Saturday Nice . . .

 

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It's the little things I shall enjoy.

The sheltering hedge . . . the paper boy

Shieing the paper at the door;

That little minute just before

I light the candles on the cake;

The crazy flower beds I'll make.

Not having to be bright and gay,

Being yourself the whole long day,

Taking your time for household chores,

Not worrying about the floors;

Pushing the curtains back until

The sun pours over the window sill.

Putting small knick knacks here and there,

A shelf for things beneath the stair,

Giving away to foolish whims,

Filling the teacup 'till it brims;

Sponge cake for supper . . . eggs on toast

Browning potatoes with the roast.

Knowing that here within these walls

The quiet bedroom and the halls,

Are sanctity and peace of mind,

That here a lonely heart may find

All it has sought through rain and storm,

A little house to keep us warm.

~Edna Jacques, Home of My Own

Hills of Home, 1952

Each night when I lay in bed and whisper my prayers, I always thank God for this wee home of mine. I try never to take it for granted. A home of my own is what I prayed for and a home of my own is what God gave to me. On a quiet street with nice neighbors, with a wide front porch to sit out on and a pretty screen door, a lovely maple tree in the back yard . . . enough space to spread out in and to fill with the things I love. A shelter. A haven. An answer to my most heart felt prayers. It is not the home I imagined. It is not really mine, but rented, and that's okay. I know this is where God wanted me to be because this is what God gave to me.

"Remember the days you prayed for the things you have now."

 

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We are coming into fresh bean season now. I picked up my first mess of beans the other day. I got a mix of yellow and green. I do so love fresh beans and I love the yellow ones most of all. Mom always called them "wax" beans. Yellow beans are commonly referred to as "wax beans" due to their smooth, glossy appearance and color that resembles bees wax, which is a defining characteristic of their pods. There is a degree of delicacy and refinement as opposed to green beans. 

I love them both, but the yellow ones  . . .  they have my heart.  When I lived in the U.K. you never saw yellow beans. They were extremely rare. I did grow some from seed and I enjoyed every one of them.

I like to steam them lightly and then dress them with a bit of cream and butter, some salt and black pepper. They are so very delicious done this way.

 

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I am so pleased at how well Eileen has settled into her place, although to be sure, she is looking forward to coming here to spend the night tonight. And I am looking forward to having her.

Yesterday I washed all of the pink bedding from her bed at her old apartment. She had wanted me to just get rid of it as she said there were wasps in it.  I did not see any wasps, dead or alive and it is such a pretty pink, so I washed it all and will drop it off at her place when I go to pick her up. I also have bought her a set of cutlery.  The ones I gave her that dad had given me are real silver and are tarnishing. I did buy silver polish but I can't really see her polishing it, so I will get that back and keep it for myself I suppose.  I can polish it at any rate.

That reminds me of all the polishing I had to do when I worked at the Manor. There was no end to the copper and the silver in that house. I was always polishing. I would just get it all finished when I would have to start back at the beginning again. The housekeeper as well.

It cured me from ever wanting to really have any of that stuff myself. Mom had a silver tea set that was never used and silver plate cutlery that got used only at Christmas and Easter. Special occasions.

 

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I brought a large quilt printed with pink cabbage roses to Eileen's the other day. It is to cover her sofa with. We used the matching shams to cover the sofa pillows. It looks quite nice.

She has her appointment with the Gyno department on Wednesday afternoon.  Hopefully we will know more about what comes next after that. Her worker Cassidy is taking her. I hope they will telephone me afterwards to let me know what is what. I know I will be seeing Eileen for supper that day, but she is always a big vague with these things. I am never quite sure how much of them she really takes in, so I would prefer to talk to her worker so I can know what's what.

Each night I pray that things will be dealt with more sooner than later and that all will be well.  And that I will live long enough to see her through to the end, happy, healthy and settled.

 

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I suppose that is every mother's wish for their children.  

I want to go to the shops early this morning as I want to pick up a chicken to roast. I thought it would be nice to have a chicken dinner today with Eileen.  I have some Paxo stuffing that she wanted to try so I will make stuffing balls, and boil some new potatoes, cook some beans and broccoli. It will be good. If we get a chance after I pick her up, maybe we will drive up to Peltons and pick up a pie.

Yesterday by the time I got home from taking dad out with his friend Maryann, I was too tired to cook much of anything.  I had picked up some sliced turkey and a fresh roll at the shops so I had that made into a sandwich along with some potato salad. (The Stonemill one from Costco) Its all gone now as I had brought a largish container of it over to Eileen's the other day. I also made a small Taco Salad from a kit at the grocery store, but it was too spicy. I couldn't eat it. (A store-made kit.) The dressing was like fire on my tongue. 

 

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Each day I am trying hard to finish one large chore.  Yesterday it was to go through my dresser and get rid of things which needed getting rid of.  I had a whole black bag of stuff to take away. I don't know why I hang onto pairs of trousers that are two sizes too small for me. Realistically speaking I will never get into those again. Hope springs eternal, but really . . .  I know myself and it's probably never going to happen and if it does?  Well, I will just buy new ones. I will give myself permission to buy new ones.

I will have earned them.

 

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There is a part of me that wishes I could be thin enough to wear the really pretty things, like this sweater.  The realist in me know that will never happen. Those days are long gone, but I can still appreciate the beauty of them.

 

 

 

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I do so love pretty things  . . . but I can be content with admiring them from afar. It would really be a waste for me to have such things as I would never have an opportunity to use them. And that's just fine with me.

 

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Eileen and I are going to watch a film tonight. I would love to watch something Jane Austinish, but I really don't think she would like that.  Although she does love anything like Anne of Green Gables. I don't want her to be bored.   Maybe a movie like Pollyanna would suit us both? I love the old Disney films. Anything with Haley Mills in it.  I loved her when I was a child. I had a Haley Mills paper doll. I used to love to make her new clothes copying the outfits that I had seen her wearing in various films.

Some of the films I really enjoyed when I was younger were The Parent Trap, Pollyanna, The Trouble with Angels and (I know this is a bit racy) A Summer Place with Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. I thought Sandra Dee was so elegant.  I used to like the Tammy movies as well.

Do you remember going to the movies on Saturday afternoons?  Half an hour of cartoons and a feature film for about not a lot of money. 25 cents got you into the film along with a drink and some popcorn.  The theatre on the base used to be jam packed with kids on a Saturday afternoon. My mother used to make me bring my sister with me. She was hard work. She never wanted to stay in her seat. She would be trying to get up on the stage or open the fire escape doors.  To be honest, she was not that old and neither was I. That was too much responsibility for me. As much as I loved her.

That is one of the things about being the oldest child. You do have a lot of responsibilities foisted upon you.  Its just the way it is.

 

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I don't really have a lot else to share with you this morning. I was a bit later getting up and having my shower.  Usually I am up before six a.m. but it was after that time this morning. To be honest I never sleep straight through the night. It is always broken up. I am up at least twice to go to the loo. It has been like that since I had the stent in from the kidney stones. I had thought it would get better, but it hasn't really.  Or maybe it is just that I wake up and think I need to go, whether I do or not, and then start thinking that if I don't go I won't be able to get back to sleep for thinking about it, so I go.

I would so love to have a night where I sleep from the time my head hits the pillow until I wake up in the morning light. These days I find myself more and more having to have a short nap later in the afternoon, or I am falling asleep watching television in the evening.  And I don't really like doing that.

So that's it for this week  . . . 

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

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

*Sometimes the most

productive thing you can do

is to relax.  ~Mark Black

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  French Toast Crumble. An easy  breakfast casserole that you can make the night before.  With an almost bread pudding-like base and a sweet oaty crumble topping. Very delicious. Especially served with bacon, sausage and drizzled with some maple syrup.

I really hope you have a lovely weekend. Whatever you get up to, I hope it brings you joy.  Don't forget!

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And I do too!