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.    





I was nominated at the weekend for this ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.   This may look like I took the easy way out and I guess I kinda did, however . . . at least I did something!  It may just be a drawing, but it did take some effort and I am supporting a worthy cause.  ALS, or Lou Gherigs disease as it is also known, is a horrible disease which steals your body away from you leaving your brain intact . . . essentially all of your consciousness trapped in a useless vessel.  My ex husband's maternal grandmother died from the disease.  I am ever mindful that one or more of my children or grandchildren could possibly have inherited the possibility of also developing it.   It is a death sentence and not a very nice one.  If you can support this you should.  Now if I could only figure out where to send my donation.  Can anyone help???



This is my great, great Grandmother, Ida McNayr Smith.   She was the granddaughter of Boyd McNayr, who was the first of that family line to live in North America.  He has literally thousands of descendants.  I am one of them.  Our lesson in Relief Society yesterday was about doing family history and the importance of it.   It was a great lesson.    I think that inside each of us is a deep rooted need to know who we are and "Who" we came from!  I love doing family history and learning about my roots.  It is made especially dear when you are able to find photographs of the person, such as this one of Ida.   Of course when you go further back, it's a bit harder, but if you can find out little details such as what the person's profession was (which can be found on census forms, etc.) then that helps to bring a little bit of that person to life.  Family history work is exciting and fascinating.  I love it.  When I look at this photograph of Ida McNayr I see eyes that I see now on the faces of cousins and grandchildren . . .  a genetic legacy from this dear woman in our family tree . . .  and I am sure that if you could see her parents, etc. you would see them there and even further back.   I love to watch "Who Do You Think You Are."  This is a television program where they trace back the family trees of celebrities.  I wish I had the money and the resources to do the same thing for our family.

I am so grateful for modern technology.  I had one of my bi-weekly telephone conversations with my mum yesterday.  It is always so nice to hear her voice and we talk and laugh together twice a week in this way for about an hour each time.   When I think of how even just 20 years ago . . .  the reality of doing such a thing with any regularity would have been inconceivable  and cost prohibitive.   And then when I think that it is also possible for us to do video chats etc. and I realize how very blessed we are in these modern times to have these resources at my fingertips.   Video chats with grandsons and sons, wonderful.   I think we are all just very lucky to have this available to us today.  Can you imagine what our ancestors would think?   Many of them travelled across oceans to new worlds to never seen their families again.   They would be utterly amazed.   And these things . . .  we take for granted.

It is not without it's downside however . . .  as more and more people become detached and rely totally on social media for communcating with each other.    Increasingly I notice in social situations whole groups of people, whilst sitting together at tables in restaurants, etc. . . .  totally detached from each other and spending more times interacting with their mobile devices than with each other.   I think we need to draw a line in the sand here.  People need to learn when to turn them off.  I am afraid something really special and valuable is being lost.  People are becoming lonelier and invisible friends, as wonderful as they are, can never be a complete or real substitute for real life friends.   However for the shut-in who can't get out and about, they would be quite helpful I suppose . . . but how much better a visit in person.  Just my thoughts . . .



The blessing of living in a Temperate Climate.   A place where we get to experience all of the contrasts weatherwise that Mother nature has to share with us . . .  sunny and warm, cold and frosty . . . and yes . . .  dull and rainy!   I have never lived in any other kind of a climate, so I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in a climate where it was always hot and humid, or always cold and frigid . . .  or dry and dusty.   I love that I get to experience a much wider variety of weather types.   Even if I don't always appreciate that it is raining, I do value the fact that it is the frequent rain that makes this country I live in so beautiful and green.   I am grateful for that. 



All of you and your lovely comments which you leave for me and the interraction we have with each other. I have been quite horrible lately at keeping up with what is going on in each of your lives.  I am way behind on the blog reading and commenting.   I don't know what is happening to my time, but it appears to be evaporating rather quickly.   Here it is already after 8 a.m. and I am not finished this post and I have been up since 5 a.m.  Either I am getting a lot slower, or there are more distractions.     I need to get a grip.   I am missing my visits with each of you.  Look for me soon.   I promise.  One of the best things about blogging is the interaction between each other and it is one of the things I love most about it. 

And with that  I will leave you with a thought for today . . .

ღ¸.✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻ღ¸.✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻ 
What is spiritual strength? 
It's knowing you don't have to 
compromise yourself in any way, 
with anyone, 
over anything 
in order to be content, confident, 
and secure in life. 
~Guy Finley
ღ¸.✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻ღ¸.✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻    


 

Cooking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Spag Bol and Cheese Garlic Toasties!

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Have a wonderful day.  I hope it's filled with an abundance of small and wonderful things!

A thankful kind of a post . . .

I felt like I was in a bit of a funk yesterday for most of the day.  I don't know why.  I just felt a bit low.   I suppose we all have days like that every now and again.    It can sometimes be hard to shake it off.  I was up pretty early and I got a lot done in the morning.  I baked a cake for the BBQ, baked cookies, made some hot sandwiches for lunch, etc. and by the end of that I was done in.   Exhausted.

My got up and go . . .  got up and went.  I was pooped.  So pooped we ended up not going to the BBQ.  



Which means we now have cake in the house . . .  and not just any cake . . .  but Mabel's Picnic Cake.

 

Having cake in the house is always a good thing.



And we have cookies . . .  Dark Chocolate Drizzled Ginger Butter Cookies.  That's not a bad thing either.   (Depending on how you look at it I suppose.)

Then I declared it a me day and I took myself off up to my craft room and created.



I had been working on this one all last week.  I must have done about six sets of wings before I settled on these ones.    I like her caterpillar striped socks.   When you're having a blah day, it's a good thing to sink yourself into creating something  . . .  anything.

 It was pretty good.   It's about a man who takes a cross country car ride with his Jewish mother.  At first I thought it might be going to be a bit lame, but it was actually very good.  Seth Rogan reminds me of my son and I love Barbara Streisand in anything.  Always have done.



And I worked on my blanket while we were watching the film.   I am not using these colours though . . .  I am using dark brown, pink, teal, yellow, purple and sand.  They look nice together.  Keeping your hands busy helps to keep you awake.   That's my theory anyways.




And then we went to bed and read for a while before turning out the lights.



I love our bedroom.  It makes me happy.   I love the colours and the furniture, and the way I have it all laid out.   It's quite comfy and I always feel really happy when I am in it.  These are old photos of it though.   We have fairy lights on the headboards now



And different lamps.   The bases are wood.  They look nice.  (Dunelm Mill)



And we have different bedding.   Stripes and Flowers.  In reds and pinks.   We got them from Dunelm Mill a while back.    

And now today is a new day.   A fresh page.  The sun is shining (so far).   We have church to look foward to.  The chance to renew our covenants with the sacrament.    I'll be talking to my mom this afternoon.  I've a clean puppy dog to cuddle and a husband who loves me and a breath of fresh air in the house in the shape of Ariana the nurse. 

 And there's a new post from Susan Branch to read. She always makes me smile.

Life is good. 

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Have a wonderful Sunday.   Remember . . .  there is always, always something to be thankful for.

When the heather blooms on the hillsides . . .

Now is the quiet time for the birds.   Down in the woods . . .  where shadows lie deep and dark beneath the heavy canopy of late summer . . . the air rings with silence . . .

It is as if they are storing up their energies for the cooler months which lay just around the corner.   Where now are the little black caps, the whitethroats . . .  the warblers.  Larks hold now their peace . . .  how lonely it seems.



The garden is beginning to look tired now as everything begins to fade in colour.   The white hydrangea which were once a brilliant white are speckled with pinkish spots and the bright pink is turning to dull purple . . .

Seed pods begin to dry and droop . . . the roses turn to hips . . . but pansy still bobs it's pretty little head and dances amidst the lines of fading colour . . .



The plum tree hangs with fruit and it will be a race now to see who gets there first . . .  us or the wasps.   They feast upon cracked plums, clustering thickly around the broken flesh . . . feasting, whilst the apples turn their rosy cheeks to the sun . . .

The fruit on the pear tree hangs, ripening and becoming juicy on overladen branches . . .



Corn stands in the field . . . cut and stacked, ready for the threshers . . . stubble awaiting plough . . .  and on the hillsides there comes a pink and purple and mauve flush as the heather begins to bloom.

This is the hour of maturity . . .  the season of fruiting and fulfilment . . .  of gathering and garnering . . . the crowning of the year.



This weekend is August Bank Holiday.  I am not sure if it is a four day weekend or a three day weekend.   Once you stop work . . .  these things blur into obscurity.  We took Mitzie to the groomers yesterday and she is now looking very pretty, all clipped and plucked and smelling sweet.  She looks like a completely different dog once she's been groomed.   She looked a bit wooly and worn when we took her in and all sleek and shining when she came out.   They were late finishing her and we sat in the car outside for almost an hour waiting.  I was glad that I had bought a pot of jelly beans.

We listened to a cd of rock and roll oldies and tried to guess who was singing which song.  Why must I be a teenager in love . . .  sixteen candles . . .  puppy love.    Most songs are about relationships we concluded . . . either in the hopeful flush of new love or the dankness of forlorn and misbegotten affections.



Mitzie is always quite exhausted when she is done . . .  either that or she is sulking.  She spends the rest of the day in a heap on the sofa, sighing . . . I know it is not her favourite thing and I don't think I would like having my ears plucked either, and so it's extra cuddles all round . . .  and yes, she gets a jelly bean or two as well. 

I think I am going to make some pancakes this morning.  I know Ariana loves them and it is Saturday.  When my kids were growing up Saturday was pancake morning.   As a child we only had them once a year, but I liked to treat my children more often than that.   There is nothing like  a nice stack of hot cakes, butter gilding the top and syrup dripping down the sides to get the weekend off to a good start!    We are having a Ward barbeque at our chapel later today and I have a cake to bake for that as well, so our day will be a busy one and I am off to get it started.

I shall leave you with a thought for the day . . .  

✻ღϠ₡ღ✻(¯`✻´¯) 
           ✻ღϠ`*.¸.*₡ღ¸.✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻(¯`✻´¯) 
                                                   ✻ღϠ`*.¸.*₡ღ¸.✻

"It is impossible to stand upright when one plants his roots 
in the shifting sands of popular opinion and approval."
~Thomas S Monson    ღ¸.✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻ღ¸.✻✻ღϠ₡ღ✻  


 


Cooking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Late Summer Berry Crumble . . . with strawberries, blueberries and raspberries and a surprise ingredient that will have you smacking your lips in anticipation! 

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Have a wonderful Saturday!

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!   





Do it yourself naturally tinted and flavoured Raspberry Lip Balm!  This looks and sounds yummy!  Found this on  Hello Natural.   That's a great page.  There are a lot of natural, homemade cleaning and beauty ideas!



How to make Chocolate Cones on Maria Lunarillos. It's in Spanish but there is a complete pictorial tutorial.   Very easy to follow.   These would be fabulous on top of a ganache covered chocolate cake and filled with fresh berries! What a beautiful presentation that would make!



While I am at it . . . look at these  Caramel Brownies with a Pretzel Crust.  Wowza wowza!  Found on Milk and Honey.  Where's my napkin???  I am drooling here.



And after those Brownies I think we will all need these!  Ten moves that target Cellulite from Prevention Magazine.  Well, I think I need a lot more than that, but baby steps people!  Baby steps!



Is this Granny Square Crochet Cat not adorable?  I think it is so cute and so unique and what a great way to create something from out of your yarn bits and bobs.   Full instructions on Jam Made.



These kitchen hand drying towels are really cute!  From Hobbi di Stoffa.  Another pictorial tutorial.  I think they are so adorable.  I love the fabrics.  I need to go through my fabric stash and make some of these!



For mums and grandmums looking for an easy and economical solution to keeping their wee ones contained.   A DIY baby gate.  Found on Bombshell Bling!



Now this is an innovative idea for picnicker/summer parties.   Simply remove the centre board from your picnic table, place some eaves troughing in it's place, fill with ice and your cold drinks and voila!  A built in drinks icer!  Found this on Home Design Board.



Now this is really neat.   A Cake stand made from clay pots!  It's quite simply stuck together and painted.  People are so innovative!  I wish I had a brain which worked like this!   Found on  Joshua Trent.  Obviously you will need to seal it with something if you are going to be placing food directly on it.  

   

Mod Podge shoes from Something Monumental.   Clever clever!  These ones are done with old maps, but you can find a group of 20 shoe ideas on Mod Podge Rocks.

And that's it for this week.  I do hope that you were able to find something which inspires you to want to create something for yourself!

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .

¸.✿´´¯`•.¸¸. ི<♥ ♥ྀ. ¸.✿´´¯`•.¸¸. ི<♥ ♥ྀ.
"Friends can help each other. 
A true friend is someone 
who lets you have total freedom 
to be yourself- and especially to feel. 
Or, not feel. 
Whatever you happen to be feeling 
at the moment is fine with them. 
That's what real love amounts to- 
letting a person be what he really is." 
~Jim Morrison
¸.✿´´¯`•.¸¸. ི<♥ ♥ྀ. ¸.✿´´¯`•.¸¸. ི<♥ ♥ྀ. 

 

Cooking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Tuna, White Bean and Potato Salad.  Deliciously simple!

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Have a wonderful Friday!!

Five Things About Me

 What day is it kids?  It's Thursday and we all know what that means!  It's time for another five things about me post!  I hope you aren't getting tired of these posts!  I still have a lot about me to talk about!



I suffer from acute Motion Sickness.   I have been this way since I was a girl.   I even get sick on a swing.   This means that I can never go on any fair ground rides, get sick on boats, in cars, on trains, etc.   In the car it is especially bad if I have to sit in the back seat.  I don't know why this is.  It doesn't bother me at night however, unless we are on an extremely winding or up and down road.  I would love to be able to go on loop de loops, or roller coasters, but alas . . .  it's just not to be.  Todd would love to go on a cruise one day, but I have my doubts.  If my motion sickness kicked in it would not be much of a holiday for me, but instead several weeks of wanting to die . . . not sure I want to take the risk.



Christmas is my favourite holiday.  I love LOVE Christmas.   I love the music, the sights, the sounds, the smells . . .  the message of love and of hope which is attached to it.  I know that the Saviour wasn't really born on December 25th, but that doesn't bother me.  It drives Todd to distraction.   I don't care which day the Saviour was born on, I only care that he was born and if the whole world chooses to celebrate it on the 25th of December then that's okay with me!  I love Christmas Trees and and coloured lights and carols and crackers.  I just love CHRISTMAS!  I don't care if there are pagan symbols attached.  I believe that it is what is in your heart which counts.  And to me a Christmas Tree is a symbol of Christ's birth not the symbol of any ancient pagan ritual.

I do miss having snow at Christmas.



I have always been a voracious reader but I don't really like to read out loud.   My voice gets tired and my mouth gets dry and my throat gets sore.  I did read aloud to my children every night before bedtime.   We would all gather on the girls' double bed and I would read stories to them all.   I would make up voices for each of the characters, etc.   Of course by the time my youngest son came along, there was only him on the bed with me reading him stories because of the wide age difference.  I often made up stories for him.  He loved that and I always made sure he was a character in the story I was making up.   I hope that he remembers those special times.




I shared a bedroom (and a bed for many years) all of my growing up life from the age of three on with my younger sister. We had a double bed until we were teenagers.   When we were really small I went to bed a bit later than she did.   I was utterly convinced there was a monster who lived beneath our bed.  It was a monster that ate little children, but who didn't like to eat heads and so when I got into bed I would very carefully make sure that my sister was all covered up and all of our stuffed toys we slept with were covered up and that only heads were showing . . .  that way we would be safe.   We did not always get along.  Sharing a room during our teenage years was sometimes a big pain in the butt!  But as an adult I have come to really appreciate the close bond between us which was shaped during all of those years of sharing a room together.  She is and always will be my best friend, even though we may have different opinions and thoughts on some things, I will never let the monster beneath the bed gobble her up.



When I was a girl playing hopscotch was one of my favourite games.   In fact I still love it, although my arthritis these days means I would probably fall over more often than not!  I loved playing out doors as a child.   At school I loved recess which meant playing jump rope and ball  and  . . .  hopscotch!

And there you have it!  Five new things about me.  Some interesting, some boring . . .  all me.

A thought to carry with you through today . . .


ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋღೋ
"The secret of getting ahead . . . 
is getting started!"
~Agatha Christie
ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋღೋ

 

Cooking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken.  Simply delicious!!

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Have a wonderful Thursday!  Wherever you are, whatever you do, I hope the sun shines down on you!

Note - all the pictures today are artwork of Joan Walsh Anglund.   I have always loved her illustrations, since I was a child.