2014 February | The Road Home

Celebrating Love

Bob and I: July 2011

Karl: December 2008

Zack, Me & Gus: August 1998

Bear and Auggie: February 2014

Celebrating Love.

I was looking at the news, waiting for the water to heat to make coffee and I kept hearing a funny sound from the kitchen. It sounded kind of like a mouse in the cupboard, but neither Bear nor Auggie were paying any attention.

???

I moved around the kitchen, cocking my head, stooping down, leaning next to the usual mousie hidey holes and could not figure out where the sound was coming from or what it was.

Oh.

Rain! Actual rain as in not sleet, but real rain. It was hitting the light tube (smallish skylight) in the kitchen. I haven’t heard rain in awhile and didn’t expect it. But after yesterday’s 47, it stayed above freezing overnight. It was 37 this morning. The forecast wintry mix was pure rain.

Bear was having a rainy day nap on the bed, but Auggie kept me company as I got a warm breakfast going…

Sue’s (The View From Great Island Blog) Warm Cashew Granola sounded like a good place to start. Her recipe is a granola served warm. I modified slightly (coconut oil instead of vegetable oil) and reduced it making slightly less than 1/4 of her recipe: a perfect single serving.

Warm cashew granola with blackberries and cashew cream.

Perfect for a February rainy morning.

Auggie thought so too.

Warm Wednesday

Srsly…WHAT did the East-Southeast part of the U.S. do to anger the weather gods???

I’d like to know so that we, in the West, do NOT do the same thing.

YIKES. (And good thoughts and prayers for all dealing with the ice and cold and power outages, etc.)

Anyway.

Here, in Northwest, Montana…after a couple of weeks of normal 20’s and then a week of deep freeze below zero overnight and single digits daytime…we suddenly sprang to pre-Spring-like conditions and hit 47F – yup… 47F ABOVE zero!

In February!!!

AND with sunny skies and warm Southwest breezes.

It felt positively balmy … in “all is relative” world :) !

Sunshine and warm temperatures were enjoyed by all.

And later…

The setting sun lit the trees. Dark clouds over the mountains mingled with blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

It was a beautiful and warm Wednesday.

Terrific Tuesday

My Tuesday started with this:

Almond milk French toast made with my very own Brioche bread and stuffed with a goat cheese-powdered sugar-dark chocolate chip (goat cheese riff on cannoli filling) filling. I didn’t actually stuff…I made 4 pieces of Almond Milk Brioche French Toast and put the filling between. And then… and THEN drizzled a warm maple syrup and red raspberry topping.

And there was bacon.

Tuesday started deliciously!

Several weeks ago, I had a kind of terrible Tuesday. It was hardly terrible so much as disappointing. And in spite of the fact that I knew things had really worked out for the best, there were parts that were just enough to reduce me – albeit unreasonably – to tears. Rats.

BUT.

Out in the cosmos, the call was heard.

And responded to.

Out of the blue, I received this email:

I was catching up on your blog which I still love, and went to the archives to see the early stuff. I came across this verse that you posted and thought I would do it in calligraphy for you.

From Hilary ( Hilary’s Etsy Shop)

The verse is a much loved verse that I often use as a prayer if I have a worry about one of the pets. And I pray it at the loss of one of them. It has so often been a great comfort to me.

God, our good, heavenly and dear Father, works in mysterious and wonderful ways.