This and that

Spring tulips

New knitting project...my Tess D'Uberville Shawl. The yarn is 50% Alpaca and 50% Highland Wool so it should be cozy and warm for those chilly spring days ahead!  It is absolutely so much fun to knit!

New book to start reading! 

Look Who's Sweet Sixteen!

For my Mom

 

 

 

 

On this day 24 months ago...2400 miles ago...sometimes feeling like 24 lifetimes ago...sometimes feeling like it was only yesterday...our hearts broken yet through the brokenness God's grace still found a way in...through the tears...through the unspeakable sadness...walking through that front door and you not being there and knowing you would never again be there and feeling you so very close yet not being able to hear your voice...hold your hand...see that twinkle in your beautiful blue eyes...but so thankful that there would be no more cold hospital rooms...no more pain..no more needles and tests and wrong medicines that only made you feel worse never better...no more sorrow for you only unspeakable peace and joy and love and Jesus.  You gave us so much...a love for art and music and good books and theatre and good food...there was  Julia Child and Carole King and the Rocky Mountains and all things English .  You made everything more lovely...you were an amazing artist...you colored our world with beauty.  You gave the best advice, taught us to follow our dreams...always on our side and encouraging us...showing us by your own example how you persevered through hardships.  Some days it doesn't feel like we can survive this...the letting you go...but I know you're still there, watching over us, and someday we will be together again...I love you Mom.  You are so very missed.

 

 

"If I knew that today would be the last time I’d see you, I would hug you tight and pray the Lord be the keeper of your soul. If I knew that this would be the last time you pass through this door, I’d embrace you, kiss you, and call you back for one more. If I knew that this would be the last time I would hear your voice, I’d take hold of each word to be able to hear it over and over again. If I knew this is the last time I see you, I’d tell you I love you, and would not just assume foolishly you know it already."

                                                           Gabriel Garcia Marquez

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

I hope you've had a cozy Valentine's Day!  We had a true Nor'easter last night...swirling and wild winds and blowing snow and then rain and then snow again.  We got out before lunch to dig out -  it's all about the gear!  Can I just tell you how much I *love* my Teva snow boots?  Oh my goodness, they are so warm and cozy.  They're my first pair of snow boots and I only just got them last week while we were in the middle of digging out from the last snow.  What a difference the right gear makes.  As I'm typing this the wind has picked up and snow is swirling again.  But we've done all we're going to do today, anyway.  Cleared our three decks and Tom raked almost all of the roof.  Last night I'd put together a spinach and cheese strata from the fabulous Deb at Smitten Kitchen.  http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/12/spinach-and-cheese-strata/    Don't be put off by the stinky gruyere cheese - really, don't!  It's absolutely heavenly once baked.  So after coming in from shoveling snow, I popped that in the oven and let it bake while I took a hot shower.  Then we dove into it's cheesy bready goodness.  And I had made Tom some white chocolate raspberry truffles. And he surprised me with roses and the sweetest card ever.  Oh how I love that man of mine.  We're sitting here watching it snow, listening to Maine Public Radio's Classical 24 station.  Does it get any better?!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! 

 

 

 

 

The Calm before the Storm

Pictures from our walk today.  The day was beautiful, crisp and cold.  The crows cawing loudly back and forth in the trees...no doubt discussing the snow storm heading ever nearer...
We are learning more each time.  After a storm passes, we work together with the precision of a military unit...giving hand signals over the roar of the snow blower...he tackles part, I tackle part...we know just where we need to move and clear the snow to best utilize the space in the event more snow comes.  It's hard work, but it's almost like a runner's high when we're finished.  We stomp the snow off of our boots and come into the warm house, change into warm, dry clothes, and drink hot chocolate with marshmallows in front of the fire, exhausted but quite happy.
So...we're ready, I think!  Looks like we might get quite a bit of snow with this one Thursday night into Friday.  We'll see.  Supplies on hand: a good book to read - right now I'm reading THE GOOD THIEF by Hannah Tinti.  Just good old fashioned story telling, it is.  New project on the knitting needles...can't say what it is because it's a surprise for someone who might read this.  And another project on the horizon...still need to pick out the yarn for that one.  Let's see...oh and more Olympics to watch!  We record them, because the commercials and chit chat between the competitions drives me crazy.  Good food in the house, plenty of milk for our Earl Grey tea lattes (steep the tea directly in the heated milk and add sugar.  So, so good.) And as long as we don't lose power...Pandora radio...love it so much. 

The bread making is going very well!  I guess the first few times I tried it, I thought maybe it was a fluke that it was so easy, yet produced loaves like the ones we used to pay the bucks for at Central Market.  I'll pull off enough dough in the mornings while we have breakfast and bake it in time for sandwiches at lunch.  So yummy!  I need to branch out though with some of the other recipes. 

Plans this weekend to see a play at the local theatre with our friends...if we're not snowed in!

Hope you are all staying safe and warm!  God is good, always.  Keeping a candle in the window and a prayer to heaven for you...

Snow Globe

It's what I feel like...I'm living inside a beautiful snow globe.  It's been snowing since this morning, now and then the winds swirl and it looks like someone just shook the snow globe then set it down and the snow resumes it's gentle decent to the ground.  The river, it's full of ice.  Late this afternoon we watched as the Coast Guard's ice breaker went up and down the river, breaking up the ice, and freeing the river once again.

We lost count of the passes they made... the ice must be really jammed up river, but it's flowing fast now. 
The bread.  It's a little miracle, I tell you.  So amazing to me that four little ingredients transform into something so heavenly.  Yeast, water, salt, and flour.  So easy to prepare...no kneading at all.  You make enough for 3 or 4 days at a time.  Beautiful results can be achieved with a cast iron dutch oven.  I have an old Le Creuset from my mom that works perfectly.  Bonus:  afterwards heat from the oven warms the house.  Double bonus: house smells heavenly.

 

This evening we're having Guinness Roast Beef.  That used to be one of my mom's favorite recipe's for me to make.  It's kind of a compilation of several recipes found here and there.  The best of all, I think.  Local carrots, garlic, potatoes.  The Guinness course, from Ireland!   We purchased the beef at the European Farmer's Market this past Saturday.  We were able to buy local beef, local chicken.  And local donuts.  Ha.  It really is amazing what a difference it makes with the meat.  Just clean, fresh, and great flavor. 
Guinness Roast Beef
Preheat oven to 350
Spray Dutch oven (like a Le Creuset) with cooking spray.
Take a couple of stalks of celery and an onion sliced and diced and put on bottom of dutch oven.  Make a paste of smashed garlic cloves ( I use about 4), salt, pepper, and oregano (about a teaspoon for 3-4 pounds) smear all over chuck roast.  Lay meat on top of bed of celery and onion.  Cut up potatoes and carrots, season those with salt and pepper and distribute around and on top of the roast.  Stick a bay leaf somewhere in there.  Add one large can of diced tomatoes and to the whole thing slowly pour on one can of room temperature Guinness.  I put a piece of parchment over the top before I put on the lid...just to make sure there's not a reaction with the tomatoes and the lid.  I'm a little paranoid though and you maybe don't even need to do that.  Put the whole shebang in the oven for about 3 hours.  If the roast is smaller you might want to drop the temp to about 325 for the last hour or so. 
If you are lucky enough to have a neighbor who makes homemade picadilly it makes a great condiment...add liberally before partaking of the roast.

There was a young artist at the farmer's market.  I just loved her little paintings.  She lives along the south coast of Maine in a little cottage.  Her paintings just made me smile.

We watched a wonderful documentary last night called "American Promise".  It was on the PBS show Point of View and was an "Official Selection" of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.  I really love well done documentaries. 
Oh!  And I finished one knitting project (washcloth) and have started another.   Really fun to knit this old fashioned "hob nail" pattern.  I plan to make a little stack of them.

And speaking of finishing...I finished a book called "The Goat Song" by Brad Kessler.  It's autobiographical about how he and his wife gave up their life in Manhattan, moved to a farm in Vermont and now raise goats and make goat cheese.  A fascinating read. I have loved goat cheese for many years, but I now have a much deeper appreciation for it.
And finally, the light was just so pretty the other evening.  So many shades of blue that sunset was.  I never knew a sunset could be blue...

 

Now...gearing up for some serious Olympic watching!  How about you?  Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world!  Hope to see you again soon!