Tag: family (page 10 of 13)

February 10, 2011 / 2 Comments

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!

January 22, 2011 / 1 Comment

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.

January 6, 2011 / 0 Comments

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!

December 20, 2010 / 1 Comment

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)

December 2, 2010 / 0 Comments

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!

November 16, 2010 / 0 Comments

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)

October 31, 2010 / 1 Comment

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!

September 29, 2010 / 0 Comments

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

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.
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.
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)

September 24, 2010 / 0 Comments

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)

August 31, 2010 / 2 Comments

Jumping Right In

Tomorrow is my first day of school! I am so excited, nervous, happy, sick to my stomach! I love school and I hate school. I know I am going there in a working capacity, but I feel as if I will be walking through those doors like any other student, the new kid(s) on the block.

Believe it or not, I am a very shy person and meeting new people and being in new situations give me butterflies. Even the thought of being introduced to my peers at Assembly on Wednesday morning has my stomach churning and my cheeks flaming red, for all of the 10 seconds it will take to occur. But, you would never know it from looking at me.

My parents have always taught my sister and I how to behave, we were never allowed to hide behind them and not speak to people; making eye contact, a nice handshake, they have a gift for putting people at ease, my parents and they instilled good manners in us.

So come tomorrow morning, I am going to make eye contact, shake hands, hold my head high and no one will never know that a three ring circus is going on inside my tummy. I’m holding my nose, here I go… I’m jumping right in!