the golden hour

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

Evening has long been my favorite time of day. All the demands that stacked up in the morning trickling away. I lace my shoes and head out the door for sky and air. Actually in between the lacing and the heading out there is bargaining. Cajoling even. I am always recruiting a walking partner and my peeps are always begging off. In fact I posted this status on facebook the other night:

"Who is gonna walk Mom tonight? "
"I went with her last night."
"I have a cold."
"I think I do too…"
Honest to gosh you'd think I was 85 listening to this discussion…

So yeah lol. I walk a long way and have lingering issues about walking alone from living urban places. Sooner or later someone grabs their shoes and the other dog leash and comes along. Usually it works out that everyone walks with me once a week. A mom date. : ) We walk, we talk, we talk a lot. Most often we see something fabulous or do something awesome before the night is over. This night, both things happened…

life, a how-to

Posted on August 4, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

“Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

– Mary Oliver

The sun setting in his eyes? Astonishing. Alternate title, "How I Spend My Summer Vacation"

beauty theory

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"We should stop considering that changing the world is impossible. It’s harder not to change the world. But while the world offers us “chaos theory,” we need to offer the world 'beauty theory….'” the rest of John Clark's thoughts about changing the world with small beautiful acts came in the mail today. You can read them here.

It is good to be reminded, "our are not the things of chaos." (1 Cor 14:33) Some days we just see all the moving parts and it can be difficult to see how they are working together for good.

fragile

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

ode to the modest cottage

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

It is too wonderful, isn't it? We came across this cottage while walking a larger estate last weekend. I loved every little thing about it from the geraniums to sheep grazing nearby to the quirky fence. The best part was around back however….

“I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage with my books, my family and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give."

Thomas Jefferson

cooking my way through… paleo perfection

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

I am cooking my way through Well Fed Paleo and we were well fed tonight! Like, I am over the moon giddy happy because, frankly, food and I do not always play nice together. Since there was a bag of (cheap) frozen chicken tenderloins in the freezer and a head of cauliflower handy we made The Best Chicken You'll Ever Eat complete with the Moroccan dipping sauce and the basic faux rice.

It came together quickly which is important because I have an exceptionally short food prep attention span. (as in, natural and healthy food is important to me but goll' darn, let's not take all day with it 'cause we've got things to do!) Last night I had bagged up the chicken in the brine. Tonight I just had to toss it in the spice mix and sautee it (the grill is out of gas). Bonus was that the brine totally saved the cheapie chicken which tends to run on the tough side. Remember that part.

We had a little pre-dinner pep talk because not all my kids eat anything spicy. They were all cooperative tonight. Probably because at the end of this all natural dinner there was leftover birthday cookie cake Alannah brought home from work. Conflict of interest? Who cares.

In the end they gobbled the chicken down in no time. The faux rice I didn't have to fight anyone for but it was a pretty exciting for me because I do miss the nutty crunchy texture of pilaf. (I am not a diet fanatic – I truly can't eat starch)

Anyway, big surprise was that Abbie got a second piece of chicken. Abbie is the Mikey of our family if you are old enough to remember this. We were every bit as amazed when she reached for seconds.

Initial thoughts would be that this book reminds me of the more practical cookbooks I have had over the years. Less complicated staple dishes. In other words these are the types of recipes we will most likely use most often. Good practical food. With no canned soups or sugar. So far, so good.

twenty

Posted on July 27, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

We are celebrating first's and last's at every turn right now. Tomorrow, a new decade. She slipped right out of childhood gracefully, quietly.

catch a wave

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world."

Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams

It was the beach trip that almost wasn't. We had already had a couple full days of sightseeing after all. "We can be home by dinner time if we head back now…" It was decided that we would eat our boxed lunch in the shade and sit for a few minutes and reassess.

After our break we loaded kids and dogs and headed out, resigned to wrapping up our trip if the Dad driver needed to. But after a few miles I noticed the car was not pointing north after all. Instead, the buildings began sporting pastel hues and we spotted the occasional palm tree even. Yes – in England!

And then, the water came into view and all talk of heading home was long forgotten.

This was waterfront in Hastings and the 'sand' was manmade. More like a super thick layer pea gravel actually. No one was complaining though. At the end of that trek were icy white topped waves to splash through on a warm day. After they were all splashed out we explored the boardwalk area and hit up the ice cream stand. After which some very happy kids piled into the car and dozed all the way home, windows down and wind blowing hair dry.

a noble task

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

"Man has a noble task:

That of prayer and love.

To pray and love, that is the happiness of man on earth."

St Jean Baptiste Vianney

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Kim Halloran-Fry

On our road trip to Leeds for a dance competition we squeezed in a few field trips. The big surprise was the Thackeray medical museum. We planned very last minute and the museum randomly pulled up in a list of local sights. I am glad I clicked on that link because this sleeper attraction was worth every penny.

The first part of our tour was the "Streets of Old Leeds" which I expected to be much like the much loved "Streets of Old Milwaukee" from my childhood museum. Yeah, but no. Truly this was one of the most realistic and disturbing recreations I've ever been through. Unique to this place was the smell. They piped in exceptionally realistic stench which had us a bit gaggy. There was audio too. Wailing animals and chopping sounds at the blood stained slaughter house, moans of the sick, vendors hawking their wares. At several points the little ones jumped or gasped or turned for an exit and Moira and I were half-tempted to do the same. We are glad we pushed through though. It made an impression few book explanations could have. If you are interested there is a virtual tour here. Without smell-avision you will have to take our word for the rest.

There were fabulous displays of vintage medical equipment and medications, complete with explanations of the procedures and how they've evolved. Lots of film footage was available. Just truly fascinating even for kids.

My only gripe came while I was completely engrossed in the maternity section reading the stories and seeing all the apparatus used over the years. The exhibit closed with huge quotes on the displays which led one to the conclusion that "people who love children only have one or two because you could never do enough for more." To which I just reminded children of mine – numbers 5, 8 and 9 – that love multiplies, it does not divide.