(Day 31) without Cleo: a better day and a surprise gift came in the mail

This picture is of Cleo a year ago.

I can see how much healthier she was then...

I am doing another Cleo-death-grief thing,

I am giving her beloved wet cat food away 

(other than 2 cans for a local cat here) to

friends near our far-away church + the reminder of her

dry cat food.

I went through a few months of pictures earlier to make an album I had

intended to pass along and saw lots of Cleo pictures.

I still miss her, though I don't cry everyday.

I do find myself, esp when alone, that I still tell Cleo that I love her and miss her.

Good words here. 

I am feeling a lot better today, thank God.

Which is good because I have a very packed weekend ahead!

DV I will tell you all about it on Monday :) 

I picked up this book at the airport, it was really good.

I am still thinking about it or, to be more precise, thinking about

what it made me realize about myself and how I can grow in 

empathy and awareness of others and respecting their wishes. 

It was a really good book, sad but beautiful and with a lot to think about.

But if you don't want to read a sad tragedy book right now, perhaps pass

this book on by....

I had black tea for the first time since I got back.

Boy was that nice!  I had strawberries for dessert after dinner

and added a tiny bit of French Vanilla Ice Cream and that was so nice.

I feel like I am returning to the land of the living after being exhausted and 

sick with the head cold all week.

I'd been meaning to put tea in this Delft jar for at least a year!

I finally did today!

And I got, speaking of Dutch things and of Delft Blue pottery,

I got an unexpected (belated) name's day gift today,

I felt so loved and so surprised, such a comfort! 

Dutch Stroopwafels in a lovely tin and in another package as well,

 dried fruit, Swedish candy, green tea, and the cutest Delft tulip mug!

I am in love with this mug, it's so dear! 

My new favourite :) My Mom collects mugs and 

she gives me some of the mugs she finds, so mugs and tea cups are 

both things I love!

 Isn't it just darling?!

I am excited to get some fall things up around the house next week,

including changing my table cloth... 

We had leftover beef from the freezer and rice for dinner!

I am happy to have candles lit again!

So this is another peek into the second of 3 lots of Delft and Dutch-y things that

we won this week... with thanks to my Dad for his help on it...

did you know that my Husband and I consider this line to be our 

default family motto:

we tease those we love.

Yep. For real. That's about it.  :) 

So... I really love that tall windmill in the back of the picture above,

which my Husband thinks is rather big and that storing it may be an issue

(I, however, already know where it can go, and more than one idea about it)...

anyway... I was teasing him about it and he was teasing me about it

and together he had lines like

and we can give it to your Mom for her wedding anniversary

and my telling him, 

I know, I will print the picture of it and tape it to the top centre of your computer

screen so you can see it EVERYDAY

and then commented that my joke was funny, it WAS, you were laughing!

to which he said, well, I was laughing at my own joke...

It's one of the strengths, actually, of our marriage, that we tease each other...

my parents tease-love as well and all of us do 'fun teasing' not mean teasing. 

***

Well...it was fun to talk with my Mom about the 3 lots of Dutch/Delft things we got...

one of the little houses is Rembrandt's house, one of them is actually an ash tray!

(it's pictured above, has 2 groves in the side that is open) and my Mom has the same one,

she hides the open spot and has it as one of her houses.

I always loved my Mom's Dutch porcelain houses and am excited to have some

to enjoy as well... my Dad picked the 3 lots up today and my Mom

unwrapped everything (it was just wrapped in news print) and used

"all of her bubble wrap" in wrapping it all up until we can go through it

at their house and figure out what we are keeping/giving away/bringing to NJ

to give away later on.  

For now, it's as safe as it can possibly be and 

DV we will get these treasures later on!

***

Oh, I read this book today,

it's such as week young kids chapter book,

I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone who has young kids

and who is family with the more traditional (Orthodox, Catholic)

forms of Christianity...  

***

I listened to this song on repeat today...

It's beautiful... 

***

Well, I am thankful for God's mercy and pray that 

all those struggling with so many things will be upheld

and carried by Christ through the hard times... 

Yesterday I made a beef stew (and received an unexpected gift!)

I am trying to do more in the kitchen...

have been wanting to eat out less and cook more... 

so yesterday I read various cookbooks and consulted friends on 

a beef stew recipe (first one shown in this post). 

I used marjoram and thyme. 

I just added some, did not measure it out.

About 1/4 cup of flour...

Kept meat out after browning while sauteing the onions and carrots... 

Beef stock + red wine is the liquid.... garlic, onion, carrots, potatoes are the vegetables! 

I am pretty sure I cooked this too long on the stove; 

it was quite reduced and thick, not really any broth by itself left.

The meat had thickened a bit too much... 

The stew was still tasty though! 

Next time I will not do it on the stove quite so long 

(ended up being 3 hours, 2 would of been enough)...

I had baked up frozen baguette as well,

went really well with the stew!

I enjoyed having the food all ready for when 

Mr Husband came home for dinner! 

We had gotten an unexpected package earlier in the day,

it was this hand-painted from Romania icon!

It's of our Lord Jesus Christ,

in case you didn't know.

***

We've had some hard things in terms of just being 

swamped with things to do, life, you know? if not one thing,

it's another. 

So I am trying to hold on to these moments as they come,

these unexpected gifts

reminding us that 

Christ is with us

in all things,

and is full of mercy... 

{reflections} ~ Our First Slava and third anniversary

A Slava is a centuries old Orthodox tradition, esp. practiced by Serbian Orthodox.
Two of my dear Serbian friends who are sisters, last Great Lent,
told me as we drove down to a Greek Monastery, what is needed.
And they were gentle with me.
A candle, bread, icon, meal (fasting if a fast day), kolivo.
*
I was not able to make a proper bread other than the one to St. Phanourios,
and did not have time to make the kolivo...I am realizing
anew how life is a process and one just needs to begin with things
and build as one can as one goes...
*
I found these two things online:
Hey, You! What's Your Slava?
and this older wonderful book, entirely online.
*
Well, I should of expected what always happens
when you are trying to do something new to honour God
and His Saints: temptations!! 
First, a bout of insomnia.  Then our AC leaks all the way down to our
neighbour's downstairs and we suddenly don't know if we can
do the Slava at our house (with fresh wild caught salmon and swordfish fillets
already paid for and being delivered that morning, etc),
Well, it was a bit touch-and-go: not a goodnight sleep, the plummer ending up
being 2 hours late (he called and explained, it was understandable),
and everything was thrown off in terms of preparation time.
*
But in the end God's mercy prevailed over us in such profound ways;
the house cooled down, I realized, with the help of others and some
google searches, that I could bake the St. Phanourios bread at 350F as needed
and wrap the fish in individual foil packets and do them at the same time.
*
The fish was done this way:
I had 7 pieces of foil ready,
cut up an onion half moon wise in thin slices and put in bowl,
grabbed lemon that was sitting with a little water already sliced in the fridge
and cut each piece in two, salt and peppered the fish, doused it with extra virgin olive oil,
put onion and then lemon on top and wrapped in foil, folding the ends and the top.
Was done about 30 minutes or more on 350F and was perfect!
It was not at all dried out but instead was swimming in juices and oil when done.
*
I made a fruit salad and put 'truwhip' (vegan premade whip cream!) in our
Delft Gravy boat, Husband set the table,
I almost forgot to make the rice (not to self: make 3 cups next time! my guests
graciously did not fault me for only having 1 serving each...)
and I was so thankful that I was able to make the Saint Phanourios bread 
and three mini loaves to give to our guests.
*
We had the bread and vegan sorbet - blood orange and chocolate were the ones 
chosen - and enjoyed lemon water and white wines with the meal.
*
Our priest from our far-away church was one of the guests and he did the 
service for the Slava to St. Phanourios before the meal.
Was really special and I really felt deeply that it was
really both our wedding anniversary and Slava.
For we honoured St. Phanourios at our wedding,
giving a hand painted icon from Romania to my Ottawa parish
at our wedding reception. 
*
It was a really special time and I felt so connected to everyone, 
in my Ottawa parish and my new life here.
*
Our Matuska commented about the temptations that they always surprise us but 
always happen when we are about to receive a great blessing!
*
I am so very glad that we were able to have this time, this Slava and 
hope to make it a yearly tradition!
*
I was so surprised at the gifts we were given -
a Le Creuset frying pan, red, my favourite colour for my kitchen!
and a beautiful decanter and (not shown) a bottle of Drambuie! 
*
I told my Mom the other day that I feel that we are in the 'building' stage of our lives,
slowly collecting quality things for the kitchen, for entertaining and also
in our library collection.  
But I know also that there is a time to 'tear down' in this life.
I was recently given some beautiful vintage cookbooks,
that I hope to show you at a later date,
that were the Matuska's who passed away almost a year ago 
and when her daughter was telling me how her Mother got them,
I could see it all, the one she used a lot, the others she had,
and how she was a vibrant living woman working in NYC,
living in NJ, and how I only knew her at the end of her long life.
It came home in a real concrete personal way how
fleeting life is, how we are young and then a bit older,
then middle aged and, if God wills, make it to old age.
*
My Oma had collected a lot of nice things and when she got older,
she lived to 102, almost 103, she started giving everything away,
over many years.
My Grandma is doing the same thing now...she is in her mid-80s...
I always try to remember that.
That one day I will, I hope, be the one giving away my things.
I have them really only in trust for someone else to use
later.  And they are to be used to benefit others and for
the betterment of my family.
*
The greatest gifts of course of this evening, our first Slava
and our 3rd wedding anniversary, was the friendships and the deep
kindness of so many in our lives...including the ones present.
*
What a mercy of God!

Prayers, unexpected gift and candles

Today is St. Seraphim's Day!
The icon of St. Seraphim I have in my kitchen is from
the Kiev Lavra
and I light candles by it daily...
*
I need to do some reading on St. Seraphim again...
I was given this book by a
dear friend who I hope to see soon
for my bridal shower in Ottawa...

So you all know by now
that I love candles
and lighting them for prayer.
*
Mr. Husband and I found out where to get
wonderful bees wax candles.
But first about my table setting...
*
The middle bees wax candle above was a gift
from my Ottawa bridal shower
from another dear friend I hope to see soon.
And the candle holder above
(first time I am using it is today!)
is from my Aunt who hosted my
family bridal shower this summer in Michigan.
It was the table display and then she gave it to me
at the end as part of my shower gift!

The table cloth itself is a surprise belated
wedding gift that I and Mr. Husband
got yesterday!
Wow!
You can see the beautiful detail on it in the
picture above...
what an unexpected blessing!
Literally yesterday morning I was just
thinking it was time to change the table cloth
and then the I got this one in the mail.
It made my day! 

Now I just have to do another dinner party...
hoping to do one when I return from Ottawa...
*
As you can see,
I cover my table clothes with a plastic
table covering...
I can't tell you how many stains and
water spills it has spared my beautiful table cloths!
*
Now about those candles...
We got them from
Holy Nativity Monastery
that is affiliated with Holy Cross
both in West Virginia.
*
They are beautiful hand-dipped bees wax candles
and if you buy a bigger
(i.e. more than 1-3 pounds)
the shipping is quite affordable.

We got a lovely collection of their
taper candles for prayer candles
like the one you see in
the first picture.

 

We also got a few of their bigger
3/4 inch base
bees wax candles
for our table.
*
It is so nice to have these candles!
Not only are they beautiful
but they are better to burn.
You can get them here.
*
I love having candles from monasteries,
things for my table from family and friends
and monastery music to listen to as I go
about my day.
*
It can be a bit lonely at times as I
am trying to lay low a little bit to be sure
I beat this cold
(I am on the mend)
and have the best time I can in Ottawa.
*
I am putting together some specific goals
for when I return again to NJ
and my beloved Mr. Husband.
*
It takes time to build a life
rebuild community
and establish routines.
Little by little,
it will be accomplished...
by God's mercy.