The calendar says it's spring...

We're back in the land of cornfields, Ancient Grains and oh-so pure Angelic Bakehouse breads. This morning, I took my first-of-the season foray through Whole Foods, checking it out for Iowa's best local products. While there, I picked up sprouted rye bread for our annual family celebration of Syttende Mai (Norway's National Day)...
I'll contribute Smorrebrod (open-face sandwiches) to the gathering.

Meanwhile, out on the pond below our balcony,

 a couple of Canadian geese are getting a spring fling on...

Yesterday it was 44 degrees at the Mother's Day baseball games. We sat shrouded in winter coats and blankets, our faces buried against the wind. Today it's a perfect, sunny 77.

Tomorrow's predicted temps: 94 Farenheit and suddenly it's summer!

 I guess Winter skipped Spring in Iowa this year.

What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Going Green

After a year of surgeries and therapies (a broken wrist, double hernia,

 two knee joint replacements and two bladder surgeries), we're coming out of it.

 Hopefully, we're in better shape and able to pick up our real lives again.

It feels a bit like New Year's...a new beginning, a time for healthy resolutions.
Perfect for spring, our resolutions are going green.

...as in joining the YouFit that recently opened in our neighborhood.

Love the shiny newness of everything
and watching the Food channel while treading the treadmill.
I'm back to walking miles.

 We're growing green...as in a kitchen salad garden...

... cooking green...

...and nibbling away on greenery.

We're getting back out on cool, clear waters...

...closing in on green sea waves...

...and drinking green. Well, not that green.
Green tea. Something fresh, filtered and limey.
Pure Icelandic, Norwegian, or Washingtonian spring waters.
Maybe a little sauvignon blanc~~ the bottle is green:)

Time for a toast, my friends?
Maybe an Irish blessing...

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun,
And find your shoulder to light upon.
To bring you luck, happiness and riches,
Today, tomorrow and beyond.

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IKEA Therapy

A couple times a year, I make a pilgrimage to IKEA for a little retail therapy.

When I step through the door I feel at home immediately~~like nowhere else.

 Perhaps it's because the gigantic home-furnishings store matches my sensibilities on so many levels.

Simple, practical designs. Affordable prices. Accessibility. A youthful, hands-on spirit.

 Out-of-the-box ideas. Contemporary, clean lines. Small-space thinking. Design for the masses.

IKEA taught me the Scandinavian way of bed-making with duvets and duvet covers...

...it simplifies making the bed~~no top sheet is necessary because the washable duvet cover

 doubles as a comforter covering/bedspread and top sheet.

The rug department offers affordable area rugs in graphic designs that give a room instant personality.

I'm particularly fond of contemporary, two-color rugs

and have used them for years.

 Stains and spills scrub up and the rugs vacuum easily.

IKEA provides design and decorating inspiration in the store with dozens of room settings using their products.

Every item is tagged with information on how to find it in the accessible aisles of the warehouse floor.

See-through chairs give small spaces an illusion of openness.

No tea for two; it's tea for the masses.

In 1999, I was invited to visit the global company's headquarters and shop in the original IKEA store. Now I enjoy comparing IKEA stores in the USA and seeing how IKEA adapts itself to each region. For example, our Florida store has a more Latino vibe than the Scandinavian spirit of the Minnesota store, the waterside version in Seattle, or the three-story, circular mega-store in Illinois.

IKEA's basic tenet is good design for the masses.
If you've ever stood in the check-out lines, you'll know that's exactly what's happening!

Rituals

Every day routines can be transformed into meaningful rituals.
~~Raymond Cloosterman

My favorite spot in the little garden house Mr. J built.

My body loves routine...or is it my soul that appreciates it?

At any rate, a few daily routines feel like rituals for peace and order.

Although, I appreciate tea and bath rituals that involve products,
I also find pleasure in those that are free.
Like sitting silently in a white space to watch sunlight play over a room's surfaces.

Or, the time spent washing dishes at the end of the day.
Now that I have a dishwasher, I wash only the odd pot or pan, clear the counters of debris, and shine up the remaining surfaces. The reward for this bit of work puts a benediction on the day, leaving the kitchen ready for a new dawn.

Another ritual-like habit: I give myself 15 minutes to wake up before actually getting out of bed...stretching, breathing, and visualizing the activities of the coming day. After I drink a glass of water to hydrate and rev up my metabolism, I take a 20-minute early morning walk around the neighborhood. With the moon still overhead, it's quiet enough to hear birds sing and still enough to smell the scents of trees and flowers.

Morning rituals are the easiest to practice...especially if I get up before the rest of the world.
 Streets are quiet and empty and spaces await my arrival.
 The luxury of an empty canvas of 24 hours about to be filled.

What rituals do you practice?

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Beach Dogs

I went back to the dog beach just south of Sharky's on the Pier to see if anything had changed from a year ago.
 It seemed a lot more quiet than my last visit. Dogs more demure, some on leashes.
 I wondered if new rules are in place.

Still, the dogs seemed thrilled with a watery spring break.

Last year, I picked up these two shots...dogs catching frisbees as well as waves.

So much more active and playful than the dark silhouettes I saw today.

Coulda' been the light? Wrong time of day? Economic times?

Or maybe it's just me?

A shot from Google...love the shadows here.

May you always have a shell in your pocket

and sand in your shoes.

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A Time for Singing

Faith and joy are the ascensive forces of song.
~~Paramahansa Yogandanda

We're Lutherans.
Known for work ethics and discipline.
 Reluctant, quiet and reserved, we're fairly non-committal.

Not today.

It's Easter Sunday and our choir's in the balcony,
 rocking it out for all three services!

The stone is rolled away, hallelujah!
The stone is rolled away!
The Lord is risen from the grave, the stone is rolled away!
 Let all Christians give thanks and sing;
shout your praises to our King.
The grave lost its victory and death, its sting,
 the Lord is risen indeed!
Glory, hallelujah!
Words and Music, Victor C. Johnson

Two of my brothers are coming to dinner, one bringing a new girlfriend.
We'll sing the table grace:

Be present at our table, Lord.
Be here and everywhere adored.
These mercies bless and grant that we
May feast in Paradise with thee.

Have a lovely Easter!

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Hot-Cross Buns

Hot-cross buns!
Hot-cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons;
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot-cross buns!
~~Mother Goose

Hot cross buns, eaten warm or split with butter, probably originated in the 16th century~~
 Good Friday was one occasion when the bakers were allowed to use a special dough in bread production.

 To signal the end of the Lenten fast, they marked buns with crosses

and citizens enjoyed them on Easter morning.

Check your local bakery for this British Easter tradition.
They'll be for sale at mine!

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Maundy Thursday

The Last Supper, Leonard da Vinci.

image: Wikipedia

The Cenacle on Mount Zion.

 Claimed to be the location of the Last Supper and Pentecost.

Image: wikipedia

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Passover...

...begins at sundown.
Known as the "Festival of the Unleavened Bread,"
 this Jewish holiday commemorates the exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egypt.

Matzo

When the Pharaoh freed the Israelites from slavery,
 it is said they left in such a hurry that they couldn't wait for leavened bread to rise.
To honor Passover,
celebrants forego leavened bread and choose Matzo, an unleavened bread,
for the seven or eight days of Passover.

Wishing our Jewish friends a Blessed Passover.

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Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is like a glimpse of Easter.

It's a little bit joyful after being somber during Lent.

~~Laura Gale

Areca palms and asparagus ferns flourish in our backyard.

We have enough palm branches to supply the Palm Sunday procession at our church.

Alleluia, how the people cheer

And palm leaves rustle as the king draws near.

~~John Beavis

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Decorating Eggs

I love resist-dyeing Easter eggs with onion skins and rubber bands.

 It seems a miracle that onion skins can produce such a lovely variety of earth tones.

Martha taught me how:

1) Hard-boil eggs and remove them from the water; drop onion skins into the water.

2) When the eggs are cool enough to handle, fasten wide/ heavy rubber bands around the eggs,

 looping and twisting them until secure. 

3) Boil the eggs with the onion skins until the desired shades are attained,

removing some at different times for lighter and darker tones.

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Vernal Equinox

O happy day! (an expression my mother uses)
With day and night of equal length, spring arrives and
I feel revived~~Florida is busy awakening in subtle ways.

Spring is when life's alive in everything.
~Christina Rossetti

Primavera by Sandro Botticelli

The day-laborer is reckoned as standing at the foot of the social scale,
yet he is saturated with the laws of the world.
His measures are the hours; 
morning and night,
solstice and equinox,
geometry, astronomy,
and all the lovely accidents of nature play through his mind.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Feast of St. Joseph

St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is mainly celebrated by Sicilians~~it is said that he brought the rains to a crop of fava beans that saved the population from starvation.

Sicilians who emigrated to New Orleans brought St. Joseph's feast day to the United States.

St. Joseph with the infant Jesus, painting by Guido Reni


Giving food to the needy is a St. Joseph's Day custom.
At home people place flowers, limes, candles, wine, fava beans, cakes, breads, and cookies on three-tied home altars.
 Foods are traditionally served containing bread crumbs to represent the sawdust of Joseph the Carpenter.

Three-tiered altar, Des Moines


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The Feast of Saint Patrick

May the blessings of light be upon you,

Light without and light within

And in all your comings and goings.

~~Irish blessing

St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland,

  St. Benin's Church, Ireland. He uses the 3-leaf shamrock

 to illustrate the Holy Trinity.

 Image: wikipedia

May God grant you always...

A sunbeam to warm you,

A moonbeam to charm you,

A sheltering angel so nothing can harm you.

~~Irish blessing

 Everyone in town is down at T. J. Carney's Pub & Grille
where Ken McBride Himself entertains with Irish ballads,
green beer flows, and rustic soda bread turns up on tables.

Have a happy St. Pat's!

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St. Urho's Day

The Finns of Lake Worth and Lantana honor today,
with a wink and a smile,
the man who drove the grasshoppers from Finland.
~~John Cutrone

The Legend of St. Urho came to light in Virginia, Minnesota in 1956.

It was said that St. Urho single-handedly saved the Finnish grape industry 

by driving out a plague of giant grasshoppers.

OK, so the Finns~~ in competition with the Irish in their town of Virginia~~
created St. Urho's Day. The point was to upstage St. Patrick's Day..

They chose March 16~~the day before St. Pat's~~for their saint's day.
If St. Urho's Day came first, they reasoned, it would take the wind out of St. Patrick's sails.

Another difference: St. Pat's is celebrated by wearing green and drinking oneself into a stupor.
St. Urho's is classier because it's celebrated by wearing purple and drinking oneself into a stupor.

An oak sculpture of St. Urho, spearing a giant grasshopper.

 Menagha, Minnesota

A great day for a purple parade, fish soup and flatbread.

A poem, written with a Finnish accent, was composed for St. Urho.

 The original isn't easy to read so here's a simplified version:

Ooksie kooksie kollme vee

Santia Urho is the boy for me

He chase out the hopper as big as pirds

Never before have I heard those words.

He really told those bugs of green

Bravest Finn I've ever seen

Some celebrate for St. Pat and his snake

But that Urho boy has what it takes.

He got full and strong on feelia sour

And ate Kalla Mojakkaa every hour

That's why that guy dould cheese those beetles

That crew as thick as jack pine needles.

So let's give a cheer

in our very best way

on the sixteenth of March

St. Urho's Day!

The Ides of March

"Beware," saith the soothsayer.

It is said that on the Ides of March

 the sea succumbs to chaos and the full moon brings high tides.

"Take care," saith the soothsayer.

In Canada, the Ides of March are commemorated with  Bloody Caesar cocktails.

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Habemus Papem

An exciting day today!

I like Pope Francis' simplicity and humility.

I couldn't resist pulling out this picture of a Swiss guard from my archives.
From our tour of Italy in 2007.

Mothering Sunday

Taking a page from Convivio Bookworks' Book of Days,

 I'm marking each holiday on their March calendar with a post~~

a sort of countdown to Easter.

Town clock in Venice, FL

Daylight Saving Time begins today.

It's also Laetare Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, 

known by the English as Mothering Sunday.

 I asked Mr. Google what Mothering Sunday is.

 It seems that during the 16th century, people returned to their mother church for Laetare Sunday services. In later times, Mothering Sunday became a day when domestic servants (I can picture this at Downton Abbey) were given a day off to visit their mother churches, usually with their mothers and other family members. Conflicting work hours meant it was probably the only time of the year when whole families could gather so the day was celebrated with simnel cakes. 

Simnel cake?

Another curious click of the computer and there it was~~a light fruit cake
topped with a layer of marzipan and eleven marzipan balls representing the twelve apostles minus Judas.
Simnel cake images from British blog friend, Rachel Cotterill, also turned up.

For a simnel cake recipe, click HERE!

And a Happy Mothering Sunday to those of you who go "a-mothering."

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Spring Forward

It's the first day of March and the Book of Days newsletter arrived from Convivio Bookworks.

It seems that March is coming in rather sheepishly.

All sorts of holidays to celebrate this month~~

and Daylight Savings is springing forward on the 10th.

Check out the Book of Days March calendar on this link: Convivio Bookworks

Have a great weekend!

A Lucky Dog

I'm a lucky dog today, walking around in sunshine and lunching at the Lucky Dog Diner.

Hubby's in the hospital nearby, unable to join me after a second knee surgery.

 

 

The Lucky Dog is a rehabbed diner full of quirky bits,  colors on the loose, and a flair for dogginess.

 

 

 

 

 Incidentally, the food is great.

 Although they have a long menu for hot dogs, I like the Green Goddess salad with fish~~

fresh salad greens with cucumbers, tomatoes, craisins. kalamata olives and feta cheese.

  

 

The Lucky Dog offers these words to live by.

However.
  I got what I wanted and feel very lucky: Mr. J. came through surgery with flying colors
and the doctors think he is one terrific patient who works hard in therapy
 and gets great results from their handiwork.

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