It was only a vase of flowers . . .

It was an extremely wet day. An artist sat at his window looking out at the fields. He had wanted to get out and to paint on this day as he normally did, but the rain would keep him from reaching that goal, at least for today anyways. He glanced around the room and all of a sudden his eyes fell upon a singular vase of flowers. "Well" . . . he though to himself . . . "It will be better than nothing."

Thus it was,that the great artist Vincent Van Gogh painted "The Sunflowers", which is one of the world's most famous paintings. He did paint many other pictures that were a lot more ambitious that this vase of sunflowers, but it is this particular study of simple yellow blooms in a vase that has captured hearts and minds worldwide.

It will be loved for it's simplicity long after other, more elaborate paintings, are forgotten . . . and yet . . . it was only a vase of flowers . . .



I remind myself of that on days when I think that the things I am doing are not all that important in the grander scheme of things, or that they don't matter to anyone. I think of that, when I create my little drawings and paintings. No, they are not Van Gogh's or Rembrandts, but they are me . . . and they come from my mind and heart, and bring a smile to some people's faces. The small and simple things that I do for others . . . they matter to the people I do them for, and they impact upon my own heart and the hearts of those I touch . . . so, my friends, that is, and should always ever be . . . enough.



I think of the words of our late President Hinckley as he spoke to the women in our church . . .

"You have the potential to become anything to which you set your mind. You have a mind and a body and a spirit. With these three working together, you can walk the high road that leads to achievement and happiness. But this will require effort and sacrifice and faith."

Nothing worthwhile or of great import ever came easy . . . or without sacrifice. We must believe in ourselves, and in our own good, for if we can't do that, how can we ever expect anyone else to. Work hard, give much and then believe that it will happen . . . after all of that, how could anyone possibly fail . . .

Last week I received a lovely award from several people. N.O.E of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs , and Esther and Hannah of The Del Sisters Kitchen both saw fit to give me this lovely, "I Love You This Much" award. I have long coveted that award. I must tell the truth and I was so very thrilled to finally receive it. As with any award, it comes with the responsibility to pass it on and share it with others. And I have chosen to pass it on to everyone I love . . . how could I pick just a few . . . so, if you are one of my beloved readers, and you have a blog of your very own, please accept this special award from me because quite simply . . .



I love you this much!!!

What a busy day I had yesterday. I worked all morning into the afternoon. I had to do some grocery shopping and of course do some cooking for work and some cleaning too, and then I had to come home and do some more of that again and I had my chiropodist appointment later in the afternoon. Right at school getting out time, so we had to battle traffic and mum's and kids to get there on time, which . . . whew! we managed, and then when I was done it was rush hour time, and so we had to battle traffic queues again. We got home and there was precious little time to put a meal on the table before Todd had to rush out again to go to his weekly meetings at the church, and so I threw together something quick and easy. Let me tell you, if you always keep a tin of new potatoes in the pantry, you will always have the makings of hashed potatoes. With just a bit of chopped onion, some butter and the potatoes drained and chopped, it's in the pan and on the table, all nicely browned and tasty, before you know it. I cooked a few carrots and then I made these lovely gammon steaks, and we had a meal, fit for any king, in about 15 minutes flat. What could be better than that!!!



*Nectarine Glazed Gammon Steaks*
Serves 4

Gammon is what they call fresh ham over here. Gammon steaks cook very quickly and are so very tasty, especially when you put a bit of fruit with them! I like to buy the dry cure, free range organic ones myself, but you can get whichever ones you can afford. I'm sure they'll all taste good. I just find that with the dry cure ones I don't get as much liquid in the pan.

2 full gammon steaks, trimmed and the flat on the edge trimmed and clipped
(This helps to keep them from curling up)
a knob of butter
dry mustard powder
soft light brown sugar
a couple of fresh nectarines, cut into slices, pits discarded

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add the knob of butter. When it begins to foam put in your gammon steaks. Dust the tops all over with some of the dry mustard powder and then sprinkle on some brown sugar. When you have the bottom browned (about 2 to 3 minutes) flip them over and dust again with the dry mustard powder and brown sugar. Add the nectarines to the pan around the gammon steaks and allow them to brown and glaze a bit on each side. Remove the browned gammon steaks to a platter and spoon the pan juices and the nectarines over top. Cut each steak in half to serve and spoon some of the nectarines onto each serving. Delicious!