The Simple Woman's Daybook . . .

 

 

FOR TODAY, February 22nd, 2022

Outside my window ...

It is clear and sunny. A bit chilly at -3, but things will warm up as the day progresses. It is expected to be 8 by tonight.

I am thinking ...

I need to get harder with myself and get back on schedule. I am getting really slack and as a result it is getting more difficult to fit in all that I have to fit into my days. Lately I've been going back to bed after I get up and feed the cats, telling myself that there is nothing I have to get up for, but really I need to be more disciplined.

I am thankful for ...

The Come Follow Me Program via my church.  It is helping me to dig deeper into the scriptures and I am especially grateful for David Butler and Emily Freeman and Don't Miss This. Their insights are amazing.  I am learning so much from them.

In the kitchen ... 

Air Fryer Twice Baked Potatoes.  These turned out fabulous!  A new favorite! 

On my "to Cook" list ... 

A Family Feast. Ham and Vegetable Soup. Looks fabulous! 

Good to know ... 

I am wanting to create ...

Thrifty and Chic   DIY Corner Cabinet for Dining Room.   I love, love this.

Dadas Place. Crochet English Garden Baby Blanket. 

Now this is very pretty.  Japanese symbols crochet squares. Click here. 

No source, but so cute.

Your Crochet. Cute. Cute. Cute. 

I am reading ... 

The Art of Mending, Elizabeth Berg

Laura Bartone anticipates her annual family reunion in Minnesota with a mixture of excitement and wariness. Yet this year’s gathering will prove to be much more trying than either she or her siblings imagined. As soon as she arrives, Laura realizes that something is not right with her sister. Forever wrapped up in events of long ago, Caroline is the family’s restless black sheep. When Caroline confronts Laura and their brother, Steve, with devastating allegations about their mother, the three have a difficult time reconciling their varying experiences in the same house. But a sudden misfortune will lead them all to face the past, their own culpability, and their common need for love and forgiveness.

This is one of Elizabeth Berg's books that I hadn't already read. So far so good! I love her books.

Dreaming about ... 

 

(source)

Fresh air  . . .  Spring Breezes  . . . 

 

(source)

Greengate dishes and linens  . . .  love them  . . . 

 

(source)

Blueberry pancakes . . . 

 

(source)

Ladder back chairs  . . . 

 

(source)

Spring blossom  . . . 

Something to watch ...

Down to Earth with Zac Effron . . .  on Netflix. Very interesting. Watching it for a second time.

Makes me smile ... 

 

(source)

Puppies by the fire  . . . heart melting . . .

Corners of my kingdom ... 

Viewing the birds at the back from my bedroom window. Trés interesting. 

A thought to carry with you ...

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。

° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚

˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛

˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

*If you desire to make a 

difference in the world,

you must be different

from the world.

~Elaine S Dalton•。★★ 。* 。 

And that's my daybook for this week  . . .  
  

   ⋱ ⋮ ⋰
 ⋯ ◯ ⋯ Take time to enjoy the small *´¯`.¸¸.☆
   ⋰ ⋮ ⋱ blessings in life.*´¯`.¸¸.☆    
  



✿¸.•*¨`*•..✿✿¸.•*¨`*•..✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.• ╬♥═╬╬═♥=╬╬═♥╬╬═♥╬╬═♥=╬╬♥═╬♥╬╬═♥╬╬═♥=╬╬♥
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Have a beautiful day and don't forget!  


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And I do too!       

 

Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best. 

  

 

(source)

I love this and look at it often. Esther was a beautiful Jewess who was chosen to be the wife of the Persian King Xerxes and leads a daring rescue of her people from an attempted genocide. Even though God is never directly mentioned in the book, it still shows his faithfulness behind-the-scenes as the Jewish people are preserved.  When things get hard, or when I have hard days, this thought just helps to get me through.  You never know when your example or your experience is going to help or inspire someone else to live their best life.  If you can be a positive example for others, nothing is in vain.

 

(source) 

Life is full of beautiful things.  We are such amazing creatures, we humans.  We can create devastation with our actions, but we are also very capable of creating things which are amazingly beautiful.  Can you imagine what a difference it would make in the world if people concentrated their efforts more on creating beauty and positivity rather than the opposite?  Oh how I wish  . . . 

 

(source)

Its getting to be that time of year when we are coming to really dislike the snow. We are tired of it I suppose.  Beneath the snow however, everything looks so dead and blah  . . .  I am reminded that I need to do so much work in the garden, that I am not really capable of.  I have no garden tools and cannot really afford to buy tools.  To be honest, it all just wants pulling up and discarding.  I cannot take care of it.  Especially in the back.  I would just like it all pulled up and grassed in.   I can see where the snow has broken the little white picket garden border all to bits and knocked it over. I cannot be bending over and dealing with it. I may have to ask the missionaries to come and help, but I know they have more important work to do than that. 

There is so much needs doing here.  I still have a garage filled with cardboard that needs bundling. I get so tired when I am doing it, and out of breath. I know  . . .  I am in bad shape.  👀  But I am still here, and that is a blessing.  I just wish my arthritis was much better than what it is. Most days I am aching from head to toe and everywhere in between.

 

(source)

I am grateful for all the love in my life.  For my sister and Dan, Dad, my brother and his family, for my sons Anthony and Doug, my daughter Eileen and their families.  My friends, my faith, my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  My kit kats  . . . .  I am blessed.

Unconditional love is the greatest of all gifts. 

I am grateful for the times I had to spend with family over the past week. For meals with loved ones and bread broken together.

Covid has touched our family. I dare say it will touch all families before it is through.  I pray continuously that all will be well  . . . that they will be well. Anthony messaged me yesterday to say that Luke has it and that he and Anne were not feeling so well.  So far Gabe is okay, but he lives in the same house so it is probably only a matter of time.  Thank goodness we have all been vaccinated.  Anthony hasn't had his booster yet, but I hope and pray he will be okay  . . . I think the schools are a hot bed of the virus.  Covid is not a small thing. Its not a wonderful thing, but prayer is and so I pray, and pray, and pray  . . .  

I have been enjoying watching the figure skating in the Olympics. I do not know the names of the skaters, or the countries they represent  . . . I am just lost in the beauty of what they do.  These are all the world's best at their art and I am amazed at the talent and in awe of all the hard work that goes into all that they do, the training,  the sacrifice, etc.

I so enjoy it. My mother always loved to watch the figure skating also. When I was a little girl I would have loved to take figure skating, or dance lessons, piano . . . our family did not have a budget for those types of things. Most didn't. 

Bottle caps.  Of all the toys I have bought for the kit kats, they enjoy bottle caps most of all.   A bottle cap in an old shoe box keeps them occupied for hours until it escapes the box and goes under the television stand  . . .  

 

My birds are back where they belong.  I locked the kit kats up  in the bedroom and put my glass birds back up again.  It makes me very happy to see them back in the windows  . . . 

 

(source)

Each morning I put the Tabernacle Choir (Choir at Temple Square) onto YouTube on my television and their music embroiders my days. I just find it all very restful and soul inspiring. Its a very good thing.  I don't have a radio or a music player so YouTube does it all for me.  What a blessing that is.  We live in an age of technological miracles.  I am grateful for all of them.

My life is not the most exciting life these days. I fear it becomes more boring with every day that passes.  I guess that is most lives.  Simple. Ordinary. Every day.  I would rather that than to be constantly on display.

Good music, love, faith, friends, family  . . . health, pets  . . .  these simple things help to make an ordinary life beautiful.

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

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

 *.˛. "The cup of tea on arrival at a country house 

is a thing which, as a rule, I particularly enjoy. 

I like the crackling logs, the shaded lights, 

the scent of buttered toast, 

the general atmosphere of leisured coziness."

P.G. Wodehouse  •。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。

 

Chicken Soup with Pastina. . .  That's what's cooking in the kitchen today.  Simply delicious.

I hope you have a beautiful week ahead of you, filled to overflowing with small and wonderful things. Be happy. Be blessed.  Don't forget . . . 

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And I do too!

All Things Nice . . .

 

(source)

Life, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall?
Rapidly, merrily,
Life's sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily
Enjoy them as they fly!
What though Death at times steps in,
And calls our Best away?
What though sorrow seems to win,
O'er hope, a heavy sway?
Yet Hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair! 

~Charlotte Bronte, Life

 

It is one of my regrets that during the years I spent in the UK I did not ever get to visit the home of Charlotte Bronte.  Also Jane Austin.  I did get to see several of the homes that William Wordsworth lived in as well as the school he attended as a child and that was interesting. It was always on my bucket list, however, to see the daffodils on Lake Ullswater that he so poignantly wrote about.  Although I did see Ullswater, I never did see the daffodils. 

I must be grateful, however,  for the things I did see and for the experiences I did have.  Life is a funny thing and as Forest would say . . .  its like a box of chocolates. 

"Happy people ain't hatin', and hatin' people ain't happy." 

I've been thinking this week about this crazy world we are living in.  Earlier this week my sister posted a picture on her Facebook page which was more or less a thank you to all the truckers who are keeping the goods rolling, the wheels greased, etc. moving essential items across the country.  It did not take long for the haters to jump on board.  It got me to thinking about things.

I was brought up to respect other people and their opinions.  I didn't have to agree with them, of course, but I was taught that they had a right to them and I was to honor that right. It seems we are living in a world of people who feel that everybody has to agree with them, no matter what and if you don't, then you are in the wrong.  Right is only right so long as it aligns with their opinion, their wants, their needs, etc.

This is a selfish generation.  I am grateful for parents who taught me to respect others and their beliefs. Life is much happier that way.  My father always said that two wrongs do not make a right.

It costs nothing to be kind, an eternal truth.

 

(source)

I have been so blessed this week to be able to spend time with my family quite a bit. Wednesday night with dad and his friends, dinner at my sisters on Thursday and then last night we all went out together (dad's treat) to a local spot and had fish and chips. Well dad had Haddie Bits.  Cindy and I had fish and chips and Dan had a hot hamburger sandwich. The fish was very good I thought.  Nice and crisp and perfectly cooked.   My sister and I agreed that the chips could have been a bit crisper, but I only ever eat the ones around the edges anyways. They give you far too many.  The ones beneath the fish are always a bit soggy.  They lay the fish on top of the chips.  I think the heat of that hot fish creates too much moisture, but that's okay. I enjoyed it all anyways!

And the best part was being with family. 

I started to read this book this week.  It is a refreshing look at the age old story of Adam and Eve. 

"As the first who chose to cross the threshold into mortality, Eve is truly the personification of life."  

I had not thought of this before.  When Eve chose to partake of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she was the very first human being to come into mortality.  What a very brave step that was to take. Very courageous on her part.  In many religions she takes the 'blame' for tempting Adam and for ushering in the "fall" of mankind.  For being the first sinner.   But really, she opened the door to a life none of us could have experienced otherwise.  If all you ever know is joy then joy has no meaning.  There is no growth, no progression.

She wasn't weak, or misguided, or deluded.  She was brave and courageous.  A true heroine in every sense of the word.  The mother of all living.  

I have always loved being a homemaker. Take care of my home, making it warm and welcoming, a haven from the outside world, that has always been paramount and of the utmost importance to me.  I wonder sometimes if my home lacks personality now. If it is too sparse.  I have not filled it up, or at least I have tried not to . . .  to let it become cluttered.  When I go into my next door neighbor's house there is not an inch of space to move. The perils of having moved from a larger home into a much smaller space.  There has to be a balance between having too little and having too much.  Maybe I need some plants?  But then again, the cats would be problematic with plants.  I need to put my glass birds back up. I took them down before Christmas and have not put them back again. I am too afraid they will be broken but what joy are they bringing anyone if tucked inside a drawer? None.

(source)

I've been listening to Music and the Spoken Word on YouTube every morning, with the Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. It is the worlds longest running radio program.  I find it just helps to drown out the noise of the world.  I don't like it when the house is too quiet and with there only being me in the house, it can be too quiet.   This uplifting, inspirational music really helps to set the tone for my day.  I love it.  Calm and quieting. 

Some mornings I go back to bed for half an hour or so for cuddle time. I know some people would not relish the idea of a cat in the bed. He doesn't really get into the bed, he just lays on top of me, stretches out his paw (as you can see here) and waits for me to stroke him while he purrs and purrs and purrs. I call it singing me a song.  He's a great singer!  He is getting to be one very big cat.

Cinnamon is much daintier.  Smaller.  She likes her cuddles also but is much more selective about them.  Whereas he is in your face, she picks and chooses.  She often comes to me and jumps up and then turns onto her back. She wants me to rub her belly. I happily oblige. She looks back and up at me with eyes as if to say thank you and I love you. Its very sweet.

They are both very sweet.  And with that I will leave you with a thought for today . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。

° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚

˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛

˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *Let me seek then the gift of silence,

where the sky is my prayer,

the birds are my prayer, the wind

in the trees is my prayer, 

for God is in all.

~Thomas Merton•。★★ 。* 。 

In the English Kitchen today, Rocky Road Brownie Bites. The recipe makes only four, perfectly fudgy and dense, chocolatey bites of brownie heaven! 

I hope your Saturday is filled with all things nice!  Be happy, safe, healthy and don't forget! 

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And I do too!