Friday, March 30, 2012

Happy Palm Sunday


Time for a moment to meditate on the upcoming special week.  
Blessings and love to all!  
@


Sunday, March 25, 2012

The recipe for chicken soup...

I have personally made some good soups in my day. Today was not that day. I worked all morning and most of this sunshiny afternoon on a pot of lovely chicken and vegetable soup... The stock was from a likely hen I had simmered myself... The soup was deliciously spiced with a bay leaf, a bit of basil, and some other yummy herbs... I added crushed tomatoes, some sea salt, some ground black pepper...I cooked this delicacy in my mother's magic soup pot on my favorite burner of her 60 year old gas range... I dunno... It. Was. Terrible. Too rich, too ugly, too ?. I coaxed some magic into my stew, and oh, I added love! I diced and chopped and eventually had three separate @&$?@&%#>€£ pans of unique but equally yucky soups. What to do?


I finally strained off all the juices and created a nice large bowl of chicken and vegetables for my son's dog, Muncie. For the next half hour I washed dishes, scrubbed the stove, mopped the floor, changed the clothes I was wearing that we're by now covered in soup broth...

 And pronounced we were having sandwiches from Subway for supper. So much for culinary magic today. Kitchen closed due to illness! This chick is sick of cooking!!!!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Living the life...


Once upon a time I found a quote that said something about being happy to live my life traveling if I had another life to live at home. I immediately loved it because I adore being at home. Two of my all-time favorite weeks were the ones spent at home... One a few years back when a blizzard kept me in for about nine days... That was the year I began. Blogging.


And before that I loved the week I spent curled up in my big comfy wing chair recuperating from dry sockets and wisdom tooth surgery... I know.. The pain WAS Horrible, but being all cozy with nobody expecting something was delicious... People say I will regret feeling like this if I grow old and HAVE to stay home all the time.... I grant them that... With all that said, I truly believe n living in the now. We have today to enjoy. Or to make the best of. I recently began an experiment of trying to be where I am, To really listen to people, to really care about some more of the current details. To bring some of the best of the past into the conversation, but to stop dwelling in it... To make solid, good plans for the future without skipping today. Let me say that the new practice is a blessing, and it is sweet.... But it is exhausting. It demands that I sometimes stop and admit I'm tired, and I need to be good to myself and rest... It's a work in progress, just like our lives. Have a beautiful Sunday... Find something beautiful to fill your day. Blessings!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Happy First Day of Spring!

We waited for it , and with great clouds and tempestuous skies, Lady Spring arrived this early morning way before dawn. I wish you all warm breezes and floral joy... Happy Spring!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Treats of Spring

Everywhere the Bradford Pears speak Spring...

You must try these 'Smore Mini Bites from Giada ---  with or without the spring bonfires!


Ingredients

  • 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 1/4 cups mini chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup quinoa flour
  • 3/4 cup mini marshmallows
  • 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 4 large graham crackers, finely crushed
  • Special equipment: a 24-count mini-muffin pan, 24 mini-muffin cup liners, such as Betty Crocker mini-size baking cups

Directions

Cook's Note: Quinoa flour is available at health food stores.
Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 24-count mini-muffin pan with paper liners.
Heat the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and add 3/4 cup of the mini chocolate chips. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in the sugar, eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in the flour until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.
Using a small cookie scoop, fill each paper liner with about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter. Push 3 mini marshmallows halfway down into the center of the batter. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of the graham cracker crumbs over the marshmallows. Bake until the marshmallows are puffed and light golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes and serve.

Friday, March 16, 2012

I Saw his shadow.... and yeah, I'm a little intimidated

 So, today is a day off from school.  I woke up and took my son to the doctor, and we discovered nothing...  That is good news, of course, but we still wonder why he isn't feeling well at all...  Moms worry bunches, and we know it isn't productive..  We are just wired like that...  I came back to Mom's and decided to come downstairs and get some of my winter clothes packed away since it seems spring-like, for sure..  I have never known the Bradford Pears and the Magnolias to bloom this early, but they are gorgeous....  I glanced out the door to find this guy enjoying a quick salad inches from the door and my car...  He heard the camera on my telephone click through the glass and screen on the door...
 I thought, "Please don't run off before I get a good picture!"  I guess he decided the salad was too good, so he stook his ground and was just plain aggressive at moi, the paparazzi...
He doesn't look like he's running away too fast, does he?  Gosh.  I see him AND his shadow, and I AM afraid...  He isn't as cute in his "Grrrr!" position...  You know?  I don't think I'll be needing to venture out and get anything from the car.... in the dark..... in my bare feet and nightgown...  again...e.v.e.r.....

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

A surprise in the mail!

 Imagine my surprise when the school secretary brought me a box from a dear friend.
 Harper Lee, one of my favorite authors!
 What could it be inside?
 Just the coolest earrings ever!
 Thank you, Cindi




Sunday, March 11, 2012

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings...

 Saturday morning found me at the lake for three hours with the incredible azure skies, my dear geese, and my thought and prayers.  In this time I finally was given the by now belated Word for the year!  Better late than never!  It is "Listen."  Simply magical how much peace from really listening without running the mind in preparation to talk.  Not to be funny, but in one day I have learned that listening is exhausting!
 I covered the dining table with a pastel blue toile quilt and nested this ceramic goose Mom made in a garland from Valerie Par Hill.  She looks happy there...
Remember we have sprung ahead! Whew....  how tiring!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Five Years!

Somehow I let my fifth blogiversary slip by me... I can't imagine my life without blogging. Not only my own blog, which is indeed some mix of a journal, keepsake diary, communication with the world, and photo album.... But more important the friends I have made in other bloggers! I love the comments I have received, and I love keeping up with your lives! Sometimes I find a new blog, and I read all the way back to its inception... Sometimes a blogger stops writing a while... And we fret a little if she is okay... It's a journey of millions of pilgrims on a mission to chronicle our lives. If blogging passes from culture as other marvels have done, won't our words be a chronicle for the future?

To my dear friends, both those I have met and love in person and you whose lives and mine are entertained by words glowing on my screen, I give my finest thanks. You inspire me to greater positivity and to higher beauty in my daily round. My first blog ever was Brocante Home with dear Allison and Finley. Cindi from My Romantic Home gave the gift of my first comment.Tracy from Noyes from A Cottage Industry was the first blogger whose life I traced backwards through previous months... Becky at Hospitality Lane and Art at Home's dear author give me so much encouragement... I'm inspired and enchanted by Cielo at My House in the Roses. My dear friend Lisa writes posts that make me think, remember, and dream at Cranberry Flats.

To all my dear loved ones who read my blog and do not have one, you know who you are... and I love you! I now rotate my mugs and dream of organizational bliss and charm, thanks to Rita at May Days.... I am enchanted by Sugarwings at Karla's Cottage.  My jewelry from Cupid's Charm cheers me nearly every day---And so many more... Beth Moore at Living Proof, Susan Branch, and Ann Voskamp are my famous friends...bonded by blogging and love. My newest comments come from Lalane at her beautiful blog... I treasure all comments! I read and marvel at the financial world through the eyes of Ants and Grasshoppers... The blog My Country Sunrise from my dear cousin and the Facebook blog Beef Stew with a Twist created by another dear friend... The list is endless, really... Thanks for five beautiful years!



These bunnies are here for my blogiversary!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Bunny Hoppin' Kitchen!

The cabinet in the kitchen...  Let the cold wind whistle...  it's spring inside,


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Setting the scene

Today was the day.... my college prep students met in another room... I lit these at each place because it was a special day...  My students have to earn the honor of reading this... They entered my room  to music, and I told them we were going on a journey




We began my favorite... The Little Prince.  And I brought them biscuits because everyone needs breakfast to start a journey!  I wrapped the book in rose colored paper...  I hope they love it, too.

Comfort Food


When the nights blow cold but the days are pretty, I love to use the slow cooker and spend time with other things...  This is a favorite....  reminds me of my mother's pressure cooker steaks from my childhood!


--------------------------------

Slow Cooker Round Steak

Ingredients

  • 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 6 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 pounds boneless round steak
  • 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
  • 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
  • 3/4 cup water

Directions

  1. Place the potatoes, onion, and carrots in slow cooker. Cut steak into six pieces, then place the meat on top of vegetables. In a mixing bowl, combine the soup mix, soup, and water; pour over beef.
  2. Cover, and cook on Low for 7 to 10 hours.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Something says love... in the kitchen

 We have selected a few little bunnies for the kitchen cupboard...  These special little creatures have hopped over here with the flow blue, the blue stoneware, and my newer pieces from Temptations...
 Have a beautiful week....  I hope you all are well... and that spring will bring its magic. . . 

Sunday, March 4, 2012

A preview... English at BHS

 All packed up and waiting for the bell....  I just added the row of author pictures around the periphery of my classroom for fourth quarter...  It takes something new and "improved" for this quarter to get out of the hangar!  Some of my kids asked me if all those "eerie eyes" didn't bother me...  I don't think so...  but possibly it's because I love authors...  What might I feel if those were mathematical wizards?   or scientists?

I have been reworking little quadrants of my room...  Yesterday it was my desk.  This "HEAVY" drawer has all my teacher materials...  It is weighty with its ponderous load of wisdom....  How often I have fixed it to be handy, but my systems almost always disintegrate...  Maintenance of organization...  Why don't things just stay PUT?

 Tucked into the whimsical flower/shamrock arrangement are tons of pencils I buy/find/beg/steal? for the students..  NO Excuses!  "NO prisoners."......  The snowflake tin has tissue (looks much classier than a roll of it on my desk like a corner outhouse...)
 I embellished one folder today...  I saw this tutorial on Cozy Little House blog.  It was so much fun...  Why did I  never think of this before?
 These are fuzzy pictures for that warm, fuzzy feeling...  and also due to the phone settings in fluorescent lighting...  Not a match...  Have a fun day..  I would heartily recommend making something pretty, fabulous, and YOURS today in your area...  It has worked miracles with my mood this week....

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Daydream Believer. . .

Didn't it strike you as so very sad---  losing Davy?  Of all the heart throbs, he was the most upbeat, the cheerful English idol with eyes that melt the soul...  I have to admit, I cried---  my youth rose up inside me in denial...  A few years ago my friends and I went to KC to a concert from the Monkees and the Turtles...  Davy wore a vivid yellow suit.  He aged as beautifully as he seemed inside...  I'm sad to see him go. 


Oh, I could hide 'neath the wings of the bluebird as she sings
The six o'clock alarm would never ring
But it rings and I rise wipe the sleep out of my eyes
The shavin' razor's cold, and it stings

Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean
To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?

You once thought of me as a white knight on his steed
Now you know how happy I can be
Oh, and our good times start and end without dollar one to spend
But how much baby do we really need?

Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean
To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?
Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean
To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?

Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean
To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?
Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean
To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?

Cheer up, sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean
To a daydream believer and a homecoming queen?


I always thought since my middle name is Jean, that he sang this one just to me.  He was my favorite...

Friday, March 2, 2012

Do Legends Celebrate Leap Year?

Since childhood, my stories of March have always included the well-known weather legend:  "In like a lion; out like a lamb," and often I have waited to see if this prediction holds true.  Usually, I must admit, I forget to notice how March leaves us...  But the first day is noteworthy..  March is a keeper.  We wait for it anxiously, hoping our share of winter is past.

On February 29, the day that is usually March 1st...  we had terrible, and I mean HORRIFIC winds...  Some of our dear friends lost barns and had damages that created much to remember about March's first howl or February's last growl...

 But today, the REAL March 1st, is beautiful, calm, sunny, warm...  a true lamb...  I tried to find the origin of the legend, but most explanations said the early cultures loved the idea of balance in nature, and they noted March's wildly changing range of climate...  They decided to appease themselves with early bluster by reminding their children and those fearing winter's continued blight...  If it comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb...  They didn't really believe the idea that the reciprocal "in like a lamb, out like a lion" would be true...

Well, whatever the weather, stay safe.  Cozy in and feel protected and comforted with the notion that spring is less than three weeks away...
Si

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Dreaming......

Let me say right off these are not my photos!   Oh, how I wish.....

A couple are from Cozy Little House blog.  Such talent everywhere....  I am beginning  to organize and purge and treasure.....   at home and at school.....

This closet at school...... I would fly with joy!

And what a cute idea!!!!!!  Ah, to sleep....perchance to dream.... of an organized life!