It's only a minute a day . . .

"Kindness is like fresh-fallen snow; it makes beautiful everything that it covers."
~unknown

I was at the shops the other day doing my weekly shop. The weather this summer and autumn has been so dreary and dismal. It really can get you down at times, and I was feeling a bit blue, as you sometimes do. I was pushing my cart up and down the aisles, lost in thought, when all of a sudden I ran into an acquaintance who immediately greeted me with the cheery words, "Hello Marie!!! I was just thinking about you this morning!" All of a sudden, my mood lifted and things didn't seen so blue anymore. In fact, my day acquired somewhat of a rosy glow about it. Imagine . . . someone had been thinking about . . . me!



It made me stop and think . . . wouldn't it be nice if we, each one of us, could all stop for just one minute once a day and think about someone else other than ourselves???

Only one minute . . . not long . . . it wouldn't take much, and actually it doesn't sound like much . . . but, I bet if we all did this, each day, something great would be achieved. Afterall, we've all been given so many minutes each day . . . surely we can find one single minute to be quiet and think quiet peaceful and loving thoughts of others, perhaps even a tiny little prayer. What do you all think? Can we do it?



I managed to get another painting done yesterday, from a sketch that I had done quite a few months ago. She's a little girl all dressed up as an Angel for her Christmas concert. I can remember when my oldest boy was quite small and had started school They used to have a Christmas concert every year and they actually called it that. There was always a nativity at the end. What a change when my youngest lad started school. There's fourteen years difference in their ages and what had always been a Christmas Concert had morphed into a Winter Festival incorporating Kwanzai and Duwali and whatever else winter celebration that exists and not a mention was made of Christ or the reason Christmas actually truly exists . . . there was plenty of Santa and Frosty though!

I may get on tommorrow morning, or I may not. I have to be at my chapel with a cooked breakfast ready by 6 a.m.! I know, it's crazy! The young people of my church are going on an overnight hike which will take them quite aways, and then back to the chapel at that time. I had a choice . . . I could go hiking all night, or I could cook breakfast! I think I got the better end of that deal!

Cauliflower was on for a good price this past week so I picked up a couple of them. I just love cauliflower. It's one of my absolute favourite vegetables, next to the potato. I made Todd and myself a lovely Cauliflower cheese soup yesterday for our lunch. It was delicious and I am really looking foward to the leftovers today!



*Cauliflower Cheese Soup*
Serves 6 healthy appetites

This does make a lot but it freezes quite well, as long as you freeze it before you add the cheese. You can then take it out of the freezer, thaw it out, reheat it and once it's been heated add the cheese then. I like to freeze it in individual quantities. Then I can just take out as much as I need at any one given time. I love Cauliflower cheese. It can be a bit of a faff to make sometimes. This gives you that lovely taste with only half the effort!

a knob of butter
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 large cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets
1 large potato, peeled and cut into chunks
about 3 cups of vegetable stock
(I use marigold vegetable stock boullion powder)
1 3/4 cups milk
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
75g of mature cheddar cheese, grated
25 g of mature cheddar cheese, cut or broken into small chunks

Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, without browning, for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the cauliflower, potato, stock, milk and seasoning to taste. Bring up to the boil, then reduce the heat and leave to simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes, just until the cauliflower is soft and the potato ready to collapse.

Whiz in a food processor, or crush with a potato masher, or, if you are lucky like me, blitz with a stick blender until you get a creamy and thick soup. If it is too thick, add a bit more milk to bring it up to the right consistency. (If you are going to freeze any, take it out now) Warm it through again until quite hot and then stir in the grated cheese, stirring it until it melts.

Serve hot in mugs or bowls, with the cheddar cheese pieces sprinkled on top as a garnish. These can then be stirred through before eating. Delicious!