Month: July 2026

My Abundant Life 7-14-26

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July 14th, 2026

The Celebrating Table

“The table is a meeting place, a gathering ground, the source of sustenance and nourishment, festivity, safety, and satisfaction.”

Laurie Colwin (American Writer; June 14th, 1944 to October 24th, 1992)

“The evening meal should be the highlight of the day. If the day has been peaceful, pleasurable, and profitable, it’s time to celebrate. If the day has been difficult and discouraging, it’s time for comfort and consolation–blessings by themselves and reason to celebrate. Either way, the celebrating table bids.”

“Planning, shopping, and cooking in the space of an hour is self-abuse pure and simple.”

“We need time to defuse, to contemplate. Just as in sleep our brains relax and give us dreams, so at some time in the day we need to disconnect, reconnect, and look around us. We must turn off the television and the telephone, hunker down in front of our hearths, and leave our briefcases at the office, if for only one night. We must march into the kitchen, en famille or with a friend, and find some easy, heartwarming things to make from scratch, and even if it is but once a week, we must gather at the table, alone or with friends or with lots of friends or with one friend, and eat a meal together. We know that without food we would die. Without fellowship life is not worth living.”

Laurie Colwin (American Writer; June 14th, 1944 to October 24th, 1992)

“Sharing a meal with my husband is one of the highlights of my day. I love how we creates meals with love and creativity. I see his full self-expression when he cooks.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 257 to 258 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Musical Life 7-13-26

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July 13th, 2026

#15 ABC (Jackson 5) 👍🏼

Lyrics:
You went to school to learn girl
things you never knew before
like “I” before “E” except after “C”
and why 2 plus 2 makes 4
now, now, now
I’m gonna teach you, teach you, teach you
all about love girl, all about love
sit yourself down, take a seat
all you gotta do is repeat after me🪄
A B C, It’s easy as
1 2 3, as simple as
do re mi, A B C, 1 2 3
baby you and me girl🪄
Come on and love me just a little bit
I’m gonna teach you how to sing it out
come on, come on, come on
let me tell you what it’s all about
reading, writing, arithmatic
are the branches of the learning tree
but without the roots of love everyday girl
your education ain’t complete
teacher’s gonna show you (she’s gonna show you)
how to get an “A” (na, na, na, na, na, na)
how to spell “me”, “you”, add the two
listen to me baby thats all you got to do🪄
Oh,🪄
A B C, It’s easy as
1 2 3, as simple as
do re mi, A B C, 1 2 3
baby you and me girl
A B C it’s easy, it’s like counting up to 3
singing simple melodies
that’s how easy love can be
singing simple melodies
1 2 3 baby you and me🪄
Sit down girl, I think I love ya’
No, get up girl, show me what you can do
Shake it, shake it baby, come on now
Shake it, shake it baby, oooh, oooh
Shake it, shake it baby, yeah
1 2 3 baby, oooh oooh
A B C baby, ah, ah
do re mi baby, wow
thats how easy love can be
A B C it’s easy, it’s like counting up to 3
singing simple melodies
that’s how easy love can be
teacher’s gonna teach you how to
sing it out, sing it out, sing it out baby

My Abundant Life 7-13-26

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July 13th, 2026

Stocking The Larder

“Cooking–yes, and living become simpler rite this month. I have made a list of satisfactory meals planned around only one cooked dish. This list is hung on the door of my kitchen cabinet for reference. When I am lacking ambition I do not wonder what to have for dinner.”

Nell B. Nichols (Author; August 28th, 1894 to May 28th, 1984)

“Won’t you agree with me, as you lie looking up at the leafy canopy above you, that a home now and in every other month must be a haven to the spirit as well as a place in which the physical needs are supplied?”

Nell B. Nichols (Author; August 28th, 1894 to May 28th, 1984)

“My own is my haven. I love to shut out the world and just exist in our hobbit house with my love and dog.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 255 to 257 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Musical Life 7-12-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Musical LifeLeave a comment

July 12th, 2026

#14 Hitchin’ a Ride (Vanity Fare) 👍🏼

Lyrics:
A thumb goes up, a car goes by
It’s nearly one A.M. and here am I
Hitchin’ a ride, hitchin’ a ride
Gotta get me home before the morning light🪄
I got no fare to ride a train
I’m nearly drowin’ in the pouring rain
Hitchin’ a ride, hitchin’ a ride
Gotta get me home to my baby’s side🪄
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin’ a ride
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin’ a ride🪄
Long distance call I got today
She sounded lonely so I’m on my way
Hitchin’ a ride, hitchin’ a ride
Gotta get me home, to keep her satisfied🪄
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin’ a ride
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin’ a ride🪄
A thumb goes up, a car goes by
Oh, won’t somebody stop and help a guy?
Hitchin’ a ride, hitchin’ a ride
Been away too long from my baby’s side🪄
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin’ a ride
Ride, ride, ride, hitchin’ a ride🪄
Ride, ride
Ride, ride
Ride, ride

My Abundant Life 7-12-26

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July 12th, 2026

How To Cook A Wolf

“There’s a whining at the threshold–

There’s a scratching at the floor–

To work! To work! In Heaven’s name!

The wolf is at the door!

Charlotte Perkins Gilman (American Novelist; July 3rd, 1860 to August 17th, 1935)

“When the wolf arrives, ‘Our texture of belief has great holes in it,’ M. F. K. Fisher recalls. ‘Our pattern lacks pieces.” Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, who was probably this country’s greatest food writer, knew all about lean times. In fact, one of her early books was How to Cook a Wolf, which she published in 1942 during the worst of the wartime food shortages.”

“Poverty is always experienced in the soul before it is felt in the pocketbook.”

“For those of us who would like to follow in her footsteps, she recommends weeding our desires, leaving only the holy hungers, ‘so that you can live most agreeably in a world full of an increasing number of disagreeable surprises.”

“How did she do it? By not running scared when the wolf arrived, by not giving in to her fears that he would blow her house down. She knew that the twists and turn of fate are usually just hot air. Instead, she learned to outsmart, catch. and cook the wolf. By concentrating on the goal at hand–a good glass of wine, a good tomato, a good loaf of bread. A beautiful sunset, a lively conversation, a loving relationship. She knew that the good life does not depend on extravagant indulgences. The good life does not deprive. It exults. ‘You can still live with grace and wisdom.’ she encourages us–if you rely on ‘your own innate sense of what you must do with the resources you have to keep the wolf from sniffing too hungrily through the keyhole.'”

“My husband and I have agreed to live a created life where everyday is a party. We lean into this and stay present with what is so and create magic in our lives every single moment. We are blessed.”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 254 to 255 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.

My Musical Life 7-11-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Musical LifeLeave a comment

July 11th, 2026

#13 Make It with You (Bread) 👍🏼

Lyrics:
Hey, have you ever tried
Really reaching out for the other side?
I may be climbing on rainbows
But baby, here goes🪄
Dreams, they’re for those who sleep
Life is for us to keep
And if you’re wondering what this song is leading to
I want to make it with you
I really think that we could make it, girl🪄
No, you don’t know me well
In every little thing only time will tell
But you believe the things that I do
And we’ll see it through🪄
Life can be short or long
Love can be right or wrong
And if I chose the one I’d like to help me through
I’d like to make it with you
I really think that we could make it, girl🪄
Baby, you know that dreams, they’re for those who sleep
Life, it’s for us to keep
And if I chose the one I’d like to help me through
I’d like to make it with you
I really think that we could make it, girl

My Abundant Life 7-11-26

On By Heather HoustonIn My Abundant LifeLeave a comment

July 11th, 2026

Cooking as Art: Creative Discoveries in The Kitchen

“The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of the human race than the discovery of a star.”

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (Lawyer & Former Deputy of the French National Assembly; April 1st, 1755 to February 2nd, 1826)

“Few of us have enjoyed the thrill of mounting a one-woman show of our art. But all of us can put on an apron. Tonight, instead of thinking of dinner as just another obligation, think of it as an opportunity for jump-starting your creativity. Cooking is one of the best ways for your authentic self to remind your conscious self that you are an artist. Like the union of canvas and pigment, cooking alchemy, a work of Wholeness-in-progress.”

“… you can never re-create the past. But you can shape your own future. And you can make a cake.”

Jacqueline Deval (Author; ~1960)

“Since I am able to follow a recipe pretty well, I can make cake!”

–Ban Breathnach, Sarah. “Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”. Grand Central Publishing. (1976). Kindle Page 252 to 254 of 501.

I challenge each of you on this blog series to post comments so we all can grow together.