All Things Nice . . .

 

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I hope that I shall never get

So old, that pinks or mignonette

Will fail to stir within my veins

Some answering call . . .  or April rains

Washing down azure skies will bring

No quickening rapture of the spring.

I hope that I shall never see

Pale blossoms bursting on a tree

With jaded eyes . . . or fail to catch

My breath in wonder at a hatch

of chickens with small pointed bills

Yellow as April daffodils.

And little fir trees lifting up

Pale hands toward the sky's blue cup,

And old folks with their dim old eyes

Looking toward the sunset skies,

Life's loveliness . .  work . . laughter . . tears,

Giving me beauty through the years. 

 

Nutmeg is going on Monday to be neutered. I will be leaving here fairly early to take him up to the Vets in the next town up the Valley. There is no Vet here in the town where I live, except for larger animals.  He is Mr Personality. I hope all goes well.  The hard part will be not feeding him or Cinnamon that morning. They look for it as soon as I get up.  I won't be able to feed Cinnamon until I get back from dropping him off. 

Ignore me in the background of this photo.  This was Cinnamon yesterday afternoon laying on top of me in my recliner chair.  I was watching the last installment of Get Back (The Beatles) on Disney. Oh I was in heaven. The Beatles singing (it was 1969) on the telly, Cinnamon splayed spread out on her back on top of me, letting me rub her belly, and paws. I think she was in heaven too. 

 

 

And this was my lower legs, keeping them warm he was.  These two make me so happy and help to keep me occupies. I always have someone to talk to now. 

I went into our local Home Hardware the other day to pick up a snow brush for the car and some salt for my doorstep and I came out with one of these.  I know.  Not something I really needed, but sometimes you have to splurge and I will have two grandsons here between the 22nd and the 28th of December. I am hoping to be able to make them snowflake waffles!  Yay!!! That is when they have rented the car for.  This (all things being well) will be my first family Christmas in 23 years actually!  I did not get to see my family on that last Christmas before I moved over to the UK, and of course I was there for over 20 years and last year was Covid Christmas so nobody was seeing anybody.

I am just hoping that they don't shut everything down again.  I know the virus is again on the rise, even here in this small province. I think my sister said there were 293 new cases in Nova Scotia yesterday, one right here in the Valley. 

I don't think anyone wants Covid for Christmas.  Just snowflake waffles.  They would be nice.

Speaking of Covid. My friend Peter Lee e-mailed me yesterday to say he had gotten a letter yesterday from Todd, dated the 1st December, in which Todd told him he had come down with the virus in Prison and was isolated in his cell and could he let me know. Of course it was distressing.  I know he done me and others wrong . . .  very wrong  . . .  and I should not feel any compassion for him.  But love is not like a tap that you can just turn off. I did cry. Again. On top of the bazillions of tears I have already cried.  I am not sure how he will fare at the age of 83.  For all I know  . . . it doesn't bear thinking about.

Its just a really weird place to be I guess, and very difficult to explain and even harder to understand. Even for me. My heart is still very tender over it all, and probably always will be.

 

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I am worried that people will get annoyed with me for posting about my baking book on FB and IG.  It is all a part of the marketing strategy and I am obligated to do so according to my contract with the publisher.  I still have not been able to figure out how to get paid.   I need to fill out American tax forms and this invoice thing and I can't make heads nor tails of any of it.  The H&R Block here is only open on Wednesday afternoons we discovered.  So I will have to wait until at least next Wednesday to talk to someone. Writing the book was easy compared to this.

So anyways, please don't get annoyed with me because I am posting about the book. I am only doing what I am supposed to do.  Pretty please with sugar on it. I am so not a blow my own horn type of person, and it grates.  I do it because I have to.

I may try to make a Stollen this year. First I will have to make some marzipan. I am one of those weird people who like marzipan.  It was always readily available in the shops in the UK and something which I had quite come to take for granted.  At Christmas you could get these little Stollen Bites which were small cubes of Stollen, dipped in butter and rolled in icing sugar . . .  abundantly coated in icing sugar.  I really loved them.

I love any kind of rich fruit bread. I know Stollen can be dry and it is not light like ordinary breads are.  But there is something very moreish about it.  All that dried fruit I guess.  

My sister is supposed to be given a turkey from work, which I am going to cook. You never know for sure if they are going to give her one though, so I will probably buy one and stick it in the freezer just in case. There will be quite a few at our table this year. 8 people! Fancy that!  I must pick up some Christmas crackers!  I guess I should get a tablecloth as well.

The fun is all in the planning.

 

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It has been well below zero these past three or four days, but today it is supposed to go up to 11 above zero and we are going to get lots of rain.  This will melt the snow and perhaps cause some flooding in areas.  We live in a feast and famine world.  I have enjoyed looking out my front window and seeing all the snow on the roof tops across the way.  It has really put me in the mood for Christmas.

Last night I first watched the latest Music and the Spoken Word on Living Scriptures. I could listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing for hours. They are so beautiful, and when I was done with that I started to listen to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on YouTube.  That was lovely also.

If you really want to get warm the Christmas fuzzies, I highly recommend. 

 

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There are only a few things I want for Christmas this year, and none of it is anything you can buy. Family unity is high on my wish list. I sure would love to have some reconciliation happen . . .  some healing and mending.  That would be lovely. I am hoping and praying that my family is able to get here safely and that we will all be safe and healthy. I know my father is really looking forward to seeing Anthony and his family. There is no telling how many more Christmas's dad will be with us, so we really need to make the most of the ones we are given. I am reminded of the year that we all went on a sleigh ride out in the countryside of Southern Ontario . . . 

We were living in London at the time. My sister in Windsor. Mom had flown up from Nova Scotia and my then husband's sister and brother were living in Toronto area. We were all able to get together on Boxing Day for a sleigh ride. Well, it was a wagon ride really because there was no snow when we started. It did being to snow about halfway through the ride (talk about perfect timing!) and by the time we were finished we were deep in a Winter wonderland.  I think that sticks out in the children's memory above all of the other Christmas's. 

We went back to ours afterward to a potluck lunch with lasagna, etc. Good times.

Family, it isn't a small thing, its everything . . . 

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

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

 *You never know the true impact

you have on those around you.

You never know how much someone 

needed the smile you gave them.

You never know how much your kindness

turned someone's entire life around.

You never know how much someone

needed that long hug or deep talk.

So don't wait to be kind,

of for someone else to be kind first.

Don't wait for better circumstances,

or for someone to change.

Just be kind, because you never know

how much someone needs it.

~Nikki Bannas  •。★★ 。* 

A long one this morning, but a beautiful profound thought  . . . I probably won't be on tomorrow morning as I have a lesson to teach in church and lots to do to prepare for that so be safe and have a great Sunday! 

There's something nice in The English Kitchen this morning also.  A Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Snack Cake.  Wowzah delicious! Yum yum yum!

Have a great Saturday. What ever you get up to, stay safe, healthy and happy. Don't forget! 

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And I do too!