Friday Favorites - St. Patrick's Day is coming!

 

It's time for another wander through Williams Sonoma.

This Braising Sauce looks amazing

Icon mugs

Bringing a little o' the green to your spatulas

This Staub braiser is such a gorgeous shade of green

A little touch of the Emerald Isle on your tea towels

For those of you who love the icon glasses, World Market has all of the Valentine's designs on 75% off!

  They have cute icon glasses for St. Patrick's Day but wait ten days or so and pick them up for a bargain price.  I know it will be too late for this year, but you'll have them from here after.

And here's that trending Dubai Chocolate, this time in a Bailey's dupe.

Monthly Musings - February 2026

 

1.  Paper planner, digital calendar, or other option?  Paper Planner.  I've used Erin Condren planners for years, but I couldn't resist this diary/planner when I was at the Buckingham Palace Shop in London.  It looks so pretty on my desk.

2.  Meal planning, meal prep, or wing it?  Meal planning is iffy these days.  After being on my own for so long with Vic in Okinawa and then in Maryland, I sort of lost interest in cooking, and I've had a hard time getting it back.  Vic does enjoy cooking so a lot of time he'll come up with something, but I feel bad that he works all day and then comes home to cook.  I'm making a commitment to do better as soon as our new stove is installed tomorrow.

3.  Do you choose your outfit the night before?  Not any longer!  Being retired means jeans and a top on most days.  I did plan my outfits when I was working right down to my accessories because when you get up at 4:30am, you're not really in the mood to put together an outfit!

4.  Tips for managing laundry and ironing.  I do laundry every day which is crazy for two people, but it works.  Whites on Monday, Vic's darks on Tuesday, towels on Wednesday, whites again on Thursday, kitchen linens and dog towels on Friday, and bedding on Saturday.  My darks go in once a week, usually after Vic's on Tuesday.  For the most part, it's quick and easy, I start one load when I get up, have coffee, put it in the dryer, and by the time I get out of the shower, it's ready to hang or fold and put away.  I don't iron but Vic's great at it!

5.  Grocery shop in store or online?  In store.  When I've got it all together, I menu plan, make a grocery list, and head to the store.

6.  Best tips for getting out the door in the morning without chaos?  Have everything ready to go.  Outfit selected, lunch made, handbag with everything in it, and out the door I go.

7.  Share your easiest dinners for crazy weeks.  Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken.  Quick, easy, delicious.

8.  Best tips to keep your house organized during the week.  I've said it before "A place for everything, and everything in its place".  I do a quick ten-minute whiz through the house before I go to bed to make sure that there's no clutter.

9.  Share your easiest breakfast.  Costco's muffins - the cinnamon chip ones are yummy!

10.  Share your best overall tip not covered yet.  Make cleaning enjoyable - Air pods with an audiobook, podcast, or music makes the time go by quickly.

Around the 'Net

Our trip to la belle France is not too far away and I've been looking at restaurants, menus, and dishes I'd like to try.  Croissants, crêpes, crème brûlée, and macarons are all checked off the list, but the others would be new to me.

  

The only one I'm not too sure about is escargots but Vic assured me they are delicious.  How many of these dishes have you tried?

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 642

  Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge!  Here are this week's questions, which you should answer on your own blog and then pop over to Joyce's blog (click on the graphic for the link) Wednesday to add your link to the party.

 

1. America celebrates turning 250 years old this year. Primary cities set to lead the celebrations on July 4th are Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington D.C. Other significant locations for celebrating will be Charleston SC and the 'historic triangle' which includes Jamestown-Williamsburg-Yorktown, Virginia. 

Of the cities listed how many have you seen in person? Of the cities listed which would you most like to visit this year? Any plans to do so? What's one place in America you think everyone should see? If you're not American what's one place in the US you'd like to see?

I have been to Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Washington D.C. as well as the historic triangle of Jamestown-Williamsburg-Yorktown, Virginia.  I have not been to Charleston, South Carolina.  We made trips to Boston, Philadelphia, and New York when we lived in Rhode Island and to Washington D.C. when we lived in Virginia.  We made many trips to the historic triangle - they held a great homeschool week every year at Williamsburg which we really enjoyed and loved touring the area.  Vic and I often went to Williamsburg for dining and shopping and spent a weekend at the Williamsburg Winery for Vic's 50th birthday.  We also made several trips to Jamestown and Yorktown, both with our homeschool group and as a family.

Sophia in Williamsburg, 2006, in her new mobcap and bonnet

Williamsburg Winery, 2017

It's hard to pick which one of the four mentioned I would recommend everyone should see.  They all play such an important part in our history, and all have so much to enjoy.

2. Three sounds you love to hear? 

Rain falling, the waves at the ocean, Lee Greenwood singing "God Bless the U.S.A." (especially at a ship's homecoming)

3. Three sounds you hate to hear? 

Fingernails on a blackboard or any such screeching sound, scampering feet as in the sound a rodent would make, police or ambulance sirens

4. February 24th is/was National Tortilla Chip Day. Are you a fan? With salsa, guacamole, queso, or just plain please? Do you like nachos? With what on top? Is there anything (besides nachos) you make that calls for tortilla chips?

Yes, I am a fan and with all the toppings/dippers listed.  I love nachos, especially with shredded brisket on top.  I can't really think of anything else that I make with tortilla chips.

5. We March into March with next week's Hodgepodge...what's one thing on your March calendar that makes you smile? 

We're off to Seattle for an overnight to see Michael McIntyre in concert.  If you have not heard of him, please check him out on You Tube, he is hilarious.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Have you served cheese fondue?  I'm thinking about busting out the fondue pot and having it for dinner one weekend.  What do you have for dippers besides French bread?

Life Last Week (16-22 February 2026)

   

The weather for the week ahead:::

Everything is so green with all the rain - the yard looks so lush!

On my reading pile:::

 

I finished The Distant Daughter, The Secrets of Trelenna House by Lorna Cook - left us on a cliffhanger so I was happy to see there is a sequel coming in June. 

Meanwhile, I picked up this at the library.

On my TV:::

Still working our way through this.  We're up to Season 7.

Checked off the list:::

• Our oven died a few weeks ago.  It's still under an extended warranty so we called an authorized appliance repair company, and they paid us a visit, ordered parts, and came back to install the parts.  Less than an hour later, whatever is actually wrong with the electrical system shorted out the new parts.  They contacted the appliance vendor and bottom line; we went to pick out a new stove on Saturday.  It will be installed this week.
• Our taxes are done and yay! it's a refund, finally after years of paying the IRS.  Of course, it meant that we had to pay an extra chunk every payday but at least it yielded a refund and not a balance due.  I think we're going to use some of it for this backguard/backsplash - it's a stainless steel backguard with utensil rail and 2 plate racks for use with freestanding ranges.  I'm curious - what type of backguard/backsplash do you have?

• PBS Passport made the first episode of the new series of Call the Midwife available on 20 February, so I watched that.  Love, love, love this show and love PBS Passport.  For $5 a month, it's a winner.

• It was a fairly quiet week after getting back from the coast on Monday.  Laundry, the usual chores, and a video call with Jodie on Wednesday.
• It was another year around the sun for me on Monday and this was my birthday present, an AGA teapot.  I've been wanting one for ages.  It came all the way from Yorkshire.  So many memories of our AGA in the kitchen in our house in Knott End-on-Sea when we first moved to England in the 1970s.

This is the British Sunday Roast model from ThankfullyHealthy on Etsy.

This guy also arrived - Steepy, the Jellycat tea bag - I'll pop him on my England tree.

Crafts roundup:::

Finished my December Daily and our annual Christmas card album.  I sent off for all my London photos so I can get busy with that album next.

And in other news:::

Are you caught up in the curling craze?  Some of the videos are hilarious.  Watch for the one of the elderly couple as the sweepers as they work to move the curling stone (their robot vacuum) across the floor!  I also read up on Kays Scotland, the makers of the curling stones.

This would make a great collectible for a curling or Winter Olympics fan.

Speaking of the Winter Olympics, did you watch the Closing Ceremony?

Well done, Norway!  On to the French Alps in 2030 and then Utah in 2034.

And this!  It's a cupcake from @lindseybakedthis

Also, another current craze - Cadbury's mini eggs.

Filling a crisper drawer with them for easy access is genius, lol! @aoibhinn_raleigh

And such sad news this week, 53 years old, gone far too soon.  The scene where he comes across Patrick Dempsey with his ex-girlfriend, ex-wife, and current fling in the elevator is immortal, "I'll bet you wish you'd taken the stairs".

Happy National Love Your Pet Day - 20 February

Here's our Malone.  He's an Australian Cattle Dog Mix and he will be six years old this September.  That's an estimate because when we adopted him from the humane society, they guessed he was about four.  He was found as a stray, and we have no idea what happened in his early life, but it made him very reactive to other dogs, so we have to keep him away from them.  No play dates for this guy.  That's ok because Vic is his BFF and they take a walk when Vic gets home from work in the evening.

His favorite past-time is enjoying a cookie, or eating just about anything - forgive the ratty couch cover, it was just about to go in the washing machine

He also loves to sleep, and jumps up onto my chair when I'm working in the office

If he can be touching Vic in some way, he will

And he's never far away from him when Vic is home - he was patiently guarding the box of screws and waiting for Vic to finish his project so they could go for a walk

He tolerates me because I feed him!

Around the 'Net

 What's your bagel order?  I must have found this on a UK site because I'd never heard of a cacklebean egg (it's an egg known for its rich, flavorful yolk and firm, creamy texture.  They are produced by heritage breed hens that are free to roam and forage in the countryside, resulting in a superior quality product).  Also, air-dried ham looks like prosciutto and rocket is arugula.

Our favorite is what we call Yorgo's after a bageldashery (love that term!) that we used to frequent in Norfolk, Virginia.  Lightly toasted bagels, chive and onion cream cheese, capers, smoked salmon, and thinly sliced red onion.  Delicious!