Its hard to believe that we are sitting on the last day of November 2016 and tomorrow December will begin. Is it just me, or have the past eleven months just flown by at the speed of light, or seemingly so at any rate. This morning dawned cool and crisp and freezing. My little tootsies about froze on the kitchen floor as I put Mitzie out and I wasn't long in turning on the boiler to heat the house up. Well, we really only heat one room . . . the lounge. And we have our bedroom turned on to low. We don't like it too warm in there. The heat is never on when we go to bed. It stays off all night and we turn it on in the morning. The bathroom is always freezing, even if we have the radiator turned on in there. We keep a gas fire in there that we turn on when we are getting washed in the morning. That room has always been freezing. I don't know why. The radiator gets hot, but it doesn't seem to spread out into the room.
It was cold and clear and sunny yesterday and so we went off into town in the morning. We wanted to pay the rent and I thought I would take advantage of the day being so sunny and, to be honest, I worry about Todd going off on his own. I know he would pooh pooh at my worry, but I just can't help myself. We paid the rent and then I wanted to try to find some gold glitter nail polish so I could just do the tips of my nails with it for Christmas. We went into Boots and I found some which looked perfect. Got it to the easy cash and for some reason it wouldn't scan so we moved to the person cash and stood in line only to discover that it was not for sale. It was a freebee that was only available if you bought something else. Well, it didn't say that on the display or I missed it at any rate, and so we left empty handed and a bit annoyed. But oh well . . . that's the way the cookie crumbles! I did find some at the Market and at a fraction of the price that is charged for most polishes.
We treated ourselves to a drink upstairs at M&S in their cafe. I love LOVE M&S. Especially at Christmas. Their cafe's are so clean and there was Christmas music playing. I enjoyed perusing the little girl's christmas dresses before we went into the cafe.
This one caught my eye. Oh, but it was so pretty and had a little slip underneath. It reminded me of the dresses I made my girls for Christmas one year in this same colour. Theirs were made of blue Velveteen and had white satin removable collars. They looked so pretty in them . . .
And then there was this one . . . red coduroy with a crinckly red crinoline underneath and smocked bodice. So cute. When Maryn was little I sent her several smocked dresses. Both very pretty. I never got to see her in any of the clothes I sent over to her, but oh, I did have fun buying them. I don't buy them anymore, but that doesn't stop me from looking and wishing.
Grumbledore huffed and puffed the whole time I was looking and kept reminding me that we didn't have any little kiddies of our own. I think he was afraid I was going to cave in and buy something. Men! I didn't, but I did enjoy perusing, despite the huffing and the puffing!
Todd had a hot chocolate and I had a Clementine and Cranberry Presse (it's a cold carbonated drink with sparkling water and fruit juices). Did you know that their hot drinks come with a tiny little shortbread biscuit cut out? Todd had a little shortbread Christmas tree. It was so cute!
I love Marks and Spencers.
Then we went into HMV, which is a shop which sells dvd's, music, video games, etc. I was looking for Its a Wonderful Life, but couldn't find it. We did find this however . . .
Yep. The BFG. (Big Friendly Giant) Based on the book by Roald Dahl. We ended up buying it with the money Doreen had given us for cooking her roast. We both love films like this and we sat here and watched it last night totally delighted. We were not disappointed in the least. It was magical and funny and sad and scary. It was just everything. Today's technology is so amazing. I was in wonder at all of the special effects. It all just seemed so real. Love, LOVE. So, it wasn't Its a Wonderful Life, but it was very entertaining nonetheless. With any luck we will find Its a Wonderful Life on the telly at some point. I am sure we will.
Tomorrow our church starts its #Light the World campaign, which is designed as a sort of Advent Calendar for the world. It is an effort to remind people that Jesus is the reason for the season and the Light of the World and so as a church we are endeavouring to make the world a brighter place all the way through December. Well, we should be doing that every day anyways, but there is no more special time than at Christmas. We have been encouraged to fill each day in the month of December with at least one small act of service. There is a special Advent Calendar for the whole family which you can download with tons of ideas.
And I found this lovely printable one that you can use with children, which you can find here on A Year of FHE. You don't have to be a member of the church to use these tools and help your family to focus their lives a bit more on the Saviour during this upcoming Holiday season. I wish I had had resources like this when my children were growing up. I know that the Internet brings with it a whole new set of challenges for families, but it is also a wonderful wealth of resources too, if used properly!
Also did you know that The Mormon Channel Radio is playing Christmas Music 24/7 all through the holidays! I have been listening to it on my ipad, but then yesterday had the brilliant idea that since it is an ap, why couldn't we download it onto the television and so we did just that! And now we can listen to it via the television whenever we want to. (Right now I am listening to Bing sing God Rest You Merry Gentlemen.) Sometimes I even impress myself! It hadn't dawned on me until yesterday that it is an ap and that as we have a smart tv we should be able to download the ap onto the television. The mind boggles. Modern technology is fantastic when used for the good! I like the Mormon Channel anyways. It is filled with awesome videos, talks, etc. I could spend hours on it. I love the videos where the children tell the stories of Jesus. Children have such a beautiful way of putting things.
Another fun thing we did this week was to take a selfie of ourselves, which was a LOT harder than I thought it would be. My sister in law had e-mailed me wanting an up-to-date photo of us for the family calendar they make up each year, and I didn't really have one. So we grabbed my phone and tried to take some selfies. Oh, we did laugh a lot while we were doing it. Todd kept looking at the wrong place, or my mouth would be open as I was talking and trying to micro-mangage the experience. (Bad me) But we got there in the end and I guess it didn't turn out too badly. My cheeks look a bit like apples and you can really see my grey hair. I don't think I will have to dye it granny grey, it looks like if I leave it long enough it will do it all on its own! We did have a good giggle however and some of the photos were so bad, and so funny. We got there in the end though, had a good laugh along the way, and that's what counts!
Oh, and the real reason we went into town yesterday aside from paying the rent is that I wanted to pick up some Christmas Cards. I had been trying to make cards this year, but I just can't get them done. I need to start earlier next year. The same thing happens to me every year. I have all these plans and not enough time to execute them. Oh well, my heart is in the right place!
And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day . . .
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A bird sitting on a tree
is never afraid of
the branch breaking,
beause its trust is not
on the branch, but
on its own wings.
Believe in yourself.
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Spiritual Enlightenment
In The English Kitchen today, something for your holiday entertaining. Holiday Cheese Spread.
Have a great Wednesday. Stay warm and safe, and look for the blessings to be found in every day! Don't forget . . .
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And I do too!
