A Summer Fair!

Here is a little summer fun to look forward to!

Plus,

 I think Julie did a great job with the design of the poster

 and it makes me feel happy.

If anyone is interested in being a vendor for the House Fair,

 please don't hesitate to contact me.

I hope you are enjoying your day,

Kyra

Reframing

I just spent three days in Washington D.C. at a Mentoring Summit

Over 700 Mentoring professionals gathered and I

have come home inspired, educated and a bit more confident

After listening to everyone speak, I find that RB21 Mentoring

is on the right track, ahead of the curve in some areas,

and very worthy of the attention and dedication that is being

put into it by so many.

Yay! 

(and thank you so much)

I also rocked the Metro in the evenings and met friends at different

hot spots in the city 

I even wore a dress I made

to Zaytinya on Saturday night - how cool is that!?

Thank you to everyone who made this possible

The most remarkable thing I'd like to share about my trip

happened while I was in the airport waiting for my flight on Wednesday

The plane was delayed an hour and I was held hostage

in a room with a giant sized T.V. playing CNN on full blast

(In case this story seems naive of me, I would like to preface it

with the fact that I don't watch television, except football and the occasional

re-runs of Seinfeld and Renee's favorite, Andy Griffith)

The anchor woman was covering the highway disaster that had

occurred in Atlanta after their ice and snow storm

 For 20 minutes I listened in quiet horror

as she twirled and twisted her antagonistic words and attitude

to try to bring about anger, blame and discontent

The awesome thing was,

 the callers WOULDN'T BITE!

They were gracious about their circumstances,

grateful that things weren't any worse than they were

and accepting that all was being done to better a bad situation

Unfortunately the anchor woman's

 sensationalism and attempt of demoralization

continued into each of her stories...

What are we doing?!!

Tomorrow morning,

Amy and I begin teaching this month's

 People Skills class

The topics are teamwork and attitude

We have an exercise planned on "reframing"

- taking a negative attitude about something

and reframing it to see it in a positive light.

I honestly had no idea what we were up against.

If this negative energy is what people

are blasted with everyday while watching the media -

All I can say is;

Turn off your television.

Kyra

Porkbelly!

Today is a good day for a little food porn.

Especially after doing my geeky T25 routine in the living room

and starting another batch of sprouts 

This weekend I went 'hog wild' - pun intended

I had defrosted a whole pork belly from my Old Ackley Farm pig

with full intentions of making a round of bacon

(this by the way is super easy and I would be happy to talk to anyone about trying it)

But realized that I would be traveling in the midst of the cure

So, I pulled out the Ottolenghi cookbook I bought in October,

precisely for his pork belly recipe

And, 3 hours later,

I had the most delicious,

 decadent, melt in your mouth, winter fat, 

can't stop eating, need to put this in the freezer,

pork belly I've ever had.

You just smear the meat side with a blended paste of

thyme, rosemary, garlic and olive oil

flip it over, salt the skin,

and roast it for three hours in white wine

turning the oven down each hour from 500, to 300 to 200 degrees

Some roasted sweet potato puree

Which I did by roasting the sweet potatoes whole, 

then melted a bit of butter and fresh ginger in a sauce pan,

 added a touch of cream and let it bubble to thicken and then

 mashed the sweets in with a touch of salt and pepper

and stirred until warm all the way through.

A little sautéed green cabbage and some wild blackberry jam from the fall -

Delicious!

Thank you Mr. Ottolenghi and Mr. Tamimi for inspiring

a seasoned chef.

Enjoy!

Kyra

Happy Winter!

Okay,,, I just can't give in to peer pressure...

I really do love winter!

5 degrees outside, popcorn, wood stove,

 three of my most favoritist, softest, snuggliest quilts

piled on top of me,

 books, magazines, movies...   Oh my.

..Time to quilt - what do you think about my little

hit of retro sunshine?

Serious closet purging and a bit of sweater surgery!

I cut up the middle of this cashmere cardigan and added the buttons from

a tangerine linen shirt that I never wear anymore.

A little ribbon around the cuffs and bottom, 

HAH! new sweater!

Cozy evenings with friends, fireworks in the snow, dancing the fox trot,
walks in the woods, seed catalogues, lots of cooking,

A trip to Ellsworth to discover a sexy new look at my
favorite hair salon - The Alchemist -

                     

...I'll stop, but there is so much more.

I am happy.  And oh so grateful.

I hope you are finding things to make you smile as we

set into the heart of winter.

Let your heart sing, don't give into the peer pressure!

Kyra

A Brand New Day

- Allow the Possibilities

Look at your childlike self and realize

that this is a totally new day -

Dianne Hire Quilt Workshop

Here is something fun to think about doing

 in the new year!

“Delight yourself with spontaneous design discoveries”

Lily’s House has arranged a One Day Quilting Workshop

 with the infamous Dianne Hire on

 Saturday, September 27, 2014

                                    

Class Description:  Need to lighten up? Not having any quilting fun? Tired of prissy little piecing?  This workshop's for you. Improvisational and intuitive, we'llplay liberating games at your sewng machine, allow creative juices to flow. We'll slice and dice fabrics, trade slivers of blocks, hunt for the bright colors just begging for a place to land in a quilt. Return home with a few oxymoron blocks, in random order.

“I honor diversity.

I celebrate new approaches.

I challenge concepts.

To stretch the rules and locate fresh boundaries is my desire. By approaching quilt making this way, I embrace technical skills while not allowing techniques to overshadow image.

I am a colorist who intuitively responds to the joyful way colors intermingle. I require vibrancy to speak out but never shout -- yet boldly sing. That song is interpreted in fiber, strings, strong design and intense vitality of color.”

 - Dianne Hire

Details:  Class will be from 9am - 4pm, the cost is $125 and will include a delicious Lily’s lunch and snacks. Along with the delightful instruction of Dianne and the cozy, warm energy of other quilters you will have design wall space, cutting tables and ironing stations.

To sign up for this awesome workshop or to ask any questions, you may contact me at kyra@lilyshousestonington.com or call 207-367-5936.  I am super excited about this opportunity and look forward to hearing from you.

Enjoy!

Kyra

Sprouts!

The things I stumble into often get me

giggling, deep down inside.

Apparently seed catalogues to me are similar

to Victoria's Secret catalogues to others,

because with the simple intention of finding

Mache seeds to grow in my cold frame

I ended up buying all types of other seeds

labeled "for sprouting"

They came, along with a three page instruction packet

and it was seconds before I realized I had no idea

what I was doing.

So, to You Tube I went and I am now an official "sprouter"

What starts like this

Turns into this in about 3-4 days

And you end up with this!

Pretty neat isn't it?

Crispy, full of nutrition, kinda green and growing on my counter in mason jars

with no soil or weeding, all in the heart of winter

I'm tickled pink

These are Fenugreek, the little ones above are Broccoli,

I put Mung bean sprouts in my fried rice last night

and I am starting more.

Nothing like new growth to put a little

skip in your snowy winter step.

Speaking of winter,

I would like to end this post with a shout out

to all those struggling through

the stresses of the recent ice storm.

Gratefully, Stonington was not effected as severely as

our surrounding communities and I know that 

some folks are still without power, and at their wits end.

Here's to a happy new year.

Be well,

Kyra