the everyday

happy wednesday! it's all about lists over here. i am planning our easter menu. i'm thinking of a few games and books to add to easter sunday, as well. oh yes, there must be books. i was thinking of setting up a bingo and game area, on my old chipped antique table. of course keeping what's important about the day, close to my heart. : ) slow... slow. no worries, come and relax. eat, read, fall asleep under handmade quilts. give thanks.

i am looking for a good, lemon dessert recipe. do you have one? keep in mind, i am no baker, but i am willing to try. ; ) i love lemon. i think a nice lemon dessert, will clean the palate just right, after a tasty easter dinner.

today is ponytail hair + converse sneaks. flipping through the current issue of food and wine magazine~ they have a lovely section, on food and wine pairings. it's feeding the part of my soul, that is a want to be sommelier. swoon!
still enjoying the textures, by kim klassen. love, love them. my daughter wants me to frame this one. me, framing one of my photos? i might just try that. : )
just enjoying the everyday, over here. how about you?
one love~

for a sweet moment

are you enjoying your monday? i certainly hope so.
a little busy today. in between errands + vet appointment.
*breath*
my son picked shell's name, from the comments~ please email me your snail mail addy, so i can send some love, your way. : ) xo

the sun is shinning today, i think i will enjoy it while i read my book, for a sweet moment.
happy monday, my friends.
*textures by kim*

sunday my love

sunday is a love letter to the world. oh, yes indeed it is. : )
it's my day for new beginnings... refection, baking, remembering the color of my teenagers eyes, and just being.

roast chicken, homemade mashed potatoes and spring asparagus.
+
plum wine

having a blast playing with these textures, i purchased from, sweet, Kim. : ) my first ever + i am loving them. go easy on me. lol swoon!

i was away this weekend, and oh it did my heart such good...
i was with the one i love. and i adore that.
we pulled over on the side of a country road, to look at art. a young woman had her photographs placed in wicker baskets. i loved her smile, her energy. i bought a photo of a sunflower. i thanked her and told her, i enjoyed her roadside art show... she hugged me. i won't forget her easily. deep sigh for the roads, that art leads us down.

i embarked on a journey...
i walked through doors that opened easily for me, and gently pushed those doors that tend to stick.
i took lovely walks, taking steps on paths less traveled. i shrugged my shoulders, as fear joined me on my journey.
listen here fear, you may always be near, and i welcome you at my table, because you are part of life + that's just how i roll. but in no way, do i need you. ; )

dearest sunday my love, you are for the taking and i bend and reach and stretch toward your possibilities.
oh yes, please leave a comment on this post, if you would like to receive a bit of spring, snail mail, from me. or just stop in and say hello. i love hearing from you.
one love

eggs

eggs! what i remember most about them, is that i used to be horrible at making an omelette. i had a cooking teacher, who assured me, i would stand on the line, making each omelette, until i was a master at it. lol!
today i am quite happy with the way i make eggs, dang happy; ) i just think i like photographing them a bit more. fun stuff! i can't tell you, how i enjoyed capturing the black and white backgrounds, or catching the light just right, as it cast across the eggs, shell.
assignment 1.
one love~

in stillness

this morning i sat in stillness and then prayer...
asking nothing for myself.
actually i asked for nothing at all.
i just sat peacefully and allowed the moment,
to become bigger, than my wants or needs.
i dig that.
"don't pray for a thing. pray to put yourself in harmony with God."
RZA
*
im so enjoying this cookbook.

oh, how i love the pages, inside of this book ; )

this wednesday is gray outside, like a black and white photo.
it's lovely.
i honestly, could sit by the window, wearing this old sweater
and read the words of others, all day long. and it would just
hang the moon for me ; )
happy wednesday.
one love~

3.2.1.

3.

2.

1.

can you tell i love baking cupcakes?

i bet you noticed my love for

cupcakes 

+

flower petals

+

photos

; )

i couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the arrival of spring

+

the algebra books needed a break today

*

i am the mama

+

the teacher

deep sigh for beauty

*

so as the towels whirled in the dryer 

we swirled frosting...

because mondays 

deserve 

extra

frosting

*

one 

love

*

how beautiful

happy sunday. i woke up today and said yes to the day... mmm, how beautiful moments like this, can be.
i forgot all about the snow yesterday, it's gone... yesterday is gone, and the snow is gone. hello sunday.
hazelnut soy creamer in steaming hot coffee
my one love kissing me goodbye, then hello.
this morning, i walked into the most beautiful, blooming, flower store. oh yes i did, sunday lead me there, and i said, sure.
orange long stem roses
creamy white long stem roses
pink too
do you like them? i hope so, they are for you.
during the sweetest moment of stillness, i thought of love, monarch butterflies, poetry, fathers and daughters, and all the sweet comments, you leave me. honestly, you all hang the moon, in my book. thank you.

"let the caller and the called disappear; be lost in the call." rumi

happy sunday!

a cup of tea and an interview with erin

was your thursday good? i worked, but i am now winding down and managing to get some reading in.
happy
happy
a cup of tea sits beside me, on this cool night.
i am over the moon that erin, from one girl + one camera, posted an interview with me. oh, those questions, seeped deep into my heart. sigh.
erin's blog is my comfort zone. i wrap myself in her photographs, and allow her words to warm me.  it would mean the world to me, if you stopped over and said hello.
peace, my friends.

along the water + a love letter

there is a thaw in the air, and i appreciate it. it took some time, but i love it just the same. i will enjoy it today, it may be gone tomorrow. walking along the water, gives me great joy. it was like seeing an old friend. 

hello Jamaica, off your tongue rolls the sweetest poetry, filled with love and steel roof dreams. swaying de breezes... serenading me, knowing exactly what to say. calling my name, especially at night, in dreams. holding me close. soon come, soon come. the moon will be my night light to you, leading my bare feet, your way. and if a blessing of morning arrives,  the sun will wake us, and take us by the hand, to faces with pride and hearts of gold.

the water is so big, yet small enough and close enough, to hear my thoughts : ) you should have seen me walking along... giving the water my heart, unloading my shoulders, shaking my head at the thought of spring, bringing baskets full of all things new.

i lifted my arms toward the sky, for me and you. 'cause reaching my palms toward the sky and letting go, makes all the difference... as if to say,  i love every minute of it,  the good + bad. 

one love~

good

how is your week going? i am loving that the sun is peeking out, in such a beautiful way.

the house has been less than clean this week, but we have sat outside a ice cream shop, as a family + laughed until we cried. that really beats a clean house, in my book. : ) pistachio for me, chocolate for the rest + vanilla for my 4 legged, buddy.

+swaying to c.b.r.~ closer Swoon! + boxes filled with cupcakes and rose petals, for friends. +reading + stepping to the streets, to catch the sweetest light, across the prettiest door, ever.


life is good.
i dig that.

one love~

this and that + happy fingertips

i am very caught up, in the feb/march issue, of "jamie magazine". swoon!
he's the real deal: )
the feel of these pages, gives me happy finger tips! i do love a good magazine.

we were out last night. we sat for pizza + wings + spotted cow beer. i dig that we took time, for that. we then headed to get a few necessities... toothpaste, mints, dish soap, this movie. do you remember corelle dishes? when i was a little girl, we used to be able to gain points when buying groceries, to earn free corelle dinnerware. i had to grab this cute plate, to place a slice of berry butter loaf healthy type bread, on. : )

any plans for the weekend? i hope you have a beautiful one. xo
peace~

with palms open and time

with palms open, i am gently pushing past, the muck of winter. i recently found that the most important part of keeping a journal, is time. flipping back through the pages, looking at the days and time of March, last year...

is it time to order seeds? how bountiful, will the community gardens grow, with the promise of spring and then dare i say....summer. : )

how many layers of winter, did i actually build and hide behind, last year?
allow the peeling of new beginnings, begin please. : )

late into the night, i read the book, "sweet mandarin" by, helen tse. it's a story about three generations of chinese women, coming from the east to the west. deep sigh, for beauty. i thought of my grandfather + his brave mother. : )
"the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step."

i find it to be a most beautiful Thursday, filled with hope and promise. indeed.
one love~

home

on my way home yesterday, i found the city still and beautiful. it was as though, i could see rooftops and steeples, for miles away. have i ever told you, photographing church steeples, was my first paying job, behind the lens? smile. 3 years ago, i shook my head no, as brother b. handed me $, for the photos, of the repaired steeple. lol. i decided i would choose a different day, to go home 250.00 richer. deep sigh, for empty, but warm pockets. ; )  

chicken was on sale, at the market this week. so for dinner... i filled a roasting pan with chicken, red potatoes, white wine and shallots. made a green salad, and a simple and warm meal, was shared. we have an uncle that shows up sometimes, around dinner time. he leads us in prayer and well... it can go on for quite sometime. lol. he thanks God for everything, and then will stop to ask me for the ingredients, so he can thank Him, for those as well. lol i have had to pinch my kid, more than once for trying to eat, during uncles prayers. lol! sigh.

"thank you for the daisies or whatever these flowers are niece has placed on the table... along with these... what? shallot?... thank you for the onions..." lol!

bless his heart. 

it's so rainy this morning. a perfect day for banana bread + chocolate chips + coconut+ pecans. and a cup of tea. eh naw~

one love~

the fog and dawn

as dawn approached, there was the sweetest combination, of light and fog, outside. it's as though the fog and dawn, let itself in, through a skeleton key-hole, and laid it's passing through, upon the petals of these flowers. a moment that was a most beautiful remedy, for morning grogginess.
one love~ ; )

the steeples remembered my name

the sun and concrete warmed my soul, this weekend. did i ever mention to you, the neighborHood is my first love, behind the lens? : ) yes indeed.
the brisk wind made promises to calm down, the sun promised to return. and the steeples remembered my name.
i am grateful.
one love~

granola + happy

Swoon! i am airing the house out and getting the house work done. in between time, i made this heavenly granola. i did end up adding a sprinkle of brown sugar. i used dried blueberries, cranberries, and bing cherries. + cashews + pecans. after it was cool, i tossed a bit of coconut, atop. it is really yum!
and after my son buying a tiny bag (i don't think there was a 1/4 cup in the bag) of store bought granola, for 5.99~ i vowed that would not happen again, anytime soon. lol
i can't wait to serve this, with vanilla yogurt, for sunday brunch.
today is...
handfuls of homemade granola
erykah badu c.d's
window's slightly open
clean floors
messy hair
letters mailed
happy heart
happy saturday!

on chicken soup and the weekend

my daughter has a cough + cold. sigh. so... chicken soup it is. : )
there's just something about roasting a chicken, to get a soup started that makes all the difference. i was once scolded in a cooking class, for mentioning this. i still stand by this. roasting a chicken, with all the herbs and spices + broth + veggies, just brings chicken soup to another level. add some country noodles, and it's sheer bliss. what's that? you'll bring the french bread? good deal! ; ) lol
any plans for the weekend?
i'm looking forward to...
friday night movies at home (my night to pick)+ blankets, lot's of cozy blankets. have you ever seen the movie, "wondrous oblivion"? eh naw! it is one of my absolute favorites. love + adored this movie. won't you let me know, if you loved it. ; ) SWOON!
happy weekend, my friends.

blackberries and the moment

today is blackberry bread and cinnamon butter
+ noticing the details in the hands i hold. ; )
not too many words today... just being +
enjoying the moment. i dig that. wink ; )
one love~

"island living" on a monday and sharing plum wine

i ordered a book last week, and it was the wrong book. my mistake. truth be told, i would have easily passed this book up, on any other day. so as it goes, after spending a few days with "island living" by linda leigh paul, i was in love. as it's words and photos, tugged at my heart, it has now become one of the books, that adds a layer of beauty, to my life. there are photos of homes from, fischers island, martha's vineyard, the grenadines, spring island, and more. are you calling my name, Carolina? ; ) have i ever told you, my heart longs for a place to call home? i suppose that is another story, for a different day, non?

monday finds me with a coffee press, this book, and a moment of stillness. i dig that.

this weekend was filled with, the most beautiful spicy thai fried rice w/shrimp, and combination pud thai... i shared a glass of plum wine, with my love, that made me swoon! oh, yes it did. i think i would like to make you these dishes, on a chilly night. and if it were a summer night, we could take the wok to the grill, and send the most amazing aromas into the summers sky, swirled with our laughter of friendship, that would add light to the stars.
happy monday, my friends... please don't forget to leave a light on for me, i will be around for a sweet visit. ; )
one love~