Cranberry Sauce with Brandy and Marmalade

Quite tart, but super tasty, this is the cranberry sauce I made for tonight's feast.

Combine in a pot and simmer over medium heat until

cranberries are soft (about 10-12 minutes).

24 oz fresh cranberries washed and picked over

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brandy

1/4 cup marmalade

1/4 teaspoon orange extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Hope you all are having a wonderful, restful Thursday!!!

                                                           Marica

November Craft Fair

Well hello there everyone. Second post without a whole month gap in between?? Things must be calmer around here. Well, sort of. Actually this week I had my second annual craft fair at the kid's Waldorf school. I had a table last year, which was so much fun, but almost missed the boat and skipped it this year due to the madness of running the pie truck...

But alas, I wanted it enough that I made the arrangements and squeaked in by the seat of my pants...

 I sold cards…

And prints…And books...

 And was accompanied by a friend who also does water color paintings.

 I wish I had a close up of her pictures, they were truly lovely!

The printing of artwork was so addicting I decided to set up an Etsy shop …

Overtime I'll see if it's worth the trouble, but for now it's there if you are curious…

                              Anyway, hope you all are having a pleasant Monday!

                                                            All my best~

                                                                       Marica

Monday Morning...

Home and cleaning...

 It's always catch up around these parts...

Even changing out heater filters...

Cold weather and the sun shining does make it all the more cheerful to work!

                                              Cheers ~

                                                        Marica

Lately...

The weather is all rain… I am in love with the constant chance to breath in damp, purifying air. 

I feel like I'm still healing from all the years of sun sun sun. 

A couple of weeks ago this gentleman of a squirrel spent much of his morning scavenging the

the seeds out of our biggest sunflower. He was so determined he hardly minded my taking pictures...

Anyway, hope everyone is well!!

             

                                                                Cheers ~

                                                                             Marica

Barefooting… Meandering...

A few weeks ago my good friend, Amanda, and I decided the late afternoon was calling to be walked in. I love walks. I also have recently noticed how much my feet are wanting, shall I even say yearning, to be free of shoes. I grew up barefoot, but over the last—way to many—years I haven't bothered with too much barefootness. It never had occurred to me to take walks shoeless through neighborhoods—I have always kept shoes on when I am in town. But my feet were begging, and I realized what was stopping me was the thought of walking on filthy sidewalks. Up here it rains a lot, and I like to think it keeps the sidewalks fresh. Either way, it was a necessity… 

                                                                                  My Best to Everyone!!!

                                                                                            ~Marica

Noticing that...

Autumn officially arrived today. Not by the calendar's standard, but the cooler air 

and sudden burnt orange colors showing up everywhere has made it official...  

 It has been happening on and off for the last few weeks, cooler mornings and 

then sharp swings back up to hotter spells….

 I've been waiting for the change...

 I can only handle so much heat, and this summer was far more extreme then I had expected...

 I'll miss the sun flowers...

 And Echinacea, that the people who lived here before us had so thoughtfully planted...

I'll miss all the flowers…

 But I'm ready for the shift… Are you?

Thank you to everyone who entered my book giveaway! I'm happy to announce Maria Simon won.

                                                                                Cheers to Everyone ~ 

                                                                                                   Marica

Oh My Sweet Baby

I am so excited to show everyone my first children's book—PUBLISHED!!!!! 

It feels amazing to finally have a chance to hold in my hands, my very own work. 

A few weeks ago I called a good friend who manages a bookstore, to ask if he would consider carrying my book on their shelves. His response was "of course," and "congratulations on completing a project."  I loved this because his words fit my feelings so exactly. The most exhilarating part of my book being published, is the fact I have a totally finished, completed, ready to go, chunk of done. I kept pushing through, telling myself; once it is completed you will feel no guilt toward the longtime tucked away pages of this creation. I have so many tucked away creations, as I believe so many of us do. This one was started, I'm guessing, seven or eight years ago. It was inspired by my babies and my love of babies, and their sweet mothers, the old fashioned kind of mothers, who had so many children and all of them would follow her around, and on and on and on. 

Anyway, setting humbleness aside, I am proud to finally be done and published. 

As a little fun way to get a flurry around this publication, I am offering a giveaway of this book.

To enter, please leave a comment. If you wish to be entered twice, link to this post on your own blog, Facebook, or twitter and post that link in your post here. I will draw the winner at random on September 15th.

Thanks to all you lovely readers!!!!

                                  Cheers ~

                                            Marica

To order, you can find it at the usual, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powells, or at the publisher's site.


Giveaway Closed. Thank you for participating.
Maria Simon is the winner.