Thursday, August 29, 2019

I Like/Love #31

I'm sharing my monthly list of things for which I'm grateful. You can see other posts written by like-minded peeps, or join in and write one of your own and link it up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.

1. I love books. I am on track to reading two books a month this year, which is actually peanuts when I consider how I often would read nearly 50 in a year... Retirement and part-time working is not as full of unplanned time as one would think. I've been reading my own library, having learned the hard way once never to take a library book with me when I fly away somewhere. Still, I did take Harry's Trees with me, but left it in the truck parked safely at Toronto airport while we flitted around Europe and the UK. Finished it on the drive home. It's excellent.

I read these two while we were gone:
I have one more to read in the Rhanna saga. Good to read about an imaginary Hebrides island when one is travelling to Scotland! 
If you haven't read any Derek Tangye, you must. He and his wife had very intense jobs, his was in MI6, hers in a top position at the London Savoy Hotel. They left it all and went to live on a little farm in a 17th c cottage in Cornwall, making their living by selling daffodils and potatoes, which they grew on their farm. He just has such a gentle way of describing their lives, musing about life in general, and telling us about the cats that adopted them over the years.




I read this one in the week we've been back:
The Princess Bride is one of my favourite movies, and reading this brought it all back with another layer added. I highly recommend reading it if you love the movie.

I'm currently enjoying the last in Mary Stewart's trilogy about King Arthur, The Last Enchantment. It's a huge tome, which I love. I love thick books! I love all things King Arthur, and next time I go to England I plan to be in Cornwall and go to Tintagel, and maybe visit the area where the Tangyes lived. I consider this trilogy a classic, so that is fulfilling a goal to reading some more classics. (Sidenote: my goals are in my head this year, not on the blog, just didn't have time nor did I feel like it this year for whatever reason.)

2. I love the beach, and I love Lake Erie.


I love collecting the gazillion pieces of beach glass I find at this particular beach, several green ones that day, along with Lucky Stones, (there are five on the left) and also I really like making beach glass dishes with my finds.
A like within a like: I like that my air plant has had a wee baby! I was beginning to think maybe it was a fake... "Oh ye of little faith..." I can just hear my mum!

3. This year I like that the Windsor Symphony played one of their Concerts in the Park at Seacliff Beach in Leamington, and that my darling husband, who is not really a fan of classical music, came along with me. I may have bribed him with a soft ice cream cone (big spender: $1 at McDonald's) and he also enjoys this particular lake front park. They also played a few movie pieces, so that was good, and even did a 'shredding violins' version, to quote our conductor, of Deep Purple's 'Smoke On the Water'.
There were around 300 people here that night. This photo doesn't show the other half of the hill (we were seated on the left side), nor the people behind us and those higher up the hill. Isn't it a fabulous place for an outdoor pavilion for concerts?

4. I really enjoyed the movie on Netflix, Won't You Be My Neighbour which is about Fred Rogers. My girls loved his show when they were growing up. I used to make fun of it and roll my eyes, until I watched more of it and then I realized the charm and seriousness and importance of it ,not to mention the wise and caring Mr. Rogers himself.


5. I often say how much I love living in the fruit and veggie basket of Ontario. This past month we've enjoyed freshly picked nectarines, corn, and more glorious sun-ripened tomatoes from farms across the road from us. I made this version of a recipe Brianne sent me, substituting spinach, as per her suggestion, for the basil. It's on a piece of naan, and is grilled and was yummy.


6. Speaking of food, oh man, I could've brought back an entire suitcase of English goodies. I love Eccles cakes and I was ecstatic to find these authentic Lancashire ones.
I need to find a recipe online to make these at home.

7. I love my Brady. He FaceTimed me and gave me a much-needed pick-me-up when I was pretty low. He just wanted to talk to his nana. He talks to his grampa (they spell it that way upon my husband's insistence) every night and often during the day too in the summer. He's quite the sensitive soul, and what 11-year-old would not only think this, but act upon it?

8. I love it when people send me pics of my gifts in use. Brianne sent me these a few days ago specifically to put on the blog.
 I just love her kitchen, well her entire house...

9. I love Ashtanga yoga. I also love Yin. The two complement each other so well, one being hot and sweaty and strength-building, the other being quiet and meditative and deep tissue stressing. It's sometimes so very hard to get up at 5:50 am and drive for 45 minutes each way to practise, but often when I'm in the practice, and always afterwards, I am so glad. Glad that I've worked hard, glad I can do the things I can, glad when there's progress, grateful for my body and its abilities. I used to do yoga posts once a month and I always meant to do Deer Pose as it's so good for your hip joints, especially after sitting sewing for long periods of time. So here's a quick pic and a link to the description on Bernie Clark's website.
Deer pose - yin yoga.com


10. I really like this Mars drink I bought in Oxford.

10. I like this drinking water station in the train station in London.

11. I posted a few pics on Instagram of this next like. I like, no I love that many hotels in England are not providing guests with those little plastic bottles of shampoo, body wash and lotion. Rather they are doing this:
Refilled by the maid, these are in the shower as well as at the sink. This particular one was at our London hotel. Well, actually in Hayes, a suburb of London. Oddly enough, we didn't see any of these in Spain, France, or Italy. Iceland had them though.

12. I love these pink flowers, which, when I looked them up using my Picture This app, found out that they are Amaryllis.

There are a whole bunch of them scattered around in the lot at the end of my street right on Lake Erie, that has been sold now, sniff. It is where I have taken several photos of my quilts. I envision becoming friends with the 80-year-old couple who has bought it upon which to build their home, so that I can still take some photos there! I hope to talk to my friend who has been looking after the lot for the past many years, that I can perhaps dig one bunch up to plant here, since they will most likely be killed when they dig the basement for the house.

13. I like this fuzzy caterpillar that sat for a long time on our front step. I moved her to one of the bushes, being careful to get her onto some paper, and avoid touching the black spikes which can cause irritation in some people I found out.
Isn't she unusual and gorgeous? I've never seen one, so I googled it, and found out it turns into a rather nondescript moth, American Dagger Moth. (thanks owlcation.com)

14. I like my Imaginary Friends. I met up with one in Bolton, England. This is Sue. She and I met through one of my QALs where we discovered many things in common, one of them being that she lives not too far from my mum's home town of Bolton, Lancashire, England. It's her husband who dubs the friends we make online through QBL (Quilting Blog Land) as Imaginary Friends. We vehemently disagree, but I do get a chuckle out of his nomenclature. We had a wonderful lunch together at a favourite place of Mum's, Smithills' Hall. Something in common here too that is of the wee-ooh, wee-ooh Twilight Zone calling kind: Sue and her husband had their wedding reception here!
More on my Imaginary Friends in an upcoming post that I am dedicating to them, as they bring me much joy.

15. I like what my friend Kathleen does on her blog and so I am copying it here:

Coming Up on the Blog:

  • DrEAMi! August 31
  • Quilters' Meet and Greet September 3
  • Throwback Thursday Quilts September 5
  • Island Batik Baby Quilt project in September







20 comments:

  1. Just lovely Gratitudes! I love to read too and read a lot of mysteries --the British kind...thanks for sharing hugs, Julierose

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  2. I like those amaryllis flowers! Lovely likes all of them.

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  3. The perfect post to start my day Sandra. Just lovely - Sweet Brady, wonderful imaginary friends, beautiful beach glass, pretty placemats, interesting caterpillars, is there anything better?

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  4. Sandra, Just looked at some recipes for Eccles cakes and they look so fun (and not at all low calorie!!). Here is a link:

    https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/786659/eccles-cakes

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  5. I know what you mean when you say you are "glad" when you do yoga. I feel the same way when I do pilates. It just makes you so glad to be alive and able to move your body.

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  6. Thick books - yes! Walks along the water - yes! So many good things in this post, Sandra! Love that Brady calls just because he wants to chat with you. That is the best of the best, no? Enjoy your day!

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  7. Wonderful likes. The Amaryllis are lovely, and your trip looks like it was fun. Love the term "imaginary friends". How great that the grandson face times...you guys are his stability. My grandsons text me constantly when I am gone too.

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  8. Good Morning Sandra! This is several posts from you in a row and I LOVE it! Those books all look good - I'm adding them to my library Wish List right now. I especially love a good thick book and even then I'm sad when they come to an end. Look at all of that beautiful sea glass! I have a couple of little plants like that with me at work but they are not in a stunning pot like yours. I would love to see the Mr. Rogers movie someday - I'm not on Netflix though darn it. Aww, Brady is such a love. It's fab that he Facetimes with grampa and you. We have our own little sensitive soul and they sure are to be nurtured and loved. And the hotels doing away with the samples in plastic!!! LOVE it although that's too bad for the woman's shelter I always shared mine with. I'll just have to buy them normal size ones instead. Imaginary Friends and your other posts are worth coming back for, so I will. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  9. So many things - books, plants, food, music and fun! Thanks for the shout out...your getting one in the TGIFF today. Love that you are reigniting my reading - I dropped off for awhile, need to get back into it and off the computer. I tend to go through series like I do on tv, so you have given me a few to think about. Love the seaglass too! I think I need more beach time, we don’t walk it as much as we used to, again time to change that now that the crowds are nearly gone! Happy day to you my friend.

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  10. I always enjoy your I Like posts, and want to comment on everything, lol! Love knowing about your reading life and hear about the books. I decided to challenge myself to 50 books in a year after I retired, and have increased that every year since! Love your beach glass collection - so pretty. The placemats look perfect on Brianne's table. Facetime - yes, love it! We see our far away son on Facetime every Sunday, and enjoy that time with him so much! How fun to mert one of your "imaginary friends" - love that, too. Have a great rest of the week, Sandra!

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  11. Such a great post with wonderful photos. Love reading and it competes with sewing time. But I've added audio books to my list and listen to them while I sew. Free downloads via the library! Wonderful to meet "Imaginary Friends" in person and find you have so much in common. Your Brady sounds like a real gem. It's so great that he has a close connection with his grampa. Have a wonderful rest of the week.

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  12. I'm loving imaginary friends! It's simply amazing to meet people face to face isn't it? Like a modern pen pal.
    So many wonderful likes. I want to hear all about your trip! Loved the little caterpillar. Seaglass bowls? I LOVE seaglass so so much. Lucky you to find so much of it. How do you make these bowls, or are they plain bowls filled with it? So glad to have you here on Thursday again!!! LeeAnna

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  13. Imaginary friends ... I love it!! My reading has really suffered the last year or two and I used to plow through so many! I also love all things King Arthur and Merlin!! Did you ever read The Mists of Avalon? You are making me think I might have to start reading. Winter will be here all too soon and that's ideal for curling up with a good book.

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  14. So. Many. Likes! All that beautiful sea glass. I loved the Princess Bride - both the book and the movie. I'll have to check this one out! What a wuzzy caterpillar

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  15. After reading your post, Roseanne’s, and Wendy’s, I have a happy heart. Thanks for taking the time to write these down to share. I particularly enjoyed #3 because my husband like Smoke on the Water, and one summer I survived on McDonalds ice cream cones. I was so poor that it was all I could afford for supper every night. It was my own crazy choice to pay rent and spend the summer away from home to work. I doubt I earned much money to pay for college but I managed.

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  16. I love a good, thick book, too! There's something wonderful about knowing you'll get to inhabit that world for a long time. Those pink flowers are beautiful and I hope you're about to take some for yourself before they disappear.

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  17. I feel so much better after my "yoga"- very mild every morning. What a great list of "likes" . Very enjoyable.
    mary

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  18. What a fun read, Sandra! Hey, I just finished Harry’s Trees yesterday. I think I saw it on someone else’s blog that referred to yours? I don’t usually read fiction ( memoirs are more my style), but this was such an enjoyable read—and worth staying up way too late a few times to read “just a few more pages.” I’m going to have to watch for the Tangye books. Right now my library system doesn’t have them.

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  19. Hi Sandra, I just have to say I love those bags you showed in your last post. They look so professional.
    Meanwhile, What a great read this post is. So many lovely things. I've noted several of those authors. Loved the caterpillar photo. Always learning aren't we.And a grandson who wants to talk to his grandparents all the time is a thing of joy for sure.
    Take care now and I'm sure you are getting back into the swing of things now.

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  20. What a lovely post. I'm an avid reader, and I'm always grateful for personal recommendations rather than publishers' promotions. BTW, those pretty pink flowers are called Resurrection Lilies. We had some show up last summer and I asked a friend about them. This year, many more in a different location! You have my permission to dig up a few for your own garden. They mutliply, so no harm done.

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