Endings and new beginnings....

When I left our Humble Bungalow for my walk it was pouring rain.

An umbrella and boots were required.

The rain stopped about halfway through my walk

Then the clouds parted and the sun shone.

 What a spectacular sight I spied at the end my walk!

This beautiful brooch was designed by Paris born jeweller Marcel Boucher.

Boucher worked for Cartier before being hired by the Mazer Brothers in the USA

He eventually opened his own company in 1937.

I am taking it with the others to a local consignment shop.

I rarely wear these anymore and think that someone else might enjoy them.

Why would I keep something so pretty hidden away in a drawer?

Many of my Brooches have been sold at The Vanity Fair Antique Mall

in the case that I shared with our darling daughter.

I have not been buying much and seem to have lost the desire to acquire

so I recently, I decided that it was time to call it a day.

It feels like the end of an era....

New beginnings...

Mr. HB has donned his chef hat and has been sharing some of the cooking here in The Humble Bungalow!

Mr. HB loves chow mien and found a recipe online that he wanted to try.

He brought our Le Creuset wok out from storage and he gave it a work out.

It was wonderful to have a night off from cooking and to be served such a  delicious meal prepared by my husband was such a treat.

You can find this recipe online here.

Hope your week is off to a great start...

thank you for stopping by The Humble Bungalow.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Bits and Bobs today on the Blog...

A small bronze Eiffel Tower sits on the shelf above our Shaw farmhouse sink.

I look up when I wash and scrub dishes and pots and I ponder my trip to Paris

and the south of France

it feels like yesterday in so many ways...

I recently received a lovely diamond eternity band from my husband and I do not want it to get caked with soap so I took it off while doing dishes and popped it atop the bronze Eiffel Tower.

(thank you darling!)

We keep our humble bungalow decor in the arts and crafts style...

not very many "modern accents" dip their toes in our heritage listed home.

That might surprise many of you but we try to be purists.

Cookbooks take up an entire shelf in our kitchen.

I will put Ina Gartens' newest cookbook Cooking for Jeffrey

on my Christmas Wish List.

The kitchen table is a quarter sawn oak mission arts and crafts trestle table

distressed by over 100 years of wear.

This is

where I sit and blog...

a Diptyque candle

adds to the ambiance.

(Mr. HB is watching the hockey game)

I enjoy cooking and feel very content in the kitchen.

I made a delicious Caesar Salad tonight...

if you want a seriously garlicky dressing this is the one for you!

I have several Caesar salad recipes and have shared them over the years.

If you want to see any of the recipes on my blog just scroll down on the right of my sidebar until you find the labels and click on the title recipes...

Caesar Salad Dressing

Place all the following ingredients in a blender

1 egg

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

 1/4 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

blend

then with the machine running add slowly

 in a continuous stream

3/4 cup good quality olive oil

arrange washed and dried romaine lettuce on a tray 

(or in a deep bowl)

sprinkle 

bacon or anchovies over top

add

croutons 

(if desired)

I like to plan dinner early in the day so that I can walk to the market and buy what I need.

Pacing myself is much easier now in retirement than when I was working.

Its one of the best perks of retirement.

Time to accomplish things at a slower pace.

I write what we eat for dinner in my day timer so that I can easily see what I have made and I try to rotate the menu so that we get a variety.

Browsing in my cookbooks 

helps to inspire me to be creative and try something new and different.

Increasing my repertoire is always an adventure and not every new recipe is a winner... but I never give up on trying to find new and tasty dishes.

Mr. HB is planning to try a new recipe this weekend.

He seems to be enthused about cooking after his successful Saturday fare last weekend.

I feel so fortunate that he is getting his "chef hat" on.

Finnish mid century "FINEL" mushroom bowl

one of the few "interlopers" in our humble bungalow.

Have you got some fun planned for your weekend ?

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

OOTD

Bridge is one of my favourite card games.
It helps keep me on my toes.

I love that it challenges my brain by utilizing those "grey cells."
Scientists keep reminding us to use it or lose it...

Our club hosted a fund raising bridge luncheon last weekend and I got a wee bit dressed up for the event. It puts the fun into fundraising.

Many of the ladies who attend are much older and they take such care to dress in smart outfits, beautiful pearl necklaces, silk scarves and pretty rings.

On a regular weekday bridge game I wear..."casual clothes."
Like this black top and dark denim skinny NYDJ rolled up at the cuff
with short boots.

JCrew tassel necklace with a simple black top adds a little bit of oomph.

Clark boots  NYDJ

For the luncheon and the afternoon I wore...

Amalfi shoes with Nygaard velvet dress pants.

Burberry print scarf

Wilfred top

We had a fun afternoon and raised money for the club.

~ Win Win ~

Our darling grand daughter Isla came over on the weekend.

We had fun "playing school" made some banana bread and walked to the park.

She jumped in the leaves, swung on the swings, slid down the slide, climbed on the monkey bars and rode on the merry go round.

We collected some of the leaves...

Isla picked this "special leaf" for me...

I placed some of the leaves under the white pumpkins on the table 

on the front porch of our Humble Bungalow.

As I sit here tying on my lap top  I am wearing a new ring...

Darling daughter who is gifted at finding gems and jewels found an eternity ring in my size and we met up for coffee so that I could try it on...

It fits and was such a great price that I could not resist...

Hope that your week is off to a great start...

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Enchanted April....Dare I dream?

A few weeks ago I posted a pork tenderloin roast recipe and I have another one in my repertoire...
This one has an asian tangy taste and while I LOVE it Mr. HB is not as enamoured with the flavours...not sure why, but we all have our favourites.

So here it is if you would like to try it...

cook and baste the tenderloin about an hour at 350 degrees.

If you try it and like it please leave me a  comment.

My favourite bridge player Meg at the club has had a serious fall...

she is 94 and she broke both her hip and her arm

her mind is a sharp as a tack and we are missing her so much.

She is in rehab and we are planning to go to the hospital

and play some cards as soon as she is able.

I am hoping that she will recover from her injuries.

Her bidding and advice on bridge is so valuable...

she has been playing bridge since she was a teenager 

she encourages us when we are bidding our hands and nudges us to bid game.

I always wear my wedding rings...

one notices hands when seated at the bridge table.

My hands have been dry of late and so I have made a point to keep the hand lotion by the sink to remind myself to use it.

This vintage art deco diamond does not get as much wear as it should.

I don't own a lot of jewelry...

unlike darling daughter, 

who has oodles and oodles of the stuff!

She works hard to find the most amazing pieces...

AND 

she has a full time job!

I have very few pieces of "costume" jewelry and opt for real gemstones.

Sterling silver bangles, pearls, vintage, ethnic, and modern artisan jewelry.

One need not break the budget when choosing a new piece,

 there are so many gorgeous jewels on Etsy and Ebay and in antique shops.

At my age I wonder if I should acquire more gems or save for holidays abroad?

Recently I met up with a friend for lunch.

 We both LOVE France and have fond memories of our trips to Paris 

we got to talking in between bites of our salads

and mentioned that we should arrange to have our own 

"Enchanted April" 

 perhaps Provence would be our destination...

Can you imagine a group of women sharing a home in Provence?

Savouring the countryside for a month?

I can!

 I am dreaming about this possibility.

So with that in mind I am off to find more local French language classes...

BTW

if you know of anyone who has a home to rent in Provence or has rented one that they enjoyed please email me bungalowhostess@gmail.com

merci beaucoup!

 ~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Early Saturday morning...reflecting on the events of the week.

I awoke very early this morning and could not get back to sleep...so I got up.

Weekend mornings I usually stay in bed longer and have a slow start to my day.
The coffee creme tasted so delicious that I savoured a second bowl before sitting down and opening up my lap top.

Have you heard of this award winning olive oil from the Marlborough area of New Zealand?
Lusatori is owned by our daughter's fiancee's family.
When they visited we were given a bottle and it is truly amazing!

I made a quick aioli that Dani BP mentioned in a recent comment on my blog.

I have a great easy sauce that my friend Pat gave me last week too, a fake aioli: 1 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup lemon juice, tsp of yogurt and tsp of mayo with fresh herbs thrown in and lots of pepper and a bit of salt, perfect on cold roast chicken and asparagus. Perfect this time of year.

Thank you Dani as it was delicious!

I served it with freshly picked asparagus grown in The Humble Bungalow garden and a store bought roasted chicken and deli salads.

We have been enjoying the Sunshine and Yellow flowers.

Darling daughter wore her citrine and diamond ring when we went out for lunch.

We ate outside in the "secret garden"behind Sally Bun on Fort Street.

They offer healthy food and make fabulous salads.

I am not a huge fan of gnomes but this one was tucked away into the foliage in such a way that it did not scare me!

a bird house in a tree that was inhabited

The canopy of trees makes this spot an intimate place for a quiet respite.

Our hydrangeas are starting to bloom.

The poppies are finished and I am gathering the seed pods to dry until next Spring when I will scatter them about the beds for more plants.

A pale yellow rose whose name remains unknown. 

Something has been munching on the leaves and there appears to be a bit of blackspot on this plant.

Bubble blowing in the garden with our grandson Henry.

Sidewalk Chalk Fun

Henry will be 3 this August.

Isla will be 6 this week...

I marvel at the speed with which time flies.

~ My week was full to the brim ~

several long walks with a friend

some beach time

a wee bit of gardening

the usual domestics

lunches out

time to read my book

play time with our grandson

I played bridge at the club and had fabulous cards

met some new bridge players

celebrated Mother's 89th birthday by taking her out for dinner

and now the weekend is here and we have more fun things planned.

It is time for me to wrap this up and get going with my day.

Hope you have a fantastic fun filled weekend.

~ Be Well and Be Kind ~

Hermes Scarf and Pyrrha Necklace ~ A Silent Auction fund raiser for Fort McMurray victims...

In my previous post I mentioned that my daughter Jennifer and I were going to be putting together a fundraiser to help the people from the town of Fort McMurray...we are ready and the auction is live!

Darling daughter has put together the silent auction post on her Instagram feed @thing _finder
and she is ready to accept bids by private message on these two lovely items. I donated the silk Hermes scarf which is made in Paris and she added the Pyrrha necklace which is made in Vancouver BC.

Fort McMurray is a town in Alberta where a wildfire has been burning for days. 88,000 people have fled, many with just the clothes on their backs and are currently living in camps or have joined family and friends elsewhere. Many homes burnt to the ground as well as buildings in the city.

After watching the news I have not been able to get the images out of my mind...so many people have been affected by the fire and the scale of the destruction is huge. I had just made a donation to The Red Cross and now I felt that I needed to do more to help.

Thank you...

                                ~ Be Well and Be Kind ~