Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard 

 A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best.

 

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We have had a very rainy weekend. I am afraid Canada Day was a complete washout for many people. I don't think there were any fireworks where I live. At least I did not hear any.  We need the rain.  There are fires still burning and the rain helps to keep them from spreading or getting worse. It probably prevents more from starting. Today it is raining again, and quite heavily this morning also.  We have had a very dry year up to this point so the rain is needed.  After living in the UK for as long as I did, I got very used to rain. It does not bother me.

This is my evening companion most nights. You can find him laying right next to me on the sofa with his milk moustache and caramel chin.  He has been enjoying our treat game.  I get a few of the dry crunchy treats and I throw them and he chases them and attacks them before he eats them. Cinnamon, little Miss Laidback, just sits there and wills me to hand her them. One thrown for him, one handed to her. 

I love their little paws with their jelly bean toes.  I love the hair that peeks out between them.  I am not alone, nor am I lonely. 

On Saturday Dan BBQ'd burgers. Cindy made her pasta salad and we had some salad leaves on the side.  A simple repast, but enjoyed with family.  This makes things more delicious I find. I am pleased to be included in such things.  I would never get a BBQ'd burger otherwise.  Made from scratch, no frozen burgers here.  My sister makes really good ones and Dan cooks them to perfection.  Family times are the best of times.

This was on my sister's Facebook page. I love it. I have always been different, not a member of the "in" crowd.  When I was a teenager there was a time when I longed to be.  I was destined to be in the fringes and not in the crowd.  I did not know it at the time that I was building something much more important by being on the fringe, or outside. I was building character.  That is a precious thing to build.  I like being "me" with all of my idiosyncrasies and perfect flaws.  I like who I am. Not everyone can say that.

 

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I like going to church on Sundays.  Sometimes I really need to push myself to go. The temptation is there to just want to lull around the house and do nothing, but I always feel much better for having gone and so I push myself out the door. I am always happier for doing so.  I enjoy the talks that are given. I enjoy singing the hymns. I enjoy seeing the others at church. I enjoy renewing my covenants with the partaking of the sacrament. I love the lessons which are taught and the easy sharing between each other. One morning a week. It is not much.  It is a gift I give myself actually.  A special blessing to me.  And I am all the better for having gifted myself with it.

 

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I am always so surprised when I see how fast things grow in people's gardens. This girl I follow on Instagram is already harvesting huge cabbages. I wonder at the miracle of it all. Things growing so fast, developing from little seeds.

There is a field we pass by on the back road to Greenwood. Last year they grew carrots in it.  Huge piles of carrots. This year they are growing corn. A week or so ago I had a hard time telling what it was that they were growing, but driving by it yesterday, it has to be two feet tall now.  A miracle in such a short time. It is a wonder it does not make a noise. Another few weeks and it will be as tall as a man.

Eloise Wilkin

The beauty of nature astounds me.  I am so grateful for my ability to see it. Our world is filled with it. I love to watch nature shows and I love looking at photographs of everyone's beautiful flowers and gardens.  My garden is not much and in all truth it is beyond me to care for one now, but I do enjoy to go to my sister's and see hers. The other day she had a beautiful bouquet of Campanella on her counter.  Every day it is something new.

Travelling to church yesterday I saw not one, but two chipmunks racing across the road in front of me.  They were so quick. Its a good thing.  Their little tails standing straight up in the air. I wondered at the speed of them.  Amazing.

I see cats racing across the road too, sometimes.  I could never let mine wander out doors like that.  I would be so afraid that they would get hit by a car.   That is why we didn't have a cat in the UK.  It was impossible to keep a cat indoors there with no screens on the windows or doors.  I often had cats in my back garden.  No idea of who they belonged to.

I think this must be Holly Hobbie

Can you not just hear the sounds that those hens would be making. The broody clucking.  Such a sweet sound. A comforting sound. I love it.

Season 12 of Call The Midwife is on Britbox now.  Its Sunday nights with CTMW for me again. I am rationing myself to one episode a week so as to make it last longer.  Last night I watched episode 2.  This is quality programming.  I wish there were more shows like it on television.

I call it nice TV.  

 

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I like to fill my life with good things  . . .  nice things. That makes it much easier to trace the goodness at the end of the day. It just makes life much more pleasant as well. I very rarely watch the news. It is too much gloom and doom. I prefer my life and days to unfold in front of me in small surprises.  I don't like to think too much ahead in the future.  Oh, I do stay informed, but I don't dwell on unhappy things or let them get too much of a toehold in my life if I can help it.

Light  and hope are much easier and simpler to live with.

 

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I had a lovely facetime with my friend Kathy in Alberta yesterday. We have been friends since 1981. She was my next door neighbor in Alberta. We did a lot together.  With both of our husbands being in the military and both being young with young families, we had a lot in common.  We still do.  We are both widows of a sort now. Her husband passed away about 6 years ago now, and I, well you know . . . I am on my lonesome as well and mourning a husband who never existed.  Anyways, it was nice to spend some time together yesterday and laugh.

Funny thing is Glenna's daughter who is with her now also knows Kathy.  Kathy worked at the IGA where Glenna's daughter shops.  Its a small world.

 

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I am so grateful for the blessings in my life. Health, Home, faith, family, friends . . .  my life is filled with abundance. I try not to think too far into the future, but take each day as it comes, wringing as much joy out of them as I can.  I seek peace at this stage in my life.  Peace and comfort . . .  and I know where to find it.  That is a blessing in and of itself.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day  . . . 

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

 *Let yourself be

silently drawn by the

strange pull of that you 

really love; it will not

lead you astray.

~Rumi•。★★ 。* 。

Lemon and Raspberry Pavlova, the small batch. A simple dessert that everyone loves.

Perfect Deviled Eggs, one of Five Favorite Sides that I am sharing today.  Favorite sides for summer. 

I hope your week ahead is filled with abundance. May it spark joy in your life and fill your heart with joy.  Don't forget!

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And I do too!