abbey style home: January 2011

Friday, January 28, 2011

A Breath of Heaven

And Winter

Slumbering in the open air

Wears on its smiling face

A dream of Spring.

Anonymous

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Drifting...

Let my doing nothing when I have nothing to do become untroubled in its depth of peace

like the evening in the seashore when the water is silent.

Rabindranath Tagore

from our tour of the fjords in Western Norway

Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted.

Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.

+ Hans Margolius

+ + +

There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity,

a silence that is a fountain of action and joy.

It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me

from unseen roots of all created being.

Thomas Merton

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Winter Whites

Yippee! It's clean-slate time!
A new year begins with white sale month and

a desire for starting fresh, tossing out the old, gray, and frayed

and bringing on the snowy white, pure, and clean...
I'm a sucker for it every year.

I've torn apart my linen closets
and indulged in a sensuous tumble of textures...
new towels, sheets, duvets, duvet covers, and rugs.
While I'm reorganizing, redesigning, and recycling,
Mr. Softie's in the garage sorting through his tools.
It's a good thing--Martha would be proud.

We've explored sleeping in beds with European duvets for years...

and like it better than blankets and quilts.

While in Bergen, Norway,

we slept on a bed fitted with TWO duvets, one for each sleeper.

It was the most divine rest I've ever had...

my sleeping partner couldn't steal the covers.

I planned to try it at home.

So here I go--tossing out the old king-size duvet

and going for a couple twin-size duvets and covers.

Choosing a duvet

The ideal duvet, a down- or feather-filled comforter, measures at least 18 inches wider than the bed and provides lightweight, self-adjusting warmth. When buying a duvet, note the fill power (number of cubic inches an ounce of down occupies). The higher the fill power (300 to 700) the more ability the comforter has to trap air and provide greater warmth. Also, note the quality of the fill.The best natural filling is white goose or duck down. A label reading "down and feather" indicates a lesser filling--feathers mixed with a larger amount of down. A "feathers and down" label means more feathers than down.

Thread count of the cover fabric determines how well the fill is contained. A higher thread count and tight stitching keeps the cover from leaking feathers or down. Choose from tight or loose cover construction. Baffle covers contain the fill in tightly walled squares, keeping the loft high and balanced. Channel construction or ring stitching allows you to shift the duvet contents and vary the concentration of warmth. While not as warm or natural, non-allergenic down alternatives are available. Synthetic, wool and cotton downs weigh more, but have the advantage of washability.
Silk-filled comforters are more expensive, warm and lightweight.

I love the simplicity of making the bed with a duvet.
A duvet can be used without a cover, but a cover protects it from body oils.
Usually made from sheetlike fabric, the duvet cover is washable
and replaces the top sheet and bedspread. The mattress pad is covered with a fitted sheet.
To re-make the bed, I just plump up the pillows,
fluff the duvet in the air and lay it loosely over the bed.
Now I'll fold each twin duvet and lay it across the bed as the Norwegians in Bergen do.

So.....
what's your sleep or bedmaking style?
I'd really love to know!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Confession

For a few days each year, I abandon my plain-and simple life for Disney worldly pleasures.

It's when we become part of the.Adam Jerdee CHEAR Squad (EAR as in Mickey Mouse ears).

Adam (our son) is hooked on Walt Disney World's Marathon Weekend that happens in early January.

This year he ran his third full marathon and introduced his firstborn

to the values of health and fitness and a special pursuit of happiness.

Eight-month-old Landon was not impressed.

Accustomed to a sublimely quiet life at home,

he was stunned and frightened by the noisy crowd and loud chearing.

At our mid-race meet-up point with Adam, we took memento pictures and retreated to the warmth of the Chear Squad tent. There Landon could play in relative quiet while we ate a CHEAR SQUAD breakfast and Adam continued his five-hour run.

Here's how the day goes: We all get up at 3:30 a.m., dress and meet the 4 a.m. runners' bus that takes us to the Epcot start point where 19,000 runners and their supporters gather.

At 5:30 a.m., the race begins. Supporters wish their runners the best and go off to whatever point they wish to watch the race. It's odd to be up in Disney World in the dark, moving about the parks, our Chear Squad bracelets allowing us free entry to wherever we plan to sit or stand.

We use the monorail to go to Main Street in Magic Kingdom for our mid-point meet-up where Adam will pause, let us know how the race is going, and take a few pictures. After that we have an hour or two before he'll cross the finish line...it takes him 5 hours to run 26.2 miles.

When we find him again (wearing his heavy medal), we take the bus back to our hotel

and rest easy for the remains of the day.

+ + +

I'm in awe of our son who accomplishes this run and has the good sense not to worry about the amount of time it takes. Instead, he finds pleasure in the running itself and

takes time to photograph the sights along the way.

Adam rewards us with a couple days of entertainment in the parks.

This year we visited Animal Kingdom so Landon could meet up with a few friendly and fuzzy characters.

No crying here!!

A little photo op with Dad

At the end of the Animal Kingdom day, we took a Safari around a large acreage

where we could look at animals in natural habitats...just a couple shots here...

On the third day, we were off to Universal Studios' park. Adam and Kim ride roller coasters

while Grandpa Al and I have coffee or lunch with Landon. :)

We stroll from Dr. Seuss Landing to The Sunday Funnies and back again to Dr. Seuss.

Landon can relate!

Part of the day was spent at Harry Potterville...we lunched in a Harry Potter dining hall while Kim and Adam did the big Harry roller coaster and a few other things. So medieval...yet so modern!