A Daybook . . .

 

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW ...

Its garbage day once more, and woah!  Its not raining! That makes a change. Not that I will complain.  We had quite a bit of rain last week, and this week we are supposed to get more rain, starting tomorrow. Rain helps to keep things lush and green. When I was a child I didn't like it when it was a rainy day. That meant it was going to be a boring day. We couldn't go outside to play. We were not spoiled for television channels like they are today, and in my house we had very limited toys to play with. Mom also was not a person who liked us to have friends in to play.  The hours would stretch out endlessly. I did a lot of reading, drawing and coloring on those days . . . 

 

Holly Hobby

I AM THINKING ...

I think I must have been about 8 years old when someone gave me a used pair of roller skates. They were the kind that you put on over your shoes and tightened with a key.  I had never seen or had anything like it in my life.  Oh how wonderful they were.  I think I spent hours gliding over the bumpy sidewalk outside our house, and in our garage which had a cement floor. When we were children we used to get a lot of pleasure from simple things.  My father made us a pair of wooden stilts once.  We spent many hours trying to walk on them around our back yard. Riding my bicycle was another thing I liked to do.  Back then all the children in the neighborhood would get together and play games like Red Light Green Light, or British Bulldog, soft ball, etc.  The games would change with the seasons of course.  One of the pleasures of growing up in a temperate climate.

I AM ALSO THINKING ...

Glenna is home now. Her car is there and her daughter is with her.  I know that they don't want visitors. I am wanting to do something to show that I care, but am a bit unsure.  It is hard to know what is right. I have her daughter on my facebook.  I thought maybe she might need to go out and do a few errands and maybe I could offer to go and sit with Glenna so that she could do that?  I should message her and ask, or would that be seen as an intrusion?

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A FAVORITE COLOR ...

I love blue and white in combination. I also love red and white.  Then you think that these are only two colors and then of all the combinations and patterns that can be created with just those two colors the mind boggles.  And they start as a picture in someone's mind.  Then that someone takes that thought/picture and turns it into a reality. How wonderfully creative we human beings are.

I once had a whole set of dishes for 12 people in the Blue Willow pattern. They were my pride and joy. I had saved up grocery coupons to buy them, one place setting at a time. It took me a very long time. I never ever had china or anything like that.

I ALWAYS WANTED ...

I always wanted a Bride Doll when I was a child.  Looking back on it, I don't know why. That was a doll that was very limited in her function.  She was a Bride. That's it. I think I was fascinated with the dress.  

I have always loved dolls.  There used to be a doll museum on Prince Edward Island. I remember visiting it once.  There was a lovely collection of dolls in the Victoria and Albert Museum as well. That was my favorite museum of all time.  There was so much to see in it. You could easily spend days going through it all.

I  LOVE ...

Decorating bedrooms.  I love bedding and linens. There is no end to what you can do with them. I recently bought a new bedspread. I thought it was going to be cotton, but it is that new stuff they are using called microfiber. I do not like microfiber. You will note when you go to buy bedding it if is made with microfiber it is a lot cheaper than other things, but when you get it, it is shoddy and cheap looking and it just doesn't feel nice. I don't like it at all. I have gone back to my old bed spread. I will donate the microfiber one to the local charity shop. 

I do love bed linens. I like flowery sheets and pillow cases, lace, very feminine things. The bedrooms in the Manor where I worked, were a work of art.  Every bed was decorated beautifully with the finest linens and bed covers. Perfectly matched with pillows etc. Each room was a work of art.

 

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ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS ...

One of the  most beautiful things I have ever seen was this street in Freiburg in Germany that was absolutely festooned with Wisteria.  It was up the sides of the buildings and hanging across the streets.  I did not know what Wisteria was at the time. I only saw this thing that was beautiful to look at.  Then when we moved to Oak Cottage there was Wisteria at the back of the cottage. That was a beautiful cottage. How blessed was I to be able to live there when I did.

 

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LOOKING FORWARD TO ...

Strawberry Season. It won't be long now. We always used to pick our own when I was growing up and as an adult when I had my own family. It was pretty hard to resist nibbling on a few out in the fields. When we were teenagers the local strawberry farms used to hire teens to pick berries. Lots of us did that, but we never lasted long. It was very hard work.  Hot. Hot. Hot. Bending and crouching all day. The pay was a pittance. I have a great deal of respect for anyone who can do farm labor like that.  It is back breaking work. Of course now I am unable to crouch in a field to pick berries for any length of time, so I buy them ready picked. With just me in the house and no need now to make a great deal of jams and such I don't need many.  But I do so love strawberry season when the local berries are so fresh and sweet.

 

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FRUSTRATED BY ...

I recently switched my internet from the old modem style to Satellite High Speed. I got an e-mail the other day to say I had not paid my bill. I never received a bill to pay?  Anyways, I have been trying ever since to pay it. I keep getting the run around.  I can't log into  the mybell account. It won't let me. I spent an hour on the phone with a woman on Friday and she went to connect me to what she said was a department where I could pay it, only to get cut off, etc.  I have e-mailed and got a response saying their e-mails were not working, and then got a response yesterday saying I had e-mailed the wrong people that I needed to log into  my  "mybell" account.  GRRRRR... that's the whole problem. I CANNOT log into it. It won't let me.  Why does everything have to be so complicated?  I can feel my blood pressure going up just thinking about it.

 

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DON'T YOU WISH ...

Don't you wish you could be that comfortable and relaxed? I do.  Cats sleep a lot of the time I am discovering. Mine do anyways.  And they are super curious about everything. Nothing new comes into the house that is not inspected thoroughly. That's why you have to be very careful about what you bring in and where you put it.

 

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 ...

Grace on BritBox.  It is a Crime Drama. You can probably tell by now that I really enjoy Crime Dramas. This one takes place in Brighton. There are three series of it and it is very well done. I have been to Brighton many times and its fun also to see places that I have been.

 

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TRACING THE GOODNESS ...

I think I have come to a place in life where I am able to appreciate the fact that I have enough. I have found peace and contentment in having "enough."  I no longer feel the desire to have or to want more.  I am content. To be content is a gift in and of itself. If you can call yourself content, then you are a very blessed individual.

 

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SOMETHING TO MAKE YOU SMILE ...

"Mary had a little lamb," 

BY SARAH JOSEPHA HALE 

Mary had a little lamb, 

Its fleece was white as snow; 

And everywhere that Mary went 

The lamb was sure to go.

 

 It followed her to school one day, 

Which was against the rule; 

It made the children laugh and play 

To see a lamb at school. 

 And so the teacher turned it out, 

But still it lingered near, 

And waited patiently about 

Till Mary did appear. 

 Why does the lamb love Mary so? 

The eager children cry; 

Why, Mary loves the lamb, you know, 

The teacher did reply.

 

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A FEW PLANS FOR THE DAY ...

My foot care lady is coming this afternoon. She was supposed to come this morning, but one of her clients got mixed up and thought she was coming to them this morning so she called last night and asked could she please change my appointment to this afternoon.  I am pretty easy to get along with so that was not really a problem, but it does mean that I need to switch my day around and do the things I was planning on doing this afternoon, this morning.  I do need to some work, so that will now be done this morning.  I was going to tackle the Bell thing again, but I don't think I have the mental strength to do that today.

 

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I WISH ...

I wish I had more hours in the day so that I could get all the things done that I would like to get done. It seems to take me forever to do anything these days.  I don't know how I ever managed to work fulltime at an outside job and still get all the things done that I did. Or how I managed to bring up five children the way that I did and still keep a house and at one time also work full time. 

I WANT TO TRY ...

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and I am wanting to try it. I love pasta and this looks fabulous. Royal Eats, White Wine Garlic Butter Bucatini. 

IN THE KITCHEN TODAY ...

Yesterday I baked a mini quiche that is perfectly sized for two people.  It was something that I had wanted to make for a while now and I only just got around to making. I was very pleased with the end results.  I used ham, cheese and spring onion in mine.  It was rich and delicious. I took half of it next door to my neighbor Sheila.  She was most appreciative. I hope I made it clear to her that I did not want anything in return for it. 

A THOUGHT TO CARRY WITH YOU ...

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

 *.˛.°Art washes away from the soul

the dust of every day life.

~Pablo Picasso•。★★ 。* 。

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!