The Simple Woman's Day book . . .

FOR TODAY, August 30th, 2011...



Outside My Window...

The day looks quite dull and it has been raining through the night. I hope that it will brighten up!! It was fairly dry all weekend, although it has been quite cold. It is only stubborness which keeps me from putting on the heat!



I am thinking...

I am thinking about all the people in Eastern US and Canada who have been hammered by this hurricane these past few days. My relatives in Vermont have had it bad with flooding and such, although my elderly cousin is up on a high hill so their home is alright. I don't know about the rest of them. I am assuming no news is good news! As always they are in my prayers! There have been so many bad storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, Tsunami, financial upheavals, etc. over the past several years with increasing ferocity. I wonder . . . do people read the bible and not see a pattern here? Is this not what we have been warned about?? Should we not be getting our affairs in order???



I am thankful for...

The knowledge of the Gospel which tells me the end of the story! And the faith that I have to believe it.



From the kitchen...

Hummingbird Cake, but I think I need to bake some cookies. Todd has lost weight again. He always has a hard time keeping weight on. (I know! It's not fair!) I need to work harder to keep him a bit fatter. He likes to be about 9 1/2 stone and he has dipped to just above 9 which isn't good. He needs feeding up!



I am wearing...

A blue nightie and slippers. I have decided that I have a lot of blue nighties. It is getting to be time to break out the jimjams!



I am creating...

I have stacks and stacks of finished cards sitting in my craft room, all glued and glittered, and bagged and stickered up. I still have to list them in my Etsy Shop. I know, I have been saying that for a few weeks now!







I need to quilt my jelly roll quilt now. I did try to do it by machine, but that isn't going to work. After having to pick out a whole row of machine stitching I have decided to do it by hand.







I made a 2012 calendar using one of my prints. It's about 4 1/2 inches wide by 10 inches long. I can make them using any one of my prints and will be selling them to anyone who is interested, customized to the print they would like and colours they would like.



I am going...

I have a Doctor's appointment today. I've been a bit nervous about something for a while now and am to the point where I need to get it checked out to put my mind at ease. Please keep me in your prayers. Thanks!



I am reading...







Sing You Home, by Jodi Picoult



Zoe Baxter has spent ten years trying to get pregnant, and after multiple miscarriages and infertility issues, it looks like her dream is about to come true – she is seven months pregnant. But a terrible turn of events leads to a nightmare – one that takes away the baby she has already fallen for; and breaks apart her marriage to Max. In the aftermath, she throws herself into her career as a music therapist – using music clinically to soothe burn victims in a hospital; to help Alzheimer’s patients connect with the present; to provide solace for hospice patients. When Vanessa – a guidance counselor — asks her to work with a suicidal teen, their relationship moves from business to friendship and then, to Zoe’s surprise, blossoms into love. When Zoe allows herself to start thinking of having a family, again, she remembers that there are still frozen embryos that were never used by herself and Max.



Meanwhile, Max has found peace at the bottom of a bottle – until he is redeemed by an evangelical church, whose charismatic pastor – Clive Lincoln – has vowed to fight the “homosexual agenda” that has threatened traditional family values in America. But this mission becomes personal for Max, when Zoe and her same-sex partner say they want permission to raise his unborn child.



I always like Jodi Picoult's books. They are always a great read no matter what.



I am hoping...

That it doesn't bucket down rain the whole time we are in Cumbria in just two weeks time! The Lakes are known for having the highest rain fall in Britain and autumn here means rain. I have my fingers crossed. If it does tip it down the whole time, well . . . at least we will be away, and that will be good just the same.



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 as she snoozes, all curled up behind me on the sofa. The tap tapping of the computer keys as I write. They are morning sounds. The sounds as I hear whilst the house wakes up around me and the day begins.



Around the house...

We have lightened the load yet again down here in the dining room/lounge. We plan on getting some shelving from Ikea when our holiday is over and eventually replacing the two seater sofa with two matching two seater sofas. My dad is talking about coming over next year with his cousin and then my son and his wife are coming next year with their two kiddies and so we need more seating space. One two seater sofa just doesn't cut it. I have my eyes on one from Ikea as well that is not overly expensive, although Todd is not sure if he is up to putting a sofa together, even a two seater one. Does anyone have experience with this and how did it go???



I am looking forward to...

I am hosting a pot luck luncheon for the ladies at church on Thursday. I hope it goes well!!



I am pondering...

I am thinking a lot about life lately and how short it is and about how every day we are given is such a blessing. Each morning I wake up and open my eyes is a bonus, especially after the age of 50. 50 is when so many health problems begin to show up and your odds of not making it increase. I feel quite blessed to be 56 and here's hoping I have at least another 20 years left to make my mark on the world!



One of my favourite things...

Is doing this daybook. It helps me to slow down and reflect on things. I am always thinking about something anyways, but it is nice to focus and put it down on paper per se.



A few plans for the rest of the week...

Reading lessons, Doctor today, Meetings tomorrow night, Pot Luck Thursday, etc. I seem to fill each week on the calendar to over brimming. I like being busy.



Here is picture thought I am sharing...







What little girl doesn't dream of becoming a ballerina one day. I was no different when I was a little girl. I always wanted dance lessons, but there was no money for them in our family coffers. My mother had a book though which had dance lessons inside, for tap and all sorts. I can remember practicing the steps in the book and wanting to be Ginger Rogers. We watched "The Black Swan" the other night on the telly and were left stunned at the end of it. It was quite dark and gave a lot of insight to the life of a ballerina. They must be very focused to get to the pinnacle of success and it involves a lot of sacrifice. Although I thought the film to be very dark, I also thought that there was a lot of truth in it as well . . . . I know that there are a lot of dancers who are obssessive about things such as eating and weight. I saw the Canadian National Ballet perform at Uni when I was there and it was beautiful. Success of any kind takes sacrifice I suppose.



And just as a closing thought for today . . .



"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."

~Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)



If we never do anything for fear of failure we can never hope to achieve our full potential. I fully believe that. Sure we might fail in the end, but . . . what if we don't??? We must at least try!



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!



My oldest son, Anthony is just like me. He loves to cook. From the time he could walk and carry a wooden spoon he always had his face into every pot I had going and was trying to give it a good old stir. He’s a really good cook too. These were always his favourite pancakes and I’ve named them after him. Hopefully next summer I will be able to cook them for the grandsons!







*Anthony’s Favourite Fly-Off-The-Plate Pancakes*

Family size (must mean at least 4 or five people)

Printable Recipe



This is another oldie from my big blue binder. In the amount area it only says family size so I take it to mean that means a lot, because I had a rather large family. My Anthony loved these and for good reason. They are quite simply delicious. The addition of sour cream gives them a wonderful tenderness. I always made them silver dollar size when I was making these. I think he liked them that way because he could get a whole one into his mouth at one time, you know how boys are! Break out the butter and Maple Syrup, you’re in for a real taste treat today!



2 cups plain flour

¼ tsp salt

2 TBS white sugar

6 tsp baking powder

2 large free range eggs

2 cups milk

5 TBS sour cream

4 TBS melted butter

Oil for frying



Whisk together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Put the eggs, milk, sour cream and melted butter into a large beaker and whisk them together well. Make a well in themiddle of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients all at once. Whisk together vigorously until they make a smooth batter.



Heat a large non-stick skillet or griddle over medium high heat. Grease lightly with a little bit of oil, swirling it to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Drop the pancake batter onto the heated pan or griddle in heaping tablespoonfuls. Cook over medium high heat until the surface is coated with small bubbles and the underside is lightly browned before flipping them over to cook and brown the other side. Remove to a plate and keep warm in the oven while you are cooking the rest, using up all the batter. Serve warm with knobs of ice cold butter on top and sweet lashings of Maple Syrup.



These freeze very well. Just pop them between layers of grease proof paper and pop them into a zip lock baggie. You can then take out as many or as few as you want at any given time, warming them up for a few seconds in the microwave.



PS - You can very easily cut this recipe in two if you don't want to make quite so many. I did.







Baking in The English Kitchen today, a delicious Hummingbird Cake.