The Simple Woman's Day Book

 FOR TODAY April 16th, 2013

Outside my window...
It looks like it is going to be somewhat of an overcast and rainy day.   Yesterday was gorgeous. Just like spring should be.   My brother sent me a forecast for the weather of Nova Scotia last night on the I-pad and it looks like it isn't going to be as cold there as I was worried.   It seems to be pretty much the same as here.

I am thinking...
As the literal Spirit Child of a Divine Heavenly Father I have unlimited potential.  This is an amazing thought.  I wish I had known this when I was much younger.   My whole life would have been quite different.   Knowing this in the later years however is making a huge difference to my golden years, and that's pretty good too.

I am thankful...
I had lunch yesterday with some friends from church.  We had a lovely time.   Good food.   Great friends.   Fabulous company.  What more could a person ask for?

In the kitchen...
I may bake a cake today so that Todd has something to nosh on after I leave .  .  . we'll see.  Just so long as it doesn't become something for me to nosh on today!   I suppose that is what counts!

I am wearing...
Nothing new here!   Same old drill.  PJ's, slippers and dressing gown.   Okay, bathrobe.  I just thought dressing gown sounded posher.  Do people even still use that term of phrase?

I am creating...

 I am looking for things to keep my hands busy when I am at my mom's.   they will have to be quite portable and easy to carry and not weight a lot.  Here's a few things I was thinking of . . .



Granny squares are always nice and easy to do.  I just love the BRIGHT colours in these.   The pattern is from Signed with an Owl.  There is a fab tutorial there.



I also love these slippers and they look quite easy to do.  You can buy the pattern on Etsy.  I just might do that.  I can always use a new pair of slippers.



I have not made a sock monkey in a few years now.  I like making them and other sock animals.   That is always a possibility and then I could just leave them with the intended grandchild and not have to worry about bringing anything back and it's weight.   Food for thought there.  Mind, I'm not sure if my mother's sewing machine still works.   I doubt it has been used in years and years.   She has a beautiful old Singer Sewing Machine from the 1950's.  It is just gorgeous.   My sister and I learned to sew on it when we were girls.


Source:  Simple Serendipities

I love these little corner felt bookmarks as well.   I could make quite a few of those I am thinking.  We'll just have to wait and see what I do . . . anything is possible.

Of course I am bringing some of my water colors with me and some paper. 

I am going...
It's hard to believe as it has come up on me all of a sudden like . . . but I am going to Canada the day after tomorrow!   I am excited to see my mom and grateful to be there with her now when she needs me.   I am excited to be seeing, hopefully, all of my children and grandchildren.   I am excited to be seeing my brother.  I am sad to be leaving Todd and Mitzie behind and I will miss you all so very terribly much.   Sigh . . .

I am wondering...
I was violently ill last evening.   We had had a simple supper . . . just fish sticks and some oven chips and tinned carrots.  (Yes, I like tinned carrots sometimes.   They remind me of my childhood.)  Anyways.  I couldn't finish my supper.   I started thinking about Cod not really being Cod.  The package said Cod, but who knows nowadays if it really is or not.  The manufacturers are slipping all sorts of deception into our food.   Anyways, after I cleared up we settled into watch a program on the telly . . . and by about 8 PM my stomach started feeling pretty queasy.   We went to bed at 9 as I really just wanted to go to bed.  I was laying in bed for about 15 minutes when I had to dash to the bathroom . . . just made it.   I don't think I will be eating fish sticks and oven chips again for a very long time . . .

I am reading...



The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult has tackled yet another 'big issue' (forgiveness) in The Storyteller, but as in all her books things are a little more complicated than usual, and there's her wow-didn't-see-that-coming twist as well.  Sage Singer has a past that makes her want to hide from the world.  Sleeping by day and working by night, she kneads her emotions into the beautiful bread that she bakes.  She strikes up an unlikely friendship with an elderly gentleman that she meets at a grief group she attends.   Has she finally found someone she can trust?   Without giving too much of the story away I will tell you that this book is gripping, and a real page turner.  At the same time the subject matter is heart rending.  As with all of her books, this one makes you think.  I highly recommend.

I am hoping...
I am hoping that everything goes well with my mother's operation.  Please continue to keep her in your prayers.   She got her first card in the post yesterday and was pleasantly surprised and most definitely uplifted!   I told her she will most likely be getting quite a few more!   Something to look forward to.

I am looking forward to...
Getting the travel part of the journey over with.   Not a fan of travel, especially on my own.

I am learning...
I like to think that I learn something new each day.   I can't always think of what it was . . . but I am sure I learned something yesterday.   hmmm . . . my mind has gone blank.

Around the house...



I love the idea of a Veranda.  Of course they don't do Veranda's over here.  No such animal, at least not that I have seen.   I wonder though . . . could one set up their back garden in the area by their door like a Veranda?   It bears thinking about.    What is a Veranda?   It's whatever you want it to be I think, but the main criteria is that it be a place of relaxation which exists just outside your door.  A place where you can sit and think and watch the world walk by . . . but in the comfort of your own space.  Food for thought . . .

 

There's those granny squares again.  I think my heart is telling me something don't you??



I love this sign.  I shall have to make myself one.  It may be a terraced house on a housing estate, but it can be our little cosy cottage inside it's doors.  It's how it makes us feel inside that counts, right?

 
Sigh . . .

I am pondering...
As most of you know Baroness Margaret Thatcher died last week.  There has been a lot of ugly press and  negative opinions put out there about her and it makes me feel very sad.   Here was a woman who served her country for most of her adult life.  She was not a posh person like the politicians we have today.  She came from ordinary beginnings, the daughter of a shop keeper and grammar school educated . . . not in a private school like Eaton etc.   She must have been doing something right . . . for she was elected into office not once, or twice . . . but three times.  You may not have agreed with all of her policies, but as a person who served this country in the manner she did, she deserves respect and it saddens me to see ugly comments about her.   She was someone's daughter, mother, sister, friend, wife, grandmother, etc.  I think to speak ill of the dead is in very poor taste.  They cannot defend themselves.

A favorite quote for today...
Men are all alike in their promises.  It is only in their deeds that they differ.
~Moliere

This reminds me of a favourite scripture . . . by their fruits shall ye know them.   Food for thought there.

One of my favorite things...


Old black and white American Sitcoms from the fifties and early sixties.  I could watch them for hours.  It was a much simpler time I think.   I wanted to be June Cleaver, Aunt Bea and Donna Reed . . . and yes . . . she was in color, but Olivia Walton.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Flying home to Canada, and hoping to get there with no mishaps.

A peek into my day...



Catching up on laundry so that all I am taking with me is clean and ready to pack . . . sigh . . .

It's hard to believe that this is my last day book entry until June.  But tis true . . . oh . . . and the Sun just peeked out from behind the clouds.  Yay!

A thought to carry with you through today:

Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong.  Sometime in life you will have been all of these.
~Lloyd Shearer

 

Cooking in The English Kitchen today . . . Carrot Pudding with a Brown Sugar Sauce.   Deliciously simple.

Happy day all!!