giveaway winner and a recipe

Hello friends! I was delighted to hear from seven of you...six in comments here on the blog, and via email from another. Who knew folks still read blogs???  I'm delighted to announce the winner of the Druid cross...it's Vicki via cricket and frog. I wrote everyone's name on a scrap of paper, crumpled them up, threw them in the air and let Wilma pick her fave. Vicki, please email me your snail mail address and I'll get the Druid cross into the post early this week. 

And thank you all, for your very thoughtful and kind comments. I am so glad to "know" you here at sewandsowlife. I appreciate that you check in here and find some small bit of hope and/or inspiration in these posts. 

Well, it's been one heck of a week here in the USofA. I feel like we are living in the midst of a political circus, but, alas, it is a painful reality. While the madness plays out, so many of us are struggling to maintain some balance and some hope. It's rough. 

So.

I walk on the road. I listen to the birds, I weed in the garden, I read books (re-reading Under the Tuscan Sun, which allows me to leave said USofA for a few hours at a time). I cook with local ingredients. I reach out to friends. I take news fasts where I just don't tune in. I send outraged postcards. I sew, I do committee work, I do yoga. I hang out with my furry therapist Wilma.

I persist.

Sometimes I find sanctuary in the kitchen. On Tuesday morning I stepped out into the dewy yard and harvested a bunch of rhubarb. I found this recipe for rhubarb almond cake online and pulled out my Great Aunt Margretta's spring form pan. (She was one of the dearest people I have ever known and I love having some of her things with me here in Vermont). I shared the cake with an old friend, and then later, with Batman. It's mighty delicious and I think it will be on the solstice menu for years to come.

I'll be posting more often in the next week. Things to catch up on and things to look forward to...

Again, thank you for following along here and persisting with me. xo