

The other day she was hiding underneath one of these, playing.

funny

We still think she's awfully cute.

It's March, and around here that's synonomous with mud.

really muddy

But spring is coming.

Thanks Rosie and Leila.

"Expectation as Patience"

2012-03-04T10:21:00.001-05:00

from Henri Nouwen's Out of Solitude:

"The mother of expectation is patience.

Without patience our expectation degrades into wishful thinking. Patience comes from the word 'patior', which means to suffer. The first thing that Jesus promises is suffering: 'I tell you...you will be weeping and wailing...and you will be sorrowful.' But He calls these pains birth pains. And so, what seems a hindrance becomes a way; what seems an obstacle becomes a door; what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone.

That is the great conversion in our life: to recognize and believe that the many unexpected events are not just disturbing interruptions of our projects, but the way in which God molds our hearts and prepares us for His return."

thinking about food

2012-03-03T14:07:00.000-05:00

As everyone who cooks regularly knows, you have to be thinking about food all the time. Well, it's Lent. It's a time of fasting. So, having to think about food seems to get in the way of the whole idea of Lent.

I was pondering this situation when I remembered something I'd done during Lent a few years ago. I made the same thing for supper, each week, on the same day of the week. Everyone was in agreement on this - no one minded at all. So I'm doing it again.

The same thing every Monday. The same thing every Thursday. The same thing every Saturday. Those are my days off. On Mondays, I'll also make a pot of soup which we can eat on Tues. and Wed.

Sundays will be as usual, a step up from the rest of the week.

I feel relieved.

a surprise from Hana

2012-03-01T20:23:00.000-05:00

Dear Hana, over here, has so kindly nominated me for a blog award - God bless her!

Hana is a nice young woman in the Czech Republic; she loves costuming and often travels around eastern Europe, then shows pictures of her wanderings which I really enjoy seeing. I discovered her when she joined a sewing forum I belong to, and something about the way she thinks and says things just caught me. And, she's a cat lover! I don't think I need to say any more about that. :)

I am supposed to nominate five other blogs I like, blogs with less than two hundred followers. So, here are my choices -

Sunny Corner Farm in Australia is a great favorite of mine! Tracy's a sheep farmer, but she grows a lot of things besides sheep. Since I know I'd never last as a farmer, I've pondered why this is so fascinating to me. But I am always drawn by women who seem to do all sorts of things, but don't appear to be rushed! Tracy does all sorts of things outside, and still has time for needlework, not to mention her gourmet cooking - oh, if I were well-to-do, I'd want her to be my personal chef!

A Simple Life is my next choice - I actually know this person! We work together at the library. Her blog is very different from mine - the photographs are so excellent, so artsy. And she's very clever at making things. You'll just have to take a look.

Beloved's Bride is the blog of a beautiful red-haired young woman, married to a military pilot. They have four cute children whom she's homeschooling, but I am also getting an education reading her blog - I get a big kick out of her techniques with them. She was also one of my first follower's, bless her!

Thrift At Home is a newer favorite of mine. Margo knows a lot about being thrifty; she sews very well and has a good eye with her creations. Her recipes sound real good. And, she has an Etsy shop. I like blogs of people who know more than I do - she has many good ideas.

I've tried to determine if any of these have already received this award, and I don't think they have. My fifth choice is Val's blog, My Pretty Little Rough Patches. Val is a soft-hearted, sweet girl, fairly recently married to her long-time sweetheart and they have a very pretty cat. Val loves everything sweet and pretty and cozy and charming and family and gentle, etc. She's a dear.

Thank you again, Hana!

a "real" snow

2012-03-01T09:45:00.001-05:00

In my fifty six years in this New England state, I have never seen a winter like this one - consistently mild, with almost no snow. The October storm doesn't count - there was nothing normal about that one. So, I think we've had two snowfalls, each of which lasted a day or two. And temperatures are definitely higher than usual. But we finally had a real snowfall yesterday.

Only a couple of inches, but It covered everything except the roads. (because it was a wet snow and I'm not sure the ground is very frozen this year.)

I wasn't looking forward to it. They were predicting a bit more, and everybody was complaining - we are so spoiled by this lovely winter, we've become a bunch of wimps! But I have to say that it's very pretty, and I don't really mind it.

It's going to continue in the above-freezing temp range, so it will go soon. That's okay, too.

worth not the same as usefulness

2012-02-26T10:33:00.000-05:00

"Although the desire to be useful can be a sign of mental and spiritual health in our goal-oriented society, it can also become the source of a paralyzing lack of self-esteem....When we start being too impressed by the results of our work, we slowly come to the erroneous conviction that life is one large scoreboard where someone is listing the points to measure our worth....In solitude we become aware that our worth is not the same as our usefulness....When you are able to create a lonely place in the middle of your actions and concerns, your successes and failures slowly can lose some of their power over you. For then your love for this world can merge with a compassionate understanding of its illusions."

Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude

something on the floor, and something on the ground

2012-02-24T22:28:00.002-05:00

I was cleaning the hall closet the other day - there's been a little latex-backed rug in there for ages, and it was getting crumbly - I threw it out. But I wanted something on the floor - what with the vacuum and ironing board, it could get scratched, so I made up a floor cloth with some red checked duck from the stash. It was easy and quick, and I like the way it looks.

{happy}

I had to use a flash in this dark space.

I looked out the window during the night to see a whitish looking sky - I thought it must be fog. When I got up this morning, I saw this -

{funny}

White stuff all on the ground! It's gone now. But, what was it???? (it was pretty, though) :D

{real}

It's really Lent.

Joining Leila again this week for {pretty, happy, funny, real}.

Dolly cleans up

2012-02-23T19:09:00.000-05:00

the rest of the spaghetti sauce, that is.

Ash Wednesday yarnalong

2012-02-22T12:06:00.001-05:00

I'm still working on the squares for the baby blanket - I've done four; three pink and a cream.

I just finished Madam, Will You Talk?, another of Mary Stewart's thrillers. I so enjoy them every once in a few months. This is one I hadn't read before, and very exciting. Her books just suck me in, and I think a lot of it has to do with the level of descriptiveness; she had an amazing ability for that.

I'm still with The Devil's Right Hand, but now that it's Lent, I'm veering a little toward books which will help me along during the season. Working in a library is funny - I buy books which appeal to me, and then find a spot for them on my shelf. And there they sit, because books at work grab my attention first. And anyway, if I own something, I can read it any time, right? I won't be at the library forever! (although I've been there 25 years already)

Well, Lent is a time to clear out stuff which is hanging around - spiritually and otherwise, so I'm going to be working on my bookcase, among other things.

I found the Miracles of John Paul II. Which aren't really "yarns". But I'll be yarning along with them, anyway.

The Flower Song duet

2012-02-21T21:07:00.000-05:00

Listening to some classical radio this morning, I found out it was the birth anniversary of Leo Delibes, born 1836. I know nothing about him, except that he wrote an opera called Lakme, and there is a most beautiful duet in it, known as the Flower Song.

Here it is.

primitive-style stuffed cat

2012-02-20T21:17:00.000-05:00

I saw one in a book and had to try my hand at it, made with some cotton from an old blouse.

I stitched around the edges by hand, as you can see by the unevenness. That's okay - maybe I'll make a few more. As if we don't have enough cats around here already.

at the end of the hallway

2012-02-18T20:25:00.000-05:00

with the crocheted bag I finished (ages ago), my mother's suitcase, and the button and circle quilt which will take almost forever because I'm usually knitting instead.

Dolly eyes my salad

2012-02-17T22:03:00.000-05:00

but I know darn well she wouldn't eat it.

old-fashioned bowl and pitcher

2012-02-16T22:06:00.000-05:00

Don't you love those pitcher and bowl sets that you see in period films which take place before the era of running water? I do.

I have a co-worker who, when she re-does a room in her house, will bring in all sorts of decor in case one of us might like it. Which is where I got this.

It sits on my bookcase, and looks very well there.

"the eyes of an animal"

2012-02-15T23:43:00.001-05:00

"The eyes of an animal have the capacity of a great language.
I sometimes look into the eyes of a house cat.

Undeniably, this cat began its glance by asking me with a glance that was ignited by the breath of my glance, 'Can it be that you mean me? ...Do I concern you? ...What is that?'

There the glance of the animal, the language of anxiety, had risen hugely - and set almost at once.

Just now the It-world had surrounded the animal and me, then the You-world radiated from the ground for the length of one glance, and now its light has died back into the It-world."

- Martin Buber, I and Thou

a cold return

2012-02-13T09:29:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the blackbirds came back - for a while they were all over the place.

I haven't seen them come or go in years - I guess they've been passing through while I was out.

I don't exactly remember when they've come back before, but it seems kind of early to me - yesterday it was very cold; around 20 when I took these pictures.

I don't know where they go for the winter, but here, it's been very mild almost all season. Would that make them come back early, if indeed they are back earlier than usual? But how would they know? It just seems coincidental that it's far milder than normal, and (I think) they're back sooner than usual. And they had to pick one of our few cold days to arrive!

I hope they know what they're doing.

something new in the living room; something missing in the mail

2012-02-09T22:20:00.000-05:00

I bought this from Anna a few months ago - it was already pieced, and layered with a corduroy backing and cotton flannel in between, and pinned all over. She advertised it as a possible baby blanket; I knew it would look good in the living room.

I only had to bind the edges, but it was hanging around - till now!

{happy}

It does look very nice on the back of the couch, just as I thought.

On the {real} front, I learned a long-overdue lesson today. For the past few years, I've ignored my checking account - I don't balance it; I don't even open the statements when they come in the mail. It just doesn't seem as vital to me as keeping up with the housework. Of course, I subtract my checks as I write them, but.... math, I was never good in.

I don't even look at the totals on the deposit receipts! Until one day recently I happened to notice that the total was way over what I thought I had in there. I decided I'd better start doing online banking, just to more easily keep track of things. That was last week.

Yesterday, I received a note from the town, saying we were delinquent on our property taxes. I wrote that check in mid-December! It must have gotten lost in the mail! But if I'd been looking at my accounts, I would have seen it and wouldn't have had to pay a fifty dollar penalty! So. It isn't my fault it was lost in the mail, but as for the rest, as Mr. Bennett said, "It was my own doing, and I ought to feel it"! And, I do.

Pitiful, isn't it?

I bet Leila never did anything like that.

a baby blanket and a murder

2012-02-08T20:58:00.001-05:00

I've had my eye on this cute baby blanket for a couple of years, I think. I recently got some chunky yarn reduced at a local yarn store which was closing. I decided to make it!

I've got three squares done. If you're a member at Lion Brand, you can see the pattern, called the Country Cousins Baby Blanket. It calls for five squares of one color, four of another. I don't have enough to do it their way, but I can get four from the pink, and four from some cream. I also have a skein of white and one of off-white. I'll figure out what I want to do as I go along. I may make some stripey squares.

The pattern calls for Homespun - a yarn I really don't like, although it does give it a nice appearance. How well it would hold up after a few washings I can't guess. I used that yarn once and it separated while knitting - I don't trust it. Not to mention the curliness of it, which gives a nice effect, but you can't even tell what kind of stitch you've been doing!

Well, enough complaining! I'm using Plymouth Encore Chunky, which is one quarter wool. We'll see how it turns out.

My reading choice is hardly something which juxtaposes very well with a baby blanket -

The Colt family story is kind of local history, and I am acquainted with the author. Otherwise, I'm not sure I'd have the stomach to read this gory tale. His Nathan Hale book was far more to my taste - history, I love!

Thanks to Ginny and her yarnalong.

two hundred

2012-02-07T21:54:00.000-05:00

Charles Dickens was born two hundred years ago today -

something impossible to ignore.

A Happy Birthday to him. And God bless us, every one.

a hymn

2012-02-06T20:20:00.000-05:00

Put now your trust in God,
In duty's path go on;
Walk in His strength with faith and hope,
So shall your work be done.

Commit your ways to Him,
Your works into His hands,
And rest on His unchanging word,
Who heaven and earth commands.

Give to the winds your fears;
Hope, and be undismayed:
God hears your sighs and counts your tears;
God shall lift up your head.

- from Magnificat, February 2012

I swear...

2012-02-05T22:03:00.000-05:00

...I love an original simile, but they're not so common. I picked up an old Country Living from 20 plus years ago; there's a story in it by a Mary Coleman, beginning with a day which "dawned mild as a spinster's oath...".

Probably couldn't be written today, could it?

February Saturday

2012-02-04T21:21:00.000-05:00

Saturday is such a long day, and I'm always looking for a way to re-think my routine, such as it is, so that I can get things done while still feeling like a human being at the end of the day.

silk tulips are cheery

I managed to clean and freshen up the living room, make dinner ahead of time and bake some blondies for tomorrow's dessert,

and, (by the grace of God) still have some time for knitting! And, a little reading.

sunbathing

2012-02-03T18:57:00.000-05:00

post holiday season {p,h,f,r}

2012-02-02T21:59:00.000-05:00

Dolly captured contentment today by perching near the Holy Family. She's the right color, but the proportions are kinda {funny}.

I captured it by stewing a chicken, which smelled wonderful all through the house, while I tended to other things. Aromatherapy - a {happy} thing. Also, I went to visit my neighbor, who told me she loved the lemon cake. Her niece had two pieces, and she doesn't really care for lemon. Everybody {happy}!

My poor daffodils are pushing their way up, unaware that it's {real}ly still winter.

With thanks to Leila and Rosie.

{pretty}

Dolly catches the 5-day forecast

2012-02-01T21:45:00.000-05:00

casing the joint

2012-01-30T20:52:00.003-05:00

A smallish hawk landed in one of our backyard trees yesterday.

He was pretty, but my brother chased an unsuspecting squirrel out of his way. Let him work a little harder to find food.

That reminds me of a story. Way back in the late 1980s, we got a book in at the library called Merlin, by Norma Lorre Goodrich. It was a scholarly work about the legendary mentor of King Arthur, and I always loved the Arthurian stories. Her conclusions were that he was a Christian bishop or something, and all the legends just rose up and became embellished over the centuries. She wrote one about Arthur too - I gobbled them both up (but they were very dry, I have to say).

Anyway, I remember it was winter. I was immersed in this book, dry as it was. Looked out one day (it was a Sunday - I remember!) and there was a small hawk on top of the bird feeder. He sat there about an hour. At that time, I was beginning to get an interest in indentifying birds, and I grabbed our field guide for birds.

It was a merlin. A merlin! I felt like he had come to visit me while I was reading about him! Such a funny coincidence. He hung around for a week or so, sitting on a short stockade fence on the side of the house; right outside my bedroom window, in fact.

One of those odd things that happen sometimes.

"sponge" cake recipe

2012-01-29T21:56:00.001-05:00

This is for Carmen - she wanted the cake recipe from yesterday's post.

Lemon and Walnut Tea Bread
1/2 c. butter or margarine, room temp.
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs, separated
zest of 2 lemons
2 T. lemon juice
scant 2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped
1/4 tsp. salt

Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan. Set oven to 350.
Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and combine well. Stir in lemon zest and juice. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix flour and b. powder well. Fold into butter mixture alternately with the milk. *
In another bowl, beat egg whites with the salt till stiff, then gently fold into the batter. Put into pan and bake 45 - 50 minutes. (I would check it after 40 mins.)

* I used the mixer to add the dry ingredients and milk - didn't notice I was supposed to fold it in! Now, I'll have to keep doing it the same way.

The lemon sauce I used was this: heat up 1/4 c. superfine sugar, the juice of 3 lemons and 5 T. water till all is dissolved. (although it seemed a lot to me, and I used maybe half of it.

a lemon cake for Millie

2012-01-28T21:05:00.002-05:00

My elderly neighbor had a birthday coming up, and she asked me if I'd make her one of those little quick breads with the lemon glaze poured over while they're still warm. I said, "sure!", but when I went to get my recipe, it wasn't there.

I'd never actually made the recipe, but had tasted it, and then asked the baker if I could have it. This was at least twenty years ago. It was delicious, but I suppose I must have cleaned out my recipe box from things I'd never made.
So, I looked through a few cookbooks, and found two hopefuls - one for the cake, one for the lemon sauce for the top.

They were in 1000 Great Recipes, by Martha Day. It's an English cookbook - you can tell those by the "funny" temperatures and measurements - but it also has the American equivalents; a very sensible arrangement!
I made the Lemon and Walnut Tea Bread. Left out the walnuts, and put less lemon in, because I think these cakes are supposed to get their lemonyness from the icings. The sauce was from another cake recipe on a different page - it seemed good to me, so I went with it!

When I took it out of the oven (you're looking for another disaster story here, aren't you? Nope.), I heated up the sugar, lemon and water, then poured it over the cake, after poking holes all over with a toothpick.

This recipe is a keeper, let me tell you. Sponge cake is what came to mind when I tasted it. It only has two eggs, but they were separated, with whipped-up whites folded in at the end, and I guess that's what does it. I can picture this cake - with or without lemon flavoring - in two eight-inch layers, with jam between, just like Victoria Sponge!

As for the lemon sauce, it made everything very tasty and lemony. But it wasn't the usual sugary, lemony icing you find on these cakes which gives almost a sugary crust. I'll have to look for the proper thing online.

But it was good, and Millie was glad to have it.

And I was glad to do it.

cat atop a laptop

2012-01-27T21:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was looking at the other blogs participating in Leila's weekly posting, but somebody suddenly came up and got in my way

She stayed quite a while

Why?

Because it's there.

bread, snow and Jane Austen

2012-01-26T09:35:00.000-05:00

{happy}

I was happy to find a good rye bread recipe for the machine, from The Complete Book of Bread & Bread Machines, by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter. I know I'll keep trying new recipes, but I'm glad to have this one.

We had a snowfall on Saturday, and I have to say, it was PERFECT, if you have to have snow. We only got about three inches, but quite enough to transform everything into beauty and freshness. And, because it was so cold - in the teens - it was light as dust (well, almost), and could be disposed of very easily! What could be better? This winter is perfect so far, and a real blessing against last year's terrors. I hope it may continue!

my boots, mittens and 180s after a very easy little sweep outside

{happy}

I was also very happy to find a bread slicer. I've been struggling to slice my bread and making a mess of it. Isn't this pretty? And it folds up neatly afterwards.

{happy} and {pretty}

{funny} I've been reading Mansfield Park - I'm nearing the end. Fanny has gone home to visit after many years away, and is dismayed by the lack of order in the household and lack of discipline among the inhabitants.
Jane Austen's very dry wit gave me a laugh this morning -

""Betsey too, a spoilt child, trained up to think the alphabet her greatest enemy..."

Apparently Mary Russell Mitford once said that she could almost cut off one of her hands if it would enable her to write like Jane Austen with the other.

Thanks to Leila & Rosie.

hoping...he were the husband of some other woman"

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

"Henry Crawford came and sat some time with them; and...her heart was softened for a while towards him - because he really seemed to feel. - Quite unlike his usual self, he scarcely said any thing. He was evidently oppressed, and Fanny must grieve for him, though hoping she might never see him again till he were the husband of some other woman."

- Mansfield Park, Jane Austen

Henry plays

2012-01-23T21:10:00.001-05:00

with his catnip fishie, crocheted by the gracious Beth.

more birdware from Cyndi

2012-01-23T11:34:00.000-05:00

Cyndi, the bird-lover, has given me a lovely little bird-decorated plate and bowl - I'm getting quite a collection of bird things from her -

I had tomato soup in that bowl the other day, and homemade rye bread on the plate! It looked very well, I must say.

"meat" cookie recipe

2012-01-21T22:14:00.002-05:00

Just kidding. About the "meat" part, I mean.

Jackie asked for the recipe, so here it is - and I hope it's legal to share it:

Pistachio-Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies
Chop up enough pistachios to make 1/2 cup, and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat 1 stick of butter and 3 ounces of cream cheese for a bit, till soft and mixed.
Add one cup of xxx sugar, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt, beating till combined.
Beat in one lg. egg and 1 tsp. vanilla thoroughly. Add 2 and a half cups of flour, 'tho it may be that you end up stirring it in if it gets too stiff. Add 2 tsps. orange or lemon peel, if you have it.
Divide dough in half, and roll into two logs approx. an inch and a half in diameter. Roll each in the pistachios, wrap in plastic and chill at least one hour.
Cut into 1/4 inch slices and bake on ungreased sheets 7 to 9 mins. at 375 degrees F. Makes 44 cookies. (which is exactly how many I got!)

recipe from Better Homes & Gardens 100 Best Cookies 2011

Hope yours turn out prettier than mine!

prettier than any cookie

what does it look like to you?

2012-01-19T09:50:00.000-05:00

My friend, Emily gave me a miniature rose for my birthday a few weeks ago - it's still blooming, and very {pretty}.

I'm {happy} that I finally made myself finish up my pumpkin colored hand warmers.

a great challenge to take a photo with the left hand - when you're right handed

I still need practice in getting them just right, but since I have a thing for hand warmers, that shouldn't be a problem. (even though it's too cold here right now for anything resembling incomplete gloves)

My {funny} consists of some cream cheese cookies I made. They're good - no disasters here this time! You shape them into logs and roll them in chopped pistachios. However, I found that when I tried to photograph them, they end up looking like slices of poultry! See what I mean:

Now doesn't that look like turkey to you? Except the little browned one at the top, maybe. I wonder if it's the knife I used.

Thanks again to Leila.

first snow

2012-01-16T22:50:00.000-05:00

That October storm doesn't count - it was an aberration. But it's finally snowing now.

Just a couple of surreal images through the front window.

Henry looks up

2012-01-16T21:47:00.001-05:00

We sometimes see Henry looking up at the wall - a shadow catches his eye, or movement of light. It's interesting - I mean, he's low to the ground, so to speak; what makes him even notice something up so high, relatively? Dolly doesn't.

Yesterday he was laying on his back in that ridiculous, undignified way he has - legs akimbo, but he was observing something. Then he sat up to look at it. Then, he jumped on the chair to get a better view of it.

There was a patch of sunlight on the wall, and wavy lines - I don't know what from. He was interested in it.

For a long time.

It's just something which is kinda cute about him.

winter blackbird

2012-01-15T16:50:00.001-05:00

I was surprised yesterday to see this grackle at the feeder - they always fly south for the winter. He didn't appear to be injured.

I wonder how he's feeling today - it was about one degree at sunrise this morning! Brrrr!

cookie monsters

2012-01-14T22:55:00.001-05:00

One of the things I got on my birthday was a jar of homemade cookie mix!

Very promising.

The directions were on the back -

hmm. No, it didn't say whether they were bar cookies, drop cookies or rolled-out cookies. During a lull in the wave of cookie gifts to my brother, I decided to make them.

There were colorful shots inside.

When I mixed the dough, it turned pink!

From the shots, maybe - or the dried cranberries. It also had vanilla or white chocolate chips. (couldn't tell which)

Henry came along while I worked.

I told him that cats don't eat cookies. *

The consistency made me decide to drop them, so I did. They looked good!

There were four dozen. I tried one.

It was way too sweet. Maybe the shots sugared it up a bit? Or the wrong amount of sugar got put in the jar.

I knew I couldn't eat them. I decided to bring them to work - my co-workers love sweets. I didn't know how they'd be received, but thought I'd give it a try.

The next day, there I was, and my co-worker and fellow blogger walked in. She has a young adult group, which was meeting that afternoon, and she'd forgotten to bring refreshments. And there was nothing to be found in the library kitchen. I said, "I have cookies!"

At first she said teens wouldn't appreciate homemade goods. But she really didn't want to go out again, so she took them.

They ate the whole thing.

What is there to be said about teenagers who will eat anything with sugar in it?

The end.

(oh - * I think cats eat cupcakes. But not cookies.)

Dolly listens to Kenny Clarke

2012-01-11T20:42:00.000-05:00

on his birthday

"even the sandwich tray"

2012-01-09T19:59:00.001-05:00

"A young woman, pretty, lively, with a harp as elegant as herself; and both placed near a window, cut down to the ground, and opening on a little lawn, surrounded by shrubs in the rich foliage of summer, was enough to catch any man's heart. The season, the scene, the air, were all favourable to tenderness and sentiment. ...it was all in harmony; and as everything will turn to account when love is once set going, even the sandwich tray..."

- Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen

the heavenly light

2012-01-08T10:50:00.000-05:00

"...the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising."

- Isaiah 60:3

Twelfth Night {p,h,f,r}

2012-01-05T21:40:00.001-05:00

I was trying to photograph the Christmas tree's reflection in the glass of a painting and it came out {pretty}, I think!

{Pretty} was also Dolly on the New Year's table, posing with a {pretty} box of cookies from one of my brother's customers.

And, unbelievably beautiful was this evening's sunset on the backyard trees and everything out there; but I couldn't quite capture it, even though I took so many pictures. It was gold-er and less orange than this - the cloudy sky was that deep dark blue which clouds sometimes get against the sun

but which I cannot seem to get - It was fabulous, though!

Tonight is Twelfth Night - I put the shepherds away and got out the Three Kings. And I made a star for the tree. A Star of David, which seemed like the right kind of star to put up there, considering.

It's a very simple affair, which is about all I'm capable of doing, made from the same fabric I made the garland from; with unfinished edges sandwiched together with batting between and quilted with two strands of red embroidery floss. Very basic.

You can see how homemade it looks. I trimmed it a bit after stitching, to neaten it up. Then I stuck a skewer up into it, and strapped it to the tree with gold cord.

I'm {happy} it's done. I have to assume the kings are, too. They needed the star to find their way, didn't they?

It looks good up there - I like it! A star, finally!

Thank you, Leila. Happy New Year to everyone!

a different view

2012-01-04T20:21:00.001-05:00

a bird on the plate

2012-01-02T20:16:00.000-05:00

makes everything taste better.

a cozy New Year

2011-12-31T21:02:00.000-05:00

It was quite foggy and rather gloomy around here all day -

but, with the tree on and Christmas music playing

very cozy within.

May you also have a cozy and safe New Year's Eve.

lunch with friends

2011-12-30T22:56:00.000-05:00

an old friend, and a new one! Atmosphere, good food, charm. Pretty Christmas trees.

Thank you.

A Christmas {p,h,f,r}

2011-12-29T09:11:00.000-05:00

I've been {happy} with my new garland

I used a rich yellow cotton with little white dots, which is why I also used yellow for the tree skirt. I stuck to lots of red ornaments along with some silver and gold and I think it all looked {pretty}.

(I won't be washing this one!)

{real}

A merry Christmas season to Leila and everyone.

a good purchase

2011-12-28T22:15:00.001-05:00

I was at Home Goods a few months ago and saw a non-stick oven skillet for thirty dollars in the clearance section. I also had a gift card with almost ten dollars on it. You know how it is when you've got a big omelet going - too big to turn over - and you need to finish off the top of it under the broiler? I have a nice metal handled skillet, but it's not nonstick. Anyway, I bought that thing.

A couple of days later, I was perusing Cooking Light at work, and they were comparing oven skillets; mine was going for sixty dollars!

I used it tonight, finally. So I've had it four months and don't need it that often. But for twenty bucks - and it's really sturdy - I'm okay with that.

a lovely Christmas

2011-12-26T20:47:00.001-05:00

church
making Anna's fruit salad
Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on the radio from Cambridge, England
kitties and lots of paper

dinner at Joanne's
lively cousins of all sizes
the famous rum cake
many pretty Christmas lights to see on the way home

"a kind, forgiving, pleasant, charitable time"

2011-12-25T22:01:00.000-05:00

"There have been many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,... Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, ... as a good time: a kind, forgiving, pleasant, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely...And therefore Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"

- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

(Roger Rees as Scrooge's nephew, Fred)

"He was poor..."

2011-12-25T10:27:00.000-05:00

I saw this yesterday on Ann Voskamp's site

"He was poor, that He might make us rich.

He was born of a virgin that we might be born of God.

He took our flesh, that He might give us His spirit.

He lay in the manger, that we may lie in paradise.

He came down from Heaven, that He might bring us to heaven...

That the Ancient of Days should be born
that He who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle...
that He who rules the stars should suck the breast;
that a virgin should conceive;
that Christ should be made of a woman, and of that woman which Himself made,
that the branch should bear the vine,
that the mother should be younger than the Child she bare,
and the Child in the womb bigger than the mother,
that human nature should not be God, yet one with God.

Christ taking flesh is a mystery we shall never fully understand till we come to heaven.

If our hearts be not rocks, this love of Christ should affect us.
Behold love that passeth knowledge! (Eph. 3:19)

-Thomas Watson, 1620-1686

Merry Christmas!

Dolly and I watch "A Christmas Carol"

2011-12-24T11:43:00.000-05:00

with George C. Scott. (of course)

"Behold, He cometh"

2011-12-23T21:44:00.000-05:00

"Behold, I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face.

And presently the Lord whom you seek, and the angel of the testament whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold, he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts."

Malachy 3: 1

first day of winter

2011-12-22T22:13:00.001-05:00

This quote from Edna O'Brien is in the current Country Living -

"In a way, winter is the real spring, the time when the inner things happen, the resurgence of nature."

wreath at the back door

2011-12-21T21:55:00.000-05:00

new tree skirt

2011-12-19T19:32:00.000-05:00

As I said the other day, the bright red cloth under the tree had to go - it showed the white fur too much. I found a piece of pale yellow gingham in my stash - perfect!

Dolly doesn't seem to mind the change.

In fact, she's under there all the time.

I guess she approves.

expecting

2011-12-18T11:09:00.001-05:00

The Expectation

by Richard Lawson Gales

"Over the apple trees with their red load
In world's-end orchards, over dark yew woods,
O'er fires of sunset glassed in wizard streams,

O'er mill and meadow of those farthest lands,
Over the reapers, over the sere sails
Of homing ships and every breaking wave,
Over the haven and the entranced town,
O'er hearths aflame with fir-trunks and fir-cones,
Over the children playing in the streets,
Over the harpers harping on the bridge,
O'er the lovers in their dream and their desire,
There falls from the high heaven a subtle sense
Of presage and a deep, expectant hush,

And the wise watchers know the time draws on
And that amid the snows of that same year
The earth will bear her longed-for perfect Fruit."

oatmeal cookies

2011-12-16T18:49:00.002-05:00

with cinnamon chips and spices, and golden sugar "nuggets" on top.

For the library's Christmas Cookie Sale.

fuzzy and furry

2011-12-15T11:49:00.000-05:00

Getting depth of field with my point-and-shoots has been a challenge, but I've acquired another camera which is doing it for me

I'm {happy}

(actually, this is pretty much what it looks like to me before I've put in my contacts - or maybe even blurrier)

The cats are enjoying being under the tree, but the white fur! This red cloth isn't going to work anymore.

I'll have to dig around in my stash to find something else. Light in color. Very light.

a {real} lot of fur going on, believe me!

Thanks again, Leila - your blog is a real blessing.

too cute

2011-12-14T21:30:00.001-05:00

I'm not meaning to be an ad for Crate and Barrel, but. The cover was just too cute to throw out. I stuck it on the fridge.

I mean - the outfit! Where did they get this kid?

maple syrup bottle

2011-12-13T20:36:00.001-05:00

I found this maple syrup bottle in the basement, and put it in the kitchen window with some red berries from outside.

My brother had to point out to me that there's a proper way to display it -

the house in the middle is painted on the other side, which gives it a little dimension.

A pretty thing which doesn't need to be buried downstairs!

it's starting

2011-12-12T21:33:00.001-05:00

The other day my brother came home with this from a customer, and it's starting again. This Polish lady is one of the best bakers I have ever received from. It's a sort of pound cake, with some - but not too much! - fruit inside. and decorated so just right.

Last year she gave him a gingerbread cake - rectangular, sliced horizontally with peach or apricot jam inside. A chocolate ganache over all, and sliced almonds pressed into the bottom. I haven't forgotten it! I've been wanting to replicate it ever since. She could really open a bakery.

You can bet we're making short work of this.

a little night music

2011-12-11T22:40:00.001-05:00

Dolly (in the dark) listening to a bit of Count Basie

{real}ly twisted

2011-12-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

I had a birthday the other day, and my friend Cyndi gave me something {funny} - two notepads

kinda cute, isn't it? And this one, too

we got a chuckle out of them. (actually, now that I think of it, she has a parrot who used to say "Going shopping - be back soooon!" when Cyndi appeared to be going out - I wonder if that's why this caught her eye.)

I also have a {real}. I made a garland for the tree last year out of fabric. The tree was up six to eight weeks, and things get dusty, so I thought I'd better wash it. I swished it around a bit in the sink and hung it to dry. Of course it needed ironing after that, but it had become so twisted that I couldn't bear to deal with it. The other day I took it out of the ironing bin where it had been waiting almost a year.

I started unwinding it and ironing - but it was really twisted up

and with all the knots between the twisted areas, well, I soon realized that it was more work than it was sensible to do. I threw it out. It really gave a nice country touch on the tree, but what can you do? It was too much trouble. I've got plans to make a new one. Unless I can think of something simpler, I may have to do this every year.

Thanks again, Leila.

bare trees

2011-12-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been captivated by the beauty of these backyard trees, as seen through the bathroom (!) window.

especially the light on the bark

yarning along toward Christmas

2011-12-07T21:44:00.003-05:00

I'm joining Ginny's yarnalong today, making another crocheted bag to use up my yarn. The pattern is so simple and enjoyable to work on. This one will be slightly smaller by four rows - we'll see how it turns out.

A library is a constant drop-off point for unwanted books, and all kinds of things come through our place. I picked this up last year, and I'm just finding out what a treasure it is.

Filled with recipes, prayers and meditations, old carols and their histories, Bible readings, quotations - a feel-good book for sure. And you may recognize Edith Schaeffer's The Hidden Art of Homemaking next to it, which always always puts things back in perspective for me.

I'm also perusing this magazine

which was given to me. How to choose which cookies to bake? Our Christmas party at the library is Friday, and I'll be making something from these pages tomorrow, if I make up my mind!

Thanks to Ginny!

not just another suitcase

2011-12-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

My Aunt Helen had a birthday last week. She is my late mother's sister, two years younger. When my mother was ten years old, their mother died after a difficult childbirth. A year later, the father died from pneumonia. They were both in their thirties, and left seven children behind.

Four of the middle children went to a nearby orphanage - my mother, two younger sisters and a little brother.

We had visited Aunt H. during the summer, and she'd told us she was going through her things which she'd received from others and asking if they wanted the items back. At her age, she wanted to get her stuff in order. She had something for us, but we'd had no prior knowledge of it.

When my mother was nineteen she left the orphanage. When Aunt Helen's turn came to leave, my mother gave her a little suitcase with things in it which she might need and maybe be unable to get for herself. Aunt wasn't sure exactly what was in there so many years ago - underwear, and some other things. She brought out the suitcase.

We hadn't known about it. I have to say, I'm not sentimental. I don't like to save anything which isn't useful; this house is only a thousand square feet. But the story was very touching, and this small suitcase seemed a very beautiful and important thing. So I said, "Yes, of course we want it!"

It has a pretty lining.

Apparently, when clothing donations would come in at the orphanage, my mother would go through the items to find some nice things for her siblings. And, having left the place before her sisters, she must have been thinking of what would have been helpful to her at the time she left - what might be useful to Helen.

I think it's beautiful. I'm keeping it.

"visit us in peace"

2011-12-05T21:46:00.000-05:00

"Come, O Lord, visit us in peace, that we may rejoice before you with a blameless heart."

bright afternoon

2011-12-04T18:01:00.000-05:00

"the grace of Your mercy"

2011-12-01T21:49:00.000-05:00

"Stir up your power, O Lord, and come to our help with mighty strength, that what our sins impede, the grace of your mercy may hasten."

Dolly drinks from a cup

2011-11-30T21:16:00.000-05:00

Dolly so enjoys a drink from a cup or glass every now and then - I think, to her, it tastes better out of something different.

and I'm happy to oblige.

bread on top

2011-11-28T20:45:00.000-05:00

Using up some holiday leftovers this evening; I had the meat, plenty of veg, and then I made a sauce for it. But what about the topping? Pie crust? No. Mashed potatoes? Biscuits? Nope. I'd seen a Martha Stewart Living magazine which featured layered bread slices, buttered, for the topping Mine worked out pretty well - I used rye bread which is a favorite around here, but something softer might have been a better choice.

It needs working on, but this other option is nice.

Advent watchfulness

2011-11-28T17:38:00.002-05:00

"Keep us alert, we pray, O Lord our God, as we await the advent of Christ your Son, so that, when he comes and knocks, he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in his praise."

late bloomers

2011-11-26T20:17:00.002-05:00

Well, the fellows with the big claw finally came and took away all our brush from the October storm.

Later, I was sweeping the stray branches out of the street and carrying some to the back yard.

There was a dear little dandelion!

Last week a rhododendron blossom, this week a dandelion.

Maybe we can just skip winter this year. After Christmas, that is.

"sharing the cross of others"

2011-11-25T21:31:00.000-05:00

"Lord, You opened the eyes and heart of Simon of Cyrene, and You gave him, by his share in Your Cross, the grace of faith. Help us to aid our neighbors in need, even when this interferes with our own plans and desires. Help us to realize that it is a grace to be able to share the cross of others and, in this way, know that we are walking with You along the way. Help us to appreciate with joy that, when we share in Your suffering and the sufferings of this world, we become servants of salvation and are able to help build up Your Body, the Church."

- Pope Benedict XVI, The Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI

hard times, come again no more

2011-11-23T17:10:00.007-05:00

We've had Henry almost a year now. He and Dolly are getting along fairly well, in their cat way - which is a mystery to me. I don't think they'll ever love each other. He's a little better with us, but he still nips when we try to pet him most of the time. And food remains his main motivation.

We had noticed him hanging around our area for about a month before we took him in - we've no idea of his life before that. He was not emaciated, just wary of us, but looking for food and a place to sleep. His long fur was knotted in places - of course. I'm sure he's at least partly some fancy breed, he's such a pretty boy. But he's an annoying pet much of the time; wanting to eat constantly, underfoot in a dangerous way, trying to usurp Dolly's favorite sleeping spots, trying to bite us when we want to get friendly. My brother has a theory that he was somebody's pet (he obviously was) and they threw him out in exasperation. Who knows? Or maybe he ran away from home. He doesn't seem to know how to socialize very well - with anyone, cat or human. But we can tell that he's trying. When he tries to nip, it's like an automatic reaction; It wouldn't surprise me to learn he'd been maltreated.

I brought home the CD Appalachian Journey from the library - Mark O'Connor, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, James Taylor - and was playing it. Went by the living room, and both cats were obviously enjoying the music. Dolly was too much in a dark corner to get a good photo - and you've seen her enjoying music before, haven't you? - but Henry!

He was really liking it. And, what was the cut they were so into? Hard Times Come Again No More, by Stephen Foster, sung by James Taylor.

Let us pause in life's pleasures to count its many tears

While we all sup sorrow with the poor;

There's a song that will linger forever in our ears,