Tea with a friend

These flowers by St. John were
lovingly brought by my first local friend
whose kindness has continued to bless me!

They are beauties from her own garden.
Such a lovely posy!

We had tea;
gave her this tea cup to drink from;
my Grandma and I found it at an antique mall
when I was nearly 25...

I had these tea cups,
all different ones that we found,
6 of them or so --
sent to BC where I was going to school at the time.
I did my first high tea for my 25th birthday
with dear friends in attendance!
Believe it or not, I only had a toaster oven,
a small one, but I made little cookies with it
for the tea!
And the cutest little sandwiches...
seems like such a long time ago;
if 12 or so years is long, then it is so...
but somehow it seems short and long at the same time...

We used a sugar and creamer that my Grandma
and I found on another trip shopping together...

Two teapots and tea cozies were used...

It was such a lovely time of
excellent conversation about a variety of Christian topics
and we knitted too!
My friend's yarn was so beautiful!
She recommended an emerald colour for the cowl;
so far I have magenta, emerald, grey and cream colours
mentioned or seen in patterns online...
I guess we will have to see what I can find! 

Dinner for my very loved Mr. Husband

My beloved celebrated
an anniversary of his baptism
of some wonderful number of years ago
last night.
*
I was so excited to have a small dinner
party for him in his honour.
In the end it was one
long-time friend of his
who came for the meal
and it was a great time of discussing
books, math, the working world,
kids, reading, music making, and I even
got to quote from Kathleen Norris'
Cloister Walk
that I am re-reading again,
much to my personal refreshment.

Colourful bright roses,
a bread chosen by Mr. Husband
(sun-dried tomato with olive oil),
A bowl of fruit with cream,
salad with goats cheese, golden raisins
and a balsamic vinaigrette,
Chicken Ala King
and a small cheesecake. 

The cream was made with
organic heavy whipping cream, powder sugar and
a bit of triple sec
(next time I will add more of this ~
adds to the loveliness of
the cream).
It whipped up in no time using
the whisk in my kitchen-aid mixer at full speed. :)

We started with salad,
moved into the chicken with rice
and ended with the fruit salad and
cheese cake.
Our dinner guest supplied a sweet
dessert wine
of which I had only a taste but it was lovely.

It was Holy Spirit Day.

We used my Grandmother's dishes.

The brightness of the roses
speaks towards the brightness of the Feast.

 

So many gifts shown here.
Including that my husband
even on his anniversary
is loving towards me ~ he cut up the strawberries,
prepared the salad
while I choose the dishes, bread platter and
using our silverware that
we found together last October.
The beautiful flower vase was our first
gift as a couple.
*
The greatest gift is that of the giving
of the Holy Spirit.
*
Today is the third day of the Pentecost and
we await with longing the deepening
that only God's Merciful Holy Comforting Spirit
can provide.

Yarn Along ~ Baby Blanket, White Lily and a Beloved Book

Mr. Husband surprised me with an
after Catholic Easter Lily!
(Orthodox Easter/Pascha is late this year - May 5th!)
*
My baby blanket continues to come along!
I had great help with it at church this past Sunday ~
I am so new at this,
I did not realize that to knit the yarn has to be behind
and to purl the yarn has to be in front.
I learned other things as well,
it was great!
*
I have doubled it in size since last time I posted it.

Funny riding back from church story:
So after all the great help I got on Sunday
I knit more of the blanket on the way home.
I was tired but determined to get more done ~
I am eager to learn and have more things I want to make!
*
So I was telling Mr. Husband how I learned
more about how to keep the stockinette stitch going well
(I have been getting confused on what I just did,
whether knit or purl and would repeat a row instead of
doing the opposite of what I had just done).
*
Then I said,
since the blanket is rather spontaneous,
unstructured and creative,
a bit here-and-there/all-over-the-place,
at least it is true to who I am...
Mr. Husband,
who is much more structure and methodical than I am,
heartily agreed. :)
Later I told my Mom this conversation and she laughed ~
as she knows me full well and knows this to be true of me,
all she could say was 'poor Mr. Husband' :)

So the blanket is very much one of my
creations.
I may eventually learn to do this better,
but for now I am enjoying the process and not
worrying about keeping perfectly to a pattern...

I am rather liking it!
And I am getting a bit better at it
and I think of the instruction I was given on Sunday
all the time; it really was helpful...
*
And it is exciting to be on my third section already ~
I am back to the mix of blue bonnet and pear yarn ~
the next section after this will be all pear
and then mixed again.
Then we will see how long it is getting. :)
Mr. Husband assured me that my nephew,
who is the cutest ever
and who I saw with a darling family picture
with him wearing a baby-bow tie for Easter!
Too Cute.
Anyway, Mr. Husband says the cute nephew will not
mind the imperfections and creativity
in the blanket.
And it's made with love,
and that's the best part.

I am loving the sunshine and Easter Lily.

I suggested that when this one is done flowering,
that we plant it downstairs in the little garden patch
in the courtyard.
So we hope to do that.

Of course I had to include a new picture of my Cleo Cat!
*
So, since Novice K. died and I wrote on how
his copy of Christ is in our Midst
impacted my life so greatly back in 2007 or so,
I thankfully found the book,
with Novice K. handwriting in it...

 

and I have started reading it again;
I have come back to this book so many times;
the pages in the front are falling out and need to be reglued.
*
As I said in 2008:
Fr. John is a monk who lived in the Valamo monastery and then New Valamo in Finland; he died in 1958. This book is a compilation of letters he wrote to his spiritual children. It is very accessible and has deep wisdom. 
*
This book is so wonderful ~ full of love, of light, of a deep simplicity ~
it can really show us how to live on a new level
and at the same time consoles us in our times of
struggle and weakness.
*
I truly could never recommend this book enough! 
*
What are you creating, crafting and reading?
Yarn along with us!

Wednesday ~ quiet, sunshine and preparing for presanctified liturgy

I am loving the daffodils that Mr. Husband
brought me this week.

I am on the last skein for the green scarf I am knitting.
I think it will be long enough once I am finished
with this 4th skein. 

 

I talked to my friend Mara this week.
It's been three years of painful struggle for her now.
It breaks my heart and Mr. Husband
shares in the sorrow.
*
Yet we do not give up hope in Christ and His mercy.
Of course I still ask your prayers for her.
*
God willing we are going to a presanctified liturgy this evening.
I love these very much and thank God that there is one
near by tonight that we can go to.
*
It is our first Lent together as a married couple.
I think and hope that we will look back on this time with
gratefulness to God.
*
I am slowly reading the newly published Lenten book:
Meditations for Great Lent.
So far I am appreciating it very much.
*
Mr. Husband's birthday is in the next week or so
and I am hoping to finally make the cake
I wanted to make about 2 months or so ago!
*
I am hoping also to do some baking tomorrow ~
maybe the vegan brownie cookies with dried cherries
that I was hoping to make last week
but was not able to.
*
What has your day had in store for you?