Christmas Decorations

I got started decorating for the Christmas Season and all that's left are the lights.  You may notice that there is a conspicuously missing tree.  I don't know if we'll be putting one up this year...if we do it will only be a mini one.  Oh and the wreath?  I made it myself!  Being not the crafty sort of girl, it was quite the undertaking for me.  My ambition was to create a monstrous coffee filter wreath with a giant red velvet ribbon, but this style seemed more manageable for a novice like me.

I might try to find a less expensive version of this dust ruffle and some red pillows for the master bedroom to add to the mix...hopefully Ross or Marshall's has new holiday stocked shelves.  If not, I may just be content with the current set up.  Or I shall repeat that sentence as a mantra of contentedness. 

Happy Holidays!

My Crazy Cat

My cat is more hard core than me. 

She whoops my butt daily. 

She does not contribute to the household according to Numbers Man.

According to me...

She is a still a silly kitten  on the inside. 

It just takes about 100 snaps of the camera to see it.



A Yummy Dinner

I ended up making a yummy dinner off the cuff tonight with some items I wanted to use up.  In any case, it was a hit and we'll definitely make it again in the future so I figured I'd share.

Ingredients:

1 Package of 6 puff pastry shells (I use Pepperidge Farm)

1/2 eggplant - chopped into 1" pieces

1 large tomato - peeled and roughly chopped

1 zucchini - cut off ends and chop into 1" pieces

1/2 onion - diced

3 garlic cloves - minced

1/2 bell pepper - any variety you please, I prefer red, but we only had green on hand

3 pieces bacon - cut into little pieces with kitchen scissors

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 cup grated parmesean cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven per the puff pastry shells as box directions specify.

While the oven is preheating - chop up all your veggies.

Stick puff pastries in the oven and bake as specified.

Dump the remainder of ingredients except wine & cheese in a large saucepan (I use an enamel cast iron dutch oven), cook over medium high heat for 15 minutes. 

Add in the wine & cheese to the cooked down veggies and cook another 5 minutes.

Your puff pastries should be ready now.  Pull them out of the oven, remove their tops and spoon in about one heaping tablespoon of the veggie mixture into each then cover again with their tops.

I served with eggs, just because we love eggs...but it didn't really make any sense so next time I'll probably serve it with pounded, breaded chicken breasts.

ENJOY!

Slides Down by Thrills

They say that God lives very high;

But if you look above the pines

You cannot see our God; and why?

And if you dig down in the mines

You never see Him in the gold;

Though from Him all that's glory shines.

God is so good, He wears a fold

Of heaven and earth across his face -

Like secrets kept, for love, untold.

But still I feel that his embrace

Slides down by thrills, through all things made,

Through sight and sound of every place:



As if my tender mother laid

On my shut lips her kisses' pressure,

Half-waking me at night, and said

'Who kissed you through the dark, dear guesser?'

~A Child's First Thoughts of God by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Welcome to the Frozen Jungle

We've been stuck at home since Monday, surrounded by a virtual skating-rink of ice and pillows of snow.  The top picture is from before the melt and subsequent freeze which led to the ice slick, when the roads were easy to nagivate and fun to photograph.  Now it's all I can do to keep my footing and not land on my heinie.  Even darling dog slid and fell, silly boy. 

Snow and a Sign

Does this mean I'm supposed to get a Christmassy red LL Bean tote monogrammed with my name on it??? 

Probably.

Maybe.

Most definitely!

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It's been snowing by the bucketfull here in King County, Washington....and while I think we all feel the slightest bit trapped and confused, tis a beautiful sight.

I'm happy, that's right.

Walking in a winter wonderland!



My favorite lines...

"I loved him.. once.

Until the color of my skin became a problem...the politics of my skin.

I walked away from Africa with nothing. No brother, no family, no lover, nothing.

Just a belief that words and compassion are the better way.

Even if it's slower than a gun."

 

~ From one of my favorite films of all time, The Interpreter.

In the Real World...

In the real world, not all leaves fall at once.  Some are left behind.  Some are pretty and some are ugly.    Some are so red they stand out against the white sky and the dark tree limbs like stop lights. 

Pause.

Think a while...

About the spaces between.

It has been windy...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The doors are twisted on broken hinges.

Sheets of rain swish through on the wind

where the golden girls ran and the panels read:

We are the greatest city,

the greatest nation,

nothing like us ever was.

~from "Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind" by Carl Sandburg

Summit of the Mothership

This picture is actually from earlier this year (March-ish I think), when we last went up to Mt. Rainier. Sometimes it is like another world up there. Other times not so alien a place.

I like the word "Summit"...it's a warm, full word with a definition that is fitting with the way the word feels in my mouth when I say it.

–noun

1. the highest point or part, as of a hill, a line of travel, or any object; top; apex.

2. the highest point of attainment or aspiration: the summit of one's ambition.

3. the highest state or degree.

4. the highest level of diplomatic or other governmental officials: a meeting at the summit.

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You're the top!

You're the Coliseum.

You're the top!

You're the Louvre Museum.