Change of Season Demands Changes in the Menu

Here, spring dances flirtatiously with bursts of gorgeous warmth, followed by a stretch of cool or rainy weather. It's too lovely for hearty winter dishes, but not quite warm enough for nothing but salads. I've decided spring soups are in order!  My two recent favorites are this Potato Leek Soup, as nearly all of the ingredients were available at our local farmers market...

and this Lemon Greek Orzo Soup because it is delightfully creamy and lemony.

Good soup deserves good bread!  We paired the potato soup with our left-over traditional Easter bread and made a fresh loaf of my Mom's dill bread to accompany the lemon soup.  Yum all around!!!

What are you making this spring?

p.s. I became a mother

In the nearly a year I've been away from blogging, the most eventful happening around here was the arrival of this little elf.

l.e. delights and challenges and inspires and changes and makes me laugh every single day.  In case it isn't obvious from the picture above, she is also the most beautiful baby in the world!  (See further photographic evidence below.)

Although I had written here before about infertility and adoption, so much of our process felt private and uncertain that I kept quiet about her long anticipated arrival.  Now that she is here, I'm thrilled to introduce her!  I don't believe this space is about to become a "mommy blog", but motherhood occupies most of my thoughts these days and I'm sure I'll be writing about it from time to time.  Now you have a smiling face to put with the words.

p.p.s  Can I tell you how delighted I am to add "motherhood" as a post label?

...and we're back

Things have been quiet around the little collection for some time.  This is in part due to some changes I felt  were necessary here, including moving the majority of my quilt blogging to Radiant Honey Quilts.  Once I did, I wondered, "Why blog here?"  Did this space still have a purpose?  So I stopped writing and thought about it.

In my time away, I found I wanted to write about the incidental things in my life that inspired or delighted, about little bits of beauty or creativity I discovered, and about moments I wanted to remember.   I thought of the bloggers I enjoy reading most who share a little glimpse of the best parts of their world and I wanted to do the same.

So, this space will continue to be a little collection of thoughts and things.  If you want to see my quilting I hope you visit here.  If you are a dear friend and want an update on my life, I hope you'll give me a call.  If you want a morsel of beauty, a tidbit of reflection or a recipe to try, I hope you'll stop back at the little collection again soon.

Shaking things up

After blogging here for several years...and a few long absences...I've decided to move my quilt blogging here.  If quilting is what you love, then come on by for a visit.  I think this little space will stay on hiatus for the time being. 

Cheers!

Andrea

Easter and Creating

This past Easter Sunday found me in desperate need of some rest. The few days previous had been filled with worry and late nights working on logistics for a fundraising event which I'm excited to help plan. So instead of pursuing a few invitations to celebrate socially,
we stayed home.

I made my traditional "Easter" bread very late in the day. (We ate it warm from the oven at 10:30 pm...all gooey, melty deliciousness.)

I sewed a signature block for my friend Victoria.

I basked in the loveliness and fragrance of the lilies which the hubster bought me for our anniversary last week and which have been blooming like mad ever since then.

I rested.

I may have also giggled a time or two about the comment I heard at church about the Easter Bunny representing the religious side of Easter because, as prolific pro-creators, bunnies are symbolic of new life. Maybe so...but I don't know that I'd share that Easter morn to the whole congregation.

A little bit of rest, a touch of humor and some quiet creativity brought me new life this weekend. It may not be the New Life we typically talk about around Easter,
but I'm grateful all the same.

Grateful heart

1. Sharing one umbrella yesterday with the hubster as we dashed around the city. (This photo

reminds me of this feeling...)

2. Looking forward to seeing family.

3. Discovering that unpicking was worth it!

4. Knowing a dear friend and I were both reserving a special time to be together. Hooray for weddings!

5. The A/C re-installed and all installation chaos cleaned up.

6. Snuggling.

7. Late church.

8. Sunshine on a Sunday morning.

9. A little more green on the trees every single day this week. (How do they do that? It's like magic and a reminder to me of to the power of small consistent efforts!)

10. Whole Foods "Mom's Chicken Soup". A little more broth + noodles = tonight's instant dinner.

Quilting for others

In our Metro Mod guild, round robins are becoming a favorite. This was one of the first and a few others are in the works. At the February meeting, David brought this and asked if anyone wanted to add to it.


It looked like stained glass and I could envision a rose window above it. So, I took it.

After learning paper piecing for Victoria's Christmas Flower block for the bee...

...I thought I'd try paper-piecing for this too. It was a bear figuring out how to design and sew such a huge paper-pieced section, but in the end it turned out just fine!

It was declared "done" by the group and passed to Kim who wants to quilt it.

The best part was seeing the picture posted by Victoria in her guild meeting post. I was so busy showing and telling, I missed David's reaction! Sometimes, with a little luck, you just get it right. I love it when that happens!