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Tuesday, 21 August 2012

The Simple Woman's Day book . . .




FOR TODAY, August 21st, 2012...

Outside My Window...
The sky is overcast . . . not sure what the day will bring. I believe it is supposed to rain. The weather has been so changeable and unforseeable lately. I would have to say though, that we have not really had much of a summer and now it's waning. I saw a notice in the grocery store yesterday that due to all the wet weather they were being forced to sell us European potatoes.

I am thinking...
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference."
~Virginia Satir

I don't think that anyone leads a charmed life, no matter what it might appear to be from other side of the fence. Into each life some rain must fall. We all have problems. I have a friend who was Baptised into the church about a year and a half ago. She recently told me that she didn't want to have anything to do with the church any more because she had had nothing but problems since she joined. Truth is, none of her problems have anything to do with her joining the church. They are all the results of bad decisions she made in the years running up to it. Those problems were going to be hers anyways. I think she would realize that if she sat down and looked at things in a proper perspective . . . if anything the church has helped her to deal with the problems and to get through them with added support and love. Had the church not been there to help her, things might have been so much worse.


I am thankful for...
I am most grateful for the bedrock of the Gospel in my life. It helps to give me a sure footing as I clamber through all that life throws at me. I don't know where I would be without it.

From the kitchen...
I have the missionaries coming over for their supper tonight. I will probably spend most of today getting ready for that. I was thinking this might be a nice idea . . . for dessert



But, we'll have to wait and see how my day progresses.

I am wearing...
A lavendar nightie . . . bare feet. Dog slippers . . . yes, Mitzie is laying across my feet. Those are the best kind of slippers you know! ☺

I am creating...



I have a few old blankets that could use this treatment. I had forgotten all about saving this pin and then I saw it again this morning and thought to myself, yes!! I have some old blankets and I have lots of fabric. This is just the ticket.



And then I saw these. Bookmarks made with velvet ribbons and old pieces of jewelry and bits and bobs. I have lots of bits and bobs. These would make lovely Christmas gifts I think.

I have a bunch of stocking tops made and am going to finish them up for the grandchildren, a cat doll in the works, and of course I am still working on my afghan and my Christmas Cookbooklet!

I am going...
I have my RS Presidency meeting tomorrow night, the missionaries tonight and we have to do some home teaching and some visit teaching, plus I've been promoted from second counselor to first counselor and the RS President is going away on holiday for a week and a half, so I'm it. I hope nothing bad happens while she is away. It's kind of a scary thought!
I am reading...




Call the Midwife, by Jennifer Worth
I really enjoyed the series by the BBC and thought I would like to read the book. Books are always a lot more detailed than films or television shows. I am really enjoying this book. It's fabulous and I am glad that I picked it up to read. It details the life of a young midwife in London's East End in the 1950's and is a real peek into the way of life which existed there during that time period . . . the hardship, the poverty, the sadness, the joy, etc. I highly recommend.

Still reading this.





The Last Concubine, by Lesley Downer

The Last Concubine tells the story of Sachi, who grows up as the adopted daughter of an innkeeper in a rural Japanese village, knowing nothing about her true origins. Her world changes forever when an imperial princess, on her way to marry the shogun, passes through the village and takes Sachi into her entourage. In the secluded, formal, traditional world of the women’s palace in Edo, Sachi eventually becomes the last concubine of the last shogun — but that’s just a prelude to the turbulent events she’s about to be caught up in as Japan erupts into civil war and the world Sachi has grown up in, a world that seemed immutable for hundreds, even thousands of years, changes almost overnight.

Lesley Downer has created a wonderful character through whose eyes we are able to view the upheavals in Japanese society in the 1860s: because of her complicated background, Sachi is able to move and interact with people at a variety of different social levels. She’s uncomfortable, as any Japanese woman of that era would be, with stepping outside rigidly prescribed social roles, yet recognizes that because of the unique situation she finds herself in, she often has to do so. She also falls in love, in a society which doesn’t talk about or celebrate the concept of romantic love (or even have a word for it!) in the way we do in the West, and she has to struggle to fit her emotions in with her concepts of duty and social order. She also gets to see the beginning of the rapid Westernization and industrialization of Japan following the civil war — a fascinating story in and of itself.

I have only just started this book. As you know I am very intrigued by Oriental culture. I am enjoying this very much thus far.

Still on these books, but have added another one . . .


Breaking Night, by Liz Murray
It's an autobiography written by a survivor against all odds. Murray is the daughter of drug addicts who died of Aids. They neglected her, scandalously, but loved her in their own hopelessly dysfunctional way. By the age of six she was accustomed to watching her parents shoot up (her mother was almost blind, so her father had to help her do it). She left home at 15, carrying with her a crumpled snapshot of her mother, taken at a similar age – a girl with a storm cloud of hair and an unnervingly absent stare. It is the only picture reproduced in the book – her talisman. No wonder Murray preferred the photo to the reality. I have only just begun this one.

All are on my Kindle. It's so much easier to manage in bed than a book, and a lot easier on my wrists.

I am hoping...
They are coming next Tuesday to begin the work on our bath. They will be pulling the whole thing out and replacing everything, and putting in a shower instead of a bath tub. It's supposed to take them 2 1/2 weeks. 2 1/2 weeks we will be without a bathroom. We'll have a porta pottie out back, supposedly . . . and we will have to be bathing ourselves in the kitchen. I am hoping that it doesn't take a full 2 1/2 weeks. I am most grateful to be having it done . . . but not looking forward to the inconvenience . . . I doubt anyone would be!!

I am hearing...
Nothing new really. Mitzie is snozzing. The clock is ticking. There is the ever muffled sound of traffic . . . it never really goes away . . . but is always running in the background, so much so that we don't really hear it anymore . . . and the milk float just passed by the front of our house, gliding silently down the street . . . ghost like.

Around the house...



I am really loving this idea of a way to present all of the family pictures. I think it is a fabulous grouping . . .

Source: google.com via Marie on Pinterest




And . . . I am really loving these curtains. The bedroom perhaps???? I think they would be perfect in there, and I do have a rather large fabric stash . . .


One of my favourite things . . .



Is blueberries . . . but then again, you already knew that didn't you . . . it's kind of hard to miss!

Something new about me ...



I have a great love for Blue & White china. It is my favourite type of china. I once had a whole collection of Blue Willow that I had painstakingly collected from buying groceries. You could purchase so many pieces each week with every $10 worth of groceries you bought, at a discount price. I had a set that was large enough for 12 people. I lost them in the divorce . . . I have no idea where they are now. I was allowed to take one bowl, one plate, one spoon, one knife, one fork. A pot. And none of them in the blue and white . . .

One of my guilty pleasures ...
Maynards Wine Gums. My ex loved them too . . . he used to buy them all the time. I only ever got to eat the black ones, because they were the ones he didn't like. I didn't mind. I rather like the black ones. Black Currant is a favourite flavour of mine!

Pet Peeves...
People who say they don't like something before they have even tried it. How do they know they won't like it??? I think they are just imagining they won't like it and so they are afraid to try it. (If that makes sense.) I say it's better to try something and then decide. If you go through life avoiding things you "might" not like, you could miss out on a LOT of treasures and pleasures!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Source: flickr.com via Isabel on Pinterest



The sun will set without thine assistance.
~Talmud

There are some things in life that are inevitable and there is not a lot you can do to change them. Best not to waste time worrying about those things and let them take care of themselves.

As a closing thought I would like to leave you with this:

“If we constantly focus only on the stones in our mortal path, we will
almost surely miss the beautiful flower or cool stream provided by the
loving Father who outlined our journey. Each day can bring more joy
than sorrow when our mortal and spiritual eyes are open to God's
goodness. Joy in the gospel is not something that begins only in the
next life. It is our privilege now, this very day. We must never allow
our burdens to obscure our blessings. There will always be more
blessings than burdens--even if some days it doesn't seem so. Jesus
said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it
more abundantly." Enjoy those blessings right now. They are yours and
always will be.” ~Jeffrey R Holland



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!)



Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . . Chicken Pot Pie with Rapscallions, Tarragon and Lemon. (Now you know you just have to find out what a Rapscallion is don't you?)


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