Trick or Treat!

I've wanted to say this ever since I discovered Halloween ages ago. But unfortunately we don't celebrate it here. I really don't know why; it's so much fun!

Anyway, I was telling Sarah about it, complaining rather, and she suggested I should celebrate it here.

So here I am, with my salt-dough pumpkins and ghosts, my right-hand shadow and a little help from Picasa, posting my very own Halloween picture!

(if I could only figure out how to make the date disappear from my camera!)

Happy Halloween!

(PS. For the salt-dough: 1 part salt, 1 part water, 3-4 parts flour; it needs to be baked when you finish shaping it, till it's dry. Warning: don't taste it-unless your blood pressure has hit the floor!)

Autumn Leaves

Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
Emily Bronte

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.
Emily Dickinson
Nature XXVII, Autumn.

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came -
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.
George Cooper
October's Party.

These are the leaves little one and I collected on our short walk last Saturday. My dad was telling us what tree they were from as we were admiring the colours and 'hunting' for more.

Today we've turned them into this autumn tree.

I think it's kind of neat. Don't you think?


This year more than ever I appreciate autumn and cherish everything it has to give. You've helped me see what a special season it is and in my turn, I help my son take it all in.

Enjoy this wonderful season while it lasts.

Pink Thoughts

Last Thursday of October;

Last Pink post;

Hopefully, not the last time women remember/are reminded to look after themselves;

Definitely not the last time we remember and pray for the ones we've lost.

Take Care my friends!

xxx

Can you see how excited I am?

I'm soooo delighted to be doing this post. I have a broad smile on my face as I type and love, love, love every second of it!!!

Do you want to know why? Read on...

These past few weeks I've been enjoying some 'countryside' posts here in blogland, thinking how blessed some people are to be living in such beautiful surroundings. I was patiently waiting for that autumn weekend that I would go to my village and it wouldn't just be cleaning, cooking and washing up. In fact, I'd planned it in such a way that I would find time for a short walk, no matter what -well, weather permitting, of course. So on Saturday morning we woke up to cloudy, yet dry weather and after my (long) morning coffee we set out -my dad, little one and me- for a little walk to my dad's (small) vineyard/veggie garden. There was still a lot a green around (this is the Greek autumn) but we also saw some autumnal colours, together with a few seasonal treats on the trees. We collected a few leaves, too but I'll show you these on a different post.

These pomegranates weigh more than half a kilo each!!! Some of them are on my kitchen table now.

We ate these after I'd taken the picture. It was a flashback to my childhood.

This is a wild pomegranate tree nearly 150 years old.

On our way back home. We only went about 300 metres away from my dad's house!

Have a lovely rest of the week.

No work for me tomorrow and on Wednesday; it's a national holiday related to World War II.

xxx

Pink Thoughts

Wednesday afternoon.

I was comfortably sitting on my sofa with my coffee and freshly-baked cake and some rare and precious peace around the house, thinking of my Pink Post for today. I had run out of pink clothes, products, flowers, cartons for crafts and since I could think of nothing, I decided I'll sleep on it in case some brilliant idea was sent to me by Morpheus (you know, the ancient Greek god of sleep).

So I took my book -the one Sarah sent me; see previous post - and thought of taking advantage of the silence before it was too late. As I opened the book, I saw it. There it was, right before my eyes: my Pink Post.

What's better than reminding you ladies to do your regular check-ups through a depiction of a laid-back afternoon with a good book for as many years as humanly possible?

Take Good Care of You!

xxx

PS. Thank you all for your warm wishes on my birthday. It was a sad day as it was my first birthday without my mum. There was a birthday cake my wonderful husband bought for me and the three people of my little family (hubby, little one and me) blew my number 40 candle together.

I love mail! ...and giveaways!...

Look what I found in my letter-box when I came back from work yesterday!!! The most artistic parcel I've ever received! I knew who it was from, I knew what was inside...well, part of it anyway, but never expected it to be so beautiful on the outside.

Lovely Sarah from Circles of Rain sent me my giveaway present and wrote my name and address on this gorgeous painting of hers. It's so typical of her work; I could recognize it anywhere. Visit her blog for more of her art if you like.

Anyway, little one was with me so there was a lot of ''come on, mum! Open it, let's see what's inside" and "oooh, there are stickers! I'll get these" and me saying "you're blocking the light from the window; come from the other side, so I can take a decent photo" and "hey! mum, don't look at the pictures now, just open it" and ...

..."look at the back, more stickers! Come on! Don't read the note now...let's see what's inside!..."

..."it's a book! Can I get the stickers now?"
Well, giveaways are always fun but when what you win is a book, that's perfect. Sarah has sent me 'The Secret Garden' and some lovely printouts of her own collection. (If you enlarge the last photo you'll see the black and white drawing of a girl.) The book is a copy that belonged to her and it smells like you're in an antique bookshop. So precious! I'm over-excited!!!

And there was another surprise in the book: a set of Royal Mail stamps showing postboxes! Wonderful! I can enlarge these and use them at work to bring an air of England to my classes and I could also turn them into bookmarks.


Here's a view of everything that was in the parcel.

Thanks so much Sarah!

Have a lovely rest of the week everyone!
xxx

Autumn...

...is always late...

winter is always early...

...there's little time in between

to take it all in.

Have a wonderful weekend

xxx

Pink Thoughts ( on my Birthday)

There's not much pink around here so I had to be creative. I formed the heart using a T-shirt, a pj top and a pillowcase. Then I added my son's shower soap and my body cream. That's just about all the pink things in our little world. The background is actually a photo of a carton that hasn't been used for crafts!

Take Care!

xxx

Yiota

PS Just realised, this is my 40th post on my 40th Birthday!

Carpe Diem!

"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life, and not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived."

Henry David Thoreau - Walden

This poem from one of the films that's marked my being, Dead Poets' Society, sprang to mind completely out of the blue while I was drying my hair of all possible times!
I was obsessed with it (the poem) when I first saw the film, had written it on a piece of paper and put it on my desk to read every day. It helped me through some tough times but I haven't thought about it for a while.

Carpe Diem my friends (and myself)!
Seize the Day.

Pink Thoughts

Lovely Christina from Soul Aperture has had this idea of supporting the Breast Cancer Awareness Month by posting something pink each Thursday of October. I only found out on Sunday so I missed the first one but I'm participating from now on.

Since prevention is much much better than cure and in this particular case a life-saver, make sure you do what you should!

This rose-bush was planted by my mum years ago. It reminds me of her.

Take Care!

xxx

Lovely Monday (no work today)

I'm so grateful for days like this when I don't go to school but my little treasure does and my fabulous husband goes to work. Then I have the morning all to myself.

I started the day with coffee and cake and my little to-do-list. There were errands to be done so I got down and made a plan.

First and most important and fun thing on the list: I prepared a parcel for my pen-friend's birthday- which, by the way, is on the same day as mine; how strange is that! Good thing I didn't seal the envelope as I added a couple more things from the shops before posting it.

Now, if you want me to spend a fortune, take me to a stationary/book shop. 40 euros on the treats you see in no time! But boy it felt so good! I'm into drawing lately; we'll see where that takes me.

On the way home I thought of spoiling myself some more. My purse would've screamed if it could but luckily for it the cut flowers were not that fresh so I got this little pot - much cheaper than a bouquet. Now I have two little plants, yay! (remember my 'patience'?)
From my corner of the world to yours
Have a lovely week!
xx

Happy Thought

HAPPY THOUGHT

The world is so full of a number of things,

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

R.L. Stevenson

A Child's Garden of Verses

While I was looking for another book in my bookcase I came across this little treasure. I had totally forgotten its existence; I don't even remember when and where I got it from. It's a 1994 edition with yellowish leaves and a great smell. I read most of it at one go. This is a little poem that I liked; it reminds me to always be grateful for what I have. There's one on autumn at my sidebar. I may share more on the following days.

Have a lovely Sunday!

xxx

Day Off!

It's the National Elections day this Sunday, which means primary schools are closed on Friday and Monday because they are used as voting centres. So we lucky teachers have these two days to ourselves. Yiiiipppeeeee!
Now, I'm feeling much better today, thank you very much, and enjoying my day-off. Little one went to school as usual - hubby took him- and I had the morning all to myself, pyjamas and all.
My best friend was working in the afternoon so she came over for coffee, little cheese-pies that she brought and chit-chat. (picture of muffins is irrelevant actually, just wanted something to mark the laid back beginning of the day)
Then it was major ironing expedition. Yes, true; an expedition: me against mountains of creased clothes and linens. So far, I've won a few battles but the war is not over yet.

.........................................................................................................

On a different note, I've been meaning to show you this dish the whole week but didn't find the time to. It was Sunday's lunch. I made this recipe last year for a buffet gathering I organised and everyone loved it. So I knew what to cook for Sunday as soon as I saw two lovely tenderloins at the butcher's. I hadn't thought of taking pictures from the very beginning but it's easy-peasy.

Follow me...

Ask your butcher to prepare the loins so that they can be stuffed and rolled. Stuff them with feta cheese, red peppers and green peppers. Season according to taste. Roll them up, spread some butter on them and sprinkle with dried oregano and thyme (fresh would probably be better!) Chop any veggies you like -I had carrots and zucchinis, season, sprinkle with some olive oil and wrap them up in baking paper

Put the 'parcels' in a pre-heated oven for about one hour and a half.

Tear the paper up at the top, grate some yellow cheese on them and put them back in the oven till you're satisfied with the colour.

Voila! A lovely dish for an autumn Sunday with the family.

Buon appetite!

Have a wonderful weekend!
xxx

Edit * How do you like my mosaic? I used Picasa 2.

October

Happy October everyone. This is my birthday month; I'm forty. Wow! Forty! (now I sound like my son here.)

Anyway, more on that in two weeks.
Now, you may wonder why I'm posting these pictures here. Well, October began with a cold out of nowhere - I wish I was asked by the little fellow- the cold that is 'Is it a good time for me to pay a visit?'. 'No, it isn't', I would answer. 'I've a 4-day weekend ahead and lots of housework planned, plus a long-delayed visit to the hairdresser'. But no; colds appear unannounced!!! How rude!
Anyway, after spending two hours in bed -don't be misled by the photos; I only read a couple of pages before falling asleep; it took more time to take the photos- and after taking a painkiller for my awful headache, I was up and about ready to spend some time with little one.



I've been looking for something to decorate this box with for ages. It's got the perfect size and depth for all his crafts and gifts from his first pre-school.

And then I remembered this decorative roll of paper I bought a couple of weeks ago for his room. (see what a good nap can do to absent-minded people?) So I used it to cover the lid (is this the right word?) while little one was looking through his crafts for the100th time.

Here are some of the things they made. Lovely Mrs Sophia and lovely Mrs Ritsa were wonderful; extremely creative and so imaginative.

These cards were gifts from his teachers on his birthday and name-day. They have a photo of him inside. Click to see the details- they're fantastic.

An Easter card and a Mother's Day card

A May wreath, a poppy, a cloud, a swallow, a bird (some details are missing-can you guess why?)

So, what do you think? Do you like their new home?

Have a fabulous month!

xxx