Life – Page 24 – Jennifer Michie

December 30, 2016 / 0 Comments

A Birthday Dinner at Dishoom

Well, we had a birthday in the Michie household yesterday. And, the Birthday Boy requested a new pair of sneakers, as he has literally run through his other pair and his birthday dinner request was to eat at Dishoom. Well, we made that happen.

We had to wait to be seated, but that is never a problem. We were lucky and got a seat at the bar. Watching their bartenders work, is like watching a magic show. I ordered my favourite, an East India Gimlet. Delicious!

We truly feasted! We started with lamb samosas and for dinner we ate mattar paneer, naan bread, Awadhi lamb biryani and raita to cool everything down.

For dessert the Birthday Boy had cinnamon ice cream and coffee. While, I kept to my usual choice, the Gadbad Mitha and a chocolate chai. Happiness is…

The birthday day out was a great success!

{P.S. I do have more to share with you from our time in Denmark, so stay tuned!}

December 29, 2016 / 0 Comments

The Stars Have Dimmed, Again

We had just finished our run this morning and while reading the paper over a cup of coffee, Mr. Michie stared up at me in disbelief. The bewitching Debbie Reynolds had passed away. I lost a piece of my childhood this morning.

Long before I saw Singing in the Rain, she was my Tammy. I must have watched that movie a thousand times, singing along to “Tammy” with her as she dreamily gazed out the window. Equally she was my Molly. I would belt out “Belly Up to the Bar, Boys” and dance around our den.

I was much older before I realised that the voice of my beloved Charlotte belonged to her as well. She was a beautiful, funny, charming, charismatic woman and she will be missed. She got her wish to be with her daughter again and I hope that she is at peace.

December 28, 2016 / 0 Comments

The Stars Have Dimmed

The stars are shining a little less brighter in the galaxy today after the news that Carrie Fisher has passed away.

I grew up watching her. I knew her first as my princess. Then, she was the funny and sarcastic best friend of Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally. She was an incredibly talented actress, but she was so much more than that.

She was intelligent, had a wicked sense of humour, was honest in her diagnosis with being bipolar and opened the door for frank dialogue about this illness. She was kind and beautiful inside and out. Goodbye, my princess. You will be missed!

December 19, 2016 / 0 Comments

The Last Monday

Today is the last Monday before Christmas. How can that be? December seems to be flying right past us, even though we are drinking up every single drop.

Last night we watched Home Alone, while I wrapped up a secret Santa present and finished the last of our Christmas cards. I was missing two addresses and between my Mom and my sister, they had me covered and happily forwarded me the details. Mr. Michie sat at the table with me and wrote out his cards for work. We drank tea and ate the most delicious brownies, sent to me by a kindred spirit.

Mr. Michie also very graciously gave me about three hours of his time yesterday, helping me rework my blog. It’s been a long time, since I’ve done some behind the scenes hacking and I was happy to have expert help on hand. So now, no matter what updates are thrown my way, everything should just stay put! I might change a few more things, but for now, I’m satisfied.

This morning, I ran to the grocery store after a frosty 6 mile walk and couldn’t resist the fresh rolls they were putting out. They were still warm! So, off I meandered home to eat a warm roll with butter and make a cinnamon hot chocolate for breakfast. Our lights are glowing, the candles are lit, my Christmas potpourri is simmering away on the stove and Christmas music is playing throughout the house. I’m so very happy!

December 15, 2016 / 0 Comments

In the Backseat

I want to be in the backseat of this car! This would have been a fun ride!

December 9, 2016 / 0 Comments

Friday

I’m late out for my walk this morning. I normally go when it’s still dark, but I got caught up in doing things around the house. I’ve mopped the bathroom and kitchen floors and replied to a few e-mails and chit-chatted with my postmen after he knocked on our door with a bundle of parcels in his hands for us. It is one of those days where I can’t seem to get ahead. I’m doing things, but that creates another pile of items to be sorted. I’ll get there in the end.

It’s damp outside and raining, it feels like a Friday. The air has that feeling. I’ve been singing along to Christmas tunes while I clean. It makes my heart happy. The weekend is up for grabs. We have a few errands to run on Saturday and I’m working on a grocery list for the week ahead. I have a new recipe that I want to try from a cookbook that Mr. Michie surprised me with.

Mr. Michie had a late school night last night and so when he got home, we ate breakfast for dinner. I made brown sugar and maple syrup roasted apples and sausages with clementine zest, cheese grits and a pan of buttermilk biscuits. He was very happy. After dinner we cozied up on the couch and watched Love Actually. That movie always puts me in a good mood.

Here’s to the weekend! Long may it last!

December 6, 2016 / 0 Comments

After the Rain

I spotted this on my walk home. Beautiful!

November 30, 2016 / 0 Comments

Frost

It seems fitting that the last day of November should bring with it, such frosty conditions. I didn’t walk for very long this morning, even with my gloves on, my fingers were just too cold.

The ice on the pond was thicker this morning. A small portion, untouched by ice, still remained and the ducks were huddled in there together, paddling about. The air smelled so clean and fresh. The woods were quiet this morning.

So much happens in the month of November that it always goes by in such a blur. I hope December doesn’t pass us by in a whirl. I keep thinking where I was a year ago and where I am now and where we might be this time next year. Goodbye, November! See you next year.

November 29, 2016 / 0 Comments

Ice & Hot Chocolate

It was 25°F when I headed out for my walk this morning. The pond was frozen over, but one little patch by the reeds still remained swimmable, as a lone duck was paddling about. Tonight it is supposed to get even colder.

I made my way down to the edge of the water to look at the ice. I’m always fascinated seeing how it forms. This was a contrast of angles and rough edges. It was almost feathered in some spots. I love peering at things under the ice as well. One Christmas in Denmark, we were out for a stroll and I noticed that someone had dropped a bit of a tangerine peel in a small dip in the street. The water that was resting in that dip had frozen over and the peel lay underneath. You could see crystals around it’s edges, almost like sugar. There was a beauty to it, frozen underneath the blueish coloured ice. I never photographed it. I wish that I had. I think of it often. A strange thing to think of I know, but there was a quality to the light that day and a beauty to what lay beneath our feet.

I ran errands during lunch and treated myself to a gingerbread hot chocolate. Happiness is…

November 28, 2016 / 0 Comments

The Nature of Daylight

Today feels like a Monday. It’s not yet noon and the sun already appears as if it is starting to make it’s descent. The shadows are changing. As we move into December the lamps are turned on and the candles are lit a little earlier. At the height of Winter, we are normally almost dark by 3:30ish. It doesn’t usually bother me, the early evenings I mean. I like being cocooned in our little cottage, listening to music, cooking, reading. The darkness that envelops us this time of year, feels to me, like Mother Nature’s way of saying: Stop! Rest! Refuel! Be in the moment! Be!

I feasted on a turkey sandwich for brunch and drank a cup of Christmas tea. I totally smothered the turkey in cranberry sauce. The last taste of Thanksgiving. The rest of the turkey is cut up and ready to be used in a pot pie. Mr. Michie cooked dinner last night. It was the first time we actually cooked something since Thanksgiving.

After running errands this weekend, Mr. Michie took me on a date to the movies. We saw Arrival. I’m still thinking about it. I really enjoyed it and I feel that I need to see it again to keep piecing it all together. We each had our own interpretation.

The mid-century modern house that Amy Adams’s character lived in was scrummy! All the light that would pour in would be intoxicating. The soundtrack features one our favourite songs, On the Nature of Daylight. The title is fitting today, since I have been pondering that very thing, the nature of daylight.