Sunday, May 27, 2012

A tea to celebrate a marriage!

     My youngest daughter has quietly gotten married.  Nothing wrong with that.   I knew about it, but still I missed seeing and experiencing  a ceremonyIt's a Mother thing, of course!  But I was delighted to have them over for tea and presents later.  We had Lemon and garlic cream cheese and sliced chicken sandwiches (on Sour Dough bread for them and Rosemary crackers for me) and fresh fruits, strawberries, raspberries, pear and nectarine.  Irish Breakfast tea and  Earl Grey tea to drink.  We wish them well.
                                                                                                            

We lit the lamps though it was still daylight.                                             
      We used the "Dali Llama's teapot".





     The bride brought her Mother a gift of Lavender blossoms tied with a green ribbon.  Not to mention the bread and fruits.
 

     The happy couple received a gift of a Waterford Chrystal bud vase, among other things.   We lingered over tea almost until evening.  I teared up once but I did not cry!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Big Day!

Mother's Day is a big day, at least it is for me.  A lot of expectations.  I was a little worried when Saturday's mail brought only one card, from my best friend in Tucson.  Sunday morning there was a card from my Hubby, of course, on the breakfast table.  But almost immediately Fedex brought me a huge box of roses.  So many I couldn't get them all in one vase!  Beautiful!  Then a welcome photo of my Arizona son and his girlfriend and one of his lovely compositions via e-mail.  All day the phone rang as offspring called and chatted and wished me good and expressed their love for me.  There was a gift of meat from my favorite butcher shop.  Fancy and good-smelling cosmetics too.  The last one squeaked in at 11 pm!  I love you all!
     Eliyah and I made some more candles, much longer this time and smoother and more beautiful.


     When we moved here I relegated my butcher block on a stand to the front porch to hold the grill.  It had a big top and made a thing to bump into in our narrow kitchen.  Of late I have begun to miss it though.  So I thought I would get or make a smaller top for it and try it again in the kitchen.  Now I am not much of a carpenter, so I found I was dragging my feet.  I got some wood out but when I contemplated sawing it, well, it just seemed so hard.  However, I still had the remains of a gift certificate to Amazon so I went looking.  I was delighted to find several to choose from.  I got one which is really a bread board and has the circles for rolling various size pie crusts out, as well as rulers for cutting noodles.  It was not expensive at all and is from Kentucky, and I have always liked Kentucky!  Catskill Craftsmen sent it to me in 5 days.  It was a perfect fit!  My children all remember this in my old kitchens.






     I have really enjoyed using it again.

     Another new addition is an old blasting powder box for Miss Hickory's room.  It is darker but I have added two lights.  I think Miss Hickory likes it very much.  It is roomier!

 Notice that the icebox has a big chunk of ice on the top shelf!

Last of all I would like to complain.  Have you noticed that the dish detergent doesn't cut the grease like it used to?  Even though I change the water and rinse copiously, I always end up putting the last few things back to be washed again next time.  They look alright but when I go to dry them, they are slippery with a thin film of grease.  Now is this a good thing?  Maybe the old detergents were too harsh for our ecology?  Hard to get out of the water?  Certainly they  strip all the natural oil off the skin of your hands.  Trace amounts left on the dishes?  Or is this just a way to make more money?  I wish someone would tell me!  I remember back in the 50's when we used to use soap powder for washing dishes and it made everything very slippery.  It didn't cut the grease much either.  I welcomed the new liquid dish detergents and never questioned that it was a vast improvement.  My favorite was Joy and I bet I used it for 45 years!

 

Sunday, May 6, 2012

A week filled with new information!

     One of my daughters said to me recently:  "I have been making Prayer flags out of the linens you have made me."  I may have gulped.  I have been making special glass towels for all my friends and family for a couple of years, using vintage linen and old and new lace. some hand-made, some vintage.  Sometimes I make them all by hand with careful tiny stitches.  I have this belief that hand-made gifts are the way to show people that I care for them.  I think that my Mother taught me that long ago.  I remember embroidering stocking bags for Grandmothers back in the '50's.  Of course there were always Thank You cards, but I guess I took it on faith that these little hand-made gifts made people happy. I can't imagine my 11 year old embroidery was all that beautiful.
     After I gulped, I thought, "Well after all, it was a gift.  It shouldn't matter to me how these things are used.  We either use them up or do something else with them.  So I refrained from making a negative judgement about it.  Indeed, I gradually came to like the idea of these spotless white damask and pale blue linen towels flying in the breeze on some porch.  But I must say that I felt a little less happy when I found some at a local Charity resale store.  I was surprised to find that I recognised my own stitching.  There were two and they sold for .25 apiece.  Luckily I found someone who wished to use them as table covers for a family alter and learned a little more about the uses for things and my own shortsightedness.  And I have tried not to remember who got the those particular ones.

     I am learning how to eat low carb  I am now getting advice from a professional and it has helped me immensely  I have had to add some carbohydrates.  I am starting to develop some recipes that taste good, can be eaten several ways, and don't cost the earth.  Last week I made Pulled Pork in the crock pot.  I used a boneless pork loin bought on sale for $1.98 a pound.  I made about 2 1/2 pounds and it lasted for three meals.  The marinade contained 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 T. honey, garlic and chopped ginger, 1/3 piece of star anise 
      So here are some of this weeks menus:
Hot Pulled pork on low-carb buns, with cheese sauced broccoli and tossed salad.
Tomato soup, sliced chicken and cream cheese with garlic and olives sandwiches on dark rye bread.
Cold pulled pork sandwiches with swiss cheese, salad
Chichen Fajitas with refried beans. salad
Hot Pulled pork in pork gravey, Fauxtatoes (whipped cauliflower), salad with our own fresh radishes
Quarter Pound hamburgers and cheese and broccoli soup, chocolate.


     Last week Eliyah and I made hand-dipped candles for two days and had a lot of fun.  Even Bill got in on it.







These are hand-dipped candles twisted into "trees".  They are difficult to burn though!
 Two weeks ago I went to a popular second-hand store and tried on some t-shirts.  One of them had some sticky sesame seeds on it.  I took it off but I wasn't really sure there was anything wrong with it that a good washing wouldn't cure.  In the end I didn't buy it.  Later when I researched the "sticky" seeds, the search brought up bedbugs.  Now I believe that that store puts all it's clothing in the dryer before putting it out on the floor but I am still disturbed and thinking that I might not want to buy any more second-hand clothing.  I believe that second-hand is a responsible way to acquire things but if it spreads pests, we'll have to stop doing things that way.  I would be interested in your opinions.