The Grand Mother Lode

The time has finally come when my name is being selected for me. By a 19 month old. I am no longer the Grammie. As in adults saying "give Grammie a hug" or "let's go to Grammie's house". Now it is the voice of a little tiny person screaming "MAMIE" as in "Mamie beans please" when someone wants jelly beans. "MAMIE UP" when someone no longer wishes their feet to touch the floor. For hours on end.



The sweetest part of this is that Mamie is actually a legacy name. And the Wudgie didn't even know it. Or did she? Mamie was my great-grandmother's name and we all called her that. Her sisters, my mother, me, everyone. Four generations later and here is Mamie again. I like it.



We have a history of twisting around grandmother names in my family. I called my maternal grandmother "Momup". We think the logic there was she was "sort of like my Mom and was always with Pop (my grandfather)" so: Momup. And Momup she was through the years and through 2 brothers after me and our children, too. Wudgie's mother calls her grandmother (my mother) "Ghee". Just like clarified butter. I think she started out as Gram but that morphed into Ghee with the help of a little tiny pink rosebud mouth.



Here's a list of cute grandmother nicknames. Have any in your family?



I took this photo just a few minutes ago in the morning light. I love the texture of the rose petals. It reminds me of soft and crepey grandmother skin. And yes, just like mine.

A General Accounting

I know little about the artist Tsilli Pines but I do know I love her work. I love these pieces from her collection called "the figures". The artist combines what she calls the feminine aspects of sewing, rubber stamping and crafting with the masculine features of accounting. I particularly like this piece called "Annual Report" as I am involved in an annual report project right now.

And this piece "Fruits of Our Labor" is one of my favorites.

How clever to use these materials to
produce something so visually appealing.

Flat Biscuit Society

I am a charter member of the Flat Biscuit Society. This evening I tried Martha's Buttermilk Biscuit recipe. Now, I am generally a good soldier in the kitchen (I follow recipe directions pretty precisely) and tonight was no exception. I sifted, cut in, chilled, rolled and parchment-papered. And this is what I got.

The Mr. called them "flat Stanleys" after the cartoon character. Very funny. They ended up to be very delicious and we spread them with a little soft butter and drizzled with wildflower honey. They tasted like crispy biscuit tops.


Anyone have any biscuit making secrets this kitchen soldier can try?

Pantry Perfection At Last!

A big thank you to Lydia at The Perfect Pantry for featuring my pantry----its one of my most favorite areas of our home. If you are visiting my blog from Lydia's site, thank you for coming over and please take a look around...leave a comment or two---I love to read what you have to say.



Here's a photo I took the other day---as I was walking down the hallway into our living room, the sun was coming through the plantation shutters and left these sun streaks on the wall---I think they look like brush strokes of an abstract painting...Free art appearing on our walls every morning! What a deal!

Color Theory

All this right in my backyard. A few clicks in Photoshop and an aging concrete fountain looks like blue Delft pottery.

Big Shoes in a Little World

The Wudgie loves shoes. "Shewwwz" was one of her very first words. I am afraid she is destined for the size 10 rack if genetics come in to play for her feet. I remember when her mother fretted over having substantial feet as a young girl. I would tell her that it "takes strong and sizeable feet to hold up all of the wonderful woman that you will be" and I was right about that.

By Bread Alone

I recently went here and bought one of these and now I have a lot of this in the kitchen. Homemade bread is a wonderful thing. It is wonderful many times a day in many different ways. Toasted. Buttered with cinnamon sugar. Buttered with four fruits preserves. Dipped in homemade soup. And as a late night snack.

Its amazing how just a few ingredients and a bit of time can turn in to something so wonderful. Unbleached flour, active yeast, salt, a bit of butter and some cold water. A few pulses and a whirl with the dough blade, into a zip lock on top of the running dryer, shaped into a pan and slipped into the oven. I may never buy bread again.