FOR TODAY, September 25th, 2012...
Outside My Window... It is just now beginning to get light and it's just gone seven a.m. You can really see the days and nights drawing in now. It seems only yesterday we were going to bed in daylight . . . and now it seems to be getting dark a few hours before we go to bed. Todd hates it when the nights draw in . . . but that's because he hates to drive in the dark. I don't mind it so much . . . because I find them cozier, and I am all for cozy!
I am thinking...
"Take all you want, eat all you take."~Amish Proverb We have just begun a new recycling garbage program here. We had one before but only three bins. A blue for recyclables, a green for garden waste and a brown for all other garbage. Now we have about six
different ones, and it's a lot more complicated. I have never been a waster. I think that it's time for the manufacturers to step up and provide us with far less packaging, so that there is less to throw away. I also think that the grocery stores should start selling foods with longer use by dates. I find that the use by dates over here are very short, except for in the most exclusive more expensive shops. It is only very rarely that you will find a fresh item with a use by date more than two or three days hence. My bread goes moldy before I can use it up. It's really difficult to get it all eaten before it goes off and I don't like having to shop every two or three days. You spend more that way, but perhaps that is the method behind their madness.
I am thankful for... I am thankful for feet that walk, knees that bend, hands that grasp, ears that hear, and eyes that see. Your health is so important and I am so grateful that for the most part I enjoy relatively good health.
From the kitchen... NOT A LOT!
We're going away in a few days and so I am being lazy, and trying to use up what we have. (Before it goes off!!)
I am wearing... A blue M&S nightie, slippers, robe. Feeling cosy and warm. For now . . .
I am creating...
Working on the finishing touches for my Christmas Cook-booklet. I have ever so much fun doing this one.
Getting things ready to put into the Gallery next week. I am thinking that an assortment of my Christmas Cards, and several prints, plus some matchbox dolls. I need to make more of them now as four of them sold lickety split! (Not complaining!)
Working on one of these while we watch telly in the evening. It's a ripple afghan. Using the same colours as I did in the other one for continuity.
Loving this scarf. I am looking for a pattern so that I can make one myself. Isn't it pretty???
I am going... Today we are going up the North Wirrel to meet up with a friend and her husband for the first time. Jan and I have known each other online for about 8 or 9 years now. She's Canadian too. Why we have waited so long for us to meet in person I don't know, but it's finally happening and I'm really looking forward to it!
Then of course on Thursday we are traveling down to London for the Turkey Awards. I am really looking forward to Thursday evening at the Savoy. We are not staying at the Savoy. Only pop stars, film stars and other rich people can afford to stay there, or even eat there I think, but we will be dining and dancing there. It all begins with a champagne reception at 6:30 and goes on from there. Todd's dinner suit is all dry cleaned and I have my dress and we'll be living it up. I'm not bothered about the award. I am just looking forward to the experience! Never in my wildest dreams could I ever have imagined such a thing as being able to do this.
The best part of the weekend through will be seeing our good friends Jo and Colin. They are coming up Saturday and we will spend Saturday and Sunday with them. They're staying at the same B&B as we are. We haven't seen them in over a year, although Jo and I talk frequently. It will be so good to see and spend time with them!
I cashed in my Tesco vouchers on days out tokens and meal tokens so all of our entertainments are all paid for and we'll be living it up in London courtesy of Tesco!
I am reading...When Love Awaits, Johanna LindseyFrom amazon:
Once Lady Leonie cursed 'the Black Wolf' - handsome Rolfe d'Ambert, the mercenary Lord of Kempston - for his bloody deeds and cruelty to the local peasants. Now she must marry the magnificent blackguard to bring peace to the land.
Young, innocent, and possessing a rare and exquisite beauty, Leonie would be a prize for any man - yet Rolfe seeks the match solely for revenge. But her sensuous kiss ignites within him the fiery need to claim her - and an irresistible desire to unite their warring hearts in glorious love.
I know . . . these romance novels are all the same. Girl hates boy. Boy is a handsome rake. They fall in love whilst trying to pretend they hate each other. I just wanted some light reading for a change. It's been a long while since I have read one of these. I used to read them all the time when I was younger. I just skip over the smutty pages now. I never used to mind them much, but I find them a bit embarrassing now. I must be getting old!
I am hoping...For good weather this weekend when we are down in London. I don't want to be taking our Thames River cruise on Saturday in the rain!!
I am hearing...
Nothing new really. Mitzie is snoring on the couch. The clock is ticking . . . my fingers are clicking on the keyboard. I have some soft music playing . . . and the cuckoo clock decided to start working again yesterday. One of life's great mysteries I am sure!
Around the house...Trying to think of some ways to dress the house up for autumn . . .these leaves are rather pretty . . .
I rather like this idea for the mantle as well, but in different colours. I'd like brighter colours.
Also loving this idea. That's totally doable for me as I can get nuts. Pumpkins and mini pumpkins, gourds, etc. are not so easy as you only ever very rarely find those things over here. Perhaps I need to grow my own, or make some out of papier mache.
One of my favourite things . . .I love fairies. I have loved them for as long as I can remember. I remember being about five years old and watching a live production of Peter Pan on the television with Mary Martin as Peter Pan. I remember her coming very close to the screen when Tinkerbell was dying and asking did I believe in fairies, and telling me to shout it out if I did . . . to help save Tinkerbell's life, and shouting for all that I was worth! I loved the Enid Blyton stories about fairies and brownies and such. I loved being a "Little People" in Brownies and dancing around the toadstool singing the "Little People" song. "We though known as Little People, Aim as high as any steeple!" I have a collection of fairies now . . . they sit on the long wide windowsill in our bedroom and I have fairies tucked here and there in the garden. Time now to clean them up and put them away for the winter methinks.
Something new about me ...
I am very claustrophobic. I hate small spaces. On a school trip to a mine when I was 17, I could not go down into the mine. It was quite embarrassing. I had to wait at the top until the others came up. I sometimes get that feeling in elevators and I don't like being deep on the underground. I don't know where this comes from . . . I only know that I get out of breath and break out into a cold sweat, and feel quite, quite panicky.
One of my guilty pleasures ...Chocolate . . . cake, cookies, brownies, candy . . . I just love it. Thankfully Todd does not so I only ever rarely bake anything chocolaty or have it in. I would just have to eat it all myself if I did! I can't do that . . . so I give it away after I have enjoyed my share.
Pet Peeves... For some reason we are always finding cigarette butts close to the front of our house, underneath our living room window, next to our door and I have no idea of how they are getting there! Neither of us smoke, nor do our friends. It's one of life's great mysteries I guess!
Here is picture thought I am sharing..."Happiness is the art of never holding in your mind the memory of any unpleasant thing that has passed."~anon There is great wisdom in those words. Holding on to past hurts, bearing grudges, being unable to forgive, dwelling on those things and those people which have wronged you . . . only hurts YOU. We must learn to let go . . .
As a closing thought I would like to leave you with this:"There is divine beauty in learning. To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps. The books I have read were composed by Generations of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, teachers and disciples. I am the sun total of their experiences, their quests. And so are you.~Elie Wiesel
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 . . . Macaroni Cheese Pies. 
