Monday 18 March 2024

Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 


"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard 


 A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.





My father gave me this photograph of himself from when he was 17 and had first joined the airforce. Both my oldest and my sister's oldest sons bear a very strong resemblance to my dad that is very apparent in this photograph. Its uncanny.  My dad came from a very poor family and was not able to finish his education as the money was not there for him to get past grade 10. Back in those days you were required to pay fees to go beyond that. I am not sure what it is like now. In any case he ended going into the military.  He was so small that they had to have his uniform specially made for him. 


 


He met my mother when he was 20 and they got married a short time later. I think he was just shy of his 21st birthday because I think his parents had to sign for him to get married.  The rest is history.

Love both of my parents very much. I miss my mom every day. I think I always will.  It pains me that I was unable to be there for her during the last few years of her life.  I had always been there for her in the past. I gave that up for someone who did not deserve me and I will never be able to forgive myself or him for that, but it is what it is and I cannot change it. I hope that she forgives me for that.


 


My left knee has been causing me excruciating pain for this past week.  I am not sure how I could explain it to anyone who has not experienced it themselves. I am so grateful that it is only the one knee.     What a great blessing that is. If it was both I would be totally incapacitated.  I am grateful for the tender  mercy that for now it is only the one.


 


Grateful for being able to go to church on Sunday and partake of the sacrament.  To fellowship with the Saints and take the Savior's name upon myself.  For me that is a really big deal.  I do take it very seriously and I strive daily to live up to my covenants and to be a good example to those around me.  I am not sure I always achieve that purpose, but I try.  And we are told from above that we will be blessed in the trying.


 

Spring, it will be official in only a few days now.  Already I feel a great change in the air. I have been able to have my front window and bringing in fresh air on a few days recently. Even now, this morning, the temperature is a bit above zero. I saw buds on my sister's lilac bushes yesterday and a forsythia in a pot in bloom by someone's front door.  The tulips are popping up next door as well and Jane down the end of the street has been busy in her garden.



I received the most beautiful Easter Card from my friend Ginny and her husband Tom. It comes from the same Convent that Susan Branch visited, the Holy Nativity Convent. Such a thoughtful thing for Ginny to do, to send me this card and from such a place.  I am happy that this will be sitting on my mantle through all of the Easter season.

I don't know why we don't celebrate Easter with the same fervor that we celebrate Christmas. To my way of thinking,  it is a much more important holiday. These next two weeks are the lead up to some of the most important days in the history of the earth. I know not everyone feels that way, but for me they are very sacred.

I am grateful for a heart that celebrates the sacred.


 

They had the most beautiful Tulips in the grocery store the other day. I wish now that I had bought some, even though they don't stay looking lovely for very long.  I had always wanted to see the Tulip fields in Holland, but never did get there. I have seen photographs however and they are stunning. I can only imagine the smell.  I think of all the tulips, pink ones are my favorite color.

 


Occasionally I have this.  I have always wanted to see the world, since I was a child. My parents had an encyclopedia in our bookcase and it had extra geography volumes. I used to pour through its pages regularly, dreaming of far off lands and distant places, places I would like to go. I am grateful that I was able to see some of those places in person, that was a special blessing. I did not get to see them all, but that's okay.  I am an armchair traveler now.  Its the best way for me to do my traveling these days. It costs nothing, I get to see lots of things,  and at night I get to sleep in my own bed. 




 

On Saturday for my lunch I enjoyed a fresh Baguette spread with butter and filled with some Tuscany Ham from the deli counter. It was so good.  Not quite as good as it would have been had I gotten it in France, but it was very good nonetheless.  It is the most popular sandwich in France, this simple repast.   Occasionally I like to come close. Very enjoyable.



 

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to support myself in the way that I do.  I have no idea how long it will last or how long I will be able to keep it up, but I am grateful for it for as long as I have it and can do it. I am trying to save enough so that if the bottom ever falls out, I will still be able to live. It is a bit scary sometimes to think about, but I just put it all in the hands of the Lord who has not failed me yet.  This is another tender mercy that I do not take for granted.

On a side note, what a beautiful pillow.




My life is filled with tender mercies and a multitude of blessings. I take none of them for granted.  I know how very blessed I am to have even this.  I am ever cognizant of the fact that, there, but for the Grace of God, go I. I do not know what I ever did to deserve any of this, but I am grateful for it all. Faith, family, home, friends, job . . .  my cup is filled to overflowing.

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

 *.˛.I wear the key of memory
and can open every door
in the house of my life.
~Amelia E. Barr•。★★ 。* 。
•。★★ 。* 。° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 





In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Ranch Dressed Crushed Potatoes. Seriously the most delicious potatoes I have ever eaten. 


I hope your week ahead is filled to overflowing with small and wonderful things, tender mercies and blessings from above. Through it all, don't forget!

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⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
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And I do too!    

   

Saturday 16 March 2024

All Things Nice . . .

 

 

Tomorrow may bring me a hundred ills,
But oh today is sweet,
With a small wind coming from God knows where
And travelling up the street,
Teasing the doors and window sills,
Then travelling back to the quiet hills.

Tomorrow may bring me grief to bear
But today is bright as dawn,
With a sky decked out in an azure cloak.
And a hill with a new dress on,
Crisp and green as a lettuce leaf,
With dandelion buttons in gold relief.

Tomorrow may rob me of all I own,
But today I will have all my joy,
A table set with a yellow cloth,
And the fun of a year old boy,
Playing around on polished floors,
Coaxing his mother to come out doors.

Tomorrow is part of the great unknown,
But this morning is mine to hold,
And I'll cherish each moment with jealous care,
Like a miner hoarding his gold,
Savor its goodness and sip its wine
Making its moments forever mine.
~Edna Jacques, A Day at a Time,
The Golden Road, 1953

What a lovely reminder for us to enjoy all the moments in our "nows." Yesterday is dead and gone and nothing can be done about that. Tomorrow may never come, best not to fret about things not yet experienced.  Today is ours. Now. Here.  Golden. We must make all of our todays the best that we can and take our blessings where we find them.  Be present in our lives.  Enjoying the small and simple things which make up a beautiful life.  As I am fond of saying, every day may not be a good day, but there is something good to be found in every day.


 

This week has gone by rather quickly. I feel that way every week. It seems  like they no sooner begin than what they are ending.  And in-between there is life. A busy, happy, joy filled life. There is really nothing extraordinary about my life, nothing to mark it out as being any more special than the next person's life. It is filled with simple joys and pleasures that are really only mine.  


Many would think perhaps that my life was quite boring, but I do not find it to be so.  I have never been the kind of person to seek out bright lights and excitement. I have always been happiest at being a homebody. A person who enjoys the simple things. I think excitement is highly over-rated! Even when I was very young I did not crave such things.  I have always been content to be in my  home, doing homemaking things.  Caring for a family. Doing simple needle works. Puttering in my house. Baking.  Cooking. Cleaning. Reading. That was all the excitement I ever craved or needed, even back then. 


I have never felt that I missed out on anything by marrying and having a family when I was young.  I was never career oriented.  All I every really wanted to be was a wife and a mother, a homemaker. I was so blessed to have been able to spend the first 45 years of my life being just those things. I know that many people do not and have never had the luxury of being able to do that.  I see my having been able to do just that as a particularly sweet blessing. One which I hold dear to my heart.


 


I love to drive through my small valley at dusk.  To see the white houses, being lit up, and the people coming home for their suppers. The violet light on the crocus buds by front doors, bicycles leaning on steps and scooters drawn up with relaxed wheels. It gives me a good feeling. My imaginations help my life to wear wings. 

This is a secret for living, the ability to have your life wear wings. Imagination isn't always dodging reality, but its things like doing dishes and playing classical music while I do so. . .  and feeling such things, instead of like an enslaved drudge, like a "fortunate breather of the air" who can hear the swish of satin from ballroom dresses and the soft purr of velvet and the light tape of enchanted slippers from the past.

Imagination can invest any dull task with a glow. Even peeling potatoes can acquire interest. Even this boring task can become something much more than what it is.

It is fun for the mind to make a journey beginning with even peeling potatoes. You can start with thoughts of Ireland, and digging them up in the green land of Eire.  Little thatched cottages, peat bogs, horse carts and the lilt of Irish fiddles echoing in the night air through the well-lit open doorways of pubs. Before you know it your  mind is diving into thoughts of Irish faery folk . . . Diedre and Cuchulainn and the shadowy horses and the little silver trout that turned in the pan and spoke. The changeling, and the child the faeries stole  away.  These are fine tales and fuel the imagination.


"For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild,
With a faery, hand in hand,
From a world more full of weeping
than he can understand."
~Yeats

I have always been a dreamer.


 

Oh what a wonderful day I had with Cindy on Thursday.  The sun was shining brilliantly and the sky a beautiful azure blue.  We were in the car together, chatting and listening to music. I do so love to spend time with my dear sister. She really is my best friend.


My left knee made it a bit difficult for me getting in and out of the car.  It is also making it hard for me to sleep nights.  I don't know why it decides to act up every year about this time. I remember the year we went to Scotland it plagued me the whole time and I was hardly able to move about.  


I will not let it keep me down however, or hold  me back in my life. As much as I possibly can, I want to be present and doing what I can, even if it is only sitting in the car and enjoying the warmth of the sun on my skin through the windows and a breath of fresh air through a car window cracked open. Never under-estimate the joy of the sun's warmth when the cold of winter is on the wane and that fresh clean air is bringing with it the promise of many more warm days to come. 


Before we know it we will all be complaining that its too hot! 


 

Dan and Cindy stopped by yesterday. They were going to the tip and Dan gathered up all of my old cardboard that was still waiting to be put out and he even took my compost down to the green bin and topped up all my tired with air.  The roads are so full of pot holes at the moment, it is very easy for your tires to start to go down a bit.  They were out filling some of them on Thursday, but the job is a mammoth task. They seem worse this year than ever.  Especially along the verges of the roads. I think that heavy trucks take a huge toll on them.  You have to really keep your eyes open and alert while you are driving because the potholes are everywhere and some of them are really quite bad!

I was thinking last night about how wonderful it is that I have a brother-in-law that is so good at doing things like that for me. He works hard all week in a job he is not overly fussed about and then in his spare time he takes the time to do these small acts of kindness for both my father and myself. He doesn't really need to, but he does it anyways.  I am grateful for him and for my sister. They are both really good people. Everyone should be so blessed to have people like them in their lives!


I need to get off here now. The time is marching on and I am going out with Cindy this morning to do my father's shopping.  I will pick up a few bits for myself as well. It gets me out of the house and moving about a bit more than I can do here at home. Plus I get to spend time with my best friend. What can be better than that!


A thought to carry with you . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

 *.˛.Let yourself be silently drawn
by the strange pull of what you really love;
it will not lead you astray.
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
~Rumi
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • 





In The English Kitchen this morning  . . .  Easy Date & Oatmeal Muffins. A very rustic small batch recipe for some simple muffins that are delicious.  Even day old and cold.  Everything a good muffin should be, not too sweet and wholesome.


I hope you have a lovely weekend. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  May the sun shine down upon you and may your hours be richly blessed!  Don't forget!


═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ 
⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════   
  


And I do too!    

   

Friday 15 March 2024

My Friday Finds . . .

 


A few of the things  I find each week that pique my interest, bring me joy, inspire me to learn, create, do, become . . . maybe they will do the same for you! 




Love these sunny crochet coasters from Cute Alley on Etsy. Not free, but not expensive either.




So cute, but could not find a source.





How to make felt succulents.  From the people at BHG.




Laptop Sleeve sewing pattern.  From the Polka Dot Chair.




Earl Grey Panna Cotta Tarts.  From Kitchen Heals Soul.




No source.  Just eye candy.  It looks simple enough. I love things like this. What a cute Easter Brooche this would make or decoration for an Easter Tree.




 I love this stitch.  Not so much the colours, but that is an easy fix.  From Craftsy.




The House that Lars Built.  How to make a paper bag notebook.  




 From Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth.  Beatrix Potter Inspired crafts.  I love this! 



Free pattern for a Sock Elephant.  Did you know I love Elephants?  From Craft Passion.






 From Attic 24 Granny Stitch Afghan. I love it!



 Reality Daydream.  Playing Card Holders.  I contend that this is not just for kids. I would love one of these for myself.




Eighteen Twenty Five.  Spring Doily Banner.




Free Printable Spring Art for the home.  From Landeelu.




Stay at home Spa Day.  Cathy Filian. Make your own Body Scrubs, Lip Balms and soap!



A Granny Motif market bag. Loving the colours. From Lion Brand. A free pattern.



9 Easy ways to get more counterspace.  I can use all the help I can get in this area. From That Vintage Life.



Red Ted Art.  A simple Easter Chick paper decoration.  This is so cute!





Mini Charm Square Patchwork Placemats.  From Sew 4 Home.





I just love these Chicken Pot Holders.  Love the colours and the fabrics and the way their combs are 3D.  From Sew Inspired. No pattern, just eye candy.


And those are my finds for this week.  I hope you found something of interest her!!


What a busy day yesterday. Left to go up country about 9 a.m.  Got there about an hour later as there were some roadworks. Dropped all of our stuff at Value Village. Went in to buy dad some books.  I was a bit astonished by some of their prices. $15 for an old pair of dirty sneakers?  Crazy.  Then we went to the Pet Store, Giant Tiger and finally back to the Running Man for a few Costco goodies. They didn't have the sprouted oats Cindy wanted and so we went down to the Cambridge Convenience store that did. Then we went to Jonny's for lunch. By then it was gone 1:30.  I got home here about 3:30 and still had my work to do for the day.

I talked to my son Anthony briefly. Gabriel never got my Birthday Card that I had sent to him. It had money in it, so then I transferred some money over to make up for it. I can do nothing about the card. I had mailed his card the same day that I mailed my brother's to Ottawa and my brother got his on the 4th of March.  I think its fair to say that Gabe's got lost, or stolen. Who knows.

And with that I best leave you with a thought for the day!

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

 *.˛.When we strive to become better 
than we are, everything around
us becomes better too!° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
~Paulo Coelho ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
 ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •




In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Vintage Butterscotch Cake.  A recipe from a 1941 cookbook. It has a  marshmallow topping which intrigued me!



I hope that you have a wonderful day filled with lots of love, peace and happiness.  Whatever you get up to, don't forget!


═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ 
⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════   
  


And I do too!    

   



Thursday 14 March 2024

Today . . .

 
From my ME desk calendar today


Normally today I would do a favorite things post. That will have to wait until tomorrow.  I am off today with Cindy to take some of Dad's things to a second hand shop. Specifically books.  I think the shop is called Value Village.  Its quite a ways away so we will be leaving early to go to dad's to pack the book up and then its at least a 45 minute drive there.  Of course while we are up that way we will do a few other things. It only makes sense to kill as many birds with one stone as we can!  I'll be back tomorrow with a longer post.  

In the meantime  . . . 




This is my recipe of the day, a delicious Croissant Reuben Sandwich. This was really tasty if I don't say so myself!


I hope that you have a lovely day. Whatever you get up to stay safe and be happy.  Don't forget!


═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ 
⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
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And I do too!    

   



 

Wednesday 13 March 2024

Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

 

Just a few more days now and it will officially be Spring. Well, okay, more like a week. But it is definitely waiting in the wings.  The river is still very high, having burst its banks on both sides. Its been like that for a couple of weeks now.  If you look over both sides of the bridge as you drive into town you can see huge swathes of it laying amidst the tree line.  It has gone down however, so that is good.

When I was a teenager they actually rerouted the river to take it further away from those residential streets at that end of the town. It was a huge undertaking and came at great expense.  At one time the homes in that area could look forward to flooding almost every year.  It rarely happens now.

The Annapolis River is a river that winds through our beautiful valley, which lays between two mountains which are known as the North and the South Mountain, the one mountain abutting the Bay of Fundy.  

We live in somewhat of a micro-climate here, which is ideal for growing fruit, making the Annapolis Valley one of the most productive bits of agricultural land in the province. 

I only know that there are parts of the river which are spectacularly beautiful.  I especially love it down near Paradise.  Towns are scattered all along it's banks and I suspect that is where Paradise got it's name, because of the beauty of the river in that area.




This was the condition of my lap for a good part of yesterday afternoon. My left knee has been causing me a lot of pain this week and so I decided to take a bit of a rest mid afternoon and put my legs up.  Cinnamon hopped on board and I took advantage of her being there to snap a few photos of her.




She didn't seem to mind overly much. She was just enjoying being on my lap. We have taken to doing this for at least a half an hour or so every day. She seems to really like this time we spend together. Nutmeg is usually off sleeping under the bed and so I think she feels comfortable enough that she can really relax without him coming along and spoiling it all.  He did arrive eventually and jumped up as well and then started aggressively bathing her, which she doesn't really enjoy all that much, so she jumped down and our nice relaxing time together was finished.


I am sure he does not mean to be a nuisance to her.  Its just who he is. Loveable and bumbling.


 

I wish you could remember it too,
the nights when it was just you and I,
hushed whispers and stolen lullabies.
you would fall and scrape your knee
and when you saw my face,
you felt safe enough to cry.
I wish you could remember it, too.
when my hugs and kisses
could solve any problem in your world
and calm your fears 
of monsters in the closet.
I wish you could remember it, too,
those very early days.
~Jessica Jocelyn, Letters to Anna


I love the poetry of this poet that I have been following on Instagram.  She seems to be able to encapsulate the feelings of motherhood. I read these words and immediately I was transformed to those hours in the dark of night, in the early wee hours of the  morning when it would be just myself and my babies.  The middle of the night feeds. Oh I was so tired. I remember being so tired and yet it was also such a special time, a sacred time for just the two of us.  Moments that I did not have to share with anyone else.  They were ours and ours alone. Nobody knows those  moments but us. That is what makes them unique and special and a treasure I hold in my heart for eternity.

And I wonder sometimes if there is anything in my children that remembers those moments?  Is there a small space in each of us that remembers those sacred moments with our mothers, in the womb and afterwards . . .  moments where there was just us.


 

When you were a child, did you play the buttercup game?  The one where you hold a buttercup to another's chin and ask, "Do you like Butter?"  If the chin glowed yellow the answer was in the affirmative. Of course.  Everyone likes butter in that instance. I never met a chin that did not glow with the yellow light from the buttercup.

But, have you ever met anyone that did not like butter?  For real?  I never have.  Not a one.

When we were growing up we only had butter in the house.  We were so lucky. My mother would not have margarine in the house. Just butter.  And we were allowed to use as much of it on our bread as we wanted to use.  And oh we slathered it on. So much so that my father would often ask, "Would you like any bread on your butter?"  He thought he was being funny, but we only found it annoying.  As an adult I can appreciate the humor now.

I have taken to lately enjoying  slice of sour dough bread spread with nothing but soft butter in the evenings. This is my snack.  A huge part of me would like jam on it as well, but the diabetic in me knows this is folly and so I resist. When I get to the other side I am going to enjoy as much white bread, butter and jam as I like and with abandon.


 

I have been thinking a lot about this lately.  This doesn't mean that we will never experience sorrow or tumult in our lives.  Life is full of that type of thing.  Some lives experience much more of it than others, and we all go through periods of time in our lives where it feels like we are being bombarded by things we would rather not have to go through.  Nobody is immune from it.  I think this scripture means that we can find rest in Him, and  His strength, all the strength we need to get through whatever it is we are experiencing. Somewhat protected from the worst of the arrows  . . . but not totally.  Just a respite.  We often need the arrows. More often than not, they are growing experiences.  Humbling experiences.  I have never met a person that has not ever experienced any hardships.  We all have them.  I believe that it is what you do with, and how you cope with, these moments that matter most.  And I would much rather cope with them from the shelter and refuge of His wings . . .  His shelter . . . 


I am running out of time again this morning so I must wind this down now.  I don't know what happens, but hours seem to evaporate in front of this keyboard!  I am not complaining as I really do enjoy being here.  

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

 *.˛.How wonderful it is that nobody
need wait a single moment
before starting to improve the world.
~Anne Frank  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •


What an inspiration that poor girl was. All these years later and her words still resonate deeply.




In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Ina Garten's Gruyere Omelet.  I tried to make an omelet using Ina's technique. Was I successful?  Not entirely, but I still got to enjoy a pretty tasty omelet!


I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday. (How is it that the weeks pass by so quickly!!)  Whatever you get up to be blessed and be happy. Don't forget!


═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ 
⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════   
  


And I do too!