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Archive for the ‘Entertaining Ideas’ Category

mayday

Happy May Day!

Captain Cavedweller and I were just discussing May Day and memories we have (him not so much as me, but I think the holiday tends to capture the interest of little girls much more than little boys).

May Day is  a spring celebration that falls exactly half a year from November 1. It’s related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic Festival of Walpurgis Night. As Europe became Christianized, the pagan holidays lost their religious foundations and morphed into the popular secular celebration.The celebration in America is best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and baskets of flowers left on doorsteps as a surprise gift.
I remember one year at school we had a maypole using one of the pieces of playground equipment. Someone climbed to the top and fastened crepe paper streamers and then some of the students got to weave the streamers in and out in the traditional dance. I thought it was awesome. CC remembered doing something similar at his school using the tetherball pole.I also remember making May baskets and leaving them on a neighbor’s doorstep. My mom was also the recipient of some of my early May Day basket efforts which no doubt involved dandelions shoved into a canning jar.Wherever or however you celebrate this welcoming of spring, I hope you have a beautiful day!She Who Should Make a May Basket or Two

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I’ve blogged about these beauties before, but I love these tulips.

The deep magenta and the soft pink tones speak to my heart and make me smile.

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The original bulbs came from Captain Cavedwellers great-grandmother. We got our starts from CC’s grandma. Where we have them planted they are always the last tulips to bloom, usually after the threat of frost has gone and spring has truly arrived.

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I can see them from my kitchen window and all it takes is a glance at their vibrant blooms to make me smile.

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The other day the sun was shining just right to take a few fun shots of the tulips (and the bugs hiding on the petals).

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The blooms were absolutely gorgeous.

tulips 4Rich and colorful.

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And the sky was a fantastic shade of blue.

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That made me really glad I took a few minutes to stop and enjoy my tulips.

She Who Loves Spring Flowers

 

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Uncle John, my dad’s only (and younger) brother,  was in the service stationed in Japan in the early 1950s.

When he came home, he brought all his sisters (including his lone sister-in-law) a lovely tea set.

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The pattern is Noritake Morning Glory and from what little information I’ve been able to find, it was only manufactured from 1950-1953.

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I can remember my mom using her tea set for  extra special occasions.

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She would carefully take the cups and the little snack plates down from the high shelf of a cupboard and serve special little sweets to the ladies gathered in our home.

Long admiring the set, I was thrilled beyond words when my Dad gave it to me the last time we were at their house. Trying to downsize since their move from the farm into town, I was more than happy to give the tea set a new home.

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And I need to plan a little party so I can use these beautiful china pieces.

Thanks, Uncle John, for being so sweet and bringing them back to your sisters in the first place!

If any of you know more history about the dishes, I’d love to hear it. Please leave a comment or send me a message at shanna@shannahatfield.com

She Who Loves Old Dishes

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choc chip cookies

Okay.

Here’s the thing…

I can’t make chocolate chip cookies to save my life.

I can’t.

Honest to goodness.

I can make flaky pie crust from scratch, make homemade bread, create somewhat difficult desserts with no problem whatsoever.

But chocolate chip cookies?

Can’t bake a batch that is edible no matter how hard I try.

I think the link in my DNA code that enables a person to make good chocolate chip cookies is sadly missing.

I’ve tried all sorts of recipes from the Nestle Toll-House recipe on the back of the bag of chocolate chips to an assortment of others. I follow the recipes to the letter and still no luck.

I don’t want hard, crunchy cookies or cookies that melt into a lake of oozy dough. I want the perfect cookie – soft, chewy, and wonderful.

So I’m begging, if any one of you have a fail-proof, idiot-proof chocolate chip cookie recipe, would you share it with me?

You can post a comment here or email it to me at shanna@shannahatfield.com

As with most things that challenge me, I’m determined to overcome this one or die trying. After all, a chocoholic needs to be able to make a great chocolate chip cookie.

She Who Is Humbly Hoping for Recipes

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