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. 

 

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We got a lot of snow at the weekend.  It has snowed practically the whole weekend.  It seems I have gotten my wish for a White Christmas. So beautiful. Pristine. Soft.  Very pretty. Very  cold. Unless something drastic happens, it is here to stay. We are supposed to get more tomorrow as well on Christmas Eve. In fact, there is a weather advisory in place for Christmas Eve. Not so good for those who are traveling. Those who are traveling might want to put off their travel plans until Christmas day. I am very grateful that I do not have very far to go.

Despite the snow at the weekend Glenna and I were able to get to church.  It was the Christmas program. Many did not get there and watched it online.  It was good for me to be able to partake of the sacrament and be where I needed to be on Sunday morning, to refill my spiritual battery.

I have been very sad and have been having a difficult time shaking the sadness this time around. I have been praying and praying for God to take it away. It will take time. I do not want to feel this way for the rest of my life.  Before I got that email the other day, I always had some hope at least that someday a miracle would occur.  Now I have lost that hope.

Somehow, some way I am going to have to find the strength to reconcile myself to the fact that this is just the way it is. Outwardly that is easy, but my soul is struggling. My heart is sore.  In fact, I would say it is broken in a way it has never been. Time heals all wounds, and I am praying in time, this will not feel as bad as it does now.

I am sorry that I have not responded to any of your comments yet.  I have read them all and I do appreciate each one of them, and your support very much.  It's just hard.

 

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Now the Winter Solstice has come and gone, we can look forward to the days getting a bit longer again.  It may not be noticeable at first.  But the shortest day is gone now and little by little the light will return to our days

In the meantime, I am enjoying hunkering down in candlelight, warm lap blankets, candles and music, good books, hot cocoa . . . 

Cats on my lap.

 

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This . . .  just this.  I do not want any more drama in my life. I have had enough of it.  I just want Peace . . . I hand things over to God, but then I grab them back. I need to be able to just let it all go.  It's so hard to do. The discord comes in waves. Gently lapping at the shores of my heart . . . with the occasional Tsunami of grief.  I know it will not always feel this way and I pray for it to end.

The biggest solution is distraction.  So, I stay busy, or at least I try to stay busy. I try to take myself to a place where my thoughts cannot grasp and take hold. To not live in my head.  The hardest time is at end of day when I get into bed and after I have said my prayers, even during my prayers . . . then I cannot stop the tears from flowing.  I try to remember that tears are the balm for the soul. 

 

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I love this room. It looks so serene.  In harmony.  I love the peace that white brings. If I was a much younger woman, I would work on that.  But I am old now and I no longer have the heart and soul of a decorator.  Funny that, when I was young, I had no money to decorate as I would have liked to do. I collected Country Living magazines, and I dreamt about someday. Now I am old, I have some money, and not a lot to spend it on, but I lack the energy and the will to decorate in the way that my someday dreamt of. 

I have little spurts of energy, but mostly I just feel tired and lazy, lol.

 

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Don't you just love it.  I do.  Small and wonderful things  . . .  delightful.

 

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I love the idea of being able to hold all these stars in a jar  . . . 

 

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Safe driving in a marshmallow world.  Glenna did well.  

 

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Simplicity. We tend to overcomplicate things . . .

My goal for 2025 . . .  simplicity. I can do it.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for today . . . 

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

 *.˛.Sabbath is a sign

between you and the creator.

~Ezekiel 20:20 ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

 I finished decorating my Christmas Cake at the weekend. I was really pleased with the way it came out. 

This was exactly how I had envisioned it.  It made me happy.  Small and wonderful . . . 

I hope that you have a beautiful day. May your week be filled with joy and peace and more love than your cup can hold.  Be blessed. Don't forget!

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And I do too!    

   

All Things Nice . . .

 

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There'll always be Christmas -- as long as a light

Glows in the window to guide folks at night,

As long as a star in the heavens above

Keeps shining down . . . there'll be Christmas

and love.

There'll aways be Christmas . . . as long as a tree

Grows on a hilltop . . . as long as the sea

Breaks into foam on a white pebbled beach,

As long as there's laughter and beautiful

speech.

There'll always be Christmas . . . as long as a street

Gives back the echo of homeward bound feet,

And children with mittens and warm winter clothes

Have bright eyes that sparkle and cheeks like a

rose.

There'll always be Christmas . . . with holly and snow

And church bells that ring in the valley below,

Shop windows lighted and doorways ajar,

And over the housetops the glint of a

star.

The cavernous length of a stocking to fill

A wreath on the window . . . a light on a hill,

The song of the angels . . . and over again

The beautiful message . . . Goodwill among

men.

~Edna Jacques, There'll Always Be Christmas

The Hills of Home, 1952

What a crazy day it was yesterday.  We took Dad and his friend MaryAnn to the mall yesterday afternoon to spend some time together and Cindy and I popped off to do a few errands. Traffic was crazy, line-ups were long.  People were not at their best.  It was the perfect combination of people getting their pay/pensions, etc., a snow warning on the horizon, and the last Friday before Christmas. 

But in the shops, the cashiers, etc. were working their hardest. In the grocery store the manager was walking around with a tin of Quality Street offering people a sweet treat amidst the chaos, and they had my favorite veggie samosas. 

 

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After the upset of what I woke up to in my email yesterday, I put my thinking cap on. I remembered a wee lad in our church congregation. He has a single mum and a single grandmom who has MS. I know that they struggle. I have known the family for years and years. Little Noah is such a wee sweetheart. A real character.  Full of light.  A feisty little lad. I thought to myself, maybe they would like this gift for Noah.  So, I messaged his gran on Facebook and told her I had a spare gift for a little boy going if she would like it. She was quite happy about that and popped over later in the morning to pick it up. I had also bought a Santa sack to put it in and I had the loveliest little card, complete with elf goggles. I figured Noah would get so much pleasure from it all. I also had extra batteries for each vehicle.  There is nothing worse than your toy running out of battery power on Christmas day.

Noah is around the same age as Liam, but not as privileged.  He doesn't get to join hockey and soccer, etc. His mom and gran work very hard to just give him what he needs. He is very beloved, however and it shows.  I think perhaps I will get a gift for Noah every year that I can. Being able to give to someone who will appreciate it will help to soften the blow of my loss. It's a win/win.

I hope that doesn't sound selfish of me.

 

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As I write this snow is falling. We have had several inches overnight and more is expected to fall as the day progresses. There is a Winter Storm Warning in effect.  But I am here in my cozy little house, with my heat pump warming the house, and my wooly robe keeping me warm.  I have the fireplace on the television playing piano Christmas carols. My candles are lit. The kit kats are snoozing at my feet.

I was awake extra early this morning. I was awake about 4:45. I didn't get out of bed until 5, however.  I just couldn't sleep any longer. My brain was working and so I thought I might as well be up and about the things I want to do today.  

I will decorate my Christmas Cake today, I hope, or at least get the Marzipan on.  You usually need to let that sit for a day or so before you do anything else.

I had some really cute plans for it to do on a video, but I just can't face doing it on video now. I will decorate it however and do a short video to share it. 

I will probably take a nap this afternoon or at least lay back in the easy chair and relax for a bit with perhaps a good Christmas film on the telly.  The cats usually come to join me on my lap when I lay back in my chair. I always make sure I have a blanket on my lap for them to lay on.

 

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I had a nice call with my friend Jacquie last evening.  For some reason my phone will never connect with hers when I call her, so I have to wait for her to call me.  It was not a long call though as I was just about to get into the shower. We have made plans to talk to each other at some point today in any case, and we will have a longer chat then.  Nobody will be going anywhere due to the snow, etc.

Jacquie and I have been friends for about 26 years now.  She and her husband Tom were a great support to me after my second marriage broke up. That first Christmas on my own they had me over to theirs and fed me Christmas Dinner. I was renting a bedroom in someone's house at that point and had no kitchen privileges.  Well, I did, but the girl made such a fuss every time I did cook anything that I didn't cook. I had a microwave in my room and would use that.  I think I lived off of 6-inch turkey subs from Subway for the most part.

Anyways, she and Tom were very good to me. Tom has been gone about 5 years or so now and I know Jacquie gets very lonely. I would go and see her more often. I should go and see her more often.  My son lives on the street right behind where she lives. I don't know if that is why I tend to not go or not. It could be a subconscious thing. You never know.

Anyways, we will have a good gab today while we watch the snow fall.

 

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I usually buy all of my wet cat food, dishwasher tabs, etc. via Amazon. I have them on repeat delivery and that has never failed me. I know that every two weeks the cat food will arrive and that once a month the other stuff will come.  Yesterday my package of the essentials was delivered to my door but there was also another smaller package. Upon close inspection I noted that it was not my package but was addressed to someone one street over.  I was just getting on my phone to message someone to let them know when I saw the delivery van return and the guy got out. I met him in the drive with the correct package and he had one for me as well. (I had ordered new slippers as mine were worn out.)

I was most appreciative of his diligence in making sure that the right packages got to the right people. This group I belong to on Facebook is full of people complaining about their package delivery service. That has not really been my experience. Sure a few things have gotten lost and not arrived, but I have always been refunded, and the fact that this guy, on what must have been a super busy day, retraced his steps to make a wrong right was notable.

Most people who do deliveries for Amazon are not making a lot of money for what they do, and they work really hard. They are doing a job that most people don't want to do and probably for a very basic minimum wage.

Kudos to this guy for going above and beyond.

 

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Life is sometimes very hard.  I do not think I am alone in experiencing the hard times. I think that rain falls on everyone's shoulders. Nobody is immune to pain and loss and hardship. Life is also very beautiful despite the hardships. We just need to train ourselves to dwell on the good instead of on the bad . . . on our many blessings.  I do have many, many blessings in my life.  I live in a safe country. I have pretty good health, aside from the aches and pains of arthritis, but as we get older most of us experience that in one way or another. I have a comfortable roof over my head that keeps me warm and sheltered and dry.  An oasis in the wilderness. My home, to me, is holy ground.

I have all that I need and then some. Enough to share with those who are not as fortunate as myself. If you have enough and then some to share, then you are very blessed indeed.

I am so grateful for the love of family and friends.  For a sister who is always there for me and on whom I know I can depend on in all the seasons of life. I hope she feels the same about me as I do about her.

I have my faith which supports and uplifts me. I would not, could not, be without it. It has gotten me through many a hard or sorrowful time and brought an abundance of joy into each of my days.

I have never known the pangs of true want or need. I have never had to listen to the sound of falling bombs.

I have been hurt just enough in life to enable me to have true compassion and love for others.

Life is good. I will always carry an element of sadness in my soul, but most people do.  I can live with it, even when all hope seems lost. I can dwell on the good rather than the negative, and that will . . .  does . . . make all the difference in the world.

I hope you have a beautiful Saturday.

A thought to carry with you . . . 

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

 *.˛.Oh, year that is coming
bring with you some virtue
of which I have need.
More patience to bear,
and more kindness to share,
And love that is true love indeed.

~Laura Armitage  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Andes Mint Cookies. A small batch. I just had to try them. They are delicious!

I hope that you have a lovely weekend.  May you be richly blessed with all you are in need of. Whatever you get up to, 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!    

   

 

Dear Neighbor . . .

 

(source)

 

ESTATE LANE, N.S.
-5*C/24*F
Dry and cold

Dear Neighbor,

We are back to freezing cold again after having had some pretty mild days and there is a snow warning in effect for tonight on into tomorrow.  It's possible that we just might have a white Christmas after all, but anything can change so I am not getting my hopes up, but it is showing snow for Saturday and Sunday, and Tuesday and Wednesday, so it's looking very good that way.

I feel like I need to get a couple of frozen Christmas dinners for Eileen and Tim, just in case we can't get out.  I will try to do that today when Cindy and I take dad and his friend MaryAnn out this afternoon.

I had thought that I would drop my youngest son's gift off on their doorstep and sent an e-mail to my DIL to tell her that I was going to do so, just so that they wouldn't think that anyone had left garbage on their doorstop. (I was going to put it in a black plastic bag so that nobody would steal it.)

I am not going to do that now.

 

(source)

I had an email waiting for me this morning from my son telling me that moving forward he does not want me to send any cards, gifts, etc. to my grandson. That it confuses my grandson, and he doesn't want to have to explain things to him. And for the mental well-being of his family and to prioritize peace he wants no contact from me at all moving forward.

I will of course honor that.  I don't know what I am supposed to have done or what the reasoning is behind this.  It makes no sense to me and never has done. My heart is totally broken and to be honest, I am not feeling very Christmassy at all now.   But I will do my best to shake it.

 

(source)

It will be nice to see some snow and have it stick. I know that sounds crazy. I love the winter world after a heavy snowfall. It has a quiet, pristine beauty that almost feels like a wonderland.  Songs have been written about Winter Wonderlands.  I think this weekend I will have a Christmas movie festival here in my home. Me and the cats.  We will watch every Christmas movie that I can find and inject some Festivus into us, or into me at least.

My next-door neighbor to the right of me was taken to hospital in an ambulance yesterday. Poor old guy. His wife passed away last year.  Sheila was in to my place as soon as the ambulance left to tell me she did not think he was going to make it.  She seemed quite shaken about it.  I suppose on this part of the street, at least, there was only she and him left from the old brigade. Once he is gone there will only be her.  I felt bad for her.  I took her over some food a bit later on and visited with her for a bit.

A few of them on the street are having Christmas Dinners brought in for them.  They have to pay for them of course, but there is some organization in town that brings in dinners for people who are on their own. It is good that that is available, even in such a small town as this one.

I know that the church that my daughter attends does a free meal every Tuesday supper time. I am not sure if this was the Christmas one or not. I think that the Baptist church is also doing a turkey dinner on Christmas day for people who have no place to go.

I think that the Capital Pub in town does the same. You can go in also and pay for a meal for someone to have.  That is a very nice thing, I think.

 

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I will have to find a charity today to give my gift to.  I will put it on Facebook. Free gift for a four-year-old boy. I am sure someone will take it, and it will be appreciated and played with.  That thought makes me happy at least.

I did not go to emergency with the rash on my neck. I didn't want to take up important time that somebody else might need. I don't think it is anything sinister.  Just a rash and it will get better in time. I am putting anti-itch cream on it, which seems to be helping a bit.

I baked some cookies yesterday.  I still need to decorate my Christmas Cake.  I will not be doing a video about it. I don't think I will do a video again now at least before Christmas. I just do not have the time. This happens every year and I know I am not alone in feeling this way. I run out of time and do not get to do all the things I had planned to do. I need to prioritize things now and just do the things that I absolutely NEED to do. The holiday will come and go regardless, so best to just do the things I must do.

 

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I expect it will be very busy out there today. The last Friday before Christmas. Everyone getting in their last-minute bits.  It was very nice to see Hazel on Wednesday.  Cindy and I each had a card and some chocolate for her.  Chocolate. That is the gift you give people when you can't think of what else to give them. It's not a personal thing, but everyone likes it, and at least you thought of them. She had two lovely cards for Cindy and I.  Her daughter makes cards.  I really liked mine. An old-fashioned Santa on it, very Victorian vintage looking.

When I was a child, my parents had this Santa mask thingy that my mother would hang up every year, at least when we were in Germany. It was one of those German Santas, so Saint Nicholas I guess, with the tall pointy hat and long pointy beard. No roly poly rosy cheeks.  I remember being terrified of that Santa mask.  It did not look or feel very festive to me.

In fact the shadow cast into our bedroom from the hallway reminded me of that Santa Claus and always gave me the heebie jeebies.  I had a very vivid imagination as a child.  I knew that there were monsters beneath my bed.

I was always afraid of Santa Claus.  It was very much a love/hate thing.  I wanted the presents, but he was not a character I wanted to spend any time with.  I never enjoyed my visits to Santa. I endured them. I have always been a people pleaser and if visiting Santa made my mother happy then I did it.

 

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I made a nice pot of stew for myself yesterday.  Not a large one, just a small one. I do like a beef stew every now and then.  I made it with a thin gravy like my mother always made.  I like it that way and then I mash the hot vegetables on my plate and spread them with butter. It is not about the meat. I could care less about the meat in it, although it does give the broth flavor.  I just love the vegetables. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, swede (rutabaga). They taste so delicious mashed down and spread with butter.

I am a person who likes bread and gravy also. A tasty supper for me would be a slice of thick white bread, buttered and then some good gravy ladled over top. I would be quite content.

I can remember sometimes when we were children if we ran out of cereal my mother would give us buttered bread, with sugar sprinkled on it and milk drizzled over top.  It was not toasted bread, just plain white bread. I loved it.  To me it was a real treat.

There used to be bread on the table for most meals.  And butter. Real butter.  We were allowed to spread as much butter on our bread as we wanted to.  I can remember my father asking us if we wanted some bread on our butter, we would spread it that thick.

I still love butter. And it shows.

 

(source)

There I am with the sheep again.  Funny, before I moved to the U.K. I had not ever seen a real sheep. I suppose I had never lived anywhere that there were real sheep.  I had no idea that they had tails, and that they wagged their tails.  I remember the first time we went up to the horseshoe pass in Wales and seeing all the sheep there. They are just left to wander the hillsides and across the roads, etc.  They are everywhere.  Such gentle creatures they are.  I love to listen to them.

When we stayed in the south of France in that cottage in the countryside there was a field of sheep next to the cottage. It was lovely throwing the shutters open in the morning and letting in the sunshine and the sound of the sheep in the field, the cool morning air. That was a nice holiday.

I have had some really nice experiences in my life. Many more nice ones than bad ones. In the balance of things life has treated me very well for the most part. I cannot and should not dwell on the negative and let it take away from the positive.

And so, I won't. I will attempt to move forward with positivity, and think of happy times and situations, people who love me and do want to spend time with me.  Bread with butter. Lashings of butter.  And sheep.

A thought to carry with you . . . 

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

 *.˛.His appearance changed 

from the inside out,

right before their eyes.

Sunlight poured from his face.

His clothes were filled with light.

~Matthew 17:2  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • 

In The English Kitchen today, Creamy Artichoke Dip.  This was something I used to make often as a dinner party nibble when I worked at the Manor. They loved it as did their guests. It is delicious for sure and very simple to make.

I hope you have a lovely Friday. If you go out and about do be safe.  Stay happy, be blessed. 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!    

   

My Favorite Things . . .

 

These are some of the things in life that I enjoy, and which make me happy, inspire me, or put a smile on my face. Maybe some of them are yours too.  Let's share! 

 

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Sheep.  I love sheep. One of the things I was so amazed at when I first moved over to the U.K. was how many sheep there were.  Probably more sheep than people!

 

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Christmas lights.  Some people just do it so well.  Simple and yet so very pretty.

 

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Biscuits. I just love biscuits.

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Ginger cats  . . .  they are loaded with personality. I just might be a bit biased.

 

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Spicy Christmas cookies  . . . 

 

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Christmas sparkle  . . . 

 

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Mouse Houses.  Her mice have so much character.

 

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Frosted window panes  . . . 

 

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Frosted nature  . . . 

 

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This  . . . 

 

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Being creative  . . . 

 

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The reason for the season  . . . 

 

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Pretty book covers  . . . 

 

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Jingle bells  . . . 

 

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Red berries  . . . 

 

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Red cardinals  . . . 

 

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Wouldn't this be loverly  . . . 

 

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Christmas cups  . . . 

 

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A neat chignon . . . 

 

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A window seat  . . . 

 

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Felt ornaments  . . . I love anything felt.

 

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Star light star bright  . . . 

 

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Brown paper packages  . . . 

 

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Ho Ho Ho . . . 

 

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To all and to all a good night  . . . 

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

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

 *.˛.°“One ought, every day at least, 
to hear a little song, read a good poem, 
see a fine picture, and, 
if it were possible, 
to speak a few reasonable words.”

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The English Kitchen today, Maritime Gumdrop Cake. It wouldn't be Christmas without it. It, too, is one of my favorite things!

I have a ton of stuff to do today. I had thought to do a video of me decorating my Christmas Cake, but I am not sure I have the time to do a whole video. I think I will just have to decorate it and then share it finished. I just don't have the time to fit it all in as I would have wanted to. 

I have developed this rash across my lower front neck. I hope it is not shingles. It is very itchy. It showed up a few days ago and has been spreading.  I have been trying very hard to not scratch it.  It's very irritating. 

I had a nice time at lunch yesterday with dad, Hazel and Cindy. The place was so busy. We thought if we went at 1 pm the lunch rush would have been over, but the place was banging!  I couldn't believe it. Everyone must have had the same idea!

And with that I wish you a lovely day today. Stay safe and warm, be happy, and 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!