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it will be the center Spiral in Alyssia's Quilt.   She loves night.   the  1,  which is larger than 2 1/2 inches,  but i didn't want to cut it.  It's all there is of it.   so 2 had to become smaller but it works….Night.  and she loves purple.   And then….surrounding her Night with Gentle Day that Cynthia wishes Us All…   to surround her night which she can't have much of anymore with her commitment to Mothering…but SomeDay….Night will become hers again    So,  this Spiral,   a promise that Night will become hers again

 


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went down to the storage bins at B Garden to get the other pie plate…which turns out to be only in my imagination…no other pie plate there in the bin of Belov~ed pyrex.   a shallow casserole dish will have to work  but/and i got lost in the bins,  looking,  so much stuff there,  so much love   and i found Old Cowboy's mother's  ummm big Fork which i will take Saturday to hold the turkey as it's sliced.         and then the recipe for the pie crust…my mother's No Fail Pie Crust.   I have it written in my address book,  under P.   But i wanted the index card.   So the recipe box.  Where i got lost again.   And Jenny called and i took her in my lost wandering.   She's making pumpkin pie.   i asked….what crust?  and she said with a DUH inflection…Gramma's No Fail,  of course!  and i won't put the recipe here,  it's embarassing and even shameful.   But when you are making THE pie…it has to be this Gramma's No Fail.   I have tried a million pie crusts  in effort to break away,  but…..return and return.  it's just How It Is.   

it was a Gentle day.   I hope for All,  it was,   too.  I wish for the World.  Gentle day.  i wish,  oh, Please…just Gentle day

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19 responses to “a gentle day”

  1. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Received your wish for a gentle day, thank you, it was: good food, and gratitude for the wonderful invention of the phone so that even though family is miles away,daughters, grand kids, son in law, sister in laws, nephews and friends were with us in joy and love.

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  2. Liz A Avatar

    the print of your gentle day cloth reminds me of my grandmother … Jessie Russell Watson, a first generation American with deep Scottish roots
    my mom always swore she couldn’t make pie crust to save her life … to the extent that my grandmother used to make them for her in her early newlywed years … a smart move as Jessie was an extremely good baker, whose shortening of choice was pure leaf lard, which she also used in her breadmaking … sadly, there are no recipes as my grandmother eschewed measuring … and was also averse to washing out baking tins and cast iron pans, which were all fairly lacquered by years of benign neglect

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  3. Deb G Avatar

    Does it have Crisco? 🙂 I think Joel (middle brother) and I would have been 7 and 8 when we took a children’s cooking class to learn how to make pies. There were a lot of blueberry pies that summer.
    And yes it was a gentle day, both of my brothers (only happens every couple years) plus Mom and Dad and I. It was very good…

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  4. jude Avatar

    it was thanksgiving for squirrels here and a very gentle day.

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  5. Cj Avatar

    Pies, oh glorious pies! So many stories there. And that handsome box of handwritten well weathered tricks of the trade. I have one and every season a magical trip down memory lane. Just to touch the stained paper and feel a memory. You’re center spiral reads a beautiful story.

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  6. Peggy McG Avatar
    Peggy McG

    Started yesterday with deep breathing at trust time, and then sending vibes out that I am so thankful for great friends and family, producing a calm sense all day. Drove to a small gathering of nomad friends and enjoyed a full turkey dinner. The best part was the conversation and laughter. Still bathing in a glow today!

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  7. Tina Avatar
    Tina

    Have tried a few times to make my own pie crusts .. gave up and now just buy them. Do envy good pie and bread makers. My dad could bake just about anything .. I probably should have spent more time in the kitchen with him. Anyway .. made Cornish hens since it was only the three of us plus after ten wonderful days in Arizona I came home with a crap cold. Kept it very simple but spent the day filled with total gratitude for the wonderful life of mine.

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  8. grace Forrest Avatar

    yes, the phone.
    I thought about that the other day…how it’s so different.
    When my mother used to call her sister, Long Distance…
    my dad would set the Egg Timer in front of her. Minutes
    cost money.
    Today…we just go on and on as we will. Such a GOOD thing.

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  9. grace Forrest Avatar

    benign neglect…what Beauty FULL words…benign neglect
    i have tried lard. What my paternal grandmother always stood by.
    Lard is essential for Red Chili., the New Mex Way, but pie crust?, not so much

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  10. grace Forrest Avatar

    you guessed.
    brothers. They are Good Things, brothers.
    i have one
    in Minnesota

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  11. grace Forrest Avatar

    for the Squirrels then.

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  12. grace Forrest Avatar

    somehow the box keeps things. Keeps some kind of
    seasoning
    or something
    keeps.
    the box Keeps.

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  13. grace Forrest Avatar

    i just love this. i think there was a campfire.
    i end each day on Utube in Quartzite. Keep looking for you

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  14. grace Forrest Avatar

    so glad for you and those days
    and yes. We do. have wonderful lives.

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  15. Liz A Avatar

    I did use half lard and half butter in my apple pie crust … just enough so I could taste it without weirding out the rest of the family … I do miss having salt pork on the turkey, the perfect way to baste and it makes wonderful pan dripping for gravy … some traditions hold and others pass away

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  16. Peggy McG Avatar
    Peggy McG

    It unfortunately was way too windy fir a fire! I am sometimes with some of the you tube crowd, but not while they are filming!

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  17. Nancy Avatar

    I remember…I remember calling after 7PM when the rates were cheaper. So long ago now.

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  18. Nancy Avatar

    Our day was J. and I, simple, regular and gentle. No fuss and a quick face time with the little grandson and son/DIL.
    In my very early married days, I went to a Tupperware Party. Remember those?! The cooking event of the night was to learn how to make The Tupperware pie crust. It involved a particular size and shape Tupperware bowl, perfectly ‘burped’ and “shook” to mix the ingredients! It really did make the best pie crust, light and flaky. I never bothered to make another kind as this one was so good and easy.
    I used to make my grandma’s (on my ex’s side) apple pie recipe, which involved cooking it in a paper grocery bag! ha
    My sister has my grandma’s recipe box…and my mom’s. I have mine filled with memories of when I was a mom and cooked. Many of them are written in my mom’s beautiful handwriting. Treasured indeed, even if rarely used anymore. xo

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  19. grace Forrest Avatar

    it’s almost like it was a different planet, isn’t it.
    oh jeez, Tupperware.
    recipe’s. NPR is doing a month long thing.
    there is one more from my mother. there is talk about
    that, but i don’t know.
    it’s Epic.

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