Little Things That Make Me Smile

   "As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful."

                                                            ~ Laura Ingalis Wilder

 

 

  

Wintering

I'm beginning to get cabin fever, and just as slightly warmer temperatures arrive, an entire new weather system is headed our way.

More snow, and sadly combined with frozen precipitation.
The school children have been afforded  extra days  off school,  and yet their presence outside has been scarce.
Back when my daughter was young she would spend an entire afternoon outside with her neighborhood friends, sledding and building snowmen, only returning to the warmth of  home for a change of gloves, and some hot chocolate. Nowadays, it seems like the children stay inside and play computer games or watch TV.
Times have changed.

Timeless Treasures

I have a fondness for English Staffordshire Ware.

One look at those pastoral village scenes, and I'm transported back to my grandmother's kitchen, where her cupboard displayed shelf upon shelf of these timeless treasures.

I can see the kitchen table covered in a freshly-starched embroidered tablecloth, the milk-jug sitting atop, awaiting the first of many pots of tea served throughout the day.

Treasured memories of gentler times........

 

 

 

One of my favorite collections are from the Alfred Meakin "Tintern" series.

I'm drawn to their bucolic scenes from years gone by.

 

 

"Come along inside ~ We'll see if tea and buns will make the world a better place."

~ Wind in the Willows

 

Soup's On

Cold winter days seem to go on forever.

Even when the sun shines brightly, the wind is still bone-chillingly bitter..
It's the perfect time to warm up with a hearty bowl of homemade soup.
Today's choice is White Bean and Ham soup.
Enjoy 💗

Navy or Northern Beans
Cabbage
Onions
Carrots
Celery
Ham Hock
Smoked sausage or Kielbasa sliced
Chicken Stock
Bay Leaf

Basil
Garlic powder 
Salt and Pepper

Soak beans overnight, discard water, add chicken stock, ham hock, smoked sausage, herbs, and seasoning, bring to the boil and then simmer for one hour. 

Add chopped cabbage, onions, carrots, celery, continue to simmer for an additional hour and a half.
Add water if needed.

Serve with buttermilk cornbread, or your favorite loaf of crusty bread.
Yum !

Silent And Soft

We awoke this morning to a winter wonderland.

Soft, wet snowflakes, blanketing the ground, cocooning us in a world of silence.
A gentle accumulation, it's as if Mother Nature took her powdered sugar shaker, and gave the landscape a sprinkling.
Magical.

 

 

 

Out of the cloud-folds of her garment shaken,

Over the woodlands, brown and bare

Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

Silent, and soft, and slow

Descends the snow.

~~By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.~~

 

Winter Days

A damp and sunless morning.
The weather has turned to a bone-chilling cold, with an arctic blast predicted over the next several days.
There is a list of  chores as long as my arm waiting for attention, but my motivation seems to be running on empty.

I've been gathering Christmas decorations  here and there, but not quite ready to devoid the tree of its ornaments or remove the twinkling lights in the kitchen.

Sparkly encouragement is welcomed.