A Wednesday note . . .

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered by your old nonsense.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I just love these wise words from the pen of Emerson. They help to remind me that I cannot change the past and that I have to learn to forgive myself. As long as I do my best each day, with all that I try to do, nobody can ask any more of me than that . . . and if I do mess up, and I have tried to make amends, then I must be willing and able to put it behind me. Each day can and should be a new beginning, unhampered by the past, as long as we know we have done our utmost with each day that we have been given.



I am a bit nervous today. I am starting lessons to try to teach a friend of ours to read. He is the same age as myself and we have known him for years. He has tried to learn to read many times, and given up in the end. I am hoping that I will be able to make a difference for him. Being able to read will open up a whole new world for him.

I think the first thing I must do it to try to ascertain just how much, or how little, he can read already, and then we will go from there. I also think that I must first teach him the alphabet and how to recognize the letters and the sounds that letters make. I hope that I am right!



It will be challenging, but I really believe that this is a good thing. The missionaries have tried in the past but they really haven't had the time needed, with only being able to spend a few minutes here and there as they had them. I have told this friend that we will be doing this every day, even if only for half an hour and that he will have homework to do every night. That's how we learn in school! Please pray that this will work out for us. I really hope that I can make a difference.



The sun is shining once more and it looks to be a golden day. We have had a lovely spring thus far. It hailed yesterday afternoon though, just for a few minutes. Mitzie didn't know what to make of it all! That was the first time I had seen hail over here. It really came down, but then it stopped as soon as it had started and the sun broke out through the clouds and it was gloriously sunny again. Just beautiful!

I have been working at some watercolours just recently, to do with the seasons. Shall I show you the one I have done for Spring? Ok, here it is!



I don't know why the colours don't seem to show up as brightly on here as they are in real life. I have also managed at the moment to do Summer and Autumn, but they are not scanned. I am working on Winter. I am having a lot of fun doing them for sure!!

I was thinking to myself yesterday that we just don't seem to have enough time these days to do all the things that we want to do, or at least that is how it is for me. I seemed to get more done when I was working fulltime, than I do now that I am retired. I just can't seem to find the time to do half of what I want to do. Then it dawned on me . . . when I was working I used to make time to get things done. I made an effort to find the time, and perhaps that is what I need to do now. I won't find time laying around, waiting for me to find it . . . I must go out and look for it. What do you think? It sounds good in theory at any rate!!

Strawberry season is upon us and I just adore British Strawberries. They are the tastiest, in my opinion, and yes . . . I do know I am a bit biased! I used to love picking strawberries when I was growing up and I dare say that I ate just as many as I picked, so it took me twice as long as it should have! These are delicious and very easy tarts to make during Strawberry season! There's nothing tastier than your own little tart. You could adapt the idea to blueberries, or blackberries if you wanted to. I would spoon a dollop of lemon curd in the bottoms then, and stir the berries together with some softened orange marmalade perhaps? It does sound rather tasty!



*Strawberry Tarts*
makes 6
Printable Recipe

If there can ever be anything better than pie, it is having your own pie all to yourself! These tarts are very easy and quite tasty! I love strawberry season!

for the pastry:
your favourite recipe for a two crust pie,
or two refrigerated pie crusts
3/4 tsp granulated sugar

for the filling:
2 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup strawberry glaze
6 TBS hot fudge ice cream topping
whipped cream to garnish

Pre-heat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a medium size muffin tin, turned over upside down onto a baking tray. Spray the bottom of it with some nonstick cooking spray.

Roll your pastry out to 1/4 inch in thickness on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the sugar over crust, pressing it in lightly. Stamp out 6 rounds from the crust with a 4-inch round cutter. Fit the rounds, sugared side up, alternately over backs of the muffin cups. Pinch 5 equally spaced pleats around side of each cup. Prick each pastry generously with fork.

Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly browned. Let cool for five minutes before carefully removing from muffin cups to a wire rack. Allow to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

While the rounds are cooling, gently mix the berries and strawberry glaze together in a bowl. Chill, covered, in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Place 1 TBS of the sundae topping in the bottom of each pastry shell. Top with some of the berry mixture, about 1/3 of a cup. Garnish each with a dollop of whipped cream and serve.



Baking over in The English Kitchen today, Cherry Granola Breakfast Buns.

Maries Sunday Six

Here it is Sunday again, the first Sunday in June and we all know what that means. It means that I get to share with you six things in the past week that made me smile. Of course there are always way more than six things that bring me joy each week, but these are the hightlights! I just love sharing them with you!



I discovered the most wonderful page this week, Liberty Biberty. Created by Mercedes a miniaturist, crafter, scrap booker, mom in New Zealand, I fell right in love with this fabulous blog. She has created the above doll house and if you think the outside is stunning, you should see the insides!! I am right in love!



Here is a tiny peek of the bedroom in it. You can hop onto her page and see a lot more detail. I have been completely mesmerized by it and have gone back countless times to have a look. Having a doll house like this has always been a dream of mine, and to think that most of this she has created all by herself surely made me smile. It is all so very sweet and adorable. It made me smile!! Thank you Mercedes!



Fairies in the garden make me smile! I just love fairies and I have quite an extensive collection here in the house and they are starting to spread out into the garden!! I just love this large fairy. I have this large one and a few smaller ones which are in pots hidden amongst the greenery. I think garden fairies give our garden such a magical touch. They surely bring a smile to my face every time I see them. What do you think?



The finals of Britains God Talent surely made me smile over this past week. In some respects I was a bit annoyed . . . there were far too many dance groups, and they all pretty much did the same thing, but the ones that went through each night and that were in the final last night were all very, very good! Each one deserved to be there and I was so impressed with them all.



This little lad drummed his heart out and was so wonderfully talented. Little Kieran Gaffney was not only a fantastic drummer, but he had a tenacity of spirit and maturity that is seldom seen in a lad his age these days. It made me smile to think that there are some really good kids out there. They are not all hoodlums! I really wanted Keiran to win, but alas . . . he came third. I am sure though that there is a very strong possibility that this is not the last we have heard from Keiran and that he will have a very healthy career doing what he loves most, which is drumming!



The winners were Spellbound, and they were very good also. A nice group of very talented young gymnasts, I found them to be very entertaining and quite different. You could tell they worked very hard to be there in the finals and I was not disappointed that they won, even though I had been really pumping for a win for Keiran. These young people also deserved to win. Actually all the talent that was in the final show deserved to be there and to win. It must have been a very close call all around!



Watching all the shoots come up in the garden. It is so lovely to see things growing and changing with every day that passes . . . little miracles from seed. I can't wait to eat some of the things we are growing. There is nothing tastier than vegetables you have grown all by yourself in your very own garden is there? Each day brings a new surprise. Todd forgot to label most of the rows and so we are waiting in anticpation to see what each one is! I do love surprises don't you?



We took ourselves off to the beach at Prestatyn yesterday morning. Oh how fun it was walking in the sand along the water's edge. There was a lovely cooling breeze and it was not over crowded. Sand between the toes always feels sort of magical to me. I love the way it massages my feet. I also loved the way Todd helped me to clean them off afterwards. He is such a loving husband. I am so very lucky to have him. I love spending time with him. When I was working at the Manor, we had very little time together . . . I worked long hours each day and often when I got home I was too tired to want to do much together. I am really enjoying this time we have to spend with each other. It's a blessing and it really makes me smile.



The old fashioned Tudor Roses that are blooming on one of our bushes that we brought with us when we moved up here to Chester make me smile. They're so pretty and a wonderful reminder of the beauty that we had down there . . . I just love nature and all that it gifts us with. I never tire of it, never . . . Everthing is like a tiny miracle from above and I am so very grateful for all of it, but I especially love flowers. They make me smile in a very big way. I prefer them to be in the ground growing . . . a picked flower is a flower that fades away and dies in a very short time . . . but in the ground we get to enjoy them ever so much longer!



I know it's seven, but I just can't help sharing with you this lovely little Fairy Door I found that belongs in our garden. Maybe one day we can have one of these, but in the meantime I can dream about having one of these. Isn't it just darling? I just adore it! Fairy Doors make me smile!!

And that is that. I could go on and on. I hope that some of my smilemakers this week were also things that made you smile too!

Here is another smilemaker. Strawberry Season is here! This is the way my mom always made Strawberry Shortcake. No horrible store bought sponges in my family, lacking in flavour and texture. Always homemade biscuits. Oh how scrummy it is! I really look forward to strawberry season each year so that we can enjoy this lovely dessert at least once!!!




*Mom's Strawberry Shortcake*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

Homemade Biscuits, slightly sweetened and crisp and fill with delicious crushed berries and whipped cream. Summer in a bowl!

2 cups of four
4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
12/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold butter
2/3 cup of milk
a bit of milk for brushing and some sugar for sprinkling
4 cups of strawberries
1/4 cup fruit sugar
Sweetened Whipped Cream:
1 pint double or whipping cream
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/Gas mark 5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, soda, cream of tartar and salt in a bowl. Whisk in the sugar. Cut the butter into chunks and then briskly rub it into the flour mixture with your fingertips, until it resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir the milk in gradually with a fork, to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and, using your hands, gently pat it into a large circle, about 1/2 inch thick. Using a sharp round cutter, cut the dough into rounds. Use a sharp up and down tapping motion, straight up and straight down. Do not twist the cutter or your biscuits will be lopsided. Repeat with any leftovers, repatting them and cutting until the dough is all used up. (*See note below)

Place them onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with some milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until well risen and lightly browned on the tops and bottoms. Remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the berries by slicing them in half into a bowl. Crush them slightly with a fork and then stir in the sugar. Allow to sit for 15 minutes or so for the juices to really develop.

Beat the cream with a wire whisk or electric beaters until it falls in soft folds into the bowl. You do not want it too stiffly beaten. Fold in the sugar and vanilla.

Carefully split the cooled biscuits in half. Place bottom halves onto dessert plates. Divide the sweetened crushed berries between them and top each with a dollop of whipped cream. Top with the remaining halves of the biscuits and serve.

*Note - If you like you can add just a bit more milk to the dough and rather than patting them out you can drop the dough by large sponnsful onto the prepared baking sheet, dropping them about 3 inches apart. I like to do this sometimes because it gives you lots of craggy crunchy little bits. In this case I don't brush them with any milk, but I do still sprinkle them with a bit of sugar!



It's a Welsh dish, Black Currant Plate Pie over on The English Kitchen today!

When have you felt the most beautiful . . .

I don't suppose I have ever been a spectacularly beautiful woman to look at. When I look back on pictures of myself through the years, I can't find one where I looked really heart stopping, drop dead . . . gorgeous. I don't think I would have ever won any beauty contests, although to be sure I did look a lot better at the age of 16 than I do now! (ahh . . . age . . . how cruel your sting!!)

There were moments in my life, however . . . when I have felt beautiful. As I sit here and ponder those times this morning, I realize that my real moments of beauty were the result of something much more powerful than just a combination of a great hairstyle, some expensive makeup and fancy clothing.



The day of my first wedding, I felt beautiful. In my long white gown, my dark curls haloed with the white wisp of my veil, and clutching the little white bible that had been a gift from my father on my fourth Easter, adorned with a simple bouquet of red sweetheart roses, I think I looked beautiful in the photo, but it is the real beauty of expectation and hope . . . and the expression of jubilant happiness on my face that makes me so. I did feel a bit of a princess on that day, but my real beauty came from within.



I felt the same kind of beautiful on the day I stood next to my Todd and exchanged vows with him . . . some twenty five years later, and then again later on that same day, when we kneeled across an altar in our Temple, holding hands and making sacred covenants to each other . . . the beauty of heart swelling, jaw aching joy . . . it just beams out from both our faces.



Another time when I felt like the most beautiful woman in the world was the day I gave birth to my eldest son, my first born. The birth experience itself was a bit of an ordeal . . . unlike any experience I could have possibly prepared myself for ahead of time . . . but afterwards, when that wee lad was put into my arms, and I looked down at him . . . all the pain and agony of birth simply faded away . . . and I felt more beautiful than I had ever felt in my life . . . although my hair hung down all damp and sweaty around my tired and exhausted face. I was a mom . . . something I had been looking forward to being throughout my whole life, and I was more in love than I had ever felt possible with the tiny, beautiful little creature I held in my arms. It was the same each and every time I gave birth, and when I look at photos of my two daughter's in law, taken just after they have given birth to my grandsons, I see the same, tired beauty there . . . and the love . . . the radiant beams of pure joy and love that emanates from their entire beings that helps to make them so . . .



I can remember giving a talk in church very early on after I had joined the LDS church. I can't even remember what the talk was about now, but I do remember that, at some point during my talk, I was filled with the most wonderful spirit and love for my Saviour . . . so much so that I actually felt like I was glowing. Afterwards, one of my friends came over to let me know how very much she had enjoyed my talk, and she mentnioned during our conversation that, about halfway through my talk, her young daughter had leaned over to her and remarked on how beautiful I was . . . and the truth was that I had actually felt beautiful during that talk. The beauty of feeling the Holy Spirit, and the deep feelings of love for my Saviour and Redeemer had not only transformed and filled my heart in that moment, but my whole countenance as well. Love for the Saviour can do what no bottle or brush on earth can.



There have been many instances in my life when I have felt most beautiful, and I can see a common thread running through each and every one of them . . . and even though the experiences have been as different as apples and oranges, the common denominator that has made them all equal, has been the special love that I have felt during those moments . . . the love that has been able to transform me and lift me up and out of the ordinary to the ethereal. The love for a husband, a child . . . my Saviour. This is probably the most important beauty lesson I have learned in my life.

Love, indeed, has the power to transform us and transcend our physical limitations. For without love, and the wonder of love, what are we really???? Merely empty shells of what we could be. With wonder and love, I believe we can become the most radiant creatures on earth, filled with true beauty . . . the inner kind, the kind that counts the most of all.

We had a gorgeous, sunny day here yesterday. We spent a good part of the day out in the garden. Days like that are perfect for quick and easy suppers like this lovely rustic tomato tart. it's not at all that hard to execute, and comes out looking so very pretty when it's done. It's also quite delicious!!!





*Rustic Tomato Tart*
Makes one large or 4 smaller tarts
Printable Recipe

You can either choose to make one big one or four smaller ones. Either way it's delicious! Easy and quick to put together too!

1 package of short crust pastry, or make your own if so inclined
1 small tub of fresh basil pesto from the chiller cabinet in the grocery store
(or you can use sun dried tomato pesto instead if you wish)
8 ounces gruyere cheese, freshly grated
6 medium sized, ripe tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a few basil leaves

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/gas mark 6. Line either or one, or two if making smaller ones, large baking trays with parchment paper. Set aside.

If making a large one roll the pastry out into an even circle, no more than 1/4 of an inch thick. If making the smaller opnes, divide your pastry into 4 equal pieces and roll each out into an even circle, no more than 1/4 inch thick. Place each round at least 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.

Divide and spread the pesto to within 1 1/2 inch of the edge of the pastry round (s). Sprinkle with 1/2 of the grated gruyere cheese, sprinkling it evenly over the pesto.

Slice the tomatoes in half with a sharp knife and then cut each half into four wedges. Place the wedges in a decorative manner over top of the cheese and pest. Bring up the edges of the pastry to cover just the edges of the tomatoes, without covering them completely. Dust with salt and pepper, and then sprinkle the remaining gruyere cheese over top of all. Tear up a few basil leaves and scatter them over top.

Bake in the heated oven until the pastry is crisp and golden and the tomatoes are just starting to tinge with colour. Remove from the oven and serve. You may dust the top with a bit of Parmesan cheese just prior to serving if you wish. These go lovely with a lightly dressed salad of rocket and spinach.



A delicious Rhubarb Custard pie awaits on The English Kitchen today!