a little of this; a little of that

The Gardener was away and it was the perfect evening to celebrate a birthday with girlfriends. 

(We could lower the lights and enjoy candlelight without the men 

complaining they couldn't see their food.)  :-)

 I brought out my old wedding china, still in perfect condition. 

Is it my imagination or are daisies popular again?

I've not grown tired of these! 

Autumn flowers from the garden and from a friend's gift to me.

See all the little bowls? Waiting for toppings for the curry. It's a really fun meal to serve.

Chicken curry, or "Daffa Duka" (a recipe I got from Kenya, supposedly 

meaning "a little of this and a little of that) ... curry is popular in many countries:

1 chicken boiled and cut up (or use chicken breasts ... whatever)
2-3 apples peeled and cut up into small chunks
1 C chopped onion
1 clove garlic
2 Tb. oil
Cook the above for about five minutes then add
2 Tb. flour
3 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. salt
  Add 2 C of milk and heat through well til sauce thickens

(I often halve again this recipe, and add a little chicken flavoring.)

Serve over rice with the following toppings at room temperature:

Topping ideas (I never use them all) --best chopped into small size: 

chopped hard boiled eggs

strawberries
chopped peanuts

red onions

seeded grapes

orange slices
mellon
bananas

 sweet peppers

dried noodles

raisins

chutney*

A chutney I prefer: one can of small chopped tomatoes, drained.
Add 1 Tb. sugar, 2 Tb. lemon juice, 1 Tb. vinegar and 1/2 C finely chopped red onion.
Best to marinate in frig for a few hours and serve at room temperature.

One thing I have learned over the years is to let toppings warm up to room temperature, 

otherwise adding them to a hot curry will cool it down too quickly.

I hope you'll try this if you haven't had it before!

It's Autumn

 I decided to look back at October archives to find published blog pics for this month's Card Party.

Which was almost not necessary as 50 % are indoor shots!

 The above was one of the most read blog posts I've done. 

If you want to see more of it, you can go here, and see the source for this creativity. 

I can tell this is a few years ago, before the moss started climbing
 up through the cracks between our pavers!

Please consider joining or at least visiting Vee's Card Party ... it's lots of fun!

gatch-gotch

Last weekend "Littlest" started playing with his daddy's and uncle's match box cars. 

When our boys were little they called them "gatch gotch cars." 

He got right into it, and seemed particularly drawn to the big tires and the bus. 

"Vroom..vroom .." a natural sound inborn in small boys.

And then a little read with Grandpa in his daddy's R. Scarry's 

Cars and Trucks and Things that Go book ...

It all just warms this grandma's heart!

Connecting to Little Red House for Monday Mosaics.

a solitary lunch

The G. works from a home office so I rarely am home alone unless he travels. 

But today he is away so in my solitude I decided to have eggs for lunch. 

It looked so pretty, I had to take a picture. I'm sure the green plate added to the "good looks."

Recipe: Saute two eggs with salt and pepper, a few fresh spinach leaves 

(both nutritious and a wonderful color addition), some feta cheese, and 

a tad of left-over tomato chutney. I added some red pepper flakes. 

I'd say it was delicious!

early fall on the porch

We enjoyed an early fall dinner on the porch with friends while the weather still allowed it. 

Simple fare, simple table, and good conversation. The last of that sentence 

is the best part of having friends over.

I love using these veggie chips as starters. They are not only good, but colorful and fun!

Connecting with Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.

after they go

It seems especially quiet after a busy weekend of family filling the house. 

I often find reminders of the little ones who were here, and 

I love to guess just what their little minds were thinking as they played.

For instance, why this zebra in such an elevated place of honor?

 I think he belongs back in Noah's ark!

Smiling!

color in the rain

 Today's cool, gray weather reminds me of our day in Chicago two weeks ago. 

I have to say I enjoyed the rain and the clouds and sitting in a coffee shop watching 

the people pass by. I also noticed how many were on their cell phones, whether 

it was walking down a people-packed street, or riding the train into the city. People seem so 

connected to technology they don't even notice the real people around them.

I noticed spots of color midst the gray weather and buildings, such as the orchestra pavilion. 

And I think this building with the cheery windows was my favorite of all!

Please visit Mary's Little Red House to see more mosaics!

since birth

The day I turned 16 we were packing to leave the only home I had known. My father would not let me tell anyone the news of our move until he had announced it to his congregation. My very best friend was on her family vacation at the time. I remember writing a letter that would be waiting her arrival back home, so she would hear the news from me first. We had been friends since I was born, if that's possible! She was six months older, and "waiting for me" in the church nursery when my mother first brought me there. Our parents were friends and colleagues. Maybe that's why we formed an instant attachment. The first 16 years of our lives we were inseparable. Then I moved away, and at the same time she began dating a young man she would later marry. I came back to be in their wedding; she missed mine as her first child was due on our wedding date.

We've always kept in touch, and seen each other occasionally over the years. We've been e-mailing quite a bit this year as it is the centennial anniversary of the church we grew up in, where she has attended all her life. We are having a ball scanning in old photos and remembering ...

Last week we had dinner with S. and her husband in their home. I was amazed. The starters, the meal, the dessert, her china and table setting, her love of blue and white ... could have been mine. I told her I felt like I was at home. How could we be so alike? We happen to both in the middle of three sisters, we're both nurses, we both are the care-givers to our parents, we both have ended up being writers, and editors ... we both have tall husbies ... and so the comparisons could go on.

It's interesting to think about what our friendship would be like if I had never moved. Even so, we've kept close, writing letters, cards at birthdays and holidays. It's one of those friendships where you just pick up where you left off. What a joy. But I'm still pondering our visit. I think what tickled me the most was when she offered cheese as a topping on her apple pie. That is my favorite, but when I suggest it, people here in the south look at me like I'm a bit crazeee.

5:02

Forty-one years ago I marched with my friends out into a garden surrounded by the sky scrapers of Manhattan. In a minuscule post-60s rebellion we trimmed our uniform hemlines to the knees. It was a proud moment in my life as I walked up to receive my B.S. degree in nursing, starched cap pinned to the back of my head. The crisp uniforms, white stockings and caps are long gone, and this week, after gainfully using that degree for all but 6 of these 41 years, I pack away my scrubs--the uniforms of today.

The scrubs are just the smallest symbol of the changes that I've seen come to my beloved profession over these many years. Bureaucracy has imposed itself in more ways than I care to be a part of any more. Time for patient care seems short changed by "progress" and there's no going back to how things used to be. But I think the exhausting 12 hour shifts is what sealed the deal for me. It is time to go.

And so such a sobering time has come to me. For my nursing was never just a job, it was a life calling to the very core of my being. Since a small child, I dreamed of being a nurse. I went to a very competitive nursing school so graduating was a huge success for me.  Over the years I have loved making patients more comfortable, helping their families cope, and in the last 24 years, I've enjoyed a job helping new moms learn how to breastfeed and care for their wee ones. Working in a big city hospital has provided enough human interest stories to fill a book. And so I will miss it as I retire this week. It's a bit like having an arm cut off. It will be an ache for a long time.

But I will adjust. Of course I have a long list of long neglected projects needing to be done and friends to have coffee with. My mother needs more attention, I long to spend more time with our grandchildren, and I look forward to continuing to encourage younger women.

My bedside alarm clock has been set to 5:02 for many, many years. Set so I would wake to the weather of the day and then the traffic, anticipating the early morning commute. My guess is the alarm may not always stay at that time, but it's my internal clock that will continue to wake me before dawn.

for Missy

 A blogging "buddy" of many years suggested I get rid of the "white monster"
(see post below re. Monument to Patience"), remove tomatoes, and take another photo. 

That was easier said than done, but here it is, M., in its full morning glory.

Then, playing with my camera, I thought, why not embrace the whiteness?
So, here we are. Call this "Hydrangeas on white with two antique chairs."
Speaking of antiques, I'm feeling like one today. Yesterday I worked 14 1/2 hours
caring for wee ones from 34 weeks to 37 weeks to full-termers, whose moms
were tucked in spare rooms all over the maternity floor. 

We are so busy with new little lives,  and there isn't even a full moon.

After a day like that I am in recovery mode for the next 24 hours. Thus the camera play.

This marvelous, also antique, vase currently has the seat of honor on the dining room table. 

It was a 50th wedding anniversary gift from my grandparents to my grandmother's parents. 

I'm guessing it's at least 80 years old. It came to my parents when my grandmother 

"broke up housekeeping," and then to me when my mother "broke up housekeeping." 

Such a strange, old fashioned expression. Have you heard it before?

after the mow

 Mowing today was a challenge. The Gardener put the mower at the highest setting since 

we have just recently aerated and seeded (necessary every fall here in the south -- maintaining 

a lawn is a constant battle.) So it was hard to tell where I had mowed. 

 I did a few swirls (vee) and probably left some undone.

 But after I had worked up a good sweat I noticed a few presents left for me by the Mow Fairy.

Yes we are still harvesting tomatoes, but never have we this late in the season. Picture perfect!

And hydrangeas? A bush full? Never before that I remember. 

I was surprised by beauty this morning,

(and pleased to see the baby new blades of grass bravely peeking out of the soil).

Simple pleasures!

And the large item taking over my dining room, covered by a sheet? 

My Monument to Patience. 

It's been there all summer while a room was vacated; now waiting patiently for 

some small repairs, and then I will flourish the paint brush and move in the bed.

 I'm hoping for next week!

city in the rain

 It's been years since I've been in Chicago proper --- just a 

stone's throw from where I grew up. 

But I found myself there the end of last week and
remembered what a friendly city it is ... and so easy to get around.  

While our husbands were absorbed in meetings, a friend and 

I took the train in and looked around, drank a coffee,

and did the Art Museum (which I've never seen before with 

an artist ... wow did she teach me a lot!)

I seemed to have new eyes to see things,

and this is one of my new favorites.

 I popped out of the museum to walk a few blocks to eat lunch 

 with my sister who works in a very tall building. 

It was a cloudy day and turned into a rainy day. I didn't mind it a bit.

 In fact, I loved walking in the (chilly) rain! 

  The lights came on and the reflection on the pavement was beautiful.

 We crammed a lot into the weekend and I'm a tad tired 

 but am enjoying catching up on my blog reading!

when will I ever learn?

This is my "go to" window in the front of our house: it's good for checking playing children, the weather, cul de sac activity, if the mail has arrived, if guests have arrived ... and you get the idea. When we had the disastrous tree limb fly through another window in front, it became necessary to get replacement windows.






They'd been badly needed but put off and put off again. I love my wood windows with the panes ... and hated to see them go, but you can't have one odd new window in front, can you? Well I guess you can but ... I was also concerned the windows were a different white than the house trim.

So I was fussing about the loss of the old, decaying windows I hold so dear. I was away the day they "popped out" the old ones and "popped in" the new ones.

Why do we fuss and not trust? Or I should say, why do I fuss and not trust?

The windows look just fine. Actually good. And I barely notice a difference. I almost can't wait to clean them, they will be so easy! I don't miss the old brown metal storm windows either. and yes, already, our power bill is lower.  Sigh. Will I ever learn just to take what comes?

Making a Difference in the Day

I like to read a bit from the writings of Amy C*rmichael as often as I can.  She was a little lady who lived out her life caring for orphans in India. She had much to say about life. When she talks about cherishing thankfulness it causes me to stop and ponder. I try to be thankful, but do I really cherish the concept, and make it so much a part of life that being thankful is a thing dear to me?

Amy frequently gives a good illustration of small things to be thankful for: "I have come more and more to watch those minute touches of the love and forethought of our Father which are shown in the smallest things of life, such as the coming of a flower, a message, a picture, a letter, a book; the touch of a loving hand, the look in loving eyes, the tones in loving voices--things too small to tell, but making such a difference in our day."

Lunch out

Al fresco dining ... on individual balconies. The waiter pops out the shutter-type door to serve or check on diners. The views are of the river, and wharf, and the tops of pedestrians' heads. Looks like a fun place to eat on the NC coast. But I didn't.

go rain

Go rain!  As in, a cheer for the rain we need. But on this particular day I was wishing it would really "go." I ran into a big box store for just a few things when the sun was shining. A scattering of clouds looked like they were predicting some weather, but it was, after all,  only a quick visit. I came out to the most torrential rain that I've seen in a   l   o   n  g  time.  I waited calmly, thinking it would certainly blow over in a minute. But it didn't. So what does one do in such a situation?

Re-bag the groceries so they are rain protected. That includes purse. Go back and ask for more bags, thinking head cover. Wait. Watch others and what they do. Wait some more. Take a few pictures. Check email and FB. Call home. Wait, beginning to be concerned about the cold food in the heat.  How long can a torrential downpour last?

Finally, almost 30 minutes later, the slightest lull. I fashion a rain hat out of a plastic bag and head to my car, thankful for sandals as I wade through deep water.  Dripping wet and thinking an umbrella would not have helped.

Nothing much to learn here; it is what it was.












Please visit Mary's Little Red House to enjoy other mosaics.

keeping track

When I'm living right, I try to keep my focus on the positive. On gratitude. I look around at small things and big things that I'm grateful for. And yes, even difficult things, for there's usually good lessons there.  I have a little book where I try to keep track. It's a good exercise to write them down, and I can feel so humbled when I realize all there is to be thankful for.

Today I wrote down: "The constant encouragement of the 'Gardener.'" And, "A whole day with Little B." (yes, that's a day with my granddaughter today!) And, "The sound of crickets." As I sat on the porch this morning, they were as loud as ever. As much as I hate to meet them face-to-face, they do bring a comforting sound in the summer. It's the details I like to notice. Makes for a good start to the day.

city walk

Took a walk in a new park near the center of our city. Much beauty to see!  

See photo below in case you're wondering about the image in the lower right corner!

Linking to Mary's Little Red House for Mosaic Mondays!