summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Sunday, March 17, 2019

the very long winter...



Once upon a time, there was a very long winter.

But guess what? I really don't mind. I kind of like the cozy, snowed-in feeling. I like sunshine to warm my skin, but I also like to cover up all my skin, bundle, and trundle, in boots and leggings. This fine morning, I went out into the 24 degree morning and shoveled the deck steps and part of the driveway.

Evelyn, Suzanne, Sonja K., Charlotte Claire, Camille and cousin Danielle all went over to Ben and Ashley's house for brunch with lots of friends and their other sisters. Jonathan is at the young brothers' weekend, Paul is visiting his siblings, and ha...I am home alone.

Shh, I love it. The dogs are snoring, the cats are sprawled out sleeping, and I am enjoying the fragrance of the lemon blueberry cake baking in the oven. It's low carb, made with almond and coconut flour, so I actually get to have some!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, and yeah, I am Irish!!! My mother's grandmother "came right off the boat", as my mother used to say. I believe my father was also part Irish. In any case, I do love corned beef, so today, I am putting four of those briskets in the Instant Pot. It takes 90 minutes, (maybe longer for so much), then you take it out, and put in the carrots, cabbage, and red skinned potatoes. I hope it comes out okay. I'm used to getting up and getting it going first thing in the morning in the crock pot, it's scary to wait so long and trust it'll be done before all the kids get here.

I'm not even sure how many will come for dinner today. I just put it on the family chat, and a few said they're coming. :)

We had a fantastic Friendsgiving dinner last evening at our friends' house, Hobie and Karen. Karen made the turkey and stuffing, and everyone else brought side dishes. It was phenomenal...warm, fun, encouraging, and just good.


(That's Paul, group selfie expert)

We stayed up too late, but it was worth it.

I have towels in the washer, the floors need to be swept and mopped, and and and. It's funny how more and more often I'm here with less and less kids, sometimes no kids, yet there's still work to be done. hmmm.

In any case, I am super thankful for life, for today. Today I am going to count my own blessings, and not compare myself, or my house, or my kids, or my messy laundry room, to anything on instagram. :)

3 comments:

Marilyn said...

Happy St Paddy’s Day ☘️🍀 I made Corned Beef too! Can you believe I have never cooked Corned Beef!! I’m not sure why either. I put potatoes, onions carrots and cabbage in the last 40 minutes. The recipe called for a sauce too and it was just delicious. My husband ate 2 helpings and almost licked his plate! 😂 I hope yours turned out good in the Instant Pot.......It’s perfect for a crock pot I think.

Marilyn from Canada

16 blessings'mom said...

Our corned beef was delicious too! The Instant Pot was definitely a good choice. There was so much corned beef in there, filled that 8 qt pot higher than it was supposed to be filled. I put it in a foil covered pan in the oven when it was done, then put the potatoes and carrots in the instant pot with lots of the liquid. (I added a whole bottle of Guinness to the corned beef). After the carrots and potatoes, the cabbage went in, just quartered, for two minutes. It was really really good. We got more snow yesterday, it was cozy in here, and lots of the kids came over. :)

Tereza said...

There is work to be done cause they come home long enough to mess it all up:)
Last night was one of those evenings where more and more showed up around dinner time. I just throw a little more into the pot:):)
The snow has melted here but one thing I liked about it was that it covers everything to make it look so fresh and clean even if it’s really not!!! Ha! The small joys of life!
I discovered our first daffodil yesterday. That was pretty tremendous :)
Have an awesome day. That green jacket really looks good on you!!