I  had early on the brain this weekend during our little mountain retreat. Weeding out what I wanted to share that fit the topic. For most people early on vacation means dreams and soft snores. Someday we may find that is the case for us as well. For now, our enthusiastic little clan takes full advantage of the early. And rightfully so, with small ones, early means fresh, chipper, crisp and a whole new outlook for the day. And if you are one of us or with us, it most likely means the sound of coffee brewing and being transferred to a travel mug while we map out which bakery will be our first stop for the day. Our favorite mountain get-a-way is a little lodge that offers up a lake with canoes, a pool and a short drive to two of our favorite donut and pastry makers in the Blueridge Mountains.

Early means a greeting by a glassy, still lake on your way to the car to round up up the mornings’ donuts and coffee. Yes with a travel mug in hand. While we may partake in early, it doesn’t come naturally or easy!

We hurry back to our little lodge to relax on our porch with said coffee & donuts to breathe in the fresh mountain air and local flora.

                                                                                                                                            When the coffee and donuts is finally done and the hot summer sun has hit an early peak, we hea off to the pool to cool off, because this year, even in the mountains, the heat gets up early as well.

                                                                                                                                         Come rise & shine around the world:

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday date hosted originally hosted by Jane, currently by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it in photographic or poetic in form from around the world:  Jane, Dana, Bonny, Joyce, Ian, Francesca, Theresa, Cate, Kasia, Otli, Trinsch, Isabelle, Janis, Kari, jgy, Lise, Dorte, McGillicutty, Sunnymama, Ibb, Kelleyn, Ninja, Sky, RosaMaria, Juniper, Valerie, Sammi, Cole, Don, WanderChow, FlowTops, Tania, Tzivia, Kristin, Laura, Guusje, Susanna, Juana, Elsa, Nadine

Much like most everything else in our home, postcards hold sentimental value as well. We’re tickled to see them arrive in our mailbox and they typically hold a place of honor on our fridge until they migrate to a file folder, scrapbook, toybox or become a bookmark.When a large section of your friends and family are far and wide away it warms your heart to know that your dears thought of you when they were on their adventures and wanted you to know!

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday date hosted originally hosted by Jane, currently by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it in photographic or poetic in form from around the world:  Jane, Dana, Bonny, Joyce, Ian, Francesca, Theresa, Cate, Kasia, Otli, Trinsch, Isabelle, Janis, Kari, jgy, Lise, Dorte, McGillicutty, Sunnymama, Ibb, Kelleyn, Ninja, Sky, RosaMaria, Juniper, Valerie, Sammi, Cole, Don, WanderChow, FlowTops, Tania, Tzivia, Kristin, Laura, Guusje, Susanna, Juana, Elsa, Nadine

In our house most of the box of tricks we use involve ways to entertain small ones. I remember reading; early on in our parenting adventure, that it was wise to divide toys into boxes and keep some out for a while, then replace them with a new box so that the toys each get a turn being loved on. Eventually for us we started sorting toys by type and age group in order to decide what would stay in circulation and what would move up to our attic. Even with a plethora of toys removed from our daily lives we find that it is hard to manage keeping all the small bits associated with their original homes.

Fortunately half of the fun in our little girls lives involves packing and unpacking every type of container at eye level. Both girls love nothing more than to grab a backpack, bucket, box, basket or even market bag and load it up with what they deem “necessary” for the next hour. It started around the time when Zuzu was 2 and her favorite game was to pack a backpack, sling it over her shoulder, ask for monies for the taxi, announce she was off to work and leave the room with a cheery, “Bye, See you later!” Later you’d find that bag stashed under a chair or table and another one half-packed with talk of a grand adventure and all the things she will need. 

I will say it’s fairly convenient to have your children enjoying the packing up of their own box of tricks as a favorite pasttime . I like to think their need to ferrett away any and all pretties and what-nots is probably what keeps us from ending up on the show Hoarders since it’s less amazing to display a child’s room full of duck bags and Dora packs then it would be to have all of the contents littering the floor with a foot wide path leading the way out.

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday date hosted originally hosted by Jane, currently by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it in photographic or poetic in form from around the world:  Jane, Dana, Bonny, Joyce, Ian, Francesca, Theresa, Cate, Kasia, Otli, Trinsch, Isabelle, Janis, Kari, jgy, Lise, Dorte, McGillicutty, Sunnymama, Ibb, Kelleyn, Ninja, Sky, RosaMaria, Juniper, Valerie, Sammi, Cole, Don, WanderChow, FlowTops, Tania, Tzivia, Kristin, Laura, Guusje, Susanna, Juana, Elsa, Nadine

It’s an action, yes? You have to choose to look for the good. Anyone can do it. You don’t have to be educated, rich, lucky, pretty, smart, healthy or popular. You just have to choose. In any situation. If you are unhappy and you don’t want to be- look for something. Something small. Something to hang your hat on. It’s there. In the midwest of the United States it’s not uncommon to hear people recognize, “It could be worse!” And indeed it could. Find beauty. Actively seek it out. You can’t always change others or the world around you. You can decide how you are going to respond to it. For years now I’ve kept a gratitude journal. Each day I try to think of three things I’m grateful for. Somedays, well most days they’re mundane occurances. Milk in my coffee. A favorite tune on the car radio. A book on CD by a favorite author on the shelf the day I go to the library. Other days it’s pure magic and wonder; the day I married Lovey, the day Zuzu entered the world. The day I found out the Quail was in me. Some days it’s a feeling; the Quail’s tight little fists balled up around my neck; Zuzu racing across the playground hollaring, “Momma!!!” at top speed; the moment before I give in to sleep for the night. Or a smell; be it sage turkey on Christmas morning; the lingering smell of pie crust baked the night before; or the coffee wafting from the kitchen when I come out of our room. Those moments are there. I just have to find a way to take time to notice them. And when a moment is bad; well lately I’ve been working on simply letting it pass. Noticing it yes, reflecting on the cause and repercussions; but the moment that notice turns into rumination; I’m done with it. Time to move on and look for those tiny everyday miracles that weave a tapesty into the fabric of the life I want to remember when I curl up with it years from now. When I can’t come up up with something to pull me from my funk on my own, I turn to others who are grateful and borrow from them. One of my favoriate places for a happy thought? Secret Society of Happy People. I like that they exist. In secret. And there is a whole society of them out there.

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday date hosted originally hosted by Jane, currently by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it in photographic or poetic in form from around the world:  Jane, Dana, Bonny, Joyce, Ian, Francesca, Theresa, Cate, Kasia, Otli, Trinsch, Isabelle, Janis, Kari, jgy, Lise, Dorte, McGillicutty, Sunnymama, Ibb, Kelleyn, Ninja, Sky, RosaMaria, Juniper, Valerie, Sammi, Cole, Don, WanderChow, FlowTops, Tania, Tzivia, Kristin, Laura, Guusje, Susanna, Juana, Elsa, Nadine

What’s on our walls is what keeps us cheerful! Happy colors, some of my favorite photographs from the flora in our yard and paintings done by family, a poster from a BBQ we hosted where friends came from far and wide and some vintage flour ads. And of course favorite photographs of our little dears.  

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday date hosted originally hosted by Jane, currently by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it in photographic or poetic in form from around the world:

 Jane, Dana, Bonny, Joyce, Ian, Francesca, Theresa, Cate, Kasia, Otli, Trinsch, Isabelle, Janis, Kari, jgy, Lise, Dorte, McGillicutty, Sunnymama, Ibb, Kelleyn, Ninja, Sky, RosaMaria, Juniper, Valerie, Sammi, Cole, Don, WanderChow, FlowTops, Tania, Tzivia, Kristin, Laura, Guusje, Susanna, Juana, Elsa, Nadine

I went to my favorite of our local libraries yesterday. Let me say, from the time I was a young pup I have LOVED libraries. I like the look, the smell, the feel, the routine and goodness of it all. I enjoy going to browse and see what there is to read. Not to mention if you want to really experience a cross-section of your local culture- just hang out there on a particularly cold or hot day. At one point as a young adult I thought I might want to be a children’s librarian. When we lived in Madison Wisconsin, the librarians were the hippest of the hipsters. Cool, stylish and utterly smart and cultured. I know that isn’t always the case. Young librarians today are not the old, sour, tight-bun-wearing, glasses-perched-on-bridge-of-nose, shushing and condescending stare type anymore. I still think they secretly judge. I can only imagine the conversations that go on around the breakroom water cooler over what random people wildly check out. But I digress. Libraries- love em. And nowadays my favorite ones have added on coffee shops and pleasant reading spaces to draw you in, presumably in competition with some large bookchains.

Long story short, Tuesday has become library lunch hour for me and a pal. We both tend to check out books and DVDs for our kiddos, which have a weekly due date. So it’s a nice break from the office and a good way to floss our brains. When we went in this week the librarian while eyeing my stack of Dora, Eloise and Hello Kitty literature asked if I needed wanted to join the adult summer reading program. The information sheet said I needed to read 3 novels by July 31 either the old fashioned way or via audio or e-reading device. Since I listen to a book on cd to and from work and could add Eclipse  classic american fiction to my list I happily agreed to sign up. Synergistically speaking I was happy to note that the program is sponsored by both a local book and coffee chain. When you turn in your list you get a free drink coupon from the coffee store and are entered to win some nifty book and e-reading device prizes.

So while I have to tropical or fanciful destination plans this summer that will actually put me on a plane, I do have some happy plans to win me a coffee and possibly a Nook Color! Any favorite summer reads out there you’d like to recommend? The Help & Her Fearful Symmetry are on my nightstand right now and I’d happily stack your recommendations there with them!

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday post hosted originally hosted by Jane, currently by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it in photographic or poetic in form from around the world:

 Jane, Dana, Bonny, Joyce, Ian, Francesca, Theresa, Cate, Kasia, Otli, Trinsch, Isabelle, Janis, Kari, jgy, Lise, Dorte, McGillicutty, Sunnymama, Ibb, Kelleyn, Ninja, Sky, RosaMaria, Juniper, Valerie, Sammi, Cole, Don, WanderChow, FlowTops, Tania, Tzivia, Kristin, Laura, Guusje, Susanna, Juana, Elsa, Nadine

Micah Madison’s Meatloaf! mmmmmmmmmmmmmm……I heart meatloaf; although for the most part I prefer my mother’s. Meatloaf in restaurants tend to not be so tasty to me. I like a fairly plain version- with a bit of sweet and tang. Many moons ago I worked in Iowa and a co-worker brought in her meatloaf. It was so tasty I asked for the recipe. The first time I went to make it I thought it was a bit sweeter than I remembered and maybe even tastier. The next time I went to make it I realized my mistake. I had inadvertently switched out the evaporated milk with condensed milk. Sweetened condensed milk. Yes folks, I had made meat candy.  I couldn’t knowingly go back to the condensed milk, but I really did like the sweetness- so I revised the recipe and added in some brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Problem solved- sweet and respectable! Wanna try?

MIX:

1.5 lb hamburger

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 sleeves Ritz crackers- crushed

2 eggs beaten

1 can evaporated milk

1 med onion diced

salt & pepper to taste

Bake 45 minutes @ 350 degrees. Add Topping:

Mix 1 Tbsp white vinegar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/4 cup diced onion, 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Bake 15 minutes more

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday post hosted originally hosted by Jane, currently by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it in photographic or poetic in form from around the world:

 Jane, Dana, Bonny, Joyce, Ian, Francesca, Theresa, Cate, Kasia, Otli, Trinsch, Isabelle, Janis, Kari, jgy, Lise, Dorte, McGillicutty, Sunnymama, Ibb, Kelleyn, Ninja, Sky, RosaMaria, Juniper, Valerie, Sammi, Cole, Don, WanderChow, FlowTops, Tania, Tzivia, Kristin, Laura, Guusje, Susanna, Juana, Elsa, Nadine