Joournal-Blog (Family, Cooking from Scratch, Gardening)

Hi All, I sure have missed writing, but I'm back. I will be tweaking the layout here so it is more reader friendly, and more importantly... focusing on JUST THREE TOPICS which are important to me and I believe go together nicely. These topics encompass many aspects of our lives.

1. Cooking From Scratch  (inclusive of all foods we prepare) with RECIPES
2. Old- Fashioned Family Life... in the Ever Evolving 21st Century
3. Kitchen Gardening

I'd like this web-blog to be for everyone and anyone who wishes to read it. It's mostly my compilation of thoughts on today's family life; recipes already tested and tweaked for you  with photos and perhaps quotes (I'm a big fan)

 Though I also I hope it will someday be a written and visual journey of family life and authentic cook-book for my children to pass onto their own.

However,  I am writing it to 'all readers'. It is my hope you may find it enticing enough to follow along. Together we will journey thru this incredible life... always giving thanks for the blessings bestowed upon us, looking for the good in the world, the good in people, and our everyday living.

I was a journalism , then communications major in college; so you wouldn't think I would have stopped reading newspapers years ago! I follow along via internet on important stories but I try to block out the negative and sensationalized stories. The stories 'so-called' newspeople write 'to sell papers'... no matter how negative and disturbing the story might be.  I plan for this web journal t be a complete contradiction to the newspapers of today. If you considered life to be what you see on the news; it would be a depressing sight indeed. However, the truth is this world we live in is the complete opposite, if you take each day and look at it in a positive light. You must look around and find the good; it is there... every day, everywhere. You just have to slow down a bit, open your eyes and heart; and then, only then, will you clearly see the world the way we are supposed to. A world that is filled with goodness, kindness & love. The world the way it is supposed be viewed. 

My children may never be interested in ready this, I know but I write with pleasure hoping to inspire someone, some where. Whether it be stories of kindness; helping others in small ways (it does make a difference); or cooking from scratch; baking breads, gardening (then sharing). This not only gives you joy but you are passing on this goodness to so many others as well. Anything to make the world a friendlier place.
                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All  that being said, you might as well ignore posts prior to today Many, though not all, pertain to my Vintage Collectibles shop. I closed Footbridge Cove last March, after six wonderful years, but now is the time in my life to focus on other priorities. I won't delete those posts though, in case someone is interested in something that was written before the renewing of this journal-blog.

Wishing you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving filled with love.
Warmly
~ garden chef   (Cathy)

Testimonial to my beloved mom, my inspiration

Originally printed in March 2009 in our recently closed 'SHOP BLOG', Since this was a personal note, update, at the time I thought I would post it here on our now one and only blog.

Hello friends. It has been a long while since I have written...seems longer than the actual days that have passed.

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you were fortunate enough to spend the holidays with loved ones. We had a pleasant holiday season, always have to keep it festive for the kids sake, but it was a difficult one as well.

The day after I last wrote my beloved mother took ill. She had a stroke...her 2nd in 9 years... and this one involved too many issues for any one person to recover from. I thought I'd take today to share my personal thoughts about my mom, her life, and death. Some of the simple, but plain truths she taught me, by example. I'm so fortunate, to carry within me, these beliefs as I journey through this world and share with my own children as they grow into adulthood. Simple, but plain truths I learned because of her.

She and my dad married in 1961. What a typical traditional couple they were. My mom took her role as housewife very seriously and my dad worked every day to pay the mortgage. My best friend always thought of my mom as Mrs Cleaver from 'Leave it to Beaver'! I don't remember her vacuuming with her choker length pearls on but she was always dressed smartly in a skirt and blouse.... and our house was spotless. That's right it would easily pass the white glove test any day of the week.  My dad came home each night to a nutritionally balanced, home cooked meal and we all ate together. Every night, everyone ate together. Take out food was a treat, maybe once a month if that. After dinner, my dad would ask my mom is she wanted help with the dishes, she'd always say no and he'd loosen his tie and go read the paper in the living room. My mom would do the dishes - no dishwasher, no garbage disposal, life was so different than it is now.

CONTINUED

I started this entry in January and got swept away, but here I am again. There is too much to write about about my parents & their wonderful lives together in this sitting. I will save that for my FOOTBRIDGE COVE TIDBITS blog on blogger.footbridgecovetidbits

At Footbridge Cove our shop is surviving the recession...are we still calling it that? However, each day I find myself looking toward the future with a renewed enthusiasm, even as things are in flux with the economic times. Each day there is something positive to find. Look inside yourself, always have faith, funny that is probably the most important legacy my mom left behind... and she, nor I, until now never even realized it. ALWAYS HAVE FAITH.

I love you mom, not an evening goes by that I don't talk to you before I close my eyes for the day

                                                        

                                                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~

So folks stop by FOOTBRIDGE COVE when you get a chance. We have plenty of inventory to list so we we won't be going anywhere... and yes we'd like to sell what is currently listed, so feel free to make us an offer. We are pleased to consider it.

Posted at 12:53 PM in LIFE in general | Permalink ShareThisShareThis

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Family Photos and Validation of Love

Where does the time go? My youngest and her mutually adoring dad...

I came across this photo today (behind another more up-t0-date photo in a frame).... and realized this was THE ONE, THE PHOTO I had written about such a long time ago.

Just thought I'd share, I'm sure many of you parents can relate.

A Moment in Time

Once again the photograph was face down, on a table in the living room. The first, and even the second time, I thought maybe it had fallen when one of the kids ran by. Now it is apparent, my youngest has done this intentionally. This particular picture was taken several years ago, when my oldest was only two. It’s is a close up of her with her dad.

Photography is a wonderful hobby, a profession for some. But once children come into your life, taking photos becomes a way for all parents to secure precious moments for a lifetime. Most people, even those with no interest in photography, feel compelled to take photos of their newborn. There is an innate need to document this momentous occasion, the day your son or daughter is born.

Parents have dozens of snapshots of their children… from the moment they were born, until the most recent end of school party. You click away, always looking for that perfectly composed picture. Or at least, to capture the moment before it is gone.

When your first child is born you take photos attempting to preserve every new expression, you never want to forget these precious moments. You develop the film immediately and diligently arrange each picture, just so, in the photo album. Many parents also manage to have up-to-date snapshots, in little photo wallets that they always carry with them. As the baby grows and other children come along, days became busier. You still manage to document special moments -birthdays, holidays- you even manage to develop the film in a timely manner, but you never seem to get the photos into the album. Instead, these photos end up in a drawer, a bin, or a box, to be arranged at a later date.

Before you know it, daily after school activities keep you running from one lesson or sport to another. Most parents still take the pictures, but at this point in life, the film often sits in a drawer, to be developed when you have the time.

My youngest daughter clearly noticed there are no newly framed photos in our house. In her young mind, she felt left out, but at three years old she could not find the appropriate words to express her feelings. She chose to solve the problem herself, by turning the picture face down on the table whenever she saw it. If you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist.

It took a few days before I realized what was happening. Once I did though, I promptly went searching through a bin of photos and found several of her. There were pictures of her alone, with her siblings, with me, with her father, and with her grandparents. I thoughtfully selected a photo of her with her dad and placed it, unframed for the time being, on the same table as the other picture.

Neither of us mentioned this new picture, but each day for a week, she quietly took the new photo of her and her dad, and placed it directly in front of the other one. It became a game that both of us were playing, without ever acknowledging it. At the end of each day I would separate the photos again. After several days of this I got around to buying a frame. For some reason that was all it took. Having a framed picture of her with her dad, prominently displayed, was enough. She hasn’t touched either picture since, she is content.

You have probably heard them over the years, the jokes, the comments from young adults, who were ‘the baby’ in their families: “I swear to God, there are no pictures of me anywhere” or “by the time I came along, my parents didn’t take pictures anymore”. This is not true, there are probably hundreds, or at least dozens, life just got a little too hectic. Organizing them in albums took a backseat to homework, baseball, soccer and dance…everyday life.

For most parents, there is at least some security in knowing there are photographs that have documented the milestones in their children’s lives. It really doesn’t matter, if these photos are organized or framed.

The day will surely come, when the house is ‘quiet’. That will be the time to sit and reminisce, mist-eyed for days gone by, as you arrange the beautiful, often funny, photos you have accumulated over the years. Remembering endearing expressions, now long gone, poignant moments captured forever…a family history in the making.

And from now on, I will always, have at least one photo of each of my children framed and displayed.. ~ August 2000


March 2009
Keeping in tune with the changing times we don't even store photos in bins anymore, nevermind an album. We have all digital photos stored online. And when I happen to think about it I copy them into my photobucket account as well... so these precious moments will always be with with us.