Last Sunday of August 2022

 

A yellow rose 

at the Yellow House...

Happy Sunday 🌼

Happy 14th Blogiversary to the Yellow House

 

Today is my blog's 14th birthday, or blogiversary!

The Yellow House has made it to its second year of teenager-hood! Woohoo!

I know that it's Tumbleweed City around here sometimes, but I still have a great love for this space. Especially in the earlier years, I shared so much about my life as I tried to fit in in a new country, so this blog has a special place in my heart forever. Sometimes I'll come here as a reader of my own blog and I'll read about this woman from Georgia who came across the pond several years ago and I marvel at just how much has changed in my life and in the world. There is a comforting innocence when I go back to read from the earlier years of my blog. Even though I stumbled with adjusting quite a lot sometimes, looking back now, I see that those were still some of the sweetest days of my life. I never thought I'd say that (smile). There were some tough days back then, but little did I know that life would throw so many challenges my way. None of us ever know. I guess it's like they say though...that's life. 

This isn't meant to be a sad post or one of regret. It's not that at all. I guess that I'm at one of those points in my life when I'm pausing for a moment to look back briefly before I continue on my journey ahead. I guess that this pandemic has brought things into sharp focus for many of us. So I guess that what I'm trying to say is that I look back on some of the more innocent past times with gratitude in a way that I didn't appreciate before. And through this, it also makes me grateful for the beautiful things that I've experienced in my life and it leaves hope in my heart for beautiful things to happen now and onward (smile).

So I will continue writing here as I have off and on for fourteen years. As I've mentioned previously, I don't know if anyone reads my blog anymore since I'm so sporadic and nowadays there's social media, Netflix, and so much more for people to give their time to. However, if anyone still visits me here, I thank you gratefully (smile). And if I'm just talking (writing) to myself, well I imagine it makes a cool echo in here (smile).

I'll be back to write more, even though I don't know what to write about here anymore. Ha ha! I'll think of something though. I hope you'll join me just to see what I come up with. Thank you for reading this to the meandering end! Ha ha!

Happy 14th Birthday Yellow House....let's keep this going! Mwah!!💋

All of the Yellowness

So the last time I posted, I mentioned that the leaves around here hadn't changed very much, well ask and you shall receive. It seems that a couple of days after I wrote those words, nature decided to ask...

What you talkin' about Dori?

LOL!!! 

I took these pictures a couple of days ago and lemme tell you, the tree across the street just went crazy all of a sudden. It's like the trees got together and said, "Let's show her what we can do!"

 Wow, have they been doing it :) Everything is just beautiful! I thought about how perfect it is that the tree right across the street decides to really give us all of the amazing yellowness...I mean after all, this is the Yellow House ;-)

I've never seen it so beautifully yellow and I love it!

Happy weekend!

Happy Sixth Anniversary

Today is the sixth anniversary of the day that I started this blog. It seems like a thousand years ago and it also seems like just yesterday. What is it about time that makes it stretch and twist in such a way that it can seem so short and long at the same time?

Six years...wow! I know that it's not ten or fifteen or some other double digit number like that, but I'm proud of sticking with my blogging, so six years is good enough for me :-) 

A lot has changed in my life since that first day six years ago and yet some things remain the same. When I started this blog I was in a phase of struggle as I tried to find my place in a new country. It was a thrilling prospect to get the chance to live in a different country than that of my birth, and yet it was a bit scary to change my life so significantly. As I mentioned in my very first post, I was experiencing all of the big life changes at the same time and the thing that capped it off was losing my mom right before I planned to come to England. My life was in disarray, but slowly I found my footing again.

Over the past six years that I've been writing this blog I've gone to various concerts, seen many places and things, and I've continued my education. One of the very finest moments that I've experienced over these six years happened to me rather recently. Back in September of 2013, I graduated and received my Bachelor of Arts degree after leaving university study some years ago. I knew that it was time to go back and finish what I started. I felt it in my soul and even though it was very challenging, I knew this time that I wouldn't leave until I finished. Here's a link to my post about my graduation weekend in case you missed it :-)

As I've been thinking about writing this post, so many things have crossed my mind. I've been going back and reading old posts here and it's been so enjoyable to revisit moments in my life as if it were a scrapbook. In a way, that's what it feels like when I go back. Looking back has been therapeutic for my blogging. I saw how candid my posts were back then and I could feel the joy and the sorrow in my words. I was able to go back and see the world again through my eyes at that time, through my words and the photos that I shared. I hadn't realized how much of me I had etched into this blog.

So as I go forward past this six year milestone, I want to return to the spirit of the writing that I used to do. I want to get back to sharing more about my experiences and I want to share more of my photos, from the place that I stand at this time in my life. I haven't been blogging in this way for a while and I want to get back to it. Now is the time! :-) I still am in love with taking pictures so I have a lot to share. Some are just simple photos and some feature some of the beautiful places that I've seen.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, things have changed in some ways over these six years and some things remain the same. In the end, I'm still Dori  :-)  This blog has brought such joy to my life and I appreciate all of the support over the years!

THANK YOU

 

I hope that you'll come back and join me as I go onward towards my seventh year and beyond. We have a lot of catching up to do!  ;-)

HAPPY 6TH ANNIVERSARY
TO
FROM A YELLOW HOUSE IN ENGLAND

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I WISH EVERYONE THE VERY BEST OF EVERYTHING IN 2014!!!!!!

Also, in the new year I'll be here to post more regularly. I have so much to share! I hope you'll come back to visit me! :-)

Merry Christmas

 

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas! :-)

Seven Years and Counting

Seven years ago today, I arrived on these shores to start a new chapter of my life. I had flown through the night from the southeastern United States to this lovely island where I live now.

This is a picture of the beautiful blossoms that I left behind back home in Georgia. They were at the edge of a field that I had played in all of my life. So right before I left I took a picture of them so that I could freeze them in time and remember them just as they were right before I left. I guess it was my way of holding onto a bit of my roots as I was preparing to move so far away. Also, we had just lost my mom so it seemed like I was leaving everything behind and it was a tough time. When I saw these beautiful pink flowers I felt happy and calm because nature can always do its work on me in times of stress. It's hard for me to worry about anything when I see God's beautiful work right in front of my face :-)

I knew that I was setting off on a journey in more ways than one and I was intrigued to see what would come...

***

When I flew over here to England, I left in the dark of night on one side of the Atlantic Ocean and arrived on the other side of the ocean in the light of the morning. I was glad to see Brit Boy and I was glad that I had arrived safely. We drove home from the airport and I walked into our little yellow house here. The first thing that I did was to go and look out of the window and this is what I saw in the backyard.

There were beautiful pink flowers here to greet me on the other side of the world and I smiled.

 

As always, nature brought me peace :-)

It's been an eventful seven years. I can hardly believe that that much time has passed. I've gained some things, I've lost some things, but I can honestly say...it's all good. I can't complain. I'm grateful for life and I can't wait to see what the next seven years will bring and the next and the next...

Happy Birthday To My Blog

Today is an important day in my life and it all has to do with this blog. Today is the 5th anniversary or birthday of my little blog here and I can't quite believe that it has already been five years! Where does the time go?

First of all, starting this blog was one of the best things that I ever did. Writing this blog has been very cathartic especially in the early days and it has brought me such healing. When I started on this journey, I had no idea how much a seemingly simple act of writing a blog could do so much in my life. I can remember myself very vividly on the day that I wrote that first post. And in reading it back today it is like going into a time machine. I remember being in a state of mind where I was still grieving the loss of my mother even though I thought that I was doing okay. Also, I was recovering from an injury that I had suffered in a car accident. And I was trying to work through major culture shock. I didn't write it all out in that first post, but I alluded to it a little. If you'd like to read my first post you can do so here.

Even though I didn't scream it all out in so many words back then, I remember that time very well as I look back and I see some growth. No, I don't have it all figured out and I don't think anyone does, but as an ad used to say back in the day... You've come a long way baby!  :) I haven't really thought about all of this a lot because I've just been living my life, but I guess that's how it is, isn't it? We go forward and take stock from time to time, so I guess that this is me taking stock. Just like everyone else, I'm a work in progress and this blog has helped me immensely!

I had thought about starting a blog for a long while before I actually started. And then one day I just decided that this was the day and even though I couldn't have known what it would bring me, deep down inside I knew that putting my words out there would start my healing. I know it may seem like I'm making a big deal out of starting a blog, but I can't overstate how much of a lifeline it was to me as I started out.

I started this blog on March 4th and as I mentioned in my first post, there was power in the date. When I say the date, I take it into my consciousness and "March Forth" and to me it means to march forth into your life. Words definitely have power! I took a deep breath and plunged right in. And even though it was a simple act, it was my act of going forward in life. I could hear my mom saying to go on and go forward. My mom figures very prominently in the earlier days of my blog and I know for sure that having this blog to write definitely helped me to cope with her loss. I still miss her every single day and I'll miss her, my dad, and my brother for the rest of my days. But I know that writing this blog has given me the outlet that I sorely needed in those early days and I am grateful.

And speaking of gratitude, I want to say a HUGE thank you to you, my readers :) I appreciate your support so much and connecting with many of you through email and social media has been a pure pleasure. I know that my posting has been rather sporadic over the last three or so years. It's been nowhere near as frequent as it was in the beginning, but I thank you for sticking with me over these years. As you may know, for the last few years I have been taking up some university study so my posting has been all over the place and nowhere near what I would like it to be. But with all being well, in about three months (fingers crossed), I will be done with that and I can recommit myself here at this blog that I love so much. I want to return to the much more vibrant posts of old and I hope that you will come along with me as I reboot my creativity and share my little corner of England with you :)

So in closing I'll say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

FROM A YELLOW HOUSE IN ENGLAND

 

Have a great day everyone and hey, have a piece of cake! :)

Shattered Burgers

Look at what's happened to our timer....

We've had it a little bit over a year and now it is no more. Boo hoo! I LOVED our burger food timer, but alas it shattered over the weekend. I dropped it and one half of the bun went one way, one half went the other and the inner workings scattered. I tried to fix it, but the white disc that you see here now has a chip out of it and a piece is missing, so it will not work. Darn! Oh well...

I remember where we got it so we're gonna go by there sometime and see if they have anymore. It's nothing fancy and kind of kitschy, but it was our little inexpensive fun timer and we loved it. If you ever want to know about our sense of humor around the Yellow House, just think about what our food timer looks like. We like to have fun. That's us...no apologies  :-)

So when we get our new timer or something else that suits us, I'll share it here. Have a good day!

Final Roses

As I mentioned yesterday, we have a few roses finishing off the season around the Yellow House. I've shared some photos of these lovely roses before, but they are always so exquisite that I just love sharing them here :-) I've been playing with Photoshop as you can tell ;-) I decided to present our pretty roses in another light for a change of pace. I think that this one is the last of all of them. I took this photo the other day and this lovely flower has already started its fading as I type this. The leaves are starting to fall away, but that is the way of life as the seasons change as you know. So as we head into autumn/fall, I hope you can smell the sweetness of this beautiful rose and I hope that it reminds you of the joys and memories of your summer!

Have a great weekend! :-)

Repair Sagas and Taking a Break

Hello there! I'm sitting here at the dining table as I tap away at my alive and kicking laptop again. Yay! :) As I look across the room I'm getting an interesting view...it looks like October outside. LOL. It's a kind of odd scene...we have a couple of pretty pink roses that are peeking into the window and most of the backyard is green, but it's all being battered by fierce wind and rain. It's been like this off and on for days and days and days. I know that it's scorching back home and I know how that grueling summer heat can be, but right about now I'd take a tiny bit because wearing wool coats and sweaters in June is just so wrong!!! LOL. It's all good though ;-)

Anyway, as I mentioned, I'm back in possession of my laptop and I'm finished with my exams. Yay again! So now my attention has been turned back to the business of running this house and giving some quality time to blogging. The latter is much easier because I'm here back in the blogging saddle, but the former is a mess! As I mentioned in my previous post, I was expecting a visit from a repairman the next day. Well, he and his assistant showed up after a month of wrangling with our landlord. Our landlord loves to NOT get things fixed and some may say, well that's just the way some landlords, not all are, but I say it's still not acceptable when we pay our rent for service and don't get it. The repairmen came to fix our hot water heater and to fix a faucet that was past the point of dripping and just running in a trickle that we couldn't fix.

So after explaining the situation to the middle men on a regular basis for a month, whilst I was trying to study for exams, we FINALLY got these two things fixed this week. In addition to this, we've also been trying to get our washing machine fixed and that is still broken a month later. Arghhhhh! Here's the craziness that is our landlord. These repair guys were sent out to assess things a couple of weeks ago and they were also asked to check to see if the lack of hot water was affecting our washing machine. So these repair guys reported back and told the landlord that the washing machine is a cold water intake and it has nothing to do with the hot water heater. However, our landlord didn't believe them!!!! What? So they sent out yet another repair guy and he goes back to report exactly what the other guys said...that the hot water heater had nothing to do with the washing machine. But the landlord was still not believing!!!! From experience with the landlord I can tell you that this was not truly due to his disbelief...this was good old-fashioned cheapness. We've been down this road before and I'll tell you, God willing, this is the end of the road for us at the end of our lease in several months. We are grateful to have somewhere to live, but we are past tired of dealing with this every time. No two day repair should take 4, 6, or 8 weeks! But don't worry...this won't be the end of the Yellow House by any stretch of the imagination, because the Yellow House for us is a state of mind and it's not about the structure. We will carry the Yellow House with us always!  :-) Plus, even though our experiences have been messed up, we will always have a soft spot in our hearts for the first house that we shared as a married couple...and that is something more powerful than any physical structure because it's about LOVE! And anyway, we've already decided that when we build our house in the future, it's gonna have to be yellow in some way...the Yellow House is just us...me and Brit Boy! :-)

So the middle men/property managers saw our side in this and have told the landlord that they are not upholding their end of our contract. This got the ball rolling...ever so slowly. But as I said we are still waiting on our washing machine to be repaired and I'm still breaking my back trying to wash everything by hand...not fun! I'm just glad that the hot water and faucet are finally fixed. Maybe by the time of the Olympics we will have a washing machine again ;-)

And that's my mini vent about our ever continuing repair saga...the condensed version! Thanks for indulging me! I'm going to do my best to relax some this weekend and just forget about the washing machine. I also want to relish in not having to study this weekend after this long while. Woo Hoo!

Next time, I'll be back to happier topics. I'm going to share this great book that I've read recently. It was a fun read! And I hope that everyone has a great weekend! :-)

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from the Yellow House, to all who celebrate this glorious day!

And to everyone, Brit Boy and I wish you a wonderful Sunday! :-)

Signs of Spring

I just wanted to share a couple of quick pics from our garden. It's definitely making me think about spring around the Yellow House :-) Here's to warmer and warmer days ahead!

Have a great weekend!

Quick Snow

It's partly sunny here now and the snow is melting, but this morning when we woke up, this is what we saw...




It actually started snowing last night a little bit, but it was still interesting to see the effects the morning after :) It was pretty, but I'm glad that it is melting because it's kind of hard to get out of our street when it snows because it's so hilly around here. I really don't want to fall on my butt trying to walk out of here. Lol. I'm glad that we got a pretty view this morning and now the snow is doing the polite thing and melting ;-)

Just thought I'd share a couple of pics of our snowy trees! Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Blue Shimmery Cake

Okay...so I’m finally getting here to post about my blue food. Sorry for the delay, as I mentioned in a previous post :)



Above is a lovely “I Love You” cake that Brit Boy made for me here at the Yellow House. He made the cake and the decoration turned into a collaborative effort. The cake was a devil’s food cake with vanilla icing and it was so yummy! I love baking as you know and it was really fun to collaborate with Brit Boy on this cake.

I love the color blue, and as you can see, the cake features that color prominently...so there’s my blue food ;-)

Some of the decorations are courtesy of a great company called Silver Spoon, makers of the Askeys brand products. The good folks there sent me several of their products to try out since I love baking and creative cooking ;-) You may remember my post from back in November, when I was experimenting with the Askeys brandy snap baskets as a substitute for mini pie shells. Check the post out here.

I wasn’t familiar with the Askeys brand before I tried their brandy snap baskets, but they make really excellent products that can help you create some tasty desserts.

Silver Spoon also makes wafers, cones, topping sauces, sprinkles, and various icings. They boast an impressive range of products in their Cakecraft range for all of the bakers out there.

I received a variety of products, so I will be presenting a couple of other posts in the near future, highlighting what we’ve made around the Yellow House when we decide to have a treat again. I look forward to sharing what I’ve come up with as I present the other products.



So, back to our cake :-) In order to decorate our cake, we used these blue shimmer balls by Silver Spoon along with some other flowers that we had on hand. The blue shimmer balls were an excellent accent to the flowers and just made a sweet looking little cake. Also, the decorations actually tasted good, so that was a plus!

The folks at Silver Spoon also sent along a couple of products from their Cakecraft range.



They sent some strawberry and lemon icing sugar that I haven’t tried yet, but I’m sure that they will both get a whirl too. I have to spread out my baking though...we can’t have treats like this too often ;-) But that’s what makes treats like this special...you don’t have them every day. I'm excited that I have two flavors to try since I’ve never tried these before. I look forward to getting creative with these!

And that’s my blue food story. Okay...so it was more blue-adorned, but blue just the same ;-) And most importantly, Brit Boy was kind enough to make it for me and that is a wonderful thing!

Until next time....

Disclosure: I was sent these products by The Silver Spoon Company and received no money for this post. All views on these products are my own as always :-)

This Blogger Needs Rest

Hello there :) Well I'm back with a quick post again. I just wanted to stop by and let you know that my promised post is coming, but I'm a bit out of it right now. I've been so sick with a cold/sinus infection over the past several days, so I'm not able to get here to blog like I want to. I'm starting to feel a little bit better today, but I'm not all the way back to health. Since I've been sick it's tough to be on the computer for any length of time, because it makes my eyes hurt. I know that it's my body telling me to take it easy for once. So I'm doing my best to obey ;-)

The photo above is a view of where I've been and where I'm heading back to in a moment. I hope that you'll come back to check out my baking post that I promised.

Have a great day and enjoy whatever you're doing!

Happy New Year!!!!

FROM THE YELLOW HOUSE

HAVE A GREAT 2012!

Christmas 2011 Baking

As I mentioned in a previous post, I did a bit of baking over the days leading up to Christmas and things turned out pretty good. I made Magic Cookie Bars, a chocolate cheesecake, and a red velvet cake.

Everything did taste good, however the Magic Cookie Bars got a bit toasty around the edges ;-) Surprisingly though, the toasty bits were kind of the best part. Who knew???? Here's a picture of my result:



Next, I baked the chocolate cheesecake. It turned out pretty good. It's very rich, and I would definitely make it again. Here's my attempt:



And my last bit of baking for Christmas 2011 was a red velvet cake. I usually make red velvet cupcakes, but this year I decided to bake a full size cake. And in order to add a bit of festive fun, I planted a Christmas tree and let Santa and the Snowman hang out in my cream cheese flavored snow ;-) It got all winter wonderland around the Yellow House.



And our old friend Trevor just had to horn into this last washed out photo. Lol. He loves making his way into the spotlight during the holidays!



It was fun to do a bit of holiday baking. I wonder what I'll bake next year???? Who knows...but watch this space. And as always, I'll be baking and cooking throughout the year, so please stop by again to see how it all turns out :-)

Until next time...

Baking at the Yellow House

I'm getting ready to do some baking around the Yellow House. Christmas is coming along quickly, so I've got to get it going in the kitchen. I love to bake, but I just loathe washing dishes afterward ;-) Anyway here is a fuzzy picture of some of my ingredients.



I'm starting off my baking with making some Magic Cookie Bars. I haven't had any of these in years. I had a taste for them, so I decided to take the plunge this year! I'm also going to be making a chocolate cheesecake and a red velvet cake later in the week. I've made red velvet cake many times before, but this will be my first time baking this chocolate cheesecake. Wish me luck! ;-) And you know me, even if it turns out a disaster, I will plaster a picture of it on here...I love full disclosure in my cooking :-) So please come back in a day or two to see how it turned out if you have a minute.

Buying all of the ingredients for baking like this takes a bit of fundraising management, since ingredients aren't cheap. However, I pride myself on being a bit of a bargain shopper, so it all works out in the end!

Have a great day and I'll be back with more food pics very soon!

Holiday Baking

Well the Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone and it was a good one around the Yellow House. I had the chance to go on Skype on Thanksgiving with my niece and sisters as I mentioned in a previous post. And it was a whole lot of fun! It was just like I was sitting in the room with them. Then on Friday, Brit Boy and I had our Thanksgiving dinner. We had a great day together!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I decided to make a different version of sweet potato pie this year and you know what...they turned out great. I made mini sweet potato pies. I got the original recipe off of the Food Network website and had to make a substitution for the crust. Here’s a link to the recipe from their site. I’m not very good at making crusts yet and I ran out of time, so I found a substitute. I found this product called brandy snap baskets that were pre-made and used them for my shell. You can see them in the photo below. They are kind of crispy and a bit chewy, but they were the perfect accompaniment to the pies. My version tastes better than it looks in the photo...trust me ;-)




So the filling of the brandy snap baskets is a sweet potato soufflé that I made separately and then placed it into the baskets. Then I made the whipped topping with cream cheese, cinnamon, and confectioners sugar/powdered sugar. I didn’t have a pastry bag so I just kind of dropped a bit of the cream on each one. It turned out fine and it was still good :-)

I was intrigued when I saw them made on the cooking show that I watched. So when I tasted them, I was not disappointed at all. I’ll definitely be making them again.

This was my latest cooking adventure and it was fun...now on to the next thing.

P.S. – Brit Boy recently completed his first review. Please go by his blog if you have a moment and check it out! Thanks...