FOR TODAY, October 23rd, 2012...
Outside My Window...
It's dark, dark, dark! Cold too! You can really see the days shortening now and it will be even more noticeable when the clocks go back an hour!
I am thinking...
Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.
~Mary Oliver
I believe in finding my joy in the here and the now. Not in yesterday which is gone and cannot be changed, not in tomorrow which may never happen, but in today. Our lives are composed from a multitude of todays. Live them to the fullest, and then you will have no regrets.
I am thankful for...
Tears.
"The cure for anything is salt water . . . sweat, tears, the sea . . ."
~Isak Dinesen
From the kitchen...
I have leftover Fairy Gingerbread Biscuits, which I baked on Saturday and have been rationing ever since. They are so good I could quite easily eat them all at once, but I'm trying to be good!
I do confess . . . I want to make these. I bought a bag of pretzels yesterday, star shaped, for Christmas. Yum!
I am wearing...
A turquoise M&S nightie, with long sleeves, made from brushed fleece. Warm. My slippers. Bundling up for the cooler months.
I am creating...
Working on more of these. I sold four of the ones I had already made, but want to make copies to cover the ones I have listed in my Etsy shop so I can post them out, plus a few new ones.
Working on the finishing touches for my Christmas Cook-booklet. I have had ever so much fun doing this one, and if I don't get it finished soon . . . it will be too late. I need a kick up the backside!! (I really do!!)
Anyone wanting Christmas Cards, needs to order them now. As I do each one individually by hand they do take some time to put together. Leave a comment or e-mail me if you are wanting any! I have all the ones available from years gone past, plus new ones for this year.
If you want some and wait too much longer, it will be too late. I won't have time to make them and get them out to you.
I am thinking these little gnomes are adorable and would love to make a few of these for Christmas.
I am also really loving these beautifully quilted hearts. I must make myself one or two of them with the multitude of scraps that I have in my fabric box!
Oh, and I am working on a new art project which I don't want to show you just yet, and still getting things ready for the gallery in town.
I am going...
The desk units (cheap) that I ordered a couple of weeks ago from Ikea are arriving today. Todd will be putting them together and then I am "going to" be organizing my craft room, FINALLY!!! I can't wait. I haven't been able to do anything in there since we had the bath and bedroom reno work done. My fingers are itching to get to work. The last week has been spent in creating a space in the room so that Todd can have room to put them together and organizing the books in the bookcases. I have categorized them all. Let's hope that they stay that way!
Friday night the High Priests and their wives are going out for dinner together to a pub in town. That should be fun. I think that is all of our plans for the week. Oh, I do have to go into town to pay a bill.
Borrowed Light, by Carla Kelly
Julia Darling never expected to cook for some cowboys in Wyoming, but when she breaks off her engagement in Salt Lake City, it's the perfect opportunity for her to escape. Determined to stick the job out, Julia faces her biggest challenge yet - letting go of borrowed light to find her own testimony. Set in the early 1900s.
I am really enjoying this book! It is a historical romance, but without the smut, and very entertaining. The characters are very real and the main character is a cook! Absolutely loving this. It's refreshing and funny and interesting! The characters are sweet, loveable and believable. The perfect escape.
Jesus, a novel, by Walter Wangerin Jr
With eloquence and beauty, the award-winning author of Book of the Dun Cow, The Book of God, and Paul: A Novel turns his pen to history’s most compelling figure: Jesus of Nazareth. In vibrant language, Walter Wangerin Jr. sweeps away centuries of tradition and reveals a man of flesh-and-heart immediacy. Passionate, intelligent, and irresistibly real, this is a Jesus pulsing with life who will captivate you as thoroughly as he did the men and women who walked with him across Galilee’s golden countryside.
Days of centuries past become today, lit with bright colors of the imagination. Wangerin shows you Jesus through the eyes of the two people who were with him at very the foot of the cross, the two who knew and loved him best: John the apostle, and Jesus’ beloved mother, Mary. . . .
I am reading this one on my Kindle. I've read it before, but wanted to read it again. It's a fab book. He is a brilliant writer. I've also read his "Book of God." Another fab read! He brings the scriptures to live in a wonderful way.
I am hoping...
I'm also hoping that this new project in the works pans out for the three of us involved. Oh heck . . . I'll tell you what it is. I have been asked to illustrate a series of children's books. Shhh . . . mum's the word. They are not published yet, but the three of us involved have high hopes. Keep us in your prayers!
I am hearing...
Nothing new really. I can hear the boiler running. Clocks ticking. Mitzie snoring. Computer keys ticking. The usual.
Around the house...
I love, Love, LOVE this! What a unique way of creating chandelier lighting. If I am not mistaken that is a canning rack and those are canning jars. If I could only get a hold of a canning rack. Isn't it fabulous! And those are twinkle lights inside!
I am also really loving the trompe l'oeil roses on this chair. I am thinking coffee table. It would really look lovely and could make for an interesting conversation piece.
And look at this!! It's been created by spray painting through old lace onto a chair. I think it's just beautiful! (Although the sentimental person inside of me is thinking how sad for the lace . . . )
One of my favourite things . . .
Anything red and white, or blue and white for that matter . . . but red and white . . . my favourite. If I could I would live in a world of red and white . . . but then . . . it wouldn't be so special would it, so I think I'll just hold it to a few things red and white. Sounds like a plan Stan!
Something new about me ...
I have claustrophobia, which is fear of enclosed and small spaces. I also hate the thoughts of being underground. We went to a coal mine on a school field trip a long time ago when I was at school. I could not make myself go down into it. I could not make myself go into the shaft elevator. I could not go caving, or anything like that at all. I want to be cremated when I die . . . I don't want to be buried in the ground. I would rather be scattered to the wind.
One of my guilty pleasures ...
stroopwafels - A stroopwafel is a snack made from two thin layers of baked batter sealed together with a caramel like syrup filling in the middle. I had heard about them for years and years. Until yesterday I had never had one. Never. They had bags of them on special at ASDA (the British equivalent of Wal-Mart) yesterday for £1. I caved. I am addicted now. Sooooo good.(and yet sooooo bad!)
Did you know they make mini ones? I know! How dangerous is that! hmmm . . . I wonder if you could make your own . . .
Pet Peeves...
The media. My ex mother-in-law used to buy the National Enquirer every week, and save them. When we went over to visit I would read them all. Then Princess Diana died. The media were chasing her. I believe she would still be alive today were it not for that. There is good media and there is bad media. That was bad media. I have never bought or read a newspaper or magazine that is controlled by that sort of media since. I will not watch television shows motivated by that type of thing either. It is just plain wrong and if you read or watch that type of thing, you are as guilty as the ones who provide it, you feed the animal . . .
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
"Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt . . . marvelous error!! . . . that I had a beehive here inside my heart. And the golden bees were making white combs and sweet honey from my old failures."~Antonio Machudo, "Last night as I was sleeping."
I love that thought . . . of my heart being filled with little golden bees making something sweet and productive from what is my sorrow and regret. I don't think we need bees to do that . . . we can do it for ourselves. It's all in how you look at things.
As a closing thought I would like to leave you with this:
"If your actions inspire mothers to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
~John Quincy Adams
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!)
I'm cooking with Gusto over in The English Kitchen today!
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