Daisies

Daisies

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Oh lovely day

The kids had no school today and so I made sure to be off from work as well. It was a day full of appointments and driving here and there, but in between we had some lovely moments. We made sure to make time for the park, as it was a gorgeous day out today. We also made time to bake an apple pie...next up, applesauce. Oh these apples are getting used up slowly but surely. I also signed up for a few workshops at the Fiber Arts Fair coming to town at the end of October, oh how fun. We are going to be venturing into spinning. I signed up for two classes; spinning for beginners with a wheel and spinning using a drop spindle. I am pretty excited to be taking this next step in craftiness. I also signed my daughter up for beginning spinning for kids and she is super excited. She says "Oh mommy, now we will have a head start for when we eventually own sheep". Yes my darling, yes. We have big dreams around here about a future farm and I only hope we can make this happen before the kids are totally grown up. It will happen.


Hope it was a lovely day for you too,
Yasmin

Monday, September 24, 2012

What's Cooking?







  1. Veggie Burger topped with caramelized onions, ketchup mustard, pepperjack cheese, and a fried egg. Accompanied by roasted potatoes.
  2. Rian helping with the mixing of soon to be baked goods.
  3. Sauteed rainbow carrots and broccoli.
  4. Banana Chocolate chip Muffins.
  5. Tofurky hotdogs with cheese.
  6. Corn Chowder with baguettes to dip.
I hope you all are getting in the kitchen and doing some mighty fine cooking as well.
Enjoy, Yasmin

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Autumn

Today is the autumnal equinox, when day and night are of equal length. We are feeling cooler temperatures early in the morning and when the sun falls. I am being pulled more towards hearty meals of soup, lots of apple recipes, winter squash, and pumpkin spice. I am also craving lots more time with yarn. I love autumn.
To mark the first day of autumn, Ashleigh and I drove the blue ridge parkway to the Pisgah Inn for a craft fair and some lunch overlooking the mountains.

Can you see the colors changing slowly but surely. It was quite sunny out and a bit hard to get a good picture, but you get the point.


View from Pisgah Inn, pretty flowers, and Ashleigh walking on a path around the Inn.
 

Treasures from the craft fair, an elephant because I love them and plain old drawings with pencil or pen and paper are one of my favorite art forms. A painting of the back of a woman. I am not sure why, but I was very drawn to this painting and after circling the craft fair once, I came back to this painting wanting to buy it. I am thinking of hanging it in my bathroom. It is beautiful, isn't it.
Hope you all had a wonderful first day of autumn.
Peace, Yasmin

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Love

There is a lot of love in the air recently. It all started with my wedding anniversary on September 11th. My husband brought me home some cottage red roses. He knows that the way to my heart is flowers with nothing else needed. I had also been secretly planning a getaway for just the two of us...doable due to my mother agreeing to watch the kids for the whole weekend, thanks mama. We spent Saturday and Sunday last weekend in Gatlinburg at a lovely bed and breakfast. It was an incredible select registry 4 diamond bed and breakfast that I found through BedandBreakfast.com. We had never been to Gatlinburg and I heard about its beauty and lots of fun. It was a little bit too much bad tourism, over consumerism, and just plain crowded. There was hidden beauty though. Gatlinburg is covered on all sides by mountains and there is a lovely attraction called OberGatlinburg, which has a tram up the mountain. We also rode a chairlift to the top of the mountain, which offered wonderful views, and a quiet serene time away from the "in your face" craziness in the valley below. We plan on going back with the kids, just for OberGatlinburg, which also has an indoor skating rink, a very cool alpine slide, and amusement type activities. Well anyway, let me get back to this beautiful bed and breakfast we stayed at. It is called Eight Gables Inn and I reserved a Deluxe Suite for just one night...next time it will have to be for atleast two nights. The landscape around the house was amazing, it comprised of flowers, fountains, and even a waterfall. Our room had a king size bed, seating area, balcony and a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. They also make a dessert and leave it your room every night at turn down. Our dessert was a very thoughtful heart shaped cake. It ended up being a romantic much needed getaway for us. We realized that this is most likely the first time we have gone away overnight since the kids were born. It will not be the last time. The only thing I would have changed about our bed and breakfast choice, would be to choose one that has a restaurant attached so that we wouldn't have to leave the property at all.






Roses and the main house.


Around the main house and the breakfast area.
 






The lovely turn down dessert, a painting I fell in love with, and our room.



OberGatlinburg, and views from the top.
It has been a lovely 12 years and we hope for many more years together.
Cheers, Yasmin

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Easy Like Sunday Morning

I work pretty much every single Sunday, but today was slightly different. Today I scheduled myself at 10am instead of the usual 6 to 8am. This has been a revolutionary change for me. Clothes got folded, I enjoyed a slow breakfast, and I feel more fresh than normal for work.




A lazy Sunday morning indeed for all, including the dog. Rian wanted to show off his batman. He has been a bit batman crazy recently and refuses to take off his batman pajamas, it will be a battle to get those in the washer one of these days. We are enjoying our apple bounty with peanut butter.
Off to work, have a lovely Sunday.
Yasmin

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Apple Picking Time!

It is apple picking time!
Let me start off this post by letting you all know that I just about had a panic attack when for some reason my camera's memory was showing no pictures whatsoever. How could I not have any pictures from our apple picking trip. I was just about to throw my camera at the wall when I decided to fool with the memory card and check it one more time. Yes...there were pictures! So without further ado, apple picking pictures.





We were very lucky with the abundance of apples this year. It was a bit hot, but the lack of crowds more than made up for that.
 


The kids loved playing in the playground and walking through the bamboo forest trail.
 





At the end of the nature trail we got to visit these lovely animals.
 

We saw many of these gorgeous butterflies.
 




Lovely view from the top of the mountain. This is why we love this orchard, views, wonderful donuts, and plenty of apples.
 

We are eating more comfort food while noticing that fall is truly right around the corner.
 
When I got home, this lovely African basket was waiting for me. This is the basket that I won through another blog. Far From Harm Farm. It was a wonderful day and very tiring.
Off to bed, Yasmin