Easter Gratitude

As many of us are emerging from a time of fasting and bible studies in preparation for Easter, this is truly a joyful day… the symbol of Amazing Grace and hope, and here in Maryland that’s something that we could all use right now as our Coronavirus cases are growing into ‘hotspot’ status. I have been blending patterns, watching YouTube videos and working out my face mask prototypes with my new sewing machine, so I can go into mass production in the coming weeks. But before all of that begins, I just want to acknowledge that despite all of the quarantining, the COVID-19 facts and figures we are all navigating and the uncertainties that we are faced with each day… there is so much for which I am grateful…

❤ I am grateful that my family is together under one roof, safe and for the time being, healthy.

❤ I love having my oldest daughter home from college. This was her first year at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. While I was so proud of her and excited for this time in her life to spread her wings, I missed her SO much!

❤ I am deeply grateful for the many ‘essential’ people who go to work, day in and day out to carry out their part in the mosaic of frontline workers treating the sick and dying, comforting families, stocking the shelves, operating the cash registers, making deliveries, tending the farms, working in factories, cleaning our communities… SO many incredible people! Thank you so very much!

❤ While I know his days are fraught with teleworking technical difficulties for his work team, I love having my husband working from home, reminding me how much I appreciate all that he does every day to provide for us and how much he genuinely cares about his employees.

❤ I am thankful that we are able to stay connected online with our loved ones and how blessed we are to have so much entertainment and educational opportunities at our fingertips while we follow the directives to slow the spread of this pandemic.

❤ I had been exhausted for months since the school year began, between caring for my youngest daughter’s post-concussive symptoms and constantly driving to doctors’ appointments, school, other activities, college road trips, weekly errands… while these were all necessary, this time at home has helped me regain some of my sanity, some much needed quality time and some normal sleep.

❤ No matter what happens over the next few weeks or months, God has been so very gracious to us and I wish you and your family abundant blessings, moments of gratitude and Heavenly protection in the days ahead.

Peace! ❤

I Can Almost Smell the Roses

My new “Gertrude Jekyll” David Austin rose

I have been looking forward to contributing to Cee’s Flower of the Day Photo Challenge, so I jumped at the chance to add to the Rose galleries…

After landing myself in bed two winters ago with a horrible flu that lasted for weeks, I watched every Monty Don show I could find on cable! I eagerly waited for Spring to go on the hunt for roses, so imagine my delight when I went to a local nursery and found my first David Austin rose bush! I have read that they can sometimes struggle in our unfamiliar ground, but I amended the soil like a pro & mulched her up! Last summer was particularly hot for us, as well, so while this little “Gertrude Jekyll” bush had a rough start, I’m hoping for the best this year. Here in Maryland my rosebushes are just beginning to leaf out, but the few blooms I got last summer were absolutely gorgeous!

Another bush I could not pass up was this HUGE beauty that I saw while I was at Home Depot buying vegetable plants. I have never seen roses this massive before – they were larger than my hand! Once in the ground, the blooms seemed to become more ‘regular sized’, so I’m curious to see what they do this season. Either way they smelled divine and certainly had staying power… I found a photograph of one remaining rose that held on into November! That’s pretty impressive when our temperatures can drop below 30 degrees F here in Zone 7a. So that’s a bit of inspiration for resilience found in nature and inspiration for the day…

Just keep on keeping’ on, Friends! ❤

Oh So Many Fabrics…

So I’m finally coming out of my self-quarantine after returning to Maryland from my daughter’s college in Hyde Park, NY, fifteen days ago. I have been anxiously waiting to break open the box with my new sewing machine, replacing one that has been in disrepair for a few years. With the current needs of our incredible healthcare workers and essential personnel who are keeping us all safe, I am looking forward to contributing my efforts to the great face mask commission of 2020. It’s also a much more productive way for me to put my love of fabrics — okay, true confessions… years of fabric hoarding, let’s call it what it is — to a much more constructive and worthwhile use. Let the pattern cutting begin!

Sunday Stills: Fantastic Florals

As Spring showers bring my sleepy garden back to life, I have been out excitedly taking pictures of the plants I just put in the ground last season. Today’s Sunday Stills Photo Challenge gave me the perfect opportunity to share some of my new blooms…

This tiny Almond flower is no more than maybe an inch in diameter. It’s one of my favorite bushes in my yard, as one of the first blossoms of the Spring and last year it even put on a repeat show in November! The Flowering Almond symbolizes “Hope”, something we could all use a little more of these days.

Then there is my Flowering Quince… I cannot wait for this beauty to take off and fill out into a gorgeous shrub in front of our house, but for now I will enjoy its early beginnings. Flowering Quince represents “Sincerity” and symbolizes “Love”, both of which were my inspirations for planting them last Spring.

Lastly, are my Lupines. They have not begun to flower yet so this photo is from last Spring, but oh how I love them! Most of my family lives in Canada where my favorite gardens are full of tall purple lupines. I was ecstatic to find this miniature variety in the nursery, so I’m praying they come back since our planting budget is a bit pinched this year. Lupines represent “Happiness, Creativity & Imagination” – Amen to that!

On Top of the World

Top of the Hill in Ogunquit Beach, ME

This is my first submission to The Life of B Photo Challenge. This quarter’s “April Squares” challenge is a celebration of ‘Tops’, so as a nice transition from her January ‘Light’ challenge, I’m entering my Hilltop Sunrise photo taken from Marginal Way in gorgeous Ogunquit, Maine. Ahhh, how I would love to be sitting on that bench with a cup of coffee right now! This particular weekend in March, we were on a college road trip to visit a first choice university up North. It was just after the bomb cyclone had settled off the coast of Cape Cod, so the ocean was incredibly powerful…

...and on Top of the Rocks!

When you experience that kind of power in nature, it’s a reminder that there is something… rather SomeONE greater than all of us, who created this universe and is able to handle all that we cannot control… especially now in these days of uncertainty.

I especially love the third picture in this challenge with the waves crashing against the rocks and my youngest daughter is standing in the front confidently, almost defiantly… unmoved by the thunderous surf. To fully appreciate the significance of this image, you have to understand that this has been a particularly tough season for my daughter. In January 2017, she sustained a concussion during a normal PE class at school. Another student threw a basketball across the gym, that struck her on the side of the head, and dramatically changed the course of her teen years. What we thought would resolve in a few weeks, evolved into considerable loss of her vision for the next six months. Our world completely shifted as I dropped everything to adapt all of her lessons to her academic needs at home with the help of a home teacher assigned by the county, just so we could get her across her academic finish line. Once her vision returned that summer, following intensive medical therapies and treatments by teams of doctors, nurses and various therapists, at Sinai Hospital and Kennedy Krieger Institute, her daily migraine headaches began to intensify. Finally in June 2018, after 3 days on ‘migraine cocktail’ IV’s at Johns Hopkins Pediatric Hospital, she experienced her first 24 hours of migraine relief in 17 months… Since then, she has continued treatment at Hopkins, Krieger and Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital to try to navigate her new life in the aftermath of her traumatic brain injury… still pushing through and managing the pain, still looking for solutions.

As her mother and her primary caretaker, you can imagine the range of emotions I have experienced. So in an odd way, with all that has recently rocked our world, I almost feel like I was prepared for this COVID-19 wave to hit. I don’t mean to downplay the seriousness or the impact this virus has had on individuals, our country or our world. I have simply learned how to roll with the challenges of unexpected happenings and unfolding circumstances. This is where we are… and we are all in it together. The sun will rise tomorrow, and we will start over with the new day, hopefully moving forward. And if we need to stop to take a breath, it’s okay…. take a moment… just don’t live there, and I mean that with love in my heart… Put on your fuzzy pajamas, eat a bucket of popcorn while you watch a movie that makes you laugh until you cry, then let it out, Sister… or Brother!… Let the rain… fall… dowwnnn… Then without touching your face with your ungloved hands, wipe your eyes with a tissue or your sleeve if you’ve run out of tissue… run a comb through your hair or polish that shine, slap on your good looks and step into the next day! You can do this… We all can do this… We need to do this for each other.

Sending you so much love, beautiful sunrises & healing prayers! XO

Comfort Food Friday!

Finally made it to the end of a looooong week and felt it was time for some French Toast Casserole action. This is a HUGE favorite for our family, so I thought I would share it with you in case you could use a little warm comfort casserole goodness for your weekend, as well…

If you would like to skip the steps & head straight to the recipe, click on the title for a printer-friendly version:

Heavenly French Toast Casserole

This is a super simple recipe – just keep in mind that you need at least 8 hours of refrigeration to get the light and fluffy consistency – 24 hours if you can be patient enough for the melt-in-your-mouth version.

Prep Time: 15 – 20 min

Chill Time: 8 – 10 hrs or up to 24 hrs for ultimate joy

Cook Time: 40 min

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Tbsp softened butter, used to grease your dish 
• 12 slices of sandwich bread, or sliced French baguette or loaf bread 
• 8 eggs, whisked
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup cream 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• a pinch of salt

Using a piece of plastic wrap to cover your fingers, generously grease a 9″ x 12″ casserole dish or pan (or a similar size is fine) with the softened butter.

* * *

Lay your bread slices across the bottom of the dish, then arrange a second layer on top. If you are using a baguette in your recipe or another kind of flavored or uncut loaf, make your slices approx. 1″ thick, if possible. Challah bread is incredibly dreamy in this recipe!

* * *

In your mixing bowl, whisk your eggs so they are blended but not frothy. I take this step before adding the other ingredients because it can be difficult to tell if you have broken up all of the yolks once the other ingredients are combined.

* * *

Then add the remaining ingredients and continue to whisk together until well blended but not bubbly. When choosing your cream, I typically use heavy or whipping cream when I am using 2% reduced fat milk. Light cream or even Half and Half may also be substituted for healthier options.

* * *

Carefully pour the mixture over your bread slices, trying to cover all of the edges. Using your whisk or a spoon, gently press the bread into the egg mixture allowing it to absorb more of the liquid. Any slight indentations left by this process will be cooked out in the final stage of preparation.

* * *

Cover your dish with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for at least 8 – 10 hours or overnight. I find that the longer I chill the dish (up to 24 hours), the casserole becomes lighter and fluffier in texture, almost like a custard!

* * *

The next day, remove your casserole from the fridge while you preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. I like to let the dish sit for a good 10 minutes or so while I grab a coffee, so it’s not such a temperature shock from the fridge to the oven.

* * *

Remove the plastic wrap & bake the casserole uncovered on the center rack for 40 minutes until lightly golden on top. Expect it to puff up in the oven as it bakes, so adjust your racks accordingly.

Allow it to cool for about 10 minutes.

* * *

Serve with your favorite maple or flavored syrups, fresh fruit or dessert toppings.

Bon Appétit!

Let Hope Rise

I wanted to share a beautiful shot of the NYC skyline that I took en route to the Hudson Valley on March 22nd. I spent the afternoon moving my oldest daughter out of her dorm when her college closed their residence halls at the prompting of Governor Cuomo’s directives. We are on Day 10 of our self-quarantine which later became mandated by our state of Maryland, and thankfully all is well with our family of six. While we hear more each day about the progression of COVID-19 in our world, we hold on to our faith and lift prayers for all of the incredible men and women putting their lives on the line each day in the hospitals and clinics, those who are working in so many essential roles and the friends and families who are fearful for their loved ones – those who are working on the front lines or those who have begun to show symptoms. We pour out our deepest sympathies for those who are grieving the sudden loss of someone dear to them in the midst of this pandemic, who have succumbed to the virus or have suffered other illnesses or injuries. We pray for the millions staying at home to help get our country through this season as safely and quickly as possible, for the countless businesses and people who are out of work and suffering through the uncertainties that lie ahead and for peaceful resolutions to domestic disturbances that erupt in the midst of so many social and personal anxieties. You are in our minds and hearts, and we pray that the hardships we experience will ultimately make us stronger as individuals, bring us closer as a community and more united as a country. May you be abundantly blessed, protected and grow in Spirit and health. Lord, flood the earth with Your Amazing Grace & Miraculous Healing Power, in Jesus’ Precious Name. God Bless America. God Bless Canada, the UK, Europe… God give us Peace between the many cultures in our World! Amen!

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: #3 – Pick a Topic

I’m just jumping into the CFFC with my 3 topic picks…

Birds... in Newport, Rhode Island at the Newport Bay Club & Hotel

Whales… on a rainy day in choppy waters, a gorgeous Minke Whale
breached 3 times off the coast of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in Pleasant Bay
(wonderful time with Captain Mark’s Whale & Seal Cruise!)

Road… the long and winding Cabot Trail along the breathtaking Cape Breton coast!

Good Morning Sun

I love to watch the sunrise especially this time of year when I can basque in its glow through bare branches. I am always in awe of the beauty and the sense of calm I feel in the moment. It’s the quietest part of my morning while my family sleeps and the day is still full of possibilities. It’s my opportunity to express gratitude for all I have emerged from, and the blessings I have not even hoped for or imagined. It’s a kiss from Heaven that stirs my faith to courageously face the day.