A Daybook . . .

 

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW ...

Its lilac season. A tide of purple blooms with a beautiful heady scent is washing over the land bringing with it delight. I love lilac season.  I found a resource for 20 different ways to use lilacs. You can make sugar and all sorts. What a wonderful way to enjoy lilac season all year long!

I AM THINKING ...

This morning I am thinking about gratitude. I belong to a group on Facebook filled with people that all used to hang out together as teenagers at the rec center on the base near this small town I am living in now.  Predominantly military brats and those from the outlying communities who hung out with us.  There are 784 members.  There is a special section in the group called, Over the Rainbow, which is a memorial for those who have left us.  There are 122 memorials there.  Childhood friends who left us too soon.  This is a section that gets a tiny bit larger with every year that passes.

Oh how blessed we were as youngsters to have formed this special connection that has been going strong now for over 50 years.  And I recognize too, that I am especially blessed to be counted amongst the ones that are still here.

ONE OF MY FAVORITES ...

I looked over at the armchair yesterday and spied this. Nutmeg totally relaxed and sprawled out.  I managed to be able to snap a photograph before he changed his position. What a character this little man is.  He is so big now.  I think he must weigh close to 20 pounds. 

Look at how small they were back then when I first got them. They were both so small they fit into the ceramic bowl I keep on the coffee table, and sometimes they both sat in it together.  They have been the perfect companions for me and for each other.  I am blessed.

 

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I REALLY LOVE ...

I really love forget-me-nots.  They are so pretty and so blue. Dainty little things . . . They have yellow centers, but did you know that the centers turn white when the nectar for that blossom is gone, signaling to the insects who feed on nectar that the flower is empty.  Isn't nature a wonderful thing?

 

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A TASTE OF NOSTALGIA ...

Remembering the days of glass milk bottles and home  milk delivery.  That used to be the sound of the early morning, the clinking of the glass milk bottles. Mom used to buy monthly milk tickets, different colors for different kinds of milk.  She would put her empty bottles out, a signal to the milkman that she needed milk, prepaid tickets inside. They were big one liter/quart sized bottles.

In the UK, as above in the photograph, they came in pint sized bottles, each holding about 2 cups.  There was a metal foil cap on top. Sometimes the tits would peck the caps open to drink the milk.  Tits are a small bird in the UK, very similar to the Chickadees here in North America. They are cheeky little birds.

Milk delivery over there came on small electric vehicles called mill floats.  They glided down the streets in almost silence.  Only a slight whoosh and the clinking of the  milk bottles signaling their presence.

A POINT OF CONCERN ...

Wildfires are still burning out of control near Halifax as well as further south in Shelburne county. I have not heard any news about my daughter and her family or their home. Thankfully there has been no loss of life reported yet from any of the fires.  My hope and prayer is that they are able to get the fires under control soon before there is any more loss of property.  At the end of yesterday whilst the fires were still burning, they had not spread.  And the fires continue to rage in Alberta. 

I remember one year when we were children my father decided to burn our lawn as he had heard that burning your lawn helped your grass to grow back healthy and green.  The wind picked up and it started to spread quicker than he could control it.  This was when we were living in the house just across the street from where I am living now. The fire department had to come and put it out as he lost control of it and it started to race towards the motel which is still there.  Embarrassing for him I am sure.

There is a burn ban in effect provincewide at the moment. Things are very dry. We need rain.

 

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A POINT OF INTEREST ...

I was messaged by a lady on my Family Search, telling me that she was my fifth cousin.  We wrote back and forth for a bit. We share a fifth great grandfather, a man named Timothy Ruggles. She said that he was buried in Middleton, she lives in Utah, but  her sister still lives in Middleton.  I wrote back and said, I live in Middleton, who is your sister, I might know her.  She responded.  It is only my friend Glenna!  Her sister is Glenna who lives across the street from me! She is due back today from visiting her children in Alberta. I will have to greet her upon her return with a "Hello cousin!"  What a small world.

STILL LOOKING FOR ...

I am still looking for a birdbath, but this is an interesting concept. I used to love watching the blackbirds bathing themselves in our birdbath in the UK.  I think the cats and I would enjoy watching them here also. There are a lot of options available, but I want something which isn't going to blow over or away.

I AM READING . . . 

CAROLINE, Little House Revisited by Sarah Miller

In this novel authorized by the Little House Heritage Trust, Sarah Miller vividly recreates the beauty, hardship, and joys of the frontier in a dazzling work of historical fiction, a captivating story that illuminates one courageous, resilient, and loving pioneer woman as never before—Caroline Ingalls, "Ma" in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House books. 

In the frigid days of February, 1870, Caroline Ingalls and her family leave the familiar comforts of the Big Woods of Wisconsin and the warm bosom of her family, for a new life in Kansas Indian Territory. Packing what they can carry in their wagon, Caroline, her husband Charles, and their little girls, Mary and Laura, head west to settle in a beautiful, unpredictable land full of promise and peril. The pioneer life is a hard one, especially for a pregnant woman with no friends or kin to turn to for comfort or help. 

The burden of work must be shouldered alone, sickness tended without the aid of doctors, and babies birthed without the accustomed hands of mothers or sisters. But Caroline’s new world is also full of tender joys. In adapting to this strange new place and transforming a rough log house built by Charles’ hands into a home, Caroline must draw on untapped wells of strength she does not know she possesses.

Yes, still reading this. I highly recommend.  It is fun to explore the story of the Little House family from the perspective of the mother and is very well written. My problem is I only read in bed at night and I usually fall asleep before I get too far.

SOMETHING TO WATCH ...

Being Mary Tyler Moore on Crave.  I enjoy documentaries and this is one to really enjoy, especially if you are a fan of Mary Tyler Moore.  When I was a girl I wanted to be Mary Richards on the Mary Tyler Moore show. She had a cute apartment, a good job, and she wore the nicest clothes. I still enjoy watching the reruns on YouTube. Mary Tyler Moore was a very talented comedic actress.

 

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TRACING THE GOODNESS ...

Every day may not be a good day, but there is something good in every day.  At the end of each day I try to trace the goodness which I have found in that day. There is always something. Yesterday it came in the form of an unexpected phone call from some friends from church. The same ladies who had come and weeded  my garden. They had some lemon balm to plant in my garden if I wanted it.  I said sure. I love the smell of lemon balm. They popped over and planted it, and took a hoe to the buttercups that are popping up again. It was so kind of them. And then while we were out there Sheila popped out and had a little newspaper that she had picked up locally. They are one sheet news. She had picked up extra and thought I might enjoy reading one. 

It is nice to be thought of.

 

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SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE ...

'Twas once upon a time, 

when Jenny Wren was young, 

So daintily she danced and so prettily she sung, 

Robin Redbreast lost his heart, 

for he was a gallant bird. 

So he doffed his hat to Jenny Wren, 

requesting to be heard. 

 "Oh, dearest Jenny Wren, 

if you will but be mine, 

You shall feed on cherry pie 

and drink new currant wine, 

I'll dress you like a goldfinch 

or any peacock gay, 

So, dearest Jen, if you'll be mine, 

let us appoint the day." 

 Jenny blushed behind her fan 

and thus declared her mind: 

"Since, dearest Bob, I love you well, 

I'll take your offer kind. 

Cherry pie is very nice 

and so is currant wine, 

But I must wear my plain brown gown 

and never go too fine."

~Old Mother Goose, When Jenny Wren Was Young

I AM CREATING ...

This Pansy bunting is awfully pretty.  But where would I put it? I do love pansies.

Love these little pillows also. 

 

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SOMETHING TO COOK ...

This short rib sandwich looks mighty good. The hard part is finding the short ribs, and then paying for them. lol  Beef is so expensive at the moment.  Those caramelized onions are calling my name.

 

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A FEW PLANS FOR THE DAY ...

Cindy and I are going to pop out this morning and I want to get some bedding plants for in my window boxes. Also need to get some  more ant traps.  I was vacuuming them up in the bathroom last night. I hate ants in the house.

A THOUGHT TO CARRY WITH YOU ...

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

 *.˛.°The whole of life

lies in the verb seeing.

~Pierre Teilhard De Chardin

•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。

IN THE KITCHEN ...

How to Make a Dinner Salad. Plus homemade croutons and a really delicious honey mustard vinaigrette. 

And those are my thoughts for today.  I hope you have a beautiful day filled with abundance and blessings.  As you trace through your day don't forget!

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And I do too!