I have loved tearooms and the tea experience all my adult life. Sunday high tea in Stirling, Scotland, in the home of an elderly woman after a walk around the village green was high adventure—and a cheery, calming presence—for a young, newly arrived college woman. J. and I fell in…
Author: Laurie
A table talk: Earnest Alexander on singing for supper
There are people we learn from over the course of many years. Earnest Alexander is one of those rare individuals with great celebrity and uncommon humility. As an international gospel singer he’s taken stories of at-risk children to the world to break the cycle of fatherlessness. J. and I have been invited…
People, perennials and the matter of interest
I loved spring in my garden beds. It brought a little more fullness to the boxwood we were pruning in the Japanese cloud style. Blue delphinium, blue cranesbill geranium, pink clematis, pink and creamy English roses came into play all at the same time under the snowy watch of blooming…
A beautiful understanding of the lopsided cake
Kim brought a layered berry blitz torte to our home to go with the charcuterie we served before music theatre. Maybe she brought it to step up our light food and beverage offering (an unintended pun; we saw A Chorus Line that evening). She “wrapped it” in a newspaper clip with…
Beauty in brokenness and the remarkable capacity of the human spirit
We opened our door into the blinding lights of a dozen emergency vehicles, twisted metal and an explosion of glass. Two jet pilots here for training and covered in the powder of it say our new, sleek van saved their lives. Parked on the street in front of our apartment,…
Knife, fork and spoonful of credit
We branded a farm in Kansas that we now find out our back door each Saturday in the summer at the Old Town Farmers’ Market. When we’re home we’ll walk with Freddie and coffee and trade news with our owner/grower friend. She called this week and credited our work for…