all that is unsolved in your heart

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.

-rainer maria rilke

wrap your spirit around you

 

  

  

  

  

  

"How can you stand it?" I asked Dick as he was getting ready to go out to do the morning chores at the barn. Snow had fallen in the night. The sun was only a pink blob on the horizon like a smear of fruit on a plate that has been washed and ought to be clean.

"You jist take a look at that pile of clothes I put on when I go out," he answered, picking up a tall felt boot and knocking the chaff out of it. There was a hooded wool jacket, a quilted jacket, a cap with fur-lined ear muffs, a pair of denim overalls, the tall boots, and a piece of bailing twine to tie around the waist because, as his Uncle Howard taught him, 'It's equal to another jacket.'

I said, "Oh, I don't mean that. I mean this perpetual gray, this winterness going on forever..."

"It's all in the spirit," he said. "If you have some way to keep your spirit up..."

"Well, what's your way?"

"You look at the calves and think how nice they are...or the fields...or the mule colts. If you have something you like to think of you don't have to think, 'How can I set foot out in that cold snow?'" He put on one boot. "My feet haven't been really warm since last August," he admitted. Then he put on his other boot and wrapped his spirit around him and set his foot out in the cold snow.

Excerpt from 'Speak To The Earth; Pages from a Farmwife's Journal' by Rachel Peden

Wrap your spirits around you dear friends...it's still snowin'.

xo country girl

Bakery-Style Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe turns out large, thin discs of crisp, sweet, salty, buttery goodness which could have been pulled from the big glass jar of a fragrant bakery.

Nothing like those fat, cakey oatmeal cookies stuffed with raisins.

These are elegant, almost florentine-like, with that mouth-watering mixture of salty-sweet that made us love kettlecorn and cracker jacks.

As the cookbook Cook's Country describes: 'This style allows the simple flavor of buttery oats to really stand out. We wanted to develop an oatmeal cookie that combined the refinement of a lace cookie with the ease of a drop cookie.'

The dough itself was so fragrant and yummy, I hardly had to wash the wooden spoon if you know what I mean.

Bakery-Style Oatmeal Cookies

(to ensure that the cookies bake evenly and are crisp throughout, bake them one sheet at a time. Place them on the baking sheet in three rows, with three cookies in the outer rows and two cookies in the center row. Is you reuse a baking sheet, allow the cookies on it to cool for at least 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack, then reline the sheet with fresh parchment paper before baking more cookies. Do not use instant or quick-cooking oats.)

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

14 tblsps (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (see note above)

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat the oven to 350°.

Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

In  a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until just combined, about 20 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute longer. Scrape down the bowl and beaters with a rubber spatula. 

Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low speed until fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and the beaters again. Reduce mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated, 10 seconds.  Gradually add the oats while stiring with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix well until incorporated. Ensure that no flour pockets remain and the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll the dough into balls and lay them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart. Using your finger tips, gently press each dough ball to 3/4 inch thickness.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, until the cookies are a deep golden brown, the edges are crisp, and the centers yield to a slight pressure when pressed, 13 to 16 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

On a different note, I wanted to tell you about maya*made and her adorable ideas for Valentine's day.

Her theme this year is 'tiny,' inspired by the tiny letters Tasha Tudor wrote for her grandchildren's dolls.

I especially love her idea for miniature chocolate kisses . So simple and wonderful!

So many kind and inspiring people here.

What an amazing community.

Enjoy your day! And hopefully, the oatmeal cookies, too!

xoxo country girl

many thanks and a giveaway winner!

  

 image from country living

thank you for all the heart-felt birthday wishes!

you sure did sweeten my day.

and i especially loved reading about your favorite birthday cakes!

it seems that what we loved as children sticks with us most.

mine would have to be chocolate cupcakes, or yellow cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.

today all i pretty much did was relax and enjoy the generous gifts, sweet emails, happy tweets, and lovely cards i received.

so many friendships and kind people to be grateful for!

thank you thank you thank you.

i put all of your names on scraps of paper and mixed them around in a bowl.

my husband dug in there and pulled up the winning ticket.

and the winner of the vintage pillow case is...

morwenna of bluebells and butterflies!

darling morwenna, we're all dying to see what you make with this vintage flowered piece of potential.

maybe bunting or napkins for your up-coming wedding?

or an apron so we can be apron twins?

can't wait to find out!

sending hugs and kisses to you all....

...hugs and kisses from birhday girls bring good luck!

xoxo country girl

my vintage pillow case apron!

 

While digging through my bag of assorted fabrics this morning I came accross a pair of vintage pillow cases my mother in law had passed on to me a couple of years ago. Although they were in perfect condition, no soils, stains, or funny smells, I hadn't been able to use them as pillow cases because they were huge, and I had no pillows which fit. So I had thrown them in with the rest of my fabric collection with the thought that one day I could cut them into scraps for a quilt.

But this morning, when I pulled one of them up and flattened it out to admire, I noticed the lovely scalloped edges, and the sweet little buttons. And I realized suddenly that it was large enough to be sewn into an apron. 

 

To my excitement, I saw that two of the buttons would fit perfectly in the middle, and would give the apron a look similar to overalls (and what's more country than overalls?) I quickly laid an existing apron which fit me well over the pillow case and traced along the edges with a pencil, leaving room to fold over and sew. I cut along the line through both sides of the pillow case so that the top would overlap and be closed by the buttons; this also provided a nice thickness. I located a spool of pink thread and got out my needle pillow, and set to work doing a running stitch along any open sides.

  

  

Once the apron was sewn, I added the neck and waist straps. Taking two odd strips of fabric, I tied them with a knot in the middle to form a shabby bow, which I sewed to the top left corner for a little girlie detail.

I love how it turned out! And it was so simple. The whole process took about an hour. It feels great to make something simple, pretty, and recycle vintage fabric all at once. 

I have a second identical pillow case and I wonder....would one of you sweethearts like to be my apron twin? 

Leave a comment here, telling me about your favorite kind of Birthday Cake, and I'll pick a winner tomorrow, on my birthday!

The winner will get the twin to this pillow case, and will have the opportunity to make a vintage pillow case apron for themselves. All I ask in return is that they share a couple pictures of whatever they turn the pillow case into...quilt, baby blanket, napkins, or indeed, an apron...in a blog post so we all can see!

Looking forward to reading about your favorite birthday cake!

Thank you all for your kind, heartfelt notes yesterday. It really makes a world of difference when you feel the warmth and comeraderie of other people. There are still a few questions which remain unanswered, and still moments of panic or tears, but mostly, there is the strong conviction that love conquers all, that friendship has the power to heal a hurting heart, and that troubles shared are troubles lessened. So thank you, thank you, thank you so much.

XOXO country girl

pinks and jewels and hard times, too

 

 

 

This weekend my husband and I had alot to talk about.

It wasn't easy. 

This isn't an easy time.

Actually, ever since we lost our baby in November, we've been struggling to keep our chins up and our spirits high. Deep winter and lack of sunshine doesn't help matters, either.

We have moments of laughter...we laugh alot actually. 

But there is this underlying discontent...this sadness which fills the quiet moments.

My husband works so hard, and it hurts my heart to see him unhappy, and feeling drained.

Questioning his work, questioning if this is how he should be spending his life. 

How things will evolve and change, only time will tell.

Sometimes there are decisions which are so hard to make.

But I know one thing for sure: as long as we have eachother, we are going to be ok. 

We don't need a big apartment to be happy.

So many times in my life, I thought I knew where I was going, what it was all about.

And so many times, life reminded me that this isn't a book which is written and finished, with a clear plot and a beginning, middle, and end that I can just read and understand. 

There is so much still unwritten!

So, the weekend was a mixture of long, scary talks...scary meaning they were revealing and left so much yet to be decided....and laughter. Yes, laughter! I don't know how, but the two of us seem to be able to laugh even on the darkest days.

Above are some more pinks for you to enjoy....even my organic milk delivery came wrapped in pink newspaper this week! That made me smile.

And below is a little peek at my *Gift of Jewels* parcel which I sent off to it's deserving recipient last week. I can't wait to hear if she likes everything! It was alot of fun to put together, and looked so pretty in all that tissue paper, sparkly with white and silver and hearts, that I had to snap a photo of it to share with you all. 

 

So that's what's going on over here in my life. Turmoil, laughter, love, questions....

Sending out a hug and kiss to all of you...hope your weekends were relaxing and sweet.

xoxo country girl

video clip: kiki does the fox jump!

Kiki started doing something new this winter: like a fox, she jumps with her two front paws down onto the ice to break it. We finally caught it on camera this morning and I just had to share it with you all. My husband filmed it with his phone, and that's of course me in my striped rain boots, cheering her on, showing her where there's more ice to break.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. We're resting up, gathering 'strength' for the Superbowl, which begins around midnight here. 

Sending you all a big hug from snowy Austria,

xo country girl

p.s. I want to welcome all the new 'followers' (who I prefer to call friends). I'm so happy you are here, sharing in the small, simple things with me.