My Favourite Things . . .

 

 

Sweet & Salty Popcorn.  Un-buttered of course, with just a hint of sweet and a hint of salty. Its that sweet/salty/crunch combination that gets me every time. My teeth are not so fond of it because of the husks, nor my diverticulitis, but every now and again, I do indulge a tiny bit.  I figure its better than potato chips, which I love, love, LOVE.

 

These were always my favourite . . .  yep . . .  Dill Pickle.  I adore Dill Pickle Chips.  Good thing we can't get them over here.  

  

These come a very close second.  You can't get them over here either, which is a very good thing also.

I have discovered in recent years that I don't dare even bring potato chips into the house.  If I do, I am far too tempted, and once I open a bag, I can't leave them alone. So I don't bring them into the house full stop, unless I know there are going to be a lot of people around to help me eat them. That is the safest thing for me.  However if they were Prawn flavoured Crisps (as potato chips are called over here and a very popular flavour) I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole.  I love fish and chips, but I don't like fish flavoured chips.  Funny thing eh?

 

I could almost lay a bet on this.  You could take every single member of my family to a restaurant and if they are known for having good fish and chips, every single one of us would order them.  All five of us. No doubt at all. Every single time. When I was growing up and we went into Halifax as a group, we always stopped in Windsor on the way back for Fish and Chips. There was a restaurant just the other side of Windsor towards the Halifax way (on the old highway) that had the best Fish and Chips. It was such a treat!  I know where to get the best Fish and Chips in just about every hamlet in Nova Scotia.  the best, Best, BEST ones come from Pearl's Takeout in Paradise.

  

There are a couple of picnic tables if you wanted to sit outdoors and eat them, but you mostly have to sit and eat them in your car, or take them home and risk sogginess.  But even soggy they are magnificent.

 

The story of Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates. In Holland, poor but industrious and honorable 15-year-old Hans Brinker and his younger sister Gretel yearn to participate in December's great ice skating race on the canal. They have little chance of doing well on their handmade wooden skates, but the prospect of the race and the prize of the silver skates excites them and fires their dreams. But it is much more than that.  It is the tale of someone working their way from nothing to everything and the joy in the struggle and about how if you work hard and believe enough in yourself, you can accomplish anything you set your heart to.  Disney did a version of it that they showed on The Wonderful World of Disney over several weeks when I was a child, and to this day it remains one of my favourite Disney episodes.

  

The Family Circus cartoon by the late Bill Keene.  This simple cartoon embroidered every day of my growing up years, or at least every day that we got a newspaper that is. The Family Circus is a comic strip created by Bil Keane that displays a sentimental portrait of the intimate moments in family life that features the true-to-life, gentle humor of Daddy, Mommy, Billy, Dolly, Jeffy and PJ. I haven't seen it since I moved over here to the UK of course, so I don't know if it is still as good as it used to be, but when I was growing up it was great and filled with family love and values.  Never smutty.

 

Blue Bloods. It has to be one of the best done North American Police Shows out there.  The British do FABULOUS police drama, in fact I think it is the best in the world, but Blue Bloods comes a second close.  I love that there is no swearing in it, or gratuitious sex, proving that you don't need those two things for a show to be entertaining and popular.  I love that there is a strong sense of family and family values that is pervasive in every episode.  I love that they are a family of faith and that they pray and go to church, that despite all of the badness in their world, and as you can imagine a family of lawkeepers/maintainers they would see the underbelly of alot that is corrupt and evil in this world, they still have this deep and abiding faith that carries them through everything.  We both enjoy this show very much.

 

Vera the Mouse and friends by Marjolein Bastin. Actually I love all of Marjolein's artwork.  In Canada you could get her notecards, etc., but interestingly enough I haven't been able to find them over here in the UK.  You wouldn't think that possible since we are so very close to Holland, but its true.  Her artwork of flowers, plants and birds is gorgeous.

  

All of her work is quite simply stunning.   

 

I love Cake, and this Raspberry Celebration Cake is my alltime favourite cake. Its the one I make every year for my birthday. Studded with fresh raspberries, and with a jam and cream filling and a simple glaze icing, its just the most amazing cake you could ever want to eat.   I haul this baby out at every excuse for a celebration.  It is my celebratory cake of choise! 

 

Kitchen art from the 50's and 60's.  It must have been an amazing time to be a wife and mother.

  

I think women had it all. They could stay home with their families if they wanted to.  There was no real need for them to work unless they wanted a career. Mind you, I have never been career minded, so this might have been someone else's idea of hell on earth, but to me it has always been a little spot of heaven.  Wife, mother, home sweet home.

I know I have been blessed to have lived where I have lived

and not in a nation torn apart by war and famine.

I count my blessings every day.

 

A bit of Sean Bean every now and then  . . . 

 

Not to mention Brendon Coyle . . .  have always loved his work, ever since I saw him in an early Cathering Cookson film. I forget the name of the film, but I have never forgotten him, lol.

 

Speaking of Catherine Cookson, The Dwelling Place . . .  my all time favourite screen adaptation of one of her books. 

  

18th century carved wooden dolls.  I love them. They have a simple beauty. 

 

Inspiration and comfort from the Word of God. Where would I be without it.  I don't dare think about it.  Being able to read the scriptures has brought me so much comfort throughout my life. Wouldn't be without them. 

 

Good friends.  All shapes.  All sizes, male and female. From many spectrums of age.  I love my friends. I have always had lots of friends and people I am close to. People I genuinely care about.  Some invisible and some for real life. They all matter to me. Couldn't live without them either. 

  

Pigs.

I love pigs.

 

 

This beautiful country I get to live in.  I adore it. I really do. Its stunningly beautiful and I love the people. 

 

 

 

Gingham anything . . .  but when it is curtains, red and white and has ruffles . . .  well it ticks all of my boxes! 

 

  

 

say no more  . . . 

 

 

Cheesies.  A world without cheesies is not a world worth living in, lol.  I love Love LOVE them!  They are crunchy, and yet  . . .  if you hold them in your mouth, they . . .  melt.

 

And those are my favouite things for this week. What are some of yours?

 

Had my second bloods taken yesterday.  The Doctor said that I had excessive levels of Potassium in my blood, but it could be a spurious result, so they wanted to retake them.  Because I am on several medications that can affect my kidneys this could be a potential problem.  Please continue to pray that it isn't.  I am dreading the phone ringing today  . . . the Doctor  himself took them, not the nurse.  It took him two goes because, as he said, its not something he does very often, but since the nurses were not in yesterday and he had an empty slot, he thought he would do it himself rather than send me to the hospital.  What a great Doctor he is. I love Doctor Avula. He was Todd's Doctor through the cancer business as well.  He's one of the best in our surgery. 

 

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.  When my arms can't 

reach the people

who are close to my heart,

I hug them in my prayers.

~unknown   •。★★ 。* 。

 

Spiritual Enlightenment 

 

BOOK OF MORMON CORNER 

Today's Reading -  Mosiah 12:1-16 

Question - Why do you think the Lord threatens to smite Noah's people? What do you think is the purpose of it?  

 

Thoughts -   The Lord gave them a space of two years to repent and change. When Abinadi came the second time, the things he was told to say we're very very plain.  There was no misunderstanding to be had. I admire Abinadi's courage and strength of character to do as the Lord commanded, he must've known that this message was going to be unpopular and maybe even that he could lose his life, but he did as he was commanded.

 

The people were not fulfilling the plan they had agreed to in heaven, their hearts were hard to the truth, and they had come to love wickedness. This frustrates the purpose of why they came to earth. I can see a pattern in the scriptures that being smitten can soften hearts or further harden hearts, according to agency. It can redirect people to the goodness of God, or it can bring spiritual and physical destruction  . . .which we know leads to further teaching, potential growth and advancing in the spirit world.

 

Tomorrow's Reading (Day 111) ~ Mosiah 12:17-13:4
Question - What have you learnt from the reading today? How do you "apply your heart to understanding"? 

 

 

 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  scrumptious Cheese & Bacon Scones.  Yummy!

 

Have a great Thursday.  Happy first day of March.  How is it coming in where you are?  It's coming in like a very cold and snowy Lion here!  Don't forget!

 

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And I do too!