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

Saturday night supper with Dad.  Dad called me about 3:30 in the afternoon on Saturday to tell me I was invited out for supper with him and Cindy and Dan. I was pleased to be invited. We all met at Angies (a family restaurant just around the corner from me) and had a lovely supper together. The best part was being together as a family.  We ate some good food. We laughed. We just enjoyed each other's company. Family times are the best of times.

Sunday dinner with Cindy and the family. Yesterday she cooked a roast chicken. It was lovely. She made stuffing as well, and a blueberry pie for dessert, or bear pie as my father calls it. Again the best part was being together as a family.

Sometimes it feels weird being in my mother's house and her not being there anymore.  I spent a lot of time in the house with mom through the years, many, many memories. I know that Cindy has to make it her own and I totally applaud that. That is as it should be. There are still the odd things that remind me of mom, though, like her rocker by the window. And it makes my heart ache sometimes to see it empty. I hope that she is content where she is.  I look forward to seeing her again one day. (Not too soon though!)  I think she would be happy that Cindy and I live so close to each other now and that we are the best of friends. Mom and her sisters were always the best of friends. They are all together now.

 

(source)

This little neighborhood I live in where everybody watches out for everyone else. I know that should anything happen, it will be noticed, and someone will be on the case. Just like in the old days.  We watch out for each other.  Every morning when I get up, I check to see if the old guy's lights are on across the way. I'm not sure what I would do if they were not. Probably just keep watching to see if there were eventually signs of life.  If not, then I would probably call my neighbor Sheila.  She is the one brave enough to go and knock-on doors to make sure all is as it should be.  She is in touch with everyone. Me, I am not. They would probably think it was weird if I knocked on their door to see how they are. And I know, I shouldn't care what other people think.

I have my own neighborhood watchers.  Nothing misses their view.  They are ever watchful.  They watch the leaves blowing around, the birds, the chipmunk (gone to sleep now I think), every car that passes, every delivery that arrives.  Whenever there is a knock on the door or the doorbell rings they come to investigate and Nutmeg promptly goes to hide beneath the sofa or the bed. (He is such a chicken.) Cinnamon is the brave one.  When I leave to go out, they are on the windowsill watching me go, and when I return, they are on the windowsill waiting for me.  As soon as I open the door from my garage into the house, they are waiting there on the carpet wanting a scratch behind the ears and a hello, we're glad you came home.

I decided to try out the self-cleaning feature on my oven on Friday. I should have done it earlier in the day, but stupid me I decided to do it at about 3:30 in the afternoon. I just pushed the button.  After a half an hour or so I thought so myself, I better check online how long this is going to take. So, I looked up the stove online. (No manuals came with the house.) It said it would take three hours, but it also said to take the oven racks out first.  

DUH

I didn't. So, I think I may have ruined the oven racks, but I am not sure if maybe they weren't already ruined. I hadn't ever noticed. It also said to only use in a well-ventilated area.  My place is not well-ventilated. There is a fan over the top of the stove, but it just feeds back into the house. After about an hour the fumes were really bad. (And my stove wasn't even really dirty, I just wanted to try it out.)  I had the front door wide open and the front window.  The cats were hiding under my bed. SO, I opened the bedroom window and then shut them in and put a towel in front of the door so they would be safe. I was also worried they would jump on top of the stove to investigate and burn their little paws. The front top of the stove was hot.

I had a headache and felt congested. I just sat by the window and waiting.  Freezing a tiny bit because it's a lot colder these days.

Finally, after about 2 1/2 hours I thought what if I just press the clear button on the stove, so that's what I did, and it stopped the program. Whew! I waited another half hour or so and when the stove door finally unlocked, I closed all the windows and door and let the cats out.  There was only a tiny bit of ash in the bottom of the stove, but the racks are definitely dull and no longer shiny.

I won't be doing that again!  I am grateful for the lessons learned doing it this time however!

 

I've been silently putting this into practice.  It's been pretty wonderful in many ways. I just keep going over the many names that have been used to talk about the Savior in my mind whenever I have a few minutes to spare.  Yesterday I was going over them in my mind while the Sacrament was being passed.  I think of a name, and then think of how it has made a difference in my life, or how it could make a difference in my life.  

Jesus 

Name above all names 

Beautiful Savior 

Glorious Lord 

Emmanuel 

God is with us 

Blessed Redeemer 

Living word 

Jesus Lord God Almighty 

Wonderful counselor 

The prince of peace 

Above glory 

Man of sorrow 

Man of God

Just a few . . . 

I like this  . . . 

My tires are all fixed and ready for winter. Today I am taking the car and having it winterized. I think that involves checking all the fluid levels, etc. I am grateful that I have enough money in my savings to be able to do things like this. The better I take care of my car, the longer I will have it.

Facetimes with Doug and his boys. I love them. It will soon be Jake's birthday. He is turning 12.  They are all growing up quickly, my grandchildren.  I am very grateful to have a relationship with both Doug's and Anthony's boys. Grateful also that they take the time to know their Great Grandfather.

Of course, I love all of my grandchildren and pray for each one of them daily by name. Perhaps one day I will be blessed enough to have a relationship with all of them. Our God is a God of miracles.

Life is good. I cannot complain about anything. My days pass by and are filled to overflowing with countless blessings. I am so grateful I am a person who sees that.

A thought to carry with you . . .

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

 *The phrase "Do Not Be Afraid"

is written in the bible 365 times.

That's a daily reminder from God

to live every day being fearless.

•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。

In The English Kitchen today . . .  French Sandwich Pain au Lait.  This was a really lovely loaf of bread. Done in the bread maker.  Very nice.

I hope that your week ahead is filled to overflowing with small and wonderful things. May your cups truly runneth over!  Don't forget! 

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And I do too!