How can you temporarily alleviate a case of spring fever if you’re tired of cloudy days, winter storms, and disgusted with Vladimir Putin? When world events make you blue. I can't fix world events, but I sent money to Catholic Relief Services and World Central Kitchen. Everyone needs food and shelter. Like so many of you, I wish I could do more. Some of my first daffodils. It's been a hard spring for all of them. They needed more mulch because of the bad weather. In fact, I wish I could meet Ukrainian refugees with a bouquet of flowers and take them home with me. I also continue to pray. I pray every time I think about what I cannot control. It helps me bear life's burden when it feels too heavy. We all have our ways of coping with current events, and spring fever is definitely a current event....

Today, the weather outside is again frightful so I made roasted butternut squash soup and nutmeg muffins. These nutmeg muffins are my favorite hands down, and I've profiled them several times before. Here's the gluten-free nutmeg muffin recipe. My favorite gluten-free flour I now use Cup4Cup gluten-free flour because it's my preferred gluten-free white flour substitute. They also make a gluten-free wholesome flour that is a good sub for whole wheat flour. Both flour blends were created by the chefs at Thomas Keller's restaurants. The muffin recipe is adapted from Marion Cunningham's book, The Breakfast Book. Roasted butternut squash soup and nutmeg muffins. The Marion Cunningham influence. While I love all of Cunningham's books, The Breakfast Book is my best-loved. A thousand years ago, I was a career girl, a legal assistant--just imagine me in a suit, stockings and heeled pumps--I know, it's difficult for me too. I worked all...

Bill and I went to the Vintage Tulsa Show on Saturday, and I found several lovely things including a redwork memorial quilt. We are big fans of antiquing, and our home reflects our passion for all things old and worn. When I unwrapped the red and white quilt at the show, I was pretty sure it was a memorial or grief quilt. Women and men often made bereavement quilts when they lost someone they loved. People still do. Redwork memorial quilt. I placed it on my bed so you could see it spread out. If I were a better stylist, I would have straightened the quote above our bed and stuff, but I'm just not. We found the cedar blanket chest at the show too. What a great day! How did I know? Two blocks, in particular, stood out to me. One contained the words, "I'll be with you when...

I wanted to write about snow days, a funeral, and food during the actual snowfall, but my internet went down. So, I'm writing today. Mom, my sister, Nita, and I at Megan's wedding shower. First, things first. My mother died on January 27, 2022, due to complications from Covid-19. We planned her funeral for last Thursday, but then the snow started to fall, and it fell for two days straight. In our neck of the woods, we received about five inches. I just couldn't see trying to have a funeral with so much snow and ice on the ground. Frankly, I was afraid someone would get hurt. In fact, on Saturday, I fell in a parking lot on some black ice. I didn't break anything, but I'm bruised. We rescheduled the funeral for tomorrow, February 8, 2022, at 9:00 a.m., at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Oklahoma City....