FOR TODAY, December 4th, 2012...
Outside My Window...
It's dark and cold and wet. Typical British winter weather. Blah.
I am thinking...
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
~Matthew 7:9-11
Prayer is always answered, but we fail to understand the answer when it is given. How often we pray for stones because we mistake them for bread, and when God gives us bread we think we are getting stones.
I am thankful for...
From the kitchen...
Well . . .there isn't really much baked stuff. There's some cookies left from my Gifts in a Jar post on the English Kitchen, and leftover chicken in the fridge. I have big plans though, so watch this space!!
I am wearing...
A pink nightie and grey jim jam bottoms along with slippers and a robe. Layering for warmth.
I am creating...
This is my latest Matchbox doll. I have made three of these. One for the Gallery or for sale, one as a gift for my son's girlfriend and one for in a craft exchange I am participating in. The one for the exchange will be given in the larger match box, which has been decoupaged with a bunch of Marie Antoinettes.
I think both turned out quite nicely. On the back of the small one it says . . . Keep Calm and eat Cake, which is what Marie Antoinette would say right? I am not sure why but lately I have a fascination with all things Marie Antoinette.
I am also working on the sketches for the children's book.
Can't wait to be able to start working on it in colour.
Something else I have been doing. Not a great scan. That's because the paper is larger than the scanner, so it gives a bit of a warped view. It's not quite finished yet. I want to add something else, but not sure yet what. This is for a friend.
I was contacted yesterday and told I have been shortlisted to appear on some cooking show, which will inevitably be down in London. I am pondering it in my mind. In the end I could be in a television commercial . . . but do I really want to be in a television commercial??? I don't know . . . I do my cooking blog for a lark and because I like cooking. What I really want to do is to write and illustrate a cookbook art book, but television . . . not really. I don't want to be famous. I just want to be able to make a living.
I am going...
I have my Presidency Meeting tomorrow night and then there is our Ward Christmas Activity on Saturday so a blessedly quiet week. All hell breaks loose next week though! Today I am going to finish wrapping the presents for my mom and get them posted off.
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. I really love this writer! Her writing in refreshing and inspiring.
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 life in a wonderful way.
I am still reading these. I know . . . it's slow going. That's because I only really read at night and I don't get very far before I am falling asleep!
I am hoping...
I am hoping for tender mercies where my mother is concerned. Not for me, although I do love my mother and will be ecstatic if she has a clean bill of health. I know that it is inevitable that we all lose our parents one day. We will all die. That is a fact. I just don't want my mom to suffer. That is all. I don't want any of my loved ones to suffer.
I am hearing...
Nothing new really. Same old sounds, but that's a good thing. It could be so much worse. The police here have a search helicopter which sometimes flies overhead for annoyingly loud long periods of time. That is when they are looking for someone or something. It makes an awful racket and is kind of scary because you wonder who they are looking for, especially when it is right overhead . . . and you think . . . is there a really bad person in MY neighborhood??
Around the house...
I am quite a romanticist at heart and just adore French Country styling . . . ruffles and lace and big pink roses and gently worn paintwork . . . antique linens, a mix of woods and textures and gentle colours.
Big painted shutters on the windows and stone walls . . . and at the same time . . .
I love the simplicity of Scandinavian design, with it's simple and uncomplicated lines and order.
And I love, Love, LOVE vintage anything! I am a bit of an enigma I think. I end up with a little bit of everything and I am not sure what you would call that. Perhaps a mess??? I dunno!
I just love embroidered linens. I have a tea towel that my mother embroidered and a dresser scarf, but that is all. I used to do so much embroidery myself. I had tea towels and all sorts. It got lost in the divorce. I don't know where any of it is now. I should do some for myself I think. Maybe some pillow slips . . . it's not that easy to get the transfers nowadays though. I will have to give it some thought.
I started smoking when I was 17 and quit when I was 34. I am glad that I quit and wish I had never smoked at all. Peer pressure . . . it can make you do all sorts. I was not much of a leader when I was a girl. I was a great and loyal follower though. I wish I had been in the Young Women's program that they have in our church. I may have made a lot better choices had I been, but you can't change what you can't change. It's enough that I did quit smoking when I did. It was the hardest thing I have ever done and I gained a whole new person afterwards as I was not overweight when I quit. But I guess I would rather have the weight than the smoke.
One of my guilty pleasures ...
Surprised?? It's not food, I know. I do so love Jo Malone perfume. I got turned onto it when I worked at the Manor. My boss only wore Jo Malone and one year she gave each of us girls a small bottle of it for Christmas, which was quite generous of her. I fell in love with it and it's all I wear now. I particularly love the Blue Agava scent and Pomegranate Noir.
Pet Peeves...
People who don't clean up after their dogs. I have a dog and I clean up after mine. It's not that hard to do. You just carry a bag with you when you take them for a walk. Simple.
Here is picture thought I am sharing...
"A man must seek his happiness and inward peace from things which cannot be taken away from him."
~Alexander Humboldt, 1769-1859
That way you can never lose them . . . that is why I memorize scriptures. Then I always have them with me and if there ever comes a day when God's word is banned . . . I will still have them as I will be carrying them in my heart. Happiness is within us . . . not outside of us.
As a closing thought I would like to leave you with this:
"Do you know what real poverty is? It is never having a big thought or a generous impulse."
~Jerome P Fleishman
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 . . . Sticky Honey and Lemon Chicken. Deliciously simple!
Happy Tuesday!
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