It Can't Be Over. It's the 7th Day of Christmas!

Christmas wasn’t what I imagined this year.  In fact there were a few events that if it were possible, I would ask to do over but on the other hand there were a couple of things that worked out perfectly.  One of the perfect things happened to be an unexpected event that made me want to stop the clock and freeze time.

My grandgirls came to stay with us on December 7^th.   We weren’t expecting them until December 21 and I would be lying to you if I didn’t admit that at first I was completely overwhelmed.   When they arrived, Christmas preparations were barely underway and things were busy at work with a lot of year-end activities.  It’s been nearly 8 years since I had to juggle the working mom schedule but it didn’t take long for me to get a schedule figured out.   Lucky for me after a week of rearranging and scheduling, our workplace day care center kicked off a winter camp program so the girls got to come to work with me every day. 

There were some week days that I was completely exhausted after getting them fed, bathed and ready for the next day but on the weekends it was incredible to have plenty of time to bake cookies, go ice skating, go Christmas shopping, volunteer, have tea parties, sing carols, read stories, play games and watch movies. My youngest granddaughter loves Gidget!   Can you imagine?   Every day really was a holiday – just like the words that Karen Carpenter sang.

I just took my son, his wife and the girls to the airport and I’m back home completely overwhelmed with an empty and silent house. While the girls were here everything was always out of place, something was being broken or spilled or someone was needing help with something but the for the past three weeks the house has been full of joy, excitement and enthusiasm.  In the evenings we would sit together in “the talking room” (my living room which has no television) and simply enjoy family times, telling the Christmas story nightly.  The mornings were so special. Nothing can take the place of a waking up to a child’s hand gently reaching for your face in the early hours of the morning just checking to see if you are awake.

Today my heart aches from having to say goodbye to such precious moments and at the moment it is too hard to think about much of anything else.  I am reminded that there is joy in being able to recognize precious moments when they happen and they happened a lot this Christmas.

May 2013 be filled with more wonderful moments with friends and family. Happy New Year.

Make it happen !

Happy New Year ❤

So Elegant !

Oscar de la Renta dress

via the cinderella project

Leigh Viner

I just discovered Leigh Viner art work.  My favorite illustrators, her pieces featuring chic, fashion-savvy women are absolutely gorgeous.

You can view more of Leigh's beautiful work on etsy.  Enjoy!

Whimsical illustrations

Family pillow

Glassware

wall art

Family set

Mother & child Necklace

I'm loving these customized figures for all the characters under your roof. Can't wait to get mine !

Picture of the day

Pakistani camel sellers drink tea ahead of the festival Eid al-Adha. Photo by Arif Ali

Spring Shoes

Altazurra

Rodarte

Roland Mouret

Alexander Wang

Dolce & Gabbana

Maison Martin Margiela

Missoni

Roberto Cavalli

Fendi

Christian Dior

images via style.com

Hair Trend

Multi-faceted crystals tucked into a lovely nest of french braids
images via style.com

Plush Puffs

Plush Puffs  artisan marshmallows. An array of flavors. A gourmet confection! As seen on Food Network, numerous magazines, and other media. 

Stracotto…ring in the new year…

::Nothing rings in the new year quite like a hunk of meat::

 

Hearty…fills the house with the warmth and flavors of Italy…on a cold day…

Stracotto….simply means cooked loooong. Luxuriously long.

Add it to pasta…pappardelle I love cipriani brand…if you are splurging.

 

From The New Basics Cookbook,by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins

 

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds beef bottom round roast
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery (I used a fennel bulb  instead)
4 cloves garlic, slivered, plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup homemade beef stock or canned broth
1 can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes, drained (I didn't drain the tomatoes)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme)
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
1 pound penne or pappardelle
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the pot roast and brown on all sides. Remove the meat from the pan, and set aside.
Add the onions, carrots, celery, and slivered garlic and sauté until soft, 10 minutes. Remove the vegetables and set aside.
Set a rack in the bottom of the pot and place the roast on top. Pour the stock into the pot. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. (Instead of a rack, I put the stalks of fennel under the roast.)
Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
Remove the roast and the rack from the Dutch oven, and cut the meat into 1/4-inch-thick slices (they will be quite rare). Return the slices to the pot, layering them evenly.
Crush the plum tomatoes slightly, and add them to the pot along with the tomato paste, the 1 teaspoon minced garlic, pepper, salt, thyme, bay leaf, red wine, and reserved vegetables. Bring to a boil, tranfer to the oven, and bake, covered, until the meat falls apart, 1 1/2 hours.
Remove the meat and bay leaf from the pot, and allow the meat to cool slightly. Discard the bay leaf. Shred the meat and return it to the pot. Add the parsley, and heat through.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook at a rolling boil until just tender. Drain.
Serve the stracotto over the hot pasta.

And welcome in a new year….2013.

Perfectly

Quote of the day

Oh The Weather Outside is ......

"Frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"

Then I remember that melted snow turns into big puddles of wetness, so I'm not sure that the white stuff would be the answer. The wettest year in England which will no doubt go down in the annals of quiz questions is slowly raining itself out here. We travelled cross country by train, in an easterly direction for the festivities to spend a few days with my mother, before himself had to return to work yesterday.
I made the same journey less than a month ago - it was wet then but has noticeably deteriorated further.  We passed one submerged field after another, submerged shrubs and trees, swollen rivers, underwater sports pitches and playgrounds  - a most bleak and depressing landscape. I have made the same journey regularly over the years and have never seen anything approaching this. It was also more depressing to think that this journey did not take us through the most badly affected regions of the country.

I was on edge whilst we were away as there is a small stream running alongside one of the garden boundaries. I was relieved that nothing untoward had happened in our absence although it was obvious that there had been a good deal of rain whilst we were away. The garden though is sodden and dripping. I have got places to go - I want to get out there to cut away the old foliage from the hellebores, I want to plant the last remaining bulbs and to do some straightening up in the greenhouse. I also want to see my allotment again before I forget what it looks like. However even the inner glow of seasonal chocolate is not fuel enough to get me out there today. Instead I have dabbled with some inside gardening. I have planted a present of a hyacinth bulb up - well planting is an exaggeration. I had to partly fill the vase it came with with water and then place the bulb so that the roots are in contact with the water. It made me feel that I was doing something though however unsubstantial it really was. The hyacinth is 'Aiolos', promising sweetly scented white flowers but initially requiring a spell of at least a couple of months in a cool, dark and airy place according to the instructions.  I'm not sure whether it will need this long, as I can already see a green snout emerging, no doubt prompted by already spending time in a warm environment. I shall hurtle out to the garage soon to find a suitable waiting in the wings place whilst there is still a lull in the rainfall. Then some time to spend flicking through the new Avon Bulbs spring catalogue trying to resist all those enticing snowdrops, before making a start on the annual cull of the contents of the seed boxes this evening. How is your garden faring with the weather and have you managed to do any garden related activities?

Quick escape before 2013 begins…

….Dream with me for a moment

will you?

Let’s pick a quick escape…before the New Year begins….The last of 2012. As it were…

…Maybe to the Auberge du Soleil…in California's wine country

This 30 year old  ‘Inn of the Sun’

shines when it comes to the lovely art of relaxation

Or perhaps you would prefer the Rosewood Hotel

in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

In a city the color of it’s sunsets…

Or off to Aix-en-Provence, France…for a minute

at la Villa Gallici

Where would you toddle off to?

hmmmmmm?

Agfa Isolette

I originally posted a little about this camera here: Girl with Agfa Isolette, but this time around I just got a better pic of the camera. More about it at the Camerapedia website, simply CLICK HERE.

Some time or the other I need to get all the ingredients to develop my own film and then I may have a stab at actually using it.

Nikon D300s, Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G AF-S DX Micro, 80x80cm light tent, 2xElinchrom D-Lite-it 4's shot through their softboxes on either side of the tent.

Photographing Weddings is Fun!

Although stressful at times, and tiring to shoot when it stretches to a 12 hour day, I have always enjoyed shooting weddings! I really love to work with people, especially people who are having a whole lot of fun themselves, and at weddings mostly people are very happy, relaxed and in a great mood.

Being properly prepared ahead of time takes most of the stress out of it, however no matter how well you prepare there are always going to be a few surprises along the way, but if you have done the groundwork ahead of time then you should be able to handle the little niggles that come along a whole lot better.

What has always helped me a lot is building a very good relationship with my clients ahead of time, so that on the day they trust me and don't have to stress themselves worrying about whether I am up to documenting their one off very special event that will (hopefully) never be repeated ever again. Some photographers can't deal with that sort of responsibility and hate to shoot weddings, but it is exactly that aspect that gets me revved up! Bring it on!

Cate Parr Art

Cate Parr is the artist behind this series of beautiful fashion illustrations. Each piece contains a beautiful melange of colors and details to fall in love with.

older post click here