Stasia's Place Of Grace

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

 

C'est si bon! (It is good!)

Good Food - I've lost eight pounds on my new Frenchy-fied diet, which consists of meals (mostly organic) including things like these:

Free-range, vegetarian-fed chicken egg omelettes filled with tender-crisp sauteed asparagus (from my garden), vidalia onions, and Swiss cheese;

Homemade herbed rye bread with homemade herbed cream cheese;

Salads of Romaine lettuce, walnuts, toasted walnut oil, and Maytag blue cheese;

Tenderloin au poive or garlic- and rosemary-encrusted roast pork tenderloin with oven-fried Yukon gold potato slices dusted with Penzey's Smoked Spanish Paprika;

French baguettes;

Hothouse tomatoes with sea salt, Penzey's Four Peppercorn Blend, and fresh chopped basil;

Assorted cheeses;

Valrhona or Rapunzel semisweet chocolate.

Inexpensive but very decent wines I've been enjoying are St. Supery Napa Valley 2003 Sauvignon Blanc and Columbia Crest Grand Estates Columbia Valley 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon.

The secret seems to be slowing down - taking the time to shop for the best ingredients, cooking your own food, and sitting down to an enjoyable, relaxing meal... no TV, no computer, no crabby talk. Experiencing the food with all of your senses, and noticing every bite. I'm enjoying this very much!

Goodies Have Arrived!

Good Friends - Claudia is the kind of girl you really would like to hate... but can't! Sure, she's beautiful, thin, talented, smart, a lawyer, an incredibly productive knitter and spinner... but on top of that, she's generous and thoughtful - just look what came in the mail:

Yeah, baby! That would be the coveted Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival logo mug, along with some spring-bright CVM roving. Yum! Accompanying these goodies was a wonderful bar of lavender-rosepetal soap. Thanks, Claudia - you rock!

Good Cause - Besides the generosity and kindness she shows we-mere-humans-beneath-her-perfectly-pedicured-feet, Claudia also volunteers for worthy causes.

Won't you join me in sponsoring her bike ride for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society June on 25th-26th?

I challenge to you match - or, better yet, beat - my $30 sponsorship; for that donation, you will get three (or more) chances to win some of Claudia's gorgeous yarn! Sponsor Claudia and hubby Stig's tandem ride with a credit card here or see her always-interesting blog for other options. They're riding 175 miles over two days. I can't even drive 175 miles in two days - go, Team B.!

And how many goodies can a girl find in her mailbox in one day? Dear Veryl (you may know her husband, famous for the Pele's Hair spindles made of gorgeous Hawaiian woods) sent these wonderful books, which I can't wait to read:

Thanks, Veryl!

Good Stuff

Things I've been liking:

Gruet sparkling wine,
Shadow & Light's Black Tea & Honey body lotion,
Maytag (yes, that Maytag!) blue cheese (red plastic wrap!),
Whittard's Spice Imperial tea.

How cute is Dyed-in-the-Wool Wine from New Zealand?

Good Things To Keep Me Occupied

As promised, here is a pic of my very first, hand-pieced and hand-quilted Flannel Fiona Quilt (a practice project given to my chilly whippet):

If you want to see some real quilts, take a peek at the May 1st Quilt Show - wow!

Next on my to-do list is this neat wrap, called the Cosmos Poncho:

It's from the book Handknit Style and the yarn is Stacy Charles' "Cosmos".

Right now I'm making up a top-down, square neck raglan t-shirt of sorts in Artful Yarns "Fable" (cotton/silk):

After that, I have to figure out how to frame my Bayeux Tapestry goose embroidery. I have the mat and frame... I'm just not too sure how to proceed. I think I need to stretch the piece over some backing cardboard, sewing the edges with long basting threads on the back... but do I need to cover that cardboard with acid-free paper or something first? Advice would be appreciated!

Speaking of advice, thank you all for your wooden button tips!

Nature News

I'd like you to meet Whitey - we adopted him as his parents moved to Australia and had to leave him behind:

The chequered lilies and narcissus seem to have spread this year:

It seems to be peak migration for songbirds. Visiting the feeders, we have:

Goldfinch

House Finch

Song Sparrow

Cardinal

Oriole

I think this is a grosbeak...

And the usual suspects.

May your day be full of good things as well!

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