Life ebs and flows . . .

This is a photo of taken of the Welsh Valley's up on the Horseshoe Pass near to Pentredwr, Denbighshire in Wales.   We took a drive up there yesterday.   The sun was shining and I had not been out of the house, except to go to church pretty much,  in what seemed like forever so we just went for it.  The heck with the petrol.    Some days you just got to go with the flow.

I confess . . . I don't enjoy car rides like I used to.   I sit in my seat with my fists clenched and my foot on my imaginary brake pedal, biting my tongue to keep from hurling out yikeses and squeals  with my heart in my throat every few minutes.  Are the other drivers really as bad as I think they are?  Or am I just turning into a big chicken in my old age??

I do try to relax and enjoy it  . . . I really do, but . . . it all seems to be getting worse and not better.  Am I alone in this?



It is an area which is very popular with motor cycle enthusiasts and bicyclists alike.   Whenever we have gone, no matter the time of year, there are loads of them there.   Being neither one myself, I am at a loss to explain the appeal really . . . It was cold up there yesterday, although sunny . . . and there was drizzle in the wind.   We didn't waste a lot of time outside the car looking around.  We sat for a while in the car at the edge of the car park, looking out over the valley's and remarking on how very beautiful it was and how difficult it is to get a photograph of it which really does this rare beauty full justice. Unless you have specialized camera equipment and a knowledge of the art, I don't think it possible to get a really true photograph.  It's quite simply too beautiful for words . . .




The area is usually just loaded with wooley sheep, but they were strangely absent yesterday.   I don't know why.  Perhaps they have taken them down to the low country for the winter months.   I have never been up there during the Winter before.  

I was reminded of the first time we went up to the pass which was about 12 years ago.  The sheep were everywhere.  I was a bit afraid of them at first and I didn't know where to step because there were calling cards literally everywhere.  I was tip-toing ever so carefully so as to avoid stepping in any, but alas . . . after a while I just gave up.   There was no other option. I found this post card iin the shop at the cafe and sent it to my mom, telling her we had found just the guy for her.   It is still stuck to her refrigerator and we have a giggle over it every now and then.


 

We treated ourselves to a rare indulgence of gammon, egg and chips.  It was pretty good.   For some strange reason food, when eat up high and in the wild countryside always tastes better.  I can't explain why or how it does . . . only that it does.   This would not normally appeal to me, but yesterday it did.  I couldn't eat it all.   There was no toast or any bread to sop up the yolks.   You just dip your hot chips into them, and they coat the chips and kind of cook a bit more from the heat of the chips.  Sounds disgusting, but it's not.  It's really rather good.  At first I missed toast when I moved over here.  It's not usually served "with" a breakfast.   It's something you have to order on the side in "addition" to a breakfast, and you usually pay by "round" which is a term they use to describe a "slice."  It's normally worth the extra though because it usually comes to the table soaked in lashings of lovely rich British butter, which leads me to ask the question . . .

Why does toast always taste better when someone else makes it?

It truly defies Logic.

By then I was truly relaxed and we began the journey home.    Here is another question why does the journey back home again never seem to take as long as the journey away from home?   Another question which defies logic.




When we got home I took some time in my craft room and I created this.   I had found the quote early on in the day . . . no author attributed to it . . . but I fell in love with it and so I wanted to get it down and out the fingertips whilst I still felt inspired by it.   This is what showed up.

I rather like it.  What do you think???



 Last evening we watched this film.   I had picked it up in the grocery store one day while I was shopping.  It was pretty cheap and it looked really good.  It was.   Really good.   Based on the true story of a family who had been caught in that Tsunami which hit Thailand on Boxing Day in 2004.   It was miraculous and inspiring and heart rending and amazing.   It was a miracle that they all managed to survive and that they found each other.    Watch it if you can.  You will be touched.   Truly touched.

And with that I shall have to leave you with a thought for today as I need to get off here and get ready for church, which I don't really feel like going to, but am going to make myself go to anyways, because I know it will make me feel better and that it's when you don't feel like going that you really need to go . . .

⊰✿░L░O░V░E░✿
Just close your eyes.
Breathe.
Stop whatever you're doing for ten seconds
and find The Silence.
Visit The Quiet.
Just for ten seconds.
Do it six times today.
One minute a day.
That's all it takes.
One minute, divided into six parts.
Go ahead.
Do it now.
~Neale Donald Walsch  
═════════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ═══════
♥░Y░O░U♥ ░A░R░E░♥░A░♥░B░L░E░S░S░I░N░G░  

I am going to try this.   I am.  I am.  I'll let you know how I get on.


  

Baking in The English Kitchen . . .  a delicious Apple and Plum Tart.

Have a wonderfully inspiring and blessed sabbath . . .


 

Good things . . .

 We were just sitting here last night watching a bit of telly and I decided to check out my messages on the ipad and I learned that an old friend of mine, who had been battling lung cancer this past year or so, had passed away.   And I cried.   Oh, my heart knows he is in a much better place, and that we will meet again . . . but . . . it is always hard to say goodbye.  And yet hard goodbye's come to us all.  No matter the knowledge one has . . . it never gets any easier.  Never . . .  and the younger a person is, the harder it is to say goodbye.   It almost doesn't seem fair somehow . . .

We'll understand the whys and wherefore's one day, but for now we must comfort out aching hearts and wash away the pain of goodbyes with our tears.  That's just how it is.

Tears are healing things . . . 



We had a few sunny days this week and I was able to hang some wash out to dry in the sunshine.  It was nice to see and hear the snapping of sheets, tea towels and pillow cases in the wind.   It was even nicer to run my hot iron over them afterwards and smell that special smell that can only come from a hot iron passing over the smell of the wind and the sunshine which clung to their fibres.  So very lovely a smell that is . . . impossible to describe.  You must smell it for yourself to know exactly what I mean.  If you could bottle that, you would be rich indeed . . . but then again, are our minds not like bottles?  A place where we store all these things, and then take them out to hold in our hands again from time to time.   I am already rich, for I have a deep store of things such as these, and I do take them out to enjoy now and again . . .



Someone forgot to tell the Camelia bush by the front door that it's not quite spring yet . . .  we saw the tell tale blush of pink on it's buds a week or so ago and this week they have burst open in a blaze of glorious colour.  They are always a reminder to me of my Heavenly Father's love for me.  Four years ago when we thought we had lost everything, they were here waiting for us at our new home to greet us as we started our new life . . . a little gift amongst all the tumult of that very unsettling time.    Every year when they bloom again I am reminded of God's promises and His love . . .  a love which can turn even the darkest shadows into light.   I am always grateful for both . . . without the shadows the light would not seem so bright . . . .  



 Love which knows no boundaries or fear.  Total trust.  Where would any of us be without it?  That is the love of a parent for a child . . . and a child for a parent.   The love of a pet for it's caregiver and . . . the caregiver for a pet.  The love of the Saviour for us . . . and the love we can have in return for Him.   It's all about choices.   Today I choose to love.  With complete abandon and without fear.

I have been wanting to give you something.    To celebrate new beginnings, and old friendships.   Spring.   Light.   Life.




First there is an Emma Bridgewater Tea Towel.



A tablet of Cath Kidston Fold and mail stationary.   I think there are 40 sheets in the pad.



A set of five of my handmade greeting cards, of your own choosing.

And a complete surprise.  I don't know what it will be yet.  You'll have to wait and see

If you'd like to have these things, then just sign up to my followers list there on the right hand side so that I know you are interested and stay tuned.   The winner could be you.  ☺ 

A thought to carry with you through today . . .


(¯`✻´¯)
  `*.¸.*✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻ ✻ღϠ₡ღ✻
Your living is determined
not so much by what life brings to you
as by the attitude you bring to life;
not so much by what happens to you
as by the way your mind looks at what happens."
~Kahlil Gibral  
✻ღϠ₡ღ✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻  


 

Baking in The English Kitchen today . . . Salted Caramel Topped Biscuits.

Have a great Saturday.  The sun is shining again today.   ☺

Friday Finds

 
A few of the wow moments, or things I discover each week that tickle my fancy.  I hope that they may inspire or tickle yours too!A few of the wow moments, or things I discover each week that tickle my fancy.  I hope that they may inspire or tickle yours too!




A free printable that you can download and colour in, using whatever colours you want to use.  I found this on a blog called Tried and True.   I love free printables.  I would give more of these types of things away myself, except I don't know where to store them so that you can download them.  I need to adopt a teenager!



 Recycled jeans made into carrier bags from Crafty Recycling. This is nothing new.   We used to make things out of our old jeans when I was a teen.  We also used to sew materials onto the bottoms of our jeans to lengthen them and make them pretty, or add wedges of fabric to make them really wide bell bottomed!  Yes, we have always been creative!




And while we are on that vein of thought, look at this picture of a fridge magnet I found.  It is made from the recycled pocket of an old pair of jeans.   A bit of embroidery on the hemline and it's the perfect size to pop onto the fridge to hold a pen and your grocery coupons.  Pretty too!




The cutest little love birds ever, found on Country Kitty Land.   I actually have this pattern.  I bought it on Etsy from someone else.  (The Paper Shed) I have had it for yonks and not done anything with it.  I think it's time to rectify that!  These are adorable.  I love the pale colours of felt she used and the red and white trims.  Watch this space.



I love the little painted arch cornices on this doorway from Lilac Lane Cottage.  It just goes to show that it doesn't take a lot to make something look pretty and fresh and new.   I actually love this blog.   She has such a pretty little cottage, well not so little.  It just appears little.  I love her style.



Oh my heart longs for wall papered steps such as these from Pretty Petals.   Our house is filled with ugly burgandy coloured wall to wall carpeting.  It is everywhere, except the kitchen and the bath and bedrooms.  I long to just tear it all up and replace it with wooden floors . . . this staircase is so pretty.   Sigh . . . alas, that is a young man's game and work and we are too poor to replace it.  So it remains a dream, but they do say you gotta have a dream to make a dream come true!



This is a fabulous idea.  I found it on Scrapstudio Tumblr.   I love the idea of spelling out Home Sweet Home on a wall in the house.  I would not use these exact type of letters per se, and maybe not these colours, but I love the haphazard look of it.  It looks like the letters just found each other and spelt out what this is, a home sweet home!  I love it!



Now this is a very ingenius use for an old yard stick as a curtain rod.   It's from Itsy Bitsy Pieces.   I can appreciate that these types of things are difficult to find, but I love the idea.   I think that some people are so visionary when they see old things and can think up new ways to repurpose them.  I am just not that talented or visionary!




I mean, look at this!!  It's an Ottoman made from a styrofoam cooler!  Found on Imparting Grace.  Do you know how many styrofoam coolers I have taken to the tip this year from food being sent to me to try out?   And to think I could have been repurposing them in this fantastic way!  This is one of those V8 moments!  Brilliant!  If I ever get sent another one I know what I am doing with it!  I have wanted an ottoman for ages now but the price of a new one keeps putting us off!

   

How to make old baking sheets shine like new!  I could have used this tip when I worked at the big house.   She was always making me scrub up the old baking pans so that they looked like new.  There were some that were rusted and she kept insisting I wasn't cleaning them properly.  Her "scientist" husband had to tell her they were old and they were rusty and needed replacing, as she would not believe me.    Some people's children!  Whew!  Anyways, there is fab tips for cleaning these and a whole host of other things on DIY Home Sweet Home! 

And that's it for this week.   I shall have to dash now.  I am so behind on my e-mailing it isn't funny!  I don't know where my time flies, but it flies!

A thought to carry with you through today . . .

✻ღϠ₡ღ¸.✻´´¯`✻.¸¸.Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ..
Nothing can bring a real sense of security
into the home except true love.
~Billy Graham
(¯`v´¯)
 `*.¸.*´Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
¸.•´¸.•~♥♥♥~•.~  


 

Cooking in The English Kitchen today, Pizza Margharita Style! 

Have a wonderful Friday!  This week has just flown by.   I hope you have a wonderful weekend too!

A this and that kind of day . . .

The last couple of nights my dreams have been filled with these two little charmers, Luke (4) and Gabriel (almost 8).  I wonder why that is?  Is the Cosmos trying to tell me something?   I did post a package out to them last week with late Birthday goodies in it for Luke and early ones for Gabe, so they have been on my mind. I love all of my Grands with all of my heart.  Gabriel was my very first Grandchild.  He is the only one I met before he was born.  Yep, it's true.   We had gone to Canada for my middle son Doug's wedding, and Anne and Anthony were there as well, and Anne was carrying Gabriel, but they hadn't told anyone yet.  I had a feeling though, and I was right.  That was in July and the very next March he had arrived.  It would be a further year and a half before I would hold him.  He was 18 months old and we were in the Valley for my youngest son's highschool graduation.




That seems so long ago now, and yes . . . it was.   The years fly by  . . .

 I loved you way before I saw you,
The tiny speck of life you were,
Tucked away inside your mother,
Yet still a part of me for sure.
That happy day my arms received you
No greater joy could ere be mine.
My heart embraced you, priceless treasure,
And overflowed with love divine.
I thought you looked just like your father,
Yet some of Mom was there to see.
And maybe it was wishful thinking,
But I'm sure I saw a trait from me.
A wonder you are my precious grandchild.
God made you with a drop of me,
And yet you're unique, so truly special,
And I dream of what you'll some day be.
~unknown





This is one of my brother's girls, Miriam.   She is fourteen now, or maybe even fifteen.  I thought this a particularly beautiful photograph of her in Japanese dress.  My brother has lovely girls.   His wife is Japanese Canadian and has always homeschooled their four daughters, at least until highschool.   I think Miriam started in a regular school just this year.   There is still one at home, the youngest one, Hannah.  Home schooling requires a lot of sacrifice and dedication and I have always admired my brother and his wife for their choice to do this.   The girls are all well rounded, intelligent and happy, or as happy as teenagers can be!  Hormones will have their way!  Miriam is very shy.  I was painfully shy when I was a girl as well.   I know how difficult it is when you feel that way.   It stopped me from doing a lot of things in my growing up years.   It has only been later in life that I have gotten over that somewhat.   I am still a bit shy to a degree, but I have learned to put myself forward more, even when I feel like holding back.   Especially when I feel like holding back.  I have grown ever so much more confident in myself since I joined our church.  I believe that has made a big difference.  I am grateful for that.



This is a drawing I did yesterday afternoon.  I saw this phrase on Pinterest and I thought, that's so cute and so I did a drawing to go with it.   There was no author attributed to the phrase.  Hugs are such special gifts.   I cannot imagine a world without hugging, can you?

There are different types of huggers.   There are the huggers who swoop in and just wrap their arms about you, almost lifting you off the ground.   Then there are the ones who just lightly grab your shoulders and offer you their cheek.  Little flutter huggers. I am a patter.  A patter is a hugger who pats you lightly on the back with their hands at the same time as they are hugging you.    Hugs and patters just seem to go together I think.  I cannot imagine myself being one without the other.

We are huggers in my family.  I like that.




Oh, and this is for you.   It's a bookmark.  You can just right click on it, choose copy and then paste it onto a word document and size it to whatever  size you want.   Then you can just cut it out and glue it to some decorative card paper.   I love bookmarks.  You can never have too many bookmarks.   I was thinking of this poem all day yesterday.  Val (Pretty Little Rough Patches) had done a post on trees and as I read it I thought about how important trees have been to me in my life.  You can learn a lot from a tree.   There is everything in there from birth to death and then rebirth.   I love trees just as much as I love bookmarks.   This bookmark combines those two loves.  Well, three actually because I love books too!  I can't give you a tree, or a book, but I can give you a bookmark.  I hope you like it.



My Visiting Teachers are coming this afternoon.  I am going to bake them some cookies this morning.   They always bring me something, some small handout, and of course I love to see them for the company they bring and the special message they share.  I thought I would give them something back for a change!  

Well, the computer is acting up a bit so I will end this now.  I am hoping this post will go through.  I keep getting an error message come up so cross your fingers! 

A thought to carry with you through today . . .

(¯`•.•´¯)
*`•.¸(¯`•.•´¯)¸.•´
          `•.¸.•´ *“*“*“*“*“
May a thread of comfort be woven
through your difficult days.
~Mary Anne Radmacher
*“*“*“*“*“*“*“*“*“*“*“*“  

 

Cooking in The English Kitchen today is a different kind of Chicken and Broccoli Casserole.  No cream soup involved at all.  It's pretty delicious if I don't say so myself!

Have a fab Thursday!

 

My mind does wander . . .

Light is beginning to show itself over the rooftops that lay to the front of me via the picture window in the lounge as I write to you this morning.   At first just a glimmer, accompanied by the song of birds in the hedgerows to the back of me . . . the morning chorus.  Oh how I love it.   I can remember when I worked at the big house on packing nights I always arrived home at the end of my nights labors accompanied by that delightful chorus.  I think that was the best part of those nights, made all the sweeter from knowing a very long night had come to an end and I could now fall into bed, for a few hours at least.  It was hard to sleep for much longer than that knowing life was going forward without me . . .

Birdsong is such a delight.   The love of wild birds is a love both Todd and I share with each other.  We both thrill at the sight of a new visitor to our garden.   All too often it is just sparrows that we see here, with the occasional robin, a pair of gold finches, some common tits, a couple of nice fat wood pigeons, and a few black birds.   Were we at the edge of a woodland rather than city, there would be far more I think . . . but we do appreciate the ones we get.   We reward them generously for the pleasure that they bring to us.   They are very well fed, with meal worms, nuts, wild birdseed and fat balls in the winter.   Toast crumbs, cake crumbs, stale rolls, apple slices, etc.    Yes, very well fed.




Unfortunately there are far too many of these in the neighborhood who see our bird feeders as somewhat of a drive through luncheonette!   We try hard to keep them at bay, sending Mitzie out frequently to put chase to them, but they are such haughty creatures.  It's as if they know her bark is much worse than her bite . . . they stare at her with disdain and then with a flick of the tail and a haughty look, they turn and flee at a most leisurely pace . . . unless the garden gate is  open, and then they make haste.

We have great expectations for our garden this year.  We had such a lovely dry summer last year which was a boon for wildlife.   I had never seen so many beautiful butterflies and caterpillars . . . toads and frogs.  And the wild flowers were just gorgeous, and plenty of bumbly bees . . .




The Bumble Bee is our harbinger of spring over here in the UK, or at least it is to me . . . the snow drops are blooming now, can crocus and bumble bees be far behind???  I think not.   They are such bumbling creatures, bobbing heavily from early bloom to early bloom, their tiny wings humming and whirring . . . the fact that they are airborne at all is a minor miracle and a wonder.   Those wings look so frail and small . . . their bodies so big and so hairy.  You could pin a pair of tiny wings to my back and I would not be able to fly . . . but they can and they do.  Who says there is no God or that He does not have a brilliant sense of humor??  There is and He does . . . 

I have a little book called Daily Inspiration For Women, from the poems of Helen Steiner Rice.  This morning it said  . . .

My cross is not too heaavy,
my road is not too rough,
because God walks beside me
and to know this is enough.

I read those words and was immediately filled with gratitude for this knowledge which so many do not have.  It brings me peace in a tumultuous world that is ever-changing and fraught with upheaval . . .

There are many who see faith as being a list of do not's and should not's and must not's  . . . I see my faith as empowering.  It helps me to be the best that I can be, and there is nothing wrong with that at all.   I have often said I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't than to live it as if there wasn't and to die to find out there was . . .




It was about this time of year we went on holiday to the South of France a number of years back.  Oh what a lovely time we had.  The temperatures were about 10 degrees warmer and spring had already arrived, with orchards beginning to show their first flush of spring and the grape vines beginning to wind their way around the rows of posts which lay in the vineyards which danced upon the hillsides.  Lambs were being born in the field next to the stone cottage we were staying in . . .  we had lovely warm days and cool nights enjoyed by a roaring fire in the fireplace . . .  with just enough heat to warm the cottage and our hearts.  It was really quite blissful and one could almost imagine living like that forever . . . but then, it would be every day and not so special afterall me thinks . . . 

I have warm and fond memories of throwing open the shutters on our bedroom windows in the mornings and seeing sunshine beating down upon the field next to the cottage . . . crisp and cool, but oh so bright and then the bleating of the sheep and lambs . . . so wonderful.   Country walks were accompanied with the smell of wild garlic as we brushed our feet across greening field and stone pathway . . . oh we did have ever such a delightful time.   It warms my heart and memory still. 

All of my holidays are my favourite holidays.   I am blessed in that way.   I have never had a poor one yet.  Tis all a matter of perspective I think.  Some choose to dwell on the negative of everything they touch.  Me, I relish in the positive.   I think that's the best way to be, don't you? 

My glass is always half full, or even overflowing . . .

A thought to carry with you through today . . .

(¯`•.•´¯)¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆ ¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆ 
  `•.¸¸.•´  

The more difficulites one has to encounter, 
within and without, 
the more significant and
 the higher in inspiration his life will be.
~Horace Bushnell 

¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆  ¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆¸.•´ ☆¸.•

 

Baking in The English Kitchen today . . . a Jam Topped Almond Cake.   Very nice. 

I wish for you a wonderful Wednesday!