my morning walk... I will let the pictures do the talking.

for real....could the day have started any better??!!

a day fit for a queen

My grandmother turned 85 yesterday.  That's right, the lady to the left... 85, never would have guessed.  I must say I have loved being able to celebrate these moments with family since I have been back in Maine.  It has been many years since I have actually been around for my grandmothers birthday, or anyone else's for that matter and I realize how lucky I am to have a grandmother that is 85 and how blessed I am to be able to share a portion of that day with her.  She went out to lunch, she ate lobster for dinner (and some really fabulous rolls I was informed!), and I made her a chocolate butter cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting - decorated with tempered chocolate cigarettes (made by hand believe it or not) and chocolate boarder.  She was treated like a queen, well.... as close as we could all get, and I can only hope that on my 85th birthday I am surrounded by people that love and care for me as much as we all love and care for her.  We are lucky to have her with us and hope she had a fantastic day.  

Happy Birthday Nanny Jane, you are loved by many!

xo

nan's birthday cake

am I back in Oregon??

My new favorite shoe.

mud season

Oh man is spring beautiful in Maine, everything goes from the neutral brown that winter had left in it's wake to beautiful bright greens, purples, and yellows of blooming and budding flowers.  I walk the beast every morning around 6am and we almost always run into my neighbors walking their little pup Ebony...they were kind enough to point out to me a few patches of Lady Slippers that were poking their little heads up.  Well on my walk yesterday morning, I spotted some new-in-complete-bloom-Lady Slippers! Oh and are they beautiful!!!  My neighbors informed me that they are of the orchid family and from seed to bloom is seven years, which has made every discovery of a new one even more exciting... 

However...with the blooms comes the mud and each day I have the pleasure of encountering the beast AFTER a romp in the woods and each day, I get this look:
Thankfully, he cleans up well and each day has been a new adventure with more laughs.  Looking forward to warmer dryer days!  

One down.

This past weekend was my first weekend of Yoga Teacher Training, so I have been busy bending my body and my mind in ways I thought impossible.  I left stuffed full of information and today (Monday) I am attempting to process.  More later I promise.  Hope this finds everyone happy and healthy.

and then there were two...

well, he's off.....

leaving just the beast and I in our cozy little cottage.
safe travels and we'll see him in the fall!

om shanti

Beginning May 15th I will be immersing myself into my yoga practice like never before.  I have signed up to get my yoga teacher training certification at Shiva Shakti  School of Yoga.  I have been taking yoga classes at this school since February and lately I have never felt so good...I have never been so moved by a yoga class before.  The style of these classes really fit well with the way my body wants to experience yoga, I feel like this school is a perfect fit.  I will surely keep you all updated as I go along.  Graduation is in December!

a little bit of fougasse

Oh boy does Dave Mac love fougasse, so much in fact that I called him after work yesterday and told him if he picked up some cheese I would make him some.  He came home with a few different kinds...sooooo, we had fougasse for lunch today...and snack.  I had borrowed "Baking With Julia (Childs)" from Julia (my boss) to try out some of her recipes, there are so many great recipes in there it was hard to choose what to do first, well, until I saw the fougasse that is.  And Dave is making Indian Dahl with punjabi chhole (chickpeas with potatoes and onions) for dinner tonight and what would be more perfect with Indian food than Naan?  Lo and behold Julia had a recipe for that as well!   So, the Naan is on our porch rising so it will be ready in time for dinner.  Mmmmmm, boy are we stoked!