blessings...

About 10 years ago when we lived in England I was visiting my dear friend Petra at her home while our children were at school. She gave her little son some popcorn from a saucepan on her stovetop (a.k.a. 'cooker'). I was surprised as I'd never seen popcorn made that way before. I asked her about it and she gave me the simple recipe... pour (sunflower) oil into the pot, just enough to cover the bottom, sprinkle in popping corn to also cover the bottom of the pan, put a lid on it (obviously important ;) cook it over medium heat until the popping sounds slow down/ stop (I wait until there are 2-3 seconds between pops) Then I tip it into a bowl and drop a spoonful of butter into the hot pan to melt. As soon as it is melted and has stopped sizzling, I drizzle it over the bowl of popcorn. Then I sprinkle some sea salt on it, and maybe sugar or even liquid honey. I have done this in pots of many sizes and it seems to work no matter what! Lovely. I like not having to have ...

Last week I went to see the doctor again about shuffling the 'combinations and permutations' of my medicines, with the aim of having fewer migraines. This was not a fun experience because I had a migraine that day. However, it was worth it to get some relief! A couple different drugs were added to the mix, and... voila! On Sunday a friend commented sweetly that I seemed to be feeling great, and wondered what I was doing...? (She was far to polite to put it like this, but essentially she wanted to know why I seemed so alive and energetic compared to my usual self.  ;) The answer? Good drugs!   Years ago my son teased me for being on a first name basis with staff at the pharmacy; he called them my 'homies'. (Thank you Jack ;) Over the years I'd quoted to my children the (ancient greek philosopher...?) quotation, "Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food." How could my teenaged children resist the perfect opportunity to 'mock the ...

Last week was hard for our family as our beloved Golden Retriever, Jasper, suddenly got severely ill and died. We cried and cried, of course. We miss him now whenever we are coming home or going out, whenever we see someone walking a dog that looks like him, whenever I don't need to step carefully over him in the night... He was crazy about his ball. It's one of those bright orange and blue indestructible ones that bounce and float and can be far-flung using the chuck-it stick. This had two benefits; for Jasper it meant longer runs for each thrown ball, and for us it meant no touching the slobbery ball ;) He was also crazy about stealing food! We had to be ever vigilant to prevent him gobbling whatever he could get his mouth on (but oddly, not his own food. He ate plenty of that, but only at mealtimes. Otherwise, he couldn't be bothered. It was the appeal of 'forbidden fruit', I guess!) Once he sniffed out the remains of a bag lunch in Jack's bedroom, wolfed...