Small and Wonderful Things ...

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard 

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.



I just think I have the cutest grandchildren ever.  I know I will get some arguments there as we all think this about our own grandchildren, but that's okay.  I think YOURS are the cutest ever too.  I think grandchildren are pretty wonderful full stop!  My son in law posted this photograph of Cameron and I just love the joy it has captured.  This is a wonderful picture.  There used to be a time when people thought in order for a photograph to be a good one everyone needed to be staring straight at the camera.  I am glad those days are over.  You would never have been able to capture such a wonderful photograph in that way.  This is joy here, pure and simple and natural.  I love it!  I love Cameron!  I love my son in law!



"As home teachers we are healers.  As priesthood leaders, we are healers.   As fathers, sons, brothers and husbands we should be committed and dedicated healers.   We carry in one hand a vial of consecrated oil for blessing the sick; in the other we carry a loaf of bread to feed the hungry; and in our hearts we carry the peaceable word of God, 'which healeth the wounded soul'"
~Dieter F Uchtdorf

In our church we not only have Visiting Teachers (two female members (sisters) who dedicate themselves to visiting, caring for and upholding in prayer the sisters they have been assigned to care for and visit once each month) but we also have Home Teachers, which is the male equivalent, the main difference being that they are assigned "families" as well as single member families to visit each month.   They are to visit each family etc. and to carry a special message to them each month, asses the family's needs if there are any, fellowship, do anything that might need doing, etc.  I am so grateful for our Home Teachers who visit us diligently each month and the special spirit and friendship they bring with them.   I have always had good Home Teachers, even when I was a single woman on my own.   They helped me to do things that I had never had to do before, such as change the wind shield wipers on my car, etc.  They truly are a blessing.  I love the programs of our church which, when done properly, mean that nobody is every alone or without the help that they need.  Visiting Teachers and Home Teachers, along with our other leaders, truly are the Lord's hands on earth.



I have decided I am very much like Winnie the Pooh.   To me, even Breakfast is an exciting adventure!  Have you ever had cake for breakfast?  I have, and it's a wonderful thing.  Everyone should treat themselves to cake for breakfast once in a while.  It does not have the staying power of say . . . oats or bran . . .  but it feeds the heart in a special way that only a "once in a blue moon small indulgence"  can and does.   Cake for breakfast, once in a blue moon . . .  highly recommended.



We recently bought ourself a cd set of the Hymns of our church which we listen to oft-times in the car when we are travelling.   Yesterday as we arrived home from church one of our favourite ones was playing and we sat in the car to finish listening to it before we turned the motor off and came inside.  It's called "Beautiful Zion," and is about returning to our Heavenly Home, which is something like the feeling we get when we visit the Temple each time we go.  It is a place of rest.   I realized then, as we were listening to the words that our home can also be "Zion."  A place of calm, rest, joy, peace, love . . . free from the dust and anchors and woes of worldly things.  An oasis in the midst of a desert as it were . . .  a little piece of heaven on earth.  I love our little home and the way it feels to me, both when I am in it and when I am returning to it after having been way from it for a while.  



I hope that it is something which others can feel as well, when they come to visit.  I hope that they can feel of the special spirit which resides within the walls of our home while they are here and that they leave with a good feeling in their hearts.



Our garden is filled with fledglings at the moment . . . all of the baby birds testing out their wings and learning to become independent.  The other day it was starling fledglings . . .  noisy, but fun to watch.  



They were preening and chattering back and forth to each other.  I know that lots of people don't really like Starlings.  They tend to arrive in huge noisy flocks and can decimate a feeder (ie. empty it) in a very short space of time.  With the cost of seed and nuts, this can be rather annoying, but . . .



They can also delight.  Anyone who has ever witnessed the special flight dance they do as a group . . . like an undulating wave of wing and noise in the sky, beautifully mesmerizing and magical . . .  knows of what I speak.   It's like the Northern Lights in appearance in many ways, except it is alive with noise and movement.  So beautiful to witness . . . it's called the murmuration.

 

Breathtaking to witness even.  When we lived down South, I can remember them arriving in the trees that surrounded the Eastern side of the estate.   They made a wonderful cacophony of noise, which was almost startling and made one wonder what was going on . . .  but then they would take to flight and it was beautiful to behold.   Nature is so wonderful . . .

 

A beautiful sunny day after several days of dull wet weather.  Nothing cheers the heart more!  We had a whole weekend of wet, wet, dully grey skies.  This morning the sun is shining brilliantly.   The whole garden is smiling.  You can't beat England on a sunny warm day!  I was meant for sunny days!  



A thought to carry with you through today . . .

✻ღϠ₡ღ✻
(¯`✻´¯) 
 `*.¸.*✻ღϠ₡ღ 

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. 
~Dodinsky   *✻ღϠ₡ღ 
 
 

Baking in The English Kitchen today, a beautifully rich and moist Almond Cake with a Rosewater and Lemon Syrup.  

I hope your day today is filled with lots of small and wonderful things!

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