The Winner!

Hello, my friends!  I have used random number generator to select a winner of the "London Treasures" giveaway, and I'm excited to announce that the winner is the amazing prairiegirl!  I was stunned when her number came up on the generator.  It just seemed so perfect.  Pg was one of the people I met during my first year of blogging, and we have been friends ever since.  In addition to being one of the most gifted photographers I know, she is also one of the kindest, funniest, and most supportive people I have ever met.  I use the term "met" in a bloggy way, since we have yet to meet face-to-face, but I feel like I have always known her.  I know that any of you who blog understand just what I am talking about.  It will be a joy to think of Miss prairiegirl while I am making my rounds at the London markets (although I may have to let you down a wee bit, pg, since I'm going to have to eat all the fish and chips myself)!

And because I wish, wish, wish I could bring back gifties for everyone, here are five more folks to whom I'll be sending postcards upon my return from the UK: Jillayne, Marlowe, Oliag, Sunday, and Cathi.  If your name is on the list, please send me an email (see Contact and Links) with your mailing address.  I'll be pleased as punch to write you a pretty postcard.  

Here is a big thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway, as well as to all those who sent sweet notes via email and Facebook.  In most parts of life, three years isn't very long, but in the transitory world of blogging, three years seems almost a lifetime, and I feel a lucky magpie, indeed, to still be here, typing away.  

x Gigi

Three Years and a Leap and a Giveaway!

"With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?"  ~Oscar Wilde

The Magpie's Fancy turned three years old on February 26th, but I decided to wait until today to mention it.  What better way to celebrate than with a leap?

While anniversaries usually make me pause and reflect, this year I simply want to move forward.  Blogging helped me muddle through one of the most painful periods of my life (there I go reflecting anyway), and now I feel it guiding me during a time of renewal.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all the amazing friends I have made here in the blogging world, and to my dear friends from the face-to-face world who have long supported The Magpie's Fancy.  You inspire me every single day.  I have no idea what the future holds for this blog, but I'm so happy that you have shared the journey with me this far.

To celebrate, I am hosting a GIVEAWAY.  Those who have won my giveaways before know that they are very much in keeping with my magpie tendencies.  I select a winner at random, and then collect various magpie treasures especially for the individual who wins.  I gather them up in a unique package, and ship them off to her or him.  

This giveaway is an extra special one, because I will be gathering the giveaway treasures during my trip to London!  That's right.  All the goodies will come from my favorite markets in and around that glorious city.

If you would like to enter to win a parcel of magpie treasures from me, simply leave a comment on this post between now and March 6th, 2012.  I will draw a winner on March 7th.  

While only one person can win the big prize, I will also be drawing five more names to receive a postcard printed with one of my flower photographs.  

Thank you, dear ones, for giving me riches beyond compare.  x Gigi

Music for a Tuesday

Because we all need some beauty on a Tuesday, here's a wee bit for you.
I'll be back tomorrow with giveaway news!  x Gigi

Oatmeal Nirvana

The number one most loved breakfast in our house is old-fashioned oatmeal.  Steel-cut or thick-rolled, we eat it several times a week.  The number one favorite multi-purpose food is peanut butter.  The favorite fruit: bananas.  The favorite dessert: dark chocolate.  So, when I stumbled across a recipe on Pinterest that includes all of these beloved foods, there was no question.  I had to make it.

This recipe for Peanut Butter Breakfast Pudding is from Chocolate-Covered Katie.  She is a goddess.  If you like oatmeal, do yourself a favor and try this.  She says the chocolate chips are optional, but when cooking for Mr. Magpie they are an essential ingredient.  I will say, though, that I sprinkled on too many.  I will use maybe 6 chips per bowl next time.  That's all it needs.  You swirl 'em in with your spoon and they melt into a cocoa-y pudding.

And now I will just tell you that this is my favorite. oatmeal. ever.

We like to dip our toast in our oatmeal.  Do you do that, too?  Maybe we are just weird.  I made too much toast this morning.  This oatmeal is RICH.  One slice of toast each--or none at all--would have been perfect.

A few notes about the recipe: I doubled it, and it was enough for two very large servings.  Also, I made mine with almond milk, and it was heavenly.  I used all-natural peanut butter with no sugar in it (is there any other kind?).  In fact, I didn't add any sweetener to the oatmeal at all, and it was more than sweet enough since it has the almond milk, the bananas, and the chocolate chips.  Even without the chips, it would be plenty sweet for me.

This is a weekend kind of oatmeal to make for someone you love or just to treat yourself. And now I'm going to have to try every recipe that Katie makes!  

Happy Weekend, my friends!  x Gigi   

The Sun, the Moon, and Everything in Between

I shot this photo of Portland Head Light just before nightfall with the sun setting (in a spectacular blaze of orange) behind me.  The colors here in Casco Bay are beautiful any time of year, but there's something special about a late winter sky.  If you can stand the tear-inducing wind long enough to get one semi-decent photo, then you are rewarded with remarkable, watercolor blues and pinks.

Two years ago I lived for a few months on an island just across the bay from this famous lighthouse.  Here in the city tonight, as I looked up at the star-pricked sky and the waxing crescent moon, I recalled how much more connected to the sun and moon and stars I felt on the island.  I woke every single day with the sun and I watched it set nearly every evening.  The ocean waves were just a few yards (on stormy days just a few feet) from my front door, and I walked the road that ringed the island rain or shine, telling time by the rise and fall of the tides.  Whenever I'm back there to visit with friends or even stay a night or two, I feel my heart slow down to an even rhythm.  Life's purpose and my place within it become clear when I look to the sun and moon to keep my pace.    

Winter Light

Just a note to say I'm thinking of you.  

The sunlight here is verging on perfect.

Spring is waiting in the wings.

I'm writing more each day than the one before.

Can't wait--but I must--to show you the words.

Tell me what you're making, sewing, building, writing, spinning 

into silk out of thin air.

x Gigi

  

     

Mr. and Mrs. Magpie Take a Trip

Portobello Road

I haven't told you the giddy news yet: Mr. Magpie and I are headed back to England for a week in March!  We are beside ourselves with delicious joy.

Crystal Globe Pendants at the V&A

Chihuly at the V&A

As some of you know, when Mr. Magpie is not busy fulfilling his duties as my better half on this blog, he is known as Dr. Todd Avery, Scholar of British Modernist Literature and Professor of English.  I need to finish sewing his superhero costume, which has a large, sparkly, Edwardian "B" on the front.  B for British and for Bloomsbury, as in the folks he writes about from the Bloomsbury Group. His brilliant books can be found here and here and here (pdf order form from Cecil Woolf Publishers) and here (beautiful exhibition catalog Todd wrote from a Bloomsbury Exhibition he curated at the Lilly Library in 1999 when he was still a graduate student.  The book is now a collectible and a must for Bloomsbury lovers.  Yes, I'm bragging.)  I don't use "brilliant" lightly.  My guy is a smarty pants, and because he is one, he spends a great deal of time doing the sorts of things that smarty pants do, like rummaging through archives and leafing through forgotten papers and books and recordings and even very old films.  Fortunately for me, this means he must travel as often as possible to libraries far and wide, which in turn means I often get to travel beside him.  Occasionally I even share in writing duties;  you can find an article Mr. Magpie and I co-wrote here.   He, being a singular bird, does not much like flying, so having a trusty traveling companion makes the whole business much less taxing.  Perhaps that sounds odd for a superhero, but not all superheroes love to fly.  Batman prefers his Batmobile.  Mr. Magpie prefers his desk chair and his mighty fountain pen.  They take him all the way around the world, thank you very much.

Needs no caption!  :)

Detail of horse from the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum--I visit them every trip!

On this trip, he must visit some film archives in London and a library or two in Cambridge.  Hooray for him!  Hooray for me!  London just happens to be my favorite city.  This time we will be staying outside of the city in Greenwich, one of the prettiest places I know, in a lovely B&B that I have heard is a gem.  We've stayed all over London, but we've never stayed overnight in Greenwich, and I LOVE the markets there, the museums and parks, and the food, so I will have much to report upon our return.

Arriving at Greenwich by riverboat on the Thames

After Greenwich, it will be off to Cambridge.  I've only ever spent a day and a night there, so I am thrilled!  We haven't found the perfect place to stay in Cambridge yet.  If any of you know a fabulous place that is not crazy expensive (we are traveling on an academic budget, which, despite what many conservative US politicians will tell you about lazy and greedy academics, is decidedly not a luxury budget!), please let me know.  We've asked around to some friends and colleagues, but have yet to hit upon the place that fits both our budget and our simple needs (clean, quiet, convenient for walking, ensuite bath, good breakfasts).  For me, when we're on this type of trip, a pretty room is a bonus.  Of course I'd like it, but, honestly, I'd rather spend the money on some good food and wonderful experiences than on a super luxury room.  Am I crazy?  I prefer to think I'm just a girl with a camera who sees her hotel room as a place to sleep between adventures like the one pictured below.

Portobello Road--delicious!

I know some of you live in or near London, so you know just why I am so excited to return.  For those of you who don't live there, I wish I could take you in my pocket, especially to my favorite markets, where we would have a ball together.  I promise to return with photos and new discoveries to share.

We won't be leaving for a few weeks yet, so if you see this any time before March and know of an inn/B&B in Cambridge, please feel free to drop me an email!

Roses at Saint Paul's Cathedral.  I've only climbed to the top once!  What a view!

Happy weekend, my friends, and welcome to new subscribers and followers!  I'm looking forward to making my blog rounds this weekend!  Can't wait to see what you're all up to.  x Gigi

P.S. All the photos above are from our last UK trip two years ago.  I've been missing it so!