Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

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I was saddened yesterday to learn that one of my favorite bloggers was stopping blogging because of the nasty actions of an unknown individual.  In a world where you could choose to be nice, this unknown person had been dripping vitriol and poison on my friend's blog for a lengthy period of time. Nasty words aimed at not only her but her family, her grandchildren., as well. This same nasty person has done the same to me, but I just ignore it, or try to.  My sweet friend just couldn't any longer and decided to hang up her keyboard. Life is just too short to subject yourself to such hatred and nastiness.

It saddens me as yet another spark of light in an increasingly negative world has been silenced as another hater wins.

I will never understand the methodology behind a person acting with such hatred towards another, towards someone they don't even know. Mean girls in the playground. You would think that ended with playgrounds, but it doesn't. It continues. What is wrong with a person who has to act that way towards others, towards sweet kind individuals who are sharing a spark of light with the world. Its despicable.

I have experienced plenty of it on here, and on the food blog also. I have had terribly unkind things said to me and about me. In real life also.  I have had to train myself to ignore it, at least publicly. 

I say "Shame on you." to those who feel that they can hide behind the anonymity of a keyboard and say whatever they like to someone without anyone having the recourse to hitting back.  You are the worst kind of coward. Shameful and cruel. There will be a place in hell reserved for such as this. You have to be a sad, sad individual with a life that is lacking in meaning and love. So low in self-esteem that you have to try to bring down others to boost yourself.  I reiterate . . .  SHAME ON YOU. The world has lost something and someone really special because of your shameful actions.

In a world where you can be anything you want to be,

why would you ever choose to ever be anything

but kind.

 

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I took the heart halter back late yesterday afternoon. It really had not been as intrusive as I had thought it would be.  When I took it back, I really stepped out of my comfort zone. All I had to do was to drop it off at the front desk of the hospital.  An action that would take mere minutes.  I pulled a Cindy. (haha I say that because she does this.) I didn't park up in the hospital parking lot and walk five thousand miles to reception to turn it in. I parked in front, in the patient drop off zone, hopped out of my car, turned it in, hopped back in my car and left. This was so unlike me.  I almost broke into a sweat when I did it. I am such a rule follower and parking in a no-parking zone almost did me in. It was only for a minute, but I felt terribly guilty doing it. 

I never break the rules. I am a person who shows up half an hour early to everything because I don't want to risk being late. In the marshmallow test, I would not take the marshmallow until I was told that I could. But yesterday I took the marshmallow.  And today, here I sit. Nobody came to arrest me. Whew! Crisis averted. lol Don't worry I won't make a habit of it.

 

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The wren is such a pretty little bird.  I have only ever seen one once.  They can be very difficult to spot as they are quite shy.  I was waiting in a car outside a friend's house, and one popped out of the brush and onto the edge of a wheelbarrow that was sitting there. This was back before we had mobile phones with cameras.  It was a wonderful glimpse of something that I had never seen before and have never seen since. A once in a lifetime experience for me.

Have you ever seen a wren in real life? 

Nursery rhymes . . . it's not the whole story. Here is the beginning of it.

‘Twas once upon a time, when Jenny Wren was young,

So daintily she danced and so prettily she sung,

Robin Redbreast lost his heart, for he was a gallant bird.

So he doffed his hat to Jenny Wren, requesting to be heard.

“Oh, dearest Jenny Wren, if you will but be mine,

You shall feed on cherry pie and drink new currant wine,

I’ll dress you like a goldfinch or any peacock gay,

So, dearest Jen, if you’ll be mine, let us appoint the day.”

Jenny blushed behind her fan and thus declared her mind:

“Since, dearest Bob, I love you well, I’ll take your offer kind.

Cherry pie is very nice and so is currant wine,

But I must wear my plain brown gown and never go too fine.”

~Cock Robin and Jenny Wren, by Walter Crane

I am not sure which one to believe. The spurning or the love story.

 

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My friend Jo is calling me this morning at 9 a.m. from the U.K. We will do Facetime. We haven't done such in about six months. Every time we say we need to do it more often but then life gets in the way. Jo was the housekeeper at the Manor when I first went to work there. We became good friends and have remained such ever since.  She only worked at the Manor for the first couple of years that I worked there.  She and her husband sold their house and left to move nearer to her mother.  I love my phone calls with Jo.  She is Irish and a great conversationalist.  She leads a busy and interesting life. My life is quite boring in comparison, but I know we will enjoy the chat anyways. I am quite sure I will be able to come up with plenty to talk about as it has been so long since we talked. I am really looking forward to our call.

 

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Except for the coffee, this is something I would heartily agree with. I don't drink coffee. My poison is Diet Coke. I have never really been overly fond of hot drinks. Probably because when we were growing up we were not allowed to imbibe. My mother thought that children should not be drinking tea or coffee. I cannot remember how or why I started drinking it, but I was an adult.  I do like a cup of herbal tea now and then. I like the orange or the lemon ones. 

Fresh sheets. Nothing feels nicer than crawling into a bed, just out of the bath, in clean pajamas and into fresh clean sheets. No wrinkles. (I am like the Princess and the pea and I hate wrinkles in my bed.)

A long hot shower on a cold winter's day. You just want to stand under it forever.

Sharing a deep heartfelt laugh with a friend or some other person you love. What joy that brings.

Hearing from someone you care about that you haven't heard from in a while.  What a pleasure that always is.

Songs from your younger years. Music. It is such a powerful thing and has the power to transport you from the here and the now into the past.  It can make you cry with joy and remembrance.

 

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It is red currant season now. I see photos of them popping up all over the place. We had a black currant bush in our garden in the U.K. but I have never had red currants. I love red currant jelly. It is an integral ingredient in Cumberland Sauce. It is a beautiful sauce and so delicious served at room temperature with things like ham, lamb, pork or game. I have enjoyed it with the first three, but not game. I am not fond of game, but it I did used to serve it with venison to the people in the big house.  It is a savory sauce made with red currant jelly, mustard, port, blanched orange peel and seasoning.  It really is quite delicious.  I especially like it with ham.

Monique used red currants to make some delicious looking financiers. Mind you, everything she makes looks delicious. She has a real talent for presentation. I wish that I had a fraction of her talent when it comes to that.

 

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Cindy has already been picking wild blueberries and made blueberry muffins with them. I love wild blueberries.  I especially love wild blueberry jam. Our parents used to put us to work picking wild blueberries in the summertime. I remember it being in August and it would be so hot out.  It was a back breaking labor to pick them. Crouching down for what seemed like ages. They are a hard pick as they are low to the ground, and it takes a bazillion of them to fill an ice cream bucket. Mom basically made blueberry pies with them. Our father loves blueberry pie. He calls it bear pie because the bears love blueberries almost as much, if not more, than we do!  

I can remember always having to keep an eye out for bears when we were berry picking. 

It seems that the blueberries come earlier and earlier every year.

 

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It is also Lavender season.  I love the smell of lavender. It is so intoxicating. You can use it in cooking and in freshening your linens, etc. I have lavender Epsom salts. 

There was a huge patch of it in the back of our cottage when we lived on the Manor Estate. It was so pretty. It hummed with bees when it was in bloom. They loved it also.  Thinking back what a dream come true that was, to be able to live and work in a location like that.  The cottage alone was pretty spectacular. I could never have imagined such a thing when I was a child. 

I found myself quite unable to comment yesterday. I kept being prompted to sign into Google to do so and it wouldn't let me sign in. Weird that. I hope that I don't have the same problem today!

And with that I best wrap this up.  I have a few things I need to get done before Jo calls and time is marching on. I will leave you with a thought for the day  . . . 

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

 *Remember where you have been
and know where you are going.
Life is not a race, but a journey to
be savored each step of the way.
~Nikita Koloff  ° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

In The English Kitchen today, Hawaiian Rice Pudding.  A delicious twist on an old favorite with tropical flavors!

I hope that you have a beautiful day today. Whatever you get up to, be blessed, be happy, stay safe, keep your cool, and don't forget!

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And I do too!