The Simple Woman Daybook

The Simple Woman Daybook 

For Today...

February 22, 2016

48 degrees  here  at 7am....  and  threat of rain later today!

Outside my window...

Through the  sunroom screen....  looks sort of dreary today.. but  the bird are singing...

I am thinking...

Ok,  as I  erased last week's    response to this I   remembered how I got the sewing machine out to  sew  on a few projects...  unfortunately,  the machine was locked up... and  I  became rather  exasperated with it.. I just had it in  the shop   last year and paid  enough to get it  working... it was my mom's  and   pretty old, although when it worked it worked well... anyway,,,  we took it to the  salvtion army  .. maybe someone can get it back into  shape.. but it wont be me.  Back to the drawing board... I did find a  cute one   on Amazon

on sale for $99.00....   time to make  an order this week!

I am thankful...

 for the saving  knowledge of Christ and    His  love and provision    in my life....  Sometimes  things  can  get  rattled and out of sorts, and then I  really wonder...  how do  folks with no faith  endure the  uncertainty of life... praise   God...  His mercies are new every morning!

I am wearing...

as usual... my pj's and  terry robe all day....  it is my  winter  retirement garb!!!!  Well,  I havent had breakfast yet!

I am creating...

My  St Patrick's  tribute to Ireland  around the house!
first,  the sideboard in the dining room   hosts  my  Belleek  collection...   on the wall  behind it    hangs  my  etchings  depicting the  quaint town of Adare and  the Gap of Dunloe.

 This  arrangement gives a shout out to  one of Ireland's  most  prolific   shrubs... the   gorse  that  grows everywhere in the spring!

A bit of green transfer ware!

An Irish tablescape

 and  blessing!

I am going...

out to luncheon with  a  group  of girl friends.... we call ourselves  the Cracked Pots....   and  we  go  out to eat  a couple of times a year.. this week  we are  going to Annie Moore's  Pub

It really  does  look like an authentic  Irish  establish...

I am wondering...

what time Amanda will call  to say, " It's time to do Face Time together""  I live  for these  times...  to see  my precious girls!

I am reading...

Acts 9
Bible Study   by  James Macdonald... I Want to Change my Attitude

I am hoping...

 that  since  today I took my last prednisone  pill  that    I am finally  putting this    allergy/sinus/virus/  cold.. whatever it has been..behind me!!

I am learning...

to  try to make the most of each  realm of my  existence each day..
  physical...  mental...  spiritual!

In my garden...

  I    am thinking about  the spring spruce up around here  a lot... I  want to  get a couple of new  hydrangeas...  I found these on amazon..

Pillow Talk TM Hardy Hydrangea - 4" Pot - Hydrangea paniculata

Fire Light TM Hydrangea paniculata - 4" pot - Proven Winners

In my kitchen...

I have no immedaitely plans for anything special....

A favorite quote/scripture for today...

 This precious   description of   our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Isaiah 53New International Version (NIV)

53 Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,

a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain

and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

stricken by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

Yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of my people he was punished.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11 After he has suffered,

he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

                               A peek into one of my days... 
These are  my  special and best   gal pals...   the prayer team  ...  we  have been together  now for   about  7 years...  we got together    to  crate a prayer mnistry  for our pastor...  and we have met  hundreds of times  both at church and in our homes to  pray and plan  events..  we  now  have launched  a community prayer  group  called Christians United to Pray  that has met  bimonthly  around our  city for the last  3 and half years. 

We have forged  a    great  friendshhip..  actually a sisterhood...  together  we have  shared our inner most  struggles,  confessions,, praises...  prayed for and blessed one another    and  we are  strong because  of the prayers of one another in our lives!
We  enjoy  celebrating  each other's  birthdays and next week  we  will  take Colleen  for  her  birthday dinner  to the Sunnybrook Inn...

    

One of my favorite things...

is genealogy.  I  spent  weeks  working on several  family lines a few years ago and took  the  families back as far  as  I could go...  Saturday, while hubs was watching his race on tv, I  just  started  looking up a bit more on the Higgins line.. and  to my  huge  pleasure and surprise,  I was  able to  take  the line back  6 more generations...  due mainly, Im sure, to the huge interest in genealogy over the last  years  and   capabilities through the online services...  anyway, I was  truly hoping to discover  where  the Higginses orginiated f rom  in Ireland...  but I didnt  get that  definitive answer...  but I did find out  some great  scoop... My earliest  Higgins  ancestor who actually came to America  was  Richard Higgins, born  1613 in Worcestor, England  and was  a taylor.  At the  age of 19 he  booked passage to the new world and landed in Plymouth  in 1632  where  he eventually bought a house   for 7 bushels of corn  and married  a Miss Lydia Chandler..  There was scads of information about him... thankfully,  all quite  complimentary...  thankfully, he wasnt a scoundrel...  far from it!!!
Other reports I did find  about the Higginses  did  allude to the fact  that  they  were definitely  formerly of Irish descent and   most probably  hailed from the  Belfast or Donegal  area of Northern Ireland, especially if they  were of a protestant persuasion. I can not help but wonder about this, because  last spring  as we  drove through Donegal I felt a hugely  close connection to the terrain....  especially  around the Fintown  area..

My question is...  was there  an ancestral  drawing  to me   to return to my roots!!!   I'd  love to!!!!!!

From the board room...

If you love everything  British... you  will so enjoy Ramblings from an English Garden.

Barbara shares  her travels and exploits so deliciously!!!

Post Script
This is where  we and our friends  Bill and  Linda  dined  while in Donegal...

The Blueberry Tea Room
Castle Street, The Diamond , Donegal TownCo Donegal 

Trip advisor lists it  4th  best  of  many   places in Donegal..
 friendly service and great  food at a reasonable price....