Most grateful....

Can I just say I pretty much have some of the best friends ever?

You all have showered me with love, affection, and gifties.

I have bread pans flying in from all over, flower seeds being sent, some special love tokens shipped right to my door....

Each and every day I am overwhelmed with your kindness.

You have spoken words of encouragement that have truly meant the world to me.

Comment after comment of sister love.

Many have been with me since I began this blogging journey, nearly 7 years ago.

Some have only recently been stopping by.

Regardless....I am blessed.

I would never say this has been an easy journey..

Far from it.

If you could hear of some of the silly things I have cried over, I would be most embarrassed.

I most certainly am not suffering...not in the least.

And with friends like you all have been, I consider myself  a most blessed woman.

Thanks you all for sticking with me through this....

And now, on to some real life!

Campari tomatoes and garlic

I love Costco in the off seasons.

Though I do try to eat and buy as much local as possible, I can't help but buy these gorgeous and, might I say, tasty tomatoes throughout the winter.

Diced and tossed in a tabouli salad or a bowl of leafy greens...or sliced onto a homemade sourdough pizza...nothing says fresh like these tomatoes.

 My kitchen "island"

This kitchen is a tad on the small side, with not enough counter space.

Until something can be done about that, I am using my old bedside table as my island. Topped with one of my larger cutting boards, it is a fine stand-in until we can figure something else out. 

I would love one that is just a couple feet longer....

Perhaps we can build something this spring.

 Inside my "island"

I have a few plastic bins holding some essential kitchen things.

The top left basket holds all my measuring cups and measuring spoons. The one next to that is currently holding the very last of the shallots from this past years CSA. 

Next to that is the bag of new red potatoes.

Below, on the bottom shelf, is a basket with odds and ends....

Mostly kitchen gadgets that are too clunky for the drawers, like the box grater and the metal hand juicer.

Some organic onions are on the right.

When we do find another island, I will need to make sure it has storage space underneath....

I am a kitchen gadget freak.

 Uh...Fuzzy.

He does NOT belong up there.

 Sweet "F" canister

I am pretty sure the "F" stands for flour, but in my house it stands for "coffee"

I keep my coffee separate from Pete's cause he likes the stuff that you can stand your spoon up in.

S.T.R.O.N.G.

And I like what he sarcastically refers to as "Breakfast Blah"

Don't judge me...I am what I am.

"Fig & Honey"

My newest soap fragrance, ready to be cut into bars.

Pete has to cut my soap.

If I cut it, the bars would be just the right thickness on the top, and narrow down to pretty much nothing at the bottom.

It's a curse, I know.

You should see how I slice my bread.

Pretty much the same way...

I like to just call it "rustic", and let it go at that.

  Beau...waiting out the blizzard.

Yeah....we pretty much had a mini blizzard here last week.

Kind of a shock to our systems, as our Michigan winter has been anything but a Michigan winter.

Temps have averaged in the mid 40's....the 2nd warmest winter on record, so far.

Does everything look just a bit yucky where you live?

I know spring is just around the corner, and though I love spring, the beginning of it is just dirty/messy.

Mud all over the place, ruts in the roads, with only a promise of green loveliness to come.

I wait impatiently....

In Christ alone,

Cindy

PS...here is a peek at the new Farm Fresh blog I am starting.

It will be a blog where my homemade goodies are featured for sale.

Bar soaps, Laundry soaps, etc.

All under one blog roof, so to speak.

Hoping to have it up and running in the next few weeks.