A Daybook . . .

 

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW ...

The bleeding heart that my next door neighbor Sheila gave  me last year has survived the winter and come back in bloom. It is so pretty.  I  love bleeding hearts.  There is a folklore story attached to them, however, which is kind of sad.

The story of the bleeding heart 

Once upon a time there was a prince that loved a princess who took no notice of him. To get the princess's attention and prove his love, he brought her amazing gifts from far and wide. One day he came across two magical pink bunnies and offered them both to the princess. (Storyteller pulls off the two outer pink petals and sets each on it sides to show the animals.) 

The princess was unmoved by the rabbits so, he tried again and presented her with beautiful dangly earrings. (The two inner white petals are separated and held up next to the storyteller’s ears for display.) 

 Still, the princess paid him no attention. The prince was so distraught over being spurned that he took a dagger and stabbed himself. (The remaining center of the flower is shaped like an outline of a heart with a line down the center. The heart is held up, the dagger-like line is removed, and the storyteller plunges the "knife" through the heart's center.) 

 The princess, realizing too late that she did love the prince, cried out, "My heart shall bleed for my prince forever more!" and her heart bleeds to this day.

I AM SO PLEASED ...

I am so pleased with my new internet service. Same provider, but a much higher speed.  The technician was telling me that the tower for my satellite internet is just down the road from me, so in our location we get even better speed than the best and I have certainly noticed a huge difference. My work is going to go so much easier now. Maybe I will have more time for play!

Only thing is my printer has stopped working. Same old problem. Even though it is clearly plugged in and powered, it keeps showing off line and when I click on the program, it says that my printer is not on.  This printer has causes me nothing but problems since the start.  Tres annoying.

ITS A MYSTERY TO ME ...

I leave comments on other people's blogs and they disappear.  Is anyone else having this problem? I have left comments on all my friends blogs and yet when I go back later to check, they have totally disappeared.  I wonder what is happening to them?  Its really weird.  I think it must be happening on this blog as well. 

I AM SAD TO SAY ...

I am very sad to have to tell you that our friend Suzan passed away the day before yesterday of a cardiac arrest.  Her daughter Bethany wrote to let me know yesterday.  I had the privilege of meeting Suzan in person when I was living in Chester in 2017, as well as her daughter Bethany.

Suzan and Bethany

Suzan was a sweet, sweet lady who loved her children and her grandchildren dearly. She was very much loved by all and will be sorely missed.  We messaged each other just about every day. I will miss her very much.  God speed Suzan. Love you. Until we meet again.

Suzan's daughter Bethany shared this photo with me that she had on her phone from that lovely day that Suzan and I got to spend together.  Love you Suzan, I will miss our little daily chats.

I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED ...

I thoroughly enjoyed my Mother's Day this year. It has not always been so.  I think I have learned to compartmentalize the hurtful things that I don't need to be dwelling on and to focus instead on the things and people who bring me joy. I was pleased to hear from my two oldest sons and spend time with my oldest daughter and her husband.  I got some beautiful flowers, which was a first.  I felt loved and appreciated. I am so grateful that I now live closer to my family. 

Doug may be coming over to Nova Scotia today, as their step-grandmother passed away on Friday.  The funeral is tomorrow. If he comes, he will stay here at mine.  I guess I better make sure the room is ready.

I knew the step-grandmother very well. She was always very nice to me.  From my younger married days as mutual members of the church guild together.  Her husband was also my mother's boss.

THIS IS HOW I WORK ...

Nutmeg likes to be close to me.  When I am working on the computer he is usually laying right next to me. Often his head is laying right on my arm, bobbing up and down while I type.  He purrs away.  In the evenings when I am relaxing and watching television, he is right there next to me on the sofa.  If I crawl back into bed some mornings for a quick cat nap, he comes to join me and wants to get right under the covers. He is such a sweet little companion.

Cinnamon also likes to be close by, but she is not as needy.  She does like to be brushed however and will often come and ask me to brush her and she loves the licking treats which she will also ask me for. She also loves a bit of bed play. She likes it when I drag something back and forth under the coverlet on top of my bed. She works very hard to catch it.  

These two sweet companions of mine mean the world to me, but then, you already know that.

 

(source)

SOMETHING I REALLY LOVE ...

Penny Rugs or mats.  I had a snowman one in the UK that I had made. I wish I had had the forethought to throw it into my suitcase. I guess I will have to work at making another one. They are fun to do and involve using and working with many of my favorite things. Felt, wool, embroidery, piecework.   I will have to pop that onto my project list of things I want to do.

I AM READING . . . 

CAROLINE, Little House Revisited by Sarah Miller

In this novel authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before—Caroline Ingalls, "Ma" in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books. 

In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril. The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. 

The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline’s new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles’ hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.

To say that I am thoroughly enjoying this book is an understatement. I am TOTALLY enjoying it. I look forward to getting stuck into it every night when I go to bed. I highly recommend.  It is fun to explore the story of the Little House family from the perspective of the mother and is very well written.

I do not think I could have been a pioneer.

 

(source)

ONE THING I REALLY LOVE AND WISH I DIDN'T ...

Cake.  It is one of my many weaknesses and if there is one in the house I can't leave it alone.  I prefer caked without loads of icing. A glaze is okay, but it is the cake itself that I love most of all.  I will often scrape the icing off as I find it too sweet. 

All-time favorite cake? It has to be pound cake. Oh I do so love a good pound cake.  Or a fruity cake, maybe with rhubarb.  I quite simply adore rhubarb cake.

 

(source)

ANOTHER FAVORITE THING ...

Cozy.  Anything that helps a home to feel cozier is my cup of tea. Candlelight.  Throws. scatter rugs.  Embroidery. A fireplace.  Bouquets.  Teapots. Teacups. Anything that makes a house feel more like a home.

SOMETHING TO WATCH ...

I love watching Martha Stewart on YouTube.  YouTube has become one of my favorite streaming platforms. You can find anything on there. I often watch old films on there, or old sitcoms. Cooking shows.  Decorating videos, etc. Almost everything you can imagine is in YouTube.  That is where I watch my Come Follow Me lessons for church.  I watch my church conferences on there, listen to the choir, listen to and watch uplifting talks, people, podcasts. I would not want to be without it now.

SOMETHING WHICH BRINGS ME JOY

Watching the hummingbirds.  I am seeing them more frequently now. They seem to like the nectar I make with white sugar better than the one I make with the organic sugar.  I am not sure why that is. 

SOMETIMES I WEEP ...

Sometimes I do weep.  Usually it is at night after I get into bed. I think it is only natural to sometimes feel grief over the losses in life.  It is healthy to be able to cry, but  not healthy to dwell in the low places for very long.  Otherwise how would we ever be happy?  None of us would be.   There is a scripture that I love . . . it is in the Psalms. (I love the Psalms.)

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." ~Psalm30:5

What does it mean that weeping may last for the night? It means that our sorrows are only temporary. They may last for a while, but eventually they will come to an end. The night is often used as a symbol for darkness and sadness. In contrast, the morning is a time of hope and new beginnings. So when it says that weeping may last for the night, it means that our sorrows are only temporary. They may last for a while, but eventually they will come to an end. Just as the night is followed by the morning, so our sorrows will be followed by joy. This doesn’t mean that our trials will immediately come to an end. But it does mean that we can have hope because better days are coming.

 

(source)

I AM CREATING ...

The pillow grows. I have one side finished and am working on the second side.  Then I will put them together and then sew a simple round pillow to stuff inside.  It is good to work with your hands. 

 

(source)

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE DAY ...

A general tidy up here this morning, get the bedroom ready just in case,  and then I am going with my sister to take my father to his Doctor's appointment in early afternoon. Just a normal day pretty much, other than the trip with dad. Simple and ordinary days are the best kind of days.

(source)

A THOUGHT TO CARRY WITH YOU ...

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。

° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚

  ˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛

 ˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

*The whole world 

is a series of miracles,

but we're so used to them that

we call them ordinary things.

~Hans Christian Anderson

•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。

IN THE KITCHEN ...

5 Minute Steak Dinner for One.  This was such a quick and easy make.  The sauce is a perfect blend of savory, sweet and salty.  I enjoyed this very much.  The green beans were a bit under-done. I think if I do it again, and I am sure that  I will, I will parboil them first so I am just heating them up at the end.

And that's my daybook for this week. Not much changes I know.  I hope that you have a beautiful day filled with beautiful things and wonder and joy. Whatever you get up to, don't forget!

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And I do too!