Happiness Is...

Happiness is a long weekend.

A long weekend spent....

With a visit from one so dear to your heart that her very presence is like opening a window

 Eating "not-bad" tuna sandwiches with "not bad" pickles...

A finished scarf

Happiness is...

Going for a cocoa/coffee date with your little girl

A trip to the Thrift store resulting in this many books:

An old favorite...

And a new.

Happiness is...

An evening heart to heart with a sister while making chocolate cake from scratch,

and eating that cake until Monday

The stillness of the house all to yourself

Time to think

Happiness is...

Cream  of Broccoli in the sunshine 

Story time with Opa

Hugs and the smell of Oma's perfume.

Happiness is another heart to heart with a new friend 

Echoing many of the same thoughts.

Babies in the playroom

Indian Food and more chocolate cake...

Not wanting the evening to end...

and having a sweet girl in red jammies call you "pretty"

Happiness is an extra day of rest and play

Sleeping in cuddles with your baby boy, 

oh so carelessly strewn across your pillow with that fuzzy hair

A trip to a petting zoo ...

enjoying the smell of the animals,

The softness of wool

The warmth of a pony's back

Happiness is...

Balloons in bright colors perfect for dancing with

A box of 64 crayola crayons and a new coloring book. 

Processing feelings while building an etch-a-sketch city

The optimism of a sundress and sandals

The optimism of glass of mango juice almost Half Full

Yes, happiness is in the right now of remembering

all the special bits and pieces of a Family Holiday, 

A weekend well lived.

How was your weekend?

The Bread of Friendship.

" I don't think I want something that takes ten days to make", my sister told me last week, when I asked if she wanted a starter of the Amish Friendship Bread I've been working on.
"Maybe, you make it first and if it's really really good, then maybe I'll think it's worth it."
Fair enough.

So, I baked it.... and it was DELICIOUS!
I feel a little like a bread factory right now, as I have multiple starters on the go now on my countertop and the whole thing just keeps multiplying every time you make it. (I don't have the heart to throw out perfectly good starter at the end of the recipe). I've been giving loaves away and trying to convince others to take a starter, but perhaps I am alone on wanting to be a one woman Amish Bread Factory.
Again; fair enough.

Oh but this bread is so delicious! It's exactly how I remembered it as a kid and so much more. It's just the right blend of sweet and spicy and the sugary crust on the top... oh my,how I swoon!

We've been eating hefty amounts of it around here for the past week, for breakfast, morning snack, tea time, dessert after supper and bedtime snack.

I can't begin to tell you how good it is with eggnog.

Will I get sick of all the Amish bread I stand in good stead to make if no one rescues me from this crazy growing recipe? Perhaps, but I will stock my freezer till I run out of room and give as much away as I can.
Are you a friend of mine?
You will get bread.
Are you not a friend of mine yet?
We shall become friends through the giving of too much bread.

Oh this is a very good thing indeed.

Oh those Amish....

The Amish keep coming up in different ways around here....

First I read "The Heritage of Lancaster County" by Beverley Lewis and loved it.

Then I read "Plain Truth" by Jodie Picoult (very different! but also good.)

My husband and I found ourselves watching old Weird Al videos on Youtube and my Kev particularly loves "Amish Paradise"

Then I had a conversation with my grandmother about how I love hand sewing and how the Amish women can sew everything that way, well then there's hope for me.

Now my friend Susan  has given me some Amish Friendship Bread Starter,and I"m stoked to make it!

I think I will periodically update how the mix is doing as I follow this 10 day process towards lovely crispy, sweet spicy bread that I haven't had since childhood. 

Now, I would just like to say that though some of you may have been noticing I keep drifting farther to homespun ways these days, I am NOT about to become Amish.

But there is alot there to admire, you have to admit.

If anyone knows anything about simple sustainable  "green" living, it's these humble folks.
Theology aside, they've mastered the art of "community living"( and barn raising) and their work ethic and creativity inspire me to get my duff off the couch.

I have family roots that go back to the Holdeman Mennonites which on a spectrum of conservative living probably rank somewhere closer to Amish than Modern any day of the week.
Many of my great Aunts, Uncles and distant cousins, still go without a lot of modern conveniences and make their living simply right off the land.

I've mentioned in this space before the inspiration I receive from my ancestor's traditional way of life, particularly in the kitchen, and once again I've got some inspiration sitting on my counter top waiting to be stirred once a day for the next 10 days so I can add some very humble ingredients to it, bake it and share the bounty with others.

That's a pretty neat thing.

Now, I'm not about to trade in my van for a buggy or my jeans for a long apron and cap, but a little elbow grease, ingenuity and generosity in a  more simple, homemade life?

Ya, I could go for that.

The View from My Windows...

I love the country.
I love the prairies
That's  just the way I am.

Now, I have loved all sorts of beautiful places
I feel tingly at smell of the ocean and I feel an almost physical ache at the loveliness of the mountains. But the prairies with their wide open skies and golden fields as far as I can see are just a part of my DNA.
I was born in Saskatchewan
Lived in British Columbia
Grew up in Northern Alberta
Enjoyed the Busy City and
played in Ocean waves

The country is where I belong.

How blessed I have been with my country home where this is the view from my back porch!
I wake up in the mornings when the fog is settled thick along the ground and sip my coffee slowly transporting myself in my imagination back in time to a place where homesteads ruled the landscape and life was harder won.

Isn't the country like that? Like a time machine of days gone by?
The city holds great histories too, but nature has a way of keeping records that concrete, steel and glass just cannot. Like the record book is still on the table and time is almost standing still.

Even with modern machinery, every farm and the people who work it are playing out the age old story of reaping and sowing. The simple and basic  fundamentals of life and living off the land are right out my window
and I'm right where I belong.

My family Tree is full  of farmers; People who tamed the prairies in both Alberta and Manitoba, so there is a personal sense of history to watching this country way of life. It has a way of grounding me and reminding me of the simple and basic fundamentals of my life; my beliefs, my values. My Prayers have a way of hitting less ceiling in these wide open skies and to walk among the golden fields as they're being shaved down is like walking in a parable.
Jesus understood farmers and the country.

Soon, I'll be heading closer the city, settling in an old French town full of trees and neighborhood houses.
I'm ready for it, but I know that when I'm surrounded by buildings no matter how cheerful community can be, I will long for the wildness of our own personal homestead we've had carved out in this tiny country town.

And after all, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl.