The Price of Tittle Tattle . . .

I once read a story about a woman who came to her vicar with a very troubled conscience. This woman was well known in the village for having been a habitual gossip - nobody was safe from her tongue for she had maligned just about everyone at one time or another.

Having had her conscience pricked she asked the Vicar, "How can I possibly make amends?"

The Vicar answered, "If you want to make peace with your conscience, take a bag of goose feathers and drop one on the porch of every person you have slandered."

She got an old pillow and took out all the feathers and did just that. When she was finished she came back to the Vicar and asked, "Is that all?"

"No," was his reply, "You must now go and gather up every feather and bring them back to me."

It took most of the day, but the woman finally returned . . . without a single feather. "The wind has blown them all away." she said with a downcast face.

"My dear woman," said the vicar, "So it is with gossip. Unkind words are very easily spoken, but . . . we can never take them back again."



I try hard not to gossip. It's not always easy, especially when you are with someone who gets a real delight out of speaking of others behind their back. I usually try to change the subject. My mother always said that, when you are with someone who gets great enjoyment out of speaking about others and gossiping, then, you can be very sure that, when you are not around, they will also get a great deal of joy out of speaking about you. Your secrets are never safe with a gossip.



"A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealith the matter." ~Proverbs 11:13

"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles." ~Proverbs 21:23

I just love the scriptures. You can find out just about anything that you need to know or that you need to guide you within their pages . . .

Happy 4th of July to all my American readers! May you have a lovely and safe day with lots of sunshine and loved ones to share it with. Here's a lovely salad that would be perfect to take on that picnic in the park before the fireworks. It's super easy to put together and very, very tasty!



*Summertime Chicken Salad*
Serves 4 to 6

This delicious salad always tastes best with a combination of white and dark meat to me. I sometimes roast a chicken specifically just to make this or if it is really hot and I don't want to heat up the kitchen it's also very handy to pick up a take-out rotisserie chicken at the grocery store! That makes it really very easy!

4 cups coarsely shredded cooked chicken
3 ribs celery, chopped into 1/4 inch dice
1 1/4 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half crosswise
1 1/4 cups seedless red grapes, cut in half crosswise
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup whole fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
heaping 1/2 cup of good quality mayonnaise (I usually use French Benedictin, but Hellman's is also very good)
heaping 1/2 cup of non fat plain yoghurt

Combine the chicken, celery, tomatoes and grapes in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss in the parsley leaves and mix all together well.

Mix the mayonnaise and yoghurt together in a large measuring cup. Add this to the salad, stirring to mix it in and make it moist. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 6 hours before serving.

Remove from the fridge at least half an hour before serving. Delicious!