Spring Harvest

We had an abundance of Swiss chard this week so I found a couple of delicious recipes to make: Swiss chard pesto and lentil and Swiss chard soup. Bill and I are both very cold natured so have no problem eating soup in during warm weather. I like the simplicity of a one-pot meal this time of year, too. I froze the pesto in an ice cube tray. Once it has frozen, I'll pop out the little cubes and store them in a container in the freezer for quick meals throughout the year. (I know your skin can take on an orange cast from eating too many carrots; can it turn green from too much Swiss chard, kale, etc.?)

I didn't take photos of the food, but I did get a picture of one of the hollyhocks that has returned this year:

Precious

I want to be her when I grow up:

I Like Being 98. from ILikeGiving.com on Vimeo.

Language

Source

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be able to speak French. But it's not in the cards for me as 1) spoken language isn't my strong suit - even English; 2) I would rarely have the opportunity to use it and thus would probably loose it if I did acquire the skill; and 3) I don't have the discipline it takes.

I really enjoyed the tips that Living a Luxurious Life gave on learning French (or any other language for that matter). Maybe there's hope for me. Or maybe I need to be satisfied with studying on my Duolingo app - which by the way recently told me I was "8% fluent" in French.

Happiness

This is a great article about bad habits that interfere with happiness. Below, I've reframed the points in the article into a list of things you should do to make yourself happier:

Be in awe of life

Engage with the world

Accept responsibility for yourself

Know that you can't control others

Eliminate judgment and criticism of others

Stop complaining

Do things to impress yourself

Adopt a positive attitude

Cultivate friendships with positive people

Ignore the illusion in social media

Face your fear and take some risks

Live in the moment, not the past or the future

I'm going to print the article and my list to read every day as part of my morning routine.

The Good Life

Yesterday was a beautiful day. I booked our hotel in Paris on the recommendation of a friend who stays there regularly. And after dinner, we walked down to my mother-in-law's house and watched the hummingbirds at her feeders as the sun set.

Sign of the Season

I know the seasons have changed when I put away the flannel sheets and bring out the smooth cotton ones. (Sorry no photo.) I'm very cold natured - I attribute that to never having lived in cold weather until I moved to Virginia - so flannel sheets are a must for half the year here. Now that iit seems that the weather has decided to stay warm, it was time for the change. Ah, the simple luxuries in life...