Help Me Decide!

Once again, I would like to thank all of you for your kind wishes for my dog Gracie. We are a week out of the second surgery, and oh my, what a difference! She has started wanting to scratch her ear, so I think that's a good sign, a sign of healing. She was so funny last night, she was lying on the sofa beside me, and wanted so badly to scratch her ear. Her back paw would go up, but stop short, as if she was saying, "oh, but I really want to scratch." She has actually been quite good about keeping her foot out of her ear. The vet said that the stitches need to stay in for 14 days, so I think that if she has had this much improvement in a week, the next week should be all the better. And I will have a huge sigh of relief :)

Oh, and my toe is healing, not that it's such a big deal. I walked a little too much yesterday and paid the price last night. In time, this too shall pass :)

A few weeks ago I shared this coat that I have had forever. It's a faux fur coat that I really love. The fur is quite nice. While I won't wear it any longer as is, the fur can be saved, so I've decided to remake it. The coat is now apart, and I need to decide what to do with it.   

I have this trim which a friend gave me and I have been aching to use it. It may be a little difficult to see, but it has a lovely gold metallic thread that runs through it, and ruby beads in the center of the flowers. I have quite a bit, so there are lots of possibilities. 

I found this picture, and fell in love. I want a longer coat, so I thought I could do something to create a full skirt. I should actually have enough of the faux fur to create a great skirt.     

 Maybe something like this.

I really like this coat as well. I thought that I could use the fur and trim around the bottom of the coat and maybe mix it with a wool coating.

And then, OH MY GOODNESS, I love this coat!!! If I did this, I would forget the trim all together and mix the fur with a cotton velvet. 

All are quite dressy, so it's not a choice between something casual and something dressy. I would love your thoughts. 

Whatever I decide to do, it should be really pretty. 

Thanks for your thoughts!

Rhonda

The Wednesday Showcase/On Being Fabulous!

Believe it or not, my most difficult birthday was when I turned 20. When I was a child, I dreamed of turning 13, it seemed to me a magical number. I would then be a teenager and my world would explode...parties, pretty dresses, driving, having a fabulous group of friends, even getting a job. The life I envisioned for my teenage years was very much out of a sitcom, Father Knows Best. Of course, no life is a television show, but what I got was far, far from what I dreamed. In fact, life was so difficult that I ended up with stomach ulcers at the age of 15. So when I turned 20, I mourned, I mourned for what I had dreamed, and what now would never be, at least that's what I thought at the time. 

One of my exchange students, being the cocky teenager that he was ;), asked,"Wouldn't you love to be 17 again?" He thought for sure that he had something on me, that I would love to once again be a teenager, like him! Since that 20th birthday, this was the first time that I actually thought about my age. As I thought, I realized that what I have now is SOOOO much better, and my answer was no. He was shocked! "But why, why wouldn't you want to be 17 again?" I replied that my teenage years were far from happy, but more importantly, what I have now, my life and what I can do, I wouldn't trade them for anything. And then I said, "Think about it, if I were 17 again, I wouldn't have you. You can be a challenge at times, but I wouldn't miss having had you come into my life just to go back in time." 

This student is now a grown man with a beautiful wife, a precious baby girl, and another baby on the way. In a recent conversation, we talked about that day, and I asked, "Do you understand now how I felt when you asked me if I would like to be 17 again? Would you possibly trade what you have now...for then?" There was a pause, and he said, "No, not for anything." 

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a brunch where Angela Missoni was the guest speaker. Talk about WOW!!! She was so lovely and such an inspiration. During the reception, I met a very interesting woman, Wendy Packer of Fashion Over Fifty. Her life story is quite interesting. She began life as a oncology nurse, became a lawyer, and then a mother. She began her blog as she has a passion for everyone, especially women to live life to its fullest. She feels that she has been "called to awaken every woman to the realization that she is full of wondrous beauty everyday she is alive." I love that! 

Since Wendy has had her blog, she has produced 3 fashion shows for Bloomingdale's, featuring models over 50. Her blog is full of wonderful tips, news on events, and fabulous ideas on dressing and pairing wonderful ensembles. 

I love this ensemble, especially the shorter pant style. I initially thought, Oh, I don't know...," 

But I really like how the shorter leg can showcase a great pair of shoes.

As I said, Wendy has produced 3 fashion shows for Bloomingdale's. Here she is in a great another great ensemble. Love the leather pants. Don't be afraid to wear a pair of leather pants!!! It's all about how you wear them and with what they are paired. The draped top softens the pants and adds movement.  

The pants she is wearing here remind me of the Marcy Tilton pattern, Vogue 9035. Love the inspiration of not being afraid to show a little shoulder!

One of the tips I found on Wendy's blog was how to walk the catwalk. Professional runway coach, Mark David Carter makes it look easy! The Haute Couture Club of Chicago will hold our annual show on Sunday May 6, 2018. Walking well is something that we can all do better ;) What struck me is how he takes his time. Take a look...



Now for the best part, at least for me, aaaand if you are a member of the Haute Couture Club of Chicago, and will be attending our holiday party, Wendy will be our featured speaker. She will be sharing her life story, her tips, and fashion encouragement. She is so very excited to be around women who sew. She wishes she could sew, so maybe we'll be able to inspire her a bit too! She would like for everyone to wear their handmade garments as she would like to do a special post on the Ladies of Haute Couture. How exciting is that?!!! 

Be sure to check out Wendy's blog, Fashion Over Fifty. I think you will find her to be quite inspiring. 

When her post is up on the Ladies of Haute Couture, I'll let you know.

Not Dead Yet Style is another blog that showcases women in their middle years. I'm sure most of you know about the blog, but just in case you don't, check it out, and be sure to check out her post, Visible Monday where you can broadcast to the world just how amazing you are!

True enough, my teenage years, and somewhat beyond, were not at all what I had hoped for. I love this quote from Desmond Tutu;

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.

Morning breaks, and light does come. Embrace who you are and where you are in life. It takes a lot of hard work to live a great life :)  

I will have a very special Sunday Night Reflection's post coming up on December 3rd where I will share a little of my life. I hope that it will be an inspiration.

Now go out and shine!!!!!

Rhonda   

Sunday Night Reflections

Sunday's Soup/Winter Root Vegetable Soup with Kale

Happy Sunday Everyone!!!

Thank you for all the wonderful comments that were left on my Grateful post. A couple of you had me laughing so hard with the idea of the antics of my girlfriend and I sounding like an episode of I Love Lucy!!! Like I said, we've been friends for 35 years, and have done some pretty crazy things. Yes, we could be our own comedy show ;) Thanks for the laughs, I really needed that. Nothing like a good laugh to cleanse the soul :) 

Have you ever heard of the Moosewood Cookbook? It's a funky, vegetarian cookbook that I absolutely love. In fact, the same friend from the Grateful post gave it to me over 30 years ago. My copy is now a very well worn book, loose pages and a taped together spine. 

One of the things that I especially enjoy, other than the recipes, are the cute little drawings that accompany each recipe. When I began putting the soup recipes together, my goal was to eventually publish a cookbook/soup book. I'm now working on the book(finally), and rather than photographs, I'm doing drawings that are similar to what you might find in the Moosewood Cookbook. 

I'm currently going through my recipes and testing/tweaking them just to make sure that when they are published, and tried, it will taste just like what I make. 

Back in 2013, I published a recipe for a Creamy Winter Root Vegetable Soup.   I love a good cream soup, but when I began to test the recipe, I decided to make it into a vegan version, and that's what I am going to share with you today. 

The ingredients are basically the same, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, onions, garlic and fresh basil.

No butter was used in this recipe, just olive oil. The onions were sauteed until tender in the olive oil, and then the vegetables were added, along with the vegetable broth.

Another change with this recipe is the addition of chopped kale, green pigeon peas (for protein), and dried rosemary. 

If you have never used green pigeon peas before, they are a lovely little pea that has a bit of substance to it, not at all mushy.

This is not a creamed version of the soup, just a nice hearty winter vegetable soup.

Winter Root Vegetable Soup with Kale

printable recipe

Ingredients;

3 tablespoons of olive oil
4 parsnips sliced, about 3 pounds in total
4 Irish potatoes, chopped
4 carrots sliced
1 large yellow onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic minced
4 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil
2 cups finely chopped kale
1 14 oz. can Green Pigeon Peas drained and rinsed
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried rosemary 
10-12 cups of vegetable broth 
salt and black pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy soup pot. Add chopped onion and saute until tender. Add carrots, parsnips, potatoes, bay leaves, and garlic along with 8 cups of vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, 20-30 minutes. Add chopped fresh basil, chopped kale, pigeon peas, and rosemary. Adjust liquid. Depending upon the size of your vegetables, you may need to add up to 4 more cups of broth. If more broth has been added, bring to a boil once again, then reduce to simmer and cook for another 10 minutes, giving the herbs and kale time to flavor the soup.

Serve with warm crusty bread, or my favorite, a pan of fresh made cornbread. 

The recipe yields 8 hearty servings. 

If you give it a try, hope you enjoy it!
Rhonda

Grateful

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart.  

                                                        Henry Clay

If you live here in the U.S., or if you don't, but enjoy celebrating a day of Thanksgiving, I hope that you have enjoyed a wonderful meal, and maybe some time spent with family and friends. 

For me, it has been a bit of a trying week. 

The surgery that my dog Gracie had for the broken blood vessel in her ear, it seems was not done correctly and caused a huge problem. We were out of town, but found a wonderful vet who ended up doing emergency surgery. Leaving her in the office, crying for me, absolutely broke my heart. When I got home, I sat down at the kitchen table, put my head in my arms and just cried. We were able to pick her up that evening, and she and I have not been apart since. I am so very grateful for such a kind, caring, and knowledgeable veterinarian.  

We had friends visit for Thanksgiving. I love to make special meals on holidays, so I began the day with Cottage Pancakes with Roasted Strawberries. My new oven evidently cooks at a very high heat as the strawberries boiled over the side of the pan and burned the bottom. It was an absolute mess. My girlfriend and I worked, and worked, and worked at trying to get the burned sugar off of the bottom of the oven. I was in a bit of a panic as I needed to cook the turkey and I didn't want to heat the oven and burn the sugar even more. She said, "No problem, we'll just cook the turkey on the grill." We ended up cooking the turkey, sweet potatoes, and the asparagus on the grill. OMG!!!! everything was soooo good. The only thing that was missing was the pie, but we were all very satisfied, so the pie really wasn't missed.

In the course of putting our dinner together, I managed to stop up the sink by putting potato skins down the disposal. Evidently you aren't supposed to put potato skins down a disposal. I had no idea! One thing that my husband absolutely hates is plumbing issues. When I saw the sink back up, I said, "Oh my, Carl is going to have a fit!" My girlfriend said that it might go down, so just leave it for a bit. We had managed to keep him out of the kitchen, but when we went out to check on the grill, I looked through the window and there he was at the sink. My heart sank. In 33 years of marriage, he has only lost his temper twice, and I thought for sure this would be the third time, but he kept his cool, and even took dishes down to the basement to wash until we could get something done with the kitchen drain. 

While he was in the basement washing dishes, my girlfriend and I began working on the drain, pouring in baking soda and vinegar, and plunging it. I worked and worked at it and then miracle of miracles, it suddenly went swoosh!, and it was over. My girlfriend and I looked at each other in disbelief, but we did it! But then, the thought occurred to me that all the plunging may have broken the pipe and everything was in the bottom of the cabinet. Nope, it had all gone through smoothly :) She and I have known each other for 35 years, and during that time have done some pretty crazy things. I told her that we can now add plumbers to our list of abilities ;) We are not available for hire!!!

During the course of everything, I managed to run into a cabinet and break a toe. That is more aggravating than anything. Hurts, but hardly the end of the world. 

The quote that I began this post with rings so true for me. A veterinarian that said, "I'm just doing my job." No, not just doing her job, she saved my dog and healed my heart. A friend who stays calm when everything seems to be going wrong, who treats my home with the same importance as if it was hers, and steps up to help when it really isn't her problem. A husband who realized that I was already upset and didn't want to add insult to injury, a blessing beyond measure. Yes, to the one who is giving, it may seem like a small, trivial act, but to the one who is receiving, the gifts really do strike deeply in the heart. And, I am so very grateful.

I have said it before, but gratitude can never be expressed enough...

A heartfelt thank you to all of you who take the time to stop by, read my words, maybe leave a message, or send a note. You warm my heart and remind me of the wonderful gift this life truly is.

Gracie and me :) After she came home, the incision in the middle of her ear began to bleed a bit. I put a band-aide over it and now she won't let me take it off as it's rather stuck to the stays that have been sewn into her ear. Oh well, I'll eventually get it off.       

May you too experience blessings that strike deeply in your heart.
Rhonda 

Sunday Night Reflections

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday/The Cabbage Rose

Something a little sweet today, a beautiful cabbage rose. They look rather complicated, but are quite easy to make.

All it takes are a few rectangles and a circle.  



They look lovely on a hat, bag, pinned to a coat or jacket.

They can be scaled down. Decrease the measurements by 2" and you'll have a smaller rose. You can also increase the measurements by 2" for a larger rose. 

So, have a little fun and let your imagination run wild with all the possibilities. You can even make a bouquet for an arrangement that will brighten your home all winter long!

Enjoy!
Rhonda