For My Mum

I'm three years old
Hugging your legs
Smiling up at you

You're so beautiful
Inside and out
And oh, how I love you

I'm eight years old
And my little world
Is still in the fairy way

When I feel sad
You hug me close
Then everything's okay

You keep me safe
In our own heaven
I want to stay always

And I know
I didn't always understand
Now I'm past that phase

I'm eighteen now
You're still my haven
And I just wanted to say

Thank you so much
For everything
You gave me everyday

Copyright E. Aultman 2010

The Dash

The Dash

by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

From the beginning to the end

He noted that first came the date of her birth

And spoke the following date with tears

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years

For that dash represents all the time

That she spent alive on this earth.

And now only those who loved her

Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own;

The cars, the house, the cash,

What matters is how we live and love

And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard.

Are there things you'd like to change?

For you never know how much time is left,

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

To consider what's true and real

And always try to understand

The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,

And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives

Like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,

And more often wear a smile

Remembering that this special dash

Might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read

With your life's actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent your dash?

Dance in the Rain

This inspiring movie begins with one of my favourite quotes. I hope you enjoy!

Learning to Dance In The Rain Learning to Dance in the Rain Movie

Music From The Inheritance - Morning Ride, Dance Lesson & The Race

I know how hard it is to find this beautiful music, so I put it in a video. You can find it at iTunes if you search Christopher Franke, who is the composer. Enjoy!

Morning Ride



Dance Lesson



The Race

Sublime Knit Patterns

Knitting is one of my favourite past times, so when I discovered this book, The Even More Gorgeous Sublime Kid Mohair Book, I almost fell over my feet in my haste to buy it. The patterns are so fairy-like and beautiful I couldn't resist. I started on my favourite first, a pattern called Titania, after the Queen of the Fairies; it is breathtaking! I used thin grey Merino wool and it ended looking like I had woven it out of cobwebs. I loved the effect, but it took me many long hours. The pattern is quite complicated; I had to restart over 20 times! But perseverance is rewarding, and now I have a lovely sweater. This is the picture from the book:

Then I wanted to do another sweater and found this frothy cardigan. It is called Ophelia...apparently whoever was in charge of naming the patterns was a lover of Shakespeare. I knit this one in light green baby wool; I wanted it to be blue, but I couldn't find any.



However, the green looks wonderful. It is by far one of my favourites and I get a lot of hugs when I wear it because it is so cuddly. I don't know about the other Sublime patterns, but this book will not disappoint. I love to feel pretty and sweet cardigans like this are just the trick for soft and fairyish.

I'm Watching You, Dad.

This video is so sweet. I just had to share.

Frosted Rose Petals

I woke up this morning to discover to my delight that it was going to be a sunny day! The birds were singing outside my window, the dew on the grass sparkled like tiny stars, and the sun had come up beaming with happiness; it was going to be a good day. I decided to make the frosted rose petals from 'The Fever and the Flame' because you are supposed to leave them out in the sun for part of the time, and it was the perfect weather for it.
First, I collected two roses and rinsed the petals; my last encounter with earwigs in roses was not pleasant, although, thank goodness, I did not get pinched. Then I cut off the white at the base of each petal,

dipped them in rose water,
and layed them out on a baking sheet that I had lined with parchment paper.

Next, I left them in the sun to dry.
However, the Wind Woman must have been bored and decided she wanted a bit of fun; she played with the corners of the paper, lifting them up and making my perfectly placed petals tumble around. So I weighted the paper with stones.
Then, once they were dry, I sifted icing sugar over them and left them for two hours.


After two hours, I turned them over and sugared the other side, repeating the 2 hour then flip process until each petal had dried to a crisp. Then I put them carefully into a white box with pink and white tissue paper :)
and tied it closed with a pink ribbon.
I tasted one, and it wasn't as sweet as I had been expecting, but it was a really enjoyable experiment, and I had the time of my life making everything pretty. I just love the look of the white box with pink ribbon!

Rose Water

A few weeks ago, I read a book entitled 'The Fever and the Flame' by Mary Hooper and really enjoyed it. It's about a girl who lived during the time of the Black Plague and the great fire in London, from about 1665 to 1666. I found it extremely interesting and well-written. The girl goes to work with her sister in London in a candy shop; it's really fascinating to read about how they made the candy. At the very end, there are a few recipes that tell you how to make some of the delicacies you read about in the book, and I thought it would be fun to make frosted rose petals. I have to wait for a sunny day, however, so I decided to make rose water, which I will need anyway.
You need about three to four roses that have not been sprayed with pesticide. Remove the petals from the stem and rinse them carefully, looking for bugs. I discovered a few creepy crawlies myself, earwig included, and shuddered to think what might have happened if I had accidentally cooked him along with the petals.Then you add the petals to 2 cups of water in a saucepan and slowly heat, but make sure that it doesn't boil. The petals may seem to be a bit too much for the amount of water, but they shrink as they become softer and smaller. I used a spoon to push them around gently, just to make sure they all were submerged in the water. Once they become transparent (which, by the way, looks beautiful in its own fairy-like way), you strain the water, squeezing all the excess juices out of the petals as you do so. After that, you can put it into a pretty container (unfortunately, I didn't have an extra special one, so I just used an old Mason jar and tried to make it look better by pasting a blue label on the top) and put it in the fridge. It will stay good for about a week or so.