Something New on the Table:

It all started with a London broil that my mother gave me, that we needed to cook. I said to Adam, "You wanna cook tonight?" I bought a bag of spinach yesterday, trying to boost our protein intake without using so much meat. So Adam decided on a spinach salad: spinach, strawberries, feta, eggs, crumbled bacon & vinegarette. The dressing left a lovely taste in the mouth.

The meat: Adam rubs the London broil with Lawry's seasoning salt and cumin. (Note: you need salt to bring out the taste of the cumin. Trust me on this one.) He bakes it in a 250º oven, until its interior temp is 145º. Then he lets the meat rest, so that the juices seep back into the meat tissues, and the color is right. The juices won't run all over the place as much, if you let the meat sit.

Boy, does it turn out beautiful! He slices it very thin, and we always devour this dish. Makes great sandwiches and fajitas later too -- if you have any left!

We had potatoes last night, so Adam wanted a rice dish -- but not just any plain, old rice dish. He went to ricerecipes.com, and found this recipe, Lemon Fried Rice. Only he didn't follow the recipe, of course!
He didn't fry it. It was very delicious.  Here's what he did:
Cook 1 cup rice with 2 cups water, onion, celery, 1/4 cup butter, chopped garlic, and a little brown mustard. After it's cooked, add a little lemon juice. Careful on that one. Sprinkle with parsley. The flavors are rich and exciting, and it's a hefty enough dish (almost a risotto) to match the beef.

All in all, a great meal!

Keep Looking Up!

I went to the garden to take pictures of my four majestic tulips. I ended up shooting from beneath -- a blind shot -- looking up!

Here's a deep look into the rich interior of a tulip.

Look at the blue and red!

I love the sunlight, glowing through the tulip's yellow base.

Our apple trees are blooming. The pedals are already falling into the garden plot, scattered among the early lettuce.

I kept my pumpkin inside all winter, and it was beautiful. That rich orange orb was a pleasant sight on cold winter days. Finally I noticed a growing mold on the top, and Adam dumped it in the garden. Ugly. But in the middle of the ugly and the mold, we see the seeds of new life. Last year we threw a dead pumpkin in the garden and ended up with runners of squash plant, all over the garden :)

Suddenly I wanted a shot of Adam, who was walking beside me. I don't photograph him often. I know I'll want pictures of him, later in life. I caught him with almost a smile on his face. His goal is to be a "cute little old man."  I think he's well on his way.

Bee hives in blue. The bees arrive on Saturday. The hives are stacked very high, but they survived the high winds and stormy weather last night, without toppling.

Our neighbors have a gorgeous tree with huge pink blossoms -- pompoms really! I don't know what kind of tree it is. But it's so large that much of the tree hangs over the fence into our yard, which I'm very happy of!

This year a bough is hanging far enough for me to get a close-up.  Does anyone know what kind of tree this is? (And, if I asked this question last year too, please just forgive my constant forgetfulness.)

No matter what the Dow says, or the economy says, or the banks say, or Congress does, Little Miss Spring is insistent that life will be beautiful, and is always there to cheer us. Keep looking up!

About That Hat ...

I did finish the hat days ago. Here are some photos, showing how it turned out.  Anna has declared it "Cute!!" and she wants one, so I assume it's alright :) BTW, I hate taking these photos - do you know how hard it is to turn right, so that the camera doesn't cover up exactly the part of you that you want to photograph?
This one shows the brim down,

And this one shows the brim up. A nice beach hat, I think. I'll wear it on that cottage trip I mentioned yesterday.

But ... big problem.  Remember I said I had the wrong size hook, and the hat was too big? Yeah, WAY too big. You can't tell it in the pictures, but on the back of my head, is this folded over section, of "extra hat."

So, I'm going to turn the hat inside out, sew a nice tight seam along the extra portion that I want to remove, and them cut it off.  I know it sounds crazy to cut into crocheting I've just done, but it's not fundamentally different from the seams you find in your knitted shirts. Here's hoping I don't ruin it.

I'll have to get back to you on this one. Again.

A Cottage Getaway

This morning I was happy to read Pom's lovely post on her pretend visit (with her reading friends! Like me!) to some seacoast cottages.  For a few minutes, she whisked me away to the lovely, salty waters, the ivy-clad walls and verdant pastures. It was so pleasant I decided to do one of my own. So, if you're weary (as I am) and need a refreshing break, come with me on a cottage getaway.
As we drive in our comfy Jaguar into the country side, this view welcomes us as we rise over the hill:

This photo of Northleach is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Down a cool rural lane, we pause to view this old gate and imagine a slow walk through pastures to our home for the night.

This photo of Northleach is courtesy of TripAdvisor

As we drive along (slowly, perhaps with the top down, if the weather's fine), we see such lovely cottages! Which one is your favorite? Because you may choose whichever you like best, to stay at tonight.
How about this beauty, with her deep, thatched eaves? A stroll in the garden in the morning, with a cup of tea, would be so lovely.

 What a charming place! I bet the white blossoms are fragrant and would give you sweet dreams. You could have this little cottage all to yourself, if you like!

 Or, snuggled back in the greenery is this quiet spot. I like this. However, I want a seaside getaway ....

 This looks so old and quaint! We could stop here for afternoon tea with the old lady who lives here. She's a friend of mine.

 I stayed here once, and slept in that very room. (Remember ... we're pretending!) The birds woke me in the morning with their spring songs. And there's a deep, soaking bathtub with a wide ledge for a cup of tea.

Finally! The ocean! I can't wait to find my cottage!

 Is that it? It looks perfect. I imagine there's a relaxing sunroom on the front, and the windows are open to catch the ocean breezes. A path leads to the beach, and there are sand chairs, umbrellas, pails and everything you could want, by the door.

But then I see this cottage, just up the road. This is it! It's very large -- you can stay here with me and the others, or choose your own private home. I'll sleep in the room there, upstairs behind the heavy ivy.

This photo of Northleach is courtesy of TripAdvisor
 There is a sunroom! (Except ours would have an ocean view, of course.)

 And in the back of the house, a warm fire for the later evening.

Upstairs, I find my snug bedroom, lots of pillows, and a tea tray. There's even a cozy shawl for a late night beach walk in the moonlight.

And a cup of tea, yes. Won't you come?

Color Combinations

Spring is the time for color, isn't it?
There's a brief period when the flowering trees and shrubs are half bloom, half leaf. I wanted to capture that today. This is the small Canadian plum tree in our yard.

I've been meaning to capture the vinca/periwinkle this year. There are more blooms than usual, I think.

One of our neighbors always keep something beautiful in these pots, on their front walk -- again, leaf and bloom.

I love the layering of color you see in the trees this time of year. Here, a Japanese maple is red, in front of a white dogwood.

Another neighbor has a whole bed of pansies. They're so cheerful and bright, even though our temperatures are rather chilly still.

Phlox is such a rich blanket of lush color.

Transparent dogwood blooms against a deep blue sky and rushing clouds

The trees have that "gold" tone that Robert Frost noticed, just for a few days.  For many, it's not the early leaves, but the pollen. The trees along the interstate are lime green, and the redbud trees are pink -- a perfect natural fashion statement!

The dogwoods are bursting!

As we came around the block, again I saw the bloom and leaf combination on this border of forsythia. By next week, I bet, all the yellow will be gone.

Anna and Sandy went along.

And what did I find at home?  My bleeding heart, going crazy. Such an elegant plant; I've always loved it.

Today I ...

... found a venue for Anna's homeschool graduation! This was a trickier prospect than I'd anticipated. Last year we were part of the county-wide homeschool group, but we didn't really do much with them, so this year I let our membership lapse. Shouldn't have done that, but too late now. They have an "official graduation" ceremony at a large local church, complete with large screen photo via powerpoint, reception, tables full of baby memorabilia -- the whole nine yards. I was surprised to find that Anna adamantly did NOT want this type of graduation ceremony. She wants something small, personal, private -- just for her family and friends she invites.

Right now, we are kind of in between churches, meaning that we've recently moved from one church to another.  This makes using either church rather a difficulty.  And then ... I had a middle-of-the-night brain wave! Anna has been volunteering at the local public library for the past two years.  They love her there (of course they do!), and the library is a nice, centralized location, a large facility, with meeting rooms that folks can use. So today, I went there and asked about using one of their meeting rooms for her ceremony, and they were more than happy to oblige.  It's a perfect size, and has tables and chairs. We can have refreshments.  Plus, it's a place that she really loves -- the ladies she works with can come, and everyone will know exactly how to find it in town.  It feels like the perfect solution. (Plus -- it was free!)

In my "graduation fever," I came home, opened up a document, and crafted her graduation diploma -- what fun! There are plenty of easy samples online to follow. With all the fonts these days, it's easy to make one. We have some old diploma/award paper around here somewhere, that I'll use to print it.

Now, I just have to find a nice diploma case to put it in. We have a graduation gown from Philip's graduation, but I need to find a matching mortarboard hat. And invitations -- Anna's making her list of friends from far and near.

Then I'll have TWO CHILDREN done with high school! Yippee!!!

The Gentleman

Today, Anna and I studied an interesting, brief essay by John Henry Newman, called "The Gentleman."

Where are the gentlemen out there? And why do most men who do want to be gentlemen, not know how?
Mr. Newman gives the men of the world some tips:

"It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain.... He is mainly occupied in merely removing the obstacles which hinder the free and unembarrassed action of those about him, and he concurs with their movements rather than takes the initiative himself."

In other words, a true gentleman is like a perfect English butler.  He is invisible.  He makes your life easier by every action he takes. He thinks constantly of the comfort of others.

Newman says he is "like an easy chair or a good fire." Nature does provide rest and warmth in other ways, but none are so comforting as a soft wing-back, and a blazing, well-tended fire.

"The true gentleman in like manner carefully avoids whatever may cause a jar or jolt in the minds of [others] . . . his great concern being to make everyone at their ease and at home."

In other words, the man who runs up to the door, jostles my purse off my shoulder, grabs the door handle, shouts, "Let me get that for you," and otherwise draws attention to himself and embarrasses me, is not a gentleman.  He is well-intentioned, I'm sure, but he does not know what he is about. If he wants to be a gentleman, he should be invisible. He should be helpful.  His job at the door is to allow me to enter the building as if I were silently walking through a wall, without missing a step, without the slightest annoyance. A gentleman's goal should be to make me feel good, and look good.

I'm embarrassed to tell you what Mr. Newman says about how a gentleman conducts himself in conversation. He remembers the names of those he's talking with. He avoids unreasonable allusions that his listener will not understand. He steers away from topics that may irritate his listener. He does not make himself prominent in conversation, defers to others, and is never wearisome. He does not listen to slander or gossip, and interprets everything for the best. He is never, ever rude.

Do you know anybody like this anymore? I'm afraid the internet has encouraged us all to be as ungentlemanly as possible!

And ladies, Mr. Newman's assumption, in the 19th century, is that ladies know how to be ladies. If gentlemen are to be gentle, deferring, helpful, smooth, and generally make us look like ladies, we must allow them to do so. Both sexes have forgotten the old dance. In order to dance it well again, both partners must practice.

Thank you, Mr. Newman!