Drinking Chocolate, Poppies, and Hobbits
Hi friend,
I did the thing I should never do: I decided that the week before hosting twenty guests for Thanksgiving would be the perfect time to paint the baseboard in my kitchen. You know, that project that I’ve put off for the past five years?
For some reason, yesterday felt just right.
A few hours into patching holes and painting, I realized that I’d made quite the mess. Still, a few hours of manual labor set the heart right. There’s something about the quiet monotony, the small imperfect strokes, that helps my mind to process. It’s therapeutic, even without intentionally processing anything in particular.
I find letting the mind go to be so valuable. Just let it go — let it wander, let it dwell, let it stew, let it process, let it dream.
In all that freedom, somehow, it comes out all the better for it. Perhaps this is our mind’s version of taking out the trash?
(Which is a good reminder that I also decided to scrub the trash can and need to retrieve it from my shower.)
That means there’s still work to do — I’m sure you’re in the same boat. Still, I've collected some inspiration for your upcoming weekend, whether you’re painting, reading, prepping for company, in need of a millennial dance party, or dreaming of spring.
Falling Back In Love!
Just outside my door lives a little fairytale world that I’ve created over the past decade. It’s quite scruffy on the edges, incomplete in all the ways that handmade pieces of life are. Despite my efforts, this past summer — when the sun was at its highest and my motivation at its lowest — I fell far behind in the work that normally keeps the garden vibrant and tidy.
(Insert the self-loathing.)
The only solution for me was effort, and effort only comes with the reminder of love for such a project. So I put on my muck boots and spent time amongst the flowers (and weeds), falling back in love with the work that’s been put forth, with the pieces that have been built, and remembering the love that’s already been poured in!
Come join me in the garden (and check out how big the Love Lies Bleeding got, despite my neglect!):
The Hobbit In Me
I’ve shared with you all that over the past month, I’ve been reading through The Lord of the Rings trilogy, much to my husband’s delight. When I read through a particular chapter and want to talk about it, he tries to hide the glint in his eyes and an ecstatic smile as he answers my questions and comments.
If you’re unfamiliar with The Lord of the Rings, there is a group of small folk called hobbits. Hobbits live quietly in The Shire, a delightful home full of gardens, storytelling, fishing, draughts of beer, loaves of brown bread, and plenty of feasting and merriment. While Middle-earth is filled with warriors, wizards, and men who lust for power, hobbits prefer to spend their time reading, smoking their pipes, tending to the flowers and vegetables, and filling the larder with plenty of goods.
I’ve always known that Stuart is a hobbit. He’d happily spend the day sitting silently by a creek bed, eating a sandwich, thinking deeply, and making joyful conversation with anyone who happens to pass by.
I realize now that perhaps this is why Stuart and I get on — we both share the same idea of a life well-lived.
I’m thinking now that a quiet and contented life, free from the pressures of the eternal world to “make it,” may be just what the doctor ordered.
Some of us are meant for less — in the worldly sense, of course.
And while I still must pay taxes in this real world we inhabit, I do find great peace of mind in acknowledging the hobbit in me — the piece that values family and joyful mealtimes, wants to tuck into bed at night, and sit by a fire with a warm mug in my hand. The piece that’s okay with not having great piles of riches, but instead, clings to stories, kinfolk… and the garden, of course.
I’m okay with being small.
Speaking of gardening…
I took advice from my BFF Angela last year and tossed handfuls of poppy seeds onto the bare soil in the fall. After many years of attempting to start poppies myself in the spring, I’d all but given up on having them litter the gardens in the scruffy way that highlights cottage gardening at its finest. I shouldn’t have been surprised (Angela knows her stuff), but still, to my delight, hundreds of poppies happily bloomed all over the gardens with zero effort from me.
If I had been on top of it enough to remember, I would’ve gathered their dried seed pods late summer and saved my own seed for next spring. Definitely didn’t do that.
Instead, I bought some from a little bouquet store on Etsy. They arrived yesterday, and in just a few weeks, when the ground is a teeny bit more dormant and snow is on the horizon, I’ll toss the teeny-tiny little seeds in a few pockets of the gardens where I would like to see poppies bloom.
I don’t want to call myself a “lazy” gardener, because I’m not, but in case you find yourself in the same situation as me — needing a shortcut here and there to keep gardening possible in this season of life — know that you can do the exact same method for bells of Ireland, nigella, and foxglove.
It’s not too late to grab a pack of seeds, throw them into the air, offer up a little prayer of gratitude for a space to grow flowers, and return in the spring to watch their leaves unfurl.
I love gardening. What magic is this!
Drinking Chocolate
Decadently rich, this is a wintertime treat that we reserve for special occasions when regular ol’ hot chocolate just won’t do. I keep a few special bars of chocolate stashed away just for this! While I choose to make mine with a mixture of milk and dark chocolate, you can make yours with whichever you prefer. The espresso powder is optional, but it brings out the flavor of the chocolate wonderfully. Dairy-free? Use coconut milk and dairy-free chocolate instead!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
Pinch sea salt
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
2 tablespoons sweetener of choice
3 ounces dark chocolate bar
3 ounces milk chocolate bar
Instructions:
Combine the milk, cream, sea salt, espresso powder, and sweetener together in a small saucepan. Whisk well to combine. Heat up the mixture over medium heat, until it is warm to your liking.
Break the chocolate bars into pieces and drop them into the warm milk. Using a whisk, stir until the mixture over medium heat until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is thick and creamy.
Pour into small glasses and enjoy immediately. Top with whipped cream, if desired.
A touch of nostalgia…
Since nostalgic movies are off the entertainment list for November, I’ve been leaning into more music on our loudspeaker. It has a wonderful way of finding me just where I need it, pulling me from the holes I like to crawl into, and lifting my spirit.
As I scrubbed my kitchen floors and reorganized the harvest table in preparation for the week ahead, this playlist did just that and more.
Sometimes I don’t know I need some nostalgia until it arrives at the door.
Then I welcome it with open arms.
I hope your hands and heart are able to taste, see, and work in beautiful ways this weekend.
