One Part Inspiration...

We were invited out for supper recently and although I asked the hostess if there was anything I could bring to add to the dinner, she said no, just bring yourselves. So I decided to stop at the flower shop and pick up some flowers to bring.  It was the end of winter, and I thought it would be nice to have some fresh colour to bring along. It had been a busy day.  There was a lot going on in our lives.  And I knew my own propensity to forget details.  So I put them on the counter.  Right by my purse.  I didn't want to leave them behind. My husband came home and we got ready to leave.  I brought him out to the kitchen to see the flowers.  He nodded his approval.  We got our coats on and left the house. We were already 12 minutes into our trip, when I realized I had left the flowers behind.  It was too late to turn back.  I began to fret.  My husband said "We are not going back.  Just don't mention that you  bo...

While I was doing my taxes, it occurred to me that if I had all my receipts categorized by month, I might save myself some time come April. Usually I spend the better half of a day looking at the receipts I have collected in the "tax file" and strain my eyes trying to read the date and the amount of money it cost me. Why this took 24 years to figure out, I really don't know -.....................thinking...... nope.  still.  don't.  know. I began the hunt.  Whenever I have to do an unpleasant job, a cool tool can help me feel a little bit more motivated to get 'er dun.    So I began to look around for one that would be magically delicious.  I spent about an hour at the stationery store.  Nothing in that department, but I did find some pretty files that I am going to use to update my old ratty ones.  Oh, and I got some nice pens, and some printer paper.  I am easily distracted in stationery stores..... Then last night, I...

It is time for my annual expose on taxes.  You can go here    or here  if you want to refresh your memory on some of my more brilliant thoughts on the subject.   Or you can just come with me to the tulip festival where I successfully avoided anything to do with how much money I didn't make, which expenses I claimed, and the receipts I lost (and found). It was a beautiful day, and it was such a shame to waste inside fighting with numbers.  A friend of mine had posted pictures of her trip out to the tulip festival last year.  She takes wonderful pictures and they looked so inviting, I told her I would love to go with her, if she decided to go again this year.  To my delight, she asked me if I wanted to go on Saturday. I had slated Saturday to tackle the taxes.  Taxes or Tulips ?  Tulips won. After a pleasant drive out to the northeast, we joined throngs of people who were also avoiding doing anything that loo...

If you look in my freezer in any given week you will see bananas.  I put them in there because they tend not to get eaten in time for them to still look like bananas.  Once they are in the freezer, they are a testament to the minimal baking that I do.  I move them around to make room for other things.  I look at them when the door is open and make (another) mental note to use them up.  But sometimes it is months before I do.  This week, however, when I was snow-bound, I needed an excuse to use the oven.  So out came the bananas.  I decided on banana bread.  It was a calculated decision.  The recipe required the oven to be on for a full hour, whereas muffins only call for 25 minutes. Did I mention that our pipes had frozen in the wash-up area during the deep freeze? I didn't want to use any more dishes than I had to, and it's a lot more work to clean up muffin tins in a little tiny sink, than one loaf pan...