All Things Nice . . .

 

Whenever I see lilacs blow

My heart rejoices and I know

That in a world far off, somewhere,

There IS a God who answers prayer.

Wherever I see lilacs bloom

After the winter's cold and gloom,

Something within, deep down inside

Tells me that all good things abide.

Whenever I see lilacs tall

Growing against a garden wall

My faith is strengthened and renewed

And I am filled with gratitude.

Beyond these little grief hung years

Above anxiety and tears,

There's something bigger than it all,

Someone who hears me when I call . . . 

All these eternal things I know

Whenever I see lilacs blow.

~Edna Jacques, Whenever I See Lilacs Blow

Roses in December, 1944

Written during WW2, when all the world was at War with each other, this was a poem written with a heart filled with hope for a better, brighter future. Hope and good did prevail, and better days were ahead for all.  Faith was not in vain. 

The lilacs at the end of the road are blooming now. I love lilacs, which is something I have shared many, many times. I love their intoxicating smell and beautiful colors.  You bring a few indoors and they perfume the whole house with their scent.  

Mom used to love to sit in her rocker and look out the window at the lilacs at the side of her front deck. They brought her hours of joy. She was very proud of all the flowers in the gardens at her place. She was not a gardener per se, much like myself, but she did love to enjoy the beauty of the flowers that grew.

 

 

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I had Eileen out the door and in the car by 7 a.m. this morning, ready to drop her off at the local Tim Hortons for her ride to her People's First Convention in Yarmouth. She was so excited. She looks forward to this event all year long.  I am grateful that she was able to go to it. She is sharing a room with an older friend of hers.  Her name is Jamie. She is a volunteer with the local People's First group. A very nice woman. She crocheted dad a blanket for his bed, simply because he was Eileen's granddad and she's got a warm heart, and she likes to crochet. He loves it. Says it keeps him nice and warm.

Eileen had her overnight bag all packed with what she needed, and a few treats to share with her roommate.  There will be meetings and workshops all day today and then a banquet and dance tonight.  She was really looking forward to it all. I hope it all goes well for her. She will be back here at some point tomorrow. It will be quiet in here without her.

When she checked the mail for us yesterday there were three letters/cards for her. She was chuffed to bits. She wanted to say thank you to Beth, Elizabeth and Renee so we did a little video so she could do that.  I told her we will have to get a bulletin board to put in her room so she can put her cards, etc. on it. They will help to cheer her up while she is both waiting and recovering from her operation. (Still no news.)

You really made her day and week with your many kindnesses. I also thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.

Things will be very quiet here without her today. The cats are already missing her. I am under strict instructions not to watch Everwood tonight without her. 👍

 

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We had another frost last night. All of the neighbors had their plants taken in or covered again. Things are supposed to warm up starting tomorrow, but we are also supposed to have rain pretty much every day next week.  That's okay.  I will never complain about rain again, after the fires of last year. God willing this will be a much better season than that.

I am not sure what I will get up to today. I do want to cook something, not sure yet what.  Dad, Cindy, Dan and I are going out for supper tonight to the Crows' Nest up in Parker's Cove. We have not been since last year. They have the best fish and chips, so we are all looking forward to that. I guess that will be another of my 20% for this week.

They have sent a replacement top for the new coffee table. But it looks like, from the email, they have sent a whole new coffee table. We will have to wait and see what arrives. Here's hoping it is all in one piece and not broken again.  If it is a whole new one, I will have to try to get rid of the broken one. Maybe I can give it away for someone to use out at their cottage. I am sure if I put a listing for free on FB Marketplace someone will want it. (Fingers crossed!)

 

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Cindy and I enjoyed ourselves yesterday afternoon while Dad had his visit with MaryAnn. We went to Walmart first and I picked up all  my cat food for the next week and some cards. We then went to Sobey's to pick up a few bits. I seriously do not know how family's are managing their food budgets these days. Everything is getting to be so expensive. They finally did have the cheese slices that were on offer for the last several weeks (yet mysteriously never in the store.)  The Kraft Extra Cheddar Slices. They have been on offer for weeks now.  We kept checking but could never get our hands on any. They are the best cheese slices as far as processed cheese goes. They are not individually wrapped and taste just like cheese slices used to taste in the old days. Like cheese and not chemicals.  More like American cheese I would say. Anyways, they did have some in and I snapped up two packages of them, both dated until the end of the year so we should have no problem using them. Eileen likes a grilled cheese sandwich now and then.

Of all the activities we deal with in simple life, food is the one that all of us know about and spend our money on. There was a time when I held a real interest in making my own  cheese, keeping chickens, gardening, growing my own fruit and vegetables, etc.  Those days are gone now and I am quite happy to be able to have access to these things at the grocery store. I just wish that I didn't have to pay so much for them!  

I watched a girl on YouTube yesterday buy all of her food from Aldi and the prices were quite good. I used to shop at Aldi and Lidl all the time when I lived in the U.K. Their stuff was pretty good for the most part and you could get a lot more for your money than shopping elsewhere.  I checked on line to see if there was ever any hope of us getting those shops here in Canada, but no dice. It looks like we will never have them here unfortunately. We do not have the population base and are too spread apart for these discount food shops to be able to operate at any sort of a profit. That's unfortunate. 😞 But we are coming into a season where we will have lots of local produce etc. available so we have that to look forward to.

 

I made a tasty batch of my homemade granola yesterday. Eileen and I both love granola.  I love homemade granola the best. I have been making it since the 1980's when I got a recipe from one of my good friends.  It turned out really nice yesterday, best batch ever. I gave Eileen a small bag of it to take with her for she and her friend to snack on. It is loaded with nuts and coconut shards. I had some of it with some plain Greek Yogurt for my breakfast this morning. I need to get some fresh berries. They are lovely for breakfast served on top of a bowl of Greek Yogurt and granola. I call it the breakfast of champions.

Things that you can easily make yourself from scratch are so much better for you and healthier than anything you can buy readymade. No preservatives or chemicals.  That's just a small batch recipe so it will last only a few weeks. I won't need to worry about it going stale or anything.

On a side note, Kraft dinner was on offer for $1.25 a box yesterday.  I remember when I got married the first time. You could buy Kraft dinner for 10 cents a box. As University students we used to live on that stuff. It's getting close to $3 a box now. 

 

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Did your mom used to have a rag bag?  You know, a bag filled with old worn out shirts and stuff, ready to grab and use for dusting and cleaning rags. Its been a long time since I have had a rag bag. Its so easy to just buy cleaning cloths in the stores. Those microfiber cloths are all the rage now. I don't really like the way they feel though. There is something about their texture that is off-putting for me. I prefer a cotton rag myself, or an old towel. Even paper towels. (I know it is environmentally bad to use too many paper towels.)

On a side note, don't you just love the way this house looks in the photo above?  Its such a pretty house. I love the windows and the gingerbread trim on the roofline. (Not to mention the pretty white flowers in the garden.)

Speaking of gardens, I ordered two of these planters from Amazon for my front garden. I thought I could put on on either end of the garden. They are supposed to gather solar light during the daylight hours and then light up at night. All I will need to get then is some bedding plants to put into the planters.  I hope that they don't look too cheap and tatty when they arrive.  Hope springs eternal!

It had some good reviews. Not too big. Not too small. We shall see. I ordered a garden gnome laying on a welcome sign for the garden and when it came it was smaller than a dinner plate. ha ha 

You just never know what you are going to get. 

Several weeks back I signed up for the Cozy Post Society.  I got my first letter from them the other day and I was quite pleased with what I received. $12 a month, cad, including postage. There was a nice little letter, a page of thoughts shared by other members of the society in answer to a question posed in the previous month's letter. A cute little scratch to reveal card with a small thought on it. A small card where you could write out the names of important women in your life and why you chose them. (food for thought.) A cute little ribbon. A Ritual Card (For the woman who keeps meaning to reach out.) And a pretty post card to share with a friend. All in all  I was quite pleased with what I received and I am looking forward to the next one.

It was all the things I like. Pleasant thoughts. Cute stationary and cards, etc. And it's a Canadian business.

 

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I've been thinking a lot about faith this week and how mine serves me. I guess I have always been a woman of great faith. I have been believing and praying since I was old enough to fold my hands together and speak to God. As a small child it was the "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer and as I got older my prayers matured into what they are now. I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I have never ended a day without turning my heart to the Lord in prayer. It is an integral part of my day.

And as I look back through the years, even though I have experienced some really difficult times, all of my prayers have been answered in one way or another. Maybe not always the answers I always wanted to get, but more often than not the answers I needed to get. 

My faith is something which helps and sustains me. It is like a muscle. The more I exercise it, the stronger it gets. I hope. I believe. I pray.  All of those things are tied up in the strings of my faith. I would not have it any other way. It is just how it has always been for me how I choose to live my best life possible.

And with that I best leave you with a thought for the day as it is getting on for 10 o'clock now!  Yikes!

A thought to carry with you . . . 

☾ ° ★° * 。  

• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

*A word, after a word,

after a word is power.

~Margaret Atwood

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  a springtime favorite. Strawberry & Rhubarb Slices. Tis the season!  Tasty dessert/teatime treats! 

I hope you have a lovely weekend. Happy Memorial Day Weekend to my American friends and family. Whatever  anyone gets up to, I hope it brings you joy! Don't forget!

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And I do too!