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.




Showers in April that bring lilacs in May  . . .

Can roses be far behind?




The ability to create . . . to bake, to sew, to knit, to crochet, embroider, paint  . . . working with my hands and making something beautiful or tasty or useful where once there was only a pile of yarn, a blank page, an empty dish, thread and a needle . . .  makes me very happy.  It is a deep thread source of contentment in my life.




Having someone to hold my hand throughout the ups and downs of life.  A partner.  A friend. A lover.  He is my all.  He is the sense of reason when I want to scream and cry.   He laughs when I laugh.  Shakes his head at my silliness, rejoices in my successes and commiserates with me in my failures.  I love my husband to bits.  He is the other half of me and I am so grateful to have him in my life.  Well, most of the time anyways.  ;-)




Apple blossoms . . .  they are the promise of fruit in the autumn and they remind me of home, especially at this time of year.   They remind me of my oldest son who was born Apple Blossom weekend back home, which comes at the end of May.   Back home within just a couple of weeks the fields surrounding the area where I spent most of my adult life will be filled with oceans of blossom and the air will be filled with their scent.  Bees will be buzzing from blossom to blossom to blossom, performing their very important job of pollination.  This month will be filled with teas and competitions being held in each community back home in the process of picking their Apple Blossom Princesses, one of which who  will be crowned Queen Annapolisa of the Apple Blossom Festival.




Last year's Queen and her Ladies in Waiting.

 

This is a really big deal to the girls in these communities, and to the communities themselves, and to the Annapolis Valley.   Its been going on now for 84 years.  Traditions which are firmly entrenched in the history and communal soul of this beautiful Valley.  May will be filled with teas and banquets, parades and balls.

All to celebrate . . .  Apple Blossoms.




Baking days . . .  cake.  I think of all the things I bake I love cake most of all.  Cake says welcome.  Cake says home.  That's probably where the idea of that song "If I'd a known you were coming, I'd of baked a cake" came from.  Cake makes me happy.  I might be able to resist a piece of pie, but I don't think I could ever resist a piece of cake.  Although I know I must.



Positivity.   Life is much better when your days are embroidered with threads of positive thinking and knots of happy thoughts.  Looking on the bright side of things.   Giving others the benefit of the doubt, seeking out the silver linings.  Never supress a generous thought.  Practice acts of kindness.  Pray for others.  Serve.  The best cure for feeling blue is to wipe your tears and then get out and do something good for someone else.




Prayer.  I don't know where I would be without it.   It fills my days and nights with joy.  The scriptures tell us to pray continuously and I do . . .  whenever someone's name pops into my head, I say a silent prayer for them . . . .  I continuously offer up prayers of thanksgiving for all of my blessings . . . I pray daily for those I love and care about, for my church leaders, for the missionaries, for those in the world who are hurting.  It is a simple act and needn't be grandiose with flowery words . . . it needn't even be out loud.  Silent prayers from the heart are oftimes the nicest prayers of all.   I can guarantee that if you are a reader of this blog I have said prayers for you on countless occasions.    When things are going badly, as they sometimes do, four little words can mean the world to another.  "I'll pray for you."  Costs nothing but your time and a tiny piece of your heart.  He hears them all.  I guarantee.  We may not always like the answers we get, but answers are always given.  This I know to be true.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day . . .


Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
"The question is not 
whether we will experience
seasons of adversity,
but how we will 
weather the storms."
~Dieter F Uchtdorf
 Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Spiritual Enlightenment



In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Spanish Cake.  It's a simple cake flavoured with cinnamon and topped with a simple Maple fudge frosting and toasted walnuts.  Delicious!


May your week ahead be filled with an abundance of small and wonderful things. Along the way, don't forget . . .

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And I do too!