Saturday 6 October 2018

Saturday this and that . . .



“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” 
~L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

 Every season has it's own glory and every month it's own identity and personality.  To me October has to be one of the most dramatic months . . . change occurs seemingly overnight and noticeably with every day that passes.  The air cools and is filled with the faint tang of blue wood smoke and a remarkable spiciness in the wind . . . the smell of drying leaves, not yet tainted by the damp . . .

We do not get the vibrant colour here that they do in North America as our Maples are very few . . . but there is still much beauty to be found in the golden glow of beech and the garnet fire of the oak, hedgerow thickets ablaze with pale gold and scarlet and cinnamon.  The world is a blaze of colour . . .

And then amidst the golds and browns . . . still the odd surprise of a sprig of lavendar that hasn't discovered that October has arrived . . . summer's last hurrah.




Some things take on a certain urgency now . . . picking the apples and pears, the last of the blueberries and raspberries.   Frost is not unheard of at this time of year and a real danger, although there are some things which welcome the first frost, like parsnip and purple sprouting broccoli . . .

Now is the time to forage in the woods for cob nuts and chest nuts . . . ripened hips and haws, wild damson.  Time for hedgerow jelly . . . the meadows still look fairly green except for the tinge of golden seed pods along the edges.   The trees flaming against a sky coloured as softly as the breast of a mourning dove.   On certain days you can still feel the warmth of the sun in the old grey stones of walls and ledges.  Golden light falls on prickles and burrs . . .  acorns, all nutty and  cinnamon brown . . .  crunch beneath our feet as we walk.  They are almost painful to tread upon . . . but walk we must, before it grows too cold to be enjoyable and becomes a chore simply to be endured . . .  but not loved.


I adore these last warm days . . . taking joy from them that I know I must before they soon will disappear for this year replaced by the cold and bleakness of the winter months.  Tis the season of gold, with smoky air, crisp leaves that skitter across the dry pavement and the sound of acorns  falling  ringing in our ears.

Tis beautiful . . . and I am grateful for a heart that knows it to be so . . .

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” 
~George Eliot 


 Hooray, we now have a working shower.  Todd and I each enjoyed a luxuriously long shower last night to make up for the previous weeks' lack thereof.  It was so nice.  I will never take my showers for granted again.  And today I have promised Mitzie a nice fleabath shower.  (She is not impressed.)




We watched the loveliest film last night. It was really, really good. Live life with everything you've got. Set in suburan America in 1965, Different Drummers is based on a true story of friendship and adventure, that will forever change the lives of two unique boys. I love true stories and so does Todd.  This was probably one of the best films we had seen in a while.  Of course I cried at the end. I am such a soppy person.



I was just getting into bed last night when I started receiving messages that my FB had been hacked and people were receiving fake friend requests from me.  So annoying that there are people out there who get off on this sort of stuff.  Actually it is a misnomer to say someone has been hacked, because it is not really hacking. Its called cloning and what they do is steal your profile photo and create a fake account that is kind of like yours but not. You can tell because they won't have many friends yet and it will have started only today or yesterday. 

One way to prevent people from doing this is to hide your friends list from prying eyes. If the clone scammers cannot see who you are friends with, they will not be able to send out fake invites to your friends. So, hiding your friends list can help to thwart clone scammers. To hide your friends list, open your profile and click on the “Friends” tab. Then, click the pencil icon on the right side and click “Edit Privacy” and then change the settings to "Only me."  That way only you can see your friends and nobody can clone your account and send out friend requests to your friends.  I only just learned how to do that this morning. Hopefully this won't happen again.

Apparently people do this so that they can send fake money requests, etc. to your friends.  Claiming you've been in an accident or some such.  There are some really nasty people in this world!


  

On a brighter note this is the weekend of my church's semi-annual General Broadcast.  Today and tomorrow we will be listening to inspiration from both male and female leaders of our church.  There is only one "Woman's" broadcast each year now and one "Men's." Ours is in October so I am excited to watch that!  I always come away from all of the sessions feeling greatly inspired to be and do better.  You can access them via the church website and on a variety of online streaming mediums. You can find out more here as to times, etc. 

Oh, and big news the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is changing their name to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. You can read about that change here.  


Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadian family and friends this weekend. May you be truly blessed.  Celebrating Thanksgiving is different over here.  They tend to do the American one if anything and so I will be holding off my celebrating until then.  But to all of you a very Happy one!

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


° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★

 *
In almost everything that touches
our everyday life on earth,
God is pleased when we're pleased.
He wills that we be as free as birds
to soar and sing our maker's praise
without anxiety.
A.W. Tozer   
•。★★ 。* 。 


Pumpkin Streusel Cake 

Oh, I baked the most gorgeous cake yesterday.  A Pumpkin Streusel Cake.  It came from one of those little cookbooks you buy at the check-outs in the grocery store.  It is accredited to Gold Medal Flour and is called Fall Baking.  Best pumpkin cake I have ever tasted!

Have a wonderful Saturday.  Don't forget! 


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And I do too!


10 comments:

  1. Hello Marie. I hope you can snuggle under your blankets and enjoy your conference. May you be inspired.

    The blessings of hat water and being clean. It is a delicious luxury and one I do enjoy. I am sure colourful Octobers are pretty to see. We have been blessed with drizzly rain again. We have had about 25 mm over the last week. I am enjoying the cool and hoping to see some pretty greens soon.

    God bless.

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    1. We will enjoy it for sure Suzan! And I know we will be inspired! I am happy you are being blessed with rain. I know there has been a drought! God bless.xoxo

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  2. When something goes away and we get it back..we always think I will never ever take it for granted again:) I know.
    Now I want to see that movie..I have seen a few in this genre..the last being French and it was good..I am a soppy movie person too.I am not into Shameless at all this yr..yet shed a tear last night in Lip's last scene.
    Still really like This Is Us:)

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    1. I love This is Us. I really do. You will like this film. It has a genuine feel to it, and I could really relate because one of the jobs I had before moving over here was as a Respite Carer for a boy with Muscular Dystrophy who died while I was his carer. It was devastating. xoxo

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  3. Glad you finally got that long shower. It is so true we never really appreciate something until we don't have it. It's warmer here for the next few days and although we also have a chance of rain, I too am going to enjoy these warm October days. Hope you have a super Saturday!

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    1. Its sunny here today Pam, but with a cool wind. Hope you have a super Saturday also! xoxo

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  4. Hi Marie~

    Oh how I've missed you!! My life has been somewhat crazy, and this was a very refreshing break. I love your description of Fall...perfect in every way!

    Facebook drives me nuts - it's something I have to do for RS, but It's not my favorite thing...although it seems like I'm drawn to it. Thank you for your advise on making the "friends" private. I've made that change and hopefully won't get hacked.

    The first session of General Conference was amazing...true inspiration.

    Better run so I can catch the second session! Love you tons XOXOX

    Hugs and Love,
    Barb

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    1. Love you Barb. My calling as the Ward FB page administrator means I have to be on FB also and it does drive me crazy. All the anti stuff, all the political stuff, all the negativity. I often find myself asking, why can't people just be nice! Love and hugs, xoxo

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  5. Oh my sweet friend your description of the month of October and Autumn was spectacular. You do know how to write well.
    The movie sounds delightful and we love true stories too.
    Being hacked is scary. Thanks for sharing how to protect against it. I am going go go in and do that now.
    So happy that you got your shower fixed. It does help us appreciate our blessings of having a warm shower.
    General conference thus far has been so wonderful. I am enjoying listening and watching. I feel the spirit so strongly and have had some revelation for my own life.
    We had to listen to some of it while sitting in the rain watching two of our grandson’s play football. It was cold.
    I can’t believe that October is here and it will soon be Thanksgiving. Time just keeps flying.
    Sending loving thoughts and hugs!


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    1. I saw your photos from the Football match LeAnn. What a blessing you can do that! I would give anything to be able to see my grandchildren doing anything or even just to spend time with them! Love you!xoxo

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