since last week........

I think posting and talking about these photos will produce the best post for right now. See, I woke up at 11:30 last night with that disgusting head cold, angry nasal passage thing brought about by diseased, caustic nasal discharge. It's so nasty. I just put my dinner in the oven, yes at 11:30 am, because I am not sure how much longer I will be conscious.

Here is what we have done on this long Presidents' Weekend.

I have an affinity for silverware and servingware. I don't so much like silver picture frames of trinkety things. It's the various kinds of knives, forks and spoons that get me. The handles, the bowls of the spoons, the tongs of the forks and the blades of knives are gorgeous and I love a good mix of styles on my table at one time. Imagine my surprise when looking through a coat closet at my parents' house, I found a jar full of old silver.





Above, is the set my mother uses (off limits to me). We use this on holidays for the big dinners she cooks. Gorgeous.

I love these matching, tarnished pieces. My mother and I agree that the tarnished pieces are the most beautiful. This pattern above seems so functional and attractive. They make me think of a conservatively set 19th century American table.

We are doing well on the "eating healthy" thing. Here is the oldest eating chili at Target.

More home made healthiness. Baked french fries, tossed in extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and Old Bay seasoning. My oldest loves Old Bay. http://www.oldbay.com/Recipe-Landing.aspx The fries were great. I top them with the cucumber yogurt dressing.

Smoothie making is going strong. The girls do well with supervision. Here is the little one making a mango, strawberry concoctions. We get our frozen fruit from Trader Joes. I love the organicness of Trader Joes and can tolerate the prices, but........while they are great about low fat, low sodium, low carb selections of products, there are not so many low sugar options. We make due, but I would like more selection. I do love the unsweetened soy milk and the goat yogurt.

I bought a futon for the living room. We have an 'infestation' problem in the building, so I refuse to buy real, lovely furniture. Oh, and I have kids so unless I am buying very high quality stuff, they will destroy it by merely looking at it. The futon came from a discount furniture store and cost $186. You see we put an immediate use to it. We brought it home on Friday night...tied to the top of the car. The little one interrogated the man who put it on the car. She had to make sure it was not illegal to drive with a futon and frame tied to the roof of our Camry. We made it home in time enough for me to assemble it and for a friend of theirs to spend the day with them on Saturday.