59 Years Ago

Fifty-nine years ago today on a Saturday afternoon in North Toronto my parents were married. I wasn't around to witness how things started, but I have seen their marriage in action all my life and have grown and learned by what I have observed. 

Over the years they have shown us a wonderful example of how to live together happily and create a loving relationship. They are the type of couple that shows tolerance, respect, and care for each other. They share common interests, common goals, and a common outlook on life. And best of all they like to spend time together.

As you can see by the photos above taken in New York City this past March, my parents like to travel. They have traveled all over the world and seen and done amazing things. They have raised five children and now have eight grandchildren (and one granddaughter-in-law). They have been on many Habitat for Humanity builds giving to people in need. They love to hike and spend time at the cottage and pretty much enjoy anything as long as it is together. 

Right now they are in British Columbia visiting family and friends and will be having dinner tonight in a Swarovski Crystal restaurant (I'm so curious to know what a crystal restaurant looks like). 

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. Love ya!

Scrumptious Sandwich #2

I have a confession to make.  I ate cheese and marmalade sandwiches every day last year at work for lunch. They were perfect. They were quick to make with only two ingredients. The cheese and marmalade don't go bad unrefrigerated on a hot day. The sandwich complies with the peanut-free rules we have in our schools. And most important of all - they are delicious!!!

I got the idea to pair cheese and marmalade from the book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I noticed that they were always drinking coffee and eating sandwiches in the book and not just any sandwiches, but often ones which had unusual combinations of ingredients. Apparently I'm not the only one who noticed the frequent eating and drinking - check out this blog that lists all the food mentioned in the book and this one that lists how frequently the words 'coffee' and 'sandwich' are used. 
I was intrigued when I read about combining cheese with marmalade.  

She got up and took a shower in no particular hurry, and ate a breakfast of toast with cheese and marmalade and a coffee. (pg 284)

I thought that the tanginess of the marmalade would probably taste great with cheddar cheese (kind of like a relish or chutney) so I tried it and was hooked. For the photos I toasted the bread and made them open-faced sandwiches (very Swedish, I know), but at work I just make an ordinary sandwich. 

 

My last Scrumptious Sandwich was a delicious (and relatively normal) tomato and cream cheese sandwich, which you can see here. This weeks is a little more out there. Any one brave enough to try it? Despite eating cheese and marmalade sandwiches all year, it was only this week that I finally got Jonathan and Malcolm and Christie to give it a try. And guess what - they liked it!
I bought some fancy cranberry pumpkin seed bread and old cheddar cheese for the photos and, man, did those upgrades ever make a difference. They took the sandwich to a whole new level. Who knew?
What about you?  Any strange sandwich combinations that you like?

Today is Bouquet Day

I try to have a fresh tablecloth and some flowers on the table every day. It's just a little thing I like to do to make our house a home.  

The truth is, though, I'm as happy to have a vase full of weeds as I am to have fancy tea roses. We do have some flowers in our garden, but today I went more for casual than classy.  

I found goldenrod growing behind some bushes in the backyard and the rudbeckia seeded itself in our garden from our neighbour's garden.  I love the simplicity of yellow with yellow and paired it with a cloth I brought back from Bangladesh that echoes the yellow daisy shape. I used a new jug that I bought at Fort York in Toronto where Kate and William worked as guards this summer (thus the date 1811 on it - although I'm not sure why it is 1811, not 1812 for the War of 1812 or even 1813 when the Battle of York took place).

 

Do you put fresh flowers on the table?  

p.s. I'm going to try to post a new bouquet every week paired with a tablecloth from my extensive thrift store collection. 

Summer Reading - The World of Downton Abbey

I know, I know, summer is over and I'm still posting about my summer reading list, but I wanted to let you know what I thought of each of them in case you might be interested in reading them. I especially wanted to write up my review of The World of Downton Abbey (by Jessica Fellowes) as I know there are lots of other Downton Abbey fans out there.

Sources: 1   2  

I really enjoyed this book and the information it provided about the world of Downton Abbey.  It covered life in country homes during the early part of the 20th century and the changes that World War 1 brought about to that lifestyle. There were interesting facts about what daily life was like for the wealthy homeowners and also for the servants. There were details on what one was to wear and when and the rules of etiquette.

Fun fact:  Did you know that married women were served breakfast in bed rather than having to go down to the dining room.  This meant they could relax while eating breakfast and more importantly could avoid having to put on a morning dress which meant one less dress change.

The book also gave interesting tidbits about the filming of Downton Abbey.  There are details about how they built the kitchen and servant's level (it wasn't filmed on location), and how the costumes were designed and sourced.

Fun fact:  Did you know that the costumes for Downton Abbey came almost equally from three sources - some were created for the show, some were vintage items, and some were rented (and sometimes had been used in other movies or TV shows).

Some of the information in the book comes from intimate knowledge of the TV series and life in a country home gained by the author Jessica Fellowes as she is Julian Fellowes's neice.  Not only does Julian Fellowes have the inside scoop on Downton Abbey being the creator, executive producer, and writer of some of the episodes, but he also grew up in country homes so has first hand experience of what life is like there.

The book is full of beautiful photos of country houses and scenes from Downton Abbey.  For me personally it was all about the dresses (check out the details in the gowns in the photo below. Gorgeous, right?)  It is hard to ogle the dresses while watching the TV show as they go by too quickly and there is far too much drama happening to also take in fashion so it was wonderful to have great big glossy photos to pour over.  

The World of Downton Abbey is a definite must-read if you are a fan of the TV series.

This is the last book in my summer reading list (Yay me! I read all six books I had planned on reading).  In case you missed the others, they are:

• The Help
• The Garlic Ballads
• The Great Gatsby
• Walden
• The Snow Leopard

What have you been reading lately?  

p.s.  Want to go on a virtual tour of the Downton Abbey house? Click here to have a look.

Linked to Literary Friday at Art @ Home

My Happy List

It's a good week to write a happy list because there is a bit of a cloud hanging over my head. 

Do you see that map up there - well that shows where our three kids are now.  The red star is us. William is in Winnipeg (over on the left) a mere 2012 kms from home.  I know because I just looked it up.  Kate is the one on the right in Halifax which is only 1815 kms from home.  Sigh.  Good thing for Malcolm and Christie as they are just 73 kms away so we can visit them.  

I know we will adjust, but right now the house seems quiet and empty and dull (sorry Jonathan, but you really need to up the noise-factor). While I get my bearings and learn how to live life as an empty-nester I thought it would be a great idea to post a Happy List.  So here goes:

1.  I'm going to start out small here - I got a new lunch bag! I know, I know - crazy that such ridiculous things can make me happy, but isn't it cute. I'm sure lunch will taste much better (especially now that I don't have to use the old stinky one).

2.  I passed my Chinese dynasty pop quiz.  All last winter William tried to teach me important things like the Chinese and Japanese dynasties.  He wrote them on our fridge in dry erase marker so that I could "study" them while I cooked.  There was no way I could get my mind around all the dynasties so I agreed to put some effort into learning the names and dates of four Chinese dynasties.  William periodically tested me on them and I was doing pretty well, but we got busy around and pretty much forgot about it since April. Last Saturday before Kate and William left for university we all went out for sushi and William sprang a pop quiz on me.  Guess what?  I passed!  I really have learned the Xin, Han, Ming, and Qing dynasties. Yay for me!  

3.  I finished all six books that I set out to read this summer.  Fist pump in the air!   I like reading, but I never seem to get around to it when I'm working so I was pleased that I got them read over the summer.

4.  Last week I took William and Kate to the cottage for one final visit before they left for university.  It was a lovely relaxing time.  Spending time at the cottage with the family definitely makes me happy.

5.  We finished the round-the-world cooking while we were at the cottage.  Details coming soon.  We have been at our culinary adventures for almost 5 years and I thought it would be fitting to cook the final meals and bring us back to North America before the last child went to university.  

6.  And finally, I really am happy that our kids are happy and doing what they are supposed to be doing.  They are all in good places right now learning new things at university or new jobs.  Speaking of new jobs, Christie got a new job as an Occupational Therapist which makes us very happy and Malcolm has had lots of contracts teaching English as a Second Language which also makes us happy.  

See there you go - lots to be happy about!

I've linked my post up at Ricki Jill's Happy List at Art@Home.