Mersydotes

On a very  sunny day in May, Mr. Mersy helped me set up our bookshelf and side table in a parking lot in the crisp morning air, and "Made by Mersy" was born!  It was our local flea market, and the call had gone out for crafters to join in as well.  Along with lots of folks clearing out their attics, there were jewelry makers, plant sellers, and me.  If I do say so myself, my booth was a bit of local "color".   For the first time in a verrrrrrrrry long time, I felt like I was a part of a community.  The kind you see in British cozy mysteries on PBS where everyone is connected, walks everywhere, and participates in local fetes.  I had wonderful friends who accompanied me through the day to keep me company and help me not to be too shy.  And walking through the flea market were friends from knitting group, neighbors, and local folks I recognized from our daily errands.  It was an absolutely lovely afternoon, and turned out to...

Mr. Mersy first found out that he would need to be gluten-free about seven years ago.  At that time, I had never even heard of Celiacs Disease, although, on the plus side, in that very first apartment, I had just discovered that I could cook- and that I like it!  Those first few months were spent putting colored stickers on every item in the cupboards- red for gluten, green for gluten free, yellow for not sure.  We're still finding the occasional sticker even now!  And we would cook up huge batches of food from the discounted gluten-free cook book we had splurged on, freezing the uneaten portions "to be prepared".   Boy have we come a long way!  We went from that phase of hyper-preparedness to one of hyper-independence, thinking that we could and should make everything from scratch- none of these premade gluten-free crackers for us!  We were buying xanthan gum and making our own granola- we were awesome! And th...