Brioche Donuts

I think I'll always be grateful to Debbie for introducing me to Satura Cakes.  She & Whit had ordered their wedding cake from Satura.  As the florist, it was my job to drop off flowers at the bakery for the topper.  

I walked into the bakery & was immediately drawn to the tiny pastries in the display cabinet.  

I had to try something.  We were a little in a hurry though.  I just asked for a few donuts.  

Brioche donuts, that is. 

The first time I had this donut, it totally blew my mind.  

It still is mind-blowing, after the 6th donut.  

If I am in Los Altos (like I was this weekend) I absolutely must have one.

They are apparently healthy, too.  Fried in EVOO.  

    

Gillian is here enjoying her Kouign-Amann.  It's like a morning bun from Starbucks.  Only it is caramelized & ten times better.  

If you are ever near to a Satura bakery.  Get thee there.  

Talking to Youngsters About Death & other Awful Stuff

What do you say to a young child about death?

For now, everyone feels pain & sadness because of sin.  

effects are everywhere.  

"All of creation groans and suffers."

 Bad things happen.  People get sick.  

Baby birds fall out of their nests.  Some people go hungry.

Sometimes, little babies die.

This place doesn't have dead people.  

This is where we come to remember the ones who have died.

The stone is a remembrance of your brother.  

Like the cross is a remembrance of Jesus.

Someday, when we are with Jesus, there will be no more reasons to cry, 

no more pain, no more sickness, no more hunger & no more death.

We want to use our real life to teach our kids about real life.

Gillian is starting to understand.
She understands memorials or remembrances.
And she understands a little about heartbreak
(when you are really, really sad)
& a little bit about pain
(it's like when you have really bad red blood, right?)
She asked us if her brother is now a really big man
who is standing with Jesus right now.  

Guy Flowers

Today I made this floral delivery for a High School graduate.  

It was requested to be masculine looking.  

This Pincushion Protea comes to my mind, as a guy flower.  

They are super sturdy.  

They almost look dangerous.

Kangaroo Paws look masculine, I think.  

Straight, clean lines &strong branches.

Bromeliads are quite masculine.  My husband bought one for a houseplant.  I did not care for it.  I didn't force it out of the house.  But, I was unwilling to give my husband any affirmation that it was good looking.  

So, it got taken to Scott's office.  There, the Bromeliad is well loved by men.  They call it el Tigre.

This isn't THE el Tigre.  Just a look a like I found on the web.

 

What do you think of as being a man flower?

Of No Great Importance

I was on my last roll of toilet paper for my household.  It was necessary for me to go to Target.
(Although, I did have napkins, cloth diapers & lettuce in the house still.
Any of those could have been a substitute, I suppose.)

Target has Dwell Studio tablecloths that are gorgeous, for $20.

That is my couch though, not my table.

This is what is on my table.  Oil cloth that can wiped off after each meal.  

(Or every other meal.  Depends on whether or not I care if it is clean.)

The pits are waiting for Gillian.  She is going to plant them.  

She ate this many "soft little peaches called apricots" in one day.  I think she likes them.  

I do, too.  I love apricot season.  I wanted to make cobbler.  But, I was trying to be good.  I left them alone.  Then by the next morning, they were all eaten anyway.  That's a good thing & a bad thing.

I do remember my mom warning me as a little girl, not to eat too many apricots, or I would make myself sick.

I think my husband will be proud of me when he gets home.  It's always a good day for him, when there is too much vegetable matter to fit into the countertop bucket & it is just all over the counter.  He loves to compost.

I am going to be cutting back.  On kid's clothes.  Shuffling clothes in & out of the house as they grow out of one size & into the next.  Kids grow too fast.  I'm having a hard time keeping up.  I just started the shuffle again this week.  But, I'm not finished.  This is what Moira's room looks like.  

I have decided to stop saving clothes that are all stainy & awful looking.  That's a bit of a no-brainer, I guess.  But, I'm going to do more.  Once the child outgrows the clothes & it is time to pack them into the garage, if I don't just love it, I am getting rid of it.  They seriously don't need all these clothes.

Speaking of clothes I love - this is one of my favorites that Gillian used to wear.  Now they fit Moira.
Look at those little jeans.  Ack!  I love 'em!

See her lips?  She is trying to imitate me whistling.  

Edit your Opinions

Should people write about important deep stuff on the Internet?
Should they all "strictly restrict their remarks to the weather"?
There is a lot of good writing out there; thoughtful stuff; impactful stuff.
There is also a lot of discouraging stuff; distasteful stuff; thoughtless stuff.

The written word is powerful. I want to try to use it for good. But, I'm not a talented writer. I am sure no one would publish my writings. So, I publish myself on Blogger. But, being self publishing, means I have no editor. The ease of typing a few thoughts & pushing publish means I may not even do self editing. There in lies my problem.

The words I write are my responsibility. I need to take care. I need to edit my own opinions. Just because this is my blog, doesn't mean I can write whatever I want. And, even if I take care with what I write, it doesn't mean that I am always right.

Here's a good standard
- Philippians 4:8
"Finally brethren, whatever is true,
whatever is honorable,
whatever is right,
whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely,
whatever is of good repute,
 if there is any excellence
and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things."

-Ephesians 4:29
"...such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to the hearer [readers, too]."

I want to be careful to edit myself, in written & spoken word.
And, sometimes, even when I think I've properly edited, I still may be wrong.
I still may need to take back stuff I've said.


*********** I was just reading this passage, in 2 Timothy
& thought is was so appropriate for this discussion.**********
"But avoid foolish & ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.  And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth..."


That is not to say that a gentle, intelligent conversation or debate is wrong.
I think it takes discernment to know when & what to discuss, don't you?


What do you think are the positives to the whole blogosphere?  What are the negatives? 
How are you going to make it better?

Things I Want to Learn

I've been having a lot of deep thoughts lately.

Thoughts related to my life.  Thoughts related to other people's lives.  

Thoughts impacted by recent books read.
Thoughts impacted by recent blog posts read.

My pastor wrote this one about drawing lines in the sand.

This woman is an acquaintance from the old homeschool days.
She wrote about what devotion really is.
And she also said she thinks truth is not very popular.

This new online friend wrote about why she thinks its hard to have a good discussion about deep things.
She thinks we shouldn't get our panties in a bunch so easily.  I think she is right.

I want to learn to talk about important things, without being super sensitive.
I want to be able to affirm that God's Word is truth,
but admit that I don't always understand it rightly.
I want to be careful to read the Bible, to see what God commands of us,
but also what He does not command of us.
I want to show people more grace, without withholding truth.

I Was Part

I quit Facebook & they noticed!  I made the news, I guess.

Mo Got a Party

Now that we are home, in our house, near to family again, Moira got her One Year old birthday party.