The Simple Woman's Day Book

FOR TODAY, April 20th, 2009 ...

Outside My Window...
The day is in full swing. The birds have long since awakened and it is with a different feeling that I am awaking than what I normally experience. I guess I have gotten about 3 hours sleep. That is about par for the course when I have worked all night like I did last night. I can only sleep for a couple of hours and then I get a banging headache and cannot sleep any longer without getting up and taking something for it. I am sure I will spend much of the rest of the day dozing and then go to bed quite early tonight and sleep through til tomorrow morning.

I am thinking...
about the Chocolate Covered Macadamia Nuts that Jen gave me when I was in America and how good they were. It's probably a good thing I don't have any of those in the house today, as I'd probably scarf down the lot! As it is, today will be a huge battle of wills between the good and bad eating angels on my shoulders! (and the bad one is already winning!)

I am thankful for...
All the little things in my life that mean so much. Todd and I were talking yesterday about which people who would be least affected in this world should all the things we take for granted fall by the wayside . . . things like running water and electricity. There are people in the world, mostly in third world nations, that cope with the lack of these things daily. Such is their lives . . . the washing machine is a few rocks in a river, they lug water for miles and miles on their shoulders . . . computers, electricity, telephones, etc. They have no purpose in their lives. These people would hardly notice a difference in their standard of living at all. A very sobering thought that makes me truly thankful for everthing I have been blessed with, and at the same time perhaps I need to suffer a bit more so I don't have as far to fall . . .

From the kitchen...
I have a roast in the slow cooker, along with some vegetables and an apple pie on the counter that I made for Todd at the weekend. I have a cake recipe that I am working on for a recipe contest. You all will be my guinea pigs, well at least as far as how it looks. Todd it the lucky person who will get to taste my results!

I am wearing...
My pajamas of course and I seriously doubt that I shall have anything else on at all today!! C'est la vie!!

I am creating...
Yesterday I did this little painting in between church and work. I called it "Star Light, Star Bright." Yes, I was so tired when I did my last post that I gave you the wrong name for it! Duh! I also want to put together an assortment of notecards for my mom for part of her Mother's Day gift. I know she will love them. She is a great letter/note writer and I am sure they'll come in really useful. Besides, a gift from the heart is the best gift of all!



I am going...
I am going to relax as much as I can today without actually falling asleep! Tommorrow I have an eye appointment. I think I need some new glasses and it's actually long overdue. I have been wearing these same glasses for about 11 years now and they are looking quite dated. I hope my eyes have not changed too much, although I strongly suspect that they have. I have to take them off to do most things nowadays.

I am reading...

I've only just started it, but so far so good. I really enjoy reading auto-biographies and true stories. I also like fairy tales. I know, these are two extremes! When I was younger I loved to read Horror Novels. Stephen King was one of my favourite authors. At the same time I enjoyed books by Taylor Caldwell and also historical romance novels. My tastes have really changed through the years. It's interesting to see just by how much!


I am hoping...
That I will hear back from a certain publisher soon and that it will be positive news. I have been on pins and needles for a couple of weeks now. Patience is a virtue that I am continuously working on!

I am hearing...
Todd has the news running on the television and I can hear protestors making lots of noise. I think this is going to become more common place as the present financial circumstances take a stronger hold on us. I think it will most certainly get worse before it gets better. Yes, it is appalling that we will all have to dig deeper into our pockets to pay more taxes in the coming year, but the alternative hardly bears thinking about. Higher taxation is the lesser of two evils I think!

Around the house...
I can't even begin to think about what needs to be done . . . we'll just save that for another day!!

One of my favorite things...
Is puttering. I am a great putterer! I love to stay semi busy throughout my leisure hours and am always poking about and sticking my fingers and nose into all sorts! I think it annoys Todd sometimes, as I even putter while we are trying to watch a film on the telly. If I sit still for too long I start to fall asleep, so puttering keeps me awake!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...
Back to Young Women's and Seminary this Thursday evening. We are doing chocolate making in Young Women's which should be interesting! Not too many weeks of Seminary left so we will have to get busy and get cracking on catching up on any lessons we may have missed etc. I am not sure I was that great of a teacher, but I did try. Most evenings I only have one student and I feel rather sorry for him there all on his lonesome! Todd sometimes sits in so that he doesn't feel picked on!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This is how sweet my husband is. As I have sat here typing, he has popped down to the shops to pick up a few things and he came back bearing these lovely flowers for me as a gift, just to say, "I love you and appreciate you." Isn't he just the best!! I do love him so.

And there you have it, my Simple Woman's Day Book for today. Don't forget to hop on over to the Simple Woman to check out the other day book entries! (Or better yet, do a simple day book entry yourself! It's not that hard and I am betting you would enjoy it!)

I subscribe to a great little cooking magazine put out by the BBC, called Easy Cook. It comes out about every second month and is chock full of great little recipes for everyday kind of food. As soon as I saw these lovely little open face sandwiches in the latest issue, I flagged them as something that I wanted to make. Simple, economical and very tasty!

*Ham and Pineapple Melts*

Serves 2

Toasted English muffins topped with salty baked ham, sweet pineapple and a yummy cheese topping. These are really, really good. I normally have all the ingredients at hand.

2 wholemeal English muffins, split and lightly toasted
4 thick slices of cooked ham
2 tsp honey mustard (I used honeycup, it's quite spicy and
went really well with the saltiness of the ham and the
sweetness of the pineapple)
4 pineapple rings, well drained and dried off with some paper towels
2 ounces grated mature cheddar cheese
a spash of Worcestershire sauce

Pre-heat your grill (broiler) to medium. Place the toasted muffin halves onto a grill pan. spread each half with some of the mustard. Top with a slice of ham, a pineapple ring and some cheese. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes until bubbling and golden. Remove from the grill and spash on some Worcesterhire sauce. Serve immediately.

These go very well with a side salad, but for a more substantial meal such as supper why not make some homemade oven chips to go along on the side!