Tuesday 5 June 2012

The Simple Woman's Day Book




FOR TODAY, June 5th, 2012...

Outside My Window...

It is overcast and very cool.  I was really pleased that yesterday was so nice though.  It made for a wonderful Jubilee Concert last night.  I am so glad that all was well for that.  It was a fantastic show!

I am thinking...




Today I think I can finally say . . . I've seen it all.  This was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen in my life!  Never seen anything like it, ever.  Grace Jones put on a truly unusual showing last night in the Jubilee concert.  Fantastic pins for a 64 year old too!  It's probably all that hoola hooping!


I am thankful for...

 I am very thankful for this fabulous country that I live in.  Last night as I watched the concert and saw all the people that were there in the venue and all up the mall, my heart swelled with pride!  I could never have imagined when I was a little girl that I would ever be a part of something so spectacular.  I am very proud to be British!  Oh, sure . . . there is a large chunk of me that will always be a Canuck . . . but I feel like a Brit through and through.  Rule Britiannia!

From the kitchen...
I've been a very good girl lately.  I am not indulging myself so much these days, and the scales are showing it.  I am also thankful for that!


I am wearing... 

Blue M&S nightie, but I have my slippers on.  It's cold!

I am creating...

 I have a few irons in the fire.  


Still working at crocheting this afghan.  It's coming along very nicely. My colours are sllightly different than this.  I couldn't get the yellow yarn . . . so instead of yellow I have a light orange.




I need to clear some space around my sewing machine up in the craft room.  I couldn't sew in there right now if my life depended on it!

Of course, I also have a few little drawings running around in my head as well.  They're just waiting to pop out and I hope to get at least one done later today.  Oh . . . and I'm working on illustrations for my next cookbooklet, "The Great British Picnic."  In the meantime, the Tea Party one is still available.  You can access it in the kitchen!  It's in the upper right hand column.  It won't be on offer for much longer.  I'll soon be taking it down, so if you wanted one and haven't gotten around to it yet, you'll have to act fast as before you know it . . . it will be gone!  In fact it will be gone by the end of today, and the NEW one on Picnics will be up!

I am going...
This afternoon we are having a Jubilee Street Party/picnic at our chapel.  There will be games and all sorts, and probably lots of goodies to eat.  Then tomorrow the boiler man is coming to service the boiler, so we have to take down two cupboards in the kitchen to be ready for that. Thursday I am going to the Temple with the rest of our RS Presidency.  I think it's pretty special that we are going there as a group.  It will be nice.  I only hope my cough has settled down by then.  It's keeping me up nights again.  It's hard to sleep when your coughing like that!  There is nothing else planned for the week that I know of!
I am reading...






Mocking Jay, by Suzanne Collins
This is the Third novel in the Hunger Games Trilogy and I am quite enjoying it. It didn't take me very long to finish the second one.  I just started this one last night and it promises to be every bit as good as the other two!!


 I am hoping...
I am hoping that the Duke of Edinburg makes a quick and complete recovery from his bladder infection.  Bladder infections are not much fun.  I've had a few of them in my lifetime and I know how distressing and painful they are.  I am sure that having stood for so long on the Royal Barge in all that rain the other day brought this on.  I'm just glad that the Queen didn't take ill.  At their ages, these types of things can be so serious.  I am keeping them all in my prayers, but then again . . . they always are.


I am hearing...
Nothing new really. Mitzie is snoring away on the sofa. The keys are tapping. The birds are singing. The odd car drives by. The clock is ticking.  Mitzie will be two years old tomorrow.  It's hard to believe.  It seems like only yesterday she arrived to bring us joy . . . and here it is two years, gone past in a whiz!  She is one of the great joys in our life!  I have bought her a small steak to celebrate.  I know . . . silly, but she will really enjoy it!

 
Around the house...



I have always longed to have a veranda just like this . . . one that I could sit out on and watch the world pass by from the comfort of a sturdy rocking chair.  Rocking chairs for two to sit down upon . . . and a swing over in one corner to relax on "a deux" on a warm summer evening.  A place where we could wave to the neighbors as they pass and just be together.  They don't do Veranda's over here, but if I ever had the money, I would make sure I had one.  Perhaps I could start a trend!  There is something very hometown-cozy about a veranda.
One of my favourite things . . .
I love, Love, LOVE buttons!!!  Always have done, always will!





I have a rather large button box.  I have far too many for a jar.  I love to look at them and frequently do.  I love the feel of them gliding through my fingers as I run them through the box.  It's almost like a pirate's gold to me.  My mother had a button jar and I loved looking through it as a child, each button as beautiful to me as a rare and precious gem.  I don't think I am alone in this love.  I think it is a love shared by many.  Put your hand up if you love buttons too!!

Something new about me ...
I get quite giddy at the sight of Tom Jones.  Even after all these years, he still does it for me.  He and Sean Connory are right up on the top of my list . . . along with Tom Selleck.  These men only get better and better with age.  You can keep Brad Pitt . . . I want a silver fox.


One of my guilty pleasures ...
I love potato chips, although thankfully I only ever rarely indulge, as I know they are not very good for you.  When my brother, sister and I were growing up they were something we hardly ever got.  My mom used to get some in for my Dad to eat when he was watching Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights.  We used to be given a tiny bowl, each of us, to enjoy.  Oh my but they tasted some good.  She used to keep the bags of potato chips hidden behind my father's dresser in the bedroom.  I suppose out of sight, out of mind.  We used to sneak them sometimes, when nobody was looking, never realizing that we were all doing it independantly of each other . . . I think stolen hidden potato chips taste better than ordinary ones.  I swear . . . it's true!!  I've never had a potato since that tasted as wonderful as those few forbidden ones!


Pet Peeves...
Word Verification on blogs.  I just can't get a handle on it.  It sometimes takes me three or four tries to get it right, and the newest version is even harder.  Yesterday I even tried listening to it instead . . . mistake!!  That's even worse!  If I am being honest, I give up after two or three tries, so if I haven't commented in a while . . . that would be why!! Someone said I have it enabled on my own blog, but I don't think so.  (Reminder to self . . . check to see that none of my blogs have word verification enabled.  It's a curse.)


 Here is picture thought I am sharing...





If we constantly focus only on the stones in our mortal path, we will almost surely miss the beautiful flower or cool stream provided by the loving Father, who outlied our journey.  Each day can bring more joy than sorrow when our mortal and spiritual eyes are open to God's goodness.  Joy in the gospel is not something that begins only in the next life.  It is our privilege now, this very day.  We must never allow our burdens to obscure our blessings.  There will always be more blessings than burdens . . . even  if some days it doesn't seem so.  Jesus said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundalty."  Enjoy those blessings right now.  They are yours and always will be."
~Jeffrey R Holland

It's the one thing that makes a good life great.  Focusing on the good instead of the bad.  Moving forward instead of standing still.  Seeing the glass as half filled instead of half empty.  Joy is a choice we make each and every day of our lives.

As a closing thought I would like to leave you with this:

 

“The high minded man must care more for what's right than for what people think."
~Aristotle, 384 - 22 BC


Tis not easy to do . . . but it is possible.  Resolve today to only please your Heavenly Father, no matter what the world may think, or say . . . life is better when you do the right thing.

And there you have it . . . my day book for this week. Don't forget to hop on over to the Simple Woman to check out the other day book entries! (Or better yet, do a simple day book entry yourself! It's not that hard and I am betting you would enjoy it!


 

Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . . a delicious Strawberry and Mozzarella Salad!


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