In Springtime

They tell me, Death, that Heaven is a truly wondrous place
Where come no earthly sorrows, and of tears there is no trace:
They say there's no evasion - that the journey waits for all.
But oh! not in the Springtime, when the South winds softly call.

If you should come for me, and call, when softly falls the snow,
When dull the days, and cheerless, then I would gladly go.
But do not come a-calling when the bluebirds are a-wing,
Or when the pussy willows to the branches tightly cling.

I am not frightened of you, Death. I'll go with you some day -
But not when apple boughs are foamed in white and tinted spray,
For that is in the Springtime when the balmy days have come,
And I could never leave them when the bees are all a-hum.

Come if you must, to call me, when wild asters are abroad,
Or Nature spills in Summer's lap the stately golden rod,
But come not when the lilacs bloom, or tulips, in the Spring,
When butterflies are waking, and wild birds are on the wing.

If your voice should call me when the woods are gaily dressed,
And Autumn leaves are falling - I will go with them - and rest.
It matters not if morning sun, or stars, glow in the sky:
But call not, I entreat you, when the wild geese northward fly.

by Mary Radford

Mary Radford was my Great Aunt. She died in the Springtime, as did my dear Mom and now my dear Dad on the first day of Spring.

Dad August 1923 - March 20, 2017
93 years young

Beach Bag from a Beach Towel

One of my daycare kids is celebrating their birthday this month. She loves dogs and the show "Paw Patrol", so I headed out the other night to get her a present ... hopefully dog related. I was in luck! There was a huge shipment of beach towels just arrived at the store I visited, all with cartoon themed pictures. Of course, they had Paw Patrol, so I scooped one up. This girl's family has a pool, so I figured it would be a nice little gift. But I wanted to add something to it.

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to do something similar.

 I only needed to look at the photo to decide how I was going to work mine. I didn't see the need to use two towels as this person did, and I didn't want to go to the fuss and bother of the border. I also changed the bulky towel handles for some cotton fabric. For a three-year old, I was going for simplicity.

I have some very heavy printed cotton, more like a canvas. I used this cotton to make pockets on one end quarter of the towel, and a pillow casing on the opposite end quarter. I made a lightly stuffed pillow out of muslin and inserted it into the case. This way the pillow can be removed when the towel needs washing. I left an opening in the case for this purpose. The handles are sandwiched in between the towel and the pockets. 

pillow insert

The towel can be laid down on the ground to lie on, and when you're finished with it, you just fold it over three times, bring the handles together and you have a small bag with pockets on the outside to carry a few essentials with you.

Fold over once, twice, three times and then sideways!

As I worked on this, I thought of all sorts of details that could be added to this idea.  Apart from embellishments of ribbons and trims, a zippered pouch might be handy for the beach and different sized pockets to hold a magazine and sunscreen. For this gift I left it fairly simple. 

Because I restrict myself to gifts for the kids between $10 - $15, I didn't put anything in the pockets. But I would have loved to add some little flip flops (also in the stores now), a sun hat and a colouring book and crayons. This cost me just the beach towel ($15) as I already had the fabric and the stuffing. It took me about three hours to make this from start to finish, so a fairly quick and easy project.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy

The Eagles are Coming!

Haven't had too much to blog about this winter ... has it been obvious? On the weekend I got a sudden severe sore throat, which turned into a dry cough. My planned visit to my dad had to be cancelled which was really frustrating. I wallowed around the house on Saturday morning, and then my husband asked me to come and see an open house to get my mind off of things. We drove up to Lake Scugog (Skoogog) just north of us to see a little log cabin cottage that had been turned into a house years ago. Not that we're planning on moving, but one day we would like to move to a place with a couple of acres. Hey, it's a dream. 

On the way up I noticed a huge bird soaring over the road and twisted and turned to get a good look. It was a bald eagle!!  We don't normally have bald eagles here, and they were pretty much wiped out in this area with DDT back in the day. I have seen one in the springtime a few years ago soaring alongside Dundas Peak (Niagara Escarpment), but never one in my area (keep a watchful eye over there Margie!). I could clearly see his white head and white tail. A real treat for me! I urged my husband to stop the truck! and I whipped out my camera sigh...phone :( and took a few shots. These were just for evidence you understand, I knew it would be a miracle of the photos even turned out. Can you see him? Right there flying above the wires. No? You might think it's a speck of dirt on your computer screen (actually the specks of dirt on my computer screen are larger than the eagle image!)

a helping arrow to pinpoint the eagle ;)

Okay, so maybe it's more just a shot of a typical country road in Ontario for those of narrower views. But if you broaden your mind, you might just see the eagle in this next cropped (very cropped) image:

Gosh I miss my camera :[ 

Thanks for stopping by to share in this small bright spot of my recent days.

Wendy

High Sky Veggibilly Pie, A Recipe

Good Morning! The fog is rolling in early this morning. I hope that means the warm is overtaking the cold temperatures. It was fairly chilly yesterday with a brisk cold wind from the East. I've been wearing my spring jacket, but am not giving up a scarf or gloves just yet!

Years ago I found a recipe in a magazine for a spinach quiche. It was a recipe from Kraft called Sky High Vegetable Pie. I made it a few times, and I thought it was a hit with my family. I was soon to learn differently. My daughter was in grade 1 or 2 at the time and I was shocked, yes shocked! to read the contents of one of her school activities. It was a worksheet asking about her favourite foods etc. What was her favourite meal ... dinner. What was her favourite food ... icecream. She was fairly predictable. But the last comment was about what food she hated the most. You guessed it ... Sky High Vegetable Pie!!!

My husband and I had a laugh over this. Firstly, because we couldn't even make out what the heck she meant by Hay Sky Vechtdblbiy ... but then it clicked that she meant the Sky High Vegetable Pie! Ever since we read this, we have referred to it as High Sky Veggibilly Pie instead. It's just what you do, right?

My son loves this pie because it's a dish he and I took over to my parents' house for a luncheon visit with them. It was one of the last times we did this, so it holds special memories for him.

Anyway, I showed you a photo of this yummy quiche a couple of posts ago, and thought I'd share the recipe today. Just a word of warning. The last time I made this in the springform pan, the egg leaked out of the pan because I didn't have quite enough stuffing packed into the bottom. I ruined the pan because I couldn't get the baked egg off ... and believe me, I tried! I think next time I will make it in a quiche pan (which I have to now buy).

High Sky Veggibilly Pie

1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing Mix  (make the 6-serving size - 3 cups)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp butter

1 280 g pkg frozen, chopped spinach, thawed & well drained

2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/2 small red pepper, cut in strips

5 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tomatoes, sliced

Prepare stuffing as directed on package. Stir in 1 egg. Press into greased 8-inch springform pan or pie plate to form crust.

Saute onion in butter until tender. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Sprinkle half the cheese over crust. Top with half the spinach, then peppers. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and spinach. Pour remaining eggs over all. Top with tomatoes. Bake at 400F 40 - 45 minutes, until set.

This would also taste great using asparagus instead of spinach. I added about half a cup of chopped almonds to this too.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Wendy