Abundance

Restful Afternoon

After a busy morning and early afternoon, it's time to take a break and curl up on the loveseat under the ceiling fan with a tall glass of mango iced tea and work on my smocking.

Tonight's menu:

Grilled chicken with pineapple salsa; spinach salad; creamy parmesan rice (www.hillbillyhousewife.com); and fresh strawberries with homemade yogurt and pecan praline granola.

Off to stitch ...

E

A Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside My Window is a huge pine tree covered in itty-bitty pine cones that the squirrels spend all day chasing each other up and down. 

I am thinking of my grandmother who, at this time of year, would always be busy in her kitchen putting up fruits and veggies.  Although she never had space in her yard to grow things, she always took the time to take us to the pick-your-own farms where we'd labor for hours in the sun, turning brown as berries ourselves, so that she could can enough for our family for the coming seasons.  I used to love looking at the shelves in her basement lined with jars filled with yummy good things.  To me, there is nothing in this world that could shake that sense of having enough when looking at my grandmother's pantry shelves.

I am thankful for my amazing husband whose talents are beyond number and who, after thirty years, looks at me just as he did when we first fell in love; a man who, on a hike one day, picked me one of each wild flower he came across and presented me with a beautiful bouquet when he returned home.

From the kitchen I hear the hum of the dishwasher after a very full morning of jam and jelly making.  On the table is a rainbow made of jelly jars filled with all sorts of wonderful sweet spreads for our homemade bread! 

I am wearing a denim split skirt (kind of like long, wide culottes) and a sage green tee shirt.  I have on my sage green tennis socks and a pair of sneakers since it's going to be a running day.  First preference is always bare feet!

I am creating a smocked bishop dress for my niece, Erin.  It's a beautiful white cotton with dusty pink and moss green smocking at the neck and around the short, puffed sleeves.

I am going this Saturday! to pick up my beautiful niece so that she can come and stay with us for two weeks.  Oh the plans we have … lots of fun! 

I am reading The Hills is Lonely by Lillian Beckwith.  Oh for a Scottish Island!!

I am hoping that all of our fruits and veggies do well this year.  Our lemon tree (no we don't live in Florida -- we raise it inside during the winter and outside during the summer) had a major drop of fruit and I'm hoping that it'll set more before we need to bring it inside in the autumn.

I am hearing the sound of lawn mowers, the swish of the curtains at my window as they brush over the wicker basket that sits in front of them, and the scratching of little squirrel claws as they go chasing each other up and down that big old pine tree.

Around the house are a myriad of projects in the making:  the smocked bishop dress; a sundress (all cut out and ready to stitch) for the niece who is coming to visit that we'll work on together; two little boy outfits in silk lawn for a brand new nephew; quilt squares made from the leftover fabrics from my nieces' dresses that will, eventually, be turned into full quilts for their hope chests when they've gotten a little older.

One of my favorite things is sitting during the heat of a summer afternoon beneath the ceiling fan in my living room while curled up on the loveseat reading a good book.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:  Straighten out the guest room (also sewing/craft room) and add some little tidbits that will be appreciated by a beautiful seven-year-old.

Here is picture thought I am sharing:

Why not stop by Peggy's for a visit to enjoy her Simple Woman's Daybook entry and the entries of other Simple Women.

E

AADD (hmmm, no, not a rhyme scheme) ...

I've reached that age, somewhere between full, responsible adulthood and second childhood where, due to circumstances of a personal weather nature, I've become a bit forgetful.  I also quit smoking yesterday (GO ME!) and have been keeping myself VERY busy to overcome the urge to run to the store and purchase something that is just a terrible waste of money for me.  My distraction/forgetfulness/call it what you will (my DH refers to them only as my severe grey moments) was in high gear this morning.  I headed into the kitchen to pop the bread from the oven and par boil the sweet peas for the pea salad.  Suddenly it occurred to me, I have a dozen eggs that are VERY (tomorrow!) close on date ... might as well hard boil 'em and make some egg salad for lunch.  So, I strained the peas and set another pot of water on the stove with the eggs in it.  Mother Nature gave a shout at me and I headed upstairs to take care of that.  Well, I thought, while I'm up here, I'll just do a wee bit of straightening in the guest room.  At that point the phone rang and I grabbed it off the bed stand and sat and chatted with my niece while I sorted various and sundry items (sewing, craft, painting, rubber stamps, etc.) and put them away.  I hung up the phone and looked at the clock; well, not too bad (my niece and I can chat for hours) ... only 45 minutes.  I opened the bedroom door and thought, well I'll just strip the other beds while I'm up here ... I also dusted in the master bedroom and vacuumed the bedrooms and hallway.  I headed back into the bathroom and grabbed the towels to put into the wash and dumped them in the hallway with the bed linens.  Then I thought, while I'm in here, I might as well just do a quick swipe and set out the fresh towels since there's really no need to make another trip back upstairs if I get it all finished.

You see how this goes (this Adult Attention Deficit Disorder)?  One thing leads to another, which leads to another, which ... right ... I forgot I had eggs on the stove.  THANKFULLY, I don't use a full boil but, rather, just a slow easy bubble to cook my eggs and THANKFULLY not all the water had cooked off by the time I took the laundry down to the basement, got it sorted and started a load ... the eggs are exceptionally well cooked (though not scorched!) and still more than usable for the egg salad but it did take me just over an hour to get back into the kitchen to make the mayonnaise for the egg and pea salads!

Is there an herbal remedy for this terrible forgetfulness; this ... oh my! whatever you want to call it that frustrates me no end?

Okay ... off the computer for the day!  Enjoy this beautiful day that God has given us!

E

Saturday around the house ...

While there is always much to be done around the house, today will be especially busy.  There is a need to reorganize and straighten out the guest room (also sewing/craft room), since I always seem to be in the midst of several projects at one time, for company tonight and, as well, because our beautiful seven-year-old niece will be coming up (next Saturday!) to stay with us for two weeks.  In addition, I need to make a fresh sweet pea salad for dinner tonight.  The boys (DH and DS) are out this morning for a round of golf and will be picking up a real treat for dinner:  steak!  We don't eat a lot of red meat simply because we prefer fish and poultry so having grilled steak is definitely a summertime treat for us.  The menu for dinner is grilled steak and potatoes (baked on the grill) with some sautéed mushrooms and onions, fresh sweet pea salad and a fresh-picked garden salad (both red and green romaine, some curly seeded Simpson and fresh baby spinach, along with some radishes).  I'm also baking today; some bread (three two-pound loaves and a dozen rolls) and Horsewoman's apricot muffins.  Thanks GP!  I love fresh apricots but can't seem to get them all eaten before they turn on me … Horsewoman's solution was sheer perfection!  When we went to the farm market last night, we picked up 12 pounds of local apricots (some for muffins; some for jam; and a few just for eatin') and 10 pounds of strawberries (for dessert tonight -- we like our strawberries topped with some homemade yogurt and still-warm-from-the-oven granola -- and some for jam).  It's wonderful to be able to pick up reasonably priced, fresh, in season fruit.  Hopefully we'll one day have enough room for our own fruits and not just veggies. 

Since it's supposed to be a really hot and muggy weekend, I got an early start in the kitchen today and, tomorrow, I can just throw some pork in the Crockpot for pulled pork sandwiches for dinner tomorrow night, leaving me time both before and after church for more relaxing and restful pursuits (and far cooler than cooking in a hot kitchen).  Back to the kitchen for me!  Have a wonderful weekend and stay cool!

E

Baking Today

At this moment my house smells of simmering tomato sauce and baking bread.  Tonight's dinner is spaghetti and meatballs, a fresh-from-the-garden green salad (well almost green ... gotta have my radishes from the garden), and some home-baked bread.  Since today is going to be quite warm, I got an early start on making the sauce and setting the dough to rise.  All should be complete and the kitchen tidied back up by about 1 PM.

Here's one of my favorite, easy bread recipes from Beard on Bread:

1.5 Tablespoons active dry yeast

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (I use Sucanat)

2 cups warm water (110 - 115 degrees F.)

1 Tablespoon sea salt

5 cups all-purpose flour (or hard white wheat), plus 1 cup if necessary

3 Tablespoons yellow corn meal

1 Tablespoon egg white mixed with water

Combine the yeast with sugar and warm water in a large mixing bowl and allow to proof.  Mix the salt with the flour and add to the yeast mixture, one cup at a time, until you have a stiff dough.  Remove to a lightly floured board and knead until no longer sticky (about 10 minutes), adding flour as necessary.  Place in a buttered bowl and turn to coat the surface with butter.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk; one and a half to two hours.

Punch down the dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface and divide dough into two equal portions.  Shape dough into two long, French bread style loaves.  Place on a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with the corn meal but not buttered.  You can also use a pan designed for making French bread.  Slash the tops of the loaves diagonally in two or three places with a single-edged razor blade or sharp knife.  Brush the loaves with the egg white wash.  At this point, I usually sprinkle some sesame seeds over the tops of the loaves. 

Place in a COLD oven, set the temperature for 400 degrees F., and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and hollow sounding when the tops are tapped.

Try to allow the bread to cool a bit before slathering it with butter and gobbling it all up! 

Okay, off to stir the sauce and check on the bread! 

E

Just a thought ...

When you ask someone, "How are you today?", do you care enough to really listen to the answer?

E

The Uber Worm

While I will admit no fondness for the tireless tiller of the turf, and fertilizer of my garden soil -- to me they're just a little too snake-like for comfort -- I did have to admire the strength of the uber worm I saw this morning!  Early bird that I am (up before the sun), I happened to be sipping my morning coffee at the kitchen table when I spied not one, but TWO, robins having a tug-o-war with a very large, very round earthworm.  As I watched, I saw your (you should excuse the expression) garden-variety tug-o-war between these two rather stubborn birds:  give a yank; reshuffle the feet; get a yank; reshuffle the feet; give a yank; reshuffle the feet; etc. -- you get the idea.  I looked at the clock; it was 4:35 AM.  I was fascinated!  Neither robin would give up, each taking his/her turn (very tough to tell the difference at 4:35 in the morning) at trying to wrench the tasty morsel (okay, not quite a morsel but still smaller than a breadbox) from the other.  I looked at the clock again; 4:40 AM ... five minutes and still tugging away!  I couldn't turn away!!  How long would this last?  One has to wonder if robins strategize; if so, then M. or Mme. Gauche seemed to be gaining ... um ... worm as, with each yank, he/she seemed to pull a little more worm away from the other robin.  This continued on for another 6 minutes until, at last, poor uber worm gave up and ... uh ... split.  I will say that the strategy employed by M./Mme. Gauche certainly left him/her with the larger portion.  Poor worm.  M./Mme. Droite left with a smaller portion but dignity intact.

E

Hmmmm

Rather intimidating this creating a blog thing.  I'll have to read some of yours to see what is, and how you write about, what is important to you.  My thought was to create a place to express my thankfulness for the abundant provision of my God:  a loving husband; a wonderful, kind and caring son; a good home, etc., etc.  I'm off to read your thoughts and gather my own.

E