Saturday This and That . . .

 

This photograph makes me think of my middle son Douglas.  When he was a wee one, I used to wake him up each morning singing "Good Morning Starshine" to him.  I would go quietly into his room and the cat we had at the time would inevitably follow me and jump onto the bed where she would start treading and purring on his tummy.  He would wake up and I would ask him . . .  "Do you know what she is singing to you?"  He would say no  . . . and then I would start to sing the song to him.  I wonder if he remembers that?

I sure hope so.

What a bit of a crazy week this has been.  A mix of rain and sunshine . . .  cold one day and warm the next.  Its like Mother Nature can't make up her  mind whether it is summer or not.

 

I watched the saddest film earlier this week.  "Amy."  It was a biography of Amy Winehouse using actual footage from her life, childhood, career, etc. to tell the story.  A classic example of someone who is destroyed by fame and fortune, and I believe (after watching the film) a very unhealthy relationship with the men in her life.  (Her father and her husband Blake.)  She loved both of them dearly, but I think they were both users . . .  total parasites.  It was like watching a train wreck happening and being unable to stop it.   It was a great film, but utterly, utterly sad.

I would not trade even a portion of the life I have now for a life of fame and fortune.   What I have is much happier and more beautiful in comparison.  I believe you must sell a bit of your soul to the Devil, for it appears surely as if your life becomes hell on earth.

 

This is the first of two paintings I finished this week.  I had started this one last week.  Picking Blackberries.  They are ripening in the hedgerows now and it won't be long!

Reminds me of when my family and I were living in an old farmhouse near Meaford, Ontario.   The woodlands to the North West of the house down towards the bay were filled with wild blackberries.  I  picked tons and tons.   I made it into blackberry jelly as opposed to jam.  That way we didn't have the seeds to bother us.  It was some good.   I have happy memories of going berrying with my sister as well when we lived there.  We found an old abandoned orchard that was loaded with wild raspberries.  Good times!



I also finished this one this week . . .  "Back To School."   The summer holidays may have just begun for the children over here in the UK, but I know back in the US it won't be long now before the kiddies are heading back to school.  It won't be until September here, or in Canada.  She has her lunch pail, scribblers and an apple for the teacher, and the leaves are just beginning to turn . . . .  Loving the squirrel on top of the seasaw.

(If you click on the pictures, they will open up larger so you can see all the detail.)

I always looked so foward to the beginning of the school year when I was a child.  New shoes.  New books, pencils and crayons . . .  a new pencil box.

Does anything on earth smell as nice as a new box of crayons?

 

So much to look forward to at the beginning of the school year.  I remember being devastated one year when I went down to the school lunch room and discovered that someone had stomped my pretty new lunch box all into bits.  Sometimes kids are just so mean.



Source 

We finally bit the bullet and got rid of our Sky Television this week.  This change will save us £680 a year.  Its amazing when you think about it.   We did have to purchase a Free Sat Box, which we had been saving up for for months and months.  They don't come cheap, but we think it will be worth it in the long run.  That's a lotta lotta money saved.  Its been a bit of an adjustment to make, but we are catching the hang of it.  Change is never easy and it has been a bit of a learning curve for us, but I think we are finally coming to terms with a new remote and way of doing things.  In all honesty we only watched several channels regularly anyways.   I will miss the anytime viewing and Sky Atlantic . . .  but not £680 worth!  That's money that is better off in our savings account.

And I can still get Pioneer Woman.  Yes!

We are having the other set of Elders for a tea appointment tonight.  One of them is gluten intolerant, so I am going to be baking a gluten free cake today.

 

I have chosen this recipe for a  Flourless Almond, Vanilla and Coconut Cake.  I'll serve it with some tinned fruit as we are watching our pennies and I don't have enough ripe berries yet at the ready.  I was going to buy raspberries, but at £2.50 for a punnet . . .  I couldn't let myself do it.  We are just going to have Gluten Free Sausages (I buy Heck, they're great) and mashed potatoes, peas and carrots and I got a packet of gluten free gravy mix.  Nothing too exciting there, but its a meal!  I'll probably also make a coleslaw.   I was going to buy a gluten free loaf of bread, but again £2.50 for a loaf of bread.  I couldn't let myself do that either.

How do people who are wheat intolerant cope on a daily basis?  Everything is so, sooooo expensive!  I am so grateful that I wasn't diagnosed as a Coeliac!

 

If you are going to the seaside this summer you might want to collect some seashells!  Look at these fabulous ones decorated with a sharpie pen by Barbara Moloney Callen!  I would have never thought of doing something like that with a sea shell.   What a pretty effect!



And I just can't resist showing you this Doll in a Box, from Red Ted Art.  I know a little five year old girl who would love, LOVE this.  I think I may have found my next project.

Well, I think I will go root around the kitchen to find myself some breakfast now.  I forgot to do my overnight oats last night so they aren't waiting for me.  I think its a cornflakes and bananas morning.  ☺

A thought to carry with you through today . . .


ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ
Everyday brings a choice  . . . 
to practice stress or to practice peace.
~Unknown
ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄ƷღೋღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ

Spiritual Enlightenment 






Cooking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  Lemon and Blueberry Buckle.  Delicious!


Hope you have a wonderful Saturday!  May the sun shine and your day be filled with lots of love, luck and happiness!  Don't forget along the way that . . .


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And I do too!!