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Saturday, 17 December 2016

Saturday thoughts . . .



Once there was a snowman,
Who stood outside the door,
He wished that he could come inside,
And run about the floor.
He wished that he could warm himself,
Beside the fire, so red,
He wished that he could climb
Upon the big white bed.


So he called to the North Wind,
"Come and help me, pray,
For I'm completely frozen,
Standing here all day."
So the North Wind came along,
And blew him in the door,
And now there is nothing left,
But a puddle on the floor!
~unknown


One of the things I like to do each day is to read the newspaper online from back home. It’s a way of keeping in touch with things familiar to me, and I suppose I get a sense of comfort from it, in an odd sort of way. I read the local and national news, the obituaries, (morbid I know but I can’t help myself) and the weather. They had one heck of a storm yesterday.  White outs and roads closed.  Diabolical really. Whenever I read about it snowing back home . . . it does make me long for a snowy day, especially during this time before Christmas. It seemed back home that it always snowed on Christmas Eve, softly falling, fluffy and fat white flakes, you know the kind . . . pure magic.



Wilkepedia says a snowman is a man-like sculpture constructed out of snow, usually made by children, but sometimes by adults. Fancy that! You often see them on Christmas Cards and I have a few blown glass ones dancing about on my Christmas tree. They are Chef ones and really quite cute! According to diaries and chronicles, snowmen could be seen cavorting and prancing about the streets during every snowfall, dating at least back to the Middle Ages in Europe, and the child in me dreams of building one with every flake that falls.

You would think that building a snowman would be one of the easiest things to do, but that is not so, there is a definite art to it. Not just any snow builds a good snowman. It must be soft and packing snow. Dry snow only falls apart. Packing snow, wet snow, sticks together in the perfect snowman building way. Packing snow is formed when regular powder snow comes near its melting point and becomes moist and compactable. This allows for the construction of large balls of snow by simply rolling a ball of snow until it grows the desired size. Attempting to make a snowman out of powdered snow is extremely difficult since it will not stick to itself. And if packing snow is not rolled into snowballs before it freezes, it will form an unusable denser form of powdered snow called crust. Thus the best time to build a snowman is usually in the next warmest afternoon directly following a snowfall with a sufficient amount of snow.


A lot of the fun of making a snowman is dressing him or her, whichever the case may be. My mom always kept an old hat and scarf just for that purpose, and an old carrot would always be procured for it’s jaunty nose. Somehow we would find stones to use for it’s eyes and buttons and several empty tree branches and sticks for it’s arms. My snowmen were never very inventive and always followed the same design, although I know that other’s do get very fanciful with theirs, building unique snow sculptures resembling animals and other things, but then . . . they are no longer snowmen are they . . .


I think that when it snows this year, if it snows this year (fingers crossed) I shall be out in the garden making a snowman if I can. What a joyous sight that will be!!! He’ll probably be full of bits of leaf and grass, as we rarely if ever get more than a light dusting on the ground, but never mind, he’ll be beautiful anyways, at least to me . . . . and the best part of all will be that for those few moments when I am building him I will be a child again. I bet Mitzie will want to help!


Here's a lovely song I found this morning sung by Faith Hill. It is called "A Baby Changes Everything." I really enjoyed it and I hope that you will enjoy it too. I found it quite beautiful, and I love it's message.

 *.˛.° ˛°. .
˛*"Hope is like snow.. it beautifies all it covers。
˛ *˛° with magical possibilities."
~.¸¸.☆ ❉
.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★


A thought to carry with you through today  . . .

⊰✿⊰⊰✿⊰⊰✿⊰⊰✿⊰⊰✿⊰
"I testify that 
He has not forgotten you! 
Whatever sin or weakness 
or pain or struggle or trial 
you are going through, 
He knows and understands 
those very moments. 
He loves you! 
And He will carry you."
~Linda S Reeves
⊰✿⊰⊰✿⊰⊰✿⊰⊰✿⊰⊰✿⊰

Spiritual Enlightenment

 photo SAM_8581_zpsa7bbb25b.jpg


Baking in The English Kitchen today  . . .  a delicious Ruby Slipper Cake.  An old family favourite.

Have a great Saturday.  It is bound to be busy I am sure!  Hope its also filled with lots of lovelies and that you get all done that you want to get done. Whatever you get up to, don't forget . . .

 ═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════ ⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════


 And I do too!


5 comments:

  1. Good morning Marie. Today I am exhausted. I took mum for blood tests etc this morning and then I swear she hit every shop in the centre. We were so long I had a hypo. Yuck. Feeling better now. This afternoon saw three more Christmas cakes made bringing the total to 21 or 22. I am tired of them. I then cleaned part of the kitchen cupboard and made dinner. I have washing to fold and feel too sore to do much more. I wanted to wrap some gifts and make brownies too.

    The smow man making rules don't count here. If there is a snow fall and one is inclined you round up the suspects and head off for the hill three hours or so away. Then everyone scrapes the slushy stiff, leaves, sticks and all and tries to build a round shape. There is never enough for a big fat ball. When Beth went to school in Switzerland she was so excited that she raced outside to play. The teacher understood,

    God bless your day and keep you safe.

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  2. Hi Marie. I hope we do get snow for Christmas but I realise it's highly unlikely!
    We're off to the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral tonight for a carol concert and then we're seeing Rod Stewart at the Echo arena tomorrow, they couldn't be more different hahaha!!
    On Tuesday we're driving down to London as it's Christians first birthday on Wednesday. George has decided to stay with them till boxing day so I will get the train back on Thursday. My daughter and her fiance will be arriving on Friday. It's all go!!
    Have a lovely weekend, lots of love xxx

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  3. I don't know where you get all your energy from Suzan. I get tired just reading about your day! Hope you have a restful evening. God bless you all. xoxo

    Sounds like you are going to have a lovely and busy Christmas Kate! How very wonderful. God bless and lots of love back. xoxo

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  4. It is gently snowing..there is such a quietude to it..yesterday was simple unbelievably cold..a small respite today w/ more snow..and perhaps freezing rain tomorrow..that I Hate..so dangerous..power outages..etc..
    Cannot help but think of the homeless souls in this weather.
    What led them there?:(:(
    No parents? not worthy parents? peers? Fate?



    I think you shuld make a snowman if you can..even tabletop size.I love them and seek them out driving..you are right..a fine art..
    I love that first pic Marie..bonne journée.

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  5. It's many years since I made a snowman, like yours mine would be full of ...bits....unless that is we do get a real,fall of snow which I know is really quite rare,,even when there's been just a little snow I love love love to watch at the window the wee ones on the rec, there is a really good slope from the upper ...top part where the cricket pitch is and the children's play area........to the bottom where the football pitch is, it's on that hill that the kids adore sliding down and up again, they must be exhausted...I know I am just watching them LOL...
    Been a quiet day with us. Peter was in with all the shopping he got extra bits as he will be away now till5)3 30 th....I just had a message from him to say the coach taking him to Heathrow from Box was 35 mins late and M4 was very busy but driver took a short cut and was only 20 mins late at Heathrow...he should by now almost boarding the flight to the Capital of Sri Lanka....we are going to miss him. I trundled up to the PO to post a few wee gifts and to collect our pension...I'm always so grateful to live in a country who provided us with a pension, Howe er small...by for now, have a lovely day tomorrow. It is our Carol service I have invited Val to come with me so that's one extra !!.TAKE CARE XX

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