Spoke Too Soon

One of our favorite phrases at the flower shop is: no good deed goes unpunished.

The truth of that was brought to my attention immediately after writing my last post.

The DC area experienced its coldest day on record.

And then a couple more.

At some point the wind was so strong it tore the recently installed trellis  off my back deck.

The shop was closed one day for snow and then closed early on Saturday in the midst of a little blizzard.

Though Sunday was lovely, in a sunny, melty, wear your wellies to the gym kind of way.

Are these are just the ramblings of a woman with cabin fever or is this my fault?

In between  shoveling, well I shoveled once, usually my neighborhood husbands do it for me, I've been shopping in my attic.

I found a bird cage, a beautiful blanket and books.  I bought an old plate from my boss today for 5.00.

The colder it gets, the more I need to feather my nest.

And flower it too.

My computer is now misbehaving so I'm going to hit post and see if my apology can reach you all before total world apocalypse.

If you get this send me a message. Let me know all is forgiven and what you're doing to get through the winter that only just started.

xo J

A Hundred Million Miracles Are Happening Every Day

It occurred to me tonight that it won't always be like this.

The snow will melt, our grass will grow fast and furious.

We'll come home, kick off our shoes and slip into our flip flops.

We'll pour something cold to drink and wander our gardens,

pulling a weed here, smelling a leaf or a blossom there.

We'll be complaining about how short the spring was and  how early the heat came.

,

 We'll eat freshly picked salad greens,

juicy strawberries and plant our dahlia bulbs.

Maybe this will be the year we make a peach pie.

It's coming. I promise.

 I heard it thru the grapevine.

Don't cha know.

I Am He As You Are Me As We Are All Together

Apparently I don't have an original thought in my head these days. I am a blog creature.

After working out I went grocery shopping with my gym partner.

She tends to buy what I buy, so we arrived at the check out counter each purchasing a head of cauliflower, sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, cava cava oranges and avocados among other items.

Our shopping had been punctuated with verbal recipes for these items, roasting of cauliflower, sweet potatoes, carrots, ingredients for and additions to a grain bowl, and a simple but satisfying braised sauerkraut using chicken sausage instead of pork.I told her roast cauliflower is as addictive as potato chips. Yes I said that.

When I came home I made a lunch of avocado toast topped with a quick pickled red onion flavored with clementine peel I conveniently have in the refrigerator and ate it while I looked at my copy of Bohemian Modern by Emily Henson that had just arrived in the mail.

This morning I finished reading The Girl On The Train someone on Instagram had recommended and the new book in my queue is The Sweet Life In Paris by Davis Lebovitz and of course I have his new cookbook My Paris Kitchen on a bookshelf.

What have you people done to me?

 So after I water my house plants, maybe whip up a macrame holder for one of them, vacuum my appropriately tatty Oriental rugs, I'm going to curl up on the couch, prop my head up with a kilm pillow purchased on Etsy, cover up with a Bolivian blanket ( actual gift from Bolivia) and watch the snow fall.

 

I still eat gluten though. So there.

This Is My Happy Song

I have no idea where I've been these past couple of weeks.

Y'all must have thought baking that cake really did me in.

(I  don't know why I'm writing this with a southern accent)

I was reflecting today on the fact that it's been 2 days short of two years since the breakup with GG.

I think it took me a year to mourn her absence and another year to regain my happiness.

But I got here.

My people picking compass still isn't fixed and I've wandered down a few one way streets but managed to find my way back to myself without any real damage done.

I'm getting through my least favorite month by eating too much roast cauliflower, did I just say that, working out with my best and craziest work out buddy, posting a flower a day on Instagram and reading obsessively with my Oyster app.

I'm singing along to the radio, rearranging my house and learning to Spackle and touch up battered walls. This is a new skill set.

 It's winter citrus season, as we now say, so I'm gorging on clementines. I've learned how get the seeds out of a pomegranate without having to wash my floor and take a shower and am cooking rather more complicated meals for myself than a tortilla with cheese.

I came home today to a new slipcover, in a much prettier blue than my camera captured here,

 I received a beautiful little painting from Jen at country weekend

And I have these two to light up my life on a daily basis

.

The lounger

and the guardian. 

This is her night post. 

What's not to be happy about?

Oh yeah, Valentines.....

p.s. as soon as I had gotten up from the computer I found Lucy had abandoned her post and is now sprawled blissfully asleep on the living room radiator.

Cats. Can't trust 'em.