All Things Nice . . .

 

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You have to work at friendship

Like a gardener with his flowers,

Cherish the tiny buds of love,

Treasure the happy hours,

Plant loving seeds for future bloom

Pluck out the weeds and tares,

Water the soil with loving deeds,

And firm it down with prayers.

You have to work at friendship,

With a tenderness and zeal.

Drawing your friends into your heart,

With roots as strong as steel,

Shaping the growth with loving thought

As careful gardeners do,

If love and peace and happiness

Will ever bloom for you.

For friendship is a tender plant

Of bud and root and vine,

Frail as the mist above the hills,

Fragrant as myrrh and pine,

Rooted in the earth its branches reach

Beyond the farthest sea,

Yet clings in little tender words

Between my friend and me.

And like all worthwhile things it pays

Dividends in a hundred ways.

~Edna Jacques, Friendship

The Hills of Home, 1952

One thing which I have been richly blessed with in life are good friends.  I am a rarity as an Airforce brat in that I have friendships which go way, way back and which are still in place. This is not a common occurrence as children of armed forces personnel tend to move a lot and our friendships are very transient like our lives. The fact that I have been able to maintain and keep in place some of these friendships for sixty-five years is a very rare thing.

 This is a picture of the awards ceremony at the end of Grade 1. I am the one in knee socks and saddle shoes.  The one on the vary far left is my friend Susan Warburton, and the one getting the gift from the teacher is Eileen Sargeant. These two girls are still my friends after all of these years.  These friendships have survived many moves and happenings in each of our lives.  Eileen is the one I named my oldest daughter after, and she came to visit me once when I was living in the U.K.  Susan and I have touched base in person many times through the years. These two are some of my oldest and my dearest friendships and I treasure them deeply.

 

Of course, my very oldest friendship is the one I share with my sister.  I cannot tell you how many years because she doesn't like people knowing her age, lol.  But she is 3 years younger than me. I can remember the day my mother brought her home from the hospital. I was not so enamored with her, but I understood that she was there to stay and so I quickly became a little mother to her. We are very close.  We talk every day, multiple times a day, and we do spend a great deal of time together. I love her dearly.

But you all know that.

I have been blessed to have many good friends in my life. You all know who you are.  I treasure each one of you deeply.  

 

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It is freezing cold this morning. -10*C/14*F.  It is not going to get too much warmer today either. I am not sure if any snow is expected today, but I know there will be some tomorrow. We have been blessed this Winter in that we have not had tons of snow dumped on us at any given time. They have plowed our street, but have only employed some young lads with shovels to do our driveways, not snow blowers as in previous years.

Yesterday Cindy and I took a trip out to pick up some cat food at the Vets and we noticed that the pond in the next town over from us has frozen. They were clearing it for skating. There is only a short time each winter that that is so.  They keep a sign there to let people know if it is safe or not.  Green, you can skate. Red, you cannot.

It has been many, many years since I have donned a pair of skates.

I got a lovely letter in the post yesterday, all the way from Greece, from my friend Tatiana. I was trying to remember how long it has been that I have known Tatiana and it is at least from my years when I was working at the Manor, and I finished there in 2010.  At least three or four years before that.  So, we have been friends for almost 20 years now.  The card she enclosed was really delightful. She knows the things that bring my heart joy.  Her handwriting is impeccable. It is always so nice to get a surprise letter like that in the post. It really made my day.

 

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I had been going to try to get a video done yesterday but when the opportunity presented itself for me to go out with Cindy I jumped at the chance.  I would rather spend time with her than to do anything else. And in the Winter months with the roads being iffy much of the time, this was a real treat. We got the cat food at the Vets, and we went to the Super Store to pick up a few bits.  They had their really expensive whole chickens marked down by 50% because they were on the sell by date, so we each picked up one of those. I planned on cutting mine into pieces and cooking a couple yesterday so I could share some with Sheila and freezing the rest.

We could not resist stopping at Spurrs Farm Market.  They make their chocolate donuts on Fridays and Cindy wanted to get some of those. I had never had their chocolate donuts before, so I got some as well. I thought I could share some of those with Sheila also.

I cooked a simple supper of some chicken legs in shake and bake, some scalloped potatoes, yellow beans and then I took half of it over to Sheila along with several chocolate donuts.  She was really pleased.  I think sharing food with and cooking for others is my love language. 

So maybe I will get a video done today.

I had ordered some fabrics on sale from one of my favorite online-fabric-shops and they came this week. I have in mind to make some new throw cushion covers for my sofa. I was very pleased with my choices.

This is the style of cushion covers I would like to make, where you have one fabric on the outside and then another for the enclosures and ties.  I had watched the girl on Olesya and House making some on YouTube and thought I could do that. They are really quite straight forward.

Now all I have to do is find the time. I think they are a simple project which could be done in an afternoon.

 

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I started watching a new program on my BritBox last night. "Captivated. " It stars the fellow who played Tom Branson on Downton Abby. It is a thriller, and I do so love a thriller.  I am also keeping up with the latest series of Shetland on there.  Plus, All Creatures Great and Small on Prime and a new one called Missing, on Acorn.

I don't watch the regular television at all these days.  There is just nothing on there that I am interested in and all of the good stuff is on too late (I am an early to bedder.) so I prefer to stream. Its what works for me.

Also did you know that there are all kinds of old black and white films available on YouTube?  Old television shows as well.  

We live in strange times, a bit of escapism is not a bad thing.

 

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I had to laugh this morning.  Someone had left this comment on my latest recipe:  "Looks like it would go good with Hot Dogs and Sauerkraut." I am not sure what the intent is behind it. I put it into the garbage bin. I think it was meant to be sarcastic. There is a person who leaves sarcastic and sometimes even nasty comments on blogs.  I am not sure why. Always anonymous of course. It is easy to be a jack*** under the cloak of anonymity.  What a sad, sad life this person must have that they have cause to waste their time in such a way. It serves no purpose. I know a few other people this person leaves comments with, and the comments are never helpful or nice. They always take digs at the content posted. Sad, sad puppy. You really need to seek help for your malaise. You are sick. Normal, mentally healthy people don't spend their time doing things like this. I mention this only so that you can be inspired to get the help you really need to get.

 

Does this face say I love you?

 

How about this one, a few seconds later??

Nutmeg, you are such a ham.

Begging belly scratches as Cinnamon plays with her pipe cleaners.

(Don't worry. I keep them locked up and

she only gets them under

supervision.)

 

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There is a talent show/afternoon planned at the chapel this afternoon between 2 and 4 pm.  I am not sure if I will go or not. I have work to do today and I want to get a video done.  I don't really have any talents to share either, although it would be nice to see other people's talents.  Apparently, Jacqueline can talk like Donald Duck. If I can get my work done before then I might go. We shall see.

 

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I slept a bit better last night. I did not take the second Metformin and was able to sleep the whole night through without waking up with excessive thirst and perspiring. I am not sure how to get around that.  Should I take two in the morning rather than one in the morning and one at night?  How do other people take them?  Just wondering.

And with that I best end this off now and get cracking on the remainder of my day.

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
*.˛.°What wisdom can you find

that is greater than kindness?

~Jean-Jacques Rousseau

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The English Kitchen today, a small batch recipe for New England Spider Cake.  This is a type of sweet cornbread baked in a cast iron skillet. It has a creamy custard filling that bakes in simply.  Delicious served warm for breakfast!

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend.  Be safe. Be warm. Be loved. Be blessed. Don't forget!

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And I do too!