Valentine Love

Valentine's Day. A day to celebrate love. Intimate, romantic love. But what if... you aren't in a relationship with someone? What if the person with whom you share a relationship is... lets say... less than romantic? Can you still celebrate the day? May I suggest that yes, you certainly can.

We women need to really create an intimate relationship with ourselves don't you think? After all, we are the ones we are closest to. We are the ones who really know ourselves. We are the one who care for ourselves. Our bodies. Our minds. Our spirits.

So let me give you a few ways to "romance" yourself this Valentine's weekend if I may.

*Buy yourself a few of the very finest chocolates you can afford. Eat them slowly. Let the chocolate melt on your tongue. Feel no guilt.

*Lock yourself in the bathroom, light some candles, have the longest, hottest bubble bath you ever had.

*Read that steamy novel that you are way to embarrassed to check out from the library.

*Give yourself a foot massage and a pedicure.

*Splurge on a really nice bottle of wine and drink the whole thing. (This may take more than an evening). If not? So what?

*Sign up for an e-course that you really think you need. Like I did.**

*Watch some romantic movies by yourself. I am sure we are all sick to death of watching Die Hard with our husbands. Movies like Nights in Rodanthe, The Notebook, Chocolat, Lady Chatterly's Lover.

*Write yourself a love letter, and mail it!

*Book yourself a massage.

*Buy yourself a beautiful nightgown.

*Make a valentine from construction paper like you did when you were a girl.

*Most of all, love freely. Love unconditionally. Enjoy and celebrate yourself.

** E-course Inside Out : A Creative Adventure of Self- Discovery.

A Year of Lovely Things

What do you get when you take some goat milk feta, kalamata olives, lemon rind ,

The juice of a lemon, or two if you are bold. Twice as much extra virgin olive oil

A big bowl of organic spinach and

Some pasta cooked al dente

You get this wonderful easy to make pasta dish that is equally as good cold.

Pasta with Spinach, Feta and Olives

Take about a 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives (to pit easily, press on them with the side of a chef's knife. The stone will pop right out)

1 cup cubed or crumbled feta cheese. We prefer goat feta.

Zest a lemon or two and juice the lemon(s)

Mix the lemon juice and olive oil at about a 2 to 1 ratio.

Place as much spinach as you like in a large serving bowl.

Cook pasta until al dente. Drain. Immediately put the hot pasta onto the raw spinach so the heat of the pasta will slightly wilt the spinach.

Toss well with the olive oil/lemon juice. Mix in rind, feta and olives. Add some coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper.

That's it! Simple, easy and delicious.

Oh yes, it is mandatory to serve with a glass of good red wine. Or white if you are so inclined.

Yorkshire Pudding Revisited

Yorkshire Pudding. With gravy. Need I say more? Delightful, delicious. Nothing better with roast beast. But oh what to do with the leftovers.

Athena can tell you. She doesn't like gravy so at Sunday dinner she agrees to try one without. "Yum, tastes like pancakes", she says. (light bulb goes on)

Next day, breakfast is served! Voila.

Backyard Rink

We finally tested out the backyard rink. Of course, Paul had to make it bigger and better than the fill and freeze 10 x 20 foot one we bought. He didn't think it would be any good because it isn't as smooth as ice in an arena. I thought it would be better for a little one just learning to skate. More traction for the blades.Turns out, I was right! My goodness, did she ever skate.

She was even trying to do some spins and some moves with her leg raised at the back, repeatedly asking me if she was "figger skating".

The temperature with the windchill was -33 but she didn't care. I did, just a wee bit. I felt so confident in her ability to remain upright that I even went into the front yard to fill all the bird feeders. After about 45 minutes of skating and falling, skating and falling, her ice time turned from this:

To this:

And this:

Poor little love. She is undeterred. Wapping ones face straight on the ice is a minor event.

Not to mama. Today we are headed to Walmart for a cage for her helmet. The very helmet that saved my little one from cracking her head open and requiring stitches. Oh the perils of childhood.

A Year of Lovely Things

I have had a certain green cardigan for, oh I don't know, 25 years or so. My Mother knit it for my Dad long long ago. As in, 38 years. I know because I have a family picture of him wearing it and my third sister was a baby and she is 6 years younger than I.

I don't really know why or how I got this sweater. come to think of it, I can't even imagine my Dad would wear a sweater. Not the type.

She must have put a lot of time and effort into it just the same. It is acrylic, which is probably why it is still around.

I took it out of my closet the other day and decided to finally repair it once and for all. The sleeves had been fixed countless number of times. I can tell by the different colors of wool/embroidery floss that I used to do so.The buttons, long gone. All but three, but that doesn't help.

I couldn't find any wool to match so I decided on a more whimsical look. I used a contrasting green color to stitch the arms back on.

As for buttons, I didn't have 6 that matched either. So, moving along with the whimsy, I used similar but different ones.

I know it doesn't look like something out of a catalog or off of a store shelf, but it is one of my favorite sweaters I own. Not for the feel of it. As I said, it is acrylic. Not for the fit. It is HUGE. But more so for the history of it. After all, it is acrylic so it should be here forever!