Well, this was a big year.  My Mom turned 75 and she is still going strong!  We ended our week long “Holy Week” with dinner out with family and friends. 

                                                           

Some key ingredients beyond the good friends and family… is a good menu.  We dined at Incontro Restaurant in Franklin, MA.  Check out their site:

http://www.incontrorestaurant.com/

Now, for a special year… a great cake is in order.  I happen to know that my Mom’s favorite flavor is Irish Creme.  So, I went to Konditer Meister -  the cake experts.  The created a golden cake with chocolate mousse filling laced with Irish Creme.  It was divine.  The real bonus is it looks at wonderful as it tastes.  They wrap the cake in a ribbon color of your choosing and decorate with butter cream roses on top!  Mom was really impressed!  Check out their site for more info:

http://www.konditormeister.com/

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I call this recipe Holiday Noodles because the are high calorie and I usually make them for a special occassion.  This is another recipe I make from memory and I always think of them when we are having a good steak!

Ingredients:

1 Package Wide Egg Noodles

1 stick Butter

3/4 Cup Sour Cream

1 Tbsp Basil

1 to 2 Cloves Garlic (Depending on how much you love garlic!

Salt and Pepper to taste

Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

To make the sauce put the sour cream and basil in a mixing bowl large enough for the noodles to go into.  Melt the butter in a frying pan and pour most of this into the sour cream mixture.  With remaining butter turn up the heat and press garlic into pan and lightly brown to release flavor.  Pour all of this into sour cream mixture.  Add salt and pepper and mix well.  Refrigerate.  Cook noodles according to package directions.  Add to the mixture and stir well.  Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the top and serve.

For added color steam some frozen peas and mix into the noodles.  Enjoy!

Well, it was not for lack of something to do that I did not post on the actual day… I was busy planning a gardening project.  Now, I have been scolded for not filling my mother’s bird feeders on a regular basis… or any basis for that matter.  I figured I could make up for it by giving her a bit of a fun garden with a bird bath.  Here is the solar fountain beauty in a new garden space with Black Eyed Susans at the base.  A double wammy since this is Mom’s favorite flower. 

I also put in the starters of another garden project around the clothes line.  Yes, we use a clothes line.  To avoid sheets hitting taller plants, I used ground flocks and myrtle.  Mom was very pleased with the results.  There is a lot more work to do… but I decided to pace myself!

Being the 3rd or 4th generation knitter… I have a lot of patterns!  Some still have faint notes made by my Grandmother who died when I was young.  She never knew I took up the knitting needles myself!  Many of these patterns were thrown in an trunk or tucked in several places around the house.  Years ago, Mom and I decided to put them in one place and with the best intentions filed them.  But as you can see, this created an organized mess. 

So, as I look for new projects on line… or even through these folders… I try to organize and protect these heirlooms.  I have several 3-ring binders; one for knitting patterns and another one for cross-stitch patterns.  With this system, I can add binders to expand my collection.  Binders are easier to look through then digging in folders and what is better, each pattern is safe in a clear plastic pocket to ensure many more years of use.

Happy knitting!

As with many rooms in my home, the last time they received any attention was in the 1980’s.  When a leaking faucet forced me to look at replacing it, I decided to do a makeover. 

I removed the wallpaper using Dif but you can also use by very hot water with vinegar in it.  To make the most of either of these remedies, it is necessary to score the old wallpaper to allow the product to soak into the paste beneath it.  A scoring tool is an inexpensive time saver that can be purchased at any hardware store. 

The walls needed repair so spackel, sanding and primer were next in line.  The ceiling shouldn’t be ignored either… a fresh coat of ceiling white made the bath look three times larger.  The wall color I chose was Serendipity from C2.  Usually green is not a good color for a bathroom since it can make you look sallow in the mirror and affect how you put on makeup.  However, I wanted a spa feel so I kept the color and softened it by using a great shower curtain which just so happened to have a matching border.

The window was formerly covered by dark curtains to allow for privacy in the bath.  However, the room is so much brighter with a privacy film which can also be purchased at a hardware store.  It is so easy to install!  The product I used surface tension rather than adhesive. 

Other ammenities such as towel hooks outside the shower and a towel rod for guest towels were finishing touches.  I am very happy with the results.  Total project time was 3 weeks.  2 weeks prep and 1 week to coordinate the plumber for the sink and electrician to move an outlet.  I did the rest! 

    Old Bath                 New Bath

Haiku is one of the most important forms of traditional Japanese poetry.  Strictly speaking, the history of Haiky begins only in the last years of the 19th century or more precisely around 1892 when it was establisted as a new independent poetic form.  The two traditional elements of haiku are the diision of 17 syllables into three groups of 5, 7, and 5 syllables and the inclusion of a seasonal theme.  

There are two further proposals that can be included.  One, haiku would be truer to reality if there were no center of interest in it and two, the importance of the poet’s first impression, just as it was, of subjects taken from daily life, and of local color to create freshness.  In Japanese, the rules for how to write a haiku are clear.  In foreign languages, there exists no consesus in how to write haiku poems. 

What do you write about? Haiku poems can describe almost anything, but you seldom find themes which are too complicated for normal people’s recognition and understanding.  Some of the most thrilling haiku poems describe daily situations in a way that gives the reader a brand new experience of a well-known situation. 

Try it… get inspired.  Happy Earth Day!

Just to do something a little different… here is a poem a friend gave to me.  I do not know who wrote it, so if someone can let me know I will definitely give them credit! 

            The power of a woman lies within her heart,

        with her capacity to touch others with her love,

              and within the quiet resources of her soul.

The power of a woman - just one woman -

can lighten the burdon of one who is suffering

or stir the hearts of millions and change the world.

Just one woman can make a difference

when she believes in her god-given powers

and makes an effort to use them.

Within each woman is the power to give joy to others,

to live her dreams and to love with all her heart.

This kind of power kindles hope, inspires faith,

and keeps the spirit alive within all of us.

The power of a woman is in her inner strength and character,

and the sum of who she is as an individual;

it is her values and the ways in which she expresses those values.

It is also in the way she perceives herself in the world;

how she carries herself, responds to others and conducts her life.

Others will always be drawn to the woman who is certain who she is,

who is unafraid to freely express her true nature.

This is the power of a woman.