The end of a visit: on my own again

Today, my mom and Rachel finally had to go back home. Our month long visit was a lovely one. Not only is my mom an incredible cook, but she also continually encourages me and inspires me to success as a mother to my own children, and in the gentle art of making a home; cheering me on as I made time in my day to put laundry away, cleaning a bathroom while I uncluttered my house, giving the children the extra hugs and cuddles they've been needing since Billy arrived, and taking turns rocking and burping Billy (who is just now coming out of a fair amount of colic), any many more things too innumerable to mention. To say that she's helped me this past month is an understatement. At the end of every visit that I have with my mom (when I go back to NY for a visit or she comes here), she helps me come up with a game plan to have successful days with my children. Equipped thusly, I feel that I can take on anything.

Not related to anything mentioned above: I have recently received some very cool things in the mail. First, remember that Chris at Briar Rose Fibers sent me a sweater's worth of wool when Greg deployed? Well, she emailed me again, saying that she once again wanted to thank our family for our service to our country...and she custom dyed me yet another sweater's worth of her fabulous yarn!

This time, I chose fresh spring greens in her dreamy Wistful yarn, a blend of alpaca, merino and silk. With the gray skies we've been having around here, it's been difficult to get any kind of an accurate picture, color wise, so this is actually even more lush and vivid -- you'll just have to use a tiny bit of imagination.



This is very special yarn that needs a very special pattern for it, so I'll wait until the inspiration strikes to break into them. Chris, the warmest of hugs to you and your family. Thank you so much for your generosity.

A second thing, and this was a complete surprise -- Ellenspn of Sheepwreck must have cracked into my Amazon wishlist, because this showed up last week!



My Elizabeth Zimmerman collection is now complete. I'm so excited to have them all, and so blessed by her unexpected gift!

Lastly, I've been wondering about some British ingredients for quite a while, and finally I decided that I'd waited long enough -- I needed to have them in my pantry! I found an online British food shop that ships to Germany, and so these arrived at my front door a few days ago:



We've been making scones and trying to find any excuse to eat things drenched in Golden Syrup since (syrup on cheddar cheese grits. mmmmm.....) The Black Treacle tastes to me like a happy medium between regular molasses and blackstrap, and I'm sure would be wonderful in something like molasses cookies or gingerbread, among other more traditional uses. Delicous and fun!

Now my dears, if you'll excuse me I'm off to bed. Billy is asleep, and since I'm on my own now, there are no breaks. I need to get sleep when I can!