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 from the past week which brought untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.

    

 

Of course the biggest and best small and wonderful thing was Todd's blood test for his PSA levels coming back normal.  Six months and the cancer is still at bay!  We were both doing the happy dance over this one!  Colour us very happy indeed!  

 

This had me doing the happy dance one day also.  Hot new release on the Amazon Kindle store. Number one, for a little while anyways!  I felt like a winner.  

 

And then there was this.  Best selling "English, Scottish & Welsh" cookbooks . . . . never thought I would see my book sitting alongside of a bakeoff book.  Colour me amazed at this one. I cried a tiny bit. 

Plus I have had four five* reviews on the American site, and two on the British site, and one on the Canadian site.  All five*.  So that makes me happy. That anyone would want to buy it at all makes me very happy!  This has been a special blessing in my life.  Writing this book is what got me through and kept me busy while Todd was having his cancer treatments.  If you bought the book, thank you so very much. You did me a great honor.  If you bought the book and then took the time to leave a review on the Amazon sites, thanks, thanks, thanks.  You did me an even greater honor!  So very much appreciated.  Every review helps to raise the visibility of the book, and I am so very grateful to all of you who did for taking the time. 

 

I am not sure what the occasion was, but I am thinking perhaps this might have been a Santa Claus Parade.  Cam and Maryn.  It looks quite cold wherever they are.   I know to some people these might just be pictures of kids and not so special, but to me they are really special.  I have only ever seen Maryn in person 3 times in her life and I have never  seen Cameron in person. Any photo of any of my grandchildren thrills me to no end.  I hate having to live so far away from them, but it is the way it has to be for now and maybe for always.  When any of my kids posts or sends me a photo of my grandchildren I am over the moon.  These are the only glimpses I have into their lives.  I used to day dream through the years about how wonderful  my relationship with my grandchildren was going to be. Hasn't happened and its my own fault for living so far away. 

 

I do wish things were different and that I had more contact with all of my grandchildren but I know that people have busy lives, with jobs, school, and all sorts.  I am just so very grateful for any little glimpse into them.  These tiny glimpses are a great blessing in my life. 

  

Provisionally, a great deal of interest is being shown in my premise for a second book to follow on from the first.  In fact they liked it a great deal.  So fingers crossed this leads to something.  A lot will depend on the sales of the first I guess.  So lets keep praying that it does well.

Pinch me, I am an author. 

  

I know I cannot be compared to some  . . .  like SB, or Jane Austin,  or Emily Dickenson . . .  but I have managed something that very few writers manage to do at all, and that is a huge blessing that I will take.  A massive achievement, and I owe a great deal of thanks to each of you for it.  You who come here each day and take even a tiny bit of interest in what I write, and what I cook.  Your coming here over the years has brought such a great lot of joy into my life.  You are  not invisible to me. You are real people and I consider you all friends.  Your love and support has meant the world to me. The fact that you come back day after day, has encouraged me and helped me to believe in my dreams, so a huge thank YOU to each of you wherever you might be. 

 

You come here every day and read my drivel, no matter what it is.  You are to be highly commended for your loyalty and, if I were the Queen, I would be bestowing great honours on you. You would all have OBE's and Damehoods.  I am not the Queen however and so the best I can do is to just say, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!

You have lifted me on days I needed lifting, and you

probably never even knew it.

♥ 

And with that I better leave you with a thought for the day.  I have to go for a blood test this morning, very early, and I think also a BP check. Here's hoping that the medication has been doing its job and that my kidney's haven't been damaged in the process. That is the problem with drugs. 

They sometimes create even worse problems. 

My fingers, knees, toes, legs, arms, etc. are all crossed!

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛.°  Walk away from the game that says 

you have to be something more before 

you are wanted or chosen.

Know that you are enough, right now.

~Unknown    •。★★ 。* 。  

Spiritual Enlightenment  

 

BOOK OF MORMON CORNER - 1 Nephi 20:1-22 
Question: What have you learnt from the reading today? How have you been refined by the Lord? What have you gained from the experience?  

What I learnt - The furnace of affliction is very real. I have been through furnaces of affliction, both with the Lord, and without Him. Both ways are uncomfortable experiences, but when I have gone through it with the Lord I have grown, I have become stronger.  I learn to trust Him that He won't break me, nor does He want to. When I go through it in my way, relying on myself, my understanding, my power . . . I am kicking against the trial and trying to find a quick way back to normality again. There is little end result in the way of growth, but I do learn/remember that God's ways are better.

This analogy is one I think of often during refining moments. It reminds me that Heavenly Father is working on me at this very moment, that my perspective is limited but I'm in His loving hands and I can trust what He's doing ❤

 'Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.' 

Tomorrow's Reading (Day 32) -1 Nephi 21:1-21 
Question: What have you learnt from the reading today? How has temple work blessed your life? 

 

In the English Kitchen today.  Escalloped Macaroni.  A delicious combination of macaroni, tomatoes, cheese and milk.  Old fashioned, yes, this is wonderful comfort food, and one of my absolute favourites.

I hope you have a wonderful Monday and that the week ahead is filled with a multitude of small and wonderful blessings.  Along the way, don't forget!

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And I do too!