Thursday 2 April 2015

Five Things About Me . . .



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I confess . . .  I have always loved Sweet Pea flowers.   They dance upon slender stems like small butterflies waiting to flutter away at any moment.  

"Here are sweet peas, on tip-toe for a flight." 
How aptly that immortal poet sings 
Of these and of all other lovely things 
Which move the heart to rapture through the sight, 
As though these flowers, so shapely and so bright, 
Were fairies, poised on half-expended wings! 
And still the fragrance of a garden clings 
To every page that Keats was spared to write. 
For of all poets of whatever clime 
None ever loved the garden more than he, 
Who was himself a flower that ere its prime
Perished untimely. Ere the bud could be 
Brought to full splendour by the April sun, 
A glimpse of beauty opened, and was done."
~Robert Henry Forster

These are my favourite flowers . . . and I love all flowers for a variety of reasons . . . but sweet peas, they are most beautiful to me.   When we lived down South, an old gentleman from our church ward used to grow the most beautiful ones on his allotment and each year he would give us some for our garden.  They were absolutely gorgeous.   I miss that up here. We have tried growing them from scratch ourselves and have never had much luck so far.

And that's number one of another Five Things About Me Post!

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If I had to pick a favourite fruit I would be hard pressed to do so, for I love all fruits and vegetables.    If I could only choose one however, after  much thought  . . . it would be cherries.   I try only to eat fresh fruit when it is in season . . . it always disappoints at other times, or at least I think it is disappointing at any rate.   When we lived down in Kent the cherry sellers used to set up their wares by the road sides early summer every year.  You could buy them by the kilo.  They would measure them into paper bags.  I always had to buy two bags each time.  One to eat in the car on the way home and one for later.  Nothing on this whole green earth tastes as wonderful as a fresh cherry, still warm from the sun, eaten out of a paper bag . . . with abandon.  Todd always pooh pooh's the expense of two bags but  . . .  he does not love cherries as much as I do.  I just adore them . . .  and not just the eating kind either.  If fabric is printed with cherries, pottery, etc.   I adore that too!

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For most of my life I have been called Alice.  It is my second name, and I suppose in a family with a mother whose first name is Mary, a sister whose first name is Mary, and me being named after my father's mother with Marie Alice . . .  it was just natural to call me Alice.  My sister has always been called Cindy, which is her second name.   After I joined the church, and my marriage had broken up etc.  I began using my first name instead of the second.   I had a whole new life and I associated my second name with a lot of unpleasantness and unhappiness . . . and started using Marie.  Now it seems odd when I hear Alice being used.  (My family still use Alice.)  I don't feel like an Alice.   Alice doesn't live here anymore. lol  (Like the film.)

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I did love the Alice in Wonderland Stories when I was a girl.  They both delighted and horrified me at the same time.

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I actually quite like Winter  . . .  Oh, I do love all of the seasons for all that they bring to the table . . .  but as wierd as it may seem, I think Winter is my favourite of all.   There is a really special feeling when a storm is raging out of doors and you are tucked up all snug and cosy in your little home with a fire blazing and the wind whistling down the chimney.  I can remember one year when my children were young we were having a blizzard.  My ex was home at the time and I decided I was going to take a walk in the snow.  I bundled myself up pretty good and off I went.  Best walk of my life.   There was nobody about.  The world was silent except for the snow falling.  It was a wonderland.  I made snow angels and just really enjoyed the solitude and peace that I found during that walk, so much so that some 35 or 40 years later I am still enjoying it!   With Winter, you pretty much know what you are going to get . . .  there is no waffling back and forth.  It's Winter.

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I.  LOVE.   WIENER.  DOGS.  Dachshunds, or whatever you call them.   I just adore them.  Oh, I love Cocker Spaniels too . . .  but if I was allowed to have two dogs, one of them would always be a Dachshund.   When I was a girl we had a neighbor with one of them.   The dog was named Zanna (pronounced like Hannah).  I used to love to go and play with it.  There is something very endearing about Dachshunds.  My youngest son's dog  Baxter is a Terrier/Dachshund cross.  They have delightful personalities and the sight of them running always tweaks my heartstrings.

I wonder if Mitzie would mind us having another dog if it was smaller than her?

And that's my five things for this week!

I had a lovely time with my friend and her daughter yesterday.   We had a delightful lunch together and then we went to Costco.  I love going to Costco.  I don't have a card, but my friend does and we always go there when we go out together.   I got a lovely huge bag of mandarin oranges for not much more than you pay for a small one in the shops, and a nice sized jug of Maple Syrup that didn't cost an arm and a leg.  They always have those people all over the stor as well, cooking things and offering samples.  I didn't try anything yesterday as I was stuffed from lunch, but it all looked very, very good!

A thought to carry with you through today . . .

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"In all things of nature,
there is something of the marvelous."
~Aristotle
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Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . .  A Raisin Sauce.   To go with ham or gammon.  Old fashioned maybe, but so delicious.   Simple.


Have a fantastic Thursday.    Don't forget . . .

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And I do too!



 

9 comments:

  1. Good morning Marie from a very soggy Brisbane. It is pouring down and is predicted to pur down until Monday. My Beth is one of the many going camping tonight. The roads are jammed. An Aussie Easter can either be miserable of a glorious end to summer.

    I love the name Marie. In Australia it is often pronounced differently. How I wished my name was Marie when I was young. My name is misspelt so very often. I can't imagin you as Alice and that is a pretty name too.

    I have only been to Costco once and I spent a lot and brought back heaps. There is now store about a 150km return trip but I don't go that way so we have never been. There is talk of one closer to home.

    This afternoon my world smells of rain and basil. How I love the smell of herbs. It is much needed right now as I have jobs to do and am weary from being the family driver.

    God Bless.

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  2. Rain and Basil, what a lovely smell that must be. I expect our roads will be jammed this weekend also. You learn very quickly over here to never go anywhere on a Bank Holiday. Everyone else has the same idea and it is just not worth the hassle! xoxo

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  3. We are etting a new Costo..10 minutes from here along shore road where the speed limit is 40kms..:)
    Scenic route and then that..
    Too many temptations.
    I resist but Jacques..likes to buy 2 big things of say Ketchup..I find we never use them both and it is a waste.
    That was just an example.
    I confess to buying many of the clothes I need there.. so reasonable.When I need something.
    The produce and meat are excellent.

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  4. I was very surprised to hear that you like Winter. Spring is my favorite time of year and I'm so glad our winter is over for now. We do have sweet peas that grow here. They are very pretty and come up year after year. Glad you had such a nice outing yesterday. We finally got a nice warm day and I got to get out and work in the yard a bit. It felt wonderful. Hope you have a happy Thursday !

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  5. I am home again after my trip to Edinburgh,,,,actually when we were comming home yesterday I very nearly stopped at Chester,,we did (we Peter and I )
    think seriously about calling you but in the end we decided that it was best just to keep going on the M6...still I am getting nearer a visit !!! HAd a good wee break up North although it was very very COLD we had snow showers every day and howling gales....also sunny spells...but I dont think I will forget teh cold for a long time...no wonder I like living down south LOL...
    I think you already kow that my first love is dashounds they have always been my fav. ever since I was a child...I think I associated their wee legs with my wee legs !!!I have had 4 throughout the years 2 smooth hairs and 2 wire hairs...and of course now I have my darling wee MAsy teh yorkie that I adore...Dashhounds are so very expensive now at least £600 !!! at least...!! Hope that you have had a lovely day. Mine has been mixed as we were scattering Margaret's ashes this morning which was very sad...however we got through the morning and I hope we can now start to look forward rather than backwards..
    love to you Tod and Mitzie xx

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  6. You always come up with the best five things about yourself. This is one of my favorite posts that you do.
    It's fun to learn more about you. I loved the name Marie and it fits you. Alice is a good solid name too.
    Sweet peas are awesome!
    I am going to think about which fruit I like best. Cherries are good!
    Loved the pictures of the sweet little dogs. My favorite right now is my Sammy, a Shih Tzu. I also loved my Dolly, a Maltese. I love little dogs a lot.
    I am so happy you enjoyed your lunch with good friends and a trip to Costco is like going to lunch.
    Have a wonderful Easter Celebration dear friend; sending hugs!

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  7. Wow that is so close to you Monique. It will probably spoil the scenic route as they always look so industrial dont' they? I agree that the temptation is there to buy too much but I try to only buy what I think I can use, like laundry soap etc. Their meat and produce are excellent. Why can't the other shops do that? I agree, they have lovely clothes! xoxo

    I like all the seasons Pam, but I like the cosiness of Winter. Happy to hear you got a nice warm day. It does feel pretty wonderful to be out and about after a long Winter. Each season has it's blessings. Our Springs are very rainy and windy here. xoxo

    Sybil, so glad you both arrived back from your Scotland trip safe and sound. It's always a LOT colder up North isn't it? I would love a Dachshund, but £600 is outrageous! That's more than we paid for Mitzie and she's a lot bigger, lol (I know they don't go by size) Oh to think you were so close and yet so far. One of these days for sure we will meet up!! Glad you will be able to move forward now. We are still waiting on the finality of Todd's son's passing. :-( Love and hugs. xoxoxo

    Thanks LeAnn, Happy Easter and Conference weekend to you too! xoxo

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  8. Hope you are well Marie - so pleased to have found you again. Are you still in Chester? We are down in Dorset now - Luca is growing up quickly so just starting to get back into my blogging again with more emphasis on fashion at the moment.

    Anyway I'll enjoy sitting down this evening and having a scroll through your posts to catch up again.

    Keri xxx (Kitty @ Dolliedaydream)

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  9. WE are still in Chester Keri! So good to hear from you! I think I have been through Dorset when we went to Devon once. I am sure Luca is a lovely little man now! I will be by to visit your blog and pass it onto the Spanish girl who lives with us at the moment. She is a real fashionista! xoxo

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