Everyday things that make me smile

Everyday things that make me smile

Seeing these blue hydrangas unexpectedly.

Laughing with someone.

Sincere compliments.

Finding money in an unexpected place,
like a pocket.

African violets blooming on my kitchen table.

An unexpected call, just to say hello, from a friend .

A thinking of you or thank you card or note from a friend.

A single, very small Reese’s peanut butter cup.

A cat that reaches out to me with her soft paw.

A great haircut.

Fresh polish on my nails.

An unhurried warm bath or shower.

Things that smell good like honeysuckle on the fence
or passing someone in a store that has a faint but pleasant smell.

A child smiling at me.

What makes you smile?

Egypt - Palace Walk - Great Story

Dear Friend,
Hope you’re enjoying reading today. I am deeply engrossed this week in a book. Sometimes I'm reading blogs on the internet or articles on something I'm interested in. This week I'm reading a story about another time and another place.
The novel Palace Walk is a slice of middle class, family life in Egypt almost a hundred years ago, near the end of World War I. The author tells us about this family’s daily activities, but also tells us of their hopes, fears, manipulations in their relationships and of their religious life. It is written from the view points of each of the family members – the father and mother and those of the three sons and two daughters. We see the way they chose to live with the feelings they have for one another, the way they cope with life's disappointments and happinesses. Being closer to the Mom’s age and female I relate to Amina the Mom most closely. What would appear to be a very harsh reality, in that this woman stays home night and day for 25 years, is softened by the fact that she appears content and even happy on a daily basis. I am only half way through the book, but can tell you that I will read the second one as soon as I finish this one. Amina experiences a huge sadness in the middle of the book. The author has done such a splendid job of describing that sadness that I have felt absolutely horrified for her. Despite the differences in their culture and ours, I see that we all share some very fundamental feelings and I can see my own family members in each of them. The youngest son’s emotions remind me so much of those of our own middle class children in America. And the daughters’ desire for marriage are no different that those of our own daughters.

The novel was written in Arabic by Naguib Mahfouz, an Egyptian man, who was born in 1911. Naguib Mahfouz began writing when he was seventeen years old. He continued to live in Cairo, Egypt where he married and raised two children. He wrote this novel and it was published in the 1950’s. He has written many other novels that were widely acclaimed in the Middle East. An English translation didn’t come about, until I think sometime around 1975. He won the Nobel prize for literature in 1988. The Cairo Trilogy which is what this book is the first book of, is considered to be his most important work. He is considered by some western book critics to be the best Middle Eastern author of the last century.

I’ve had fun with this book . Yes, it’s my book club selection – and my group is going to have our discussion Tuesday night, with a light supper of what we plan to pass off as (sort of, kind of)Egyptian (Middle Eastern) food. An original member from 1991 who no longer lives here is coming in to teach us about the modern social history of Egypt which she will do in a most entertaining manner. Today I went to the King Tut website and printed out the words sandwiches, chips, dip etc. in Egyptian Hieroglyphics. I'll put them on the table and let people figure them out. I’ve put the link to The King Tut website at the bottom of this page for you to use.

I am so grateful for Honeysuckle. While walking this morning I passed two yards with honeysuckle close enough to the street that the sweet smell was quite evident. Loved it ! I am grateful too for women’s freedoms in this country. I can’t imagine missing all the things I’ve experienced because I wasn’t allowed to leave the house.

Take care,
Maggiegladyoucame

The following link is to a weekly newspaper from Cairo Egypt called “Al-ahram.”

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/797/pe1.htm

The following link is to the King Tut website where you can print out the Egyptian Alphabet and even type in your name and the website will show you your name in Egyptian hieroglphics.

www.kingtut-treasures.com/ hiero.htm

Quilting for Valor website

Dear Friend,
Quilting for Valor is a website that tells us about a group of women across the country who make quilts for wounded American Soldiers. There are great quotes from the soldiers who receive them and pictures of the lovely quilts. There are also explanations of why they make quilts for soldiers in the women's own words. It is a a very thought provoking website and for me an affirmation that individuals can make a difference in a very positive way doing what they enjoy.

I feel so very fortunate to have found this website and to have had the time to spend a few minutes reading over the comments made by our wounded soldiers who have received the quilts. I have read about a woman who doesn't support this war, but quilts for the soldiers out of respect for their beliefs and actions in the name of this country. I like her way of thinking. I find it very uplifting to know that so many spend so much time doing something for people they don't know and will not receive recognition for. Good folks to say the least.

Take care,

Maggiegladyoucame

Quilts of Valor website
http://www.qovf.org/pixs.guilds.html

Quesadilla recipe

Dear Friend,
How are you? I am enjoying this hot day. Now by the middle or July or first of August I will have had it with the heat and by the time there are cool mornings in September I’ll be looking forward to a cold day. I love the change of seasons with emphasis on the word “change.”
I made quesadillas the other night for the first time. I’ve enjoy eating them out often, but with kitchen remodeling going on, I have barely cooked. Before that when I was not retired we ate out often. But this recipe is so easy I knew I could do it even with my pantry still in the old kitchen, my refrigerator in the front garage along with my dishes, and my hotplate in my husband’s workshop in the back of the house. The beauty of this recipe is that it can be customized to meet your tastes. It needs the cheese to stay together and to be a quesadilla, but all the rest is up to you. Here we go.

Quesadillas – this is a Mexican cheese sandwich. This recipe makes 3 quesadillas which feed my husband and I.

Ingredients

6 soft flour tortillas (about 7 inches across - if you use the large size then just use more stuff)
butter to sauté them in
tablespoon or so of olive oil for vegetables
grated Monterrey Jack and Cheddar Cheese ( at least a cup or cup-and-a-half)
ham, chicken, or shrimp (about 3 ounces total)
½ onion and about a ½ a bell pepper – just a few strips, flavor of your choice
Salsa or tomato as you choose

Here’s all it takes

I sautéed the finely chopped onion and slender strips of bell pepper in a skillet in the hot olive oil for just a few minutes until the onion began to look clear and the pepper was softened.
Then I removed them to a plate.
I wiped out the skillet just a little and added a small pat of butter and moved the skillet until it was just about coated with oil and butter.
Then I plopped the first tortilla in the skillet and quickly added about a third of my meat, cheese and vegetables on top of the tortilla.
I put a little spicy salsa – just a teaspoon or two in this first one.
Then I put the second tortilla on top of that mixture pressed it down with a spatula for a few seconds so that it got stuck to the cheese.
Put some small dabs of butter on top of the tortilla.
Now it’s time to flip the whole thing and cook the other side for a minutes of two. Just until it’s lightly browned and the cheese is melted.
Using my spatula, I moved it to a plate – a pretty one of course.
Then I cut it like a pie into 6 pieces. This whole process is less than 5 minutes.

Then I began again on the second one.
This one I added a slice of Deluxe American Cheese torn into small pieces to mix with the other cheeses, because I like the way it melts.

Then I made the third – reheated the first one in the microwave for 20 seconds on 80% power. And I was done with dinner. Tomato wedges go nicely with this because we love tomatoes. I could see cantaloupe in the summer or soup in the winter. If you wanted to keep the theme Mexican maybe, jicama sliced and served with fresh lime. These sandwiches are so good if you like cheese, butter and sandwiches. But a little different because there wasn’t any bread. As you can see I am into easy!

I have had these with fajita meat instead of ham or shrimp, I have had them with just a little refried beans spread on one tortilla in additon to chili. This recipe can use what you like !

Take care of you,

MaggieGladYouCame

The Photograph is borrowed from another blog and I don't know where she got it - but it is not original.

Seattle, Pike Place Market, The Museum of Flight

Dear Friend,
This is the last page of the journal about our driving trip from San Francisco to Seattle. so naturally we are in Seattle. the big spurprise for us was how much fun the Pike Place Market was. Pike Place Market has a carefree, come-have-fun atmosphere. It is an open-air celebration of fresh regional fruits and vegetables, seasonal flowers, herbs, seafood, spices, cheeses, and hand-crafted work by artisans. There are a couple of hundred shops including ones that sell imported groceries, clothing shops, jewelry shops, import shops with Russian handicrafts and of course more. When you’re hungry you can choose from fine restaurants and eateries--many with views of ferry and freighter traffic on Elliott Bay. It is an old nine-acre, multi-building community with cracked walkways and uneven cobblestone streets, the scent of lilies mingles with crabs and orange spiced teas, street musicians compete with "free sample!" vendors, and many languages can be heard from the nine million visitors who come to Pike Place Market yearly. This was a lot of fun for us – as you can tell.
We enjoyed the view of Seattle from the top of the Space Needle – about 600 feet above the city. We enjoyed the short cruise we took from the bay to Lake Union through the locks. We all found that fascinating.
Most of what we did in Seattle was exactly what the guide books talk about and we enjoyed it all. Occasionally we split up and spend a day separately on trips to accommodate our scattered interests. One day I went to the Seattle Museum of Art to see their Asian collection and my husband and son went to the Museum of Flight. We all had a good time. They dropped me at the museum and when I finished my tour, I took a cab back to the motel. I read and napped and was glad for some down time all by myself. I will tell you just a tiny bit about each, because you can read about them online and in Frommer’s and Fodor’s guide books. Your library probably has them and if not your bookstore surely does.

The museum I went to was not the Asian Art Museum at Pioneer Park but the downtown Seattle Art Museum. I didn’t have time to do both. I spent a couple of hours there looking at the Asian collection. The guys loved the Museum of Flight. I think they have something like 150 planes. That night they went to a Seattle Seahawks baseball game and I repacked the bags and got ready for the flight home. Our dog had become ill a few days before and needed our attention so we changed our plans and got the last 3 seats on the redeye flight home. I can promise you that if you get the last three seats on a full plane those seats will back up to the bulkhead and you will not be able to recline. I will also tell you that the old, golden yellow lab that hadn’t walked for four days due to her sudden illness got up and walked when she saw us. We were the medicine she needed.
I need to tell you too that these pictures today aren't mine. I got these from the www.webshots.com community photo pool. It is legal to use those photos. You can see these and hundreds more by going to that web site and doing a search for "Pike Place Market," or the "Museum of Flight" or even just "Seattle."
Have fun in Seattle and if you want to share something about Seattle that you liked, leave it in the comment area for all to read. Thanks for coming.

Take care,

Maggiegladyoucame

Good Folks and Good Reading

Dear Friend,

There is a new story about a soldier on Michael Yon's website called "A Piece of Cake." (Link to the story at the bottom of the page.) I am just delighted that I've found that website because the people that Mr. Yon chooses to focus on are the kind of people that I enjoy knowing. I believe that the people around us "rub off" on us. Who I spend my time with does make a difference in the choices I make, the way I think and in the way I feel. The young man in the story is hard working, successful in business and in life and interesting. If you have 3 or 4 minutes and want to feel good, then click on the link.

I'll be back soon and hope you will too.

Take care,

Maggiegladyoucame



http://www.michaelyon-online.com/wp/a-piece-of-cake.htm