This and that . . .

 

Happiness grows at our firesides

and is not to be picked in stranger's gardens.

~Douglas Jerrold

Oh, I was late waking up this morning.  I had not slept well on Wednesday night. I sleep-surfed all night.  By that I mean I only went into a light sleep and kept waking up all night, never ever really reaching a full deep sleep.  I thought for sure that I would sleep much better last night.  Instead I found myself having a really difficult time falling asleep.  I was so tired and yet I could not tick over.  Eventually I did only to have a night filled with dreams.  I was finally awakened a but after 7 am today by my phone ringing. I could hear my phone in the dream I was having and then realized it was really ringing.  In the dream I was looking at my sister through the window at Tim Horton's here in town and waving at her, she waving at me and at the same time I am thinking why is she phoning me?

haha

It was my dad.  Lately he has wanted me to phone him at 7 am rather than 7:30 am.  He likes me to call him to make sure he is awake.  I am glad that he called though or I might still be in there sawing a log!

 

(source)

One is for bad news

Two is for mirth 

Three is a wedding 

Four is a birth

 Five is for riches 

Six is a thief 

Seven is a journey 

Eight is for grief 

Nine is a secret 

Ten is for sorrow 

Eleven is for love

Twelve is for joy tomorrow.

I grew up with a very superstitious mother.  I can remember her having a saying for almost anything that happened in our daily lives.  She used to get really upset if she saw one crow and would be quickly searching for another.  And God forbid a bird fly into one of our windows and die.  She really believed these things.  Old wives tales  . . .   A spinning needle on a thread held over the abdomen of a pregnant woman could predict the sex of the unborn child depending on which way it swung, no swimming after eating, shaving your hair makes it come back thicker, coarser, darker, dropping a knife, fork or spoon meant you were going to get a visitor, the sex of the visitor dependent upon which item of cutlery you dropped, etc.  Throwing spilt salt over your left shoulder . . . good luck, bad luck and everything in between.

I suppose in the old days lives were lived in a much narrower way. Things like these old superstitions really did have an impact on how people governed themselves.  Many things were based in nature and the observance of nature and did come true. Many other were just twaddle and really had no basis in fact.

 

(source)

Eileen and Tim are having Thanksgiving Dinner with his parents.  I expect it will be on Sunday.  I am going to Cindy's, bringing the pie and roast potatoes.  We are supposed to get some nasty weather this weekend.  Rain and high winds.  I am having Eileen and Tim over on Monday. They were going to help me with my garden and then I am making supper for them after. I will probably also give them some money for helping me. The gardening  might not happen now, depending on the weather.  It will still be good to spend a bit of time together. Something we don't do a lot of it seems.  They lead really busy lives and are always going somewhere, especially now that a lot of the Covid protocols have been dropped.  I am grateful that their lives are so full.  Its a good thing in my opinion.

Busy lives tend to be happier lives.

 

(source)

I ordered a new blanket to put on my bed for Winter earlier this week.  I have a quilt, etc. for the top and in the summer months only use a light blanket but when the colder temperatures hit I like to have something a bit heavier.  I had bought one last year. It is wooly on one side and like velour on the other. I found that it slid around a lot and so I decided to buy a cotton one for this year.  At least it said that it was cotton. Fingers crossed.   I do not like that new micro-fiber stuff they are using for a lot of things now. It just doesn't feel right.  I prefer natural materials.

Maybe I am a snob?  I don't know.  I like cotton and wool.  Real cotton and real wool.  Not the fake stuff.  I am grateful that I can afford to buy them.  I would prefer second hand to new, but that's not much of an option where I live. There are no real charity shops here.

 

(source)

The other night as the family was leaving after dinner the air was punctuated by the sound of geese flying South for the Winter.  It is a haunting sound. It reminds me of my childhood in some ways.  I can remember walking home from school and seeing and hearing them in the skies.  The air crisp and cold on my cheeks, denying the warmth of the setting sun, leaves blowing around me, all the earth speaking to me of the fluidity of life, how change is inevitable . . . 

And yet it is a sound that holds promise as well, continuity, comfort.  There is a comfort in knowing that all of life happens in an eternal round.  That spring follows winter and is followed by summer, and then autumn in a continuous sequence which is the same . . .  year, after year.  There is hope in the winter that spring will follow, that after the death  . . .  the surety of rebirth and renewal. These are things we can depend on.  They bring a stability with them of sorts.

So as sad as the geese may sound as they are leaving  . . .  I can know that they will not be gone forever.

And with that I best leave you with a thought for the day as time is marching on  . . . 

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

 *.˛.Now and then,•。★★ 。* 。

in this workaday world,•。★★ 。* 。

things do happen in the•。★★ 。* 。

delightful storybook fashion,•。★★ 。* 。

& what a comfort that is.•。★★ 。* 。

~Louisa May Alcott•。★★ 。* 。

•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。

 

In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Slow Roasted Greek Potatoes.  These are quite simply delicious and go with just about anything.

I hope you have a fabulous Friday!  Go into the world and be happy!  Don't forget!

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And I do too!