Lions and trifles and bear(naise)...oh my!

Part of the fun of visiting our long time friends always involves the two of us meandering through small art galleries, browsing in little boutique stores and judiciously winding our way through antique stores.  Last weekend was no exception--we visited the charming Mississippi River town of Winona, Minnesota, and had so much fun.  Of course we had to check out the excellent fiber store--Yarnology--where I came across this yarn.  Looks like Miss Lily will be sporting a little lion hat this fall! 

Lions...

We visited an antique store that is actually nestled into the side of a cliff, located in the historic BUB'S beer building, built in 1862.  There are 3 caves located in the building (hence the really musty, earthy scent!) but we didn't have to venture too far underground to score some real treasures.  My friend found a couple of darling delft pieces for my daughter's new kitchen, I found a beautiful set of china for my son (twelve place settings--every piece intact!), and when I turned a corner I came across this tea cookbook.  Who could resist, and at only two dollars, resistance seemed futile! 

and trifles...

In a  happy intersection of two favorite things, we came upon a small cafe that offered fresh, homemade soups and sandwiches and offered seating in the attached bookstore.  What a treat to enjoy my delicious kale and white bean soup and turkey/brie/apricot chutney sandwich while pondering which books to investigate further!  In the end, it was a no-brainer when I found this cookbook--it had me at "New England."

and bear(naise) sauce....OH MY!!

Not only do the recipes sound wonderful, but it is filled with charming pictures of many of the New England landmarks my husband and I have visited over the past few years.  I can't wait to try out the lobster bisque recipe--I've been longing for the sherry flavored bisque since our last trip to Rhode Island.  Now if I could just find a way to buy lobster that didn't involve having to cook it myself...

And since it's a holiday, it's the perfect day for a light verse that seems to fit in nicely with my cookbooks.  Happy Labor Day!!

Recipe for Happiness

2 heaping cups of patience
1 heart, full of love
2 handfuls of generosity
plenty of faith
1 handful of understanding
dash of laughter
generous sprinkle of kindness

Combine patience, love and generosity with understanding. Add a dash of laughter and sprinkle generously with kindness. Add plenty of faith and mix well. Spread over a period of a lifetime. Serve everyone you meet.

I can't help thinking of thanks...

Last week was move-in time for our newly renovated office building.  I shared some photos of my old cubicle environment back in May, and after a summer of shared work space and lots of construction disruption we are all settled in and ready to face our busy fall schedules.  Can you guess what floor I now work on?

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous about how I would feel working in a more "open" environment.  I had a private office in my old job and at first struggled to adjust to cubicle-land when I started this job.  But so far I find my new space quite nice---the benefit of taking down all the cubicles is how much natural light now floods the floor.  We have huge floor to ceiling floors all along one wall of the floor that overlooks the dairy barns on campus, so anytime I stand and stretch my legs I can turn around and see cows and horses, with the lake in the distance.  You can probably guess by my computer screensaver in the picture below that I'm a country girl at heart, so I really love that view right outside the windows!

 

Although relatively small, my new work space is well organized and has way more storage than I initially thought I would have.  A place for everything and everything in its place...I like that!  Being more open to the rest of the floor also encourages me to keep all my papers more contained and not spread out all over.  I like coming in to a tidy desk each morning. But what I really love?  The definition of philanthropy is painted on the wall I face...a daily reminder of why I do what I do.  I love looking up and seeing "generosity of spirit" and "sense of gratitude" as constant reminders of what I strive to achieve in my personal as well as my work life.

These photos were taken last week--I hadn't finished personalizing my space yet with plants and pictures.  Having two monitors so that I can have different spreadsheets open at the same time is so handy.  One of the IT people promised me it would be "life changing"...not sure about that yet, but it is definitely a big improvement.  We also received brand new, incredibly comfortable work chairs and our work stations all raise and lower at the push of a button.  That means I can take a break and stand while working during the day to stretch my legs.  I love it!

   

But wait, there's more!  We are also lucky enough to have a totally remodeled staff kitchen, complete with fresh healthy food choices (plus chips and candy bars for those afternoon slumps) and an amazing coffee machine.  Caffè Mocha at work?  Yes, please!!

Not all the benches and high top counters were installed yet when I took this picture last week, but our old conference room was converted into a bright, sun-filled work cafe where staff can eat lunch (no more sandwich crumbs at my desk!), work on our laptops or grab a cup of coffee and meet with a colleague.  It's simply wonderful having a fresh new space that encourages collaboration and creativity.  

I thought this poem by Suji Kwock Kim was appropriate for today, as I spend my days working to thank donors for their generosity and my nights being thankful for all the blessings in my life.  And today I am extra thankful for my new work environment and for all of you who take time out of your busy days to connect with me on this space.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.   

Slant

If the angle of an eye is all,   

the slant of hope, the slant of dreaming, according to each life,

what is the light of this city,

light of Lady Liberty, possessor of the most famous armpit in the world,

light of the lovers on Chinese soap operas, throwing BBQ’d ducks at each other   

                                                             with that live-it-up-while-you’re-young, Woo Me kind of love,

light of the old men sitting on crates outside geegaw shops

                                                             selling dried seahorses & plastic Temples of Heaven,

light of the Ying ‘n’ Yang Junk Palace,

light of the Golden Phoenix Hair Salon, light of Wig-o-ramas,

light of the suntanners in Central Park turning over like rotisserie chickens sizzling on a spit,

light of the Pluck U & Gone with the Wings fried-chicken shops,

the parking-meter-leaners, the Glamazons,

the oglers wearing fern-wilting quantities of cologne, strutting, trash-talking, glorious:

the immigrants, the refugees, the peddlars, stockbrokers and janitors, stenographers and cooks,

all of us making and unmaking ourselves,   

hurrying forwards, toward who we’ll become, one way only, one life only:   

free in time but not from it,

here in the city the living make together, and make and unmake over and over

Quick, quick, ask heaven of it, of every mortal relation,

feeling that is fleeing,

for what would the heart be without a heaven to set it on?

I can’t help thinking no word will ever be as full of life as this world,   

I can’t help thinking of thanks.

Welcome, September!  May you be a joyful month of fresh beginnings in school and lovely weather that eases us into autumn.  Today I am offering you a small sampler of Emily Dickinson, photos courtesy of the glory that is Door County, Wisconsin.  

The sun just touched the morning

The morning,  happy thing,

Supposed that he had come to dwell

And life would be all spring...

The robin is the one

That speechless from her nest

Submits that home and certainty

And sanctity are best

A spider sewed at night

Without a light

Upon an arc of white.

If ruff it was of dame

Or shroud of gnome,

Himself, himself inform.

of immortality

His strategy

Was physiognomy

The one that could repeat the summer day

Were greater than itself, though he

Minutest of mankind might be.

And who could reproduce the sun,

At period of going down--

The lingering and the stain, I mean--

When Orient has been outgrown

and Occident becomes unknown,

His name remain.

How happy is the little stone

That rambles in the road alone,

And does not care about careers,

And exigencies never fears;

Whose coat of elemental brown

A passing universe put on;

And independent as the sun,

Associates or glows alone,

Fulfilling absolute decree

In casual simplicity.

I learned a valuable lesson yesterday!  We spent the weekend with dear friends of ours that live near the Mississippi River in western Wisconsin (called the driftless region), and because I knew I would spend all day Saturday antiquing and bookshop browsing, I decided to leave my "big girl" camera at home.  We took the back roads home yesterday and my husband and I drove through mile after mile of breathtakingly beautiful farmland, shrouded in early morning mist.  

Early morning mist this morning in my backyard

I was so frustrated that I didn't have my camera with me, as we glimpsed farmhouses nestled into bluffs and cliffs, and row upon row of corn stood tall and saluted us as we drove by.  Stands of trees by the side of the road had hints of orange in the green leaves, reminding us that all good things must come to an end.  Good-bye, summer, and hello fall!

The poem below always reminds me of the time my dad came home after work and loaded us all into the family station wagon.  He had discovered a ditch filled with chokecherry trees out in the country, and out we all went to pick the chokecherries.  One of my girlfriends came along for the ride, and the two of us sang excerpts from the Sound of Music as we filled our buckets.  I think we substituted a few words here and there, because whenever I took a bite of the delicious chokecherry jam that Mother made I heard "the hills are alive, with the taste of chokecherries"!

Late August

by Marilyn Hacker

The weather is changing. The mountainous temperate
       climate
edges toward autumn
There’s a crowded sound in the rattling leaves of the fig
       tree
and I think of cities,
though the second fruit, ovarian, purple, splitting to
       scarlet
is ready for picking.
The brambles hedging pink villas banked up from the
       roadway
burgeon with berries
ripening black, seeded, sweet, which the French don’t
       bother to gather,
but sometimes I do,
taking an extra plastic bag in my back pocket, coming
up from the market.
The bedsheets are grimy and wrinkled, but why should
       we haul
to the costly laundry
what we’d need for a couple of days? All our
       conversations
touch on departure.

Because it's Monday and we need to start the week off right, I am sharing not one but two poems today!  When I peeked at my tomatoes this morning to my delight I found two ruby red ones, ready for sampling.  I think the poem below pairs well with today's forecast--so hot, breathless heat.  Thank goodness for air conditioning at work!

Cherry Tomatoes

by Anne Higgins

Suddenly it is August again, so hot,

breathless heat.

I sit on the ground

in the garden of Carmel,

picking ripe cherry tomatoes

and eating them.

They are so ripe that the skin is split,

so warm and sweet

from the attentions of the sun,

the juice bursts in my mouth,

an ecstatic taste,

and I feel that I am in the mouth of summer,

sloshing in the saliva of August.

Hummingbirds halo me there,

in the great green silence,

and my own bursting heart

splits me with life.

 from At the Year's Elbow

And while I was outside early this morning capturing the mist and the tomatoes, I couldn't resist another shot of the lovely blue morning glories.  Surely the poet must have been looking at morning glories when she wrote "my own bursting heart splits me with life".

My hope for today is that we all find something beautiful to enjoy---homemade jam slathered on warm toast, freshly picked tomatoes melting in our mouths, or a glimpse of heaven in our gardens.  Happy Monday!

And...it's Monday!  Funny how fast the weekends can fly.  And not only is it Monday, but it is also office moving day!  After a crazy discombobulated summer of sharing office cubicles, trying to figure out different copiers and printers, blocking out construction sound (and occasionally smells!) and constantly forgetting what floor I was on, today I am scheduled to move into my new surroundings.  You can look forward to seeing some pictures later this week! 

Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with all the boxes and boxes of stuff I sent to storage that mysteriously returned over the weekend and are waiting for me.  I honestly think the paper multiplied like the rabbits in my garden while it was all off site...

My weekend was lovely---just the right combination of fun and relaxation.  Phil and I spent Saturday helping our daughter and son-in-law with some house projects.  Well, technically, Phil did house projects.  I helped my daughter shop.  That was way more fun! 
 

We joined our son for dinner in Oshkosh then we all took in one of his improv performances at the Comedy House.  He continues to amaze me with his impeccable timing and comedic talent.

My beautiful summer garden is slowly turning brown and looking slightly frazzled and worn out.  I can feel fall peeking around the corner when I look at the droopy cone-flowers and bloomed out day lilies. 

But all is not lost--the wildflowers last weekend in Door County were still going strong!

I came across A Momentary Creed by Pulitzer prize winning poet W.S. Merwyn last week, and thought it would be a nice way to start this week.  I hope you enjoy it as well.

I believe in the ordinary day
that is here at this moment and is me

I do not see it going its own way
but I never saw how it came to me

it extends beyond whatever I may
think I know and all that is real to me

it is the present that it bears away
where has it gone when it has gone from me

there is no place I know outside today
except for the unknown all around me

the only presence that appears to stay
everything that I call mine it lent me

even the way that I believe the day
for as long as it is here and is me

...time enough for all the wonderful things

Felled by a summer cold!  My last camping weekend "up north of the tension line" was a little more low key than I had planned, as I seem to have developed one of those energy zapping summer bugs.  But we still managed to have a terrific time--one of my sons and his girlfriend joined us for a couple of days, so we had a lot of fun seeing Door County through her eyes as a first time visitor. 

That meant, of course, we had the chance to show off our favorite state and county parks, favorite theater group, favorite place to watch the sunset, and of course, favorite ice cream place! 

In case you are wondering--our choices were butter pecan (Phil), peppermint stripe (Sunny), root beer float (Jason) and I had my favorite-strawberry!

We were all amazed at how clear Lake Michigan was, even in mid-August.  We visited Cave Point County Park on the lake side of the peninsula, followed by a quick visit to Whitefish Dunes State Park. 

We checked out our favorite in-park lighthouse...

and thoroughly enjoyed a charming new family musical at Northern Sky Theater, which is also located right in the park.  It was a rollicking tale of two char-crossed lovers, the Montagues and the Capps, dueling over whose recipe would take top honors at the Verona (WI) International Ribfest Festival.  Fortunately, Ronnie and Julie's relationship had a far happier ending than their original namesakes.  I'm not sure what Shakespeare would have thought, but we all agreed it was a lot of fun!

We also experienced the most magnificent sunset of the summer--nothing short of breathtaking.  Literally.  A small group had gathered at Eagle's Bluff for this nightly ritual, and you could have heard a pin drop as we watched the sun slip silently away behind the horizon.  Then we all clapped and cheered and headed back to the campsite for our much anticipated s'mores and cherry pie!

I am sharing one of Mary Oliver's beautiful poems today, Patience.  She so eloquently puts in words some of the thoughts and feelings I experience when I am relaxed and enjoying my time in the woods.  It feels good to stop "hurrying everywhere" and take the time to do at least a few "wonderful things" of my own. 

What is the good life now? Why,

look here, consider

the moon's white crescent

rounding, slowly, over

the half month to still another

perfect circle-

the shining eye

that lightens the hills,

that lays down the shadows

of the branches of the trees,

that summons the flowers

to open their sleepy faces and look up

into the heavens.

I used to hurry everywhere,

and leaped over the running creeks.

There wasn't

time enough for all the wonderful things

I could think of to do

in a single day. Patience

comes to the bones

before it take root in the heart

as another good idea.

I say this

as I stand in the woods

and study the patterns

of the moon shadows,

or stroll down into the waters

that now, late summer, have also

caught the fever, and hardly move

from one eternity to another.

 

 

May we all take time to slow down a bit today and experience the good life!

Guess what?!  It's afternoon tea week in the United Kingdom!  This holiday week would have slipped by me completely if it wasn't for a couple of UK blogs I follow.  If you would like to try your hand at some proper British recipes, you might want to check out The English Kitchen, written by Marie, an American cook now living in England.  She posts great recipes every day, and has also written several lovely "cookbooklets" that you can download for 5 pounds (approximately $7.50).  I particularly love her A Royal Tea-party booklet, which she created in honor of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and includes her own delightful watercolor illustrations and twenty delicious recipes.

 

Another blog, The Simple Things, also sent me a reminder that it's time to celebrate my beloved tea and scones traditions.  There is also a UK magazine that accompanies this blog, which you can find in Barnes and Noble.  Since I'm a sucker  fan of all things British, I love having a cup of tea at the bookstore and perusing the pages of this magazine, oohing and aahing over the garden photos and picnic ideas.  This morning my inbox greeted me with one of their recipes for tea week--violet scones with honeyed cream.  I can't wait to try it!

 

My September issue of Victoria magazine arrived last week, and one of the articles featured a new cookbook by chef Carolyn Robb, former personal chef to Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Prince William and Prince Harry.  How could I resist?  Well, I couldn't, so I treated myself and ordered it.

A delicious Eton Mess adorns the front cover!  Yummy!

 

I have had so much fun dreaming over the pages since it arrived.  As I work my way through the recipes I'll share my successes (and flops) with you.  My husband is eager for me to bake the Coffee-Caramel-Pecan Streusel Triangles and I can't wait to try my hand at the meringue hedgehogs and mice for a tea party with Miss Lily!  I'm waiting for my mother to come visit and we can sample the Queen's Pudding--a delicious apricot bread pudding with meringue.  Hurry, Mother! 

I can't decide which I want more...the scones with Devon cream, or this beautiful cake plate!

 

Come join me on my deck--morning glories and tea, a perfect combination!

 

It is also filled with delightful watercolors that make it so much more than just an ordinary cookbook.

Who wouldn't want to make shortbread after this lovely drawing of Balmoral Castle in the Highlands?

In honor of tea week I'll leave you with this little tea party poem. I hope it makes you smile!

Find time today for a cuppa and a scone and enjoy the little things that make life worthwhile.  I'm heading back to Door County this weekend, so I'll be back next week with more camping adventures!