Will there be laughter in heaven,
And joy on the golden street,
With hedge rows green in the morning sun
Trees where tall branches meet?
Will there be bread in heaven,
And yeast to froth and foam,
And little gardens wet with dew
Cradle-ing a home?
Will there be small wood fires,
And blue smoke drifting down,
Pine shadowed slops where needles lie
Deep and softly brown?
Will there be children running
With sunlight on their hair,
And gingham dresses crisp and new
For older folk to wear?
Will there be music and singing,
Pianos with white old keys:
If heaven is very prim and stiff,
I will be lonesome for these.
~Edna Jaques, Will There Be?, Roses in December
What is simple living? My mind has been occupied with this over these past months. This desire to simplify life, to make my life the best that I can with the least that I can. To stop chasing the dream, but to therefore be content with small and simple things. Simple living is about living a life that is uncomplicated by wanting or having too much of anything. Its about wanting what you have, rather than having what you want.
It about the small things. The simple things. The ordinary things and acts which bring us untold joy in the mundaneness of every day living. Its being authentic and true to the things which are you, and not aspiring to be anything but the best that you can be, within the realms of your own abilities and needs.
Its embracing with love the simple things of the every day. Finding peace, beauty, joy and satisfaction within ourselves, our homes, our lives.
I believe that the road to anyone's heaven is lined with the paving stones of simplicity with the small and simple things in life.
This was Nutmeg late yesterday afternoon. I had never seen him sitting/laying like this before, all stretched out with his paws hanging over the side of the sofa.
And then I looked over and there was Cinnamon, doing the same thing in her basket. They are outgrowing their old spaces, and yet at the same time love nothing more than crawling into small spaces, the smaller the better.
They are such great company. I cannot imagine a life now without them in it. They want to be involved in everything I do.
This was Cinnamon when I was taking photographs of my carrot cake the other day. Her color matched the cake. Someone called her a Whiskey cat, and I guess she is amber like the color of whiskey. She has a little peach colored nose and her paw pads are also peach colored. Nutmegs are both pink. I think they are both beautiful. Admittedly I am more than a bit biased. Love sees through rose colored glasses for sure.
It is snowing again this morning. All day yesterday we had sleet and freezing rain. Like little slippery balls of silicone. It reminded me of that silicone cat litter that you see advertised all over the place. Even Martha Stewart talks about it. Pretty litter? Part of me is tempted, but the larger part of me is not. It fell all day, this silicone like snow/rain. But this morning it has turned to soft fluffy flakes. My bird feeders are firmly entrenched in the snow banks. It will be spring before they are released. They are stuck there now.
I was talking to my sister on the phone yesterday and she was telling me the birds that were coming to her feeders, even a Winter Robin . . . I think there are too many people on this street feeding the birds. They are spoilt for choice. But I would rather that than they go hungry. There are far worse things than being spoilt for choice.
My dinner yesterday was a very cheeky bowl of tinned spaghetti in tomato sauce with cheese and some toast. Occasionally I enjoy something like this. I didn't quite enjoy it as much as I did the tinned spaghetti in the UK. There was hardly any spaghetti in the tin and the noodles were quite fat in comparison. Not at all like the photograph on the label of the tin, and not as I remembered it being here in Canada. I am not sure if that was just a rogue tin or not.
When we were growing up very occasionally my mother would buy a super large tin of spaghetti in tomato sauce and we would have it for supper with fried wieners, their skins crisp and almost blackened. It was a favorite supper. At least it was with me. With bread and butter to sop up all the tomato sauce.
There is a special comfort to be found in these old childhood favorites. Simple, not gourmet in the least. But they are warm and comforting and sometimes the heart just wants what it wants. And yesterday it was this. No wieners, just hot buttered toast. The last few bits I tore up and threw into the sauce so that it would soak it all up. Plenty of pepper.
I started watching a true crime documentary film on Netflix yesterday. (I watched too much tv yesterday.) It is called the Tinder Swindler. I am about half way through it and it is quite interesting. It is all about these women who got taken in by this guy Shimon Hayut/Simon Leviev on the dating app called Tinder. It is compelling viewing and I really feel for these women who were taken in by this fraudster to the tune of millions of dollars. Scum of the earth he is.
These were beautiful, young intelligent women.
A few years ago I would have thought these women to be very gullible, but now I know different. All you really know about anyone is what they show you and who they tell you they are. And if you fall in love with them you believe what they tell you. I know a few people who have been really lucky in love on the Internet, but I also know just as many, or more, who have not been.
I, personally, do not recommend finding a partner on the world wide web. I would rather spend the rest of my life alone and I probably will, but that's okay. I have my family and I have my cats. They are all I need.
But if you have a chance to watch this, I say watch it. Its fascinating. I am not finished it yet. I probably will today.
I started to try to work on making one of these dolls yesterday. This is the one I made for my friend Kathy back in 2016. I always loved making these dolls. I had to abandon my project yesterday however. It became a battle between myself and the cats who were overly fascinated with my winding of the yard around the little limbs.
I always loved making these dolls. I would fill their pouches/purses with goodies. Kathy's had things in it that pertained to the things we had done together while she and Ron were here on their missions. I always had such fun planning them and putting them together.
Simple things . . .
This was a whole lifetime ago.
I am not sure what I will get up to today. Yesterday I puttered. I watched an episode of Don't Miss This on YouTube. I am almost caught up now. I baked cookies. I played with the cats, talked to my daughter, talked to my father, my sister, went pee a lot (due to my new medication) and just relaxed. I have some stew meat in the refrigerator and I will probably make a small batch stew or some such today. Maybe bake a small pie or cake or something like that. It will be another puttering day. I need to clean the house as well, vacuum, dust, clean the bathroom, etc. And of course interspersed amongst all of that will be more than a bit of cat play, and the sound of little paws padding and galloping through the house. I may not even get dressed, lol.
A thought to carry with you . . .
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
*She carefully watches
everything in her household
and suffers nothing
from laziness.
~Proverbs 31:27•。★★ 。* 。
In The English Kitchen today . . . Ranger Cookies, a small batch. Delicious.
Have a great Saturday, hopefully filled with oodles of nice things, small and simple things, things which bring you personal joy. Whatever you get up to, don't forget!
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