Strawberry Lemon Cake + a big Thank You!

Mr Husband works from home on Wednesdays.

I was hoping to see our Candle Desk Man today but I was on my feet 

doing laundry, dishes, making lunch

(above: 1 can of shrimp (I would rather have clams but had to use the can up),

the rest of the peanut sauce and noodles, spinach salad and fruit salad).

I made lemonade also - sugar was just right but I added more lemon juice.

This is the plate (and bowl) that some of you admired in my 

grilled skewer picture on the beef satay.

The picture was part of the plate, not a platter, FYI.

Blue Willow, not that old, still made in England, they say Churchill on the back. 

I don't have a lot of extra time but below you can see 2 of my buffets and the other buffet

is the one that the fabric pictures of flowers is above and I light my candles there.

So while I don't currently have time to show you all of my dishes,

which are a lot, I can say that I will try to point them out to you

when I am using them.

As I said here, I have a LOT of dishes! 

 Shockingly rare, I actually IRONED today.

I love bandannas and wear them a lot, so comfortable.

Makes me feel linked to my past life and my life here,

as I loved bandannas in Ottawa... I have many different colours! 

I've been wanting this book for a long while. 

I got it today and am reading the introduction and am already quite enthused. 

Caroline Gordon was a novelist back in the 1930s 

who married Allan Tate and together they knew the literati of the day 

(Thanksgiving with the Hemingways in Paris, 

poet Robert Lowell tenting on their front lawn in Tennessee). 

What is exciting is that Caroline Gordon's novels are in my NY subscription library!

 (They are also, I see at NYPL but my library I am a member of 

and I am more likely to go there and use NYPL for their online resources).

 Anyway, excited for new reading adventures!

I made the cake!!! 

I am working on writing up the recipe for my new blog and hope to have that

ready by next week if at all possible. 

These pictures were to remind me of what I did for the frosting.

Any good butter cream with lemon recipes for frosting that you recommend?

I am still learning to make a really good frosting! 

I need to get a better picture of this small bowl, that I got yesterday

for 99 cents at good will. 

It's really pretty! 

The cake is for our parish feast day tomorrow!

I really hope I get a piece as I want to know how it turned out.

We had a huge storm here tonight!

Whew!

***

Thank you everyone who commented on my last post.

I hope to comment back but for now want to say a big thank you for 

your comments, your kindness and thoughts!

It's not easy to blog about hard topics (like loneliness) 

and I can't tell you how grateful I am for such a kind blog community.

***

A note to Sophy: so you have commented a few times over the years

and we have never connected further.  If you ever want to do so,

just let me know.  I don't know many blog readers nearby,

though I do have a few I know of....

My email address is in this post.

***

So many to pray for.  

Diana, know that many are praying for Lily - 

those not in the know on this one, go here.

***

It is SO wonderful to have blog community and the 

support we can offer each other through our prayers and 

online kindness!

***

May God have mercy on us and save us! 

I'm Still Alive (in case anyone was wondering!)

I survived the Christmas party. The food was good. They had mashed potatoes. This made me happy.

The lighting was ambient and nice. For a while they played music much too loud. Everyone seemed happy, talking with one another. I left around eight-thirty.

I am tired. By the taxi ride home (buses are on strike right now, very UNCOOL, boo hiss; and it is cold out) my earrings felt heavy.

A nice woman who is quite new was my friend. I was quiet for a lot of it. The standing for an hour talking holding a glass (I had cranberry juice as I said I would) was long. I started to struggle but then I started praying and I knew that others were praying too. I felt at peace and happy to look at everyone and smile and pray as best I could.

I am really drained now and am glad to be home. I am glad also that I do not have to do that all the time. The dinner was fine though and I felt more relaxed. It was just the standing for that long at the beginning was hard.

I am glad it was a calm dinner party.

I was really happy to wear my new outfit and jewelry; I even did my hair, which is not saying much though. My hair curls naturally after being washed so I put hair stuff in and scrunched. That is all I am willing to do to it!!! But yes, it is FUN to be a girl and dress up....

Thank you everyone for your encouragement, advice and prayers.