Saturday 23 May 2009

Special Moments . . .




Life is full of moments, both grand and small. Once in a while I like to just sit and close my eyes, and think about what might have been the most wonderful moment I have lived through . . .



The most wonderful moment in my life . . .



The most wonderful moment in the last year . . .



The most wonderful moment in the last month . . .



The most wonderful moment in the last week . . .



The most wonderful moment in the last day . . .



More often than not it is the little things that fill my heart most of all, simple things and moments. Small and cherished things that probably have no meaning to anyone else but me. It could be something as simple as chancing upon a lost feather caught up in the hedgerow that lines the lane way up to work, or the song of robins heralding me from the rustling branches of the trees that are hanging overhead. It is knowing that I am in the best place possible for me, at the best time possible and in the best way possible.

Dwelling on the most wonderful moments of my life is probably one of the greatest gifts I can give myself. It helps to lift my spirits and feed my soul. It helps me to realize that I am, indeed, very blessed. It helps me to appreciate the here and now and the what has been in a very special way.



Each day is filled with moments. Live each one to the fullest, for it may never come again. Store them in the windmills of your mind, and then . . . remember.

We are off to London to build some more wonderful moments today. We had thought about driving down to the coast and doing a seaside tour for a few days, but, after experiencing the traffic yesterday afternoon just trying to go into the nearest large town to buy a few things, we have changed our minds. Somehow the thought of spending hours in a traffic queue on a motorway has lost it's lustre, and so we are going to take the train into London today and spend the morning just taking in some of it's sights. We'll have a noon picnic in one of the parks, and then this afternoon we are going to go see Les Miserables! I have always wanted to see a West End musical and I am very excited about it! Afterwards we'll treat ourselves to some supper before we head back home. I can't think of a better way to spend my Saturday. Can you?

There were some bananas that needed using up yesterday. (Aren't there always?) I seem to always buy more than we can eat, but really, I don't mind. I am always up for a banana cake, muffins or loaf. Yesterday it was muffins, and I decided to glaze them with a coconut lime glaze. They were decidedly moorish . . .



*Coconut Lime Glazed Banana Muffins*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Moist and full of banana flavour these muffins on their own are pretty wonderful. When you add this delicious coconut lime glaze though, they go from being simply wonderful to full on moorish . . . they're almost too dangerous to have around!

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
GLAZE:
The juice of one lime
1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
2 TBS flaked unsweetened coconut

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/375*F. Grease a 12 cup muffin pan really well (or line with paper liners) and set aside.

Whisk the flour, soda, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk together the bananas, sugar, egg, butter, vanilla and lemon extract. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and fold them together, mixing them together only until the dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes or until they test done. A toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean. Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool for ten minutes before removing the muffins from the pan. Place them back on the wire rack and spoon the glaze over them while still warm.

To make the glaze, stir all the glaze ingredients together until smooth.

Enjoy!

I'm off now to make some sandwiches for our picnic today. Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you build some special moments too!

PS - I apologize if this posted prematurely and you have chanced upon it before I have had the chance to fix it. Blogger has done that to me a couple of times this week. Most annoying! Those flowers in my post yesterday were Lupins. I just love them and we have quite a few growing in our garden. Also Great-Granny Grandma to answer your question, it is quite possible to have more than one browser on your computer. We have Firefox and Internet Explorer and we use them simultaneously. It comes in very handy at times, especially if there are problems with one. We like Firefox (Mozilla) because it is very quick and easy to use.

17 comments:

  1. Enjoy your day. At present I am living vicariously through blogs as I recover from surgery and your plans for today sound marvellous.

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  2. Enjoy your day in London, I'm sure you'll like Les Miserables Marie!
    Last year I had the pleasure to see it twice for free and absolutely loved it: it's quite a spectacle!

    Those muffins look really good!!

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  3. Love your thoughts on the simple things. They truly do bring joy and we don't stop often enough to enjoy their real depth of heart. Enjoy your day in London, I wish I were traveling with you! What a simple but fancy day! I have all the ingredients here for those love muffins and glaze, and since I am up early this morning...thinking I might just give them a try! Enjoy my friend!

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  4. What an amazing post! Your photos are exquisite and full of joy! I am completely refreshed from my visit!!!!! I wish I could bake up a pan of those muffins and really enjoy the eating, but alas, I have to really watch it!!!

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  5. I love your favorite moments! Made me think about all the special times in my life. Those muffins look mighty tasty! I can't wait to hear about your weekend!

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  6. Marie:

    I'm so glad to hear that you are off to enjoy a wonderful weekend in London. I hope you will have some photos to share on your blog.

    This post truly made me think....I am going to purposefully sit down today and remember some of the most special moments of my life.

    Thanks for always making me feel refreshed and thoughtful.

    Kim
    Garden Painter Art

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  7. You are right about enjoying the little things. They bring so much beauty and pleasure to life... and we are so much happier if we focus on them instead of the problems we have.

    What a lovely day you have planned. I imagine you are sitting in Les Miserables right now. I think that I will put on a CD of the music and join you. I dearly love Les Miserables... I used to watch a video I had of it over and over...but then someone borrowed it and I never got it back... I wish that I could find it again. We saw it at the theater twice and I would love to see it again. I also love Phantom of the Opera. Have you seen that one?

    I can't wait to see pictures from your London adventure. I am happy that you are Todd are having a special weekend.

    John and I are not doing anything as exciting as you two but we are going to the mountains today to an open house given by some friends that moved out of our ward. We will leave in time to drive 1 and a half hours home and attend the "Savior of the World" musical Claire is in tonight. She plays the part of Nathan the shepard boy. It is quite a big part for a little 7 year old. She has a lot of lines and 3 solos.I attended last night but John wasn't able to go then so we are going again tonight. Claire and everyone did a great job. Ernie plays his trumpet in the orchestra. Mindy isn't playing her flute in it because she had to be free to take Claire back and forth to rehearsals which conflicted with the orchestra rehearsals...and since I've been gone a lot she would have had to get too many baby sitters to stay with EJ and Austin. I dearly love to hear her play the flute but being a mommy is more important.

    I know your head will be spinning from all the wonderful things you are doing today. Enjoy every minute...and tell us all about it. Much love, Lura

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  8. I'm sitting in the garden reading this blog and all of a sudden I here music. I get up from my seat thinking it's the mobile and it's your blog. Most of the time I read blogs with the sound off so I can listen to the radio..... I think, I'm getting old. Gaz xxx

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  10. h Marie, Les Mis...you will lvoe it! I saw in in San Francisco about 3 times and also once in London. Amazing! I found one of my favorite singers, Michael Ball, who created the role of Marius in the very beginning. If you ever get a chance to see the Video of the (10th?) Anniversary Celebration at the Albert Hall, you will see him. Since he is from England you probably already know who he is. He has only performed one concert series in the US and it was in 2004 in Salt Lake City. Amazing. I saw both shows.

    I know you will love the show and taking the train~brilliant! We do not like the traffic either so we are home today~working per usual. We are trying to save money and get our work done so we can spend 1 month in Italy in December.

    Loved your post on the special moments and looking on the bright side of things. Such a wonderful secret to making the best out of life. And your recipes, I have saved a whole bunch of them.

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  11. Hope you have a great trip. Those muffins sounds like a really interesting combo!

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  12. Have a lovely time, you and Todd. I'm not a big fan of musicals myself, I prefer comical things or drama at the theatre, but I do wish you great weekend - you lucky people. I've only been to London a few times and I could just walk and walk (well, I could then) in those streets. It's an atmosphere I've never found anywhere else. I wouldn't want to live there though, would you?

    love, Angie, xx

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  13. I hope you enjoy your day dear Marie. All the pics are fab. and nice, I love little things that are lovely but many times we dont see. yes it is. Thanls by remember me, huggs and kisses. Gloria

    So nice muffins, really.Gloria

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  14. Everything looks darling! I love the picture of the baby ducks!

    And sorry I haven't been able to e-mail you back yet, but I do think it sounds wonderful! And it was so kind of you to mention me.

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  15. i love that picture of you holding your children-you looks so happy! so so sweet.

    and les miserables is AMAZING. i hope you love it as much as i did. joey took me to see it right after we were engaged in NY. LOVE it! have fun in london!

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  16. Love all those pictures Marie. Bet you had a great day in London! Those muffins look yummy.

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  17. Marie, what beautiful flowers, I especially like the yellow rose! It's perfect, unfortunately the other day, I found out that my allergies are worst. I went to smell a rose and my throat practically closed up on me.. I was so sad... I love roses. I guess I'll have to settle for just looking and no smelling!

    Lisa (lisita15)
    http://beachmom15.blogspot.com/

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