FOR TODAY, September 18th, 2012...
Outside My Window...
The sun is just rising,and the rain is tipping it down. I do see a clear spot in the sky though off to the left, towards the North East . . . so I think the rain will clear. It's only two days though until Autumn will be officially here. Still . . . could be worse. Last year at this same time we were sitting out a hurricane up in Cumbria . . . Instead we are warm and cosy in a nice terraced house in Blacon . . . with no hurricane in sight and hopefully some sunshine instead. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that. ☺
I am thinking...
"If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be."
~John Heywood
As I look back on my life I can clearly see that there have been far more joyful moments than there have been sad . . . and looking back at the bad and the sad, I can see where they have forced me to grow and learn in directions I never would have grown. Experience is for our own benefit, or to give us the tools to be able to help someone else get through the same situation at some point.
I am thankful for...
I am thankful that the bath is, to all intents and purposes, a faite accomplie! I am enjoying my morning showers and the luxury of not having to heave my aching body in and out of a tub every morning, of being able to wash my hair much easier, not to mention the lovely fresh new look of it all. I have never had a new toilet or sink or anything even remotely resembling them in my life. This is bliss! We are blessed.
From the kitchen...
I have some leftover crumb cake, but that's it. I have been thinking I might like to make some bread. We'll see how the day progresses.
I am wearing...
A pink M&S Nightie, my robe and my slippers. Yet . . . cold weather has landed. It's time to begin wrapping up. (I do like my M&S nighties don't I!!)
I am creating...
Working on my Christmas cook-booklet, and have it about 3/4 finished! Yayy!! It will soon be available for purchase. This one is a bit larger than the past couple of ones. I am up to 33 pages and still have two more sections to finish! So it's a big-un!!
I am wanting to make one of these finger pin cushions to tuck into the Kitchen Match Box sewing box I am making for a swap in December.
Isn't that just the cutest finger pin cushion you've ever seen? I know! Sweet, sweet, except mine will have a rose theme.
Then there are my little matchbox dolls. I want to make some more of them. I may even try selling some. We'll see.
I finished my afghan!! It looks lovely sitting on the back of the sofa. I have picked out a new pattern that I am going to start soon. I just have to save up for the wool.
I picked up the pattern on Etsy for less than £2, so not bad . . . and I already have the hooks. I just need the yarn. I won't be doing those colours though. I think purple, gold, green and cream are what I will use.
I am also really liking these! I think we are going to do Thanksgiving this year.
I am going...
Todd is taking Mitzie to be groomed today and she badly needs it. She's a right mucky pup. I am staying here at home because they are going to be exchanging the toilet for a shorter one today. I also have things I need to really be doing here at home. Tomorrow afternoon I am having my hair cut. Then on Friday night there is a going away "Dessert" bash at the chapel for a young couple that is deserting us to move to Australia, and on Saturday we are having our good friends Audrey and Peter over for supper. Usually every year the four of us get together to celebrate our Birthdays. We've done it for years. We're late doing it this year, but at least we are doing it and I am looking forward to it! I don't know what I will cook yet, but it will be something good I am sure.
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. (Nothing has changed. Still working on the same books!)
I am hoping...
The sun just broke brilliantly through the clouds. I am hoping it stays!
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...
Now that the bath is complete it is time to start working on my craft room. It is a right tip. I really need to do something in there. I don't have a lot of money to spend, so it will have to be done cheap, cheap, cheap. I like this look here, but this is for a sewer. I do sew and have a sewing corner. But the majority of what I do in there has to do with pencils, paper and paint.
I love this craft "Closet." We have an old Wardrobe in there that I might be able to convert. I just have to find a place to put Todd's things. haha Poor Todd.
Another great idea, it is an old door and some posts turned into a work top! I am really loving that idea. We have an old door in the shed too.
One of my favourite things . . .
Something new about me ...
I am terrified of spiders . . . no matter how LARGE or how small they are. They give me the willies. I can't stand them. One was in the bedroom the other night. A really big one. It kept looking at me and every time I tried to get it, it would disappear. I only wanted to hurt it a little bit . . . I hardly slept a wink.
One of my guilty pleasures ...
Creme Brulee. I've only ever had it once, but I think about it all the time. I am not sure just what that says about me . . . but it's probably not anything good!! lol
Pet Peeves...We were pulling out of the drive the other day and I noticed that some generous person had left us their empty soda bottle, pushed into the side of our hedge. That was so very kind of them don't you think?
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
"We always have a tendency to see those things that do not exist, and to be blind to the great lessons that are right there before our eyes."
~Paulo Coehlo
We are afraid of that which we don't see or understand. Ofttimes it is these fears which keep us from progressing, from realizing our great potential, from becoming who we were meant to become. That boogie man beneath the bed . . . he may only be in our imaginations, but we will never know unless we take a leap of faith and jump out of the bed. And . . . if it turns out he really was there all along . . . having the ability to run like hell could come in really handy.
As a closing thought I would like to leave you with this:
It was when I was happiest that I longed most . . .
The sweetest thing in all my life had been
the longing . . .
to find the place where all beauty came from.
C.S. Lewis
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 . . . a very scrummy Fresh Blackberry Tart with Spiked Creme Anglaise.
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