July Celebrations

For Independence Day, Elizabeth made her first ever pavlova. 

A patriotic pavlova. 

Happy chickens. 

"Do you have any blackberries for me?" 

Close on the heels of the Fourth of July, is the Eighth of July, a.k.a. Matthew's birthday. 

  Happy twenty-seventh birthday, Matthew! 

One big chocolate-chip cookie. 

And last but not least, our new patio room, Tiki Cove. 

Complete with Tiki torches. 

And mood lighting. Beautiful July.

Fun in the Kitchen

Some Very Merry Un-Birthday Cupcakes! 

Elizabeth has perfected pink frosting that's not too runny. So, our cupcakes can have beautiful swirls and flowers. My favorites are the ones third from the top. They are like a bouquet of sweet little wild flowers. 

Copper pans make very good wall decorations, (and they are easy to access.) 

"I was just giving myself some good advice." 

--Alice in Disney's Alice in Wonderland

A cook's play room and a baker's delight! 

P.S. Happy Star Wars Day, May the Fourth be with you. 

Happy Birthday, Mom

To many more Aloha years.

The Doctor's Back in Town!

Earlier this afternoon I went downstairs and was told that I had received two packages in the mail. "That's weird," I thought. "Who could be sending me a package?" I looked at the return address and it said "Amazon."

"But I didn't order anything," I stated, feeling nervous.

"I don't know, you spent a lot of time on the internet the other day," my Mom joked.

So I opened them:

   Guess what we're watching tonight!!

Elizabeth ordered the eighth season of Doctor Who, and the Christmas special, two days ago and put it in my name as a surprise. Boy, was I surprised! I haven't been this excited since I found out Pixar is making Toy Story 4.

Big Hero 6 Party!

Dinner consisted of a sushi dinner, courtesy of Briar Patch as our resident sushi maker has been busy being a super student. 

  Colorful candles! 

Six candles total, one representing each hero. 

High-five to anyone who can figure out which color goes with which character. 

Super-student sister did have time to whip up some cupcakes to represent Aunt Cass and her cafe. 

And they had to be pink. Honey-Lemon wouldn't have it any other way. (By the way, the cupcakes have red jam, pink whipped cream, and half a Maraschino cherry stacked one on top of the other.) 

More treats! 

It was even better the second time.

It's May!

Obviously I did not succeed in my Lenten challenge of blogging for forty+ days, but after a few weeks of respite I'm feeling inspired again.

First of all it's May, one of my favorite months. It's at last warm enough to dance about in sun dresses and leave the windows open all night long. And the gardens look glorious.

I took so many pictures of these purple beauties, trying to get the perfect shot. 

Everyday I step out the door and am greeted by a waft of sweet perfume from the collection of roses. 

With the turning of the calender comes my Mom's birthday, the first of May. We celebrated with a proper Jane Austin tea, complete with cupcakes slathered in a pale pink frosting and a good black tea served in floral teacups. 

The Birthday Girl! (And Daddy.) 

(Who's Un-Birthday we celebrated.)

And last but not least, I'M A COLLEGE STUDENT! 

I'm not going away to school yet, just taking English 1A at the junior college over the summer. I'll probably take several classes at the j.c. over the next year or two, and then it's on to the big leagues! 

Day 4: One Way to Deal With Daylight Savings Time.

First throw a spur of the moment birthday party for the Saturday before.

Spend Saturday cleaning house, decorating, getting everything ready. (In our case there was very little food prep involved since our friends brought pizza and the cake.)

When the rest of the party-goers arrive, turn on fun, loud music (preferable from the eighties) and feast on pizza, veggies in homemade ranch dressing, and chips and salsa. Yum! Then sing Happy Birthday to the birthday boy (or girl) and (if you can bring yourself to) cut into and eat the adorable Minion cake. (Yes, it was a Despicable Me party.)

Then put on a movie, (Despicable Me 2) watch and digest dinner, before going and eating more Minion cake and too many chips and salsa. You will fall into bed stuffed, tired, and sleep through the night on an earlier schedule. (I was tired out by nine o' clock!)

Lastly, and very importantly, on Sunday rest... and don't forget to change the clocks.

The Challenge

How the weeks have flown. Can it really be March? Was I not just celebrating the Winter Solstice amongst the daffodils? And already it is Mardi Gras, soon to be Lent and the countdown for Easter.

While sitting around the table, feasting on delicious new pancakes with English bacon that just the thought of makes me hungry, the subject of Lent came up. What should we give up for forty days? A year or two ago it was chocolate, but recently we have already chosen to stop eating chocolate, except on a special occasion. Hmm. What to do? Then Mom came up with an idea: Instead of giving something up, why don't we add something. Do something each day for the next forty days, something enriching. We might form some good habits. But what? Then came the perfect answer: blog.

In the whirlwind of life, I fear my writing has suffered some neglect. This poor blog has missed Christmas, New Year's, and the first tender months of the year. And so I begin again. For the next forty days I and my fellow writers shall post something on our blogs each day.

What shall I write? Anything I want. But what if I run out of ideas? That's a silly thing to ask. What if I run out of time? That is a more serious question. Time is a fleeting thing, and some days I don't find the time to write. I would rather read with my spare moments, or sip a cup of tea and visit with someone.

I will make time for blogging, that is the answer.  

The Color Red

How can one write a novel about the hottest August week on California records, when all you can think about is Christmas?

As Elizabeth so well put it, we have the Christmas bug. I can't wait for Thanksgiving, I think it is my favorite holiday of all, but then I think of Christmas and how special and wonderful it is. At our house the two holidays have been sort of mixed together into one thankful holiday season! The pilgrims are coming out to join the fall decorations, as Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and, my personal favorite, Steve Tyrell croon Christmas carols in the background.

One of the things I love about my home is that when I look at this basket of clementines, and say, "I just want to stick cloves in these oranges," my Mom hands me the jar of cloves and says, "Go to town!"

Red is not really my color, never has been. I am a blue, purple, and pink kind of girl with the occasional green of a certain shade, but I don't wear much red. Last time we were at the craft store, shopping for costume ingredients, my eye was caught by a festive and beautiful ball of red holiday yarn. I decided to knit myself a red Christmas scarf with it.

Ever since I've been thinking about the color red: red scarves, red sweaters, red Christmas decorations, and as it is fall I see red leaves on trees every day. I think I shall have to incorporate more red into my lifestyle.

Happy Valentines Day!

Aloha 2013

Aloha! Getting together with our friends-like-family on New Year's Eve and throwing a big party has become a tradition for us. Last year our theme was Pirates. "Arrgh!" And this year we had a luau. We placed palm trees among the snowflakes and leis around the snowmen, and my Dad built a hot enough fire so we could wear our Hawaiian shirts and sun dresses without freezing.

Picking out our theme for 2013 took some thinking, and our ideas included "Hurray for Hollywood" and a "Disney Ball." However, my aunt was not able join us for New Year's this year and it would be simply wrong to have a Disney Ball without her. I think she's Mickey and Minnie's biggest fan!

Inspired by upcoming trips to Hawaii, we finally decided on a luau. My mom and I will be meeting my aunt and uncle on Oahu this April for my graduation trip. I'm really looking forward to walking on the beach, breathing in the tropical air, and seeing the sights on the island. Plus I get to spend it with my cool Mom, aunt, and uncle. (Aunt Cindy and Uncle Cliff, we miss you so much.)

Happy New Year!