Thursday morning Prattle on the first day of summer . . .

It's an absolutely 'orrible day out there today! It's just chucking it down! So much for sunny days. They sure don't last very long it seems! Nevermind . . . it might be back to sun again tomorrow. We'll just have to keep our fingers crossed. I think that it was the late Bob Hope that said . . . "Don't like the weather in England??? Wait five minutes!"

We'd like to bid this moment stay . . .
with meadows green and gardens gay.
Roses bloom at sill and door.
Midsummer day is here once more.
The beauty of the Spring has fled
And Autumn's glory lies ahead.
How lovely is this golden time . . .
When the year is at it's prime!

And here it is . . . the first official day of summer. Todd was trying to trim the hedge in the back yesterday . . . but oh boy, with all the rain we have had it's gone past his being able to cope with it. He is 73 . . . and that back garden has to be at least 200 feet long, and the hedge goes down both sides and across the back. I don't want him doing it. We're going to call in some professionals to help cope with it. It's just beyond coping with for us, with the limited equipment we have to work with. We can't really afford it, but we're going to have to!



My cousin's husband, Dave, sent me some photos of Eileen and Tim's wedding shower which was put on for them by their church last night. They are such a cute little couple. I can't believe that I will be home in just a week now!



Not the best photo of Eileen, but it will have to do. She looks happy at any rate! We are getting excited now, to say the least. I am so glad that I changed my mind about going, fat or not! They'll just have to take me as I am! At least I am working on getting it down. Last Friday I was down almost 2 kilos again, so that makes altogether 8 kilos, which is good!



The hardest part will be leaving "this" behind. I am so going to miss her. Mitzie is just such a "presence" in our lives! She will be staying with a gal from our church, who has two sons, so she'll have lots of attention given to her and lots of walks and play. I just hope that she doesn't think we have abandoned her. We have never left her for more than a few hours before (the most is about 8 when we've gone to the Temple). Hopefully she will be far too distracted to notice we are gone. Oh, I am sure she will notice . . . but I hope it's not too hard on her.



I expect that by the time we get back we will have frogs in our pond again. The Tadpoles are getting quite large now and looking decidedly more "froggy." I think that is such an amazing process! It's like magic happening right before your eyes . . . they start off so tiny and like little squiggles . . . and then before you know it . . . they are frogs!

It reminds me of my son Bruce one spring when he was about four years old. We had just moved out to a house in the country . . . and he came home with a stick filled with frog spawn he had found in the ditch across the road! "Look at the monster I found!" He was so excited. He thought it was a monstor with hundreds of eyes!



And now, here he is a full grown "man," and in the Armed Forces. However did that happen. This is a picture he posted on his facebook page, to make all his friends jealous. Those are some Toronto Raptors Cheerleaders. It is hard sometimes to see your babies as being all grown up . . . it seems to happen overnight . . . just like tadpoles turning into frogs . . .

It doesn't seem like the years are going past very quickly when they are happening, but before you know it . . . they are gone, and you are left thinking, however has the time passed by like that . . . it seems like only yesterday they were babies . . . and then they are grown. *blink*



(Turn the music off below to listen to this.) I do so love me some Kenny Chesney. This is one of my favourite songs of his, called "Don't Blink."

How come you have to get old to realize this is what happens??? All you young people out there now, grab and squeeze all the joy you can out of every minute!! Life is tooooo short to waste a precious drop of any of it! Close your eyes and breathe in every single moment. Feel all of your "nows" to the hilt! Find the joy in every day. Don't waste your today's waiting for your tomorrows. Tomorrow never comes . . .



While you've got the musica off down below . . . you might as well listen to this. It's a real toe tapper! I love this one too. I wish I could jump on a trampoline like that! I could do it . . . I know, but I'd probably wet myself trying! (Yes, I did just say that!) hahaha

Ahhh . . . age, you cruel animal . . . I thought I could run faster than you and you'd never catch up with me . . . but, alas . . . you did!



While I am on a roll, I want to share this fabulous video with you. It's all about missionaries coming home and it always makes my heart swell with . . . joy, love and admiration for the young people in my church who give up two years of their lives, to move away from their families and life to serve the Lord. This is a HUGE sacrifice that they make, at a time in their lives when most young people are out there having a great old time, partying and making fools of themselves. These young people give up that time to serve. It always breaks my heart when I hear about someone being cruel to them, and trust me . . . there are cruel people out there that do dastardly things to them. They get spit on and have all sorts of abuse hurtled at them, and I know that some moments of their missions are very difficult indeed, but if you asked any one of them afterwards was it worth it. 99% of them would say absolutely!

You may not want to listen to their message, but . . . hey . . . kindness doesn't cost a thing!



That missionary is somebody's baby girl or baby boy . . . love them . . . be kind. Be as respectful of them as you would hope that other's would be to your baby girl or baby boy. Thankfully they are carried aloft in the prayers of church members throughout the world and by their families . . . but a little bit of kindness . . . a smile and a cheery hello on an otherwise 'orrible day, that goes a long, long way . . .

I guess I have prattled on long enough this morning! So, I'll leave you with a happy thought and be on my way!!

"When someone does a kindness,
It always seems to me
That's the way God up in heaven
Would like us all to be."
~Helen Steiner Rice



"Teach me thy way, O Lord, that I may walk in thy truth; unite my heart to fear thy name."
~Psalm 86:11



Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . . a delicious Barbequed Kung Pao Chicken.