This week has been a Weather Roller Coaster… we have had temps in the 70’s and the 30’s. Let me just say that this mornings 30° felt bitterly cold after yesterday’s 72° and I was so glad that I had mitts tucked in the pockets of my coat for Sherman’s morning constitutional!
With just four more days of February, I really need to harness the looming closet chaos and rearrange my closet for “Transitional Wardrobe” season… you know the one where the temperature can fluctuate greatly from day to day. So you know what I am doing this weekend! Ha!
Reading… Again —
Signal Fires. Yes, I finished it this week. Yes, I immediately restarted it. This book! The threads that Shapiro begins to pull together as the story progresses… oh my. The writing is so, so good! The second time through, I am paying more attention to the threads and am in awe of how brilliantly this story is crafted. If you have not put this book on your “read soon” list… why not?
Inspired… by ME —
Yes, yes! I have all month long been thinking about my Authenticity Manifesto! Contemplating a manifesto for my word was the prompt from Ali Edwards this month and at first I was all wow… okay! And then I sat down to consider putting one together and it all my initial enthusiasm fell apart. BUT!! I did not let that defeat me! Instead I have spent the month contemplating things and before long I had ideas all over a page of my morning journal. I am eager to share this with you all on Monday, but I just have to say that my word that was feeling not quite right in January began singing to me in February. And this, my friends, is the joy of having a word to carry along with you during the year!
(in)Famous… Gifting —
I took great pleasure this month in matting and framing a couple of my watercolors to gift. I have long loved giving people things I have made, but they have always been wearable items… hand knit socks, scarves, mittens, hats, shawls, cowls, etc. But to give someone something they can hang on a wall is a first for me! I had no idea when I began this new craft how much I would love it! I have been practicing the techniques I am struggling with every morning… a sort of swatching, I suppose. It’s amazing what you can improve with just 15-20 minutes a day of practice! (There is a huge life lesson there… one that I should apply to so many things!)
This is one of the paintings I gifted this month. Who knew that rocks and water could be so delightful to paint!
Fearless… Cooking —
One thing I have become very adept at is adjusting recipes for what I currently have in my fridge and pantry, but that was not always the case. I believed recipes needed to be followed to the letter and if I did not have something… well, most times I did not make it. But, I had a daily routine of calling my nana while I was making dinner and she was a wonder… she could make something incredibly delicious out of practically nothing! And… she was a Master of Recipe Substitutions! So in our conversations, I would say “well, I was going to make this, but I don’t have any of that.” and she’d ask, well do you have x? y? z? and generally I’d have one of those. She eased me into learning how to make good substitutions… a thing that has served me very well over the years, and most especially in Pandemic Times! Ha! Well I used those skills again this week! Kym posted a soup recipe that looked amazing, but I had no kale (okay, I never have kale!!) but I am here to tell you that it is just as good with a can of diced tomatoes and a half of an avocado diced on top! Delish!
This soup was absolutely wonderful… even on a very warm evening!
And with that, dear friends, Happy Friday! Let the weekend begin!! See you all back here on Monday with my February word update!
This weather is weird! (And we need a new word besides rollercoaster but that is certainly what it is. ) I think your watercolors would be a gift treasured by the recipients; I have your Christmas card framed and hanging in the kitchen. I’m debating buying kale the next time I go to the grocery store, but it remains to be seen if I actually do (I think it tastes like weeds!)
Hahaha – you and Bonny crack my up about kale because, I am a kale lover. I love ALL greens (well, not so much dandelion) – kale, collards, turnip greens, etc. One of my brothers grew beets just for the greens (he didn’t like beets)! Your version of the soup sounds very good! Anyway, the weather is crazy for sure. I’m glad I walked yesterday because I don’t like the wind today. I so enjoy seeing your paintings Kat and, like Bonny (again), I have been thinking of framing and hanging your Christmas card (shameful note: we still have our *pile* of cards to look at before tossing. Just have not gotten around to it yet.)
I’m just in love with this post. The energy! Your nana…that ritual and her wisdom… your gifting (lucky ducks…and those rocks! and water!) And I’m *really* looking forward to reading your update next week. (Dreading writing my own, truth be told.) (As it goes, some months!!)
Happy weekend, Kat! xo
I am blaming this roller-coaster weather for the fact that my nose keeps running and the skin around it is all dried out. Though I did enjoy yesterday and purposefully stood out in the sun a bit to enjoy that warmth.
Like Vera, I’ve been saving your holiday card — I need to find a frame for it!
Until I read the caption, I missed that the water picture was a painting. Well done, you!
That watercolor is a treasure. So beautiful Kat. Signal Fires is on my list but the wait is long. The soup looks delicious. I often substitute fresh spinach for kale. I am one who believes a recipe is only a suggestion and made for improvisation, sometimes not for the better. You Nana sounds like a wonderful woman.
What a gorgeous painting, Kat. And how fun to be giving them as gifts! Your soup looks super delicious – with or without the kale! And I’m glad you loved Signal Fires — it is so amazing!
I bet the recipient loved the painting. I love the happiness in your post. I adapt recipes so much, taking out things I don’t like and adding other ingredients. Now it doesn’t matter what recipe I am supposed to be following for a chicken casserole, they all end up the same by the time I have finished swapping things around!
Wow ….. the watercolor….just wow. There is so much going on in the painting. Beautiful!
When I find the hand painted Christmas card you sent –currently buried in a metric sh!t ton of paper — I plan to matte and frame it. Handmade art is precious!