The Simple Woman's Day Book

 

 FOR TODAY May 13th, 2014

Outside my window...
It's looks clear at the moment, but I think we are supposed to get rain today.  We had bucket loads yesterday with thunderstorms as well.  The gardens are loving it, but Mitzie hates it.   It means she is confined to quarters and she lays about sighing deeply wishing it were otherwise, but even she balks at the idea of walking about in tipping down rain.

I am thinking...
`•.¸.•´¸¸.¸.☆¨"“ We have to choose joy
and keep choosing it.
~Henri J M Nouwen
Sometimes it is really hard to choose joy.  Sometimes you just can't choose it, but then there are other days when joy comes spontaneously.  Most days are in-between however and I am grateful for that.

I am thankful...
I am thankful for living where I live.   There are problems in this country to be sure, but they pale in contrast to the problems that exist in other countries.   We are blessed, even if we think we are not.

In the Kitchen...
 

I am waxing nostalgic with Chicken and Stars Soup.  So simple and tasty and good.   Economical too.
Filling and delicious.   We love soup.

On my "To Cook" list ...
 

Love the idea of these "Everything Bars" that I found on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, but I will have to work on it and make quite a few adaptations as most of the ingredients are not available here.  Not a problem however as I am very good at adapting.  I also have to have a place that I can offload them as they look far too dangerous to have in the house for very long!

I am creating...



Ten Minute Dish Towel Aprons.  Fun, fun!  I love this idea.  Found on Fynes Designs.  A complete tutorial.  Now I only have to find super HUGE Dish towels, or maybe sew two together.   Yes, tis sad but true.



Seatbelt travel pillow.   I found this on Pinterest, which led me to Pineapple Mama.   The link doesn't work however, but I think it would be very simple to make.  It's basically just a loosely stuffed pillow that you can fold over the seatbelt strap.  Ingenious!



Found on Love Charle Anne.   The sweetest little doll tutorial.   I think I know a little girl who would just love something like this.   Except I think I would do it more like a paper doll with clothes that you could snap on and off.   My wheels are turning.























Now this is a fab idea.  Simply draw a pattern on a lightbulb with a sharpie pen and then when you screw it in and turn it on, it makes patterns on the walls and ceiling at night.  Brilliant!

I am going ...
I have plans to go visit teaching on Friday afternoon.  This weekend is also Spring Stake Conference, so there will be lots of meetings to go to.  It's always nice to see and catch up with people you haven't seen since the last Stake Conference.  Our church is divided into what are called Stakes.  Our Stake is the Chester England Stake and there are quite a few different congregations within this stake area.  Twice a year we all get together and have special meetings at which our Stake Leaders speak to us.  

I am wondering ....
How do they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar?

I am reading ...


The Shadow Wife, by Diane Chamberlain

Joelle D’Angelo’s best friend, Mara, is left with brain damage after she suffers an aneurysm giving birth to her son. Alone and grieving, Joelle turns to the only other person who understands her pain: her colleague—and Mara’s husband–Liam. What starts out as comfort between friends gradually becomes something more. . . something undeniable. Torn by guilt and the impossibility of her feelings for Liam, Joelle is determined to find help for Mara, no matter how unconventional the source.

Her search leads her to a mansion in Monterey, California, and into the life of a woman shrouded in mystery. Carlynn Kling Shire is a healer and, according to Joelle’s parents, saved Joelle’s life when she was an infant. As Joelle is guided down an unfamiliar path by a woman keeping her own shocking secrets, she discovers that while some love is doomed, some love is destined to survive anything.

Loving this book.

I have two books on the go at the moment as I am also reading and enjoying . . .



My Living Vigil Keeping, by Carla Kelly

To Della Ander’s relatives, it seems like an absurd whim when the young educator accepts a contract to teach in Winter Quarters, a coal mining camp near Scofield, Utah. After all, she lives with a socially prominent family in Salt Lake City. Why teach in a place as hard as a coal mining camp, even if the Winter Quarters mines have an enviable reputation for safety?

It’s no whim to Della. She yearns to reconnect with the life she knew as a child, before tragedy yanked her from a home equal parts ramshackle and loving. But when disaster strikes, what the teacher learns in Winter Quarters will change her life forever, and her heart. Based around the true events of the Scofield Mine Disaster of 1900, this suspenseful  romance from award-winning and bestselling author Carla Kelly is sure to please longtime fans and new readers alike. Thrilling and heartfelt, it’s a must-read.  This is the third novel I have read of hers and I am truly enjoying it.

I am hoping ...
I am hoping that things start to turn around for my son Anthony and his wife, Anne.  They have truly had some really appalling things happen over the past couple of months.   They are being tried and it's heartbreaking to watch.  I know that bad things happen to everyone, but when it happens to your children, time and time again it makes you very sad for them.   As a mom you just want to be able kiss the boo boos and make them go away.

Makes me smile ...


This little lady makes me smile all the time.  I love her so very much.   She's such an affectionate and cuddly little girl, but also obstinate and stubborn at times.  Her personality just delights us full-stop!

I am learning ...
The true meaning of Grace.   If you are interesting in reading or listening to a brilliant piece on the subject of Grace, check out this.  It's just amazing.  I have listened to and read it a bazillion times now and each time I do I gain another level of understanding.   Grace is an amazing gift we've been given.   I love this talk.

Around the house ...

(source)

I am really, really, REALLY still wanting to do this to our coffee table.  I just about have Todd convinced now to strip the top and paint it in a stone coloured wash, leaving the legs natural, but I also want to put a curtain around the open areas of it, to help hide what is stored beneath it.  I think it will look just fabulous.



What a brilliant space saving idea!  Pull down Murphy beds!  For this and some other space saving ideas, check out Buzz Feed.  You could even have one of these in the lounge. During the day it would just look like a cupboard, but when you have a guest come to stay, voila!  They have a place to sleep.


There is a strong possibility that we may be getting a student nurse come to board with us in August for a year.   I have been looking at ways we can convert the spare bedroom to suit.  I love this idea which makes brilliant use of small space for sleeping and studying.  We have a lot of work to do to get it ready.



I absolutely LOVE this paint colour.  I would love this in the lounge.  I am longing for a change I think.   I would love to get rid of this horrible dated burgundy carpeting which runs through the whole downstairs replace it with an oatmealy coloured one, and then have a few area rugs.   It's all money though and that's what we are lacking!

I am pondering ...

(¯`•♥•´¯)☆
*`•.¸(¯`•♥•´¯)¸.•♥♥•
☆ º ` `•.¸.•´ ` º ☆.¸.☆¸.•♥♥•¸.•♥♥•¸.•♥♥•    
Recently in reading the Old Testament, I have come to the realization that the God of the Old Testament is quite different than the God of the New Testament.  Very judgemental, demanding and harsh . . .  and actually cruel at times.   The God in the New Testament is much, much kinder.   Any thoughts on this?

A favourite quote for the day ...


`*.¸.*✻ღϠ₡ღ¸.✻´´¯`✻.¸¸.Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ..
(¯`v´¯)
 `*.¸.*´Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
  ¸.•´¸.•~♥♥♥~•.~    

"If you don't like something change it;
 if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
 ~ Mary Engelbreit  

Love me some Mary Engelbreit.

One of my favourite things ...

I just adore Salt and Pepper Shaker Sets.  I have a few different ones.   There was a restaurant back home when I was a girl called  "The Shaker Restaurant."  So called because the whole wall behind the soda fountain area was covered with a salt and pepper collection.  I used to love to go in there and order a soda and look at them all.  That was my dream, to have a salt and pepper collection.  I am working on it, but have a really long ways to go!  My favourites so far . . .



This beautiful pair of Blue Tits gifted to me by my friend Margaret when we left down South to move back to Chester.  Each time I look at them I think of her, which reminds me . . .  we haven't spoken on the telephone for a while now.  Time to change that.



Second favourites the Jemima Puddleduck and Henny Penny ones I picked up in the Lake District, the last time we were up there.

I am awfully fond of birds and of salt and pepper shakers, and the two together just make me very happy.

A peek into my day ...
 

Need I say more????   I spent almost a year and a half on level 23.  I am happy to say I finally cracked it a couple of weeks back and am now trying to beat level 25.  I refuse to pay for extra turns.  I am stubborn like that. I usually play until it tells me I have used all of my lives and then I put it away for a couple of days and try again then.

 ⋱ ⋮ ⋰
   ⋯ ◯ ⋯ Take time to enjoy the small*´¯`.¸¸.☆
   ⋰ ⋮ ⋱ blessings in life.*´¯`.¸¸.☆
   ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿
   ╬♥═╬╬═♥=╬╬═♥╬╬═♥╬╬═♥=╬╬♥═╬
   ░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░░  

Wherever you go and whatever you do I hope there's a wonderful day planned for you!  

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