Cards and present made? Check.
Valentine gifts wrapped? Check.
Dessert cookie baked? Check. (Never mind that I couldn't find my heart-shaped springform pan. I free-formed it pretty well!)
No one told us about the possibility of nasty colds that made the whole prospect of spending a lovely evening together, complete with Rick's wonderful cooking and bread, a less than appetizing prospect! True, we enjoyed some bread and cheese, then said goodbye. Rescheduling a must!
I did get his gift finished. Those of you who have been reading awhile know that each year I make him a book that summarizes our year, complete with bad poetry! This was no exception.
The cover was a collage using dictionary pages, acrylics, leather die cuts and stamps. Inside, a look at our year.
No subject was off limits, whether in a photo collection...
.... or poem.
Or both.
And of course, the Toddler Twosome made up more than a few pages!
I didn't get a lot of painted Valentines done but here is one...
...and another. I later painted the address of the recipient on the mailbox.
We figured we would try again on Sunday. After a day with minimal sleep the night before and a dishwasher problem at my house (it was overflowing and then dripping into the basement. I think my basement just wants to be wet), I was looking forward to being pampered!
And I was. Only, Rick's sink was having water issues too and not draining. So, he brought over dinner and cooked it here! My favorite, shrimp and grits! (Dishes by hand.)
I came up with a very impromptu table!
It was all delicious -- even the Valentine cookie. (Monique, thanks for idea and the link to the recipe HERE)
After dinner, we enjoyed "Midnight in Paris" before retiring to our respective corners and trying hard not to contaminate the other. We'll see if it worked!
Love you guys! Love your relationship and how you support each other and appreciate each other's strengths and talents. You never seem to take each other for granted and I credit that to the element you and Rick and Don and I have/had in common. Happy Valentine's Day.
ReplyDeleteOh, that is sweet. Glad you had a great Valentine's feast.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! Thanks so much for coming to visit and commenting - that way I could come and visit you! Sorry about the nasties - we got sick a couple of weeks ago - no fun! I just adore your book - talk about a labor of love! You are so talented in so many ways! That watercolor is fabulous. What a treasure. We do a year book, but just pictures and printed at Costco - nothing like this glorious creation!
ReplyDeleteGlad you got everything done on time, the book looks fabulous, great idea. And the HUGE heart cookie looks yummy! Sorry problems got in the way! That's life. Hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteHappy Valentine's Day to you, too! Love your giant heart cookie, and I think your books for Rick are excellent. :-)
ReplyDeleteHope you are both feeling much better, and that the plumbing problems have been solved!
What a purrfect gift, Jeanie! Kudos! Love the cookie too! Makes me hungry:)
ReplyDeleteSorry about the colds and dishwasher. Sounds like you overcame.
Very Sweet!
ReplyDeleteWith two kitchens you two seem to manage to have at least one place to cook most of the time! I hope all your mechanical challenges are soon straightened out, and also that your colds go away. Happy future celebrations to beat this one, which still looks very happy.
ReplyDeletebest... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
❤️❤️❤️
ReplyDeleteLovely photos! :)
ReplyDeleteThe only water issue we have is having to get up in the night! It's amazing that you both had water problems at the same time. Having two houses is a good thing! Michigan and domestic water are going to become synonymous! Happy belated Valentine's Day, Jeanie.
ReplyDeleteThat book is a great idea great artwork., and the cookie looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteYou are a lady with many talents.
The Valentine heart shaped cookie definitely steals the show (it appears twice in your post).
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never. We had a quiet dinner out at a restaurant nearby and went back to work at our new store. Your cookie looked so amazing and kudos for you on your journal. I bet it was fun making it. The toddlers are so cute! Janice
ReplyDeleteI think Valentine's Day should be a 365 thing, so postponing a bit is not a bad thing. I've tried a cookie like that and wow, it held its shape and came out super. And what a creative and wonderful idea for Rick's present. Very very nice Jeanie. All good things are worth the wait, right? Hugs-Erika
ReplyDeletehappy valentine's! hope you're feeling much better now.
ReplyDeleteA big WOW from here!
ReplyDeleteRick gets the world´s-best Valtentine´s gifts from you! This is plain awesome. I´m deeply impressed, if I could I´d be a bit jealous even! Or might "steal" your idea! (Sadly I´m not that creative. And I´m not jealous. I enjoyed this immensly, so sweet of you! I´m impressed.).
I love that blonde girl! Beautiful!
You made me laugh with that basement of yours. Sorry, I know it´s not funny, but the way you described it was funny!
Hmmm, looks like sparkling wine? Hubby cannot have it no more and by myself I don´t enjoy it. We used to before he fell sick, that was fun :-)
Oh, and is that rucola? Yum!
I got Hubby "Mon Cherié" - our dentist loves this chocolate, and he has to go today. Sweets... just for others here ;-)
(Last time she told me off. She ate them all at once and her next patient said she smells of booze, LOL)
Oh, looks like you had the best (late(r)) Valentine´s Day!
Hope your basement loves a dry season for a change...
What a lovely idea to make a book like that! Love the dessert cookie. Hope you are both feeling better now, so many nasties doing the rounds.
ReplyDelete~~~Deb in Wales
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI hope you are both feeling better. It is great you were able to celebrate Valentine's Day even if it was a little late. The cookie looks delicious and I love your drawings. Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week ahead!
How sweet. In the scheme of rock, paper, scissors (or sickness, water and bad poetry), love beats them all!
ReplyDeleteJEANIE! HELLO! I have this Monday off from work and wow....what a whirlwind of a school year.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to see you post and to be able to come by. I hope you ended up with a lovely evening with your Valentine, as I did with mine. However, that cold of which you speak made it's way through our home like a storm. After Ruben had surgery two weeks ago on Thursday, I got sick that evening, then he got it and we were unable to get close enough to each other to rejoice over the fact that the suspected cancerous tumor was NOT cancer. We rejoice, from a distance until this cold is gone! Be well dear Jeanie!
That cookie looks awesome - well done on hand-forming it! Paul would have been all over that dessert. He LOVES cookies. We are going to skip cake and just make cookies for his birthday as he doesn't seem to like cake and I have a good GF chocolate chip cookie recipe.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry you were both under the weather and dealing with lots of other headaches this weekend! Man, you have had the worst run of luck with water-related issues! I can relate to a smaller extent as we had trouble with our floor drain in our basement and a leaking shower. It's the pits to deal with water where it shouldn't be!!
We had a very low key Vday. I made lentil enchiladas and spanish rice and we watched a couple of episodes of "The Americans." I was in bed by 9 as mornings come early in our house!
You are a keeper:)
ReplyDeleteThat book my dear is fabulous..do you use Staples to bind?
Super treasure!
Glad you caught up the next day:) Sorry about the water issues.. leaking and not draining but you made the best of it all..in more ways than one.
I hope there wasn't any cross-contamination! Share and share alike is good, except when it comes to things like illness. It's good you were able to create a complete kitchen between the two of you, and there's nothing wrong with hand-washing dishes! Now, it's on to the next great holiday -- Mardi Gras, for us!
ReplyDeleteOh your Valentines celebration looks so warm and nice.
ReplyDeleteAll these handmade things - cards, cookies and the book!
It's such a great idea!
Sometimes we also celebrate this day with the delay. I mean - it's not a special holiday for us, but it's a good reason to spend some time together.
Ususally we like to do something unusual. Once we went to the shooting range, once we've tried trampolines. It's always nice to experience something new.
This year we decided to go for a Balinese massage. And well, it wasn't that nice as I've expected. But still we've spend this time together.
I'm incredibly sorry to read you have been sick. I hope you recover soon. I can relate. I had something for over three weeks and am just now getting over it.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh at the dishwasher problem. I haven't had a dishwasher since I moved to Wichita in '91. I ALWAYS have dishpan hands, mainly because I have two boys who refuse to get their paws wet.
As always, I simply adore your lovely book you have created for Rick. This one is as lovely as the one last year and I am in awe of all the art, photos, and text you shared. Charming and beautiful as usual. You draw and color SO well. You have skills I will admire forever, dear.
You did a great job creating that Valentine cookie and your "impromptu" dinner setting was perfect, especially for someone as sick as you. Happy belated Valentine's Day again, and get that dishwasher fixed. I don't want you getting sick from basement mold.
Jeanie, I'm glad you finally got to celebrate after all your hard work and hope, by now, you are both feeling much better. Take care so it doesn't turn into all that nastiness that is going around. All your efforts are wonderful and you can tell what true love is. We went grocery shopping to Trader Joe's, bought some red tulips, had dinner at In-N-Out Burger with the dogs, went home and watched TV. Now that has got to be true love!..xxoJudy
ReplyDeleteDear Jeanie, I am glad that you finally got to celebrate after all your hard work. Hope you both are feeling better and take care that you don't get that nastiness that is going around. All your valentine efforts are wonderful and just shout true love. Love the idea of the book for the year. We went grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, bought some red tulips, had dinner at In-N-Out Burger with the dogs and came home and watched TV..with no complaints. Now, that has got to be true love!..xxoJudy
ReplyDeleteSorry you were both sick, and there were mechanical issues with various appliances (seriously, it does seem like your basement does just want to be wet). But glad you managed to enjoy some Valentine's celebrations despite all that.
ReplyDeleteWhen it rains it seems to pour sometimes Jeanie. Colds, appliances showing their behinds sounds like us! Your valentine's did come together and looks like a delicious dinner and sweet Rick to pamper you. Jeanie I love the album you made, that is a true gift of the heart! I'm sure Rick and the children and grands will have those to treasure. I love your poems and drawings, beautiful!!!! I wish the artist gene had been in my DNA!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great week......
Better late than never.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pair of sweet love birds you are. I think the annual book is a splendid idea, you’ll love to go back over it in years to come.
Hope your colds are all better by now.
I am always impressed with the book you make for Rick every year. What a wonderful way to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteHope by now you are both feeling much better and celebrating each and every day. I love the cookie idea and that you made something special out of some difficult issues.
Happy Valentine's Day, Jeanie! The book you make for Rick each year just staggers me. That, plus that amazing cookie, gorgeous watercolors, and your gentle care for each other just makes me want to cheer. (All that, and if the humor, kindness, and sense of humility this last weekend elicited aren't somehow a mark of true love, I don't know what is.)
ReplyDeleteSure hope you & Rick are feeling better by now.
Your Valentine paintings are wonderful. I was looking at packages of stickers in Target yesterday, considering if any of them would be nice to put on mail to the grandchildren, when the thought came to me that I should *draw* more, in my letters and cards to them. You are a good example to me!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you managed to celebrate even though you weren't well. Love your heart cake and the beautiful book you made for Rick.
ReplyDeleteThe Valentine cards you painted are very pretty too, you are so talented Jeanie.
Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Your art and story telling are wonderful! I think I'll follow along ~ Happy belated Valentine's Day!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, will you stop being sick!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you were able to get together on Sunday.
Jeanie, I hope you feel better soon. I am on day 12 of this stuff, I have had enough. Your celebration looks fun and festive and the food was certainly perfect. I would love some of the cookie, sounds good with my morning coffee. Take care of yourself and get plenty of rest.
ReplyDeleteOh the book you made is just awesome! You really put in lots of love in it! Love the heart cookie and your painting of the mailbox! I need to get back to my art! Enjoy your week. Hope you are both feeling lots better! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteYou two are adorable.. love that you make him a book every year.. that is so sweet!
ReplyDeleteI used to make books and write Steve stories like that. I should do it again.
ReplyDeleteOh my! Such a real life Valentines Day. All's well though. You are so creative! I love the energy you put into things.
ReplyDeleteOh my heart your painted Valentines are precious! I loved the cute card you sent me. I'm gearing up to see the movie, Emma. Are you going to see it?
ReplyDeleteThis is sooo SWEET! So much love and sweetness! Thank you for sharing so much of your love and your family with us, Jeanie! :) ((HUGS))
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the book, Jeanie!!! Wow Wow Wow!! Those collages, dreamy rich. Such a testament to the love you have in this world, and your love for Rick. And he cooks for you!!
ReplyDeleteA sweet Valentine post. The paintings are so cute - what a special talent you have, Jeanie. And that heart shaped cookie is something else! : )
ReplyDelete~Sheri
Ohhhhhh - that cookie! If the grain fairy worked some magic on my gutt
ReplyDeletethat let me eat anything with grain again, I would go straight for that cookie! Oh a chocolate chip cookie is heaven. So inspired:)
Always I love the way you celebrate life and keep riding the waves:)
Thanks for the smiles,
Jennifer
Belated Hearts Day wishes to you and Rick, Jeanie. Sorry you were both sick and then you had a DW issue (yes your basement may be eternally wet, sorry). I have never tried shrimp and grits but will take your word on it being good since it's your favorite dish. The cookie looked awesomely good!
ReplyDeleteSo pleased that all difficulties were overcome!
ReplyDeleteThe book looks wonderful, what a fantastic idea.
Happy Belated Valentines Wishes.
All the best Jan
A good way to mark the occasion.
ReplyDeleteHappy I decided to “catch up” on blog posts!
ReplyDeleteLove your Valentine Gift of your year!
You are so creative Jeanie . . .
Delightful!
And the cookie . . .
(I hope the sink leak is fixed!)
(And the “sickies” GONE!)