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 don't think I talk enough about my brother.   He's a really special man.   He's really smart, hard working, a great husband, father, son and brother and a great person of faith and compassion.  He also has a really wicked sense of humour.  He has helped me many times throughout my life.  He's five years younger than myself.  We were not really close when we were growing up, probably because of the age difference, but we because a lot closer as adults.   Although as I said that I remember several occasions when we were both small that we built memories together.   He almost drowned in a ditch in front of our house when he was only about 2 years old.   Thankfully he did not.   When our sister was in the hospital with rheumatic fever we spent a lot of time together sitting in the car outside the hospital while my parents were inside visiting my sister.   We had a game we invented called "Tornado."  We would crouch between the front and back seats and watch for cars.   The idea was that as the cars got really close we would yell "Tornado" out loud and duck down so that the car lights didn't touch us.   A silly thing really, but something we did together and that I remember with a smile on my face.  There are a lot of things we don't see eye to eye on, but there are a lot more that we do see eye to eye on and we love each other and would do anything for each other.   I am proud of the man that he has become and is.   I honor him and admire him and most important of all . . .  I love him.  At the end of the day, family and faith are and should be the most important things in our lives, above all else.




We went to a Murder Mystery Dinner Night on Saturday and had a lovely time.  If you have never been to one, they are usually set in an introduction, then three acts and a conclusion.  In between the acts you eat dinner . . .  a starter, a main and then dessert.   The premise is that a murder has occurred.  Each guest is a different character in the murder mystery and has a part to play. and by the end of the evening you have to make a guess as to who you think the murderer is.  You come in character.  I was Miss Pennie Pincher, the school burser of the school in which this murder had occurred.  Todd was Ian Charge the Head teacher.   We went with our friends Audrey and Peter. Peter was Mark Morebooks, a teacher and Audrey was Carrie Coffees, the school secretary.   She had on a brilliant pink wig and long dark purple fingernails as her character was a bit of a fashionista!  Peter had this fake moustache on which kept almost falling off, sometimes it looked like he was going to eat it!    There were a bunch of others there of course and we all had a great time.  The food was fabulous and the company was fabulous and Peter ended up being the Murderer.   Todd was the only one who guessed it correctly.

It was a really late night however. We didn't get home until past 11 o'clock.  It was really hard settling down to sleep when we got home.  In fact Todd didn't sleep at all Saturday night.  He had to get up early yesterday morning to take Ariana to work and I had to get up early to make her lunch, and so after we had done both those things we went back to bed for a couple of hours, getting up only in time to go to Sacrament at our church, having skipped the Sunday School and Relief Society and Priesthood.



I think Todd would rather have skipped  the meetings all together and just stayed home, but we bit the bullet and went to Sacrament and were both glad that we had.  What a wonderful Sacrament meeting it was. The talks were great and I got exactly what I needed to hear from them.  Plus we learned that three of our four missionaries are leaving this week, so we had an opportunity to say our goodbyes to them.  One of them . . .  Elder Pratt . . .  is going home as his mission has finished.   He is the great great grandson of Orson Pratt who was one of the first apostles in our church, and one of the first missionaries who came to the UK.  I thought it was pretty wonderful that Orson Pratt's great great grandson was able to walk in the footsteps of his great great grandfather.   What makes it even more awesome is that Elder Pratt is a convert to the church as his own grandfather (Orson Pratt's grandson) had left the church.  In fact he was pretty much disowned by his family when he joined the church.   He has been a great missionary, and a great example to those he served . . .  and I wish him all the best as he goes home to the US.  We will also be sad to see Sister Jones leave us to go to a new area and Elder Mongee as well.  Sister Wagner is staying and will have a new companion and there will be two new Missionary Elders arriving.   A chance to meet some more wonderful young people!




We got through a week without Mitzie being ill.  Whew!  She was really ill this last time and I was so worried, but I was really happy that she remained well this whole past week.  I have fed her nothing but chicken and rice and the odd scrambled egg.  I think she must have a delicate constitution and her tummy gets upset easily.  No more dog food for her I don't think.   I was talking to my sister one day and said I needed to get a move on, and that I needed to cook some chicken for Mitzie.  She asked me what I was cooking for supper and I said hot dogs.   She thought there was something slightly askew about that picture . . .  the dog was eating chicken and we were eating hotdogs, lol  We like hot dogs.  I made Baked Hot Dogs, which is one of our favourites.   And Mitzie had chicken and rice.  Everyone was happy.   That's what counts.


The freedom to worship or not to worship as we please.   This is something we all probably take for granted, but we shouldn't.  There are many places in the world where this is not a choice.  Places where your life is in danger if you choose to swim against the stream.  I believe that choice and agency are some of God's greatest gifts to us and I am so grateful to live in, and always have lived in  . . . countries where I am allowed to exercise that choice.  I fear that this will not always be the case.




How come when we are babies . . .  chubby legs, ankles and feet are so cute . . .  but when you reach 59 they are not so cute?  It's not fair.    ☺

A thought to carry with you through today  . . .

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“You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. 
Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, 
and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain.”
 ~Tom Hiddleston 
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Cooking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Smoked Sausage and Cabbage Skillet Dinner!  Simple, quick and delicious!


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Have a fabulous Monday! May the week ahead be filled to overflowing with small and wonderful things!