Thursday, 21 November 2024

My Favorite Things . . .


These are some of the things in life that I enjoy, and which make me happy, inspire me, or put a smile on my face. Maybe some of them are yours too.  Let's share! 


 


Generosity.  Being generous with our abundance, with our spirits, etc.  It's never a bad thing. It turns what we have into something more.


 

Mail, post, etc.  It is wonderful to send mail and wonderful to receive mail.  Our Postal workers in Canada are on strike at the moment.  So I may not be able to get my cards, etc. out on time.  But as they say, better late than never. Here's hoping there is enough time between now and Christmas to get the cards out.


 

Linen toweling.  I love this.  If I could afford it, all of my towels would be this type of fabric. So wonderful for drying dishes spotlessly.


 


Mmmm . . . chocolates. I miss Hotel Chocolate in the U.K. Best chocolates ever.


 

Needle felted penguins. So cute.


 

Candy canes  . . . 


 

Books wearing colorful jackets . . . 


 

Brown Paper packages and red and white ribbons  . . . 


 

Gum Drops  . . . 


 

Lanterns  . . . 


 

Stars  . . . 


 

Shiny red Christmas Balls  . . . 


 

Snow men . . .  snow people . . . 


 


Bottle Brush Trees . . . 


 

A little felt house . . . 


 


Gratitude  . . . 


 

The first snowfall of the year . . . 


 

A colorful flock . . . 


 

Another colorful flock . . . 


 

Martha . . .  who else.


 

More bottle brush trees  . . . 


 

Hearts all aglow . . . 


 

A sweet wreath  . . . 


 

A pretty notebook . . . 


 

Cupcake Reindeer  . . . 


And those are my favorite things for this week. Lots of pretties! Thanks so much for looking! 


Went out to supper last night with Cindy, Dan and Dad.  We went to the Big Scoop. It was pretty good. I had the pork chop again, which was grilled.  I love the smokiness that the grill brings. It was the special and so was quite cheap compared to everyone else's. It was nice to just get out of the house and have a change of scenery.  I need to do that more methinks. Today Cindy and I are going on a road trip up the Valley to a farmer's market near Acadia U.  They have good Sweet Potato biscuits there and Cindy is wanting some. We will visit a few other places as well.  Plus, we will solve all of the world's problems as we are driving in the car. Good times!


A thought to carry with you . . . 

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

 *.˛.°The most powerful force
in the world
that can change millions 
of lives, is compassion.
~Steven Aitchinson
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •


Green Bean & Stuffing Casserole


New in The English Kitchen today, Green Bean & Stuffing Casserole. Two holiday favorites mashed into one. Delicious! This is a small batch recipe.


I hope that you have a beautiful day. Thank you all for your sweet comments yesterday.  I managed to shake off my funk as the day progressed. I am lucky that I am a person who can do that.  I never stay down for long, but it does help to be able to voice and off load, so I thank you for listening to me and helping to lift me. It is very much appreciated.  Love you all loads and loads.  Do have a lovely day.  Stay safe, be blessed and don't forget!


═══════════ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ═══════════ 

⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════  


And I do too!    

   

Wednesday, 20 November 2024

Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

 I decided to have toast and jam for my breakfast this morning.  That is not something which I have very often at all. Jam is a rare treat for me because I am a diabetic and I only have a thin smear of it on the toast. Just enough to get a taste of us.


When I was eating it I was reminded of my ex-mother-in-law Elizabeth. She passed away a couple of years ago now, but I can remember sitting at her dining room table eating toast together in the morning with jam.  She would break off little bits of her toast and each bit got a spoonful of jam on it.  Oh, how she enjoyed it.  Watching her do that somehow gave me permission to do the same.


It was far too much jam, and far too sweet. But she was in heaven.  I don't think she really ate unless people were visiting her. And when we were at her place, she loved to go out for dinner and brunch.  Pizza, etc. There was an all you could eat Breakfast Buffet in Charlottetown that she loved to go to with us. Her treat.  And she would eat at least six desserts. No mains. Just the desserts. And she would scrape all of the filling out of her piece of pie and eat just that, but she would scrape and scrape and scrape until she might just as well have eaten the crust all the same.


She had a really sweet tooth. So did my ex.  I never really had a sweet tooth back then. We were not brought up in a home where we were indulged with a lot of sweet things. Christmas and Easter were pretty much the only times we had baked goodies and sweeties. Oh, and Halloween. Our mother couldn't control that.


 

We have been enjoying a week of rainy, cloudy days. Not quite as cold as it could be, but not warm either.  I can deal with rain. I got more than used to it when I lived in the U.K. They loved talking about the weather there. And they had plenty of it.  Weather, that is.  I remember my first year there it rained every single day.  If it wasn't coming down in torrents it was just in the air. Mist.  There were loads of floods in the Southern part of the country as there often is. That was the year I learned that you don't melt in the rain, and that if you stayed indoors because it was raining, you would never get anywhere or do anything. We did not have a car then so going out in the rain was just what we did.

I was a bit annoyed about it because the stepmom had told my son that he wouldn't want to go to England because it rained all the time there, and I did not like her being right about it. Petty I know.  Life is what it is.


 

That is a bit like my week is going this week.   I make plans in the evening for what I want to do the next day, but then the morning rolls around, and they all go south. 


My foot lady was supposed to be here at 9 am yesterday to do my toenails.  That came and went, then 10 came and went, 11.  No foot lady.  So, I put something in the oven, and just as I was doing that she called and asked was she supposed to come, and could she come now??? I told her, give me half an hour because by then it was 11:30, and I just wanted time enough to be able to get what was in the oven done and out of there.   I had also taken out my sewing machine thinking I might get some sewing done, so I needed to get that put away.


 

A lot of people are putting up their Christmas Decorations now.  I don't know how to feel about that.  Is it too early?   I was watching a girl on YouTube decorate her new home with her family yesterday.  Forgotten Way Farms.  Watching them put up their Christmas things made me feel a bit sad actually.  She had boxes of things she had been collecting for years and years, everything holding sweet memories for them of years gone by and Christmas's enjoyed together as a family.  I think I started to feel a bit sorry for myself, which I really hate doing. I thought about all of the beautiful blown glass ornaments I had collected over in the U.K. and the nativity sets. The Jim Shore Angels, etc.  I don't know what happened to any of that stuff.

And then I thought of all the Christmas ornaments that I had created myself and collected when my own family was growing up and how when I had to move out of the family home, my ex kept all of that stuff, and I wondered where it had all gone to. All those memories I had made for our family and things the children had made.

It just made me feel really sad.  There is a part of me that just wants to take every penny I have and go out and buy all new stuff so that I can have Christmas in my home now, but that wouldn't really change a thing and so I won't.

I just feel a bit hum buggy about it all.  I had bought all those lovely Christmas cards to send out and then the darned Post Office goes on strike.  Party Poopers. They know how to pick their moments, and it is always at Christmas.

So, I guess no, I am really not feeling like it is time to put up the Christmas Decorations. Not now anyways.




I guess I am just feeling a bit blue this morning. My brother has his appointment with his Urologist on Friday to discuss treatment. He is pretty sure he is going to lose his kidney and some lymph nodes.  Not the best news really.  It all makes me feel really sad.  It also makes me feel like burying my face in a cake or a bag of potato crisps. But, of course, none of those things are good things and would not change anything.

The reality is that when the people I care about get bad news like that I always think that it should be me.  That I am the one who really deserves to get the cancer diagnosis because I am the one who has totally messed up their life.  That I am the one who doesn't deserve to be happy, or healthy, or successful, etc. That if life was really fair, it would be me, and not them.

And it's not fair. Not really. My brother deserves so much more out of life. He is a good, good person. A much better person than I have ever been or will ever be. 



And then I have to remind myself of this.  I had hoped to do a video today. I have the fruit for my fruitcake macerating right now.  But now I don't feel like it. My heart just isn't in it, or in anything really.  So, I will end this now, believing that tomorrow is a new day and that somehow on the other side of today, things won't seem so bad.


A thought to carry with you . . .


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

 *.˛.°It isn't hoarding if
your stuff is really cool.
~unknown
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •


Open Face Tuna Melts


In the English Kitchen today, Open Face Tuna Melts.  These were really very good. I enjoyed them with veggies and dip.


I do hope you have a great day. Sorry I am not full of sunshine today. This too will pass. In the meantime, don't forget!


═══════════ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ═══════════ 
⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════  




And I do too!    


   



Tuesday, 19 November 2024

A Day Book . . .

 



FOR TODAY, November 18th, 2024


 
(source)

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW ...

It's still dark outside and it is cold and wet, with a light rain. It is supposed to be rainy all week this week.  That's November, dismal and grey and wet. It could always be a lot worse! It could be frigid and snowing!  I'll take the rain!



I AM THINKING ...

This was back in the day. Early Coronation Street.  I started watching it when I was a young teenager, not quite as early as this episode, but it was still in black and white, and it fired in me a desire to visit the U.K. someday, as if the Beatles hadn't already done so.  I watched it for many, many years and then I stopped when I was living in the U.K. as a certain someone didn't like it very much.  I probably wouldn't recognize it or the characters that are in it now.


 

I AM ALSO THINKING ...

My church is having a turkey dinner with games, etc. on the 30th of November. We can bring guests if we want to.  I would like to bring my father as I think he might enjoy it, and I would also like to invite Eileen and Tim.  They wouldn't come, however. Nobody from my family has ever been to my church except for my mother. I don't know what they are afraid of.  My mother came once, just to the sacrament meeting part of it.  When she went back home my ex-husband met her at the door all anxious and worried that something bad might have happened to her for going to my church. That is why nobody in my family will go to my church. We live in the Bible belt of Canada, and they all think that Latter Day Saints are on the fast track to hell. And that if they went to my church even once, they would be in danger themselves.  I see other people at church with their families all the time. It is a very family-oriented church. That is the hard part of being a member of this church when you are on your own.  I think my dad might come, but I will see. There is no harm in asking.


Vanilla Buttermilk Cake

IN THE KITCHEN ...

A delicious Vanilla Buttermilk Cake.  This is a six-inch cake and one of the best Vanilla cakes I have ever baked and eaten. It's simply fabulous. It's a good thing it's not any larger than that or I would be in big trouble, lol




ON MY "TO COOK" LIST ...

Italian Venetian Soup.  From 2 Sister's Recipes.  This looks simply fabulous!


LOOKING FORWARD TO ...

We are all going to the Big Scoop for supper on Wednesday night, even Dan. That will be fun. They have a new rotisserie now to do chicken. I might give it a go!


 

SOMETHING NICE ...

I love Anne of Green Gables. I have watched all of the movies a few times. I watch them every chance I can get.  The old one with Megan Fellows in it.  I also like the series on Netflix, Anne with an E.  A friend had gifted me with the whole series when I was in the U.K. and I loved it.  I will re-gift myself with it one day. 


 

SOMETHING ELSE THAT'S NICE ...

White wooden furniture with a distressed finish. If I had the money, I would replace all of my dark dining room furniture with white furniture, but sigh, I am old and will make do with what I have.



SOMETHING THAT I KNOW TO BE TRUE ...

I cannot refute this.  I live it every day. It can sometimes take years, but eventually . . . He will save us and turn our lives around for the better.


I AM WANTING TO CREATE ...


 

Natural decorations for my tiny Christmas Tree . . . 


 

My fingers are itching to paint  . . . 


 


Tiny bottle brush trees . . .  PixieHill




Knitted bows  . . .  Source



Crochet Santa Badges . . . Etsy 



 

OH MY GOODNESS ...

A nest full of baby otters.  So cute.


 

NOW THAT'S A CHEERFUL SIGHT . . . 

Pristine white, all decked out in red and green.





I AM READING ...

Where the Broken Heart Still Beats, by Carolyn Meyer


At the age of nine, Cynthia Ann Parker was captured in an Indian raid and taken to live as a slave with the Comanche. Twenty-four years later, she is the wife of a chief and the mother of a young warrior destined to become the great chief Quanah Parker. But in 1861, Parker and her infant daughter are recaptured and returned against their will to a white settlement. This moving story is a riveting examination of the conflicts between Native Americans and white settlers.


THINGS I LOVE ...

 

Hot spiced apple drinks  . . . 


 


Flea market treasures  . . . 


 

The smell of cinnamon  . . . 


 

Stamps  . . . 


 


Hugs from the ones that I love . . . you can't beat them!



SOMETHING TO WATCH ...

I've been revisiting the series Olive Kitterage on Crave.


A THOUGHT TO CARRY WITH YOU ...


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

 *.˛.There is one thing which gives
radiance to everything.
It is the idea of something
being around the corner.
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
~G.H. Chesterton
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •


And that is my daybook for this week!  Thanks always for being here!


  ⋱ ⋮ ⋰
⋯ ◯ ⋯ Take time to enjoy the small *´¯`.¸¸.☆

  ⋰ ⋮ ⋱ blessings in life.*´¯`.¸¸.☆ 




✿¸.•*¨`*•..✿✿¸.•*¨`*•..✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.•*¨`*•..¸✿ ✿¸.•
*¨`*•. ╬♥═╬╬═♥=╬╬═♥╬╬═♥╬╬═♥=╬╬♥═╬♥╬╬═♥╬╬═♥=╬╬♥╬
░░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░ ░░░░░░░░░░░░ 


Have a beautiful day!  Don't forget!  

═══════════ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ═══════════ 
⊰✿░G░O░D⊰✿⊰L░O░V░E░S⊰✿⊰░Y░O░U░⊰✿
═══════════ ღೋƸ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒღೋ ═══════════  


And I do too!