The Simple Woman's Day Book

 FOR TODAY August 27th, 2013

Outside my window...
It'slooking like it's going to be  a nice day.  We have had the most beautiful summer this year.  It's more than made up for all of the rotten ones we've had over the past few years!

I am thinking...
✻ღϠ₡ღ✻
(¯`✻´¯)
`*.¸.*✻ღϠ₡ღ¸.✻´´¯`✻.¸¸.Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ..

It's a great thing when you realize
you still have the ability to surprise yourself.
Makes you wonder what else you can do
that you've forgotten about.
~Alan Ball

I love surprising myself.  When I was a girl my father used to say to me that there was nothing to fear but fear itself.  (I think I must get my love of quotes from him.)  The older I become the more I see the wisdom in his words.  There is no such thing as I can't . . . only I'll at least try!

I am thankful...
I am thankful for this life filled with blessings I am living.   Oh sure . . . there are things that I wish were different.  Nobody lives a perfect life, but mine is pretty dang close!

In the kitchen...


Check it out in The English Kitchen today . . . one very delicious Goats Cheese,Tomato and Olive Tart.   This is a simple recipe and very tasty!

.I am wearing...
Nothing new here! Yep, in my nightie!

I am creating...



I am loving these free printables from Hello Bee.   Aren't they just the sweetest thing?  What a sweet way to remind someone of how much you care and how very much you appreciate all that they do!



I found these cute clothes pins here.   What a fabulous idea!  Its one of those things you see and you hit yourself on the forehead and say DOH!   Why didn't I think of that!



Love these Painted Stones.  (They're on Etsy.)  I used to paint a lot on stones and rocks, because they were free canvases.   One year I could not afford to buy Christmas presents for my parents or my Mother In Law and so I painted rocks for them.  We sent them to them via bus.  My mother still has hers, I'm not sure about my Mother in Law . . . but my father never ever did get his . . . I often wonder where it ended up.



I always loved embroidering samplers.  This one is by Butternut Road and you can get it at www.sewandso.co.uk   I don't know about in America.   I still have all of my embroidery threads . . . perhaps I should pick them up again.  Seeing this here this morning has created a longing in my heart to do some embroidery.

I am going...
I may go into town today with Todd to pay the rent, or I may not.  On Friday we are going down to Yeo Valley Farm in North Sommerset for the day.  It will be a very long day as we will be leaving here at about 5 am and won't get back until after 8 in the evening.  Our good friend Peter is going to come and let Mitzie out a few times, which is very good of him.  Other than that we have no firm plans to do anything.

I am wondering...
Do blackberry vines travel underground and then spring up elsewhere?  The reason I ask this is because our Tayberry bush has suddenly started growing Blackberries???  Not that I am complaining.  We like berries of all kinds.

I am reading...


The Colour of Milk, by Nell Leyshon
The year is eighteen hundred and thirty one when fifteen-year-old Mary begins the difficult task of telling her story. A scrap of a thing with a sharp tongue and hair the colour of milk, Mary leads a harsh life working on her father's farm alongside her three sisters. In the summer she is sent to work for the local vicar's invalid wife, where the reasons why she must record the truth of what happens to her - and the need to record it so urgently - are gradually revealed.

This is can't put it down.   Written in the first person as if Mary herself is writing it down, it is compelling and haunting and beautifully crafted.  I have to tear myself away.  I highly recommend.  It's not a very big book or a long book to read, but it's beautifully written and well worth the read.

I am hoping...
Todd wasn't very well yesterday.  I am hoping he feels much better today.

I am looking forward to...
The changing of the leaves.   I love the Autumn colours, sights, smells, sounds  . . . even it it means Winter is not far behind them arriving.

I am learning...
I need to work on just letting go . . .

Around the house...


If money was no object and we owned this house, I would replace the picture window next to the dining area here in the lounge with French Doors to the outside, so we could bring the garden in on sunny days.  I'd also push the back wall out from the kitchen and extend it out by about 8 feet or so and get rid of the existing wall between the kitchen and the dining area.  That would make for a much larger kitchen space and open up the dining space at the same time.  Dreams, dreams . . .



An outdoor bread oven would be nice too . . . I'm really dreaming here.



While I'm at it . . . a tire swing wouldn't go amiss.  Mind . . . you'd have to have a tree large enough to host it, but this is a dream . . .

 

And whilst I am still dreaming . . . why not?   I would love to have some chickens, laying hens.  We have the perfect sized yard for them.   I wonder what Mitzie would do?

I am pondering...
I am wondering when I will get my painting mojo back.  It's been in a funk since I was sick.  Please, please . . . bring it back soon!

A favorite quote for today...  

 

`*.¸.*✻ღϠ₡ღ¸.✻´´¯`✻.¸¸.Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ..


(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
¸.•´¸.•~♥♥♥~•.~
In the garden I tend to drop
my thoughts here and there.
To the flowers I whisper the secrets
I keep and the hopes I breathe.
I know they are there to eavesdrop for the angels.
~Dodinsk

One of my favorite things... 


.
I am partial to red and white anything.  It is one of my favourite colour combinations.  I have always loved red and white together and fall in love when I see it.  I also like blue and white.  Oh and . . . white white.  Maybe I am just patriotic?


A few plans for the rest of the week:
I am looking forward to our Friday adventure!  I also have a newsletter to get out for my church, and an activity to plan for the ladies.

A peek into my day...  


I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I spend a great deal of my time in prayer and reflection, even if I am doing other things at the same time.  I don't know where I would be without it.  Prayer is the backbone of my day.


A thought to carry with you through today:

✻ღϠ₡ღ✻
(¯`✻´¯)
`*.¸.*✻.
♥´´¯`•.¸¸.♫´¯`•.¸¸.
"Allow yourself to feel the wonder, to drink in the beauty and 
to experience the special time and place where you are. 
Life is always special, so live it accordingly."
 ~ Ralph Marston

I wish for you a beautiful day filled with wonder!!