Saturday: Why Can't You Be Everyday (other than Sunday?)

Woke up early, made a good breakfast,

enjoyed reading more Soviet food/history... 

and tea.  It took me a long while but I LOVE black teas... 

Today I was very much in my happy space: planning a real Sunday dinner...

Above from the letters of JRR Tolkien... the first part, when I read it to 

Mr. Husband recently, was so "spot on" as they say...

(Esp the first part...if only people knew that today!

Just because one can does not mean one should!)... 

***

Just love Tolkien's wisdom...

His and her ice cream :)

Mine is the ice cream cone... 

The dusting on Mr Husband's is cocoa, a trick I learned

from the Crepe place in Quebec City, on our honeymoon...

 Vespers tonight! 

Was really good to be in church...

Mr Husband took me out to eat...

I went and bought a few groceries first... 

Afterwards, I made this pie:

Sour Cream Cherry Pie to be exact!

I already know it's going to taste SO GOOD.

You should have smelt it baking :) 

 Then I made Marion Cunningham's Rescue Biscuits from her book,

Lost Recipes.

I know from baking her cream biscuits recipe that I did not need to 

knead it separately (did it right in the bowl) and I made them 

more "free style" so they have wonderful shape with lots of crevices... 

Here's basically what the table will be tomorrow...

the biscuits, of course, are put away for now

(otherwise, as Mr Husband pointed out,

I may have ruined biscuits and a broken tray ala 

Cleo the Cantankerous Cat... :) 

***

Menu for tomorrow:

Chicken Paprika (from the Joy of Cooking)

Boiled potatoes (the way my Mom taught me)

Green Salad (spinach with small cucumbers, croutons, tomato)

Fruit Salad with Sour Cream Dressing (strawberries, orange, bananas) (my Mom's recipe) 

Rescue Biscuits (from Lost Recipes by Marion Cunningham)

Sour Cream Cherry Pie (from the Joy of Cooking)

French Vanilla Ice Cream (Trader Joe's, by Mr Husband's request to go with the pie) 

Tea, Coffee, Lemon Water... 

***

We have a good friend coming over for dinner...

and then we will have leftovers for Monday-Tuesday before the fast

starts on Wednesday... 

***

I still remember when a longtime blog friend pointed out to me

that I really love to cook and bake... 

and that some don't really... and it really hit me...

I guess I was living under the false assumption that everyone gets

joy, satisfaction and happiness from baking or cooking...

or at least those who do bake or cook...

but of course not... we are all different...

I sure love it thought... it feels like everything is going right when I am

planning and preparing a meal for others... 

***

Of course I love a meal out as well... 

I guess I love food :)

***

Well, tomorrow is a busy day, God willing...

liturgy, meal with friend who is having her birthday,

hopefully visiting the candle desk man,

then home and I need to make the chicken, potatoes, and salads... 

***

I am so grateful for all of this...

***

May God have mercy on us!

gems within the day

Last night's dinner and rain drops on roses;

a tea that Tracy sent me last Easter...

Making more vanilla...

Cleo always thinks my chair is her chair

and is ready to eat whatever it is I am making... ;) 

I did three more rows of sewing!

The picture of the part of the finished top I did months (and months)

ago, but took a picture of it to show you where my sewing

will lead to...

Dinner tonight was simple:

baked potato ~ Indian junk food ~ green salad ~ some cashew nuts ~ tea & water.

PT is still going well... 

I am eager to get out again and start being more active.

Lots of good things and I already have tea set out for tomorrow

and DV a plan to have this for lunch:

a toasted English muffin ~ fried egg ~ heirloom tomato ~ cheddar slice

and I have so much to be thankful for.

Yet, my heart feels burdened with many things and I find myself

fighting a sense of sadness.

Well, I will continue to pray, to hope, to read books that have light in them,

to make my home as good as I can and am planning on 

more cooking and baking in my near future, DV.

Groceries have already been ordered and are coming on Friday...

So, so much to be thankful for 

and I know it is thanksgiving that will get me though

the times that are, well, just harder to go through in time.

10th day of Christmas

Yesterday was the 10th day of Christmas

and the 16th day since I really have been 

anywhere except at home.

I think both of us were feeling a bit discouraged 

yesterday morning, I admit.

The meds Mr Husband are on to help his lungs

heal have kept him up at night, 

and make him feel unwell in general.

Soon those meds will be done.

I understand why my Grandma is always so positive,

your outlook makes a big difference on how you

experience your day at hand.

***

We got our YL oils a day early; we 

have hopes that it can help with the respiratory issues

we both are trying to heal from.

I started coughing, but I remember that from the flu

last March; it comes and it stays a while and then is gone. 

We are waiting for some things from the doctor's appointment

my Husband had on Friday.

A dear FB, blog and IG friend helped me know how to

make an oil to put directly on our skin

to help healing.

After I put it on, I felt like something had loosened

and that I could breath a bit easier.

Mr. Husband felt that he was at the best he was 

at that afternoon since he got sick.

So we are really really hoping that this 

will help us turn a corner.

My Husband has never been so sick; 

when I had mono in our first year of marriage, ,

I was weak for months; so I know about it;

but I can tell that my Husband is feeling 

a great deal of pressure about being sick

and the fact that he is not able to work yet.

***

We opened the unexpected presents yesterday

and got such lovely things,

the best of books, a beautiful decorative *red* rooster,

it glows with the twinkly lights,

I have dubbed it my Christmas Rooster.

My Husband told me how the French have loved 

Roosters for centuries, even had a Rooster on their money

a long time ago... 

We also got a beautiful bottle of soap...

And a fleece for my Husband!

I washed it and hope today that he will wear it!

Will do him good, I think.

We took pictures of each other with all the beautiful sparkles

from the wrapping paper; Mr Husband found it amusing

in the best kind of way!

***

I am so so thankful not only for dear friends

but for grocery delivery service.

Today we are going to get paper towels,

more distilled water for our new difusers,

and other odds and ends.

It's wonderful to know that we can get things

we need on a daily basis this way.

And Wednesday I am going to get an amazon shipment,

and that is really nice too.

***

And Saturday is my belated birthday party.

I have people to come on Friday to help me prepare, 

and I really hope that it will go well and

that it will be a blessing to everyone who comes.

And I am hoping that by then Mr Husband and I

will be even stronger.

We are really hoping to continue to turn the corner

that we sensed yesterday.

And so that was the 10th day of Christmas for us.

Lent is super early this year and the beginning signs of it are only

2 weeks or so away.

I knew coming into this year, for various reasons,

that it would be a challenging year for us,

I did not know it would start with illness but I pray that God is

doing something inwardly speaking for us,

building I hope and pray a bit more inward strength

and endurance, so that while we lack

physical strenth, we will be given,

by God's mercy,

the grace to bear it.

***

Christ is born!

Glorify Him!

***

Pray for us as we will be missing

 the Theophany services this year.

Never have we missed them since we were Orthodox Christians

and we have to trust God for His ways

and always for His mercy.

So Happy...lunch time and normal routines

Yesterday was really nice.

Mr Husband's summer student has left, he can

resume his regular routine of working from home

Wed/Fri... and so I breathed a sigh of relief,

made a fun lunch of veggie burger, fruit and green salad...

For dinner it was simpler, bread and watermelon....

and for me a green smoothie :)

In the morning Mr Husband emptied the dishes from the

dish washer... all felt back together and in rhythm...

We even went swimming in the morning together at the local

summer outdoor pool!

It's like I woke up to all the delights of just having my husband home

and making lunch for us...

I am trying to slow down and savour the homemaking in this;

recently read a bit by Fr. Alexander Man who talked about 

being fully aware of what we are doing as we are doing it;

to focus our attention on it;

I want to learn more of how to do this....

***

I must of slept wrong though, last night, 

as I woke with pain between the shoulder blades, 

under the neck, as it were. Ouch!

But a hot bath with salts will help that and is in the plans for today!

I had a simple lunch...

Trader Joes Peppermint Hot Chocolate

and an English Muffin with PB & my cousin H's homemade

strawberry jam!

With my pretty tea cup for my 39th birthday!

Hard to believe this year will be year '40' but I am doing my best

to accept it with a sense of excitement,

and am calling it '40 with a flourish' :) 

It will indeed call for a tea party or two I think! :)

I decided that today was a good day to 

celebrate, and so I got out our white and gold rimmed plates!

I hope to make a really good casserole later today and finish up edits

on my third article....this one being more on 

the Mother of God, the beginning of a 6 part series.

I hope that it will be something helpful and comforting to others;

I am doing my best to include, in these essays, parts of daily life

and how our life can be lived in light of God's mercy

and that we can have help in our day to day struggles and even 

battles, that go on often in the dark, in our hearts,

where we seek to learn to pray,

and learn what it means to be in relationship with

God who made and loves us.

***

Well, I have a list a mile long and a day a yard short!

***

I do hope you are having some moments of peace today,

no matter what today brings...

for in all things, there God is with us.