The Simple Woman's Day book . . .

FOR TODAY, June 28th, 2011...

Outside My Window...
It is beautiful and sunny, although a bit cool. It remains to be seen what the day will be like. We can but hope it will be fine!!

I am thinking...
I was thinking about how you can give someone life and do everything within your power for them, and be the best that you can be for them, within your experience and environment . . . and then, even though half the blood that courses through their veins comes from you . . . and you love every inch of them with the passion that only a mother has . . . they can still turn their backs on you and hate you with an equal passion. This is something I have a difficult time understanding and am having a very hard time coming to terms with. I pray for peace about this every day . . . but it ain't coming . . .

I am thankful for...
everything else in my life, and there is an awful lot of it that is very good. I know things could be so much worse, and I am very grateful that they aren't. If you have your health, someone to love you, a roof over your head, food in your belly and faith . . . you have everything a person could possibly need.

From the kitchen...
I have cookies. Homemade gumdrop cookies. But that's all. I need to cook something!

I am wearing...
Pink and yellow jim jams.

I am creating...


This is a slide show of all my Christmas Cards for this year. (SO far.) I think I am done, but you never know . . . there could be another one or two floating around in my head! Never say never. I found a card shop in Chester that takes handmade cards and sells them. I am going to do some samples up and take then in. If they will take some of them, it will be a start. I look at all the stuff that is out there and I know that what I create is as good as a lot of it. I just need to have a lucky break. I have come to realize that talent doesn't really matter all that much. You have to be in the right place at the right time, and be noticed by the right person.

I am going...
I have an appointment this afternoon at an Assessment Centre in Ellesmere Port to see if I can have a shower put in our house. We have a bath, and it is very difficult for me to get in and out of the bath. I am afraid that one of these days I will get into it, and never be able to get out. So they are going to assess my abilities and see what we might need around the house to help me out. If they are anything at all like the disability people I will get nowhere. Tommorrow I am having a shot in my other knee. Then on Thursday we are having the missionaries over for their tea. I also have a lesson to prepare for Relief Society on Sunday. My first one and I hope I do the subject justice!

I am reading...




The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted, by Elizabeth Berg

Every now and then, right in the middle of an ordinary day, a woman kicks up her heels and commits a small act of liberation. What would you do if you could shed the “shoulds” and do, say—and eat—whatever you really desired? Go AWOL from Weight Watchers and spend an entire day eating every single thing you want? Start a dating service for people over fifty to reclaim the razzle-dazzle in your life—or your marriage? Seek comfort in the face of aging, look for love in the midst of loss, find friendship in the most surprising of places? In these beautiful, funny stories, Elizabeth Berg takes us into the heart of the lives of women who do all these things and more—confronting their true feelings, desires, and joys along the way.

As you know, I love Elizabeth Berg's books and am enjoying this newest one. It is nice to read some short stories for a change. I have been laughing a lot as I read them. I can really related to a lot of them!

I am hoping...
I leave for Ipswich on Sunday, along with Julie. I am hoping that we have a great time down there and that the weather is good for our trip! They have put us into a hotel for the Sunday night at their expense and even paid for us to have a cooked breakfast!

I am hearing...
Early morning sounds . . . the clock on the mantle humming as the wheels inside it turn. The odd car as it goes by. Mitzie snuffling here curled up behind me on the sofa. The tap tapping of the computer keys as I write. Birds singing in the garden. All is right with the world.

Around the house...
I still have the craft room to finish sorting out, but I have been too busy working in it on other things! One of these days I will get my act together and get it done!!

One of my favourite things...
I like chocolate. Good chocolate. Green & Black's Milk Chocolate or Hotel Chocolate. If you were to give me either a bar of Green & Blacks or a box from Hotel Chocolate I would be one very happy camper! Mind you . . . my waistline would not be grateful, but what the heck! You only live once!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...



I don't know where this is . . . but it makes me smile! It makes me think of Rapunzel and Snow White . . . and Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and every other Fairytale Princess of my childhood. And then the thought comes to me . . . you don't need a big building like that with turrets and drawbridges to be living in a castle . . . even a mud hut can be a castle if you love it enough . . . and there is peace to be found within it's walls!

And just as a closing thought for today . . .

The test of thankfulness is not what you have to be thankful for, but whether anyone else has reason to be thankful that you are here.
~author unknown

My prayer every day is for me to be God's hands here on earth in some way. Let my life not be in vain . . .

And there you have it . . . my day book for this week. 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 just love Pizza! It is the one thing that I could eat every single day of my life and never get tired of it. You have everything there . . . bread, sauce, cheese, toppings! I could eat it for breakfast, or lunch or dinner. I can eat it hot or cold. I just love it no matter which way you cut it! This is a delicious vegetable topped one here this morning. Oh so yummy!!



*Rustic Veggie Pizza*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

Flavourful and filling and very easily adapted to use your own favourite veggie toppings. Mushrooms are a tasty addition.

3 TBS Italian Vinaigrette Dressing, divided
1 onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges
1 small yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 small zucchini, cut into half moons
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, cut lengthwise in half
1 can (11 oz.) refrigerated thin pizza crust
1 cup grated Mozzarella Cheese
1 pkg. (4 oz.) Crumbled Feta Cheese
1 cup rocket leaves (arugula)

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a large baking sheet. Butter it or spray it with nonstick cooking spray.

Heat one TBS of the dressing in a large skillet. Add the onions. Cook and stir on medium-high heat until crispy-tender. Add the peppers and zucchini. continue to cook and stir until onions are golden brown and peppers are crispy-tender. Remove from heat and stir in the tomatoes and olives.

Unroll the pizza crust onto the prepared baking sheet and pat it into a 14 by 10-1/2-inch rectangle. Fold over edges of dough to form a 1/2-inch-wide rim. Bake for five minutes and then brush it with the remaining TBS of dressing. Top with the vegetable mixture and cheeses.

Bake for a further 12 to 14 minutes, or until edges of crust are golden brown. Top with the rocket leaves and serve. Delicious!



Baking in The English Kitchen today, some delicious Gumdrop Biscuits (aka Cookies)!!