Respite

"I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, "This is what it is to be happy.”  

Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

“The earth laughs in flowers.” 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I must have flowers, always, and always.” 
Claude Monet

“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.”  

Tennessee Williams, Camino Real

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.”  
Milan Kundera

I once asked a hermit in Italy how he could venture to live alone, in a single cottage, on the top of a mountain, a mile from any habitation? He replied, that Providence was his next-door neighbor. 
Laurence Sterne

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” 
C.S. Lewis

Respite.
Me

A L O N E with T E A

“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven't the answer to a question you've been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you're alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful if you listen carefully.”

Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

Tea for one during a quiet time of the day can provide respite in the midst of busy days. A quality tea with milk and sweetener feels so good as it slides down one's throat. Adding a sweet or savory treat to nibble on adds to the moment. It's amazing how these quiet moments can provide refreshment and renewed energy to face the daily scenes of life. Alone time at the tea table can be a wonderful way to start the day. The little plum teapot seems to enjoy the ritual.

Madeleines a' la Lavende

Madeleines are small, shell-shaped tea cakes made from genoise cake batter. Scented with lavender and with sweet glaze and a flower to embellish, they are a perfect combination of deliciousness!

3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. dried or 2 Tbsp. fresh lavender flowers
2 Tbsp. plus 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla
1 cup unsifted all purpose flour
Confectioners' sugar

In a food processor with chopping blade, process granulated sugar and flowers until flowers are finely chopped.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush 36 madeleine-pan molds with 2 Tbsp. of the melted butter.

In a large bowl, with electric mixer at high speed, beat eggs with lavender-sugar mixture and vanilla until light and fluffy, about five minutes. At medium speed, gradually beat in remaining 3/4 cup melted butter.

With wire whisk, fold in flour. Spoon a scant 1 tablespoon batter into each mold. Bake 8 - 10 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan. Cool on wire rack. Store in airtight container. Just before serving, dust curved bottom side with confectioners' sugar.

The teapot is filled with the tea for the day; Earl Grey Lavender from Adagio Teas. Its sweet, floral fragrance is notably soothing, invoking relaxation. It's perfect for a tranquil tea alone.

"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."

Bill Watterson
Calvin and Hobbes

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness."

Lam 3:23

" Cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee."

Psalm 143:8

Since the lavender bud teapot was displaced by the little plum teapot it filled another role. Instead of standing by without purpose, it holds a generous bouquet of fresh lavender. With no water in the pot, the lavender will dry in the shape it holds and will look beautiful and smell fragrant for months ahead.

Now, go. Take on the day!

Mountain Introspection

“This mountain, the arched back of the earth risen before us, it made me feel humble, like a beggar, just lucky to be here at all, even briefly.” 

Bridget Asher

The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted

“A simple act of kindness the size of a rice grain can weigh as heavy as a mountain.” 

Feroz Bham

“Like go for a walk, say a little prayer
Take a deep breath of mountain air
Put on my glove and play some catch
It's time that I make time for that
Wade the shore and cast a line
Look up a long lost friend of mine
Sit on the porch and give my girl a kiss
Start livin', that's the next thing on my list.” 

Toby Keith

A Long Time Ago

“When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, "What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?"

"They are the days of a long time ago, Laura," Pa said. "Go to sleep, now."

But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa's fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods,…

She was glad that the cozy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.” 

Quote by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Bliss on a Winter Evening

 

A cozy winter evening is the perfect time for curling up on the sofa with a good book.  Timeless classics are the best!  Do you remember this quote from Laura Ingalls Wilder?  

"A long time ago, when all the grandfathers and grandmothers of today were little boys and little girls or very small babies, or perhaps not even born, Pa and Ma and Mary and Laura and Baby Carrie left their little house in the Big Woods. . ."  

Bliss on a chilly winter evening.  A book.  A cozy place to read.  A warm fire.  Contentment.