Memory Eternal!

 

Jim Forest died last night I found out this morning.  I wrote this earlier:

My Husband came in while I was researching teas from Holland and blurted out "Jim Forest died" to which I immediately with shock said WHAT?😳😭 My Husband has known Jim for DECADES via the Orthodox Peace Fellowship and we had a lovely visit with him and his wife Nancy on our trip to Holland years ago. May Jim's memory be eternal!❤😥😭

... 

Pictures are from the church in Amsterdam where we worshiped with them in 2016... 

I was rather lost today after I learned Jim died.  Like I was walking around not knowing what to do.  

I was in the middle of researching a special order of tea (with my birthday money) from a place I visited in Holland during that 2016 trip, so my mind was already in Holland when I heard the news... 

May the Lord remember Jim in His Kingdom and comfort his newly made widow Nancy...

Jim was such a kind warm humble man; it meant a lot to meet him and to pray for him (he had a lot of health ups and downs in the last year, though I had no idea of his decline and passing last night until this morning).

Memory eternal! Memory Eternal! Memory Eternal! 

a little bit.....

More weary today. Made chicken lemon soup. Set the table nice for lunch. Researching things for our home. Bought online some baking sheets. Got dishes washed. Finished Molly Clavering book "Susan Settles Down" and enjoyed it! 

Prayed an Akathist to St Basil as it's his day tomorrow.  Love this Saint! 

Trying to take one day at a time. 

God bless you all ❤🙏🕯

A Little Further

 

Fast Free Wednesday! 

We took a normal nearly 2 mile walk today.  Yes, we are improving. Thank God. 

My Husband and I watched Home Alone as he had never seen it.  We laughed a lot over it.  Funny to watch it at age 45 instead of more like about 14 years old.  My goodness.  I can remember being 20 but 14 is a long time ago now.  The movie came out in 1990.  Hard to imagine. 

I made chicken broth today.  Between that and the chicken soup we are set I would think for at least a year.  

A busy day.  

God be with us and save us. 

Just a few...

...pictures from Christmas day and I think Saturday (?)... we are slowly recovering from The Virus which for us thankfully was only a bad cold. Still some congestion and fatigue.  

Earlier today I wrote...

"It's been a busy day! Grocery order received and put away, chicken soup being made....I was hoping to finish the soup for dinner but I am too tired, still recovering strength from being sick. Thankfully we have easy meals at the ready."

I got to start on a bit of my writing project again and that was a real exciting note to a busy day. 

Everything of course in life takes longer than one thinks and that's just the way of it. 

I used this recipe from this blog post to make the chicken broth itself (from a whole chicken) but to the soup we are eating now (and a bit I am freezing I added also: onion, carrot, garlic, ginger and did that all in a good few tbs of butter, simmered later with additional water and then the soup added to that and then a bunch of presliced fresh mushrooms to that.  It should be good.  I hope to add fresh lemon juice and zest also. 

I have a huge cleanup job in front of me from making this soup... 

I pray that God is merciful to us all and saves us!

Christmas Eve 2022 ~ Christmas At Home

Shared this with some friends:

Covid Christmas is still CHRISTMAS. We were so BLESSED to be able to watch services online today from our church here in NJ and hope that we are on the upward swing. (For me it's hard to know, I seem to be getting worse but I still live in hope...! Mainly lots of sinus pain/headaches that medicine helps with!) ... My Husband is improving too... we got rotisserie chicken and shepards pie from our grocery delivery service + premade meatballs for an easy pasta meal. I plan on using my Christmas tree Spode dishes and have two special Christmas teas lined up to try! (Both gifts from friends, one also being family!).

Pictures of mainly of our various Nativity icons

Many are sick right now and we are praying for everyone; it's not an easy time. But God is with us and the Lord is born on Christmas to dwell with us and save us. May we seek the Lord in our times of difficulty and sickness...

ps: the peanut clusters were made by my Mom for Dec 25 Christmas and she gave me some for our Christmas! Such a blessing! and the tin was a gift for my birthday with the oranment pictured on top of this post inside...

Improving

 

Well, we are still here. :).  My Husband is improving, his cough especially is getting better but he still has a bit to go.  I don't know about me.  I've had some sore/swollen throat and sinus headache but I can get either for other reasons and, since the doctor said not to test me when my Husband was tested (he had 2 positives) as I was not showing symptoms, we did not do that until today and it was.... negative.

But is it really? Sigh.  Or is it and I should still be careful in case my Husband can still give it to me (it's a miracle if I don't have it, we were in the rented SUV for HOURS over two days, one of those he was sick already).  

Anyway, I am definetely drinking lots of tea, resting a lot (I have been a bit tired), taking extra vitimins and lots of blessed monastic honey! 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  At least 5 familes from our church have at least one person with C-viD so there will be a lot of us praying together from our homes, watching the service online etc.  Even our Christmas church party was postponed! Such strange times we are in.

Thanking God that so far we are not that sick.  

I am thanking God for every good thing.... 

It feel so good to be back

 ...blogging again... it's been so long... (written Jan 2nd)

(a house I took a picture of as I liked the Christmas lights)

...well... I can assure you my beloved Sweetie indeed has a cold.  We will see about a c-vid test later.  lots of rest today.  We got Chinese (it was in part for my birthday)... a nice red broth with slices of bamboo and cabbage with sliced boiled talapia and a Sichuan glass noodle soup and scallian pancakes.  It was wonderful, spicy hot.  We both love it (and take acid pills LOL) but I also thought it would be great for clearing out the sinuses, as we always experince that with this food :).  I am so far fine and did get some rest today (I am doing my best not to get more run down and thus sick).  I bought kombucha, a upscale flu/cold organic med, vapo rub, cough drops... zinc, Vit-C, clementines are all being consumed, and pots and pots of ginger/ginger lemon tea, throat coat tea, ginger lemon echinacea jucie... we are hitting this with whatever we can; steam treatment, hot baths, naps and quiet. 

I am feeling a bit more hopeful, ...

January 3, 2022 

today I was a bit worried but my Husband rested and rested and rested and is more perky now.  

well... my husband has more energy, still coughing BUT 😭 he has the what-we-will-not-name having a postive result 2x 😭 so no Christmas (Jan 7) in person liturgy or Holy Supper ... but... we are making the best of it... with ordering food to heat up that is easy to do and such... I am just starting to feeling unwell, a headache, mainly.  So will see how I do. 

well. I better sign off for now.  Am tired and need to drink some ginger lemon tea! Bless you all, no matter what, may God comfort and save us!

It just began to rain as I sat down to type

 ...and I did not get to type these words after the title until I was interrupted to go finish putting things away...

(from my parent's Christmas tree)

and away we have been, we rented a SUV and drove to Michigan and then Ohio to see both of our families.  My Husband woke in the hotel this morning feeling like he got a cold from swimming in the hotel the night before, the water, he told me, was a bit chilly.  So I drew him a hot bath tonight, and am praying that this is short lived (we can always do checks for the dreaded virus we already have at home tests and other options nearby).  And I made him many cups of tea both this morning and tonight, once we got home... 

Our Christmas is this Friday we were hoping to go for Thursday Christmas Eve and Friday.  Meanwhile, I will sleep on couch to try to avoid contagion.  

I am feeling quite weary tonight and perhaps not the best company, other than it can be nice to share in one's troubles when one's friend is weary too. 

It was strange returning to New Jersey where the o-variant is blooming exponentially and to return to where things are suddenly much worse than else where is a bit surreal.  

It is no wonder we are weary. 

A dear friend is losing her job, everyone on her level is going. There is just so much struggle. 

There is much good of course, we had a good drive today, we listened to Lewis' Dawn Treader and on the way there we finished listening to the Lord of the Rings which was so striking in it's theme of hope and depair, I had not realized this so much as now. It bears remembering. 

Well, we are staying home from church tomorrow, new family rule really: if one is not well, with the pandemic going on, we simply stay home and make sure we don't spread whatever it is. 

I ordered a beautiful teapot, sugar, creamer and teacup: vintage English...will show you once I get it, it is not shipped yet and we sent it to a friend's place that is safer than our areas in term of package theft... The teapot coming is like me hoping for Spring again, for, metaphorically, when we can visit one another again, when I can have tea.  

I do hope that all will be well with us and that my Husband only has a cold.  Don't worry, I assure you we will be VERY careful and we have a very good doctor and medical things quick at hand. 

The good news is that my Husband already has Monday off and so with staying home tomorrow, we can have two very solid days of rest which is part of what is sorely needed right now. 

I am still having some back pain issues so I can't always sit to type, as I don't have an ergonomic writing station as of yet. Something I hope to work on in later January if possible. 

Bless you all.  It's good to be able to write here again. May God save us and have mercy on us!

Hello, still here

Merry and blessed Christmas to all who have already celebrated it! I am still quite busy and will be until next week (really it's going to be busy for a bit but anyway....)  ... my sister's foster son's sitaution remains in my thoughts.... it is my birthday tomorrow... I am going to be 45! Hard to believe, really. My Mom sent me a gift which I will open tomorrow with a few cards I got.  My Husband and I are going to do my birthday probably after January 7 Christmas this year.  Anyway, God BLESS and comfort you all.  May He protect us and save us.  

Here, Still, Again

I am busy with family visiting.  

Please pray for my sister and her family; they have been trying to adopt a child they have had for over 2 years and it is not going well.  Obviously I can't go into details.... (foster care legalities).  Our hearts are heavy and brokenhearted at the very idea of losing this child who we all love so much.

I am still trying to post as I can HERE on my public IG account.  

I am so sorry that I don't have more to say at present but know that I and my Husband are well.  Just busy with family.  Bless you all.

I realize that this is a hard season for so many.  May God have mercy on us and save us...and carry us in His love, in His arms... 

A Festive morning tea with cake to begin a Christmas NYC Extravaganza

Heather, a long time friend of mine since I moved to the East Coast of the States, came to NYC yesterday! I am sharing lots on my public Instagram account and you can see my pictures HERE for the lovely tea and cake we had! 

If not, here's what I wrote this morning there:

🎄Christmas in🗽🍎 with @thenaturejournaler began when Heather drove up to my place from ✈🥰

🎄 I had the tea table ready! A delicious decaf apricot tea that my friend @katiebythelake gave me YEARS ago☕and a delicious vegan GF Cranberry Orange Cake ➡️ for recipe! (I substituted OJ for milk & used an egg replacer + Bobs Red Mill GF Flour)

🎄 Our laughter broke out in delight as my Husband met Heather for the first time (he jokes a lot when with friends)🎄🥰

🎄 I played my favourite Christmas CD and we enjoyed tea & cake after touring our library 📚📚📚

🎄 Heather gave me beautiful 🎁🎄🎁 that she made! I will show you in a later post but the 🎄 ornament in last picture is one of them! 😍🎄

🎄Soon we were speeding off to a NJ/NYC PATH train to NYC for what I had dubbed our Christmas in NYC Extravaganza 🎄❤🗽🍎❄☃️

🎄 Hoping to share more as the days anticipating Christmas go on! Much tea and beauty to come! 🎄☕☃️❄🗽🍎🎁🎄☕❤ #christmasinnyc

Where to even begin...

 

...well, we had Thanksgiving, my friend Photini recently returned from overseas and was with us and our favourite Munchkin and his Mom.  It was a really wonderful blessed time, esp after so much hard because of the pandemic. ... 

...my Great Aunt Phyl died. :( On Saturday November 27th evening EST.  I knew it was coming as she was in more pain and getting confused in the evening; she was moved to a full nursing care floor about 5 or 6 days ago... then I think Saturday I was told she was dying and that night she was gone.  She is my Grandma's sister (she had two, my Aunt Bets died nearly 20 years ago) and they talked on the phone every night at the same time.  You knew not to call them at that time! A month or more ago my Aunt Phyl stopped using the phone, her hearing was getting really bad.  My Grandma really lost her in stages, so in some ways it was gradual but still very hard.  My Aunt had moved into assisted living RIGHT when lockdown began in 2020 and it really aged her a lot.  She was nearly 96 years old.  I am SO GLAD I got to see her last summer and my Husband did too.  

...I went to NYC today and did more shopping.  I got myself a new tea called 'toast and jam' from an English grocer in NYC.  Their Instagram page is HERE.  Of course I went to Tea and Sympathy! 

...I started this entry yesterday but did not get a chance to finish it... My days are incredibly busy right now. I got my Booster today and now I am going to go rest before the rest of my very full day continues.... 

God bless you all! May the Lord save us and have mercy on us!