Tents

We have ONE week left to go of school and I am so ready for it to be over! This last term has felt as if it has gone on forever. It feels too long to still be in school, I am ready to enjoy a little bit of a Summer break.

Summer meant a lot of things and happy memories in my house growing up. One such memory in particular was the summertime rituals my sister and I always did. We played outside, creating bike "roads" out of chalk on our drive way. We went swimming, we went to the library and signed-up for the summertime reading list.

We ate ice-cream and fresh peaches from the farm. We played an endless game of monopoly that we made span the entire length of our Summer break and we built tents. We built huge tents with old blankets and sheets, sometimes encompassing a table and chair and part of a couch in our giant fortress.

We played underneath it, hung out, read, watched movies through our special "spy" hole aimed at the tv, we just had FUN. When I saw this tent tutorial, I just loved it. It brought back all of those little memories. This is a lot fancier than what we built, but I think just as magical.

What a fun summertime project for you and your little ones. I can just see it strung with fairy lights, filled with cozy blankets and pillows and the perfect place to lay down and read a book on a rainy day, falling asleep to the gentle pitter-patter of the rain, with the magical glow of the twinkling lights overhead.

For the how-to click here.

All images are courtesy of Grosgrain Fabulous. Original Post from Cakies.

Happy Father's Day

He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.  

~Clarence Budington Kelland

And he continues to do it everyday and I see a man, that has more Strength, Wisdom, Patience, Kindness, Faith and a bigger heart than any man I know. 

If I have gained just a smidgen of that from him, I know that it is a start. Happy Father's Day, Dad! 


(Image Found: Here)

The Unseen Jobs

The "Unseen Jobs", that is what my grandmother called all the little jobs we do as women, that no one else sees, such as cleaning out the kitchen drawers, washing all the utensils, wiping out the drawers and re-organizing everything when you are done.

No one will ever know you did this but you! But, that is what I am doing today, all the little unseen jobs to get our little cottage in order and ready for Summer. I wish I could wiggle my nose like Samantha from "Bewitched" and it would be done in a jiffy, but that isn't going to happen. I am cleaning, scrubbing, sorting through my closets, the washing machine is whirring away and the air is heady with the scent of lemons.

So back to work for me, soaking up the therapy that cleaning seems to give me along with the sunshine pouring in through the windows and looking forward to finishing, so I can enjoy a slice of the chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing that I made yesterday and start on my little crochet project, because I haven't managed to do that yet!

Hope you are having a wonderful first day of June wherever you are.

Seven Years

Today, I have been married to Mr. Michie for 7 years and I am still loving every minute of it! We started off our anniversary with a bang yesterday and went into central London, to just roam where ever our feet took us.

We ate lunch, spent some time at the National Gallery, wandered through Covent Garden and picked up our tickets for an evening of Vivaldi by Candlelight at St. Martin in the Fields.

It was a wonderful day! We ate dinner at Cha Cha Moon, a new Chinese restaurant we wanted to try off Carnaby Street. It was very authentic, a lot of Chinese people were in there eating and that, to me, is always a good sign. Their dumplings were too die for!

Then we headed over to St. Martins just before they opened their doors. The Church was wonderfully cool and candles were lit everywhere, it was very romantic. The orchestra came out and and played a series of pieces in the first act, one being Bach's Brandenburg Concerto no. 3. Which is very special to us as we walked down the aisle to this piece after we were married.

My parent's instilled a true love of all kinds of music into my sister and I. We both played with a symphony and even had the opportunity to travel through Europe playing with them as well. My sister is a star violist and I am an oboist. I find that having played an instrument, I am so much more appreciative of what the performers are going through.

The second half of the concert was the entirety of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and as night began to permeate around us the glow of the candlelight became more heightened. We had the great fortune to see the lovely Kerenza Peacock play her first concert since she injured her wrist. It was outstanding. As her bow struck the first note, I was beyond moved.

What a sight to behold. Music that has been played for centuries to Kings and Queens and we had the opportunity to see it played within the hallowed walls of St. Martins in the Fields by an outstanding orchestra. The entire audience was on the edge of their seats, there was a true electricity in the air and I found that more than once I was holding my breath. How lucky we are to have had the opportunity to see and hear this!

We finished off the evening with a few little surprises from Laduree. They have opened a new store in Covent Garden and since I can't go to Paris at the moment, at least one of my favorite things from Paris can come to me!

So, Mr. Michie, here to seven more years on the roller-coaster of marriage and may they be as wonderful as the first seven!

The Flying Scotsman

The Flying Scotsman came to visit me today (well really he came to see Goose Girl) and I showed him the lovely yellow roses my sweet red-headed Scotsman gave to me!

The Princess & The Pea

The Princess & The Pea is one of my favourite fairytales. I really have no idea why. I think mostly it was for the fact that I loved seeing the illustrations of all the beautiful assortment of mattresses piled one on top of the other, so high that you needed a ladder to climb to the top. The mattress were always covered in polka dots and roses and stripes and stars and I was always amused by that, as my mattress looked nothing like that. I also thought the idea that she could feel the pea under all those mattress was funny as well, however, as of late, I am beginning to think that feeling one little pea wouldn't be such a bad thing!

I haven't been sleeping very well for awhile now. We have a very old mattress and it is causing me to fall apart like an old lady. I can feel more than a "pea"! I can feel springs and boards and lumps and bumps when I sleep. I stripped the bed the other week and in looking at it, it reminded me of a 3D geographical map with a lot of mountains and valleys. Not what you want your little oasis of happiness to look like. I love my bed, so I want to be comfortable in it!

Since Mr. Michie isn't sleeping so well either, we realized that is was definitely time to make a change and to stop thinking about making one. So, we decided to go mattress shopping. I did my research and we knew what we wanted, we went to the store and were helped by the nicest man named Henry.

He was from Africa and had the most exotic accent, I loved listening to him speak. We told him of our old aches and pains and that we wanted a medium to firm mattress. Well, he took wonderful care of us, we walked out with a new mattress being delivered this Saturday and two new pillows as well! We even got a hug from him when we left! The company ranks their mattresses on a scale of 1 to 5; 5 being the "softest" and 1 being "orthopaedic". We must really be getting old because the bed that felt the best to us was a number ONE! We just had to laugh!

I will truly feel like a princess on this mattress as I will not notice Mr. Michie roll about, since he is quite a fidget, I can just lay still in perfect blissful sleep! So begone, peas and springs and feathers and lumpy mattresses, I am ready for sweet dreams!

(Image by Tim Walker)

Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavour by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  ~Washington Irving

(Image by: Belle & Boo) 

Easter Bonnet

Never saw you look quite so pretty before

Never saw you dressed quite so lovely what's more

I could hardly wait to keep our date this lovely

Easter Morning...

And my heart beat fast as I came through the door.

For in your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it

You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.

When my Mom was a little girl, my Nana made all of her and her sister's Easter outfits herself. They all had a new dress, new coat, new white gloves and a new little Easter bonnet for Easter Sunday.

When my sister and I were growing up, my Mom did the same for us. We always had a new outfit for Easter. I love that some things never change. Your Easter hat says so much about you. I couldn't wait to get to church Easter Morning to see what hat Mrs. S. had on. She was in my Nana's altar society and her hats were straight out of a Hollywood movie of the 1950's.

In perusing Flickr, I came across a few Easter Bonnet clad ladies of yore and I thought I would share them with you. What is it about that brand new Easter outfit and hat? Enjoy!

(Flower embellishment: Pugly Pixel Freebie. All images found on Flickr)

I Love Beach Music

When Spring seems to be in the air and sunlight dapples the path of my walks in the woods, it always makes me a little homesick. For Spring at home means dogwoods in full blossom, the tingle of the sun on your skin, the smell of pluff mud and the sparkling view of the ocean as you hit the bridge for the first beach trip of the season.

I am from the South and the promise of warm weather holds so much weight. Warm weather not only brings beach trips, a great hot dog from Jack's, sweet tea watered down from the heat of the day, but a certain vibe all of its own. It brings with it, its own music; beach music.

Heading down to the beach during Spring/Summer in the South, meant hitting a certain part of the journey where you would lose a good radio signal. But about 20-30 minutes after that, you would pick up the sounds of the beach. Nothing but good old Shagging kinda music. We would roll the windows down to catch that first smell of the pines, the sun beating down on our skin as the car was filled with the sounds of the coast. The music filled our beach house too or echoed from someone else's as we sat on the screen porch, watching my parent's dance around.

I can't get in my car and head to the beach in England, but I can bring the memories of the beach to me. All, I have to do is hit "play" on my Ipod and the upbeat, soulful, happy tunes from the "Beach Music Anthology" fill my house and if I close my eyes real tight, I can almost taste that hot dog and smell those pines, feel my toes digging into the sand, the breeze dancing across my skin, the waves hitting the shore and the sound of beach music floating across the air from someone's radio. I love beach music!

Here are just a few of my favorite beach music melodies:



(Image: film still from "Shag:The Movie")

The Royal Standard of England

We had a lovely weekend with our guest and decided to finish it off with a trip out to a Country Pub this afternoon. On the recommendation of a good friend we visited The Royal Standard in Forty Green. It is the oldest freehouse in England.

We got there early, parked the car and took an ambling walk through the Chilterns. Taking in the beginning of Spring popping up in the fields while working up quite an appetite, before we headed to the Pub. You could not have asked for a nicer day. The sun was shining, there was a breeze softly blowing about and the delicious smell of earth was in the air.

The food at the Pub was heavenly. I had a Yorkshire Pudding that I think was as big as my head, with creamy mashed potatoes, steamed veggies and roast beef. Others at the table had the Sunday Roast as well and Mr. Michie got the Sausage and Mash, which was delectable. I know, because I stole a bite.

And, this little fellow watched over us as we ate, which made me smile! A wonderful end to an enjoyable weekend.

(All images by Mr. & Mrs. Michie)

Love Hearts

Yesterday admist all my dusting, mopping, pantry tearing apart and vacuuming (with my new hoover), there was a knock on my racing green door and a Valentine's package was placed into my arms.

It was filled with all kinds of wonderful surprises and too many of them! Including the love hearts above. When one is presented with such a gorgeous Valentine's surprise, you know it is time to take a cleaning break, tear into that package and just enjoy all that delicious candy before you. A girl's gotta keep her cleaning strength up, you know!

And, most importantly as you munch away on candy while going through all your surprises, you can't forgot the "Love Heart Eating Rules", you have to read what your heart says before eating it, Mr. Michie forgot that part yesterday, but I reminded him!

Thanks Mom, Dad & Maisy, you as always, are too generous! ♥

The Force is Strong

We stayed up the night of the Super Bowl to watch as much of the game as we could. But at about 1am we decided to cash it in and go to bed. I however, was still wide awake and followed the game from my macbook while snuggled underneath a mountain of blankets.

I have to say, the commercials are one of the things I really love to see, who doesn't? Sadly, because of ad rights we don't get to view the commercials in England. YouTube was hosting a site by adblitz that updated the commercials almost as quickly as they were played on everyone's TV sets at home.

As Mr. Michie slept peacefully next to me I watched the commercials and when I saw this one, I almost woke him up. Almost. I know that one day when we have children, if we have a car that does this, Mr. Michie will be standing at the kitchen window car keys in hands to make our kid's Star Wars dreams come true. Because if he had the Force, that would be his dream come true!

However, I think we will probably be more of a Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo kind of household.  The Force is strong in this one! Hmm. Yes!

Ginger-Ale

The big reveal is still to come, so I am going to keep you in suspense a little while longer. Mr. Michie has given me his cold and on top of that I now have conjunctivitis in both eyes, so I look truly lovely!

This weekend, I am just going to spend on my couch watching (Christmas) movies, eating soup and crackers and drinking ginger ale, because that is what my parents always gave me when I was sick, and it always makes me feel better.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are.

Follow that Star

Today is one of my most favourite days! It is Epiphany, the day of "Little Christmas", the last day of the 12 days of Christmas and most importantly the day the Wise Men arrived.

We were always given a little something to celebrate the day in my family.  One year, we received a big something: George Winston tickets to all go and see him as a family and what a night to remember that was! He walked onto the stage in blue jeans a plaid shirt and best of all: barefoot!

It has been such a crazy start up to the new school term that I do not have an Epiphany gift for Mr. Michie, so I think tonight on the way home, I will let him pick out a really yummy dessert with an I.O.U. for the weekend.

This last day of the season is one to treasure, and although your Christmas lights should come down after today, with all the rain and darkness here in England, I think mine will be staying up a little bit longer, because those twinkle lights just make me happy!

Christmas Cards

Everyone, I have spoken with this year, has commented that Christmas has just come to fast. That, it has just suddenly appeared and there isn't enough time to get all the presents, do all the Christmas dinner shopping and even send out their annual cards.

I am ashamed to say that this year, I have fallen into one of the above stated categories. I am not sending out Christmas cards. We have had work taking place at our little cottage and the cards I bought are packed up in a box I can't get to. My new work schedule does not make it easy to get things done some days and Saturdays seem to be taken up by everything else, but what I actually want to do.

But, I am taking this in my stride. I have decided that I will be sending out "Happy New Year's" cards instead. I will design something myself and get them printed and then mailed out. It will be a little something to cheer the one's I love after Christmas has come and gone; a little gift in their postbox from me.

It is so easy to become overwhelmed this time of year with all that is going on around us. But, last year one of my dearest friends and yoga buddies, gave me a photocopied page out of a book, dealing with stress over the holidays. One, of the suggestions was that on Christmas Eve, or even the day before you pick a time that you are going to stop. And at that point, whether you have gotten everything done or not, you sit down, have a glass of eggnog and begin to enjoy what is in front of you. To take it all in, because, we all seem to work and work and then it is gone in the blink of an eye and during that time, did we even take a moment to catch our breath and enjoy it?

So, this year, I am not going to beat myself up over the fact that I have not bee able to send Christmas cards, I have come up with another solution and I am going to make sure that I take in all that the season has to offer, I hope that you do as well!

(Image found on Flickr)

The Little Things

I opened my e-mail yesterday and a note from my adorable sister popped up. She had seen something and said to me that this looked like the kind of thing I put on my blog.

Well, I clicked on "The Little Things" and watched it and watched it again and she was right! I just love the polar bear! But, even more, I love her thoughtfulness! What did she send me? Just watch below:



I wish that polar bear would visit this week and tip a little box of snow on us, I could really use a comfy, cozy, hot chocolate drinking snow day!

Gather Here

We are just a little over a week away from Thanksgiving. Not a holiday here in England, but we still celebrate it in our little cottage. There is something to this time of year, as we approach Christmas, there is just so much more hustle and bustle and everything takes on a more frantic pace.  There also seems to be something in the air lately, everyone seems to just be fed up!

Maybe, it is because evening crawls in sooner and with less hours of daylight we feel pressured to complete more tasks than usual. Maybe, it is simply the pressure the media puts on us, there is not one store I have entered lately that is not stock piling their Christmas displays or has already decorated to the nines. It seems that as we approach Thanksgiving there is more pressure than ever.

Thanksgiving, can be a stressful time for many, you are possibly dealing with family that you would prefer not to see, you are anxious that your turkey will turn it out just so; the new bride cooking for everyone for the very first time. All this pressure, seen and unseen, seems to mount for everyone and comes to a head.

I think, of all the Christmas gifts, I have to buy and what seems like no time to do it in. I think of all the things I have to do at home and only the weekend to complete everything. I feel the pressure, that Thanksgiving seems to be the "hurdle" we have to get through on our way to Christmas, and once Christmas comes we can all sit back and take a breath.

I refuse to look at holidays like that. I want to enjoy them for all that they are, I want to soak up every drop of time I spend with my family. I want to simply take a breath and be open to just being, not be pressured by society to have everything just so and by a certain date, I am willing to just take it as it comes and drink in the moments as they present themselves. Because, I believe that I am where I'm supposed to be right now and I will come to it with not only an open heart but a grateful one!

(Image by Craftily-Ever-After)

Happy Halloween

In the run-up to Halloween you had to make the toughest decisions you had made all year, it was like the practice test that got you ready to start working on your list for Santa that would become your focus not long after Thanksgiving. What was the toughest decision you made? It was: what would I be for Halloween?

I was so many things over the years, a pumpkin, a witch, a pink bunny, a little leopard. One year I was St. Lucia, I dressed up just like my American Girl Doll, Kirsten Larson, with my hair in braided loops and a wreath around my head that my Mom lit with battery operated candles. Knowing my love for all things Christmas, this was one of my favorite costumes.

As I was growing up, on the other side of the pond, so was Mr. Michie. Being British he never had the full American Halloween dressing-up, trick-or-treating experience. But, I know if he had and we had been friends when we were little, as I know we would have been, then knowing his love for all things Star Wars, he would have made us go out trick-or-treating like this:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A Kiss Goodbye

Today, as September comes to a close the last little taste of Summer is clinging to it. Even though the sun shone bright this morning, through the mist on the common, it was still so cold. Our breath hung in little icy moisture droplets above us as we waited for our cherry red bus to come.

I love Summer and all it holds, but I love this time, when seasons change from one into the other and as the curtains draw on the final little bit of Summer and we kiss it goodbye, I welcome, with arms open-wide, all the best that Fall has to offer us. And one such thing is a bounty of gorgeous apples. I grew up on a farm and one of our staple crops were apples. There was nothing better than when my Dad, came home with the first of the year's apple cider in frosty jugs for us to gobble down.

Apples in season, meant ever-ready bushels of sweetness awaiting us. Thin sliced apples with crackers and hoop cheese, fresh frosty cider, my Dad's applesauce for breakfast and my Mom's apple butter spread over hot biscuits. Fall holds a sweetness to it all of its own, a beauty of color and taste.

As we truly kiss the last of Summer goodbye and welcome in Fall, I found a recipe that I thought I would share with you, I have had cookies similar to this growing up and this was just something to delicious not to share!

Iced Apple Cookies

• 2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon(s) baking soda
• 1 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) nutmeg
• 1 1/3 cup(s) (packed) light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup(s) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup(s) pecans, chopped
• 1 cup(s) raisins
• 1 cup(s) chopped Red Delicious apple
• 1/2 cup(s) apple cider
• 2 tablespoon(s) apple cider
• 3 cup(s) confectioners' sugar

---

Directions

1. Make the batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Cream the sugar and 3/4 cup butter in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat until combined. Stir in the pecans, raisins, apples, and 1/4 cup apple cider.
2. Bake the cookies: Drop by heaping tablespoon, 2 inches apart, onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Flatten each mound slightly and bake 18 to 22 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, remaining cider, and butter until smooth. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of icing over each cookie. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

(Recipe & Image copyright Country Living)

I Dream of Storage Space

We live in a very tiny cottage behind a racing green door and as I have an important visitor coming this weekend, I am dreaming of more storage space to put everything up in as I tidy. Who is this important visitor? He is my Dad! I have not seen my parents since Christmas and for me that is a long time.

These are the moments where I truly feel like a pioneer woman, leaving all she knew behind to journey for months on end to reach her destination and her dreams.

But, through that journey she either never had the opportunity to see her family again or the visits were so few and far between, it could have been years before they laid eyes on each other. Thank goodness this pioneer woman has Skype. I can see their beautiful faces everyday and that is better than nothing, I am lucky.

My Dad has been in Europe on business this last week and is stopping on his way home to stay with us, as this is the first time he shall see our Lilliputian cottage, I want everything in tip-top shape! If only I could wiggle my nose as Bewitched's Samantha and everything I don't need at the moment could magically disappear!

Alas, that is not to be, so as I lay my head down on my pillow tonight, I shall continue to dream of miles and miles of storage space to contain my treasures...

(Image:Anne Taintor)