Erin Go Bragh

My new antibiotics are beginning to work and I am feeling a bit better today. Hooray! Thank you for your sweet prayers and good wishes.



Here is our St. Patrick’s Day celebration this year. A banner found on sale at Jo-Ann’s welcomes visitors.



This is an Irish welcome plaque hanging by our front door. It was a gift from my Irish mother-in-law a few years ago.



Our St. Patrick’s menu tonight is from an old book found at a used bookstore, The Art of Irish Cooking by Monica Sheridan (Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1965): roast beef, potato flounces, and Irish peas.



The table is set for tonight. Our plates and goblets are onyx from Palestine. I made the napkins using St. Patrick’s Day fabric bought at Jo-Ann’s, simple hemmed squares. Little silk shamrocks found at Michael’s are sprinkled all over the table and our centerpiece is a flowering Oxalis.

For dessert, we’re having Irish Lace Cookies.



Click to enlarge and print. I purchased the recipe template from The Vintage Workshop.



My husband loves classic shortbread so I made some for him yesterday. Today I’m making batches for our neighbors which my husband will deliver after work.



Did you know the lines in shortbread pans are really not cutting lines (although it helps immensely)? They represent the rays of the sun. My shortbread pan is called British Isles and comes from Brown Bag Designs. Each segment represents an aspect of the British Isles: Scotch Thistles, Irish Celtic Knotwork, a Tudor Rose and a Welsh Dragon, along with the sun’s rays.



Oh, the music in the air!
An' the joy that's ivrywhere -
Shure, the whole blue vault of heaven is wan grand triumphal arch,
An' the earth below is gay
Wid its tender green th'-day,
Fur the whole world is Irish on the Seventeenth o' March!

~ Thomas Augustin Daly ~

Blessings Friday: Reminders

Yesterday was a day of reminders.

I was reminded that life has its own way to slow you down when you can’t seem to do it for yourself. My medicines aren’t working so now I’m on new antibiotics. And today I get a CT scan for a nodule they’ve discovered in my left lung along with another x-ray of my ribs because the doctor thinks that I’ve broken two of them.



I’ve received lovely cards and emails from many of you. When I arrived home last evening tired and frightened after a day of more medical tests, these beautiful flowers from my friends Donna and David in N.C. greeted me. And once again, I’m reminded of the love for which I’m so blessed to receive.

So my china cabinet remains untouched despite my intent to clean it yesterday. And that’s okay. Today I’m looking at it as a reminder that it’s all right to do nothing; it’s okay to take care of myself instead of a china cabinet.

Thank you for the blessing of your friendship. Each time you leave a comment, I’m reminded that my life is full of blessings. I sincerely appreciate your visits to my blog and your presence in my life.

Silverware Keepers

I’m working on my china cabinet today. Everything is coming out and then the cabinet itself will be cleaned along with all my china and crystal.

Once everything is sparkling, I’m going to work on the silverware drawer. It has a padded lining but I’ll add a layer of treated silvercloth purchased years ago from Martha Stewart in her pre-jail days when she had her online store.



My husband’s mother entrusted me with her family sterling silver flatware when we were married. The pattern is Durgin (now Gorham) Fairfax. It’s getting a good polishing today.



Last Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law and I found a vintage embroidered linen and flannel tablespoon keeper at an antique store in Fort Walton Beach, FL. Now that I’m spring cleaning my china cabinet, I’ve brought this find out.



A little mending and a gentle wash makes it functional again.



In preparation for storing my newly polished flatware in the drawer, I started sewing additional silverware keepers yesterday afternoon. The instructions are another one of those freebies I found at Jo-Ann’s Fabrics a few weeks ago at which time I also purchased dark-green treated silvercloth (they have it in brown, too).



The exterior fabric is from the home deco section at Jo-Ann’s and is leftover from one of my Amy Butler In Stitches Sew-along project last year (here’s the link to that photo).

I think I’ll sort out my napkin ring collection next since this is also stored in my china cabinet.

Happy Driving!

I began spring cleaning before I got sick and have been somewhat waylaid from my mission. My little projects lately are probably boring as heck to you but they are all I can handle right now. I do have some big things in the works but they’re slow going. All this coughing has left me with some torn ligaments and stuff in my chest that hurts like the devil. So bear with me as I do small endeavors that at least make me feel I’m being somewhat productive. I can’t stand being lazy.

My car is part of my spring cleaning tasks and I’m learning about things I can do to maintain it. Y’all probably figured a lot of this stuff out years ago but I’m slow to catch up. My car is a 10-year-old Honda CRV—nothing fancy, but it’s paid for and I want it to last a few more years.



I’m pretty good at getting the oil changed and keeping it relatively clean but some things were starting to look bad like the spare tire cover on the back that was falling apart. I checked with the dealer and found out a replacement would cost me both arms and one of my legs. A search of eBay netted me a brand new Honda tire cover that fits my spare—and at a much more reasonable cost. I so love eBay!

After my car wash and detailing adventure yesterday, I stopped by the Honda dealer and picked up a small bottle of touch-up paint. For $9, I fixed the scratches and dings that have developed over time. You use it just like nail polish (it has a little brush inside). I wish I’d known about this years ago…ah well.

The car wash folks used a horrid freshener in the car that had me coughing all the way home—like I needed any help from them. So I left the windows down last night and made myself a new bottle of “A Happy Place To Be” aromatherapy spray for my car.



I usually keep a bottle of this in the car for when I feel a bit of road rage coming on. I spray a bit and start singing “I’m a happy girl” so I won’t cuss too much or perform rude gestures for drivers who do idiotic things.

Here’s the recipe (found online years ago):

“A Happy Place To Be” Spray

Add to 2 ounces of purified water in spray bottle:

• 20 drops of spearmint essential oil
• 10 drops of bergamot essential oil
• 10 drops of lemon essential oil

Shake well and spray.

I also needed a new keychain so I made one last night using the easy tutorial at Creative Little Daisy.



Spring cleaning on my car is now done and it is ready for adventures. My husband insists I keep a safety kit and a fleece blanket in the back, and he got me a road assistance membership through AARP (don’t laugh, but we’re that old!). In the event of an emergency, I’m organized.

Happy Driving!

Car Spring Cleaning

Today I’ve decided to get my car detailed as part of my spring cleaning. It’s also the time of year when my annual Arizona car registration has just been renewed and our new car insurance cards have arrived.


I’ve been keeping these papers in an old vinyl folder that has pretty much begun to fall apart. So I sewed a new one using the same pattern as the coupon organizer I made. Scraps of fabric from my stash along with a piece of fabric that Sarah at Sassy Priscilla sent me in February worked great for this morning’s project.



I just discovered that the back of our telephone book has lots of discount coupons for all sorts of things, including things like car washes and oil changes. Now my new car organizer can hold those coupons, too.

Ikebana

Balance, harmony, and tranquility—those qualities are what I seek for our home right now.


Credit: Dub Scroggin

It’s going to take some time to recover from this latest severe bout of illness I’ve experienced, so yesterday I tried my hand at Ikebana to restore some quiet beauty to our lives.

Thank you so much for your notes of well wishes; I appreciate the care and concern you’ve shared.

Out Sick