Sunshine in NYC & reflections

It was so beautiful yesterday.... sunny blue skies....

Because I am gearing up for my foot (toe) surgery (moved to Wed the 12th of October) I am pretty sure I will not be able to be in NYC for a month or so. [By PATH train and subway equals a good deal of walking and stairs....though I am figuring out elevator options!]

Everything is always more precious when you know you won't be there for a bit. 

The newer "bisto" tables my library has out.  There is construction on the sidewalk VERY close to the library and it was a mercy of God that right when I was having breakfast it was silent!!

These tall narrow windows in threes and in a diagonal formation I found fascinating...

But I especially loved this lamp....classic and reminiscent of Narnia, of course 🙃☺️

And that was yesterday in New York City. 

Though I am haunted by a woman who was asking for money sitting on the sidewalk when I looked directly at her.... her makeup could not hide her eye and lip that both looked swollen, bruised 🥺😳😪😔 .... a reminder that many live in very difficult situations while I live in safety comfort and with happiness.... 

It's all mixed up in NYC .... you see it on the subway.... I saw a well dressed grey haired man on his phone and a guy asking for money for breakfast. [I always feel a bit unsafe when on a subway train 🚇 and someone asks loudly for money...]

I saw a another very fancy man younger [30s perhaps] with a well cut suit, expensive golden brown leather shoes open a door near the Greek Embassy... he opened the door quickly looked out as he did and then (startlingly) broke into a fast run that he made look elegant as he sped off down the street. Quickly afterwards another man came out dressed in more casual clothes.  

A lady large dark big silver earrings sang quietly to herself on the Subway and when I looked at her eyes (she was diligently wearing a cloth face mask) I realized she was quite young. We were sitting next to each other. She got off into the swirling crowds of the NYC Subway.... 

So many stories in NYC. 

So many tired faces....  or young and unlined .... but many tired, so many lined faces....

I found myself wishing that they would experience some kindness in their day, some comfort, a bowl of soup, a quiet cup of tea....

May God have mercy on us 🙏

Baking and Cooking Prep + a reading report

Using about 1.5lb of ground beef, onion frozen cooked in butter 🧈 🤩 oregano cream of mushroom soup.... salt 🧂 and pepper .... I prepared everything other than the egg noodles for easy beef stroganoff!

I am thinking that if i add some frozen (Trader Joe's) mushrooms 🍄 when heating this up, I will have a lot of yummy fast free meals, just need to cook up the egg noodles and heat the meat with added mushrooms....will last us a sold week of meals.... (especially with Wednesday and Friday being fasting days!)

I am well on my way to having easy meal options for my convalescence!

I also am baking up blackberry muffins using my cranberry and orange muffins recipe (substituting blackberries for cranberries!)

Using a cute ❤️ tin I got at a VNA rummage sale!

These muffins are baking as I am typing this up...smells delicious! Hope to have a picture to show before I post this....

God willing I am going to NYC tomorrow to do research on my writing project! I am trying to get as much in as I can before my surgery....

Here's the muffins! I think a bit of raw sugar on top would have been good with these as they seem to need a bit more sweetness than the cranberry orange muffin version... However they are still good!!

A lot to be thankful for! 

Today I have been reading this and this as well as revisiting the early chapters of the voluminous book on Fr Seraphim Rose.

One of the many things I am tracking for my writing project is the Orthodox Christian understanding of person... both the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity and what a human person is and is created to be.  

Well that's it for today...

May God have mercy on us and save us!

Our 10th Wedding Anniversary Dinner in Ottawa

My 10th anniversary dinner that I had dreamed of came true!

I dreamed of having a dinner party that I would do myself!

We got delicious fish from the la pointe fish store in 

the byward market, I made salmon as I always have

but this salmon was exceptional, I think because it was cut from the

side of salmon that day! It was so delious and nourishing!

I made a vegan, GF chocoate raspberry cake and

got vegan sorbetto in grapefruit, lemon and raspberry.

I had two teas for the event, a decaf black and 

a chocolate roiboos. 

I was up by 5 AM and had the cake done by 7.

my friend Mary lent me her cake pans, measuring spoons...

Les Suites came through with beautiful English dishes, a table

and baking pans for the fish.

The beautiful cream roses (I just loved them!) I bought at

the Byward Market that very afternoon...

*

If you are new to my blog, I lived in Ottawa Canada for

7 years before my wedding to my Husband at my 

lovely Ottawa church.

We returned for our 10th wedding anniversary.....

All of my friends there at this meal had been at

our wedding and three of them had been at our first

ever dinner party, the first night that my Husbnad and I met

in person when we were dating.

We talked literature, theology, history,

it was our own 'salon' as my Husband said.

A really enjoyable meeting of like minds over 

a lovely meal.

I was so touched by everyone's joy and how they sang

'God grant you many years' at the end.

Everyone had a wonderful time and it was a really happy day.

In fact, everything I could have hoped for. 

I pray that my Husband and I have MANY MORE years

together and that God blesses our marriage 

and life together! 

preparing for pain and being laid up

It's a strange thing to know when one is preparing for a difficulty that one cannot fully measure. 

I am gearing up for hammertoe surgery on 3 toes in just over 2 weeks (Tuesday October 11th God willing). 

Above picture is 2 of the 3 casseroles I made for easy to prepare meals. (All from a double batch of my Christmas turkey casserole....I made the chicken stock that went in the homemade white roux for the sauce...)

Recovery will be 4-6 weeks.  

I assure you that the time has come for this surgery, it's becoming increasingly difficult to do longer walks.... noticeably more difficult...

Prayers fully welcome! ❤️🙏🕯

3 Pots of Tea

Two pots of the iconic Fortnum and Mason Classic Earl Grey (I did 2+ scoops in second pot this tea I love strong and with at least 5 minutes steeping time) and my first pot of Celebration Tea ... a Chai tea I bought in Old Montreal....you can see the star 🌟 anise! It is a warming tea and perfect for food with a bit of heat!

I am impressed with how fresh and strong the spice compliment is!

It's the perfect tea for a cold rainy day! It warms you through and through!

I just finished re-reading DE Stevenson's "The Blue Sapphire" it's such a lovely delightful read pulls you from dispair into assurance that goodness is really there... 

And for this I thank God ❤️

how the days go by

It is raining quite hard tonight. 

After liturgy, at our church picnic, a dear friend who had been England brought me tea and a periodical remembering Queen Elizabeth.... 

I was in Ottawa going to a friend's home and talking to her on the phone and she told me that the Queen had died. I was shocked. I am mostly news free now that I am not on Instagram much. What a relief this is. I needed to live with less stress and this is one of the ways.

Well, it was wonderful to be told over the phone than otherwise. 

I look forward to trying my new tea! I have always wanted to try tea from this store!

May God have mercy on us....

the days are long yet quickly over

Lots done today including a double batch of muffins. 

Praying for the East Coast to Canada 🇨🇦 re: hurricane Fiona.

May God have mercy on us all ❤️🙏🕯

a little bit about today

We got Indian takeout as a treat!

I had 2 pots of new from Canada 🇨🇦 tea!

I put up our handcrafted Romania spoon! A thoughtful 10th anniversary gift 🎁 from dear friends ❤️

 

I used a new incense from the Greek Monastery in Quebec 🕯🙏❤️

We enjoyed some delicious cookies from a dear friend!

This is all the tea I got on my trip! The Yorkshire Gold was merely a good price! I drink a lot of this tea! It's a good strong tea....

And that's a bit about today!

May God bless and help us 🙏 ♥️ 

Ottawa beginnings

We came just before our 10th wedding anniversary to Ottawa the city of my heart ❤️ and where we were married. 

I was surprised to find Adam's Peanut butter 🥜 as I used to buy this when I lived in British Columbia!

I brought special oils that I gave as gifts at our 10th wedding anniversary dinner. 

I brought silver-plated candle sticks, trays sugar and creamer, teapot and quart- sized jug 🤩 as well as linens. 

My first event was a meal at a dear friends home.... it was a wonderful beginning of a trip of 2 weeks.... first trip outside of visiting family in Michigan since the pandemic began...

God willing...to be continued....