I won a prize!

For the Comfort Week challenge. And here is the prize: A little parcel arrived today with these three bars of soap - Cherry Almond, Peppermint Poppyseed and Cafe Mocha Kitchen soap from Sherrie. It was such a lovely way to end the week.

I can't make up my mind which one to use first. Fortunately I can use one in the kitchen, and one in the bathroom, so that means I can start with two! :)

Birthday Cake!

I have to share something with you.

Cake!

But not just any cake, Seven Layer Cake!
(Served on the occasion of my grandfather's birthday.)

Okay, so I know what you're going to say... there are only 6 layers.

Apparently the 7th layer makes it too cumbersome to bake (ie. only 3 pans fit in the oven at a time, and the lonely single layer lost it's way over time).
Served with grapenut ice cream on grandmother's china, makes this a family favourite.

This cake also happens to be a Christmas tradition - on Christmas Day, we light a candle and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. So, technically, it's Jesus's birthday cake.

Finding comfort in a catnap

Oh, the life of a cat! This is the best image I can come up with, aside from those I've already shared this week, to illustrate comfort. To be able to find the warmest spot, with the best vantage point, and to have your bed there where you can curl up and make the world disappear into a blissful catnap! Now that's comfort!

Each new day is a blank page...

"Be still and know that I am God...." Psalm 46:10

Quiet time for reflection and meditation is my comforting habit...and has been, though not always daily (or even monthly for that matter) for 13 years.

Here is 13 years worth of thoughts, stories, insights, joys and sorrows, hopes and dreams:

Check out what other people are saying about their comforting habits.

The cot at the cottage

Can you see why I've chose this as my most comfortable place?
This cot is coveted by any who visit the cottage. It's a perfect napping spot, reading spot, relaxing with some knitting spot, or a place for reflection and creative thought. And I swear time stops when you're on that cot!

This summer I had the luxury of spending a couple solitary days at the cottage and it was absolutely wonderful. This is definitely one of the biggest advantages of living in NS again - that I can take some time to go to the cottage and relax. I took a few books, a few movies with my laptop (there's no internet connection so I was still "unplugged"), and some knitting projects....and just relaxed. I didn't follow a schedule or routine - I ate when I was hungry, slept when I was sleepy, played loud music when I craved noise, and swam a couple times (though the slimy rocks and underwater growth put me off swimming in the end). It was as perfect as an earthly experience can be.
And then when the day ends, you get to enjoy the best view around...

...and the quiet solitude of a relatively uninhabited lakeside in the middle of backwoods NS (well, not far from Digby anyway) . Sadly, I didn't hear any loons, but there are always other birds, and the scampering of squirrels, and the lapping of the lake water on the shore.

Phew! I almost didn't get this post up today....now it's bedtime.
Read about what others are saying about their most comfortable places here.

Comfort at home

Continuing with the comfort theme, this quilt epitomizes comfort to me at home.
I love this quilt for so many reasons! First of all, my mom made it. She worked on it (off and on) for about 5 years. The quilt is made from articles of denim clothing found at Frenchy's that she cut into squares and pieced together. There are even squares from the denim overall shorts I used to wear when I was twelve, and jeans I wore when I was a teenager.

The white squares with blue and green flowers in the foreground are my old denim overall shorts.

The quilt is tied together (see the little knots in diagonal rows?), rather than quilted. This keeps the layers (the piecework on top, the cotton-batting in the middle, and the chambray backing) from shifting. It would've been too difficult to quilt because of the heavy material and the thickness of the 3 layers. Mom and I did the tying together one summer weekend at the cottage. We stretched out the quilt in the middle of the floor and worked row-by-row until we were done. It was a wonderful weekend with Mom, and it was so nice to be a part of the making of the quilt (however small that part was!).

The quilt isn't quite big enough for a double bed, but works very well on the sofa as an oversized lap blanket or an extra layer on the bed on cold winter nights. Naturally, because of the denim, it's very heavy and warm, which is exactly what I love about it!

So, for me, comfort is wrapping myself up in the warmth of my mother's love (in the form of a quilt).

Mom, if you're reading this, are you tearing up yet? *grin*

Oh yeah,
Millie likes the quilt too.

Read more posts about comforts at home here.

My ultimate comfort food!

Warm homemade applesauce!

I love applesauce, especially slightly chunky applesauce, with a bit of cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg. I don't put any sugar in my applesauce when I'm cooking it so the recipe is pretty easy: enough water to cover the bottom of the pot (1 inch deep) + peeled, cored & sliced apples + spices. I used leftover Cox's Orange apples this time, but it's best made with tart flavourful apples like Cortlands or Jonagolds (in my humble opinion).

Applesauce is a staple for me in the wintertime. I'll eat it for breakfast, mixed in with yogurt and Ginger Zinger Granola (the combo of the three tastes like Apple Pie!). I also enjoy it spooned onto a slice of brown bread with peanut butter. And, of course, there's another delicious treat - warm applesauce with a spoonful of vanilla frozen yogurt (wait a few minutes so the ice cream melts a little) + a little nutmeg. Delicious!

So, why am I posting about my ultimate comfort food?
...Because Frenchy's Finds offered a challenge I couldn't resist - a Comfort Week challenge.
And if there's one thing I do well, it's comfort ;) .

Found!

Two boxes of books from my undergrad days! Hooray! I've been looking for these books since I've been back in Nova Scotia, but couldn't find them. As it turns out, they were packed carefully in boxes and tucked safely away - so safe, they weren't found until now!

Opening these boxes was like Christmas all over again! They're mostly books from my undergraduate degree in English Literature, and a few books from my childhood. The children's books are some of my favourites that I pulled out of boxes years ago in 3rd and 4th years, with the idea of using them for my Children's Literature classes.

So, here are the favourites found in these 2 boxes:

1. How to Make Pop-Ups by Joan Irvine. My favourite craft book as a child and I've often wondered where it disappeared to. It would be a really fun activity for my "Little" and I to do together.
2. Maggie Muggins & Mr. McGarrity by Mary E. Grannan. The first chapter book I remember reading all by myself. I don't remember the story at all so I'm half-tempted to reread it.
3. The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiesen. A book from my Writer & Nature (I) class. This came to mind recently as I've been reading through Three Cups of Tea. Both books are about self-discovery in the moutains, and reference the same moutaineers.
4. Tales of Terror books. My last year of University I took a Tales of Terror course. It was one of the most difficult courses in my academic career, but the subject matter was one of my favourite. I mean, c'mon, who WOULDN'T love reading all the gothic classics. And every once in awhile - usually during a storm - I have a craving to reread one.

I spent some time this evening finding new homes for these strays. I still have a bit of room left, but may have to consider another bookshelf eventually.

M is for Markets

Yesterday I made a trip home to the Valley. One of my many stops was to the Meadowbrook Meat Market in Berwick. Mom picked up delicious honey garlic sausages for supper and some ground hamburger, and I picked up a pre-cooked ham and maple sausages. I've heard rave reviews from my mother about how fresh the meat is, and she's been shopping for her meat there for years.

I was really impressed with the market - a large space with freezers and cooling units full of meat, like the meat section of a grocery store. They're obviously doing very well, and I hope they're business continues to thrive. There was a mishap this fall and they lost a lot of hogs in a barn fire (just imagine the smell!! eww!!), but I gather that's not going to hurt business too much.

I also got a real kick out of one of their parking signs. All of them were different. Here's the one for my parking space....

"For those feeling disgruntled". :D

And speaking of markets, I also stopped in to the Wolfville Farmer's Market. During the winter months it can be found in the Student Union Building at Acadia. There weren't as many vendors there as usual, but I managed to buy a bit of produce (brussel sprouts, a variety of carrots, a big bag of kale), and some pastries from the German Bakery to treat Mom and G. as thanks for being willing to store my All-Season tires for the winter (and alternately, my Winter Tires during the non-winter months, I hope....though that may require more pastries).

Happy New Year!

I rang in 2009 huddled under a very cozy and warm denim quilt with Millie while the Blizzard swirled outside, knitting a button-tab hat for myself (how is it that I don't own a winter hat?), and watching movies.

Button Tab Hat pattern here.
Wool: Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride Bulky, a wool & mohair blend.
Button: From a big bag of buttons bought at Wal-Mart (1 lb of buttons for $3!)
Notes: I should've followed the pattern a bit more closely - the hat doesn't quite come down below my ears. However, I was worried that there wouldn't be quite enough wool to finish the hat. The pattern called for straight stockinette stitching for 5-5.5 inches, and I only knit 3 (4 would've been ideal for a perfect fit).
Also, I thought the colour was quite nice at first, but after trying it on, I think I need a hat with a bit more colour. Maybe from this?

And knitting has been made so much easier for me thanks to the Christmas gift I received from my grandmother! She made me a fabulous needle roll.

It's exactly what I needed as I seem to be especially prone to misplacing (read: losing) knitting needles (hence the few pockets with 3 needles in them). And best of all, it was handmade!

I find it very hard to believe that another year has passed so quickly! 2008 was a good year, but I expect 2009 to be even better! I'm quite looking forward to it.

And, though I know every day is a new day, and I don't have to wait until a New Year to set a few resolutions, I still like to make up a little list of things to do for the year.

So here are a few:

• Buy less and save more.
• Compost consistently. I don't do this enough because there's very little attention paid to composting in my building (irregular pickups, and the bins are often buried in snow in the wintertime).
  
• Invest in a used GPS & go geocaching. (A perfect activity to do with my Little.)
  
• Get my bedroom closet under control.
• Grow another patio garden, with lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini and herbs.
  
• Knit a pair of socks, knit a "Wonderful Wallaby",... knit, knit, knit.
  
• Read at least a book a month.
  
• Sitesee more. Visit more museums and galleries in the HRM.
• Stargaze more & learn a handful of constellations
• Stop using plastic grocery bags.
• Try 1 new recipe every week.

Since 2009 is the International Year of Astronomy AND the International Year of Natural Fibres, I think my knitting plans and stargazing plans are very appropriate!