He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
~Clarence Budington Kelland
And he continues to do it everyday and I see a man, that has more Strength, Wisdom, Patience, Kindness, Faith and a bigger heart than any man I know.
If I have gained just a smidgen of that from him, I know that it is a start. Happy Father’s Day, Dad!
(Image Found: Here)
The “Unseen Jobs”, that is what my grandmother called all the little jobs we do as women, that no one else sees, such as cleaning out the kitchen drawers, washing all the utensils, wiping out the drawers and re-organizing everything when you are done.
No one will ever know you did this but you! But, that is what I am doing today, all the little unseen jobs to get our little cottage in order and ready for Summer. I wish I could wiggle my nose like Samantha from “Bewitched” and it would be done in a jiffy, but that isn’t going to happen. I am cleaning, scrubbing, sorting through my closets, the washing machine is whirring away and the air is heady with the scent of lemons.
So back to work for me, soaking up the therapy that cleaning seems to give me along with the sunshine pouring in through the windows and looking forward to finishing, so I can enjoy a slice of the chocolate cake with chocolate fudge icing that I made yesterday and start on my little crochet project, because I haven’t managed to do that yet!
Hope you are having a wonderful first day of June wherever you are.
Today, I have been married to Mr. Michie for 7 years and I am still loving every minute of it! We started off our anniversary with a bang yesterday and went into central London, to just roam where ever our feet took us.
We ate lunch, spent some time at the National Gallery, wandered through Covent Garden and picked up our tickets for an evening of Vivaldi by Candlelight at St. Martin in the Fields.
It was a wonderful day! We ate dinner at Cha Cha Moon, a new Chinese restaurant we wanted to try off Carnaby Street. It was very authentic, a lot of Chinese people were in there eating and that, to me, is always a good sign. Their dumplings were too die for!
Then we headed over to St. Martins just before they opened their doors. The Church was wonderfully cool and candles were lit everywhere, it was very romantic. The orchestra came out and and played a series of pieces in the first act, one being Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 3. Which is very special to us as we walked down the aisle to this piece after we were married.
My parent’s instilled a true love of all kinds of music into my sister and I. We both played with a symphony and even had the opportunity to travel through Europe playing with them as well. My sister is a star violist and I am an oboist. I find that having played an instrument, I am so much more appreciative of what the performers are going through.
The second half of the concert was the entirety of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and as night began to permeate around us the glow of the candlelight became more heightened. We had the great fortune to see the lovely Kerenza Peacock play her first concert since she injured her wrist. It was outstanding. As her bow struck the first note, I was beyond moved.
What a sight to behold. Music that has been played for centuries to Kings and Queens and we had the opportunity to see it played within the hallowed walls of St. Martins in the Fields by an outstanding orchestra. The entire audience was on the edge of their seats, there was a true electricity in the air and I found that more than once I was holding my breath. How lucky we are to have had the opportunity to see and hear this!
We finished off the evening with a few little surprises from Laduree. They have opened a new store in Covent Garden and since I can’t go to Paris at the moment, at least one of my favorite things from Paris can come to me!
So, Mr. Michie, here’s to seven more years on the roller-coaster of marriage and may they be as wonderful as the first seven!
The Flying Scotsman came to visit me today (well really he came to see Goose Girl) and I showed him the lovely yellow roses my sweet red-headed Scotsman gave to me!
The Princess & The Pea is one of my favourite fairytales. I really have no idea why. I think mostly it was for the fact that I loved seeing the illustrations of all the beautiful assortment of mattresses piled one on top of the other, so high that you needed a ladder to climb to the top. The mattress were always covered in polka dots and roses and stripes and stars and I was always amused by that, as my mattress looked nothing like that. I also thought the idea that she could feel the pea under all those mattress was funny as well, however, as of late, I am beginning to think that feeling one little pea wouldn’t be such a bad thing!
I haven’t been sleeping very well for awhile now. We have a very old mattress and it is causing me to fall apart like an old lady. I can feel more than a “pea”! I can feel springs and boards and lumps and bumps when I sleep. I stripped the bed the other week and in looking at it, it reminded me of a 3D geographical map with a lot of mountains and valleys. Not what you want your little oasis of happiness to look like. I love my bed, so I want to be comfortable in it!
Since Mr. Michie isn’t sleeping so well either, we realized that is was definitely time to make a change and to stop thinking about making one. So, we decided to go mattress shopping. I did my research and we knew what we wanted, we went to the store and were helped by the nicest man named Henry.
He was from Africa and had the most exotic accent, I loved listening to him speak. We told him of our old aches and pains and that we wanted a medium to firm mattress. Well, he took wonderful care of us, we walked out with a new mattress being delivered this Saturday and two new pillows as well! We even got a hug from him when we left! The company ranks their mattresses on a scale of 1 to 5; 5 being the “softest” and 1 being “orthopaedic”. We must really be getting old because the bed that felt the best to us was a number ONE! We just had to laugh!
I will truly feel like a princess on this mattress as I will not notice Mr. Michie roll about, since he is quite a fidget, I can just lay still in perfect blissful sleep! So be gone, peas and springs and feathers and lumpy mattresses, I am ready for sweet dreams!
(Image by Tim Walker)
A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavour by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving
(Image by: Belle & Boo)
Never saw you look quite so pretty before
Never saw you dressed quite so lovely what’s more
I could hardly wait to keep our date this lovely
Easter Morning…
And my heart beat fast as I came through the door.
For in your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it
You’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade.
When my Mom was a little girl, my Nana made all of her and her sister’s Easter outfits herself. They all had a new dress, new coat, new white gloves and a new little Easter bonnet for Easter Sunday.
When my sister and I were growing up, my Mom did the same for us. We always had a new outfit for Easter. I love that some things never change. Your Easter hat says so much about you. I couldn’t wait to get to church Easter Morning to see what hat Mrs. S. had on. She was in my Nana’s altar society and her hats were straight out of a Hollywood movie of the 1950’s.
In perusing Flickr, I came across a few Easter Bonnet clad ladies of yore and I thought I would share them with you. What is it about that brand new Easter outfit and hat? Enjoy!
(Flower embellishment: Pugly Pixel Freebie. All images found on Flickr)
When Spring seems to be in the air and sunlight dapples the path of my walks in the woods, it always makes me a little homesick. For Spring at home means dogwoods in full blossom, the tingle of the sun on your skin, the smell of pluff mud and the sparkling view of the ocean as you hit the bridge for the first beach trip of the season.
I am from the South and the promise of warm weather holds so much weight. Warm weather not only brings beach trips, a great hot dog from Jack’s, sweet tea watered down from the heat of the day, but a certain vibe all of its own. It brings with it, its own music; beach music.
Heading down to the beach during Spring/Summer in the South, meant hitting a certain part of the journey where you would lose a good radio signal. But about 20-30 minutes after that, you would pick up the sounds of the beach. Nothing but good old Shagging kinda music. We would roll the windows down to catch that first smell of the pines, the sun beating down on our skin as the car was filled with the sounds of the coast. The music filled our beach house too or echoed from someone else’s as we sat on the screen porch, watching my parent’s dance around.
I can’t get in my car and head to the beach in England, but I can bring the memories of the beach to me. All, I have to do is hit “play” on my Ipod and the upbeat, soulful, happy tunes from the “Beach Music Anthology” fill my house and if I close my eyes real tight, I can almost taste that hot dog and smell those pines, feel my toes digging into the sand, the breeze dancing across my skin, the waves hitting the shore and the sound of beach music floating across the air from someone’s radio. I love beach music!
Here are just a few of my favorite beach music melodies:
(Image: film still from “Shag:The Movie”)
We had a lovely weekend with our guest and decided to finish it off with a trip out to a Country Pub this afternoon. On the recommendation of a good friend we visited The Royal Standard in Forty Green. It is the oldest freehouse in England.
We got there early, parked the car and took an ambling walk through the Chilterns. Taking in the beginning of Spring popping up in the fields while working up quite an appetite, before we headed to the Pub. You could not have asked for a nicer day. The sun was shining, there was a breeze softly blowing about and the delicious smell of earth was in the air.
The food at the Pub was heavenly. I had a Yorkshire Pudding that I think was as big as my head, with creamy mashed potatoes, steamed veggies and roast beef. Others at the table had the Sunday Roast as well and Mr. Michie got the Sausage and Mash, which was delectable. I know, because I stole a bite.
And, this little fellow watched over us as we ate, which made me smile! A wonderful end to an enjoyable weekend.
(All images by Mr. & Mrs. Michie)
Yesterday admidst all my dusting, mopping, pantry tearing apart and vacuuming (with my new hoover), there was a knock on my racing green door and a Valentine’s package was placed into my arms.
It was filled with all kinds of wonderful surprises and too many of them! Including the love hearts above. When one is presented with such a gorgeous Valentine’s surprise, you know it is time to take a cleaning break, tear into that package and just enjoy all that delicious candy before you. A girl’s gotta keep her cleaning strength up, you know!
And, most importantly as you munch away on candy while going through all your surprises, you can’t forgot the “Love Heart Eating Rules”, you have to read what your heart says before eating it, Mr. Michie forgot that part yesterday, but I reminded him!
Thanks Mom, Dad & Maisy, you as always, are too generous! ♥