Marie's Sunday Six

Welcome to my Sunday six smile makers post! I just love doing this every week. Life often gets so busy that it's a good thing to take some time to slow down and reflect on all that is good in my life. The hard part is containing it to six things!



Of course the real biggie this week was getting to meet Mitzie! I am totally smitten and can't wait to bring her home later on this week! On Friday to be precise! We have been busy puppy proofing our home and garden and there is a little pile of goodies waiting for her arrival in a corner of the living room. It's just like adopting a new baby, and just as exciting I reckon! Todd figures it's just as expensive, but he is prone to exaggeration! It only feels like it is! At least he won't have to put this one through college!



With my Birthday coming up on Friday the kind people at Interflora sent me a lovely gift this past week from their hampers section. A fabulous five tier chocolate indulgence tower from Maison Fugere!! Yes five pretty boxes filled with a delectable variety of delicious chocolate truffles! Strawberry, Orange, Gin and Damson, Champagne and Stick Toffee flavours to be exact and I confess . . . I have tasted and they're absolutely lovely! Many thanks to Matthew and the kind people at Interflora! (They're not just for flowers you know! They have lovely gifts and hampers too!)



Cherubs make me smile and they are my newest indulgent collecting craze. It's funny how that goes . . . you pick up one, and then it becomes two and then all of a sudden you have a collection. I just love cherubs with their fat little tummies and winsome ways! They seem innocent and mischevious all at the same time! Kind of like me I think! Perhaps that's why I love them so! ☺




I finally got some painting done this week, but not the kind I normally get done! Todd and I have been re-decorating our lounge! Gone is that hideous dark plum wall paper surrounding the fireplace and in it's place we have painted it a sage green colour. We are not quite finished it all just yet, but be prepared for the big reveal soon! I think you will be pleasantly surprised!



It's always nice to talk to friends on the telephone and I have been able to do just that a few times over this past week. I just love my friends and since we live quite far apart from each other, it is a real treat to be able speak on the telephone together! Oh how we laugh and giggle. We solve all the world's problems. We solve all our own problems. We cry and we share. It's all pretty wonderful. I don't know how anyone in this world could ever get long without dear and loving friends! I know mine are a real blessing to me!



I just love baking and I've gotten to do a fair bit of it this week. Lucky Todd! I've baked cakes and pies and cookie cakes! He's gotten to partake of my labours as have a couple of good friends who live near by. I was always baking when my kiddies were growing up. There was always a fresh treat waiting for them when they got home from school at the end of the day. Some days it may have only been Rice Crispie Treats, but it was always something special just for them! Perhaps I equate baking with love . . . I don't know for sure! I only know that I love to do it and I love to give it away!



The day we went to look at the puppy, we took advantage of being on the Wirral and drove up to West Kirby for a walk along the sea front. We had not been there in about 8 years and it was every bit as enjoyable as it had always been. I just love the south Wirrel area. The Wirral is a peninsula of land here in the Northwest which is bounded by the River Dee to the west and the Mersey River to the East. It is a beautiful area just filled with lovely little towns and great beauty, fabulous walks and seaside jaunts. Anyone who lives there is very lucky indeed!

And there you have it, my Sunday Six (Seven, but who's counting!). Of course there were a great many more things than this that made me smile over the past week. My cup truly does runneth over. Small and simple pleasures are the best smiles of all. I hope that you had a week filled with some smiles as well and that the week coming up continues to bless you in small and simple ways!

I made Todd his favourite teatime treat of sausage and mash the other night. He is such a meat and potatoes lover! It's not hard to please him. As long as you keep chocolate and pasta from the table, and hold it to meat and two veg, he's a happy man! I kicked the mash up a notch the other night though by adding some cheese and buttery leeks to the mix. He adored it and so did I! I could eat a whole plate of this and nothing else!



*Mashed Potatoes with Leeks and Cheese*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious version of mashed potatoes, which goes very well with pork sausages, or try it as your topping the next time you make a cottage pie. Yummo!

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 large leek
a Knob of butter
6 ounces of grated cheese
(A strong cheddar)
salt and white pepper to taste



Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until tender. In the meantime, trim the leeks and rinse well in some cold water. Discard the dark tops, using only the light green and white. Run these under cold water until all the dirt and grit are gone. Slice thinly. elt a knob of butter in a skillet. When it begins to foam add the leek and cook, stirring occasionally until nicely softened. Drain the cooked potatoes really well. Return to the hot pot and shake over the residual heat from the burner until all the moisture is gone. Mash well with a potato masher. Tip in the buttery leeks and the cheese, and only enough milk to make a creamy mash. Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Serve hot.



It's Rhubarb and Custard Dessert on offer over on The English Kitchen today!