A Sunday melange of thoughts . . .

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Once upon a time . . . there was a feeble old woman, whose husband had died and left her all alone, and so . . . she went to live with her son and is wife and their own little daughter.

Every day the old woman's sight dimmed and her hearing grew worse. Sometimes at dinner her hands trembled so badly that the peas rolled off her spoon or her soup ran from her cup. The son and his wife could not help but be annoyed at the way she spilled her meal all over the table, and one day . . . after she had knocked over a glass of milk . . . they told each other enough . . . was enough.

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They set up a small table for the old woman in the corner next to the broom closet and made her eat her meals there. She sat all alone . . . looking with tear-filled eyes across the room at the others. Sometimes they spoke to her while they ate . . . but more often than not, it was only to scold her for dropping a bowl or a fork.

One evening just before dinner, the little girl was busy playing on the floor with her building blocks. Her father asked her what she was making.

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"I'm building a small table for you and for mother," she smiled, "so you can eat by yourselves in the corner of the room, someday when I get big."

Her parents sat staring at her for some time and then suddenly they both began to cry. That night they led the old woman back to her place at the big table.

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From then on she ate with the rest of the family . . . and her son and his wife never seemed to mind a bit when she spilled something every now and then.

~Adapted from a tale by the Brother's Grimm

Now that I am getting older, I can really relate to this story . . . but I hope that when I was a much younger woman I was never that lacking in compassion towards those who really needed it. In fact, I know that I was not . . . and if occasionally I might have been, I beg for forgiveness . . . This is a lesson we should learn when we are young . . . for the sake of the generation coming before us.

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Well . . . I bottled it and I didn't get my nails done. After reading the problems that others had had with it, I was too afraid to have them done. Instead I will treat myself to a full manicure just a day or so before the wedding. Perhaps a French one. My nails will still look nice and I won't have ruined them.

I am very blessed to have the luxury of being able to do this . . . I know.

A few bits that I painted yesterday afternoon . . .



Some Christmas balls. For the Christmas Book I am putting together.



Gingerbread, pine branches and apples . . . again for the Christmas Book . . .



Snow men . . . you guessed it, for the Christmas Book! As you can tell, I am having a LOT of fun planning it and doing these little doodles for it. It's shaping up quite nicely. It will obviously be a bit larger than the other cookbooklets I have done, which reminds me . . .

The Summer picnic one is still available but will only be available for 3 more days, and then it will be gone . . . gone . . . gone . . .



With the warmer weather and the arrival shortly of "Summer" I have created a whole new Cookbooklet, entitled "The Great British Picnic." Filled with over 36 new recipes, including several types of flavoured mayonnaises, flavoured butters, beautiful sandwiches, delicious spreads and dips, a tasty assortment of salads, a variety of cool soups, refreshing beverages, picky bits, cakes and general scrumminess, all perfect for celebrating the summer season in a very British Picnic Way. (We are great picnickers over here!) There's something here for everyone!



Also included are "Top Tips for Picnic Success" and "Chic Ideas" for creating a "Very Stylish Moveable Feast!" Interspersed between all this scrumminess, there are witty quotes and my own delightful water colour illustrations! This newest cookbooklet is sure to please on many levels.



The price is £5, payment via paypal, and will be sent to you as a downloadable PDF.



Please allow 12 hours for delivery, due to time differences!

And I guess that's about all for today! I have, as always enjoyed my little visit with you. You always make me smile, you really do. I am going to miss you all ever so much whilst I am away. I am trying to set up a few surprises for you during that time. Finger's crossed all goes well.

“Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the lives of others”
~Gordon B Hinckley



Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . . Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bread Pudding.

Have a great day everyone!!