Yesterday was a very long day and the only answer to it was: CAKE! I made this pumpkin pecan spice cake for dessert from a Williams-Sonoma mix. I frosted the top with tangerine infused cream cheese and a sprinkle of tangerine zest and chopped pecans for decoration. A slice of that and a cup of tea and all was right with the world again!
Spotted on my run this morning! I liked it.
Today is “Blue Monday”. I didn’t wake up feeling blue. I was a ball of energy this morning. That continued during my walk, even though it was pouring and I was squish squashing my way down the street. And it continued as I attempted to scrub layers of mud off of myself in the shower from running through the woods.
But, my little balloon has slowly started to deflate this afternoon, as I discovered that a huge amount of files I had stored on a hard drive had been erased by the hard drive itself, while it was trying to make room for a back-up. I could have just cried. First world problems, right?
C’est la vie! I’ve made a cup of tea, I’ve lit my candles, I’m watching the rain from my window and I’m listening to Gregory Porter and just holding on.
At this time of year, it is normally dark when we leave our house in the morning. It was dark this morning as Mr. Michie locked the door, we silently crossed the street to the glow of the streetlamp. As we walked along the High Street, I glanced across the road and suddenly grabbed Mr. Michie’s arm, bringing us to a halt.
There in all his glory was the most gorgeous, breathtaking, majestic fox, walking down the sidewalk. There were just a few cars driving down the road. He waited for a clear opening before he crossed over to our side and stood for a moment on the bridge. He turned and looked at us. Mr. Michie said, “Hello!”. He sat for just a split second and watched us, calmly; he wasn’t afraid. He slowly turned and padded over the bridge and around the bend.
He passed one of the train drivers coming up the hill and by the time we had made our way over the bridge, he had crossed the street and was heading for the staircase that would take him along the footpaths and back to the banks along the tracks.
It was a moving experience. Neither of us spoke, we just watched in reverence. I have a thing for foxes, I always have. To be so close to him was incredible. On one level I was in complete awe and on another, it saddened me to think that our worlds are so interlinked because we have encroached upon his.
I had a few chances to take a picture of him, but I couldn’t do it. It didn’t seem right. This was a moment to be savoured, to slowly devour, not to worry about snapping away or lining up the perfect shot. I looked for him all through my walk this morning as I made my way along the footpaths next to the tracks. I hope he made it home safely. Seeing him this morning, was like being given a gift. A tremendous gift.
The temperature dropped so low last night, that we awoke this morning to a fairyland encrusted in sugar. It has been too wet to run through the woods the past few days, but with the world hard with frost underneath my feet, I took my first walk into the woods in this new year.
It was beautiful! The air was so cold and fresh, the light was so purely white. The ducks were skating across the pond. The robins were singing and swooping from branch to branch. Pure magic.
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!}
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.
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!
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!
I spotted this on my walk home. Beautiful!