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. 

 

 

 

 

Tangible reminders and a wonderful testimony of the love she had for her family.  Whenever I come across one of these things, I am a mix of emotions, but mostly I am grateful.  To be the kind of person who is this loved and this missed.  I hope that she knows how very much we love and miss her and how grateful we were to have her in our lives.  She was the making of us in every way possible.  As President Lincoln once said, "All that I am or that I ever will be, I owe to my precious mother." 

 

 

 

 

Morning, noon and nighttime cuddles.  This is her "come hither" look.  Wanting me to rub her belly.  How can I resist!  I can't!  It is impossible.  Even if all I have time for is a little tickle under the chin.  I am so very grateful that we have had the opportunity to have someone in our lives that has brought us so much joy, and I hope we have brought an equal amount of joy to her.  

 

  

 

We have been looking for a new mirror for our bathroom.  I found one on a buy and sell page on Chester.  Its Laura Ashley and I think very pretty.  Only £15.  I bought it Friday night and the seller said she would drop off on Saturday, well I messaged her late Saturday afternoon to see if she was coming. (Bonus that she was willing to drop it off by the way.)  and she said it would be in the evening. I said fine but we are in bed by 9.  She said no problem it would be sooner than that.  9:05 I get a message, can she bring it now.  I said no, we are in bed.  So then she said Sunday afternoon.  By 6 on Sunday still did not have it but I recognised the two kids that were in her profile picture.  Highly identifyable as the one little girl has alopechia.  They used to always be at my next door neighbors, but I know she doesn't get along with her family anymore as they don't come anymore. So I messaged her Aunt and said do you know this woman.  And she said yes, that's (neighbor's name's) sister.  They don't get along very well.  I thought to myself, aha!  She doesn't want her sister to see her coming here.  I told her what was going on. She said leave it with me, and within half an hour we had the mirror. Problem solved.  I really hope that Todd can hang it up without breaking it.  My fingers are crossed. 

 

 

We watched the Michael McIntyre special, Happy & Glorious on Amazon Prime this weekend and we haven't laughed so much in years.  He is hilarious.  There is some bad language, but I have come to accept that is a part of life now.  It only matters that we don't use it and we need to be able to tune it out when others do.  This guy is incredibly funny.  He channels us, simple people,  the middle class, our ordinariness, our ability to find pleasure in small things such as just being able to afford a shop at Waitrose every now and then, family life, wives and husbands.  And it is all incredibly funny. If you can tune out a bit of bad language, well worth the watch. It is no surprise to me he is the King of Comedy here in the UK at the moment.  In 2012 he was the highest grossing comic in the world and he's only 43. 

  

 

America's Got Talent.  How on earth is anyone going to win that!  We are down to the Semi-finals now.  I was a bit disappointed at a few being knocked out of the competition, but the finalists all deserve to be there.  How a winner will be picked I don't know. Most of them come with really heart touching back stories.  I was so glad when those Indian Melon crushers got eliminated the other week, and equally so when the couple with the knife throwing got eliminated, as well as that contortionist dancer chick.  I did not like them at all.  None of them.  It will be interesting to see this week who gets through to the finals.  These are my predictions of who will make it to the finals:

1.  Tyler-Butler Figueroa, the 11 year old Violin player who had cancer and was bullied when he was at school because of it.  

2.  Voices of Service, the military singing group with brilliant harmonies.

3. V-unbeatable, the Indian Dance Team.

4. The Ndlova Youth Choir, for their inspiration

5. Kodi Lee, the blind autistic singer/piano player.

6.  Benecio Bryant, fabulous singer

7.  Emmane Beasha, a young opera singer, only 11 I believe

But in all honesty, I would waffle on any one of these as almost everyone in the semi-finals deserves to win.  Do you have a favourite?  I love them all!  Even the ones who didn't make my above list!  

 

Our flowers in the garden are all starting to look a bit tired now, but I am incredibly grateful to live in a country filled with such amazing beauty.  I know that there is beauty, even in the dessert, we live in such an amazing world, but I am a person who loves colour and this country is filled with vibrant lush colour.  

 

I love it when the Missionaries get married and then bring their wives back to meet us.  This weekend we had the priviledge of meeting Cody's wife and his wee son, George.  It was so nice to see Cody again and to meet Brooke.  You may think she looks familiar.  She is Female Foodie. on her blog which reviews all the best eateries around the world and on IG which is more of the same.  Her mom also has a lovely Blog, A Bountiful Kitchen.  Cody was one of my favourite missionaries.  I know I say that about them all, but its true! 

  

Another one of my favourite's was Chris.  He and his wife came to visit us also about two years ago. He would have been here around the same time as Cody, probably before, possibly after.  In any case I love Chris.  He is always sending me messages on facebook, and movies of the things he has cooked.  I have a special present here that his wife purchased for him for Christmas, shhh, its a secret . . .  I need to write something in it and then send it off.  I am pretty sure he doesn't read this blog.  He sent me a photo of his pork pie just this morning.  I love that guy and his sweet wife and their little girl.   I am so grateful that I have been able to enjoy all these young people in our home through the years.  I literally have tiny pieces of my heart sitting in places all around the world!  As Martha would say, "Its a good thing!"

 

Ka-ching, ka-ching.  Finally getting paid!  It was a good feeling.  I may never see any more, but at least I got what was owing.  yay! 

Going to church, hearing from Doris and the photo she sent of her with my mag at the hairdressers, etc. This past week has been incredible. My cup surely runneth over.  I am a very blessed woman with a cup that is always at least half full and which oftimes overflows. What were some of your small and wonderfuls this week?  

A thought to carry with you . . .

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *.˛Be a rainbow in

someone else's cloud.

~unknown  •。★★ 。* 。 

 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Country Style Casserole. An oldie but a goodie! 

I hope the week ahead for you is filled to overflowing with small and wonderful things. May you be richly blessed.  Don't forget!

 
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And I do too!