The Start of Every Morning

"Welcome every morning with a smile.
 Look on the new day as another
 special gift from your creator,
 another opportunity to complete
 what you were unable to do
 yesterday.  Be a self-starter.
 Let your first hour set the
 theme of success and positive
 action that is certain to echo
 through your entire day. Today
 will never happen again. Don't
 waste it with a false start or
 no start at all. You were not
 born to fail."

~ OS Mandino

At the start of every morning, I measure out coffee beans...

I give them a little twirl in the grinder...

I heat water and have the press waiting...

I pick a mug to use for the day...

and when the time is ready, I pour...

and enjoy the beginning of a new day.

Have a great Monday.xx

A Weekend Wish

"There is no beautifier
of complexion or form
of behavior like the
wish to scatter joy,
not pain, around us."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wishing everyone

a joyous weekend. xx

A First Carving

"Where the material ends,
  art begins."

~ Etienne Hajdu

It started with
a little bar of soap:
A first [art] carving:
A little [soap] nest:
One day he would
like to carve [marble]
statues to rival
Michelangelo:
I think he is off to
a wonderful start.xx

Socks: Complete Part 2

"Glory is the
shadow of virtue."

~Latin Proverb

Okay, here they are
in all their glory.xx
[HT: Lisa]

Socks: Complete

"With ordinary talent
and extraordinary
perseverance, all
things are attainable."

~Thomas Foxwell Buxton

I stayed up way past
my bedtime:
I have to play catch up
with my paper work:
My house needs a
good cleaning:
There is a basket
of laundry that
needs to be folded:
but I have socks to
wear that I knitted!

I have been trying to
attain this goal for
almost a year:
perseverance does
pay off. xx

Squirrels

And now, when comes the calm mild day, as still such days will come,

To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter home;

When the sound of dropping nuts is heard, though all the trees are still,

And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill,

The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he bore,
And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more.


~ William Cullen Bryant

I caught them in

the act-

It was bad enough that

all of my pecans
were eaten.
Now it looks like
there will be no
Lady Bank roses
either.
They are lucky
they are so cute!
[pictures taken through
the dining room window].xx

Beyond 'Z'

"My alphabet starts with
 this letter called yuzz.
 It's the letter I use to
 spell yuzz-a-ma-tuzz.
 You'll be sort of surprised
 what there is to be found
 once you go beyond 'z' and
 start poking around."

~Dr. Seuss

alphabet stickers
scrap book paper
a paper punch
glass stones
mod-podge
magnets

put it all together and
start poking around:
you will be surprised
what you can learn.xx

Paneer

"Many's the long
night I've dreamed
of cheese-toasted
mostly."

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Take a day and make paneer
just so you can make this.
Making the paneer was
surprisingly easy.
The hardest part was
not eating the whole 
dish of Paneer Butter
Masala all by myself.xx

A Project

"A project is complete
when it starts working
for you, rather than
you working for it."

~Scott Allen

With just a little paint
and a few stickers I
now have cute clips to
keep bags closed tight.

A quick project that is
now in my kitchen-
complete. xx

A Moment

"Begin doing what
you want to do now.
We are not living in
eternity. We have only
this moment, sparkling
like a star in our hand-
and melting like a snowflake..."

~Francis Bacon, Sr.

A three day weekend:
A notebook full of ideas:
A moment to do what I want
before time melts away.
I hope the same for you.
Have a great and wonderful
weekend. xx

Half A Pair or My Sock Part II

"Don't let the fear of
the time it will take
to accomplish something
stand in the way of your
doing it.  The time will
pass anyway; we might
just as well put that
passing time to the
best possible use."

~Earl Nightingale

For all the time it took...
for all the tears that fell...
for all the late nights...
and very early mornings...
the reason I taught myself
to knit.
It is not perfect...
there are numerous mistakes...
but it is wearable...
it does feel nice and comfortable...
I knitted my first sock!
What a great way to pass
the time.xx

The Best Mushroom Sauce Ever

"A sauce...adds something, really
 two things: a taste as well as
 the opportunity to think about
 how the thing was made. This
 is the same kind of pleasure we
 derive when we look at a painting;
 the eye is pleased, while the mind
 explores the esthetic windings
 of a technique and a willed structure."

~Raymond Sokolev

Made this over the weekend:
Lisa is right:
this is the best mushroom sauce ever.

I served it over spicy quinoa
which helped balance out
the lemon. It is a very
yin-yang dish.

The boy's will not touch it
so I get to eat it all by myself.
Yay! xx

A [Flu] Bubble

"Though life is made up of mere bubbles
 'Tis better than many have,
 For while we've a whole lot of troubles
 The most of them never occur."

~Nixon Waterman

The flu made it's way into my home
It wasn't invited
It is not wanted
But this is just one little bubble
in a life full of many bubbles
I just hope this bubble
pops soon.
Have a great weekend.xx

Cookies and a Nap

"Think what a better world
 it would be if we all, the
 whole world, had cookies
 about three o'clock every
 afternoon and then lay
 down on our blankets
 for a nap."

~Robert Fulghum

I wish the whole
world would have
cookies and a nap
every day-

it always makes
my world a little
better.xx


Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs,
1 1/2 teaspoons real vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Cream butter with sugars. Add eggs one at a time; mix well. Stir in vanilla.

Combine all dry ingredients and add to above mixture. Stir until all is well combined.

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375 degrees until lightly brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

My Sock Part I

"Never quit. Don't
 ever, ever quit.
 Recognize that
 stopping now,
 regrouping to try
 a new approach
 isn't quitting. If
 you quit you'll
 regret it forever."

~ Rudy Ruettiger

Everything was going along
so nicely...

and then I came to the heel.

I'm not sure what happened
or where I went wrong...

oh, so terrible wrong...

but I am not quitting...

I am not stopping...

I am regrouping...

trying a different approach.

I have a fantastic book...

a wonderful knitting group ...

and YouTube.

I will not regret this...

I hope. xx

Sleepless

"A flock of sheep that
 leisurely pass by one
 after another;
 the sound of rain,
 and bees murmuring;
 the fall of rivers, winds,
 seas, smooth fields,
 white sheets of water,
 and pure sky-
 I've thought all by turns,
 and still I lie
 Sleepless..."

~William Wordsworth, "To Sleep"

Not a lot of sleep happening,

but my socks are coming

right along.

It is going to be a long week.xx