Thursday 3 May 2018

My Favourite Things . . .

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOOPpfEd5Zsq2tbOc2-UBk6Njak8VrG7e7evggWXGZ2mh-j53ekFS5_iJ7oLR7meELGbGOHT1tpJoMRH-WDForIBx-F86puBU5K_uuGKf1hWiGc5Jko8kG6S71gFooUD3ZEZNrNzAWfJI/s320/alfp_favorite_things.png
 
A few of the things in life that make my heart go pitty pat. Maybe they will do the same thing for yours. ♥♥♥

 
Hares.  They are such fascinating creatures and totally different than bunnies.  These are not small and round, but larger and more elongated, almost elegant, with long slender black tipped ears that don't flop over, but tend to stand upright. They change their coats in winter, going from brown or grey to white. Hares are shyer than bunnies.  They are fully developed at birth and live above ground, not in burrows.  I saw my first real life, not in a photograph or on the telly hare yesterday. It was sitting at the edge of the meadows near the retail park. I was mesmerised.  Hare's box each other in the spring in a sort of mating ritual between the males and female, which involves them jumping in the air and dancing about.  They are also quite skittish, which could explain their "mad" behaviour! I think they are quite beautiful. 
 
 
Anne with an E.  We are watching it again for the second time on Netflix, and quite enjoying it.  Noticing things more this time around than we did the first time around. This little girl/character is so soul wrenching, you feel the depth of what her life has been like as an orphan, and I feel it is very true to what life might have been like as an orphan back in those times. It is not candy coated or sweet, and yet it is very endearing, the characters are very endearing.  I love Anne and Marilla and Matthew. I love this version of the Anne story. Its beautifully filmed, written and very watchable. I can't wait for series two. 
 
 
Beetroot in any way shape or form.  I love to eat the greens, pan steamed with some butter, vinegar, salt and pepper . . .  if some baby beets are still attached, so much the better. I love beets, steamed, boiled, roasted, pickled.  In a salad, or on their own . . .  as a side dish, even raw and grated in a salad. I love beetroot. 
 
  
 
Caesar Salad . . .  it is my favourite of all the salads . . .  with its crisp cos lettuce and that punchy lemony creamy garlic dressing  . . .  the crisp buttery garlic croutons, the parmesan. There is nothing about it that I do not like.  And if it comes with some grilled chicken, so much the better.  Then it is a meal.  
 
 
Vintage dolls, especially this 1930's vintage Patsy Effanbe doll.  This is the type of doll my mother would have wanted when she was a girl. I don't think she ever had one. It was the depression and they were too poor. There is something so sweet about these vintage dolls.  They don't talk, or drink, or wee or anything.  They just simply exist for little girls to fall in love with them.  To want to care for them. 
 

Walks at the beach  . . .  in warm sand. It feels so good beneath your feet . . . 

 
Sea Shells . . .  they are fascinating and amazing to me. I loved collecting them when I was a child.  I used to wish my family had one that you could listen into and hear the ocean. I think a conch shell. We never did have one, but I had friends who did, and I loved to put my ear up to them and listen. 
 
  
 
Watching ballet dancers . . .  so elegant. When I was at Acadia, the National Ballet came for a performance. I am not sure how we did it, but we got to go to an after-performance get-together, my ex-ex husband and myself and some of our friends.  That seems a whole lifetime ago.  It was a whole lifetime ago . . . 

 
Listening to piano music. I could listen to it for hours and hours. It is so relaxing and beautiful.  I especially love listening to Paul Cardall. When I was a child I wanted nothing more than to be able to learn to play the piano. We did not have a piano, and my parents could not afford frivolities like piano lessons, or dancing lessons, figure skating lessons, etc. There was a piano in the spare room at the cottage we lived in down south. I used to go in and play on it sometimes. I was kind of trying to teach myself how to play, but . . . it could not last. In heaven I will learn to play the piano. 
 
  
 
Fabric printed with pretty florals . . .  so beautiful  . . . 

 
Demi-tasse spoons  . . .  so dainty and elegant . . . I think I must have been a princess in a former life . . .
 
 
 
 Glass mixing bowls  . . .  love them.  I  wish . . . 

 
 My mother had one like this  . . . I broke it when I was a girl. I was able to buy her another one to replace it when I grew up and had some money. Don't you just love that table cloth?  I also love embroidered tablecloths . . . 

well, embroidered anything really  . . . 

 
Old mis-matched china. I would use it all the time if I had it.  See that plate on the bottom right, with the two roses on it and the gold edges. My mom has some very old cereal/soup bowls just like these. I think they came in laundry soap and were her mothers.  Dishes with a history . . . . I love dishes with a history.

 
Stripey dresses . . .  I wish . . . oh to be so thin and elegant as this, to be able to wear a stripey dress  . . . 
 
  
 
Unfortunately at the moment and probably forever, this is the only stripey dress I would be able to wear.  Sigh  . . . 

 
Fresh English strawberries . . .  soon, about another month or so we should start to see them. Nothin on earth tastes better . . . 
 
  
 
Fresh tomatoes . . . so yummy. Could eat a whole plate of them, simply sliced with some salt and pepper sprinkled over top.  When I was working as a pastry chef at a hotel many years ago (what did I know then, hah! It boggles the mind.)  I used to make these tomatoes vinaigrette to serve as an appetizer.  They were simply tomatoes, sliced with a delicious vinaigrette spooned over.  Still love those  . . . 

 
Anything Tilda  . . . 
 
  
 
Little Lindt Bunny wrappers  . . .  cute.  I challenge myself to get them all off in one go.  It is fascinating to me to see one flat like this . . .  what a cute face.

 
Royal Weddings  . . .  can't wait.
 
And those are my favourite things for this week!!
 
A thought to carry with you  . . . 
 
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

 *.˛.
Each day you have to make a decision,
Will you give up, give in or give it your all?
~unknown   •。★★ 。* 。 
 
 
Unfortunately I have run out of time this morning. (I was up a whole hour later, probably because I didn't sleep well last night.) so no BOM this morning.  Tomorrow . . . 


 
 
In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Garlic Chicken Rice.  An all in one bake that your family will love!  
 
Don't forget! 
 

═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ ⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════


And I do too! 
 


3 comments:

  1. "In heaven I will learn how to play piano"How sweet is that?

    I have never really looked a a Lindt bunny wrapper until now:)
    Haven't watched Ann w/ an E..

    CTM..sobland this week..sob.


    Watching Line of Duty season 4 and Unforgotten season 2..

    I LOVE British crime shows so much.
    Loved Engrenages in French..it hasn't come back:(

    I know you love dolls and how sweet was the girl who sent you Tammy?

    Was it Tammy?

    Do you follow Jessee Lauzon on IG? Fab collections..

    so pricey those vintage jadeite..pyrex etc..I seee collections on Varage Sale.

    We love Piano too..I'll look upp Paul Cardall..so many of the same likes..

    PS Check out André Gagnon's..Romantique..Spotify must have;)
    Bonne journée!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can hardly with for the fresh strawberries and tomatoes. We get them here for such a short season it seems. Thankfully I do have a fresh fruit and vegetable stand close by and will be making several trips there when the weather warms up and things are once again growing. The stores always have them no matter what time of year, but they cannot compare to the fresh ones when it comes to taste. Hope you have a happy Thursday !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Morning Marie, hope you haven't fainted when you saw my name pop up again...guess what, I forgot the title of the blog again so had to search for the last time I asked you....I wish I knew how to keep it as I did before in my favourites then I could get into my usual routine of reading my blogs....I only have one now that is on the I pad and I've no idea how that happened.....I must as Val my neighbour if she knows how......anyway it's been great reading back a whole week....it's just lovely down here this morning sun is up and it's even warm and only 7.30 ..Masy is lying on the mat by the open door...with luck I might get into a dress this weekend.....hope you and Todd are ok, and that the visit to dentist went ok...That was terrible about Eileen, I'm so pleased your sister was able to go and sort out the situation.....best news from me is that I have been able to order a great new battery wheelchair it folds so easily and weighs only 22kg..I know that's still much to heavy for me to lift, but anyone a bit taller and fitter would have no prob. ( the present chair weighs 64kg ) the difference is the batteries, the new ones are lithium and only weigh 1kg....and the frame is aluminium I am so pleased as it means I'm not stuck to my own car as the new chair when folded is like a suitcase so fits in smallest space....( now big save is on for a visit to LA !!) ....like you I am so grateful to my mother for teaching me how to live and at same time save for whatever I needed.....I have Henry coming this morning, that's Pams husband, it's hard to believe it's a year since she died but it's nice that Henry still visits every month, he wanted to come yesterday but that is the day I help at church cafe...better go or this will be like a saga when I stop LOL.....have a wonderful weekend....God Bless xx

    ReplyDelete

Your comments mean the world to me, and while I may not be able to address each one individually, each one is important to me and each one counts. Thanks so much!