All Things Nice . . .

 

She has no glamour I am told,

She's getting sort of frayed and old,

She's reached the thick and stocky stage,

And settling down to middle age,

She buys wide shoes with cautious heels,

And talks about the way she feels.

She pulls her hair out at the side,

And lets the ends blow high and wide,

And doesn't seem to care at all,

However wild the tendrils fall,

And yet it frames a face so good,

It glorifies all womanhood.

I care not how her dress may fit

The length or cut or shade of it,

The tone or color of her hair --

To me her face is wondrous fair,

The kind I would like to see

If death or trouble comes to me.

She's come a hard and bitter road,

Carried the bulk of every load,

Yet managed somehow through the strife,

To keep a kindly view of life,

A sweet serenity of mind,

A love of her own human kind.

She has no glamour I am told,

And yet her heart is purest gold,

Her face a page where pleasant lines,

And written there like finger signs,

A woman true of loving worth,

Blessing the trouble ways of earth.

~Edna Jacques, The Older Woman

Roses in December, 1944

 

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I managed to get all of my work done earlier yesterday, despite having had to go and clean the chapel in the morning.  I was able to sit down and read for a time yesterday afternoon, which I really enjoyed. It has been a long time since I afforded myself that simple luxury.  It was so nice. No television on. No music playing, just me and my book and the world within its pages.

I do read in bed each night, but not for long. I start falling asleep and end up reading the same page over and over again. Reading during the day time is not something I have entertained for a very long time. it was really nice.

 

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I am having the family over for supper tonight. We are going to celebrate Cindy's birthday with a nice meal together. It won't be anything too fancy.  I am past the stage where I want to do fancy and complicated. Simple suits me to a "T" now.  

I had enough of fancy to last me a lifetime when I worked at the Manor.  Oh, that was a different world and I really did enjoy the planning and executing of the Dinner Parties and  Luncheons.  But I had the space to do it in and the energy.  Energy is something which seems to quickly wane for me these days. I get little burst of it but that is all.  I cannot imagine planning a dinner for twenty five people anymore, let along six courses and doing all the shopping, prep and serving. I am amazed that I managed to do it back then! haha  But I did enjoy it.

Getting to cook with the finest ingredients, in a beautiful environment with the finest equipment. It was a grand experience for sure.

There will be nothing grand here today, except for the presence of family.  That is the best thing of all. Family. It is everything.

 

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Cindy and I had a great time together on Thursday, despite Jonny's kitchen not being open at the end. That only gives us another excuse to get together for a lunch next week.  We do enjoy spending time together and it was nice to be able to do it on her Birthday.  We talk a lot in the car, which is nice.  When we got to Kentville, they had the main road closed and sort of a detour but it was not very well signed at all.  We got there and we were unsure as what to do.  We had to think for a few minutes. There was no signage and we finally did what was the only thing to do and turned right. It was that or go into a parking lot. 

I am surprised we did not have horns beeping behind us with impatience. We really did not know what we were doing.  We just kept  going, twisting and turning down a maze of streets. Only very occasionally did we see a sign that said we were going in the right direction. Very poorly done I would have to say.  We got there in the end and were back on the main road, but what a trip to get there. It was much easier on the way back.  They seemed to have more signs, or maybe it was just that we were not as taken by surprise.

This was a rare capture. Cinnamon giving Nutmeg an aggressive bath. Usually it is the other way around. I am glad now that I got the both of them. They are great company for each other, and yes for me as well.  Nutmeg is much more cuddly. Cinnamon is not a cuddler, although when she was really small she was. She used to like to crawl onto me and lay on her back so I could give her tummy snuggles and scratches. It has been a long time since she has done that.  Nutmeg, he is too big by far for that these days, although he does try sometimes. Mostly he just lays, nestled into the side of me, and purrs me sweet love songs.  He is much more dependent than she is by far.

 

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We are having a typical July at the moment. Hot and humid.  The temperatures have been quite high with the humidex making it seem warmer and sticky.  There is a heat warning in effect until tonight. We are indeed a country of great extremes when it comes to weather.

This is good for the berries.  They will really ripen in the heat.  I saw a friend of mine posted on FB the other morning of a strawberry picking day she had had with her children and husband. This is a girl who documents every aspect of their lives in great detail, with loads of photos. I had never had the chance to do  strawberry picking in the UK. 

In fact it has been many years since I have been berry picking like that of any kind. It is just to hard on my back and knees for me to crouch down low to the ground like that for very long.  I was very surprised however . . . 

The berries at this particular U-Pick were all high off the ground.  There was no crouching needed in picking them.  Rows and rows of beautiful looking berries in above ground troughs, about waist high.  How much easier these would be to pick. I could pick these.  And they are not laying in the dirt being attacked by slugs, etc. A bit of rain would not leave them squelching in muddy ground, rotting them.  This seems to be a much better way of doing it and I am wondering why it has not caught on here.

I did pick up a punnet of berries at the grocery store yesterday to serve with the Victoria Sponge I am baking for Cindy's cake. She wants a Victoria Sponge.  It is my cake of choice also.  We are lovers of simple cakes it seems . . .  jam filled, sugar crusted, plain.  I had thought she wanted coconut cream, but no, just a Victoria Sponge.  

I can execute that with my eyes closed.  I am also going to marinate some chicken and grill it and we will have that with an assortment of salads on the side. It is going to be too hot a day for a cooked dinner.

 

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There really wasn't much to do at the chapel yesterday. There is a wedding being held there today and it was already done up for that. Oh but it looked so beautiful.  Whoever had done the decorations had done a wonderful job. All of the hanging lights in the chapel were festooned with what looked like Wisteria blooms, so beautiful, and there were butterflies all over the place, etc.  It will be a beautiful wedding.  

This young woman who is being married is a girl I had in Primary when I first joined the church. Her mother and I had been Visit Teaching partners as well as having served on the Relief Society Presidency together for a time.  Her mother passed away last year from ALS.  Very sad. She was such a beautiful woman full of life, not very old, in her 40's with so much to live for. ALS is a despicable disease. 

When I saw how beautifully the chapel was decorated yesterday and thought about how Myrna would not be there to watch her only daughter get married, I could not help but shed a few tears. It broke my heart.  Life just is not fair it seems. Not fair at all. 

 

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All the rain we have had has made the grass really grow. I had thought that they would be around to cut it yesterday, but they were not. I expect they will be here early next week.  It is looking very unruly and overgrown.  But nice and lovely and green.

I am reminded of the old fashioned push mower that we had when the children were growing up. My husband had pulled it out of the metal refuse bin at the end of our road. He took it to have the blades sharpened and it served us well for quite a few years. 

At first it was a novelty. I can remember my oldest son begging to be able to mow the lawn with it.  He was only about 9 years old.  The novelty soon wore off. That is hard work, using a push mower. There is no engine to propel it, but it gives off a pleasant sound.

He never begged to be allowed to mow the lawn again.

 

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This has been a week of anniversaries. Today is the 24th anniversary of my Baptism into the Church.  A decision I have never regretted.  Earlier this week was our Doug and Kayla's 18th wedding anniversary and on Thursday it was Eileen and Tim's 11th wedding anniversary. Cindy's birthday on the 6th as well and tomorrow would have been mom's 91st birthday.

There are also other family birthdays as well, my niece Allison, and great nephew Atlas.  Lots to celebrate in July.  It seems July is a very important month in our family.  

Funny how some months are like that.  Everything happens in clusters.

 

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Sometimes I feel like a rusty old lock, but looking at this photograph a rusty old lock can also be beautiful.  Its all a matter of perception I guess.  I am a lot slower than I used to be. I have a lot more grey hair and wrinkles than I used to have, and more than a few extra pounds, but I carry with me the beauty of experience.  I think I have a good heart and I would hope that the goodness of my heart would show, ultimately . . . and that that is what people might see above everything else.

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Proverbs 10

I like to think that I am a virtuous woman.  At least I hope that I am.

I think that the things we value in life change drastically through the years as time and experience wear us down.  When I was younger, my head was probably turned a lot more than it should have been by the pretty/handsome face. Experience has taught me that it is what is inside a person that matters most of all. I no longer have time for superficial people to be honest, no matter how they look on the outside. I treasure a good heart above all else.  I think that as you take the time to get to know others and see them as they really are, they become more and more attractive.

 

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Have you seen the new social media platform called Threads?  It is suppose to be better than Twitter. I don't know about these things. I have Twitter and I have Instagram. I like Instagram most of all, but I only follow people with common interests and am not interested in popularity contests.  There are some really cute accounts on Instagram . . . 

 

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This one for instance is really adorable. Ksenia Belanger.  She posts the sweetest photographs of her little girl. Each one is a work of art.  That is the kind of thing I like to look at. Not vacuous self-centred people who are saying "Look at me! Look at me!"

Anyways, that Threads, have any of you joined? I did, but now am thinking I should have waited a few days to see what it is first. Apparently once you join you can't delete it without deleting your whole Instagram account also as the two are attached.  I wish I had known that. Now I am stuck.  If it ends up being a nightmare, I can't get rid  of it. I guess time will tell.

And with that I best leave you with a thought for the day. Time's a wasting and I have a cake to bake!

A thought to carry with you . . . 

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

 *Learn how to see,

realize that everything

connects to everything else.

~Leonardo da Vinci•。★★ 。* 。

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Cherry Custard Pie. This is amazing.  Simply amazing.

I hope you have a beautiful weekend!  Be happy, be blessed and don't forget! 

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And I do too!