Dolly's Dreamings

Friday Feeling

I love that Friday Feeling. It's not just that it is Friday it's that there is a weekend to catch up. I end up leaving things and thinking 'I will do that at the weekend' and then have loads to do. But at least there is a little more time.

I am glad it is Friday.

I will start with the photo of the day. Boo lives, almost permanently, in the scrap room/office. It is where her beloved 'Daddy' is most of the time and where he is, she is. It is also a gated room safe from the Fiki Monster whose one goal in life is to either love her to death or murder her. So she lives in here. And actually she lives on my chair or my desk most of the time as most of the time I am at work.

So I get a rather disgruntled cat when I get in and would like to sit on 'her' chair or work at 'her' desk.

So my disgruntled Boo rather upset that she has lost her space for the weekend.

 

In fairness, whilst she adores Nigel, we get along well too and she will snuggle up with me even though I steal her spaces.

I have another page to share today made with Dawn Inskip's new Cowboys and Indians collection.

I have always wanted to stay on a ranch - preferably a proper Dude ranch where I could ride and herd cattle and stuff (Now at this point you have to bear in mind I can't ride, have never herded cattle and am not keen on dust, flies and anything vaguely 'farmy') But the dream of being a cowgirl was very real. So when we went to Death Valley and the choice - and I do mean THE choice was to stay at Furnace Creek Ranch I couldn't resist it. It was a hotel but was also ranch like - even if a little contrived. I loved it. They had a Borax museum, loads of old artefacts, great rooms, a restaurant and saloon and also temperatures of 125 in the shade! But I loved every minute of it.

Today I am thankful for

• a bit of a break
• My chair which I have just forcibly reclaimed

 

and my one minute devotional calendar page

 The flight was wonderful. My son William and I were traveling back to Atlanta from Connecticut where we had spent the weekend with my daughter Rebecca. Crammed into two coach-class seats, we colored and solved puzzles in his Mickey Mouse activity book. William gazed out the window. “Where are the birds?” he asked. “Can we sit on that cloud?”

Then he instructed me in the art of playing with Beanie Babies: “Keep your hand on the Beanie Baby. Don’t talk like Daddy.” I tried to keep his feet off the seats and his voice down as his play grew intense. Finally, he vigorously twirled his stuffed animal, accidentally flinging it into the air. It landed in the lap of a startled woman four rows away. I tried to read an article on wide-format inkjet printers, and I tried to work on my laptop computer, but William allowed none of that. We played during the entire flight.

As our plane descended into Atlanta, he paused to gaze out the window. The setting sun peered out from behind a cloud, and golden rays fanned all around. Suddenly, William exclaimed, “Daddy, I see God!”

“William, we can’t see God,” I said.

“Why?” he asked. “Where is God?”

Looking into his deep blue eyes and watching the yellowing sunlight reflected in his hair, I said, “I’m not sure, but I can feel Him in my heart.”

 

And the weekend is here

Whilst I love holidays I also subscribe to the belief that you don't appreciate the good if you don't have the bad. Now I don't mean work is bad - in fact I have had a lovely day ... a really productive and oft times funny day as children are such fun at times - but I do appreciate time off when I am working hard whereas when I am on holiday it's all just the same so you don't appreciate it so much.

Anyway - it is the weekend and whilst I have work to do it feels lovely to have a Saturday and a Sunday ahead.

I have new scrapping to share today. It is another page made with that awesome new kit by dawn Inskip that I flagged up yesterday .... breathless.

It is another page for my 50th trip album and is of the Valley Of Fire in Nevada.

 

 I have to share something that came in an e mail today - just the thing for a teacher on a Friday. They are hilarious.

 

 

Don't you just love them.

I have two pictures today. Yesterday's photo of the day was me on my exercise bike and wow - look how fast my feet go LOL

 

Today's is Nigel's choice. friday is cleaning day and the sink is absolutely sparkling. I fear he may be doing a fly lady!

 

 Today I am thankful for

• the innocence and humour of children
• Friday

And my one minute devotional today is

 

My eyes were barely open when I looked at the alarm clock. Who could be calling at 4:00 A.M.? My wife, Elba, reached over and picked up the phone. “Christine, are you all right?” she asked. It was our daughter calling from her college dorm in Miami.

“Why are you crying?” Elba asked. “What happened?”

There was a long pause, then Elba said, “Christine, it’s four in the morning. You ought to go to bed. Talk to your professor tomorrow.”

Elba paused to tell me what had happened: Christine had a mental block and couldn’t finish the term paper that was due that morning.

At first I was happy because it wasn’t a life-threatening situation, but then I became upset. How could Christine be calling us at this time of the morning? Didn’t she know that we needed our rest?

I lay back and tried to let go of my irritation, focusing on Elba’s voice instead. “You’re going to be fine,” she told Christine. “If you explain what happened, your professor will understand.”

How patient she is, I thought. It’s as if there’s nothing she’d rather be doing than listening to her child and helping her with her problem.

I turned over, and as I drifted back to sleep, I whispered a prayer for Christine, confident that God was listening. Even at 4:00 A.M.

Dear God, there’s never a wrong time to call out to You.

—PABLO DIAZ

 

THAT's not happened for a long time

Well, it doesn't happen often ... but it happened yesterday and almost happened today.

I rarely miss a day of posting on my blog. But I have simply been too sick, literally, to post. And as I can only sit upright for a short while still, this is brief.

Struck by the norovirus has been pretty nasty and I can't decide if I still have it or it has turned into my usual labyrinthitis which always strikes me if I am ill. I had no idea norovirus was so nasty. I guess the good news is I have lost 4lb!

I haven't been able to take my photo of the day for 2 days but Nij took them for me.

Yesterday's is a tribute to my nausea-phobic husband. He has a real genuine fear of being sick - it terrifies him (so he is not a lot of support when I am ill other than from a safe distance LOL) Yesterday he cleaned our bathroom to within an inch of its life. EVERYTHING was bleached, washed, sterilised etc. He was determined not one shred of that virus was going anywhere near him or back on me. Bless him.

 

 

Today he went out and bought our usual Sunday Starbucks as I thought I might fancy it. Mmmm - as it happened I didn't. First time ever I have not managed a frap. I must be ill.

I haven't done new scrapping, obviously, but this is a page I made a while ago which I have not shared. It is another for the California album and is of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove

It is the most remarkable building which gets very mixed reviews. We had driven by it many times and one year decided to stop and go look around. The gardens are amazing and there are lots of sculptures. As it happened it was Maundy Thursday when we went and they were advertising tickets for their passion play that evening (it was on all week). We managed to get tickets and it was the most amazing show. Not quite Oberamergau, it was a stunning and moving retelling of Christ's passion and we swear the angels really did fly up to the heights of the crystal ceiling.

 
The main picture opens up to reveal a lot of journalling.

Today I am thankful that

• I just FEEL sick rather than being sick

 

My one minute devotion calendar page today is

 I “remember exactly where your great-grandparents and I were when we heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor,” I often said to my grandchildren. “Driving back from my great-uncle Will’s funeral in Littlestown. We had a brand-new ’40 Ford and we heard the news on the radio.” Having grandkids—15 of them—made me want to pass on our family’s history, but the only record I had was my memory, and that wasn’t always so sharp anymore.

The old Stansbury family Bible would have been nice to give them. As a child, I opened it up to find handwritten notes on an unprinted page, scores of important dates in the history of my father’s family—births, marriages, deaths, going back to the 19th century. The Bible was more than an heirloom, it was a record of the Stansbury name. It ended up among Aunt Laura’s possessions, and when she passed away, her family, the Pattersons, sold most everything. Who knew where the Bible ended up?

One summer day almost 65 years later, my wife, Dottie, and I were invited to our daughter’s house for our granddaughter Lauren’s birthday. Lauren was having fun with her friends while I met some of their parents. Lauren’s best friend was also named Lauren, and I ended up talking to her mom, Lori. “Where are you originally from?” I asked.

“Littlestown,” she replied.

“Littlestown! My relatives lived there. What was your maiden name?”

“Patterson.” A few questions later, we figured it out: Her greatgrandfather’s sister was my great-aunt!

A month later, Lori’s parents and I sat in Lori’s living room, sharing old memories. Then her father got up and put a package on the table. “You must have this,” he said. “It really belongs to you.”

Inside was the old Stansbury family Bible. Still with all the handwritten history inside. And room for more.

A bit of a messy day

It's been a bit of a messy day today - messy in that it is broken into lots of bits and messy in that paints came out.

They came out for one project I cannot share and one I can.

Shimelle is running a monthly class on UKS which is called and now for something completely different - and hands up everyone who is my sort of age who just sees python at this point!

Anyway, the challenge this month was a reall challenge for me. It involved paint and glitter and mess and I don't do paint and glitter and mess. I did like using the little camera stamp and a very old Autumn Leaves circle seal stamp. Must use those more often.

I did do the paint. I have never spattered paint on a page before - and I probably won't ever do it again either as it is not an effect which works for me either in style or in effort. But at least I tried it.

The class was a 12 x 12 page so it had to be adapted from the outset. I used pictures from my 50th birthday and yes - it really is him!

I managed to sneak lots of sewing in too ... and I never did bring myself to use the glitter.

 

 

It did what it said ont he tin. It made me do something different. This is the completed page which is for 50th album (hence the size and format)

I didn't share my picture of the day yesterday as I knew it wouldn't be taken until the evening. It was my Mother-in-law's birthday yesterday and we went out to eat and when we came back had this little cake with candles.

and todays is very mundane - but heck, some days are mundane.

We had a 25% voucher for pets at home that had to be used this week and so we went and stocked up on cat litter and food and saved over £20 which made it well worth doing.

 
I was asked yesterday how I save my digital work. I save my creations in 3 formats to begin with. First I save the original png file (though these are massive) then I save a full size jpeg and finally a web sized jpeg. Once I am sure I am happy with it I delete the png file. I keep the full size jpeg until I have either backed it up or had it printed or printed it myself and then I delete that too.

You could easily save the jpegs to a memory card and play it on a digital frame. It is something i have long thought of doing.

Today I am thankful for

• blustery walks
• wet wipes (it was messy messy messy)

My one minute devotion today is

MYSTERIOUS WAYS
“Be bold; mighty forces will come to your aid.” That’s an adage I’ve long believed in. But there was a moment in my life that has led me to believe if you’re lost, sometimes mysterious forces will come to your aid.

At that time, when my family was struggling, I sought a job with Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services. This was a bold move, for I had no diploma, having dropped out of school to marry. Eventually, though, I passed the test and got the job.

My assignment was to locate and assist needy families, but locating them was sometimes difficult because they often lived in remote places with no obvious address. This particular day I’d been asked to help a needy family (no father present, little money or food, frightened mother and children) living near Lake Texoma, in rural Oklahoma. This was dangerous country, but I felt it was my duty to find them. I drove all morning with little to guide me, and in this gun-crazy backcountry you didn’t knock on just any shack and ask for directions.

Finally, in early afternoon I parked in the shade of a cottonwood tree and began to pray, asking God to direct me. I then looked down the lane I’d already driven over twice. There was a lone mailbox plainly emblazoned with the family’s name!

My visit went well; we’d be able to help this family with food and clothing.

As I was leaving, the grateful mother marveled that I’d found her house. “It wasn’t hard,” I said, “once I saw your name on the mailbox.”

“My name?” the woman said to me, mystified.

Going back to the road, I examined the mailbox again. There was no name. No name at all.

On the road again

I came home to a lovely surprise. My bike arrived, was all set up and ready for me to use.

I guess that means I had better use it!

It was a special offer - very much a starter bike. It was £30 on offer and is really just to see if I like it. I used to cycle a lot but I lost my confidence after a fall and am terrified of falling off my real bike. I am hoping this will get me back into it by ensuring i am fit and then it is just the nerves to conquer.

I have a new page to share today which is another for my California album. Very simple and Barb, how spooky to read your comment yesterday having just made this. You will TOTALLY identify with this page.

We do have a few Outback restaurants in the UK and Nij and I sought out the one in Richmond and were so disappointed. It was way more expensive than in the US and the food was NOTHING like as good. We always try and go to Outback at least two or three times every trip and I always have their Victoria fillet.

The strips at the bottom look a little bent but that is just caused by the scanner as it is a thick page. Under the stitched pocket is a curbside menu and a receipt and a photo of the Victoria fillet and salad. I can't wait to go eat at Outback again this summer. And Barb, you are on. If I ever get to Alaska then you betcha!

Today I am thankful for

• my dinner all ready and prepared when I got home even though Nij had to go out. I am very lucky. I knew he had cooked my veggie sausages (I only like them cold) but when I opened the fridge there was a fabulous salad all prepared

My Daily Devotion calendar today is

The door to the hotel bathroom crept open. Inside, I had set up a makeshift office so I could work late while the children slept. My 11-year-old daughter Rebecca announced, “I can’t sleep.” I turned off my laptop computer while she sat on the edge of the tub and began to talk. She told me about her frustrations with having a younger brother, about her recent trip to Disney World, and about her upcoming elementary school graduation. Suddenly, she wiggled her toes and yelped, “Ugh!”

“What?” I said.

“An ant was crawling on my toe.”

We looked down at this insect, hardly big enough to see. It was climbing over mountainous tufts of fuzzy bathroom mat. After watching it struggle for a few minutes, we realized it was going in circles. So we decided to help it along its journey. We picked it up, removed the mat, and placed it on the smooth tile.

“I think ants have a good sense of direction,” I said hopefully. “Maybe now it can find its way home.” Soon, it was crawling in circles again.

As we watched the ant, I felt as if I were watching myself. I’d been lost a few times in my life: when my parents divorced, when my father died, when I was laid off from a job. Each time, I struggled to find my own way.

Suddenly, Rebecca said, “Let’s put it in the flowers.” There was a vase of fresh flowers on the counter. After letting the ant crawl onto a piece of tissue paper, she gingerly placed it on an iris. “At least it will feel at home there.”

I smiled at Rebecca’s innocence and at her caring heart. And I said a silent prayer for the people who, each time I was lost, were there to comfort me, help pick me up, and put me back on the right road.

Lord, thank You for Your guidance and the comfort You give through others.

and finally - Barb thank you for sharing this that I have just sat and cried through. What an inspirational video and I am proud to share it on here.

Not a success

So - not the most successful of ventures, but then I knew it would be doomed to fail.

Today I tried my dose of red meat. Oh my goodness not a success. When out I quite like fillet steak. It transpires what I actually like is the taste of chargrilled cremated fillet steak and goodness knows what I bought, but it tasted of …. Well meat actually.

It was horrid

There was not a bit of fat on it (well there was but I cut that off)  but whatever I did to it turned it into something you could repair shoes with (well platforms as it was very thick!)

Anyway – the bottom line is that it went in the bin. I forced a bit of it down but it was tough and I really really didn’t like the taste. I remembered why I was a vegetarian!

I couldn’t even give it to the cats as Kira is allergic to beef. Oh yes, she is all mine LOL

Anyway – photo of the day – a waste of money!

 

I have a new page to share today which was super quick and simple. I made if for the weekly challenge on UKS and I actually managed to do a paper page mid week because it really was quick and simple and when I finally stopped work last night there was nothing on TV.

 

The photos are incredibly poor quality and I actually can’t believe I am going to say what I am about to say. They were digital photos printed off in 2001 on a poor quality printer and poor quality photo paper and put into a non acid free album. I was not a scrapper then so once I had printed them off badly and put them in a sticky album that was going to destroy them, I then deleted the files!

I have so few photos of any use from that trip as I just wiped the memory card when I thought I had done with it. And now, that horrifies me.

Anyway, I removed them from the album and I have scraped them for the California album. I remember watching the seals for ages – though I also remember the smell was awful.

The pictures are very grey because, well let’s face it … it was August in San Francisco and it was cold, grey and foggy.

I do remember though, the weather cleared and we wandered through all the little touristy shops on Pier 39. After browsing we decided it was time for dinner but every restaurant – and there were a lot – was primarily a fish and seafood restaurant. Back to the vegetarian again and two people who don’t eat fish at all. It wasn’t looking good.

Anyway, we carried on right to the end of the pier and right at the end was a restaurant called North Beach Pizza and they sold …. Pizza! Yey. We had a table right by the window and the views over the bay were superb. A lovely Irish girl served us (and was very chatty even telling us that she was working illegally and had no green card!!!)  So I really wanted to add the page to the California book.

Today I am thankful for

• Dairylea in the fridge as I had that with my salad instead of the leather.

My 1 minute devotion calendar today has the following

I was about to go camping through northern California with two former college friends and catch up on one another’s lives. Sharise was a high school teacher, soon to be a department chairman, and Anna was an actuary with her own secretary. I was working in a bookstore for little above minimum wage. I liked my work, but it was not exactly a career I was eager to share with my more successful friends.

So I began practicing how to present my job to them. God, help me find a way to . . . well, not lie exactly, but make it sound like I’m doing better than I am. There was a lull in the line at the registers, so I mentally practiced. I’m in retail. Nah, true but too vague. I’m in management. (Well, I did manage the carts of books to be shelved!)

Suddenly, I was interrupted by two customers. Behind the cash register was a very expensive boxed Batman set that attracted a lot of attention from collectors. So when the boy, about ten years old, asked what was in it, I handed it over gingerly and warned, “Be careful. It’s a collector’s item: an action figure and a graphic novel.”

He opened the box and immediately his freckled face fell. “Oh,” he said, “it’s just a doll and a comic book.”

I had to laugh. The child had cut right to the chase. Call it what you will, it was a doll and a comic book. And call me what you will, I was a bookseller. My friends had liked me in college for myself, not for my grades or career plans. And they would like me now, whether I was president of the company or president of nothing!

God, if there is something in my life I’ve been “fancifying,” then for today, teach me not to turn a comic book—or bookseller—into something that it’s not. Let me enjoy and be proud of who I am in Your eyes.

—LINDA NEUKRUG

 

A chill in the air

There was a definite chill in the air this morning. As my nose poked its way out of the duvet it felt chilly even out there and it was just above freezing level on the outside tempo gague.

Having said that, I like it to be a bit cold - winter should be cold!

I had a dentist appointment this morning before work but the dentist was poorly and they hadn't been able to warn us in time so we turned up anyway. It is always hard to steel myself to go to the dentist - I am really quite dental phobic due to all of the jaw problems I have, so whilst I feel very sorry for the dentist it means I now have to steel myself to it again in two weeks time.

I have a page to share today which is another for the California album. I will be quite sad when this album is completed and thing I will have to start another collection album of something else when this is done.

This page is of the giant sequoias again, this time in King's Canyon.

The trees are breath-taking and there really isn't a good way to photograph them as they are so tall - and often so wide as well.

I am so pleased we had the chance to see them.

Update on Fiki is that he seems more himself wqith movement and the diet seems to be working. We recon he has lost a little weight (but he needs to lose a lot of weight so the battle is not yet won.) It is sad becasue he doesn't deserve to be over-weight. he eats a lot less than his sister and yet is almost twice her size. He is always active, rarely staying still and so hge should be skinny. Bless him. He's obviously like his mummy!

Today I am thankful for

• a nip in the air
• my leather gloves

Finally I received this in an e mail - it had nice pictures with it but it was easier to copy and paste and the pictures don't work like that.

Dare I say it - interesting food for thought!

EAT LOTS OF SWEET POTATOES

It's been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and  fish... All before making a human. He made and  provided what we'd need before we were born. These  are best & more powerful when eaten raw.   We're such slow  learners... God left us a great clue as to what foods  help what part of our  body! God's Pharmacy!  Amazing! A  sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The  pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... And YES, science now shows carrots  greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the  eyes. A  Tomato has four chambers and is red. The  heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes  are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart  and blood food. Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound  heart and blood vitalizing food. A  Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums.  Even the wrinkles or folds on  the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen  neuron-transmitters for brain function. Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys. Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak.  These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body. Avocadoes,  Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this?  It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them). Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow.  Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility. Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics. Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts. Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

An early post - a late thanksgiving

I am posting early today as we are having a thanksgiving day today.

We started in good American style by going out to breakfast with friends. My experience of US life is that people go out to breakfast far more than we do here. I love that.

I would have liked an American breakfast actually, as I (yes I am almost a complete vegetarian) love their bacon. Wouldn't eat British bacon if you paid me but the real crispy American rashers I love. That and french toast or pancakes with some scrambled egg and maple syrup. Yum.

However, the granola and fruit was gorgeous and I had scrambled egg on toast which was nice, but it was the company that made it. What a great start to the day.

We have our thanksgiving dinner this evening and I have been and bought new table linens as I had completely forgotten that now we have changed the dining room, nothing goes! A black and white room with a bottle green cloth doesn't work! Dunelm Mill to the rescue and cue new table lines - never ever thought I would buy a black table cloth! Actually it looks lush with the black cream lace runner and the coordinating mats. Very pretty.

I have a California page to share today - another one for the album that I am really pleased with - tha album that is, not necessarily this page.

 
There is a mess of stitching ont his page, includinga  very stuffed pocket. I wanted to include the guide brochure from our tour of the ship. It was fascinating to go round it and was one of those places you felt, quite clearly, the ghosts of the past.

Part of it had been transformed, when we visited, as it had been  in World War 2 when it was used by the navy. My Aunt, the one who married a GI, sailed to her new home in America on The Queen Mary when they made a special voyage with all of the GI brides.

 Today I am thankful for

• coordinating accessories that are so much fun to buy
• resisting tempation to buy a new Christmas tree - as Fiki will only wreck it and it is a lot of money for just a few weeks of the year
• American traditions we love

I can't resist sharing this. I know the Levinson enquiry is very serious and important - but heck ... this was good.

and I have a beautiful powerpoint I was sent that I want to share with you - just some lovely and heartwarming photos.

Enjoy x

Download Excellent_animal_shots1

 

Big Bear

When I see the phrase Big Bear it means two very special things to both Nigel and I. We called Pebble Big Bear. No idea why - it is just one of her nicknames. All of our cats have had another animal nickname that has just sort of happened. Fiki Fox, Kira Monkey, Boo Bear, Pebble dog, Cinders rabbit and Simba mouse. I know why some of them happened. Simba was because she had a squeak like a mouse, Cinders used to jump up stairs like a rabbit and Kira is just a little monkey. Fiki is Fiki Fox due to his colouring and Pebble because she used to be called Poodle doodle as well, so hence the dog link. But Boo, no idea why bear and yet it was Pebble who was called Big Bear.

Goodness me, that was a ramble and a half. Anyway, the phrase Big Bear reminds us of Pebble but is also the name of one of the nicest places we went to in California.

Big Bear Lake in the San Bernadino mountains is very special to us. It was the first time I had ever been in mountains and was the start of a life long love affair with my two favourite kinds of scenery - mountains and lakes. You know how, sometimes, you have the perfect day? Well our trip to Big Bear was one of those. We went with Nigel's cousin Maeve and her husband David, whose company we always enjoy enormously. It was such a fun day a picture perfect place, perfect weather, great company, a perfect meal. Just wonderful.

Consequently it has two pages in the California album - one of the day and one of the lake.

We saw the perfect sunset over the lake too and for many years Big Bear Lake was my happy place. I think everyone has a happy place - a place they can 'go' to when times are hard. I used to go to Big Bear when I was sat in the dentist's chair or when I was stressed. I now have several other happy places I visualise, like Rim Rock in Torrey and like Morraine Lake, but I do still 'go' to Big Bear too.

 

This is the tag that pulls out.

 

Today I am thankful for

• Nigel baking awesome bread I have just eaten

Wind power

It’s been another glorious day today. The weather seems bizarre in this country at times. October was so warm at the start and then cold and grey and now a stunning mild sunny day in November. And what with the east coast of America struggling with snow storms the world is a little mad.

Heck – if it wasn’t we’d have nothing to talk about as we do seem to love to talk about our weather.

I have another page to share today – this one a little more ‘off topic’ as it was a quick snap from the car whilst travelling along. There were many wind farms we passed and this was a large one outside of palm Springs. It struck us as the irony that is California. They are such massive consumers of everything and yet they have a strongly developed eco awareness. So I felt the wind farm had to be in there.

The centre section is raised up on a mount because – well simply because it was actually a very boring page otherwise!

Today I am thankful for

• Sunny days
• Mint humbugs (long story)

 

 

Today I have a story to share that I really liked. I was just looking for an assembly story and whilst I am not going to use this one, I did like it. There are times we all have problems, of all sorts. perhaps one of the hardest things of all is to let those problems shape us for the good instead of bring us down.

A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying' - or - whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together and told them what had happened...and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back...HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he did, blow after blow.

"Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!

You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, STEPPED TRIUMPHANTLY OVER THE WALL OF THAT WELL! What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.

THAT'S LIFE! If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity...THE ADVERSITIES THAT COME ALONG TO BURY US USUALLY HAVE WITHIN THEM THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT AND BLESS US! Remember that FORGIVENESS--FAITH--PRAYER-- PRAISE and HOPE...all are excellent ways to "SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP" out of the wells in which we find ourselves!