A Book - A Painting

May I recommend the book "Luncheon of the Boating Party" by Susan Vreeland?

Kiss Me Even if I'm Not Irish!

St. Patrick's Day - 2011.

While there were a few unable to join us, we had what you might call a full house for our annual St. Patrick's Day celebration this year. Next year we are going to try a new seating arrangement!

The tables seemed a mile long and things were still tight for the 15 folks at dinner.First course, Potato Leek soup. I love this recipe so make it as much for myself as for others.Then comes the Guiness Beef Stew. Yum!

Soda Bread. And finally, the corned beef, cabbage and red potatoes. 3 large roasts, 8 heads of cabbage and several pounds of potatoes.

Irish coffee (Lar will get subsequent orders for these in years to come!) with homemade Irish potatoes (thanks Ray!) and yummy cookies (thanks Terry!) for desert.

Later, the evening included Irish dancing (thanks Julia!)

time for family and friends

And just kickin' back and enjoying. As they say, HAPPY ST PATRICK'TS DAY....????????????


I set aside a prize for anyone noticing the banner that declared it with a T - but no one did.

Maybe it was the green beer and the Irish Coffee.

Last Piece of the Puzzle

One time, a long time ago, I was at someone's house and they had done a jigsaw puzzle and then they glued it together and hung it on the wall. As I was growing up, our family did a lot of puzzles, I never knew of anyone keeping them together in such a way. I really thought it was weird. (I hate when life decides to teach me, yet again, not to judge!)
For Christmas this past year, Santa brought me a 1,000 piece puzzle of a covered bridge. He was hoping the grandkids would be over to help a lot. I started out feeling confident. Larry 4 and Julia were here twice, I think, to give me a hand. Larry 3rd helped some too. And of course, resident Larry was a great source of encouragement,
and found quite a number of pieces.
And then I began to fear that the table would not be clear for our upcoming St. Patrick's Day dinner!
Friends Terry and Ray dropped off a piece of cardboard to get the puzzle onto - but it was quite terrifying sliding it with great care onto taped pieces of waxed paper. It was only about 1/2 done, the pieces weren't very sturdy, and with each move it took itself apart!
Note to self, and anyone reading....never put them together right on a table!
Finally it was safely on the cardboard with waxed paper between, and the pressure was off.
However, a couple of sick days got me to the last piece at last.
It's depth was beautiful! Being a covered bridge lover, I found I hadn't the heart to take it apart.
So off we went to buy that old 70's friend Mod Podge and some sponge brushes.

First, a healthy couple of layers of Mod Podge over the front...making sure to get all the seams and the edges well.

Once the front had dried clear, I turned it over and gave it one coat on back...again, checking for any seams that looked less than glued and getting the edges well.

After that, it was just a matter of letting it dry well and then popping it into a frame.

Maybe it is weird, but we love the look and think it looks great over the piano.

Planning my next puzzle after St. Patrick's Day....stop on by and help if you like!

Amadeus and other things

We have had season tickets to the Walnut Street Theater so although I have been feeling lousy for a few weeks, we were to attend the performance of Amadeus yesterday. Took me a while to drag myself out, but once in the city, I felt glad we'd gone.

Lar had planned on our eating dinner after the show at the Irish Pub, and since we'd arrived quite early, we strolled up Walnut St. to see about making reservations. We found ourselves in front of Moriarty's Pub and decided to go there instead. We immediately liked the feel of that pub, and were glad we had chosen it.

Back to the theater, we had a snack - corned beef piled high on rye and bottled water - and then made our way to our seats.

I am usually a fidgeter....it's a tough thing for me to sit still for any length of time, especially in the confines of a theater seat. I don't believe I moved a muscle, did not breathe at times from the magic of that performance. Rob McClure who WAS Mozart so deeply and completely

In Your Very Bones Music

When it comes time to change the music in March, I set out always to find nice Irish music. Appropriate, yes? But then, every time, it seems incomplete without a Welsh air, some Scottish pipes, because my very bones seem to demand it.
Does one develop a particular fondness for certain music?
Or, like birds that seem to simply "know" how to build nests, how to fly South, do we recognize the reverberation of certain instruments, certain sounds from our genetic makeup?
I don't know the answer, but I know what I like!
March - the month in which, more than any other, we, at our house, celebrate in music, in food and in the gathering of kith and kin, our heritage, our roots.
We are American, of course.
But to be American is to be one knitted from yarns pulled from across the world.
A mélange, if you will rich with variation.
So I imagine it will be corned beef and cabbage and red potatoes, no doubt some potato and leek soup, some soda bread, maybe a touch of Guinnes Stew, I'm not sure what I will "bring to the table" but I know it will inspire the sense of grounding - some sense of recognition of from whence I came.
A nostalgic month for me is March.
Goes with Spring, I guess. Looking back at what is past, what has been lost. Looking forward to what might yet be.
Giving thanks for all of it.