A Day Book . . .

 

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW ...

We have been getting rain and lots of it.  That is a good thing. Most of the people in the Halifax area that had a home to go back to have been able to return to their homes. There are some who had no homes or businesses to return to.  People have been donating to help with the relief. There are still fires burning and we still need to be vigilant.  Our Government is saying that Canada needs to be gearing up for higher than normal fire activity across the country this summer, right through 'til August. 

Sigh  . . . 

I AM THINKING ...

Yesterday I filled a whole compost bag with partially eaten packets of crisps (potato chips.) I need to stop buying the big bags.  They will have the on offer at the shops, two for a certain price. Then I will eat a few and the rest stay in the bag.  I have vowed from now on only to buy small bags and only when I am really craving them. I shouldn't be eating the darned things anyways! Potato chips are one of my many weaknesses.

ALSO THINKING ...

I picked up this free book on Kindle yesterday. The Practice on the Presence of God: a 40 Day Devotional. The first day was about Becoming Wholly God's.  Imagining a world where there is just you and God in it.  What would change in your life and become your mindset if you were able to do just that?  A mindset where the love of everything that wasn't pertaining to God faced away into nothingness.  I found myself wondering if that is how it was for Adam in the garden of Eden.  Where he had nothing to do all day but revel in God's creation and walk around talking to God, with no care or thought as to anything else.  I wonder if that is possible  . . . 

MOST NIGHTS ...

Most nights I am well ensconced on my sofa embroidering or crocheting.  This sweet companion is never far from my side. He likes to be close to me.

Meanwhile ... 

My sweet girl is  usually on her perch.  Normally she is flat out and splayed, but when I got up to take her photo last night, she up-righted herself and this was the photo I got. She is alert to my every movement.  I will think she is fast asleep and as soon as I move, she is on the move.  She trots around with me like a little puppy. Its cute.

I love my two companions very much. 

SOMETIMES I GET MAIL ...

I got this lovely postcard from Tatiana!  It features the art of artist Inge Look.  I love this artist's work. There is just so much detail in everything.  And I love Tatiana.  She is so thoughtful.  I need to go to the drugstore in town and pick up some postcards so I can return the pleasure.

SPEAKING OF ARTISTS ...

Another scandi-artist I really like is Carl Larrson.  I have a coffee table  book of his art that I treated myself to last year.  I love looking at the photographs of his artwork.  There is a part of me that would love to have a house that looked just like that.

REMEMBERING ...

She is 13 years old today. Miss her every single day.  She was everything to me.

I AM NOT VERY GOOD AT ...

Writing letters, e-mails, keeping in touch. My days get away from me and all of my well intentioned plans go astray.  That doesn't  mean that I don't think of the people I love and think of them often.  I do.  My friend Tracy in Norway.  I think about her all the time and wonder how she is doing. I am just not very good at writing long lengthy e-mails. I am more of a shorter message kind of girl. But I feel like I need to write a lengthy e-mail and it gets put off for when I have time and then it doesn't get done. And then suddenly too much time has passed.  I feel bad about that. I wish I was better at it. Tracy used to blog at Pink Purl and then at Prana Light. She was also on Instagram, but she is not on any of those things any more.  She posts patterns on Ravelry. She is an expert knitting designer.  Such a creative soul and such a sweet lady.  I miss her.

When all that stuff happened with Todd, I stopped communicating with a few people. I just could not bring myself to.  People like Tracy and my friends Lura and Sybil. I used to communicate with them almost daily. But my heart was so broken that I don't know  . . . I just couldn't.  And then, too much time had passed. I feel bad about that.

I LOVE ...

Chocolate.  I used to always keep a stash of it in my house.  A just for me kind of a thing. My ex husband used to go to the local Needs store every night and buy himself 2 or 4 sweets.  Usually a packet of Wine Gums, a Bit Turk, and an Eat More. Sometimes a McIntosh's toffee bar as well.  He used to give me the black wine gums because he didn't like them.  They were my favorites.  Black Currant. I love Black Currant anything.

(source)

YESTERDAY ...

I went out with Cindy in the morning and picked up a few bits and then came home and made a pot of chowder to take over to Glenna and her son. What a good son she has. He was there all day Sunday puttering and fixing things up for her and he was there all day again yesterday.  Making sure she is okay. Such a nice man also.  I took the chowder over along with some sweet Lemon Biscotti I had picked up at the Costco shop the last time we were there. Who doesn't enjoy a little bit of sweet.

Most of the day I was battling the ants however. I think I am winning the battle. Don't want to speak too soon and jinx myself.  The cats had a rather large one with wings last night. I caught that sucker and flushed it down the toilet.

STILL LOOKING FOR ...

A birdbath . . .  I will see one on Amazon that I like and then I read the reviews. So much stuff comes from China and they are experts at making things look good, but that end up being crapola.  The idea of turned upside down clay flower pots really appeals to me. 

SOMETHING TO READ ...

The Moon in the Palace, by Weina Dai Randel

"A thrilling work of historical fiction, bringing romance, intrigue, and the unexpected rise of an Empress to intoxicating life under the inscrutable moon. In Tang Dynasty China, a concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the Emperor's attention. Many hope to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. Young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the Emperor a gift he can never forget. Mei's intelligence and curiosity, the same traits that make her an outcast among the other concubines, impress the Emperor. But just as she is in a position to seduce the most powerful man in China, divided loyalties split the palace in two, culminating in a perilous battle that Mei can only hope to survive. In the breakthrough first volume in the Empress of Bright Moon duology, Weina Dai Randel paints a vibrant portrait of the Emperor's Palace—where love, ambition, and loyalty can spell life or death—and the woman who came to rule all of ancient China."

I have always been fascinated by Oriental Culture.

SOMETHING TO WATCH ...

Happy Valley on Acorn. I watched the first series when I was living in the UK. I just finished the second series on Acorn and am about to begin the third and final series.  I love LOVE British Crime Dramas.  I actually love British television full stop. They do it all so well.

 

(source)

TRACING THE GOODNESS ...

Not every day is a good day, but there is something good in every day.  Each day, at the end of the day I try to find at least five things to be thankful for in the day just spent. I never have a hard time.  In fact most days I could go on for quite a while tracing the goodness in my days.

I was talking to my friend Jacquie yesterday and she was saying how lonely she is. I am sorry that she feels lonely. I am so grateful that I don't ever really get that way.

I am very lucky to have a sister, father and daughter close by, but also I am very lucky to have a life that is very busy.  I am grateful for my little job that keeps me in pinafores and a roof over my head and that also keeps me active and busy and thinking.  I am grateful for my two furry companions that keep me daily company. I am also grateful that I am a person who enjoys her own company. 

I don't really get bored and I don't really feel lonely.  I do sometimes feel sad, but that is more because of the things which have happened, etc. Thankfully those times are becoming a bit fewer and farther between.

This blog has been a saving grace for me.  Even if not a lot of people read these days, it has given me years and years of therapy.  It feels good to put down your feelings and thoughts each day.  Its been good for me anyways, plus I have met some very good people through this medium, people who have enriched my life in unimaginable ways. I am blessed.

SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE ...

Faster than fairies, faster than witches, 

Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches; 

And charging along like troops in a battle, 

All through the meadows the horses and cattle: 

All of the sights of the hill and the plain 

Fly as thick as driving rain; 

And ever again, in the wink of an eye, 

Painted stations whistle by. 

 

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles, 

All by himself and gathering brambles; 

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes; 

And there is the green for stringing the daisies! 

Here is a cart run away in the road 

Lumping along with man and load; 

And here is a mill and there is a river; 

Each a glimpse and gone for ever!

~Robert Louis Stevenson (About a train journey)

 

(source)

A FEW PLANS FOR THE DAY ...

A bit of work, a bit of play, a lot of joy along the way  . . . 

COOKING IN THE KITCHEN ...

Creamy Ham and Corn Chowder.  Quite simply delicious.

A THOUGHT TO CARRY WITH YOU ...

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

 *.˛.°"Why not?" is a slogan

for an interesting life.

~Mason Cooley•。★★ 。* 。

•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。

And that's my daybook for this week.  I hope you, yourself, have a beautiful day filled with loads of the things that bring you love and joy.  Whatever you get up to, don't forget! 

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And I do too!