~HAPPY BIRTHDAY #10 TO MY MISS K~

Ten years ago my life changed forever.  On November 13, 2002 my oldest child became a daddy and I became a Nana.  I didn't realize it then, but our Miss K coming into the world would ultimately change everything I ever believed about Grand-parenting and my capacity to love...

Our Miss K means more to me than any other little girl in the whole-wide-world..

 She makes me laugh and cry and gives me so much love...

She has blessed me from day one...

There is nothing I wouldn't do for her...

Happy Birthday #10 to my beautiful, beautiful grandgirl, Miss K.  Seems like just yesterday you were born...  Where have the years gone?

God has GREAT THINGS in store for you...  I can't wait to see just where His blessings lead you.

I love you most and I'm so very proud of you!

Love, Nana

~~*~~

Blessings as you celebrate life with those you love.

Love to you...

~~LIFE IS CHANGING~

Can you feel it coming?  Life is changing.  For me, the dry, sunny days of autumn are starting to wane and the northerly wind is beginning to sweep down the Oklahoma plane.  The branches on our trees are going bare and the emerald green grasses of summer have fallen asleep under a leaf blanket of harvest gold and nut brown.

The flowers are closing up while our furry friends burrow their way into the warm nests they prepared weeks before.

Yes...life is changing again.

We pull our coats close and curl up indoors.  We look forward to bundling up, warm steaming cups of coffee, tea and cocoa in our hands...  Time to conserve our strength for winter is coming.  Part of the natural cycle of the seasons to slow down and do less~shed the old and familiar and let go...

That is exactly what my hubby and I are doing.

My Mr. AGPMan's college education couldn't have been completed at a more fitting time.

God appointed.

On Thursday my guy will attend his last college class and I can already feel the rhythm of our lives returning to normal.  This morning I watched as the once familiar smile returned to his slightly older looking face...  He's tired.  I'm tired.  But, at peace.  Together we are excited about letting go of our dried, shriveled up cares and willingly invite the Oklahoma wind to blow them all away.

Indeed life is changing.

Today I'm grateful for God's grace.  His mercy.  And for giving us the strength to meander through the changing seasons of life while allowing us the chance to weather the unexpected storms.

Yes, life is changing.  But it's good.

So good.

Blessings and love to you... 

 

~SPICES~

 My Mr. AGPMan's family came to America from Sweden and settled in a small Nebraska town.  My guy was raised in the tiny town of Gothenburg and over the years I have loved learning about his ancestors and the customs and traditions once celebrated by his family. 

 In Sweden, a century ago or so, spices were a luxury the commoner rarely enjoyed...except of course, during the Christmas Season.  It was at that time that people saved their finest produce and costliest ingredients for the most special, end of the year celebration.

 Saffron, cardamom, and ginger.  Cocoa, vanilla pods, cloves and cinnamon.  Their baking was done with fine -ground white flour, braided into saffron buns or rolled out for gingerbread.

Sounds delish, right?

Baking ingredients were carefully measured out from ornate tins and glass jars. 

Their houses and tiny villages were filled up with the smells from exotic places one could only hope to see and flavors connected solely with the holiday time of the year.

One thing on my to-do-list this year is to bake a something different for my family during the holidays~

Something never before tried~

Something special from, say,  

 Göteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden!

  How fun will that be?  I mean~I know my hubster, children and Miss  K LOVE special treats...spicy cakes, buttermilk spice muffins, etc.  But, just maybe this year I'll just try baking a braided coffee-cake ring for myself...one filled with bits or orange and lemon rind, sweet raisins, cinnamon and ginger....hmmmm...

Probably won't add the Saffron...Wikipedia says this:

 Because each flower's (Crocus) stigmas need to be collected by hand and there are only a few per flower, saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.

Off to ponder.  And plan. 

Love to you~