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Counting our blessings - a Catalogue of Cool!
As a starter for ten, then I will submit for your perusal the following:1) I didn't have to get up till 7am on Sunday, and my partner woke me with a cup of tea (which was more than kind seeing as how he woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep!)
and
2) I had my Mum over for a week, which was lovely; she went home much relaxed and the better for it, and when she got to the railway station at home, my Dad came to pick her up, bringing with him her dog Lyra, all freshly-washed and curly, which was a really nice touch.
I can think of at least 2 people on this forum who have significantly more exciting things to add here - but what about the rest of you?
Answers below please....
JAC
J.A. wrote: "As a starter for ten, then I will submit for your perusal the following:1) I didn't have to get up till 7am on Sunday, and my partner woke me with a cup of tea (which was more than kind seeing ..."
Was Lyra named after Philip Pullman's heroine?
Nice thread JA! I agree, the news is evil and I never watch it. LOLI do have a nice thing to share. (Well more than one)
A) I got a publishing contract! :)
B) I have a new puppy that I love and she makes me smile everyday
C) My hubby is taking a week off mext week so it will be awesome to have him around!
Cambria wrote: "Nice thread JA! I agree, the news is evil and I never watch it. LOLI do have a nice thing to share. (Well more than one)
A) I got a publishing contract! :)
B) I have a new puppy that I love..."
Cambria, there's a rumour going round that you got a publishing contract. Congrats! Look forward to hearing more about it.
Great topic JA!!I'm grasping here with the week I've had, but I need to focus on these things!!!
I haven't gotten to see my two babies since Sunday, so this evening I got to see my daughter's beautiful smile and get sloppy smoochies from my 2-year old!!
I have THE most amazing mother in the universe!!! She sent money to help me buy my oldest son some school supplies/clothes with AND she paid for our car tag renewal! Both without me even mentioning anything...
Although almost everyone around here went without electricity for the better part of yesterday and even today, we only lost internet service for a day!! In 100 degree weather, that is sorta a big deal! :-)
I got to soak in a hot bath tonight!
JA, you speak of getting up at 7AM like I would about getting up at like 11AM...haha!!! 7AM is still early for this night owl!
Cambria, did you publish your book or something??? ;-)
I needed this!! Thanks JA!
JA, I know the news is depressing, but somehow I have a fascination for it -- like a bird fascinated by a snake.Then I try to remember what H.L. Mencken said: "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety, by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
When you look at the news in that light, it doesn't seem so alarming, and you can relax and enjoy what life is really about -- friendships.
Phil, you're quite right there. So have you got a nice incident to tell us about?Cassie; I'm naturally nocturnal and my natural bedtime is about 4am; which means it feels particularly harsh that in order to commute into the city for work I have to get up a 04.30am every day of the week - 7am is an extra half-night's sleep!
Cambria, sounds like the puppy's coming on nicely?
JAC
Phil, I like that.I am incapable of not following the news, but I like the theory lol.
Splitter
okay, another one for the mix:Today is a lovely sunny Saturday and the little apple tree I've grown from a seed is now 5 inches tall an has put out 3 new leaves since Thursday! Talk about enthusiasm!
JAC
Phil wrote: "Cambria wrote: "Nice thread JA! I agree, the news is evil and I never watch it. LOLI do have a nice thing to share. (Well more than one)
A) I got a publishing contract! :)
B) I have a new puppy ..."
@ Phil and Cassie-- I have no idea what you mean about this publishing contract.....
LOL. Just kidding!! HA ha ha. More to come on that front later!
@ JA- the puppy is coming along nicely. I can't believe i waited this long to get such a little dog!! We all love her lots!
And here's a happy thought for today: This weekend (here anyway) is tax free weekend so we are going school supply shopping and will hopefully save some cash!!
OK, JA: a nice story. It probably won't mean much to anyone not living in Oz, so I'll explain at the risk of being boring. We have here a little creature called a platypus, as you probably know. It has a duck's bill, a beaver's tail, and the body of a mole. Shy, and rarely seen in suburbia for that reason.I've found a place in my morning walk, a pond in a stream with lots of ducks, geese and other bird life. I was watching them and noticed a row of bubbles. Lo and behold, the little creature appeared and swam a few seconds on the surface before disappearing again. Beautiful!
I've seen it or its family several times now and each time it's just a special feeling to see, especially since in the early days of white settlement here, they were almost wiped out by over-eager trophy hunters.
Nature can recover -- all she needs is time.
Wow, that's SO cool, Phil! Even over here in Blighty we've heard of the platypus (only egg-laying mammal if I recall correctly). I always wondered, how big are they? But I'd be really excited to see one too! That's quite a long way up the "cool" list you know....
JAC
Mod
My happy moment of love to share was when Brandon came up to me and said, 'I the the best mommy ever. And that mommy is you.'
:) My hubby is taking some time off week next week so I think that is a good thing!!Oh and I got my interview and post ready for my Seranfyll giveaway on my blog, I also got "Man Week" on my blog started (writing up a few posts) OH! and I got another blogging award!! Nice!!
Check out my blog tomorrow to see the goods. Tuesday the giveaway for Seranfyll begins with a character interview!!
J.A. wrote: "Wow, that's SO cool, Phil! Even over here in Blighty we've heard of the platypus (only egg-laying mammal if I recall correctly). I always wondered, how big are they? But I'd be really excited to ..."
Actually, JA, there is another egg-laying mammal. It's called an echidna, or spiny anteater. I've only seen them in desert country, though they're pretty much endemic, I think, but shy.
Phil you have got a catalogue of weird animals over there....
J.A. wrote: "Wow, that's SO cool, Phil! Even over here in Blighty we've heard of the platypus (only egg-laying mammal if I recall correctly). I always wondered, how big are they? But I'd be really excited to ..."
I always imagined them as being, I dunno, a couple of feet long, but they're less than half that.
Cambria wrote: "Phil you have got a catalogue of weird animals over there...."But no toilet snakes.
Amy wrote: "This is a wonderful little thread to have!! I think we could all use some more positive, happy things to share with one another. My happy moment of love to share was when Brandon came up to me ..."
Somehow they always know when we need this!
My youngest son, Cael, always says, "I love you tattoo so much!" I have no idea where the tattoo came from, but it is now a regular term of endearment in our home ;-)...
I think we have Clayton all ready to go to back to school next week. I managed to only have to go to two stores to get what we needed (and ordered the rest online)!
Mod
Amy wrote: "Another blessing, I got to see a very dear friend of mine who is in town from NC!! He took my kids out for an afternoon of fun and shopping, it was very cool for them!!"Yay!!! :-)
Amy wrote: "Another blessing, I got to see a very dear friend of mine who is in town from NC!! He took my kids out for an afternoon of fun and shopping, it was very cool for them!!"Now who could that be???? LOL. So glad you are having a great day!!! And by the way, did anyone in your household watch Teen Wolf last night?? OMG it was soooo good!!!!
Phil wrote: "Cambria wrote: "Phil you have got a catalogue of weird animals over there...."But no toilet snakes."
HA! I am so going to email you a picture Phil!!!!
Cassie wrote: "Amy wrote: "This is a wonderful little thread to have!! I think we could all use some more positive, happy things to share with one another. My happy moment of love to share was when Brandon ca..."
That sounds like super awesome simple shopping!!! Great job!
My happy tidbit for the day involves ALL of you! I feel so blessed to be part of this group and have everyone's support. I launched a giveaway this morning on my blog and I have had a FABULOUS response and it really has just made my day. :) I log into this site and get so many nice messages from so many people who support me and it really is wonderful. I hope I can give back a little of all that to you all as well. :)So THANK YOU all for your support!! It is much appreciated.
Mod
Now who cou..."
The other Teen wolf fan in this house was out at a sleepover, so we neglected the werewolf side of life...
I commented about Teen Wolf in your blog thread... :-)I am really proud b/c my 6-year-old son has washed dishes by hand two days in a row! When he wants to be he is SO very sweet and helpful! Now, if I could just get him to mop.... ;-)
Cassie wrote: "I commented about Teen Wolf in your blog thread... :-)I am really proud b/c my 6-year-old son has washed dishes by hand two days in a row! When he wants to be he is SO very sweet and helpful! N..."
Don't push it Cassie -- be thankful for small mercies.
Here's another one for you:in the middle of the riots here in London (and everywhere else), I'm grateful that we live a ways outside the trouble, none of my family live here, none of my friends have been caught up in it; and also for the fact that in the face of the dismaying actions of the troublemakers, someone started a Twitter tag called #riotcleanup where people organised themselves to turn up with brooms and shovels and gloves, and turned up in crowds from all corners of the city to help. They turned up at Clapham High Road yesterday and someone Tweeted that when the police cars came, everyone stood back to let them through, and applauded.
Now, there is a lot to be said about the riots and a lot of people are getting angry and aggressive about the waste and the stupidity and the greed of it; but the nature of the news in this country is such that the good stuff and the hopeful stuff never gets reported.
We see the fear and the violence and the damage; but never the solidarity and the care of strangers - so it is really heartening to know that the good stuff is happening along with the bad, and that for every yob who wants a flatscreen and hasn't thought further along the line of consequences than getting a new telly, there is also just an ordinary person who is nothing to do with anything, but is willing to give up their time to help with the aftermath.
Here's to ordinary people!
JAC
In my non-news corner of the world, I have no idea what is going on with the riots!!!
Cassie wrote: "In my non-news corner of the world, I have no idea what is going on with the riots!!!"Neither do most of the rioters.
@JA, there's still hope for the world when a group of people are prepared to clean up the mess made by idiots for no other reason than that it's the right thing to do.
It's madness. Police killed a guy (mostly our police don't have guns so though less unusual than it used to be, this still makes the news). There was a peaceful protest march at the local policestation, which got hijacked by nutters and all of a sudden there were mobs looting all over London.There's a timeline here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14436499
The real pity of it is that in most cases the places that got trashed were areas that used to be really rough and dire and were dragging themselves out of it by the bootstraps. Now they're burnt-out shells; the little local companies have been killed off in one fell blow and the bigger companies that can afford to rebuild are highly unlikely to do so for the next ten years or so.
Nice work, no?
So sad that a few people's stupidity and greed can blight a whole community for years and years to come.
But as Phil said, at least it throws into relief just how cool it is when ordinary people turn out in solidarity because there's not much they can do to help but they *can* do this.
JAC
Amy wrote: "Cambria wrote: "Amy wrote: "Another blessing, I got to see a very dear friend of mine who is in town from NC!! He took my kids out for an afternoon of fun and shopping, it was very cool for them!!..."I am ashamed!!!
What is all this about riots and police killing people I thought this was a thread devoid of bad news....
Well, Journal Jabber made us laugh last night. The author, Mike Phillips, was a GREAT sport and added to the show.Splitter
In other news, I bought a sneaky pack of pretzels at lunchtime and ate far more than was necessary! mmmmm Pretzels! It's the salt. JAC
J.A., you *must* try a little mustard with those pretzels. Yum!
Karin wrote: "J.A., you *must* try a little mustard with those pretzels. Yum!"Quoted for truth.
Splitter
J.A. wrote: "Here's another one for you:in the middle of the riots here in London (and everywhere else), I'm grateful that we live a ways outside the trouble, none of my family live here, none of my friends..."
I saw that on the telly, JA. It was amazing and uplifting to see ordinary people pitching in to clean up the mess, not leaving it to Councils or whatever. I hope it made those who caused the mess in the first place as ashamed as they ought to feel.
Karin and Splitter - nononono! Mustard BAAADDDD!! Chipotle sauce, now, that has my attention!Phil, there was a great bit on the news where this mixed-race couple had brought along their little girl, who was 6 and stunningly pretty, and she was standing there with her little kid-size broom saying "Naughty people have done this and we are here to tidy it up and make it all right again!"
So cute!
JAC
J.A. wrote: "Karin and Splitter - nononono! Mustard BAAADDDD!! Chipotle sauce, now, that has my attention!Phil, there was a great bit on the news where this mixed-race couple had brought along their little ..."
That's tears-in-eyes, lump-in-throat stuff!
But tell me more about chipotle sauce. I'm assuming it's chili-based. How do you make it?
Chipotle! My new favourite foodstuff, even on a par with smoked paprika! (I may compose a poem on the subject).Firstly, for those who haven't come across chipotle, here's a link:
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles...
Basically chipotle sauce is half yoghurt half mayo and then either add powdered chipotle or you can get pureed chipotle in adobo which I haven't tried but was recommended by one recipe.
Makes a lovely smoky dip - first you get the creamy smoky flavour, and then a little warm chili glow just at the end. Great with crisps (or chips of either kind) but absolutely beautiful on a burger! Really lifts it....it's like BBQ sauce would be if it was nice (ie not sweet. I have some sweet/savoury food prejudices still to work on!!)
When I googled for the link, there are all sorts of varieties - chipotle is basically smoked jalapeno but there are hotter ones and milder ones. The recipe suggested rehydrating it in a slow-cooking sauce and actually I think I might have a go at that - your basic spaghetti bolognese is fab with smoked paprika (esp if you have it with a bit of cheddar grated on) so I bet it would be equally good with chipotle. That feels a bit unadventurous though, so might try to invent something a bit more out of the common way.
I do love food and recipes...
JAC
J.A. wrote: "Chipotle! My new favourite foodstuff, even on a par with smoked paprika! (I may compose a poem on the subject).Firstly, for those who haven't come across chipotle, here's a link:
http://www.go..."
Thanks, JA. One can learn some amazing things on this site. I'm off to see if I can find some.
Ain't that the truth!!Well if you have any fave recipes to add to the list, blessings seems to me like a great place to have them! You'll have to let us know how the sauce / dip thing is, if you find it...
JAC
J.A., I have to admit, chipotle is great. Possibly right up there with mustard. Though not on pretzels.J.A. wrote: "...and she was standing there with her little kid-size broom saying "Naughty people have done this and we are here to tidy it up and make it all right again!"
I love this. It gives you hope, doesn't it?
Mod
Splitter"
This should be said again...We made you laugh...Laughing is good for the soul as well as an excellent abdominal exercise!! :)
Karin, I dunno, that dip I could eat with a spoon, so on pretzels it wouldn't be a problem... And yes, it does. One of the great things about London is just how many mixed-race couples there are and no-one even notices, it's so common. The fact that this particular couple seem to be bringing up their daughter so well is just a bonus!Amy - ah yes, laughing - one of my 2 favourite forms of exercise, and the only one I like to do in public....!
JAC
I was watching the news today. I don't often because it's all so depressing; they go into gory detail about all the terrible stuff going on in the world, they try to frighten us about the economy and how strangers are going to kill us and how the world is a bad place, etc etc; and guess what? I just don't believe that our everyday life is quite as grey and horrendous as they make out.
So; as a small gesture in the opposite direction I have decided to start a thread where, when something nice happens we can record it; doesn't matter whether it's as small as having someone make you a cup of tea unexpectedly or as large as winning the lottery, post here if you have something to tell.
Let's have a different list, one with all the little smiles and kindnesses that never get reported but that make the world a good place to live in. Who's game to play?
JAC