All Things Nice . . .

 

She doesn't know that life can be

So very grim and hard,

That years can drag with weary feet

Dull as a prison yard.

That dreams can lose their shining shape

And all their brightness fade

And love -- ah love can perish too

In crumbling ruins laid.

She doesn't know -- at seventeen

How swift the years will fly

Life stretches wide before her feet

Fair as the summer sky.

A thousand beckoning hills to climb

A thousand ways to roam

And all the roads of all the world

Leading away from home.

She doesn't know the happiness

The love and joy she seeks

Is deep within her tender heart

That peace and honor speaks

Above the darkest blackest night

In accents loud and clear

And one sweet voice is loud enough

For all the world to hear.

She doesn't know -- at seventeen

How values change and grow,

That Age has peace and happiness

That Youth can never know.

She doesn't know the hills of home

Are fair and fresh and green

She only sees the far-off fields

And heights -- at seventeen.

~Edna Jaques, At Seventeen

Roses in December, 1944

I saw this poem this morning and it spoke to my heart.  When I think back to when I was seventeen, when all of my life lay in front of me, what did I really know about anything. I was as shiny as a new copper penny that life had not yet seen to tarnish, and yet I thought I knew all that there was to know about life. I had not really tasted yet of true hardship or disappointment. The battles I had faced to that point seem quite trivial in comparison the battles I would face in the years to come. And yet they had served to shape me into the person I was becoming and would become.

I have often thought about what I would or could tell that seventeen year old girl that might help her in the ensuing years. But really, I would not give any of it up, not for anything. I like who I am, and who I have become and all of it has been because of the tumbles and tumult I have experienced in the life which would ensue. I would not change a portion of it.

We all have lessons to learn, and some of them at the school of Hard Knocks.  All of them valuable and which cannot be learnt in any other way. Grateful am I for the learning.

 

"I asked an elderly woman once what it was like to be old and to know that the majority of her life was now behind her. She told me that she has been the same age her entire life. She said the voice inside of her head had never aged. She has always just been the same girl. Her mother's daughter. She had always wondered when she would grow up and be an old woman. She said she watched her body age and her faculties dull but the person she is inside never got tired. She never aged. She never changed.

Remember, our spirits are eternal. Our souls are forever. The next time you encounter an elderly person, look at them and know they are still a child, just as you are still a child and children will always need love, attention and purpose." ~ Author Unknown

A friend of mine posted this on facebook. It resonated. I don't really feel much different inside than I did when I was much younger.  Its that first look in the mirror in the morning that is the shocker, lol. I suppose the essence of who we are never ages, not really.

 

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Here we are at the first of April. It has snowed a bit this morning, but it won't be long now before we will be complaining how hot and humid it is. The bird song has gotten that little bit prettier. I expect many will now be preparing to build nests and whatnot in preparation for the eggs they will lay.  I don't really see any leaf unfurling on any trees yet.  But the buds are there, ripening.

Don't the birds all sound lovely in the spring time?  I love to hear their song.  I think the prettiest of all are the robin and the blackbird. I could listen to birds singing forever.  It is such a sweet melody. 

I always say I cannot sing.  But I do love to sing and I love to listen to music.  We do not all have to sound like Adele.  Comparison truly is the thief of joy. If we all think that we have to be the best at all the things which we do, we will never be happy.  We can sing and still enjoy it even if our voices are mediocre at best. There is much joy to be found in the doing, even if we are not always the best at what we do.  

I have been looking at this stash of fabrics and wondering what I might do with them. They are such cheerful colors. I love the reds and the blues. Some people can look at things like this and immediately picture in their minds something they would like to make with them. I am not that talented when it comes to my eye for such things. My sister and I were in the fabric store the other day looking at fabrics and I was trying to find two contrasting pieces of fabric. Do you think I could find anything?  My sister can look at fabrics and immediately figure out what goes with what and in what way.  That is one of her talents. She has a wonderful eye for such things. 

I am far too impatient, or maybe I am lazy. I don't seem to be able to just quiet my mind enough to see things in that way. I just see color and I think to myself, I like that. Its beautiful. But I can't calm my mind enough to see the ways that they go together or a pattern or order in the cacophony of color and pattern.

And then again, I don't seem to have the time to be able to take on projects like I would like to.  I am always telling myself that I need to make time, but I seem to be slowing down.  I can't pack near as much into my days as I would like to. 

 

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It seems also that my brain is always going a mile a minute, and I have trouble calming it into some semblance of order and quiet.  That is why it takes me so long to read a book these days.  I start to read and get into it, but I don't get very far before I have to go back and read what I just read over again, because somehow it hasn't sunk into my brain, and yet when I was younger it was not at all unusual for me to read several books a week.  I would read for hours after I got into bed at night. In fact that is when I did most of my book reading.

Over the past few years I had taken to watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy every night in bed, but a I would fall asleep part way through and miss most of the plot. I had gone through the whole series, but am now watching it all over again, much earlier in the evening on my television rather than my iPad and I am amazed at how much I really missed in the shows the first time around.

I think I waste my time by watching any kind of program in bed.  

 

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I have an app called "Calm" on my iPad.  I have had it there for a few years. It tells you a bedtime story, or plays music, or sounds. Some are for meditation and some are engineered to relax you and help you to fall asleep. It actually does work.  I used to meditate each morning using it.  I have gotten out of that habit, but I do listen to a bedtime story every night when I go to bed. I only ever really hear the first few lines of the story, and then I will wake up a while later and take out my ear buds and easily fall back asleep.  I have no idea what the story I have just listened to said.  

One of my favorites it one narrated by Matthew McConaughey called Wonder.  His voice is so calming. I have no idea what the story is about. No idea at all. He is that good at putting me to sleep, lol.

 

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I had a lovely lunch out with my friend Jacquie yesterday. Glenna joined us for dessert.  We went to this place called the Green Elephant Café. I thought it was a bit expensive. It specializes in health food and that kind of thing. There is no deep fryer. Its a very eclectic spot, but the food is quite good.  We both had the daily special.  It was a Pork Smash Burger, with sauerkraut, mushrooms, onions, tomato and garlic mayonnaise. It was actually very good.  It came with a soup cup of French Onion Soup, which was quite forgettable in all honesty, but the burger made up for it. It was $16.95 though which I felt was a bit steep.  Jacquie and Glenna both had the sugar free apple cheesecake for dessert.  I had a sugar free chocolate nut bar, which was okay.  All of their desserts are very expensive.

They do Korean food on Friday and Saturday nights though. I would be keen to try that sometime, but apparently its quite, quite busy.  I have had friends do a takeaway from there of the Korean food and they said it was very good.

 

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The Spring General session of my church's bi-annual conference starts today. I am really looking forward to it and to hearing all the talks. You can watch it on YouTube or on the church webpage, BYU tv, etc.  I always watch it on YouTube. We used to have to go to the Stake Center to watch it. I much prefer watching it in the comfort of my own home.  The prayers, the music, the talks. I enjoy all of it.  It is nice to feel a part of something large.

Many families have traditions that they follow for conference, such as having Cinnamon Rolls or going for ice cream in between sessions. It is a very family oriented church.

One of my biggest sorrows is that I have never really been able to share the church with my children. Not in any meaningful way.  I am entirely on my own there.  

My two older sons now fully accept me being a member however,  and do not believe I am going to hell for belonging, even if they are not interested in knowing any more about it themselves. For that I am grateful.

In any case I am looking forward to Conference and the talks and the opportunities and invitations we will be given to grow closer to the Savior and becoming more like Him.

My Conference tradition is merely soaking it all in and enjoying the hymns and words spoken.

 

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We have had more snow this morning. Nothing much, but snow nonetheless and it has laid on the grass, although thankfully not the roads. This is a very transitional time of the year. I will soon have to make an appointment to have my summer tires put on.  I also need to go and get my blue badge sorted. But I need to have my taxes done first and foremost so I need to be gathering everything together to do that.  I don't suppose anyone really likes paying taxes. I am no different. It is a necessary evil.  But without them we would not have many of the things in life we take for granted such as roads, schools, healthcare, etc.  I like the way it is done in the UK better. Its just taken off your wages according to how much you earn,  and you don't have to fill out tax forms unless you are self employed. It probably gets more complicated then.  

I am running behind again this morning. Somehow my time has disappeared since I first sat down here at six am. Three hours have passed.  See what I mean?  My days always get away from me.  I need to be off here and on about my day!

A thought to carry with you  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

•。★★ 。* 。

° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚

  ˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛

 ˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

*Life is a gift.

Never forget to enjoy and 

bask in every moment

you are in.•。★★ 。* 。

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Monster Cookies. The recipe makes two huge cookies. Very nice.  Oaty, not too sweet and stuffed with plenty of chocolate chips and raisins.

Have a wonderful weekend!  I will be back on Monday.  Enjoy yourselves, stay safe, be happy and blessed and don't forget!

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And I do too!