Home cozy

I made the nicest snack. I took two graham wafers, spread them with whipped cream cheese and sliced a strawberry on each of them. It tasted like a cheesecake without any of the work. I took them upstairs to my little studio and sat down to watch my show and enjoy them. I have to say the last season of All Creatures Great and Small warms my heart when I watch it. It is a celebration of beauty and simple things, like my crackers. At night I often read a little and then fall into a routine of a few snacks and a bit of television. It is a routine of comfort. And snacks are a big part of it.

And we seek comfort. It is an important part of our lives. In the day I find comfort in hooking rugs. It is one thing that soothes me and energizes me at the same time. The more rugs I hook, the more I want to hook them. And I see all kinds of people like me. The more rugs they make the more energized they are to keep making.

I believe that the more I fill my life with simple and beautiful things the happier I will be. I have tried on extravagance from time to time. And as beautiful as fancy can be, most of the time I am happier with ease. Last night at a meeting the host had a big carrot cake with raisins. As we gathered around the table my friend said to me "I knew you'd be having a piece of that." And she was right. A good homemade piece of cake I can hardly resist. It was fresh and soft and crumbly and loaded with golden raisins. Delicious. It made me happy to lift that cake off my plate. When I got near the centre without the icing I would dip my fork into the icing on the edge so that the centre part had a little. I ate it slowly even though I wanted to gobble. And when I was done I wanted a second piece. But I resisted because I knew there was no way a second piece would be as good as the first. Carrot cake is a comfort food.

Like Mac and Cheese the way my mother made it. Boil the macaroni, pour a can of carnation milk over it, mix in a chopped onion and cover the top with loads of orange cheddar. Some nights for supper I make this and it just tastes like home.

The comfort of home. Your own pillow, a cup of tea in your favourite mug, your chair. All that goodness waiting for you at the end of your day. At home you have created it just the way you want it so of course it feels the best. Your favourite foods are waiting for you (right now it's graham wafers and I might be making many flavours of my faux cheesecake this week). You have all your favourite books. Your sheets are good cotton. You know where your hot water bottle is. You have curated your life so that home is good, so that home is cozy. And if you are like me when something is good you want more of it. 

The evenings are my time to rest, to wind up the day. It is a time to be home, to enjoy the house, drop all the pretences (we all have a few I suppose) and put on my pyjamas and take a rest. And I do. And I love the comfort of "home cozy" and am grateful for it.