Off, and Back On Again

Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

"Did you try turning it off and back on again?"

This question may be a bit of a joke, aimed by the tech savvy at those of us for whom turning it off and back on again exhausts our technical knowledge, but it's surprising how often it works. A quick off/on forces a system reset; it allows an always-on, always-processing machine to have a moment to itself, to collect its thoughts, and to get back on track. In our gadget-dominated digital age, our devices aren't the only things that need periodic resets.

I've been switched off for a while, for various reasons. Some have expressed concern about my absence, and I do so appreciate that. It's nice to be missed. I'm okay, Mr. Wonderful is okay, and Tiger Lily is okay. In fact, week before last, Mr. Wonderful and I wandered off to the mountains for a few days. The photo above is a view of the sunset from our room up in the mountains. One day, as we were driving along winding roads (and I was trying not to look down), enjoying the peace and quiet (we had the whole place to ourselves), the phrase, "we'll have to get back to the real world" popped into my head. And then it struck me: this is the real world. These mountains and trees and streams and deer and bear... all of these things God created... this is the real world. The world we go back to--beltways and traffic and  cell phones and computers--is valuable, important, necessary. But those are all things we made, and they do not comfort and soothe and revitalize like the things God made. 

So I've switched back on again, and my systems are slowly coming online. I'm slowly getting back to the things I love, that have been neglected for a while. If you've been reading me for a while, you know what those things are. If you're new, here are some of my favorite things that I've been getting back in touch with.

National Parks. I would rather be hiking in a National Park than sight-seeing in a city any day. I got some awesome goodies at Shenandoah.

Pottery. On our trip, we found a beautiful little pottery--Blue Ridge Pottery--just outside the park. The potters were busy, so the shop was on the honor system for the day: choose your pieces, add up your total and tax, put your money in the little box. We ran into this in North Carolina, too (see this post) and I must say, it charms me and refreshes my spirit to know that the honor system still exists in this world.

My pretty new fruit bowl.

A beautiful little vase. I'm partial to pink and rose in pottery because it's so hard to find. This is for my sewing room.

The green piece on the left is a little egg separator. See the hole? Isn't that cute? And another wee milk mug for my collection. This one is about 3 1/2" high. Even at 46, I'm still a milk drinker, and I love my tiny mugs.

Baking. Lemon Ricotta Cookies (recipe can be found here). Not low-carb, not small-batch. But in my defense, these were for a dear friend who has just come back from deployment. They're her favorite.

Lemon Cream Scones. My low(er) carb adaptation of a Bisquick recipe using Carbquick (see the "low carb" baking label in the right sidebar). When I get them exactly to my liking, I'll share the recipe. I'm also planning to experiment with a Vanilla Bean version.

Stitching. Today was the first day I picked up a needle since... I don't know when. I abandoned this gal a while back, but picked her back up today. This is my purple conversion of Here a Peep, There a Peep! by Brenda Gervais.

Making stuff. Supplies for a mystery project...

Books. Russians. Books about Russians. If that seems weird, see here and here. This book is one of my souvenirs from Hillwood, a museum in Washington D.C. that houses the largest collection of Russian Imperial art outside of Russia. Our second visit to the museum was back in February. Maybe I'll post more on this some time.

Precious, sweet Tiger Lily. She turned 12 at the beginning of April.

Again, thanks for the concern. Thanks for visiting and for commenting. I hope to keep making this a pleasant, cozy place for all of us. Have a wonderful week!